Gas reserves filled to a record 80 percent to protect against shutdown

About four hectares of forest near Lukoveček in the Zlín region were hit by a fire yesterday evening. The third degree of fire alert out of four was declared. Earlier yesterday, roughly 80 firefighters from 15 professional and voluntary units put out a large fire near a forest on the boundary of the Libavá military training grounds. The fire was under control after 7 p.m., but some units stayed in place till Tuesday morning. The fire hit an area measuring about 800 by 300 meters. The dense smoke could be seen from up to 20 kilometers. The fire was spreading due to a strong wind. Fire also continues in Bohemian Switzerland. See our story for the latest developments.

Gas reservoirs in the Czech Republic are 80 percent full, Prime Minister Petr Fiala announced on Twitter. It is a record level. Czechia has reached the limit to which the states of the European Union must fill the reservoirs by November. EU energy ministers agreed on this in June in case of a possible disruption of gas supplies from Russia. "We are at an all-time high. We are working to be as prepared as possible for winter," Fiala wrote. The Czech Republic has 2.69 billion cubic meters of gas.

Some 2,800 doses of the monkeypox vaccine should arrive in the Czech Republic today. The country is receiving it as a gift from the European Commission, which bought the vaccine from its budget and is distributing it among EU member states. According to available information, 16 cases of monkeypox have been confirmed in the Czech Republic, the last two were added last week. Most of the infected were in Prague, and one case was recorded in the Ústí nad Labem region.

The Covid epidemic in the Czech Republic continues to grow, with 3,771 new cases added on Monday, about 900 more than a week ago and the most since April 12. Hygienists registered 1,281 people with suspected repeated infection on Monday. The number of hospitalized people rose to almost a thousand on Monday. Read more on our Covid update.

The damage caused by an explosion in a chemical plant in Litvínov last week, in which four people were injured, is put at tens of millions of crowns and the repairs will take two to three weeks, according to the plant owner Orlen Unipetrol. The capacity of oil processing will be partially lowered during the repairs but will not affect the accessibility of fuels at petrol stations. The company says the explosion was caused by a technical malfunction in the hydrocracking section.

"It used to serve criminals, now it will protect Czech roads," the statement from the Czech Police department says. A Ferrari F142–458 Italia, in the colors of the Czech police, began its service. The vehicle will be deployed against the most aggressive drivers on Czech highways, when chasing stolen vehicles, or during surveillance at the locations of reported events. 

This vehicle is one of many that are seized as criminal property each year. Considering the costs associated with the car's repairs, the vehicle cost less than the purchase of, for example, a new Škoda Scala, i.e. a little over CZK 300,000. 

The Ministry of the Interior proposes the cancelation of over 6,700 laws, decrees, and government regulations, which, according to it, are no longer functional and in use. It prepared a bill to simplify and clarify the legal system.

"It is not possible for us in the 21st century to have a legal system clogged by thousands of meaningless and dysfunctional laws. Orientation in the current legislation must be clear and simple for citizens and authorities," Minister of the Interior Vít Rakušan said.

Among the decrees proposed for cancellation are, for example, a law from 1919 on mandatory celibacy of female teachers, the law on people's extraordinary contribution from excessive property increase from 1947, and another law from the same year, which introduces measures against the unauthorized crossing of the state border. Out of modern-era norms, the ministry wants to cancel the law on a unilateral raising of flat rent from 2006, among others.

Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský declared that he was shocked by the execution of four democratic activists in Myanmar by the ruling military junta. "Once again we are witnessing that in other countries people have to fight and pay with their lives for freedom," he wrote on Twitter. The execution is believed to be the first use of capital punishment in decades.

The European Commission (EC) approved state support for the Czech Post Office. In accordance with the rules of the European Union, the intended CZK 7.5 billion are compensation for fulfilling the obligation of universal postal service in the years 2018 to 2022. Universal service includes, for example, the obligation to operate 3,200 branches or to deliver to all addresses in the Czech Republic every working day. At the same time, these services are loss-making, which is why the state pays for them.

Confidence in the Czech economy fell by 2.6 points month-on-month to 95.7 points in July. It decreased among entrepreneurs and consumers. Consumer pessimism has been on the rise for five months, and in the first summer month, their confidence fell to the lowest level since January 2003, when the confidence survey began.

According to statistics, a record number of consumers are worried about the deterioration of their own financial situation. The number of those who assess their financial situation worse than in the previous 12 months is also close to its historical maximum. In the business sphere, confidence among industrial companies and trade fell month-on-month, while it increased in construction and selected services.

Mainly in the western half of the Czech Republic, there is a threat of strong thunderstorms this evening, the warning for them is valid from 8 p.m. until 3 a.m. on Tuesday. They will be accompanied by wind gusts of around 70 kilometers per hour and hail, the Czech Hydrometeorological Institute (ČHMÚ) warns. The warning applies to Prague, and the entire Central Bohemia, South Bohemia, Plzeň, Karlovy Vary, Ústí nad Labem, and Liberec regions.