Word: czech
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...Europe having such a hard time creating jobs? Ask Svatoslav Kodytek and Tomas Lenc, two florists from southern Bohemia in the Czech Republic. Soon after their country joined the European Union last May, they tried to open two shops across the Austrian border, in the quaint medieval townlet of Gmünd and in nearby Waidhofen. They planned to hire locals, but ran into roadblocks from the very start. First, Gmünd's labor office told them bluntly that no more flower shops were needed in the area. Undeterred, they set up their stores. Authorities then took two months...
...Staffing was the final straw. Nobody replied to their ads for Austrian flower arrangers so they brought in Czech ones instead, making them partners in the business to circumvent a vetting process for foreign workers that can take six months. The authorities quickly swooped in and fined them ?1,500 for illegally employing the florists. Enough was enough. At the end of last year, the two men shut down their Austrian operation just five months after opening the first store. "We were treated like interlopers," says Kodytek, 54, who, with Lenc, lost about ?27,000 in the failed venture...
...Back in the Czech Republic, florists Kodytek and Lenc are nursing their wounds. Lenc is still fuming over a six-page letter from the Austrian Labor Ministry explaining why it is refusing his request for a florist's license - and informing him that he can appeal the decision for a fee of ?180. The mayor of Gmünd, Otto Opelka, who says his town is keen for new business blood, blames teething troubles; this was the first time a Czech firm had opened in the area. "In the future, things will run more smoothly," he says. "I think...
...Bourses Is the boom off in Central Europe's stock markets? After posting record gains in recent months, bourses across the region stumbled last week. In a single day, the Prague Stock Exchange's PX 50 index tumbled by 5.8%, the second biggest loss in its history; the Czech press dubbed it "black Wednesday." Budapest dropped by 5.45%, while Bratislava and Warsaw fell by more than 2%. By week's end, the bourses closed up to 9.4% lower. Analysts say standard profit-taking was responsible, but perhaps it was a bubble - inflated by post-accession optimism and rising regional economies...
...first half of the program was sedate in comparison to the engaging second. The opening piece, “Smetana Fanfare,” by Czech composer Karl Husa, opened with majestic held chords, but then devolved into a monotone rhythm exercise, suggestive of an abridged version of “Mars,” from Gustav Holst’s “The Planets...