City: Brno
Country: CZ
Signup Date:
03/08/07
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[14 Aug 2007 | Tuesday]
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Restaurant and hospoda in Brno
http://www.czechdineout.com/lang/search.php?t=hospudky
Help me please with this section:
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restaurace |
| Sandonoriko |
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| Juliánovské nám. 2 | ..>..>
10:30 PM
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[11 Aug 2007 | Saturday]
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[01 Aug 2007 | Wednesday]
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Concert, Festival and Music in Czech Republic
Category: Music
FESTIVAL
Hip Hop Kemp 2007 Festivalpark, leti..t.., Hradec Králové, Pá 24.8.2007 - Ne 26.8.2007 .. Pá 24.8.2007 - Ne 26.8.2007 -->
VSTUPENKY
MUSIC
Hip Hop Kemp 2007 Festivalpark, leti..t.., Hradec Králové, Pá 24.8.2007 - Ne 26.8.2007 .. Pá 24.8.2007 - Ne 26.8.2007 -->
VSTUPENKY
5:40 AM
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[16 Jul 2007 | Monday]
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Czech Beer
Category: Food and Restaurants
CZECH BEER FAQ
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"A Beer-Drinker's Odyssey Begins on the River Vltava"
The world was astounded in 1913 when it was discovered that as many as 19 types of beer were brewed in Mesopotamia 5,000 years ago. It is fitting that the archaeologist who first deciphered the Sumerian tablets containing this information was a Czech, Bedrich Hrozny. Beer was also brewed in the earliest Czech civilizations (there is evidence that hops were already being cultivated here in 859 and were being exported in 903 - the first written documentation referring to brewing dates from 1088), and even British beer authority Michael Jackson agrees that the Czechs are the number one beer-brewing nation in the world today.
The Czech Beer Firsts are many and varied!
First in per capita beer consumption
First Beer Museum in the world
First beer brewing textbook
First Pilsener
First Budweiser
First president to have written an absurdist play based on his experiences working in a Czech beer brewery in AD 1974
The history of beer in the Czech Lands stretches back a thousand years, mirroring the ups and downs of Czech history through the ages. For more information, read Part One of the Radio Prague Czech Beer FAQ - History of Czech Beer! Beer is considered a part of the national heritage of the Czech Republic. For more information than you ever wanted to know about Czech beer and the drinking thereof, read Part Two of the Radio Prague Czech Beer FAQ - Czech Beer Culture! Check out our brand new (okay, not so brand new) list of Czech breweries, complete with interesting facts and even some cool beer labels! For a more detailed history on the Czech Lands, take a look at the Radio Prague History in a Nutshell Pages! | ..>..>
 Due to the number of breweries in the Czech Republic, we had to split this list up by region, Prague being in Central Bohemia, Plzen in West Bohemia, and Ceske Budejovice in South Bohemia. Where groups of breweries are owned by one company, we've included the breweries of that group in the region where the headquarters is based, and if the individual breweries are actually located in another region, they'll also be listed there.
Central Bohemia
West Bohemia
South Bohemia
East Bohemia
North Bohemia
North Moravia
South Moravia
Other addresses that may be of interest:
Cesky svaz pivovaru a sladoven (Czech Federation of Breweries and Malt-Houses)
Lipova 15
120 00 Praha 2
Phone: +420 (2) 290072 fax: +420 (2) 24914542
http://www.cspas.cz/
..Pivni kuryr - noviny (Beer Courier - news)
redakce
Korunni 106
100 00 Praha 10
Phone/fax: +420-2-6731 2972Phone: +420-2-6731 2680 extension 33
http://www.pivni-kuryr.cz
-->Pivovarske muzeum (Brewery Museum)
Veleslavinova 6
301 00 Plzen
tel.: +420 37723 55 74, 37722 49 55
http://www.beerworld.cz
Beer Importers
Prvni Danska Pivni, a.s. - imports Tuborg and Carlsberg
Chlumecka 765
Praha 9
Phone:+420 281 91 72 16-7, 281 91 69 00, 281 91 81 09
Budvar now using same yeast to make beer for over a century
Enjoying a glass of chilled beer one would hardly think of the complex biochemical process that is beer production. The prime ingredients are malt, hops, water and also yeast which helps turn sugar into alcohol and also influences the flavour of the beer. There are many kinds of brewers' yeasts suitable for different types of fermentation. But few breweries can boast having used the same kind of yeast for over a century.
The Czech brewer Budejovicky Budvar has cultivated the same stream since 1895 and, as master brewer Josef Tolar told me, it is so sturdy it easily put up with modern technologies introduced a few years ago.
"It is very unusual because just in the last several years a lot of breweries have changed production from traditional small fermenters to cylindro-conical tanks which are a type of modern big fermenters, staying tanks, vertical-oriented tanks. This fact brings about very different conditions concerning the pressure and volume of the vessel and the way of sedimentation of yeast. All such things influence the function of yeast.
"A lot of breweries by changing the technology needed to change the type of yeast. Not in our brewery. We have had good luck because our yeast has managed the changed conditions and we obtained the same product when we came from small quadratic open fermenters to cylindro-conical tanks in 1993-1995 without any problems."
Do you know where this yeast came from?
"It is not easy to say because we know from the technological notes in the brewery that the first technical equipment for cultivation of yeast - so called propagation - was installed in the 1930s. That means it was some 80 years ago. What was before, which kind of vessels, which conditions for cultivation were used, is not given in the old notes but what is very important - the type of yeast has not been changed at least since 1930 when we first used this new style of cultivation. We can suppose that the same stream, the same kind of yeast has been used here in the brewery since the very beginning in 1895."
Potato beer
Legend has it that Irish Franciscan monks brought the potato to the Czech Lands in the 17th century. Since then the Czechs have developed a few local specialities based on the humble spud; the best known of these are probably potato dumplings and the greasy but tasty potato pancake known as bramborak. But now the inventive Czechs have come up with a new use for the potato, as an ingredient in...beer. Yes, the Pivovarsky klub micro brewery in Prague's Karlin district has just brought out its first ever potato pivo. It certainly doesn't sound the most appetising, though its makers claim that a casual drinker might not tell the difference from any Czech lager. They don't say if "there's both eating and drinking in it".
Budvar sells 58% more Czechvar beer in US in H1
By CTK / Published 17 July 2007
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Ceske Budejovice, July 16 (CTK) - Czech brewer Budejovicky Budvar saw sales of its beer Czechvar soar 58 percent in the US in January-June this year, Budvar's PR agency said Monday.
Czechvar is distributed in the USA by Budvar's rival Anheuser-Busch.
Budvar management would not disclose the amount of Czechvar sold on the US market but the company believes beer sales in the USA will set a record this year.
According to available information, up to 8,000 hl were sold in the USA a year, and the figure might grow up to 12,000 hl this year.
Beer sales in the USA in the second half of the year will be discussed with Budvar's partner in August, Budvar head Jiri Bocek has told CTK.
Growth in beer sales is projected at some 50 percent in the USA this year, said Bocek.
Budvar and Anheuser-Busch signed a contract for Czechvar sales in January this year.
The two brewers have wrangled over the Budweiser trademark for more than 100 years. Disputes have been settled gradually, some of them won by the US company and others by the Czech brewer.
In 2000 to 2006, Budvar was leading 86 disputes with Anheuser, winning 69 and losing 12 of them. Five cases had neither a winner nor a loser.
Budejovicky Budvar is the third biggest brewery in the Czech Republic and ranks among the leading beer exporters in the country.
Last year, it raised exports by 7 percent to a record 556,000 hl of beer. It sells beer in nearly 60 countries on five continents.
Budejovicky Budvar output rose by 5 percent to 1.151 million hl of beer last year. Gross profit increased by 15 percent on the year to Kc267.2m.
Jan-June beer supplies to the domestic market amounted to 319,737 hl, up 11 percent year-on-year.
Budejovicky Budvar's major export territories and exports in 2006
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| 1 Germany |
190,000 hectolitres |
| 2 Great Britain |
106,000 |
| 3 Slovakia |
60,000 |
| 4 Austria |
45,000 |
| Italy |
10,000 |
| USA |
8,000 | ..>
7:18 PM
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For the best Czech beer you have to hit the regions
Category: Goals, Plans, Hopes
Evan Rail: For the best Czech beer you have to hit the regions
The American writer Evan Rail spent much of 2006 visiting breweries and pubs the length and breadth of the country, doing research for his excellent new book "Good beer guide Prague and the Czech Republic". In fact, it is unlikely that any other non-Czech has anywhere near his encyclopaedic knowledge of the Czech Republic's beer industry and traditions. When we met recently at a Prague centre terrace bar, I began by asking Evan Rail what the most unusual pivo he'd encountered on his travels was.
"There were several highly unusual beers that I found. Perhaps my favourite was in Hukvaldy, which is a tiny little town. There's a pub there, it's actually not even a brewery, called U zastavky - At the Stop.
"If you go inside and ask then what they serve they'll tell you, Radegast. But if you say, I thought you had your own beer, they'll oblige and pour you a glass of their own beer, which is this glorious golden liquid that you simply have to try.
"It's beautifully bittersweet and has lovely flat low carbonation, lovely taste in the mouth - you want to have another as soon as you taste it. I never would have expected to taste such a dynamic beer, such an interesting beer, in such a small town in the middle of nowhere. But there it was."
Sometimes I see beers like "fitness beer", I've heard about menopause beer for women - is there anything in those beers or are they just a gimmick?
"I'm not so sure if they're a gimmick. Fitness beer might be a gimmick in terms of marketing. But beers with low alcohol and low residual sugar have traditionally brewed here for hundreds of years - they're basically the equivalent of table beers, beers that people traditionally brewed at home just to have something to drink with a meal.
"Remember beer started out in many respects as a way of having something safe to drink. Water was contaminated in the Middle Ages but beer was almost always safe. So there was a tradition of home brewing or local beers which people drank with meals. Soldiers often drank beer for the same reason."
One thing you mention in your book "Good beer guide Prague and the Czech Republic" is that most pubs in this country only serve one brand of beer. Why is that?
"I wish I knew the answer. Basically, a lot of it comes back to collectivisation in the communist era. In the post-communist era there is a process of tied pubs, where larger brewers entered into exclusivity agreements with publicans, as a way of saying, stock our beer and only our beer and we'll give you a discount, we'll give you beer mats, we'll give you tablecloths.
"So by and large these larger brewers killed off the small beers and the variety of beers you used to find in a pub. But even before 1989, as far as I understand, most pubs only stocked one beer."
Czechs are proud of their beers - how good is Czech beer in general, do you think?
"I would have to say Czech beer is phenomenal. I was not a partisan before I moved here; I did not know that much about Czech beer. I knew a little bit about beer in a global context.
"But having lived here for a long time and having researched all these beers, and having recently done a lot of research in Germany, I can tell you that Czech beer standards are the best in the world. There's simply nothing to compare, in terms of lagers."
But there's also a feeling I get from people that Czech beers ain't what they used to be, that quality has decreased somewhat in the last 20 years, or since the revolution.
"I would say that was true probably ten years ago. But in the last ten years we've had a growth in variety, we've had approximately 50 new microbreweries open in the past ten years. Ten more are opening this year. We went from 60 breweries to now over 100, close to 110, in just ten years.
"And now they're brewing a variety of beers. Whereas before you would only see Pilsner-style lager and dark lager, there are far more wheat beers being brewed today, brewers are experimenting with ales and top fermenting styles, which are from other regions."
People tell me they don't use Czech hops like they used to. A lot of the hops here are imported from China or somewhere, and a lot of the best Czech hops are exported - is that true?
"Czech hops certainly are exported. I was in Germany a while ago researching a story about beer; I mentioned the Czech hops and they just rolled their eyes and made a little gesture with their hands to indicate how expensive they are. They're the most expensive in the world.
"Hops from Zatec - known as Saaz in the German term - are exported around the world and predominantly to countries that respect the tradition.
"Here in the Czech Republic most of the best breweries do use Czech hops still, and you can definitely taste the difference. But some of the larger industrial brewers, some of the brewers that are making the cheap beers that are just sold in supermarkets, are using imports from other countries."
One thing that slightly surprised me about your book was that you weren't too complementary about some of the better known brewers like Staropramen, the Gambrinus, which is made by Pilsner Urquell. Are those beers really so poor?
"No, they're actually wonderful beers. But given the comparisons that you have here, these beers being produced in small towns and small brewers around the country - they don't quite compare to those.
"But when you compare them to lagers being produced in England, in the United States, in Germany, factory produced lagers around the world, those beers are far superior."
A lot of Czechs are really proud of their beer, but how many people really know or care about quality? You've been involved a bit with a group called the Union of Friends of Beer - how much do they reflect the views of the average man in the Czech pub?
"That I can't say. I know that they're doing great work, the Sdruzeni pratel piva do really great work and are working to have more variety, to support local brewers, to maintain traditions, Czech hops, decoction mash, if that means anything.
"How much do they represent the views of the average man on the street, or the average man in the pub? I think in large part they do. Czechs know what a good beer tastes like.
"Now most consumers here are not terribly well educated when it comes to beer, but there's no disguising the taste. So if you try to foist upon them some kind of fancy, mass produced lager from a foreign country, that shall not be named, they generally know that it doesn't taste good.
"They generally try it once and say, yeah, it's more expensive than my good Czech beer and it doesn't have that sweet taste of malt and that bitter taste of hops that I like. I'm going to stick with what I like."
What about regional beers? When I first came here there seemed to be many of them. Perhaps I was travelling around the country more in those days, but I seem to see fewer names of breweries these days - are there less of them?
"No, there are more of them, the problem is that there are fewer of them in Prague. Doing research for the book I was surprised to find that in central Prague - not just Prague 1 and Prague 2, but Prague 3, 4, 5, 6 - it's almost impossible to find more than say 20 kinds of beer, 20 different brands on draught.
"And in Prague 1 you'd be hard pressed to find more than four. This is in a country with 100 brewers. So that tells you something about the monopolistic nature of the market in Prague."
Is that 100 brewers bottling beer?
"No, that's actually 100 brewers total, and most of them are brew pubs. But many of them like Dalesice in Vysocana also put their beer in kegs and distribute it to various pubs in their regions."
Given that the big breweries are dominating more and more, are you optimistic for the future of Czech beer?
"I'm definitely optimistic for the future of Czech beer. I was so surprised at the quality of the beer being brewed, especially in the regions.
"There was one beer I found in Pribor, which is Sigmund Freud's home town, and they call it Freudovo pivo. You can only find it in that town, it's a 13-degree dark beer, and it's rich and chocolaty and malty - it's more like a desert than or a Sacher-torte than it is a beer itself.
"Well, I was reading recently that another brewer in nearby Vojkovice, also in the Moravia-Silesia region, started his own brewery because he was so inspired by that beer.
"Both of those beers just came on the market within the past few years. That's one brewer being inspired by another, really creating craft beers, high quality with great ingredients and a wonderful taste."
The Czechs, we often hear, are ranked number one in the world in terms of consumption per person. But is it possible that that figure is pushed up by the number of tourists who come here and often drink vast amounts?
"Definitely. It's definitely helped and I encourage every tourist to do his or her part. Please drink as many beers as you can and try as widely as you can to drink beers from different places."
Finally Evan, you've travelled the length and breadth of the Czech Republic and tried hundreds of beers. The million-dollar, or million-crown, question: what's the best Czech beer?
"There are so many it's almost impossible to answer. But I can tell you what was my favourite beer experience. That was drinking a beer called Forman from Velichov. Velichovsky Forman is only served in one small pub, as far as I know, in this tiny little run-down town.
"If you go inside they'll tell you they have Gambrinus. But in fact they have this beer as well, and it is so lovely and so bright. Finding it is like discovering a secret, it's like being let in on something that nobody else knows about. For me that was my best beer experience in a year of drinking beer in the Czech Republic."
From
6:51 PM
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Prague's Palace Gardens
Category: Art and Photography
If you are looking for a place to relax on a warm summer's day then there is no better place than the Palace Gardens located on the southern slopes of Prague Castle. With their terraces, fountains, stone passageways and secluded alcoves these Baroque gardens take you to days gone by - and give you a fabulous view of the city.
Many visitors who first look down at them from the ramparts of Prague Castle think that the exquisitely kept gardens below are private property but the five gardens which form a connecting belt of greenery are all linked up and are open to visitors for a small fee from early morning till late night. The Ledebour Garden, the Great and Small Palfy Gardens, the Kolowrat Garden and the Small Furstenberg Garden represent a unique historic complex that enchants visitors from around the world. It was in the Ledebour Garden that I met up with the head of the Palace Gardens, Martina Zelenkova, to find out more about their history and what they will offer visitors in the summer months.
"The southern slope of the hill below the castle originally served defense purposes - a complex system of ramparts was built around 1241. But then after the battle of the White Mountain in 1620 the fortification system was demolished and gradually the grounds started attracting vagabonds and criminals. In order to get rid of them, the area was parceled up and the land was sold to rich burgers. They started cultivating the grounds -planting vineyards and Italian style gardens that served for leisure and amusement. It stayed that way until 1648 when the Swedes captured Prague. In later years the gardens were rebuilt in the Baroque style -with terraces, stone statues, pavilions, stairways and fountains. They were linked up into a single belt of greenery that has been maintained to the present day."
Although today the Gardens are the pride of Prague Castle, this was not always so. Martina Zelenkova says it took much planning and hard work to restore them to their former glory.
"At the beginning of the twentieth century the gardens badly needed renovating and the authorities launched a renovation process of sorts, but it was inconsistent and gradually the once exquisite gardens went to seed and became overgrown. In the 1950s they were in such a state of disrepair that they had to be closed to the public. The fall of communism marked a new chapter in their history - the state Institute for Preservation of Historical Monuments set about restoring them to their former glory. This was made possible thanks to government funds, European Funds and the Prague Heritage Fund set up Britain's Prince Charles and the former Czech president Vaclav Havel. Gradually all the gardens were cultivated and one by one they were re-opened to the public."
Today the gardens look fantastic. Roses are in bloom, figs are ripening on the southern slopes and wisterias scent the air. Each of the gardens offers a slightly different view of Prague and each has its own special character. The firm which maintains them organizes a series of summer events for visitors. Martina Zelenkova explains what's in the pipeline for this summer.
"We wanted to bring these gardens to life and the perfect way to do that was with music. Last year we introduced a series of classical music concerts. They were a huge success and we are planning a cycle of baroque music concerts for this summer, with music by Czech composers and world composers who sought and found inspiration in Prague. These baroque concerts will be held on Friday and Saturday evenings through June and July. We also offer concerts with selected Czech musicians. Last summer we introduced Czech singers Daniel Barta and Marie Rottrova and also violin virtuoso Jaroslav Sveceny. This year we have a special surprise which is still under wraps - and we will also present singers Marta Kubisova and Vera Spinarova."
Although Martina Zelenkova would not say what the special surprise for the summer is, she did admit that theatre performances are also in the pipeline, for which the organizers still need to find additional sponsors.
Last year the gardens attracted 86 thousand visitors - a record number since they opened. And they have gradually become a popular venue for garden parties, charity events, weddings, fashion-shows and even news conferences. In the Great Palfy Garden you will find a sundial with the Latin inscription "Claret in orbe dies, ac taetras, hora pete umbras" or "Clear be the day around the world and may it dispel the ugly shadows."
 The weather is sometimes unpredictable in Prague but the beauty of these gardens is sure to dispel any ugly shadows. And finally, just one more point - if you look up from the Lesser Town or down from Prague Castle at these beautiful gardens - you will find that there are actually six of them not five. The sixth - the Great Furstenberg Garden - does not belong to the State Fund for Preservation of Historical Monuments, as do the other five, but to the city of Prague. It is now under major reconstruction and is expected to open to the public next summer, completing the green belt on the southern slope of Prague Castle. Martina Zelenkova says that the idea is for all the gardens to be linked up and for visitors not to be bothered about ownership rights:
"People tend to get it mixed up - they think that all the gardens belong to the same owner and are supervised by the same authority. The Great Furstenberg Garden is not ours but we are happy that people see the gardens as a complex. We are cooperating closely with the City Hall and have agreed on what we call an 'open gate policy' on the southern slope. The gardens are a precious historical legacy and we want visitors to be able to wonder around freely through them all and savor their magic."
http://www.radio.cz/en/article/91239
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Czech sculptor Cestmir Suska has become something of a hit in the US
Category: Art and Photography
Cestmir Suska's 'Rusty Flowers'
Over the last ten years, Czech sculptor Cestmir Suska has become something of a hit in the US. His larger-than-life and painstakingly geometrical sculptures have been showered with awards, amongst them a prestigious Pollock-Krasner scholarship. The artist himself has twice been invited to live and work in the States, first in Utica, upstate New York, and then Vermont. Both invitations he happily accepted.
On a recent visit to his studio, Suska told me something of his first trip to the states, where he worked in a disused factory - one that had produced the military vehicles used in the D-Day landings:
"During my stay there, I decided to find a real studio for me, because up until then I had worked at home in a little studio. My works were getting bigger and bigger, so they filled up the courtyard and my garden as well. My wife and children were not too happy about this, and so I started to work on the field in front of the house. The time was right to find a new studio, and I was inspired by that factory in Utica. I came back with the intention of finding a real studio for me and I found this beautiful building, and it is so huge that I invited other artists to share the spare space with me."
One such 'other artist' is Tomas Bambusek, who I met seeking Suska's advice on a cardboard structure he was assembling at the time. He explained to me a little bit more about the studio and its set up:
"So this is the Bubec sculpture studio. It is named after a sweet little pond which is very close to here, the Bubec pond in Reporyje. The people that work here form a sort of association that is in charge of maintaining the studio and all of the activities that go on here. It decides upon the direction that the studio takes."
Under Suska's guidance, the studio is a lively place, with debates, school trips and exhibitions going on. Inside, stands a ghost forest of hollowed out tree trunks, from Suska's period of working with wood. Outside lie abandoned tanks and canisters, some intricately engraved with meticulous floral patterns, others gently rusting and waiting for the 'Suska treatment'. I asked Suska about the different materials he uses, and how this has progressed:
"I worked with wood in the '80s and I started to use wood in very much my own way. I used wooden trunks and my way of working was: first I dig out all of the wood from the inside, so I was left with something like a wooden tube. And then I started to carve geometric openings into the trunk, and in the end my sculptures were very nearly transparent, it was possible to look right through them. So, I started to think about transparency in my work, and I started to work with glass. In 2005, I visited the US for the second time, I received a scholarship to work in a Vermont studio centre, and it was really a very important stay for me. On my first day I discovered in a scrap yard a metal hemisphere and I thought to myself 'I have to use this, it has been waiting for me'. But I had no experience of handling metal, I wasn't able to weld or work with metal in any way. So I left the scrap yard, but in the night I had a very vivid dream. I knew I had to go there and buy that hemisphere. So in the morning I went back to the scrapyard and bought the hemisphere and thus was born my 'metal period'."
One big fan of both his glass and metal work is Jan Vitvar, Art correspondent for Respekt magazine:
"What I find exciting about him is that he works with materials that are decades old, and in these materials you can already see decay. The trees he uses are worm-eaten and all dried out and split. Now that he works with iron, it is usually rusty iron that he finds on scrapheaps. The trees he uses have been chopped down, but not by him. He saves them and somehow gives them a new life. He likes to try and make the most of things in their past-it kind of state. In the case of these iron sculptures, well, they are really remarkable feats, actually. The cisterns, the metal that he uses is really tough, and he has to spend hours welding lacey patterns into it."
His cisterns, a motley crew of gas and beer tanks, are currently on display in Liberec, stopping people in their tracks out in the town square. A series of his glass works are currently on display in Prague at the Czech Museum of Fine Art. But it has predominantly been in America that he has been recognised and his works exhibited. But for all of this transatlantic influence, is there still something typically 'Czech' about his work? Jan Vitvar believes so:
"I think there is, because just this idea to engrave lace-like patterns into cisterns - to join things up that shouldn't be together is a principle specific to Czech art in particular. I don't think this sort of thing would be done by an American artist. Equally I think that this element of light humour in his work, in his cisterns, is quite a Czech thing. I don't think that, say, an American sculptor would include this gentle humour in his or her work."
But for all of this discussion of his work and technique, Suska insists that it is all really very simple:
"I just go to some scrapyard and it is possible to find the most beautiful shapes, they are waiting there to be destroyed and I revive them. I bring them to my studio and I transform them into beautiful sculptures. It's like in a fairytale, when a frog is changed into a prince."
6:07 PM
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[31 May 2007 | Thursday]
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BRNO FOREIGN INVESTMENT
The city of Brno has won the competition for European City of the Future for both 2004/2005 and 2005/2006 which is organized by the prestigious FDI magazine, a Financial Times publication, in the category of Visegrad group cities. It even beat out Prague, Budapest, Warsaw and Bratislava in this category.
What was said in 2004/2005: "Brno's fast economic growth and high GDP-per-capita helped to push it ahead of other cities in the region. The judges also gave top marks for its economic potential and recent FDI deals involving UK-headquartered engineering firm IMI International, US technology group Honeywell and US advanced engineering company Danaher Motion, which between them created 900 jobs. Brno also scored well for its international promotion strategy and incentives."
What was said in 2005/2006: "Brno, the Czech Republic's second largest city and economic centre of the Moravian region, has seen rapid and sustained economic growth in recent years, averaging more than 9% a year for the past decade. Brno pulled ahead on economic development strategy, scoring top marks for investment promotion, clear incentives and public investment projects. It also ranked top for IT and telecommunications." Click here to read the full article.
Swiss company Aguna chose to build their new plant in Brno. The company intends to invest almost 250 million crowns during the first two years. They will be able to employ at least 80 people in production and development of precision instruments. A large part of the employees will be college-educated specialists.
"The quality level of the work force was the deciding factor for Aguna."
"Their representatives are convinced that they will find engineers in Brno who are just as capable and qualified as in Switzerland," said Tomá-- Bohrn, Project Manager at CzechInvest, and added: "This precision engineering project demonstrates the huge potential of Brno as well as the South Moravian region to attract technically advanced engineering R&D investments."
Daikin Industries Ltd. is a world leader in the production of modern air-conditioning equipment. After the double-billion investment in Plzen, the Daikin company has decided to build a new factory for the production of compressors into air-conditioners in Brno. In the first stage, the company intends to invest 1.2 billion crowns and to create more than 500 skilled jobs.
"Our decision to invest at first in Plzen and now also in Brno is strategic and very important for the future. The Czech Republic should become the important base for our production for the fast-growing markets of the European Union," says Jiro Tomita, General Manager of Daikin Europe, and continues: "The factory in Brno will deliver compressors to our subsidiaries in Plzen and in Oostende, Belgium. It is the compressors that are the most important part and 'heart', which secures the functioning of air-conditioning units."
Symbol Technologies launched operation of their new centre in Brno for shared customer support and financial services for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA). Symbol Technologies has already invested more than seventy million Czech crowns into technological equipment and within three years plans to set aside another almost half a million crowns for wages, training and operation. The centre will initially employ 200 people and this number is expected to increase by another 550 employees.
"We chose Brno for several reasons, namely the good offer of qualified labour, a good site and the good position of Brno in proximity to Symbol's existing centres and customers in Europe," said Steve Priestley, Vice President and General Manager of Symbol for EMEA. "By concentrating repair, customer call support and administration of finances, contracts and orders into one European centre we will be able to improve the overall standard of our services and keep it at a high level for the long-term."
Austrian-German producer of health care and hygienic products Lohmann & Rauscher announced publically the end of December, 2004 that they will build their new plant in South Moravia. The company is investing more than 41.5 million euros into expansion and modernization of its production facility here and will create over 160 new job opportunities.
"While the company in Germany concentrates on a selected part of health care products like plaster casts and bandages, we are gradually transferring production of medical dressings, operating masks and other surgical products to the Czech plants. Production at the enlarged plant in Slavkov near Brno should be launched within two years and the main customers will be the European subsidiaries of Lohmann & Rauscher," said Rudolf Vonys, procurator of Lohmann & Rauscher s.r.o, and added: "Our final customers are health care facilities all over Europe, for example German, French and Austrian hospitals and Dutch, Swedish and Italian pharmacies."
Japanese Company Ohmori Technos Corporation has decided to build a new factory in the area of Brno. At the outset, the company will invest about 15 million euros. Estimations suggest that at least 150 new positions will be provided in the Brno area. Production in the new plant is scheduled to start by the end of 2006.
"Today, the Czech Republic is known as the center of industry in Europe. In fact, a broad range of Japanese companies have successfully established their plants in the country. Assessing these situations, we have decided to carry out this investment," commented Fumio Ohmori, president of Ohmori Technos Corporation.
The world's largest airline, Lufthansa from Germany, has officially committed, as of the end of February 2005, to opening a new shared services centre in the Moravian side of Czech Republic. The new centre, which will be located in Brno, will assist customers of Central and Eastern Europe. It is expected to employ up to 100 people. This tenth call centre for Lufthansa, named Global Telesales Brno s.r.o., will start operations on June 1st 2005.
"Central and Eastern Europe is a strategic market for us where we plan in the coming years to double the volume of our activities," commented Stephan Semsch, Lufthansa's Director for Central and Eastern Europe, and added: "We thoroughly assessed 30 possible localities in total and ultimately chose Brno for its strategically favourable position within the region and its proximity to the important airline hubs of Munich and Frankfurt. Other great advantages of the Czech Republic are its membership in the EU, quality telecommunications and technical infrastructure and the motivated, qualified and cost-effective work force."
Daido Metal, producer of bearings for the automobile industry, signed an agreement on future agreement on the purchase of land with the city of Brno today to build a new production plant. The investment of Daido Metal will amount to nearly 13 million euro and the plant will employ up to 100 persons in the first stage. The production should be launched at the beginning of next year.
"The Czech Republic has a very strong position in Europe in the automobile sector and even many of our clients have their production plants here. The production of our Czech plant will cover the demand generated both in the Central European countries and on the entire continent," says Issei Yoshida, Managing Director of Daido Metal Europe.
"Our Czech branch, Daido Metal Czech, will be the first company within the entire group to operate fully independently, without a strategic partner from the same field. The only partners in the Czech Republic will be the locals, in particular in the area of technical engineering and development, We also intend to cooperate with the city of Brno," says Tetsuro Nishiyama, Managing Director of Daido Metal Czech s.r.o.
Acer, the major manufacturer in the notebook sector will opened a new service center, with a related call-center for customers in Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA). The Acer shared services centre opened on July 1st in Brno, within the industrial complex Cernovická Terrace and is expected to provide at least 60 new jobs.
"We have been experiencing great market growth in the last two years in the countries of Europe, Middle East and Africa. The new centre will replace the current solution, where customer service is being provided via external service providers," stated Stefan Engel, Region Manager North + Central Europe and added: "Our goal is to provide even better support to all countries involved in their native language and double the staff within one year."
GigaByte Technology, a producer of computer components, is building a high-tech repair centre in Brno - Cernovicka Terasa where customers from all over Europe will send their laptops, graphics cards and motherboards. 25 million CZK is being invested with a projected 50 employees being required.
GigaByte Technology chose the Czech Republic over the other Central European countries, including Hungary, which was the Czech Republic's main competitor. Brno won mainly owing to its quality infrastructure and sufficient, qualified work force.
The service centre will be built in Brno despite the fact that the company will not be receiving government investment incentives. Its executives thereby confirmed that Czech Republic has a lot to offer foreign investors.
Progeon Ltd, a leader in third party outsourcing in India, has completed its first phase of its project in Brno. The company currently employees 80 people in its downtown Brno office and provides process management services in sixteen European languages. Future growth plans will eventually offer career opportunities for hundreds of people from Brno and the surrounding area.
"The Czech Republic is an attractive destination for companies like ours that hope to reach a wide European market," said Akshaya Bhargava, managing director and CEO, Progeon Ltd. "Brno has excellent infrastructure and facilities, a supportive government, and people with multiple language skills.
The best quality and most beneficial industrial zones in the Czech Republic were handed awards by the Czech ministers. The fifth annual "Industrial Zone of the Year" awards were presented according to the recommendations of the Ministry of Industry & Trade and CzechInvest in cooperation with the Association for Foreign Investment (AFI) and partners in the "Partnership to Support Foreign Direct Investment in the Czech Republic".
The award for Industrial Zone with the Most Economic Benefits was given to the "Cernovicka terasa" Industrial Zone in Brno, while the Zone with the Most Social Benefit in 2004 was the Ostrava Hrabova Industrial Zone - 1st Stage. The Industrial Zone with the Best Town Planning Solution is being prepared by a private developer in Ostrava -– CTPark Ostrava, and the " | | |
Cylindro-conical tanks, photo: www.budvar.cz
Potato beer, photo: CTK
Evan Rail
Cestmir Suska, photo: 2media.cz
Bubec sculpture studio, photo: www.bubec.cz
Rusty flowers, photo: 2media.cz
Rusty flowers, photo: www.suska.cz
Sphere with Leaves, 2005, photo: www.suska.cz