Press Releases

21. 5. 200811:07

May 21, 2008: Government Supported Development and Regional Projects in Ústí Region

At its travelling session in Teplice, the Czech Government devoted itself, among other issues, to the problems facing the Ústí Region. The key purpose was to support development of this region, which ranks among the disadvantaged parts of the country. That is also why the Government’s session was followed by the accompanying programme of the Premier and the individual Government Ministers.

On Tuesday, Premier Mirek Topolánek visited the Oncology Department of the hospital in Ústí nad Labem. In terms of health and sickness rate, the region figures among the worst affected parts in the Czech Republic. On this occasion, the Premier noted that this region and its inhabitants in particular will benefit from the reform of the Czech health-care system which reinforces solidarity of the healthy with ill citizens, transferring financial means formerly used for treating ordinary ailments to the treatment of serious diseases.

Accompanied by the Trade and Industry Minister Martin Říman, the Premier then attended a debate with citizens of Horní Jiřetín, a locality potentially threatened by coal-mining. Premier Topolánek announced that the Government will in no case lift its resolution on ecological limits imposed on coal-mining, and was applauded by the audience in the packed room. Mirek Topolánek went on to stress that a solution for endangered communities should be sought in an agreement between the Government, mining companies and local representatives. The same applies to the need of finding alternative sources of energy including nuclear power plants.

At its meeting, the Government supported the idea of building a campus for Ústí University. In fact, this involves a specific contribution to the implementation of the Premier´s priority task - support for education. On a nationwide scale, the Ústí Region is known to lag behind in the number of university-trained people. According to Premier Mirek Topolánek, this particular project is aimed primarily at raising the number of B.A. title holders who could then find jobs in promoting the region’s technological and industrial base.

Other projects include the construction of a justice complex in Ústí nad Labem and a prison at Rapotice. These projects are being prepared within the framework of cooperation between the public and private sector (PPP).

The Government has also approved a plan to renovate the Terezín Memorial from the state budget without the usual 15% co-financing by the municipality concerned. This is due to the fact that the planned costs exceed the possibilities of the town of Terezín. At the proposal of the Trade and Industry Minister Martin Říman, the Government has approved a plan to grant 800 million CZK a year to regions with coal-mining and electricity generation by coal burning. Based on the ratio between the actual volume of coal mining and installed electricity output, the Ústí Region will receive 450 million CZK.

The Government has also approved a package of measures to revitalize the town of Terezín, and heard information by the Ministers of Health, Transportation and Agriculture on the measures taken in their respective departments to help the Ústí Region. These measures involve projects worth several billion CZK.