An extremely confident Industry Min. Jozef Síkela (STAN) told Czech TV yesterday (at 12h47m) that the Fiala government will not close any companies this winter because of a shortage of natural gas and that we will have a rather normal winter. This is excellent news for businesses that were fearing losing their valid gas contracts and being subjected to rationing because of a gas emergency. However, Síkela’s words contrast somewhat with the latest report of Germany’s gas-network agency, Bundesnetzagentur. It stated on Fri. that gas supply in Germany is stable and that the security of supply is guaranteed at the present time but that it continues to assess the situation as tense and cannot rule out a further deterioration. The Economist wrote last week that millions of Germans read the daily gas report and that industrialists and others hang on the every word of its boss, Klaus Müller, because they know that he would be the one in charge of rationing. Síkela’s assurances of a rather normal winter are nice to have, but Czechs who really want to know what is in store for them should also probably be paying close attention to Müller.

FW221205

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