Former Civic Democrat (ODS) Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek  has confirmed he will officially stand to head the Association for District Heating of the Czech Republic (ADH ČR)on September 5. The move puts Topolánek at the center of one of the biggest business conflicts in the country. The battle pits coal companies and the firms that heat most major Czech cities over getting cheap coal supplies to heating company boilers. 

Official sources confirm that preparations for a visit by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev are well underway in Prague. An early December date looks likely to coincide with the opening of an exhibition of Kremlin treasures. But the real treasure that Medvedev will be interested in is the contract (eyed by Atomstrojexport) to complete the Czech power plant Temelín run by ČEZ.

The state-owned Czech Export Bank (ČEB) has agreed to loan the Ukrainian state-owned nuclear power plant operator Energoatom $43.7 million (approximately Kč 780 million), the Russian energy news server pronedra.ru reported Tuesday. The money will reportedly be used to acquire nuclear fuel storage facilities for the fifth reactor block of the six-reactor Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant on the Dnieper River in the south of the country.

Energy Regulatory Office (ERÚ) chief Alena Vitásková says she is concerned that an article about her published in the weekly Euro, owned by Czech billionaire Petr Kellner’s PPF Group, could be part of a strategy by the investment firm to blackmail her. She says it cast doubt upon her independence and transparency in her new post while giving the impression the main aim was to “gain leverage” over her.