Almost six months of negotiations between the management of Česká rafinérská, which operates the Czech Republic’s two key oil refineries, and employees on a wage rise have yet to produce an agreement. Unions will vote on Wednesday whether to accept a compromise tabled by a mediator. Union leader Jan Klimeš says employees may strike at end of June if their offer is rejected.

Czech Deputy Minister for Energy Tomáš Hüner has warned of expected German and Austria pressure to discourage the Czech Republic from going ahead with plans to build two new nuclear blocs at its current Temelín site not far from the Austrian border. The warning follows a similar demand from Czech Prime Minister Petr Nečas for Germany not to interfere with the Czech nuclear expansion.

Public Affairs (VV) reckons it has been shortchanged of ministerial posts since two of its ministers were forced out of the Cabinet following recent scandals. It is now seeking to make up the deficit and allegedly has the Environment Ministry in its sights. The likely VV candidate for the post is the mayor of the northern town of in Litvínov, Milan Šťovíček, for whom it seems no one has a bad word.

Electricity companies and regulators in the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary have signed a declaration committing themselves to the creation of a single electricity market by the first half of 2012. In effect, Hungary will join the coupled market already created between the Czech Republic and Slovakia.