The Ministry of Transport is launching the COVID-BUS scheme to support entrepreneurs in irregular bus transport. The scheme shall bring compensation for the consequences of the lockdown caused by the covid-19 pandemic. As passed by the government, one billion Czech crowns is now ready to help operators of irregular bus transportation overcome the current situation on the market until the second quarter of 2021.
The Ministry of Transport has agreed with the Ministry of the Interior to tolerate the invalid driving licences during the state of emergency declared in the Czech Republic. Drivers can continue to use their expired licences; the licence is considered valid and drivers should not be fined. Furthermore, the Ministry proposes to extend the validity of driving licences until 31 March 2021.
The government approved the highest budget of the State Fund for Transport Infrastructure ever. A total of CZK 127.5 billion shall be spent on transport infrastructure in 2021. Of this 90.5 billion is from national resources and 22 billion from EU funds. And another 15 billion is from the European Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF).
Due to the current covid-19 measures and the lockdown, České dráhy will modify the offer of long-distance trains outside the peak hours and in edge times. Coordinating with the Ministry of Transport that orders these connections, operation on some long-distance lines will be slightly restricted. Also regional connections will be cut following agreements with regions.
The use of state-of-the-art technologies for science and technological development for purely commercial purposes as well as for the needs of the sovereign state – these are the primary points of focus of the future Czech mission which the European Space Agency (ESA) is currently tendering in the Czech republic. The contract value is more than CZK 1 billion and the contract term is 10 years. Independent space research of Czech stakeholders could be the result. The bid submission deadline is 14 December 2020. This now takes Czech businesses, that have so far been dealing with hardware development and testing, also to the field of construction, launching and operation of systems in orbit.
The hereby react to the misleading statements of Česká společnost pro ekologii and Česká limnologická společnosti and other societies from this field At its meeting on 5 October 2020, the government acknowledged the results of the feasibility study on the Danube-Odra-Labe water corridor and authorised the transport minister with preparations of the Odra branch in section Ostrava-Svinov – state border with Poland (Koźle).