Announcements on investments and deadlines have dominated the news out of the Czech Republic’s transport infrastructure in this quarter. Sprava Zeleznicni Dopravni Cesty (SZDC), the company in charge of the Czech Republic’s railway network, has announced that over US$1.94bn is to be spent on the country’s rail infrastructure in 2009. The Czech Republic has announced that it will also source US$4.5bn from EU funds to help it realise rail infrastructure projects. This announcement will no doubt draw the attention of the big European players in the sector, as with funding assured new projects look set to be announced. Sweden’s Skanska is already well embedded in the country and in June 2008 led a consortium that won a US$331mn tender to rebuild part of a railway link between Prague and the German border.

The Czech Republic is currently undertaking a major road build programme. In June 2008 Alfred Brunclik, the head of the Czech Republic’s Roads and Motorway Directorate (RSD) announced that the country’s entire motorway network build scheme would be completed in 2020. The country’s motorway network currently stretches for 1,022km, 136km is currently under construction and another 1,000km is due to be built by 2020.

This quarter has seen the Czech Republic resurrect plans to expand its nuclear power sector. Plans for nuclear expansion in the Czech Republic were placed on hold in 2006 after the election of a coalition government which included the Green party as a junior partner. The tide appears to be turning with the Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek stating that he is in favour of nuclear power. In May 2008 Vladimir Hlavinka, the Chief Production Officer at the Czech Republic power utility CEZ, announced that more nuclear power facilities must be developed in the Czech Republic over the mid term, in order to meet growing power demands. In a bid to push this forward CEZ announced in July 2008 that it had requested an environmental impact assessment (EIA) for the addition of two new units at the country’s existing Temelin nuclear power plant. Further developments to this nuclear plan will have to wait until a legislative election in the Czech Republic.

The country is registering medium growth in its construction sector. In 2008 the Czech construction industry is forecast to be worth US$12.64bn, a growth of 5.73% on 2007’s figure. The growth in the country’s construction sector is being fuelled by both residential build projects and commercial expansion. This quarter the Czech daily newspaper Mlada fronta Dnes reported that approximately 40 shopping centres are expected to be built in the country over the next three years.