Czech Business Today
High electricity and gas prices are only now becoming apparent for companies
According to the survey of the Confederation of Industry of the Czech Republic (SP CR), up to 80% of companies do not have fixed energy prices for 2023. The Confederation of Industry of the Czech Republic surveyed 114 industrial companies on questions related to the energy crisis. The results are not very optimistic, and it turns out that most companies do not even have a guaranteed contract for the next year, 2023. Most of the companies that participated in the survey have fixed gas prices for this year, roughly 2/3 of the companies, half of which have roughly the same conditions as in 2021, and the other half have a fixation several times higher. The remaining 1/3 are not yet significantly affected by the electricity and gas prices increase. However, the biggest problem is expected next year. For gas, according to the survey, only 22% of companies have a price fix, and overall, companies confirmed that they have a big problem with negotiating energy supply contracts for 2023.
Firms are responding by trying to save as much energy as possible. Investing in energy savings is one of the most common measures that firms are taking. There is also a big problem for firms that cannot replace gas quickly due to technology, and more than one-quarter of the firms surveyed are unable to reduce their gas consumption. Many firms plan to invest in their photovoltaic power plants, more than half plan to install more efficient lighting, and a quarter will upgrade their heating system.
Jaroslav Hanák, President of the Confederation of Industry of the Czech Republic, points out, “Many companies have also been forced to reflect the rising energy prices in their product prices, but only a small number of companies have managed to do so in full. Almost half of the companies reduced their planned investments due to high energy prices. However, this may be a problem in the future, as firms may lose competitiveness by limiting investment in their development”. He then says that the government needs to look rapidly for other options, and an extension of the Temporary Crisis Framework aid for another year needs to be negotiated.
The Czech Chamber of Commerce says the same, which appreciates the extension of the Crisis Framework until the end of this year, but an extension for another year, 2023, needs to be negotiated, which would have to be done before the end of the Czech Presidency.
