Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

CZECH REPUBLIC: GENERAL METADATA Data documentation General notes The fiscal year in the Czech Republic coincides with the calendar year. Consumer support estimates were provided directly by the Ministry of Environment, the Ministry of Finance, and the Ministry of Industry and Trade. Measures pertaining to the restructuring of the country’s coal-mining industry and associated environmental liabilities are taken from a study included in the Mineral Commodity Summaries of the Czech Republic (Czech Geological Survey - Geofond, 2010) that was published by the Ministry of Industry and Trade: "Eliminating negative consequences of mining in the Czech Republic" - main methods and financial resources" (Kaštovský and Platzek, 2010). Notes relating to the General Services Support Estimate Since 1991, the Czech Republic has not supported the production or consumption of coal. The state retains, however, an obligation to deal with the social, health, and environmental liabilities associated with past mining activity. The government transferred these obligations to two state-owned enterprises, DIAMO, s.p. and Palivový kombinát Ústí, s.p., which acquired the assets of the closed mining companies. These state-owned enterprises receive government subsidies for the activities they carry out. Since measures financed through these subsidy payments do not act to increase current production or consumption of coal, they are all allocated to the GSSE. Restructuring the coal-mining industry and remediating the negative environmental consequences of mining are conducted in several different ways and using several different financial resources (Kaštovský and Platzek, 2010). Besides the measures reported in this inventory, mining companies have since 1994 been required to set up two reserve funds: a financial reserve for remediation and reclamation of all plots of land affected by mining, and a financial reserve for alleviating material damage caused by mining (e.g. land subsidence).