ODS opposes incentives, Part II

Jiří Schwarz of the Liberal Institute said on Fri. that investment incentives are an expensive way to create jobs. Speaking at the 4th annual Krušovice Conference (sponsored by Krušovice brewery, Bosch, Česká spořitelna, Eurotel, HVB and other foreign investors), he cited figures from CzechInvest showing that the government spends Kč 4.5m for each job it creates with incentives. In contrast, the Development Bank (ČMZRB) needs just Kč 262,000 in subsidies to create a job. He said that small companies that can't qualify for incentives are being discriminated against. Josef Lébl of CzechInvest protested, saying that small companies have a chance to participate in projects by investors such as Toyota and Philips. MP Ivan Pilip of US-DEU, who helped get the incentives passed, told MF Dnes that support for foreign investors has already exceeded an acceptable level.