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Yes, in Czechia we have same corrupted politics and business. Since summer 2021 prices goes up around 30% on food, 50% for energy. Most ridiculous is that our p

Yes, in Czechia we have same corrupted politics and business. Since summer 2021 prices goes up around 30% on food, 50% for energy. Most ridiculous is that our power plants make enough energy for entire country and 15% are sold abroad, but... All energy is auctioned on the Leipzig Stock Exchange for 600% higher price than it is actually made (1 kWh cost around 1 CZK to made, it's sold for 6-7 CZK and rising. Now our gonverment need to cap prices from our taxes so state budget has this year recorded deficit since 70’s around 350 bilion CZK. Trust in gonverment is very low, voter turnout was around 48% in regional elections. Our politicians blame war in Ukraine, it's ridiculous.

tasuki 4y ago
I'm Czech, though somewhat disconnected from local situation/politics. > Most ridiculous is that our power plants make enough energy for entire country and 15% are sold abroad, but... All energy is auctioned on the Leipzig Stock Exchange for 600% higher price than it is actually made (1 kWh cost around 1 CZK to made, it's sold for 6-7 CZK and rising. Why is that ridiculous? We make something cheap, and sell it abroad for profit. Isn't it a good thing we're exporting? (I'd get it if your argument was against the coal power plants, I don't get why selling abroad for a profit is bad in general.)
- t0bia_s 4y ago
  When you import it back with that price, I find it immoral. Who decide to sell it back to country wher it came from with 6 time higher price? It's called "lichva". Germans have cheaper prices and also 3 times more average income. Also what's the point to make own people suffer and be poor by this business? It's absolutely ridiculous.
  - tasuki 4y ago
    I can't follow your comment, apart from seeing that you're outraged about the situation. It's a global world. If someone else is willing to pay more for the energy than us, we should sell it to them and use the money we earn to buy the things we value more, things we're willing to pay more for.
    - ChuckNorris89 4y ago
      No, your logic of selling resources to the highest bidder doesn't work for basic necessities like food, water, energy and healthcare, especially not during an energy shortage. That's why @t0bia_s is so pissed about. It works for commodities or non critical resources not in short supply locally like in Australia's mining industry but not for resources your citizens need to survive. What you're advocating for is economic colonialism where the rich countries can just buy everything they want and the poor ones are forced to sell while starving their people. "Sorry Ghana, no drinking water for you anymore as Nestle, the US and Switzerland are willing to pay more for it. But you can use the money you get to buy bottled water back from us." The unified EU energy market has been a disaster for the consumers in energy stable poor countries who saw massive price increases as they were forced to sell energy to higher bidders suffering a shortage, like Germany, with the profits going to the private energy companies instead of the governments. It's basically privatizing the winnings and socializing the losses.
    - jq-r 4y ago
      I disagree as your theory doesn't account for the difference between buying power of citizens in different EU countries which varies greatly. If my country (Croatia) is importing natural gas for cheap (and it is), and then selling it to EU countries, and then importing that same gas back to Croatia, but now with price increase in triple digits, which vast majority of it's citizens cannot afford, then I call this a scheme where government isn't working for it's citizens, it is working for someone else's. And this doesn't even account for extremely high profits some of the companies (and politicians) are making. I would understand if you sell the extra gas (and there is plenty of that too) to EU market; but keeping your citizens poor and/or without heating so a better paying western european citizen can have plenty of gas is troublesome to say the least. You may have a point that with that price difference while exporting gas the government has extra money. I'm not so sure if thats a great idea, as governments are just corrupted as hell (at least Croatian one is) and a normal citizen won't see a cent of it. One may argue that corruption and energy prices are two separate things, but I would argue that they are just two faces of the same coin and they go well hand in hand.
    - t0bia_s 4y ago
      If your argument is global world, than why is average salary in Czechia 3 times lower than in our neighbors in Germany? How can you apply same prices to different countries?

tasuki 4y ago

I'm Czech, though somewhat disconnected from local situation/politics. > Most ridiculous is that our power plants make enough energy for entire country and 15% are sold abroad, but... All energy is auctioned on the Leipzig Stock Exchange for 600% higher price than it is actually made (1 kWh cost around 1 CZK to made, it's sold for 6-7 CZK and rising. Why is that ridiculous? We make something cheap, and sell it abroad for profit. Isn't it a good thing we're exporting? (I'd get it if your argument was against the coal power plants, I don't get why selling abroad for a profit is bad in general.)

t0bia_s 4y ago
When you import it back with that price, I find it immoral. Who decide to sell it back to country wher it came from with 6 time higher price? It's called "lichva". Germans have cheaper prices and also 3 times more average income. Also what's the point to make own people suffer and be poor by this business? It's absolutely ridiculous.
- tasuki 4y ago
  I can't follow your comment, apart from seeing that you're outraged about the situation. It's a global world. If someone else is willing to pay more for the energy than us, we should sell it to them and use the money we earn to buy the things we value more, things we're willing to pay more for.
  - ChuckNorris89 4y ago
    No, your logic of selling resources to the highest bidder doesn't work for basic necessities like food, water, energy and healthcare, especially not during an energy shortage. That's why @t0bia_s is so pissed about. It works for commodities or non critical resources not in short supply locally like in Australia's mining industry but not for resources your citizens need to survive. What you're advocating for is economic colonialism where the rich countries can just buy everything they want and the poor ones are forced to sell while starving their people. "Sorry Ghana, no drinking water for you anymore as Nestle, the US and Switzerland are willing to pay more for it. But you can use the money you get to buy bottled water back from us." The unified EU energy market has been a disaster for the consumers in energy stable poor countries who saw massive price increases as they were forced to sell energy to higher bidders suffering a shortage, like Germany, with the profits going to the private energy companies instead of the governments. It's basically privatizing the winnings and socializing the losses.
  - jq-r 4y ago
    I disagree as your theory doesn't account for the difference between buying power of citizens in different EU countries which varies greatly. If my country (Croatia) is importing natural gas for cheap (and it is), and then selling it to EU countries, and then importing that same gas back to Croatia, but now with price increase in triple digits, which vast majority of it's citizens cannot afford, then I call this a scheme where government isn't working for it's citizens, it is working for someone else's. And this doesn't even account for extremely high profits some of the companies (and politicians) are making. I would understand if you sell the extra gas (and there is plenty of that too) to EU market; but keeping your citizens poor and/or without heating so a better paying western european citizen can have plenty of gas is troublesome to say the least. You may have a point that with that price difference while exporting gas the government has extra money. I'm not so sure if thats a great idea, as governments are just corrupted as hell (at least Croatian one is) and a normal citizen won't see a cent of it. One may argue that corruption and energy prices are two separate things, but I would argue that they are just two faces of the same coin and they go well hand in hand.
  - t0bia_s 4y ago
    If your argument is global world, than why is average salary in Czechia 3 times lower than in our neighbors in Germany? How can you apply same prices to different countries?