Prague - The proportion of foreign capital in Czech companies has decreased slightly in 2011. The only exception are the investment by companies registered in tax havens - their proportion increased sharply in the same year.
This is the conclusion of the analysis of the ownership structure of Czech companies conducted by Czech Capital Investment Agency (ČEKIA).
According to the report, the proportion of domestic capital in Czech companies increased 3.5 percent this year, while foreign investment dropped by 1.9 percent.
However, foreign investment from tax havens increased by 11.7 percent, by CZK 41bil.
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"The slight outflow of foreign investment is caused by the uneasy situation on the market after the recent global recession and above all by fears of a new one. However, what is alarming is the sharp increase in the volume of Czech firms' capital controlled from tax havens," said ČEKIA analyst Petra Štěpánová.
Almost one fourth of the foreign investment in Czech companies comes from the Netherlands. German investment amounts to 12 percent and Austrian 10 percent.
"Many companies use the Netherlands and Cyprus only as tax headquarters, while capital and know-how usually does not come from these countries," said Štěpánková.
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The proportion of Indian capital in Czech companies increased by 247 percent - the largest increase, followed by the Cayman islands (148 percent) and Malta (60 percent).
However, more than three-fourths of Czech companies are owned by Czech citizens. Russian owners control 19 percent of Czech companies, Germans 12 percent.
