Business

Did the Ukrainian beverage company Obolon buy a traditional Czech beer brand, Braník, a lager brewed by Pivovary Staropramen, part of the Molson Coors Beverage Company? No, that's not true: A spokeswoman for Pivovary Staropramen confirmed to Lead Stories that there was no such deal and that the information was false. The claim appeared in a video (archived here) published…

Does the appreciation of the Russian ruble against the U.S. dollar prove that Western sanctions against Russia are not working? No, it doesn't: Economists argue that the relationship between sanctions and exchange rate developments is not one-to-one and that the effectiveness of sanctions cannot be inferred from the exchange rate. In some cases, sanctions can paradoxically strengthen the sanctioned country's…

Does paying by card when traveling abroad protect Czechs from additional costs or Czech companies with euro bank accounts from currency exchange costs when exporting goods? No, that's not true: Payments by card abroad still involve transactional costs charged by banks or other providers, and for companies, to have a foreign currency account is also more expensive than having a…

Did the poultry discovered to have salmonella by Czech veterinary authorities in March 2024 come from Ukraine? No, that's not true: The case referred to in the video on TikTok is about chicken meat that came from a Czech farm. CNN Prima News, whose social media post was used in the video on TikTok, states the details in the article…

Does Hungarian-American billionaire hedge fund manager George Soros own Seznam.cz, the largest Czech search engine? No, that's not true: A company press release from 2016 and publicly accessible company filings confirm that the search engine's shareholders are its founder, Ivo Lukacevic, and Seznam.cz itself. The claim appeared in a post (archived here) on TikTok on December 13, 2023. The text…

Is the so-called Green Deal, a package of European Union policy initiatives, a political scheme designed to impoverish and rob citizens that is not aimed at reducing the harmful effects of climate change? No, that's not true: Green Deal policy objectives are designed to help transform the European Union into a prosperous community with modern and competitive economies while aiming…

Was the bird flu outbreak at a Czech poultry farm in January 2024, resulting in the culling of 73,000 chickens, actually a deliberate scheme to introduce U.S. poultry into the Czech market? No, that's not true: Authorities confirmed the presence of highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza at a poultry farm near Chocen, located two hours east of Prague. The claim…

Do iPhones secretly use infrared flashes to take and store pictures of your face? No, that's not true: On models that support it, iPhones have an Attention Aware feature, which checks if you're looking at the device to prevent it from locking or dimming the screen, and a Face ID feature, to provide authentication through facial recognition. Both features don't…

Has the European Union's policy of becoming carbon neutral by 2050, the Green Deal, caused the energy crisis that has led to a rise in prices in the European Union in recent years? No, that's not true: The European Union is facing an energy crisis because of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The claim appeared in a video (archived here)…

Is the ecological impact of combustion-engine cars less than that of electric vehicles (EVs)? No, that's not true: Despite the environmental impact of battery production for EVs, studies indicate that electric vehicles are more ecologically friendly throughout their lifespan when compared to combustion-engine cars, even in cases where the electricity used to charge EV batteries is sourced from coal power…

Is Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala related to the Czech entrepreneur Tomas Fiala, who does business in Ukraine? No, that's not true: The government office denied that the two are related and said that Petr Fiala is not even acquainted with the businessman. Fiala is a relatively common Czech surname. The claim appeared in a video (archived here) on TikTok…

Is the Czech government reneging on its promise to wean the country off its dependence on Russian gas because some traders have started buying gas that is likely of Russian origin in late 2023? No, that's not true: the Czech Republic has shifted nearly all natural gas purchases to producers in Norway and the Netherlands using pipelines in Germany to…

Is the average Czech monthly wage lower than 42,000 koruna, or $1,855, because statistics do not reflect the experience of some people? No, that's not true: The average gross nominal monthly wage in the third quarter of 2023 was 42,658 koruna, according to the Czech Statistical Office. The claim appeared in a video (archived here) on TikTok on December 5,…

Do companies use children for the purpose of obtaining adrenochrome? No, that's not true: The chemical is produced synthetically in labs, not via "apprehensive children." Furthermore, the concentration of adrenochrome in the bloodstream, analogous to adrenaline, is negligible, according to biochemists. The claim appeared in a video (archived here) by @kontrola.tienov on November 9, 2023, under the title (translated from…

Are Czechs filling up with costly diesel imported from the U.S. that's produced from cheap Russian crude oil? No, that's not true: The diesel imported into the Czech Republic by the Czech state-controlled fuel distributor CEPRO, which is also in charge of the state emergency reserves, is produced in Louisiana. U.S. sanctions currently forbid U.S. refineries and importers from importing…

Did the CEO of Pfizer, Albert Bourla, say the company's goal is to halve the global population by 2023? No, that's not true: The audio on the video from the World Economic Forum, in which Bourla was recorded speaking, has been altered and words omitted to present a false meaning. The claim appeared in a video (archived here) on TikTok…

Is the Czech government preparing measures to allow it to seize money from indviduals' accounts, if they cannot prove its origin? No, that's not true: the Czech government is not planing to seize money from individuals' accounts, but it is in the process of devising measures to combat illicit financial flows. The government has tasked the justice minister with drafting…

Can Amazon voice assistant Alexa foretell the future - and did it predict the start of WWIII? No, that's not true: there is no device that can foretell the future and Amazon says it cannot replicate this particular response. The claim that Alexa predicted the start of World War III is shown in a video (archived here) published by TikTok…

Do products with the Rainforest Alliance seal contain vaccines, and are they manufactured by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation? No, that's not true: The Rainforest Alliance´s seal is used on consumer products of farms and companies that meet international criteria for sustainable agriculture, and the Rainforest Alliance is a global nonprofit organization that promotes sustainable farming and forestry. Among…

Did Andriy Yermak, the head of the Ukrainian president's office, buy a penthouse for $58 million? Have charges against him for embezzlement of $1.3 billion been dropped? No, that's not true: There is no such embezzlement case against him and there are also no reports of him buying a penthouse. The claim appeared in a video (archived here) on TikTok…