The Czech Republic may not receive as much as 500 million euros ($653 million) from European Union funds this year, the CTK newswire reported, citing Shirin Wheeler, a spokeswoman for the European Commission.

According to the proposal, the country may be able to use the funds next year, the newswire said. The delay would affect the state budget this year as the government included the funds in its fiscal plans, the CTK said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Peter Laca in Prague at placa@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Balazs Penz at bpenz@bloomberg.net