British retail company Tesco is considering a departure from some countries in Central Europe, including the Czech Republic and Slovakia, as part of its austerity plan, Slovak daily Sme said today. Tesco's Slovak activities could be sold in a package together with activities in Hungary, the Czech Republic and possibly Poland, the daily said referring to an unnamed British investor familiar with the chain's austerity plan.Another scenario is the sale of Tesco's entire networks in the individual states. There is also a possibility that Tesco will stay in Slovakia but will sell some of its assets, the investor said.Tesco has allegedly inquired whether it would find a buyer for its Central European assets. According to the source, however, no decisions have been made yet.Tesco did not confirm any of the information. Its spokesman Matt Francis told Sme the company would not comment on speculation.Tesco is introducing austerity measures in Britain in an effort to cope with falling prices and customer numbers. The austerity plan should help Tesco end years of a decreasing market share and resolve problems caused by a financial scandal when the company overstated its profits.Tesco said at the beginning of this year it would close 43 loss-making shops in Britain.Tesco employs about 14,000 people in the Czech Republic and about 10,000 people in Slovakia.The trade union of Tesco's Czech division issued a strike alert in January in reaction to the company's plan to close a hypermarket in Ústí nad Labem, north Bohemia, and a supermarket in Prague–Smíchov.The union called off the strike alert after it had agreed with Tesco that the employees of the hypermarket in Ústí nad Labem who will leave the company would receive higher severance pay and an extra bonus.Source: praguepost.com