Final Word from Tuesday, August 1, 2006
ČKA is the gift that keeps on giving for journalists with little to write about during the dog days of summer. Ever since ČKA Board Member Radka Kafková was arrested, ČSSD has insisted that she was chosen properly by an executive-search company but that she merely turned out to be a single bad apple. Finance Minister Bohuslav Sobotka washed his hands of her by saying that Dr. Kaufmann & Partner made the recommendation. However, Dr. Kaufmann told LN that his agency wasn't involved. Sobotka then tossed the hot potato over to Kienbaum, which declined to comment. For years, ČSSD has been using friendly search companies - we should also mention Hofírek - to stock its own people at state-owned companies such as ČEZ, Český Telecom and ČSA. The "searches" were of course anything but searches, and Kafková was of course anything but a single bad apple.[Czech Republic Česká konsolidační agentura debt consolidation Lidové noviny]