Final Word from Thursday, September 1, 2011
Whether Petr Nečas gets to meet in Dec. with Dmitri Medvedev might depend onhow clean he insists that the eco-tender be. Remember, Nečas vowed late last year(according to LN) to resign if the deal went through, because no one would believeit's clean, even if it is. The bids will be opened soon, and there are already reportsthat Deloitte Advisory has put a Kč 57-61bn price tag on the work. A contract of thissize would be hard for the public to swallow, and if Miroslav Kalousek pushed itthrough, Nečas would have little choice but to resign. But a deal of that size wouldalso be a risk for Kalousek. More likely is a low bid of half Deloitte's estimated price.Kalousek would seem vindicated, and Nečas could renege on his threat to resign.And the winning bidder could make up the lost 50% later by springing extra fees onthe government once the full extent of the environmental damage became clear.
Glossary of difficult words
how clean is clean? - this refers not only to the tender itself, but also to the issue of how clean the contaminated areas must be made in order to meet the terms of the contract;
price tag - literally, the price label on an item for sale; figuratively, the cost of a company, enterprise or undertaking;
vindicated - cleared of blame or suspicion;
to renege - to go back on a promise, undertaking or contract;
to spring something on someone - to present or propose something suddenly or unexpectedly to someone.