Final Word from Monday, September 4, 2017

Let's do the math. If we use Andrej Babiš's figure for OKD, Zdeněk Bakala made a cool Kč 110bn on the privatization. But let's not take Babiš's word for it. Let's instead use Lubomír Zaorálek's figure of Kč 50-60bn in dividends. This is a conservative number for how much Bakala took out of the mining company and doesn't include such things as the Kladno and Ostrava apartments, plus other asset disposals. If Bakala paid roughly Kč 10bn for the company, that leaves Kč 40-50bn in profit, by Zaorálek's own calculation. This makes OKD roughly 800-1,000 times bigger than Babiš's Stork's Nest subsidy fraud. Yet according to PM Bohuslav Sobotka in court on Fri., the European Commission confirmed that the state's remaining stake in OKD was sold at the market price. Wait a minute. The state sold a blocking minority in OKD for Kč 4.1bn, yet Bakala was able to pocket Kč 40-50bn in dividends alone? And the EU Commission gave a rubber stamp that cleared the way for this? Somebody's figures for OKD don't add up. Either Babiš's, Zaorálek's or the ones confirmed by the European Commission. [Czech Republic OLAF EU Byty]