Final Word from Friday, November 7, 2003
When the two largest bakeries, Delta and Odkolek, raised bread prices this week, the antitrust office decided to investigate. Delta said there are so many bakeries that price collusion is impossible. It's common knowledge on the market, though, that Delta and Odkolek are ultimately owned by the same people, the Pařík brothers. The two companies have combined their milling operations into Unimills and their bakeshops into Eureca. Odkolek's CEO, Ivan Flek, is in a company with the Paříks, who openly own Delta. Odkolek's shares are of the bearer variety, though, and both Delta and Odkolek deny having common owners. Other bakeries aren't too concerned about the tie-up, because Delta and Odkolek are able to use their weight to get higher prices for everyone. Rumor is, though, that two major bakeries aren't enough for the hungry Pařík brothers. Marko Jaroslav Michael Pekárny