Final Word from Monday, April 11, 2005
ODS and PPF are overplaying their hand with regard to Český Telecom. ODS was a big supporter of floating the state's stake, the method that PPF also favored. The cabinet, though, approved the direct sale to Telefonica last week for what almost everyone considered a high price, Kč 82.6bn. The media widely praised the deal, but TV Nova (still owned by PPF) set itself apart by reporting rumors that insiders got rich on the sale. Nova also said that ODS considers the price too low. Nova then made the mistake of asking Communist Party Vice Chair Jiří Dolejš why he thinks ODS has been critical of the deal. "Because it didn't get a cut of the action," he said. The result is that ODS's connection to PPF has been exposed, with no apparent benefit to either side. It's not clear why they took this risk, because PPF said it has no plans to challenge the Telecom sale. [Czech Republic telecommunications telephone company]