Final Word from Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Prague Airport reported a record passenger count in the first quarter; the Czech government is close to reaching a deal with Penta on the land for a new runway; and the subprime crisis is retreating. It's high time to sell the airport, and Finance Minister Miroslav Kalousek is starting to see 12 figures. He told E15 that he wouldn't sell for anything less than Kč 100bn. It's a realistic amount, according to people following the situation, as long as Penta isn't allowed to link the hot Prague property to its own Aero Vodochody dud. The political favorites to buy PRG are supposedly the French, but they might first have to beat out the SWFs - the sovereign wealth funds. If these state-owned entities join the bidding, the price could perhaps rise by a cool billion euros. And in the process the Czechs would be forced to decide whether to turn over a strategic asset to Asians or Middle Easterners.[Czech Republic Letiště Praha Ekonom]
Glossary of difficult words
PRG - the airport code for Prague;
SWF - sovereign wealth fund, a state-owned fund used as an investment vehicle;
passenger count - the number of passengers passing through an airport; Prague served 2.5m passengers in the first quarter of 2008;
to retreat - to become smaller in size or importance;
dud - a failure or disappointment; a bad investment.