Final Word from Thursday, September 15, 2011
The real reason for the removal of Martin Roman as CEO ofČEZ is a bit of a mystery. Miroslav Motejlek attributed it toRoman's refusal to sacrifice M&A Director Vladimír Schmalz,who stepped on the toes of Roman Janoušek and other Prague"godfathers" by siding with Prague Mayor Bohuslav Svoboda.Lenka Zlámalová of LN told ČT24 that this is an erroneousconclusion, because Schmalz isn't worth that much to Roman.She said it is more likely that the removal relates to the ecotender,the dispute between Škoda Transportation and CzechRailways, or Mirek Topolánek's appearance as a lobbyist forJ&T and ČEZ in the quest for free carbon credits. MFD, in turn,linked the removal to new information about Roman's relationshipto Škoda Holding. Regardless of the real reason, one thingseems clear: If bad news comes down about shareholder fraudat ČEZ with regard to Škoda Holding's ownership structure, orif the EU hits ČEZ with a huge antitrust fine, Nečas can defendhimself by saying that he has already taken appropriate action.
Glossary of difficult words
M&A - mergers and acquisitions;
to step on someone's toes - to offend someone by encroaching on his or her area of responsibility;
to side with someone - to support someone in a conflict, dispute or debate;
erroneous - wrong, incorrect;
quest - search, mission;
to come down - to be handed down from a higher authority.