Final Word from Tuesday, September 8, 2020

Only after Chair Petr Rafaj of the ÚOHS antitrust office turned against Kapsch in the highway-toll tender did Zdeněk Bakala's Economia publishing house turn against Rafaj. Hospodářské noviny and Aktuálně.cz weren't bothered much by Rafaj when he was making decisions that favored RPG Byty, Eurovia, Škoda Transportation and other companies in the stable of ČSSD a.s., although Petr Šimůnek as editor-in-chief of HN was indeed very critical in Jan. 2010. Šimůnek wrote that Rafaj was incompetent and not very smart. Šimůnek left HN a year later, and the strong criticism didn't return until earlier this year, when Economia started looking into Rafaj's finances and deals. The reporting was top-rate, and that's not the issue. The issue is that the negative reports only appeared after Rafaj stopped serving the interests of those who put him into power and kept him there, esp. Bohuslav Sobotka and those around him. Suddenly, Economia began leading the charge to get rid of Rafaj. Pres. Miloš Zeman will apparently acquiesce today, and PM Andrej Babiš won't mind at all, because he'll get to pick Rafaj's replacement. [ Czech Republic Radek Pokorný PPF Czech Toll Sky Toll competition monopoly ]