Final Word from Wednesday, May 11, 2022

Yesterday we wrote that something's got to give, and then it did. Pavel Tykač of Sev.en Ener­gy, who is one of the top 10 richest Czechs, told CNN Prima News last night that a terribly large number of people - esp. small children and seniors - would not survive if the Russian natural gas were cut off. It would bring such a dramatic change to society that the Velvet Revolution would seem like a minor event, he said. If the gas were halted, he predicted, so would likely be the oil, and industry would come to a halt, as would the healthcare system, the delivery of goods to stores and the cultivation and harvest of the fields, resulting in a collapse of the economy and social unrest. Tykač's appearance on television could be seen by the Czech business elite as a signal to begin defending national interests more vocally, even at the cost of alienating international partners. How it plays out now will depend largely on what the oligarch-controlled media - TV Nova, TV Prima, MFD, Blesk - decide to do. [ Czech Republic Petr Kellner Andrej Babiš Daniel Křetínský Czech Media Group ]