Final Word from Thursday, August 20, 2015
By the time Karel Schwarzenberg made his grand discovery and declared in Sept. 2011 that ČEZ had been financing political parties, the company's halcyon days were already behind it. The assets had been stripped, and the easy money was gone. It was time to move on, and Schwarzenberg was merely giving the eulogy at the funeral of the ČEZ Republic. Martin Roman had grated on so many people because he oversaw a separate power center and was able to tell politicians what to do. His replacement, Daniel Beneš, is a yes-man in comparison. As is the head of Česká pošta, Martin Elkán. ČEZ's PR & marketing budget still keeps the wheels greased, but the next big thing is supposed to be the new IT unit at Česká pošta. Why else would ČSSD and ANO be making such a big deal out of two minor corruption scandals, where only a few million are involved? Because the real prize at Česká pošta are the billions in IT contracts. [Czech Republic public relations TOP 09]
Glossary of difficult words
grand discovery - (in this context) a discovery that is no discovery at all;
halcyon - denoting a period of time in the past that was idyllically happy and peaceful or prosperous and successful;
to strip - to remove (assets);
to grate on someone - to irritate or annoy someone;
yes-man - a weak person who always agrees with his or her political leader or superior at work;
to make a big deal out of something - to attribute great importance to something.