Final Word from Wednesday, September 21, 2016
O2 CR is to Petr Kellner what Stork's Nest is to Andrej Babiš. Few people understand how Babiš took over Petrimex, Lovochemie or Kostelecké uzeniny, but everyone understands how he skirted the law to get Kč 50m in subsidies for his best idea ever. Few people understand asset-stripping at EZ Praha, churning at coupon companies or the diverting of technical reserves at Česká pojišťovna, but everyone understands blatant overcharging for data that was never ordered or preying on defenseless grandmothers. Moving into retail might have been a business necessity for Kellner, but it exposed his real nature to all, just as moving into politics did with Babiš. Kellner is a shark of the robber-baron variety, and it is his bad luck that sharks have been given an even worse name in Czech by unscrupulous sellers of pots and pans. It is a PR disaster when representatives of the ČTÚ regulatory body go on TV and call the mobile operators "miscreants" (šmejdi) and say that O2 is the worst of all. Kellner will be the richer for applying his well-honed skills to O2, but people will spit when they hear his name. [Czech Republic insurance telecoms Czech Television 168 hodin Agrofert Elektromontážní závody privatization voucher]
Glossary of difficult words
Correction: The company mentioned should be TMP-Telekomunikační montáže Praha, not EZ Praha.
miscreant - a person who has done something wrong or unlawful;
to skirt - to go around;
to churn - to trade excessively in a client's account, in an effort to generate commissions;
to divert - to reallocate (money or resources) to a different purpose;
blatant - completely lacking in subtlety; very obvious; (of bad behavior) done openly and unashamedly;
to prey on/upon - to take advantage of or harm;
shark - a person who unscrupulously exploits or swindles others;
unscrupulous - having or showing no moral principles; not honest or fair;
to hone - to refine or perfect (something) over a period of time; to sharpen (a blade).