Final Word from Monday, December 11, 2017

Bohuslav Sobotka told a Prague court on Sept. 1 that the EU Commission confirmed that OKD was sold at the market price. If only it were so easy. In ruling that illegal public aid wasn't paid in the privatization, the EU Commission in fact relied on a 2006 statement from Sobotka's office that was drafted by a law firm working for both the buyer and the seller. Sobotka's office misled the Commission by failing to reveal this extraordinary conflict of interest. Efforts to shed light on this and other unsavory details of the OKD sale have been impeded by ČSSD and the other "traditional" political parties. The tide has turned, and these parties are now in the minority. The existence of a voting coalition of ANO, SPD, Pirates and Communists, with 137 seats, not only increases the chances that a parliamentary commission will produce actual results, but also creates conditions for allowing the police and prosecutors to come at the OKD privatization from a criminal angle. [Czech Republic Karbon Invest European Commission lawyer]