Fire sale

All of the hullabaloo surrounding Stanislav Gross's purchase of 31% of Moravia Energo reminds us of the anecdote about Winston Churchill and the lady he propositioned at a dinner party. We already know what kind of man Gross is; we just don't know his price. This latest grossity is more interesting as a story about slick manipulation of the media than humdrum political corruption. As Jan Macháček of HN noted on Czech Radio yesterday, there are signs that majority-owner Tomáš Chrenek of Moravia Energo was the source for the original Euro article that blew Gross's cover. Chrenek pretended to have learned about Gross's involvement in Moravia Energo from journalists but admitted in MFD today that he's known about it since Aug. And then he showed his hand by declaring that all the media glare decreases the value of the 31% stake. Which of course he now wants to buy for a song. [Czech Republic Třinecké železárny Hospodářské noviny MF Dnes]