MFD responds

MFD rushed out a lead article today that tries to quell speculation that its latest revelations by Jaroslav Kmenta serve the interests of Jiří Paroubek's ČSSD. Nothing against the concept of equal time in casting aspersions, but the article is even flimsier than the ones linking Vlastimil Tlustý and Ivan Langer to the underworld. Readers are supposed to believe that developer Luděk Sekyra used Paroubek in 2000 to put pressure on then-CEO Jiří Kunert of Živnobanka to sell shares in IPS builder to Sekyra. Some uninformed readers might swallow it, but the decision-makers MFD is trying to win with its beefed-up business section will see through it. Kunert has one of the cleanest reputations among Czech bankers. He's about as tight- fisted with shareholder money as they come. If MFD really wanted to distance itself from Paroubek, it would send Kmenta to do some snooping around at Prague 5 city hall. [Czech Republic UniCredit Živnostenská banka construction]