Reversing capital flight
Finance Minister Bohuslav Sobotka will take steps soon
to replace the Zeman/Klaus era board at Česká
konsolidační agentura (ČKA), but not before the board
has time to strike a few final deals. ČKA has already
approved the sale of Kč 38bn in bad debt to EC Group,
and speculation is rife that EC will use the debt-
collection process to wash dirty money from past deals.
We were told that in the coming days, ČKA will also
arbitrarily give an exclusivity to Appian Group until the
end of 2002 for negotiating the purchase of ČKA's stake
in koda Holding. The cabinet could still halt the
process, but there's a growing suspicion that Premier
Vladimír pidla doesn't really mind what's happening.
ČKA's deals might not be transparent, but they're a way
to lure capital back into the country that flowed out
under Václav Klaus and Milo Zeman.
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