Final Word from Tuesday, October 9, 2012
The arrest of Marek Dalík brings the Nečas cabinet's battle
against corruption dangerously close to a couple of the Five
Families. Dalík was the omnipresent sidekick of Mirek Topolánek,
who works for EPH's Opatovice power company. EPH is owned
44.5% by PPF and 37% by J&T. Both of them are said to be clients
of Dalík's New Deal Communications, as is ČEZ, according to LN.
EPH has taken over some of ČEZ's energy assets in deals that
critics say were unfair to ČEZ's shareholders. When Topolánek
was still PM, he vacationed in Tuscany in a villa that was officially
leased to Dalík by a foundation administered by Markus Hasler,
who is connected to J&T. Topolánek has since returned to the
villa regularly. The fact that Topolánek spent his vacation in
2009 in a villa linked to a future employer suggests that his
relationship as PM to at least one of the Five Families was
inappropriate, to put it mildly.[Czech Republic EP Holding godfathers Italy]
Glossary of difficult words
omnipresent - widely or constantly encountered; common or widespread;
sidekick - a person's assistant or close associate, esp. one who has less authority than that person.