Final Word from Thursday, December 29, 2005
It costs three times as much to build a kilometer of highway in the CR as in Poland. Jan Macháček of HN said the only explanation for this is corruption. Transparency Int. said it's almost impossible for corruption not to occur in municipal building contracts, given the circumstances. It mentioned Skanska and Metrostav as two builders that win a large share of the contracts. Charges were filed this month against the mayor of Havlíčkův Brod for giving confidential bidding details to Skanska. MD Zdeněk Burda of Skanska CZ told HN that Skanska's local operations represent only 9% of the company's global sales but 20% of its profit. It expects Kč 1.2bn in net profit this year. HN didn't ask him how the local operations can possibly be so profitable. (Do we need to spell it out?) Burda was named Manager of the Year this year. Isn't it time the CR found a new breed of hero?[Czech Republic Hospodářské noviny road construction]