Final Word from Tuesday, April 15, 2014
Russian and Ukrainian oligarchs aren't shy about using their booty to protect national treasures. Viktor Vekselberg bought 15 Fabergé eggs and opened a museum for them last year in St. Petersburg. He's now on the U.S. sanctions list for being close to Putin. Another oligarch close to the Kremlin, Dmytro Firtash, used his energy wealth to become a major patron of Ukrainian culture. His arrest in Vienna on suspicion of corruption was also the doings of the U.S. government. If Martin Roman is the benefactor who brought the Lendl Collection of Mucha posters home, he's being much shyer than these two oligarchs about his magnanimity. Since Roman was first pegged a year ago as the real owner of the posters, he's had plenty of time to step forward, but Richard Fuxa now insists that the collection is his. Roman (and Lendl) is lucky the U.S. only takes interest in shady Eastern European deals when it's playing geopolitical games. [Czech Republic ČEZ Ukraine Russia Vladimir]
Glossary of difficult words
booty - something gained or won; valuable stolen goods, esp. those seized in war;
the doings - the activities in which a person engages;
benefactor - a person who gives money to help a person or cause;
magnanimity - the state of being very generous or forgiving;
to peg someone as something - to think of someone in a certain way;
shady - of doubtful honesty or legality.