PM expresses regret that those who agreed OKD privatisation in 1990s not standing trial

Prime Minister Bohsulav Sobotka has told journalists it was regrettable that decision-makers who agreed on the privatisation of Czech mining company OKD in 1996 were not the ones now appearing in a court case over the matter. The prime minister mentioned no individual names but referred to the government in power then, which was led by Václav Klaus.

Mr Sobotka made the comment after leaving the court on Friday where he had been called as a witness. He added that others who should have been tried were those who gutted “enormous funds” from the firm in 2004. Mr Sobotka, finance minister in 2004, has long come under criticism for the sale of the mining company but he maintains the crux of the problem lay eight years earlier.

Author: Jan Velinger