Government officials say they are doing their duty by ČEZ

Government officials have rejected the criticism. Trade and Industry Minister Martin Kuba said that it was primarily up to ČEZ to prove to the Bulgarian authorities that it had not violated any public procurement rules or any other norms. The Czech government, he said, would only make sure that the administrative proceedings against ČEZ were not politicized. Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg said he had discussed the matter both with Bulgarian Foreign Minister Nikolay Mladenov and EU officials in Brussels. Diplomacy is conducted behind-the-scenes, he noted.