TI Czech Republic calls on finance minister to prevent billions in damages

The Czech branch of Transparency International has called on the finance minister, Miroslav Kalousek, to prevent what the corruption watchdog sees as billions of crowns in potential damages related to a controversial government tender. The tender is aimed at cleaning up damages to the environment dating back to the communist era, but the government is planning on commissioning just a single firm to oversee the project, an order estimated as worth 115 billion crowns (the equivalent of around 7.5 billion US dollars). Critics have charged that the government has approached the issue carelessly and also suggested that analysis in the tender’s preparation was faulty. Others fear that the mammoth deal – dubbed the “deal of a century” by Hospodářské noviny - could invite influence peddling and corruption.