Social Democrats: Unipetrol scandal campaign aimed at discrediting party

The governing Social Democrats have described the furore surrounding the privatisation of Unipetrol as a campaign aimed at discrediting the party. Chairman Stanislav Gross - who has been linked to alleged bribe-taking - has called for a full investigation of the affair, which began when TV Nova showed a meeting between a Polish lobbyist and Zdenek Dolezel. Mr Dolezel was sacked by Prime Minister Jiri Paroubek as head of his office over the recording.

The state's stake in Unipetrol was bought by Poland's PKN Orlen, and there have been reports that Polish officials want to question Mr Gross, a former Czech prime minister, and the country's minister of finance, Bohumil Sobotka.