Zeman questioned over coal mining company privatisation

The country’s president, Miloš Zeman, was questioned by the Czech anti-corruption police in February over the allegedly fraudulent privatisation of Czech mining company Mostecká uhelná, Czech TV reported a day before a Swiss court began dealing with the case. Six former managers at the company are accused of having illegally transferred 150 million dollars from the firm and of having bought a majority stake in the coal giant for the money. The police suspect them of having conducted the deal at a considerably lower price. The privatisation of Mostecká uhelná took place under the government headed by then-prime minister Miloš Zeman, who told the police that the price was the decisive factor; he dismissed the idea that the state lost any money in the deal.