Orlengate and the EU

The key issue in the Unipetrol scandal, as Pavel Máša of LN pointed out on ČT24 yesterday, is who advised PKN Orlen to sign a disadvantageous contract with Agrofert regarding the privatization of Unipetrol. It had to be someone very high up for PKN to agree to give away Kč 5bn to close the deal, he said. Two people who were well-positioned, ex-Premier Stanislav Gross and Finance Minister Bohuslav Sobotka, are dismissing allegations of corruption by waving around a letter from the European Commission declaring that the Unipetrol sale was transparent. This is a new twist on the EU alibi. ČSSD has long used the EU to justify such things as tax increases, prepackaged pastries and absurd data-protection rules, but never has it so boldly used the EU as an alibi for what appears to be outright corruption. Even more worrisome is that the EU is allowing itself to be a party to it.