Chief bootlegger

17.09.2012 - EB

If there's one thing the health ministry, the police and the food administration agree upon, it's that the finance ministry and the customs department (which falls under the finance ministry) were responsible for preventing the outbreak of methanol poisoning. Health Minister Leoš Heger told Deník that he doesn't know how to explain the appearance of methyl alcohol in the distribution channel, because the black market is a matter for the finance ministry and customs agents. Finance Minister Miroslav Kalousek has been virtually silent on the issue, perhaps for fear that people will realize that the black marketeers are mainly the ones who have benefited in recent years from his hikes in excise tax and VAT. Nearly everyone already assumes that Kalousek has profited personally from shenanigans in the defense and gambling industries. Should bootlegging now be added to his areas of expertise?

Glossary of difficult words

to bootleg - to make, distribute or sell illegal goods, esp. liquor, computer software or recordings;

outbreak - the sudden or violent start of something unwelcome;

shenanigans - secret or dishonest activity or maneuvering.



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