ČEZ money buys Ringier
Our prediction from two weeks ago that Ringier Axel Springer CZ would be bought by an untransparent shell company was proven true. The buyers are not Daniel Křetínský and Patrik Tkáč, as the Swiss-German parent company announced in Dec. The buyer (see here) is instead Rongosor a.s., which was founded on Nov. 21, 2013, with Kč 2m in share capital by another shell company, Nordic Victory s.r.o., and was bought three weeks ago by Křetínský. Nowhere in the ownership structure is there any mention of Tkáč, although he is on the sup. board of Rongosor. But then there is no mention at all of Martin Roman, who is presumably Křetínský's silent partner in this matter. Roman was also in the background of the MUS case, in which the Swiss ambassador pulled out all the stops to prove that Czech managers had laundered dirty money in his country. It's ironic that a Swiss company, Ringier, is now seemingly abetting Křetínský and Roman in their caper to buy one of the CR's most prominent publishing companies with money sucked out of ČEZ.
Glossary of difficult words
shell company - a non-trading company used as a vehicle for various financial maneuvers or kept dormant for future use in some other capacity;to pull out all the stops - to make a very great effort to achieve something;
to abet - to encourage or assist (someone) in doing something wrong, in particular, to commit a crime or other offense;
caper - an activity or escapade, typically one that is illicit or ridiculous.