Thursday, September 22, 2005

Polish PM Suspected in Unipetrol Scandal

PRAGUE- Ivan Langer, deputy chairman of the senior opposition Civic Democrats (ODS), said today he suspects Polish PM Marek Belka and Zdenek Dolezel, former head of the Czech PM's office, of harming another's rights, namely the minority share holders of Czech company Unipetrol.
Langer said that the suspicion, which the police should check, is based among others on the recording of negotiations between Dolezel and Belka on Unipetrol privatisation.

Langer spoke during the question time in the Chamber of Deputies. He asked Interior Minister Frantisek Bublan to see to it that the police "immediately start an investigation into the suspicion of a crime having been committed, in which some 100,000 Unipetrol minority share holders were harmed."

"In my opinion there is a reasonable cause to suspect of this crime the Polish Republic's Prime Minister, the Polish minister of the State Treasure, the chairman of the PKN Orlen supervisory council and the (former) director of the Czech Prime Minister's office Zdenek Dolezel," Langer said.

Bublan reacted saying that the police have already been dealing with the Dolezel case.

He said he does not know whether the police will include Langer's suggestion in the ongoing investigation, or whether they will investigate it separately.

PKN Orlen bought a 63 percent stake in Unipetrol for 13.05 billion crowns last year. Corruption is suspected of having been involved in the deal.

($1=24.040 crowns)
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