Czech PM Bohuslav Sobotka sued over 2004 mining firm privatization

Tomio Okamura, leader of the Dawn of Democracy movement, filed a criminal complaint against Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka (Social Democrats, CSSD) over a 2004 privatization of the OKD a.s., a hard coal mining company, the party stated in a press release April 4.

“With such steps, Sobotka might have harmed the interests of the Czech Republic,” the press release said, as cited by news portal Praguemonitor.

Okamura stated that the 2004 privatization of OKD raised suspicions that Sobotka and other members of the government involved in the transaction could have agreed with the buyer on the lowest possible price for the mining company, resulting in a loss of up to CZK 20 bln.

“[The privatization deal of OKD could be] the biggest loss and harm to the state he [Sobotka] represented,” the press release said, as cited by news portal Ceskenoviny. “The crimes of breach of trust in property administration and abuse of power may have been committed […]. This is why the filed criminal complaint asks law-enforcement bodies to consider the option of appointing a trustee to the Czech Republic.”

Sobotka, however, insists that the state sold its stake in OKD for the appropriate market price.

“I believe that no sale of state asset was checked so thoroughly in the past as the sale of the state-owned stake in OKD,” said Sobotka, as cited by the news portal.