Prague - Former Czech Prime Minister who was forced out of office more than two years ago because of his inability to explain rationally where he got money to buy a luxurious apartment in Prague is back in the limelight. And not too happy about it, not to mention his own political party.
The boyish-looking 37-year old Stanislav Gross was once the most popular politician in the Czech Republic. But his fall from grace was even steeper than his climb to the top.
This former engine driver for the Czech railways became a Minister of Interior at the age of 30 and Prime Minister four years later.
Initially perceived as a possible modernizer his Social Democrats badly needed, he was later quickly disposed of when his involvement in several scandals turned him into a burden for the party.
Vow of confidentiality
Now he is back from obscurity after it transpired he bought a 31-per cent stake in Moravia Energo, an electricity producer, from his acquaintance and former Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Robert Sýkora.
Anti-corruption police unit is investigating whether the ex-PM did not abuse his position to gain access to the sensitive business information with the aim of personally enriching himself.
Also unexplained remains the source of the money for the multimillion purchase as Gross could not possibly have such an amount at his disposal even if he got a loan from a bank. Possible use of ill-gotten money is thus suspected.
"I cannot afford to put this important deal at risk by breaking the vow of confidentiality I took, only because some journalists are not ready to accept I could actually carry out a major business deal that is clean," Gross told Aktuálně.cz last week.
Slovak connection
Despite his silence, Aktuálně.cz has found out the purchase was backed by Slovak financial and consulting company Key Investments, which is now in control of the shares until Gross pays off the debt.
The amount he owes them, according to our information, is 17 million Czech Crowns including the interest. Neither he nor the Slovak company wanted to comment on this. And the precise value of the deal also remains confidential.
"I can neither confirm nor refute it because I took the vow of confidentiality. The only thing I can say is that it is not my wish not to disclose the identity of the institution that financed the purchase," said Gross.
"It would save me from having to answer to all those wild speculations that it is not possible for any institution to have financed the deal, suggesting it therefore must have been some kind of a swindle. It would protect me from this hateful hysteria," added Gross.
Chairman of the board at Key Investments, Mr. Luboš Fuzák, was very brief: "We will not comment on this."
Aiming for profit. A big one
Energo Moravia majority owner Tomáš Chrenek made it clear he would like to get rid of Gross as his company's shareholder.
"It is bad for business. The company has already lost twelve clients," said Chrenek who is ready to pay 20 million CZK to Gross for his stake.
But the ex-PM is apparently aiming for a bigger profit than some two million Crowns. According to the information Aktuálně.cz is getting he is thinking about tens of millions.
Gross would not comment on this either. And Chrenek had this to say: "I did not personally talk about this with him, so I have no clue how much he would want to get."
People close to Gross claim he bought the shares to make profit. One of the versions has it that Chrene had a falling out with the former shareholder Sýkora whom he wanted to pay out.
The offer was shunned by Sýkora though who instead sold the shares to Gross hoping he might wrestle more money from the majority owner.
