J. Juchelka, a top executive of the National Property Fund, an administrator of state-owned property, said yesterday that the TDC/Deutsche Bank claim for a possible 10% price reduction for Cesky Telecom from the state (subject to a post-acquisition audit) is a standard term in purchase contracts signed by the NPF.
Although this kind of guarantee is surely not exceptional, the Cabinet may still be reluctant to accept it as it could lead to a challenge of the final privatization price, and the Cabinet’s reputation is harmed already by a poor privatization track record (e.g., Unipetrol), i.e., it may not be willing to risk further privatization-related humiliation.
Jiri Soustruznik