The Czech Cabinet did not discuss Komercni banka at its meeting yesterday. It is not clear whether the Cabinet will discuss KB sometime in the next two weeks or after the government’s summer recess (which is to last until the second half of August). The Finance Ministry was to propose a privatization schedule yesterday that envisages the government approving the size of KB guarantees and including this commitment in an information memorandum to potential investors in KB. The information memorandum is scheduled for release mid-September. Although the Cabinet did not discuss the proposal yesterday, we consider the chances of an approval as rather high. The Finance Ministry spokesman yesterday reiterated that the government would decide on the size of KB guarantees in early September. The size of the guarantees will depend on the result of an independent audit that is currently underway in KB.
(Ondřej Daťka)