Ivan Bartoš stated that more than two years ago, as a minister, he proposed a comprehensive reform of the Office for the Protection of Competition. According to him, the office should serve as a tool for powerful individuals to influence public contracts and the flow of billions into their pockets rather than having a control function. He cited its head, Mlsna, whom he described as a favorite of Miloš Zeman and a friend of Zbyněk Stanjura and Blažek. Bartoš wrote that the ODS (Civic Democratic Party) stopped the reform and he subsequently left the government. According to him, the reform was prepared by experts and was meant to bring the Czech Republic closer to Western democracies. Bartoš referred to an index of oligarchs' influence on politics, which he said the magazine The Economist ranked the Czech Republic second only to Russia. He added that in the previous government only the Pirates wanted to address the issue, but Stanjura blocked their efforts. Bartoš also stated that the Pirates have now won the dispute with the company ČEPRO, which had to provide information about contracts for Agrofert. According to him, the company awarded contracts worth over 10 billion directly to Agrofert without competition, and another 9 billion without competition during the government of Petr Fiala. Bartoš added that it is necessary to fight against corruption in the state and that he will continue to do so. #korupce #politik #reforma (translated)










