Prague - In the previous years, Czech state-owned companies ČEZ and Czech Railways awarded public contracts worth many billions of Czech crowns to Škoda Plzeň.
All three companies have one name in common: Martin Roman, who was the CEO of Škoda Plzeň until 2004 when he quit and become the chief director of ČEZ. Roman also became a member of the board of directors of Czech Railways. During the following period, when Roman had a significant influence over the decision-making in both state-owned companies, many public contracts were awarded by them to Škoda Plzeň.
Last week, Martin Roman quit as the CEO of ČEZ, the Czech Republic's energy sector giant.
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Publicly-available databases show that in 2009, Škoda received contracts from ČEZ and Czech Railways worth CZK 15bil (EUR 600mil)
This summer, Czech police started to look into a relation between Martin Roman and Škoda. The investigation was started after Switzerland's public prosecution - while investigating a different case - discovered financial flows indicating that Roman could be linked to the company.
Martin Roman himself has denied the allegation, and there is no absolute proof that he is the secret owner of Škoda.
However, public databases show clearly that both successful divisions of Škoda Plzeň - Škoda Power and Škoda Transportation - grew fat from public contracts Martin Roman was able to decide on in 2004-2011.
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Out of the total sixty public bid, 48 had Škoda as the only contender.
Between 2000 and 2004, Martin Roman was the chairman of the board of directors of Škoda Plzeň. His deputies were Tomáš Krsek, Michal Korecký and Jiří Zapletal. While Roman quit in 2004 and became the CEO of ČEZ, his former deputies remained in the board of directors of Škoda until 2010 (Zapletal) and 2011 (Korecký and Krsek).
Until 2007, Škoda Power, an energy division of Škoda Plzeň, was contracted to repair turbines in brown-coal plants operated by ČEZ. The contracts were rarely worth more than one hundred million of Czech crowns.
The situation changed in 2008 when Roman became the chief director of ČEZ for the second time. Škoda Power was awarded two contracts worth CZK 1.2bil (EUR 48mil). The first contract was for maintenance of the machinery of the nuclear power plants operated by ČEZ, the second one was for supervision of its coal power plants.
Another gigantic contract came the following year, in 2008, when Škoda was contracted to modernize the Temelín nuclear power plant for CZK 3.2bil (EUR 128mil).
Since Roman's former deputies left Škoda, the company has not received any contract worth more than one billion Czech crown.
The list of contracts awarded by Czech Railways to Škoda Transportation shows a similar pattern. In 2008, one year after Martin Roman became a member of the board of directors of Czech Railways, Škoda Transportation won a CZK 2bil contract for reparation of locomotives for ČD Cargo. One year later, Czech Railways bought tens of railroad cars from Škoda for CZK 9bil (EUR 360mil).
Back then, Škoda Plzeň was the recipient of two thirds of all Czech Railway's investments. After Martin Roman left Czech Railways, the number of contracts won by Škoda Plzeň dropped.
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