Lašák is well-trained for negotiating with politicians from his days with the energy giant ťEZ and Komerční banka, and, therefore, the realistic estimate is that he will succeed in getting what he's asking for.

The fact is that Lašák is not to be blamed for ťSA's record loss of 773 million Kč in the first half of 2006. Replacing Jaroslav Tvrdík, Lašák inherited expensive new airbus jets and highly generous contracts for pilots. He cannot be blamed for high oil prices either. Not to mention that there is no oil price decline in sight.

We cannot even rule out that the European Commission, which monitors all state help provided to companies, will offer its consent to this subsidy. After all, Lašák's plan is not as drastic as the one that saved Alitalia (approved by Brussels) and cannot be compared to the heedless pouring of money into Greece's Olympia Airlines (rejected).

But let's view the issue from a different angle: What if ťSA were a private company? Would its owner behave the same way under the circumstances? A private owner would want to see more options on the table rather than just "Give me 2 billion Kč, and give it to me now." He wouldn't be afraid of saying the word "bankruptcy." Politicians and board members see more than just revenue and losses. They also take into consideration things like the national pride connected with airlines, they fear a pilots' strike and, sadly, are also afraid of losing their own jobs.

A private owner would also demand guarantees that the company would see a profit in 2008, as we are being assured by Lašák. The problem is that manager responsibility is not typical of state airlines. When Tvrdík left to be replaced by a crisis manager, the ruling Social Democrats nearly praised him for his work.

A private entrepreneur would consider whether the money isn't badly needed somewhere else. Only politicians dealing with a budget deficit of 150 billion Kč may get the impression that 2 billion Kč isn't really that much, Nďmeček writes.

Borek was unprepared for the interview and swollen with his own importance. How did he get such a prestigious job in the first place? Maybe he just wanted to act as the rest of the public TV crowd. Compared with private TV Nova, public television's news and journalism are quite biased. The question is: Did Borek's dismissal solve the fundamental insufficiencies? The official report says that Paroubek did not complain about Borek. Which is as good as saying that Czech TV decided to take the self-critical step. Still, I am afraid that, the situation being what it is these days, I have to consider this a Greek gift for Paroubek. It is not good to trust Czech TV news heads even if they happen to be bringing gifts, Hanák writes.