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"Prague pays billions in rent for its town hall but does not know where the money goes," reports Hospodářské Noviny. The economic daily explains that in 2006, when the city moved its town hall into the Škoda palace, it contracted to pay 4.6 billion crowns (180 million euros) for a 20-year lease on the building, whereas it could have been bought outright for 2 billion crowns — a deal that HN deplores as "criminal". The capital's mayor, Pavel Bém, did his best to find out who was "cashing the cheques", but his investigation went nowhere. It is rumored that highly placed politicians in the Czech Republic may be behind the Luxembourg company, Guyana Holding, which is the palace's current owner. Hospodářské Noviny reminds its readers that Jan Fischer's interim government's "anti-corruption package" specifically aims to combat dealing of this kind. As for Pavel Bem, he is already embroiled in another scandal about the new Prague travel card.
