In August 2010, financial analyst Libor Michálek became director of the Czech State Environmental Fund. On 13 December 2010, he filed a criminal complaint alleging that a tender to reconstruct a Prague water-treatment plant was overpriced by 3,000,000,000 Kč. Secretly recorded conversations, as described in the source, allegedly showed Martin Knetig, an adviser to Environment Minister Pavel Drobil, asking Michálek to manipulate the tender to generate money for the Civic Democrats and Drobil’s political ambitions. Michálek said Drobil later offered him a deputy position in exchange for destroying the recordings.
After the allegations became public, Drobil dismissed Michálek and Knetig, denied wrongdoing, and resigned on 15 December 2010. Prime Minister Petr Nečas defended Drobil and questioned Michálek’s credibility, while the controversy contributed to further political turmoil, including Czech Police Chief Oldřich Martinů’s resignation on 21 December. The case did not produce a corruption conviction: proceedings against Drobil were suspended indefinitely in September 2012, and the case against Knetig was suspended in February 2013 for insufficient evidence. Michálek nevertheless received Czech anti-corruption awards in 2011 and later became the first Pirate Party candidate elected to national office.
