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EDITORIAL >
Rich but mute
Written by: Philippe Riboton
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JUDGING BY the reluctance we encountered when approaching people
about this month's cover story on the lifestyle of the Czech millionaires,
one could conclude that it is still difficult to speak about one's
wealth. However, those which rank in the dollar millionaires club
are no longer exceptions in the local landscape - according to
a recent report conducted by Merrill Lynch and Cap Gemini, there
are around 11,000 of them in the Czech Republic. This quantitative
evaluation is confirmed by such developments as the proliferation
of private banking in recent years. If you want to be invited to
private gallery viewings and exclusive concerts by your banker,
you may have to give him or her a minimum of CZK 3 million to play
with. Similarly, a weekend promenade through the quiet and green
streets of Průhonice or Horoměřice will bring you face-to-face
with new houses that rarely fall under the CZK 20 million mark.
Needless to point out, Porsches, Jaguars, Maseratis, and other "super-cars" can
be regularly seen cruising the streets of Prague. But if members
of the millionaires' club tend to display their wealth through
the car they drive or the house they live in, most still don't
want to talk about it. Some say this is a matter of family security,
and one can easily understand that. Particularly when police officers
are joining the "ordinary criminals" club, as illustrated
by the recent arrest of a few cops in conjunction with abduction
affairs. But there might be other reasons for silence. Some may
have trouble explaining exactly how they accumulated that level
of affluence - unless they admitted that they "successfully" specialized
in siphoning kickbacks and cooking up shady privatization deals.
This is good reason to praise those that agreed to come forward
and speak to our journalists. Not only do they help the business
sphere appear more transparent, but they also send the signal that
there is now a group of people who earned success and fortune through
long, hard work. And that there is simply nothing bad about it.
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