Evening, May 29, 2010: Influential Czech Arms Dealer Congratulates Party Successful in Elections

Richard Hava, an influential Czech arms dealer and the owner of Omnipol, comes to the headquarters of the center-right party TOP 09, which is celebrating this day’s success in Czech elections to the lower house. “I’ve just stopped here, I support them,” says Hava, who stays for around an hour. Hava adds that he has come to congratulate his friend Miroslav Kalousek, a deputy chairman of the party. “We didn’t discuss anything secret. I just congratulated him when I was going past,” comments Hava. [Hospodarske noviny, 5/29/2010] The friendship between Kalousek and Hava dates to Kalousek’s controversial stint as deputy minister of defense, when he was responsible for procurement (see January 1993). [Novinky(.cz), 2010]