Businessman Robert Knobloch is the only accused in the corruption case surrounding the transport contracts of the Olomouc region, for whom the prosecutor suggested that he end up in custody. Since 2014, this member of the ODS regional council has already owned a quarter share in the company, the main shareholder of which is his fellow party member, South Bohemian Governor Martin Kuba.
The company Revispol mainly carries out revisions of technical equipment. And it also collects public contracts in the order of hundreds of thousands to millions of crowns from Forests of the Czech Republic, secondary schools and universities or the Railway Administration.
In an interview with Nauzal, Kuba said that he and Knobloch see each other once or twice a year, despite the fact that they own this company together. And that is also why the case in which Knobloch is facing charges does not threaten him in any way.
“I was not in contact with him. And if I talked to him once, twice a year. Really. Anyone can go through my cell phones. There isn’t a single reason why it should put me at risk,” Kuba said.
Mr. Knobloch, with whom you co-own the company Revispol, was accused in a corruption case. What is your relationship like?
Basically none. We know each other historically from ODS. He bought the share from my partner. I don’t know now, about eight or nine years ago. He is more or less a shareholder in that company like I am. Otherwise, I only know him from ODS. Mr. (Petr) Maroš handles the running of that company. Mr. Knobloch has no influence on the running of the company.
The company does not enter into any public contracts as a matter of principle. Unfortunately, you will not influence who you will ever meet financially in a company. I have seen him once at a congress in the last two years. Maybe he called me to ask me something.
According to the register of contracts, however, that company won public contracts. For example, from Lesů ČR, regional hygiene stations and so on.
Yes, he has from Lesů ČR, but it is necessary to see what orders he has from Lesů ČR. He has them from local branches for about five thousand crowns a month. That’s what Petr Maroš will tell you. This company is doing revisions here. I don’t know what he does for the regional hygiene station. We mostly do for big chains. We are extremely reluctant to appear anywhere related to the county or city.
Now I am still looking at the fact that in 2018 the company signed a contract with the Railway Administration for 2.8 million crowns.
I highly doubt that. So I don’t know anything about it. I’ll give you the phone number for Petr Maroš. Connect with him (Petr Maroš subsequently told Seznam Zprávám that the contract concerned the provision of technical equipment revisions at the main train station in Prague between 2018 and 2022).
In 2012, when Mr. Knobloch’s sponsorships for ODS were discussed in the media, you said of him that he is a hardworking and reasonable person. What do you think of him now?
Mr. Editor, I knew him from the executive board (ODS). You perceive what they say there. This is not a person you would be in contact with once or twice a week. That’s about all I can say about it. He looked normal to me. I only know from the media that they have been doing something somewhere for the last two or three years.
Aren’t you worried that the business relationship will somehow endanger you?
I don’t know how it should endanger me. I was not in contact with him. And if I talked to him once, twice a year. Really. Anyone can go through my cell phones. There isn’t a single reason why it should put me at risk. If the company in which we have a share was doing something in the Olomouc region and it was related to what they were doing there, I can imagine it, but I don’t see a single reason why I should feel threatened.
Were you interrogated? Didn’t the police contact you?
This is absurd. All that activity concerned the Olomouc region, according to the information from the media. Yes, I am unlucky at the moment that this person bought a share from my associate. That’s about all I can say about it. And it annoys me that I have this bad luck. But you do not vouch for your companions unless you are some great friend with them.
