The state robbed people and threw 50 million crowns down the drain. Pohlreich et al. celebrates, greases his pockets

The Czech state, which is currently struggling with huge debt, took a completely unexpected and unsolicited step. He solves this by taking more and more money from people and companies in order to give them less and less services or benefits. They say it is necessary and everyone must humble themselves. At the same time, it is constantly shown that this applies more to some than to others.

All of our money

A shining example was, for example, the winemakers who asserted that they would not be subject to a higher consumption tax, even though it would be perfectly logical. And the restaurateurs also got their way, demanding that the Czech Republic immediately pay some supposedly prestigious Michelin guide to continue evaluating domestic restaurants.

At first the whole thing seemed so absurd that any reasonable person must reject it. How can a supposedly independent guide even ask for money for his primary activity, which is restaurant reviews. After all, it is his business and he has to evaluate whether there is still a demand for it or not.

Apparently, the demand will not be the same when Michelin said that either the Czech Republic will pay it 50 million crowns, or it will no longer cover Czech restaurants. In this regard, it was the restaurateurs led by Zdenek Pohlreich who exerted enormous pressure, who made it known that this is an absolute necessity and that if the state does not pay, the Czech Republic will lose a significant part of the money from the tourism industry. It is said that people come to us precisely on the basis of the Michelin rating.

Why don’t the restaurants pay for it themselves?

At the same time, this argument is completely absurd. Until now, this guide only covered businesses in Prague and awarded only two stars, and only one, to only two restaurants. He mentioned a few more in his guidebook. Is this really something we absolutely need, otherwise tourists will stop coming here? And doesn’t it coincide with the fact that Michelin is no longer relevant, and therefore has no money even for its own operation?

Read also: The Croatian restaurateur said what the Czechs want from him. Absolutely unbelievable, he’s getting bored

Unfortunately, instead of the whole thing being swept off the table, the state unexpectedly announced that it would pay Michelin 50 million. And from the pockets of all taxpayers who have to humble themselves. One can understandably ask why the restaurants, which consider it so necessary, do not agree to pay. It is precisely the few luxury businesses that will benefit the most from this. It is hard to imagine that the owners of ordinary restaurants and pubs, which the noble guide bypasses in a big way, are interested in this.

Comment by Tomáš Mrkvička

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