Possible sale of Budvar discussed in Czech media.

In January, the Czech Agriculture Ministry announced an audit of the state-owned Budejovicky Budvar brewery's finances, raising speculation that the ministry is seeking to undermine the current management, which has been anti-privatization.

Budvar management had originally refused to cooperate with the audit, with a spokesperson saying, "We don't know the real reason [for the audit]."

The Agriculture ministry has argued that Budvar should be transformed from a state-owned enterprise into a joint-stock company, and Czech minister of agriculture Petr Bendl recently said he would like to end the dispute with A-B InBev regarding the Budweiser trademark, to allow Budvar to make the transition. "It will be necessary to focus on the completion of the dispute, if possible, by agreement, [so] we can transform the brewery into a joint stock company," Mr. Bendl told Prague reporters.

Czech beer consumers are very protective of Budejovicky Budvar, regarding its beer as something akin to a national treasure, and there has been speculation in the press that the audit is politically driven, and could make Budvar vulnerable to a foreign takeover. Czech beer loyalists have also been alarmed by the timing of A-B InBev's purchase of the Budweiser trademarks owned by Budejovicky Mestansky; conspiracy theories are rampant in Prague.