photo: Archives/Big personnel changes in Czech Railways. General director Bednárik rezigned
The Czech Republic got a new government in November 2021 and as it tends to happen after elections, there is some shuffling in the state-owned institutions, České dráhy-ČD (Czech Railways) included. The Supervisory Board of ČD is getting new leadership. Current ČD General director, Ivan Bednárik, resigned together with the two Members of the Board, Václav Nebeský and Petr Pavelec. While the Board Members resigned to February 15th effective immediately, Ivan Bednárik’s resignation will go into effect on February 28th.
Resigning CEO of ČD commented his actions as such: “Throughout my career, I have always acted professionally and respected shareholders and colleagues. Every manager knows his responsibilities and rights. And today I decided to exercise my right to resign. I explained the reasons that led me to this in detail to the Supervisory Board, which accepted my resignation. Any further speculation about my departure is damaging Czech Railways (ČD), whose interests have always been and are my priority. I thank the entire ČD Group for 7,5 years of life experience.”
Economist Miroslav Zámečník was elected as The Chairman of the ČD Supervisory Board. New Members of the Supervisory Board are railway expert Petr Šlegr and a manager Jiří Minka. In the following days, the tender will be announced for the post of the ČD CEO. Temporary leadership was entrusted to Michal Kraus. With effect from February 16th, 2022, the Supervisory Board also appointed Blanka Havelková, the current Chairman of the Board of Directors of the DVI subsidiary, as a new member of the Board of Directors of ČD. She is the first female member in the leadership position since the Austro-Hungarian empire.
“A strong manager must emerge from the selection process, stabilizing the management of Czech Railways. At the same time, his task will be to deal with property relations, to set up a more efficient management structure for the entire ČD Group. The quality of the services provided by the national carrier is also set to increase. Passengers must-see new and clean trains. I would like to thank the current General Manager, Bednárik, that in this respect, the gradual renewal of the vehicle fleet is well underway,” says Minister of Transportation Martin Kupka.
For the exclusive interview with RAILTARGET Martin Kupka also mentioned that the personnel shuffle in ČD should be finished with the tender for the new CEO. He believes we should know his or her name in April.
The editorial staff of RAILTARGET asked the former Minister of Transportation Karel Havlíček (ANO) for comments. He is of an opinion that Ivan Bednárik is among the best managers in the public sphere who has gained respect in the whole industry. “He saved the Czech Railways (ČD),” said Karel Havlíček. He further continued to say that ČD should not be subject to political or other interests and if that happens it reflects poorly on any Minister of Transportation that would allow such a thing. “It is no secret that the play being done here is about the privatization of ČD Cargo and there is a huge pressure when it comes to this issue,” added Karel Havlíček. Bednárik was able to oppose such pressures and that is why Karel Havlíček thinks Bednárik was recalled.