2023-12-04 18:57:00
Mayor Bohuslav Svoboda (ODS) nominated Vladimír Schmalz to the supervisory board of Pražská plynárenská. “The mayor approached me as an energy expert, if I were elected, I would be the only one on the supervisory board who knows the energy sector,” Schmalz said of his nomination. The supervisory board has a total of ten members, among whom are, for example, Patrik Nacher from ANO, the pirate senator Lukáš Wagenknecht or the lawyer Martin Šenkýř, who is the chairman of the board.
That it would like to see Schmalz as an expert in Pražská plynárenská SPOL, confirmed for Blesk the chairman of the SPOL club Tomáš Portlík (ODS) that the capital even had to lend the company 2 billion crowns to buy gas. In order to prevent this, it is necessary for real experts to sit on both the board of directors and the supervisory board. And where we can influence it, we do so. In addition, I think that staffing should remain in the totalitarian era, not in the current one.”
Villain or friend?
From 2004 to 2011, Schmalz was a member of the board of directors of the CEZ energy group. Currently, Vladimír Schmalz does business in a wide range of sectors, from agriculture to education, information technology, energy and development projects. For example, he is one of the owners of Molepowhich seeks to change the spatial plan in the vicinity of the Džbán swimming pool, which bothers the coalition Pirates.
“For the Pirates, we really have a problem with the nomination of Mr. Schmalz. From our point of view, there are still great doubts as to whether he will defend the interests of the people of Prague and the capital city. His company Molepo has long sought to change the land use plan in the areas around the Džbán swimming pool, where the greenery is planned to be, and the price for which Molepo auctioned the plots corresponded to this. Last year, Molepo came up with the idea that the swimming pool had to be closed to the public due to the emergency condition of the facilities. In my opinion, this is a clear attempt to resist the change of the zoning plan and thus evaluate the land,” said Deputy Mayor for Transport Zdeněk Hřib (Piráti).
The opposition also points out that members of the Pirates also “sit” in some companies where Schmalz works. “Today’s City Council of Prague could be summed up simply: Ruin in the management of Prague and a pirated double standard! According to the Pirates, the main problem of Prague (to which the councilors devoted almost 1.5 hours) is the election of a certain Mr. Schmalz to Pražská plynárenská. He is bothered, for example, by his involvement in the company Solotron, through which he holds a stake in Energomonitor. It is interesting, however, that the other partners are, among others, the pirate deputy mayor of the city of Brandýs nad Labem-Stará Boleslav Patrik Zandl, and above all Mr. Michal Bláha, a long-time supporter of the Pirates and a full member since October. So is the Schmalz such a crook or not? A pirate wouldn’t do business with some rascal, would he? Especially such an important Pirate and moral beacon as Mr. Michal Bláha is! I am horrified! And I will be happy for an explanation,” wrote opposition representative Ondřej Prokop (ANO) on the X social network.
“However, Mr. Bláha and Mr. Zandl do not report to the Prague Gas Supervisory Board and do not plan to manage the property of the people of Prague. Mr. Schmalz himself bought a share in some startup where other natural persons already have a share. In addition, they gradually acquired their shares at a completely different time, which cannot be related to each other. It does not mean that these persons are in any way connected with Mr. Schmalz or have participated in any way in his activities to date,” Pirates spokesperson Martina Kameník Vacková explains for Blesk.
Will decide next time
For the reasons stated above, Schmalz was ultimately not appointed as a member of the supervisory board. Councilors discussed it for more than an hour, finally agreeing that Schmalz’s actions in all companies must first be clarified and also that he must complete his sworn statement, where some facts that point to his conflict of interest are allegedly found. The council will discuss his appointment again at its next meeting.
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On February 16, 2023, Bohuslav Svoboda was elected mayor of the capital city of Prague for the second time.
Author: Reprofoto ČT
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