Bakala bought a house in Hradčany for the Václav Havel Library

Prague - Billionaire Zdeněk Bakala has purchased a house in Hradčany, where the Václav Havel Library will be headquartered. The information is confirmed by a property registry excerpt and the words of the library director Martin C. Putna. The house on Loretánské Square was previously home to, for example, the wife of President Edvard Beneš. Bakala is the chairman of the library's board.
    "Yes, that place has already been designated. Its reconstruction is expected to take about a year, a year and a half," said literary theorist and library director Putna to ČTK today. According to his spokeswoman Sabina Tančevá, former President Havel has personally viewed the building, which he is directing a film called Odcházení based on his own play outside Prague these days. "He is pleased that a new and permanent location for the library has already been designated and that it is in an excellent location," added Tančevá.
    Before the May elections, Bakala sponsored all three parties in the current governing coalition. He is also a co-producer of the film currently being made, which the former president is directing. He is among the co-founders of the discussion group Lípa, sometimes referred to as a circle of Havel's supporters.
    The close relationship between Bakala and the former president is also evidenced, according to tabloid press, by the fact that Havel and his wife reportedly left a dinner hosted by British Prince Charles in March this year to attend the announcement of the Czech Miss competition led by Bakala's partner Michaela Maláčová.
    The entrepreneur, who holds both a Czech and an American passport, is currently on vacation, and ČTK has not yet been able to obtain his statement.
    The Václav Havel Library, founded after the model of presidential libraries in the USA, aims according to its website to document, research, and promote the life, work, and ideas of the former Czechoslovak and Czech president. It therefore collects various records related to this politician, playwright, and former significant dissident. The library is also expected to host various discussion meetings.
    The institution has not yet had a permanent seat; several years ago, according to media reports, it negotiated with the Ministry of Culture about using its building on Liliová Street in Prague, where the National Heritage Institute is located. However, the project, which was then receiving "concrete outlines," ultimately fell through, even though it was located not far from St. Anne's Church in the Old Town, where the Vize 97 foundation of Dagmar and Václav Havel created a "international spiritual center" called Praguem Crossroads.
    Significant financier Bakala has been previously associated with Patria Finance; he is currently a stakeholder in RPG Industries and through the company Handelsblatt Investments B.V. is the majority owner of the Ekonomia publishing house, and he is involved in several other companies. However, the property for the Václav Havel Library was purchased directly in his name, according to the property registry excerpt.
    The two-story, originally Renaissance building called U Drahomířina sloupu is named after a column that stood in front of the house until 1788, depicting the fate of Saint Wenceslas's mother. The house was owned by the Černín family and later by Count František Josef Šlik.
    In the recent history of the house, it was lived in by the widow of President Beneš, Hana. After her husband's death, she was given a representative apartment with a three-story tower and a spacious terrace in the back section of the house. Benešová lived in the Hradčany apartment until her death in December 1974. After her death, the Ministry of Health acquired the apartment in the Hradčany house, and in 1993 it was taken over by the Italian attaché.