The ministry will file a criminal complaint against the former management of NTM

Prague, November 1 (ČTK) - Following an audit at the National Technical Museum (NTM), the Ministry of Culture (MK) will file a criminal complaint against the former director of the museum Horymír Kubíček and his statutory representative Oldřich Rambousek. Minister of Culture Jiří Besser (for TOP 09) told reporters today. The criminal complaint concerns violations of duties in asset management. According to the minister, the mistakes uncovered by the audit are serious.
    Representatives from the Czech branch of Transparency International (TIC) also participated in the controls at NTM. "Our experience from the audit clearly shows that we encountered inefficiency, irresponsibility, prioritization of personal interests over public interest, and violations of other rules that the state itself set," said the head of the TIC legal consultancy Petr Jansa.
    The audit report published on TIC's website reveals, among other things, that NTM exceeded its budget for 2009 by 30 percent and that both NTM and its founder MK violated budgetary rules by increasing the budget during the year. Errors also appeared in public procurement. According to the report, Kubíček and Rambousek additionally paid themselves tens of thousands for their work as heritage conservation guarantors and for tax consultancy to the museum. Rambousek had simultaneously held two employment contracts with NTM. Ambiguities also arose regarding the use of service vehicles and bonuses paid to both the general director and his deputy. Among other non-standard contracts is the lease of an apartment for the general director under "strikingly unfavorable conditions" for NTM.
    The dismissed director of NTM Horymír Kubíček has so far refused to comment on the audit results until he has them in his hands. "I only know what I knew on August 19 when I was dismissed; I did not receive the audit results, even though I requested them verbally and in writing twice," Kubíček told ČTK.
    Kubíček offered his arguments regarding the individual findings of the audit, published in recent weeks by the newspaper Mladá fronta Dnes, on his website www.horymirkubicek.cz. He claims they were false allegations and media sensationalism against him.
    The audit at NTM was conducted by Ernst & Young. Additionally, an internal audit of the ministry, involving the organization Transparency International, took place there. Minister Besser dismissed the director of the technical museum Kubíček on August 19 due to discrepancies in management. Oldřich Rambousek was then tasked with leading NTM, but he resigned just a few days later. Currently, the museum is temporarily led by MK official Tomáš Wiesner.
    The ministry also commented today on the audit results at the Czech Philharmonic (ČF). It stated that there were also errors there. However, it will not draw any personnel conclusions because none of the people responsible for the management of ČF are still employed there. The findings will be added to an already filed criminal complaint against an unknown perpetrator from this May, which the police are currently investigating.
    Ernst & Young began the audit at ČF while Václav Kasík was leading the institution. He was appointed to head the philharmonic without competition by former minister Václav Riedlbauch. After Kasík's resignation, the minister's deputy Radek Zdráhal is temporarily leading ČF. The new head of the philharmonic, David Mareček, will take office on February 1.
    The minister plans to conduct audits in other contributory organizations as well. He invited auditing firms to submit offers for the audit of the National Museum and the National Gallery. In both cases, he reached out to the big four auditing firms, namely Deloitte & Touche, Ernst & Young, KPMG, and PricewaterhouseCoopers. However, applicants who were not contacted by the minister's letter could also apply.