The new head of the NG will be known on Monday; will it be Rösel or Fajt

Prague - Culture Minister Jiří Besser (for TOP 09) will announce the name of the new director general of the National Gallery on Monday, May 16. Before that, he will meet with two candidates, Vladimír Rösel and Jiří Fajt, on Friday. Besser stated this in the ministry's website. After today's personal interviews with the trio of candidates, he excluded Marek Pokorný, the director of the Moravian Gallery in Brno, from further selection for the director.
      "I am really not firmly decided yet, and before I give a final verdict, I want to be internally convinced of my step. I have narrowed my selection down by excluding Marek Pokorný, for whom I have tremendous respect as the director of the Moravian Gallery in Brno, but he did not score as well with the selection committee as perhaps he himself expected," the minister stated. "I am glad that he did not take this tragically during the personal meeting and that he will continue working for the Moravian Gallery," he added.
Economist Vladimír Rösel, whose candidacy was recommended by the selection committee, Marek Pokorný from the Moravian Gallery, and art historian Jiří Fajt discussed with Besser today in this order, each for approximately an hour and a half.
      "The Minister of Culture will meet again on Friday, May 13, with the two candidates who were rated the highest by the selection committee. Vladimír Rösel and Jiří Fajt will bring two closest collaborators to the meeting, with whom they would like to realize their visions for the National Gallery," it states on the website.
      "I really have a good feeling from the meeting. It lasted a very long time, and the minister wanted to know details about what my first steps would be, details of the concept, and who I will work with. I think I was well prepared," Rösel told ČTK. According to him, the interview with the minister was much more thorough than the interview with the selection committee. After the committee's decision, he feels like a moral winner. If he does not get the position, he claims he will not regret anything because he did his best.
      "Mr. Fajt and Mr. Pokorný are definitely strong personalities. However, I am more experienced in the area of management," Rösel stated. He is currently the managing director of Lombard Advisory Partners, which deals with investments, private equity management, business restructuring, and real estate trading.
      "The interview with the minister was very friendly and very thorough. I think I performed well, but I do not dare to assess my own chances of obtaining the position right now," said the second candidate Jiří Fajt to ČTK.
The new general director of the NG is expected to be appointed by June 1. The current head of the institution, Milan Knížák, will likely remain in office until the end of August. Between June 1 and August 31, he is expected to hand over the agenda to his successor.