Staněk dismissed two directors, filed two criminal complaints against Fajt

photo: National Gallery in Prague

Prague - Minister of Culture Antonín Staněk (ČSSD) dismissed the director of the National Gallery in Prague (NGP) Jiří Fajt and the director of the Olomouc Museum of Art (MUO) Michal Soukup following inspections at the institutions they led. Two criminal complaints have been filed against Fajt, with a third being prepared, which the minister refused to disclose to reporters today. Crisis manager Ivan Morávek, who previously served as the economic deputy at the National Library, has been tasked with leading the NGP, while the current deputy director Ondřej Zatloukal will lead the Olomouc museum.

The minister stated that he selected Morávek from a range of potentially suitable candidates who would also be able to start at the NGP in a timely manner and prepare its consolidation. According to him, Zatloukal has experience with the institution as a statutory representative of the museum. Both appointed directors, according to Staněk, are expected to ensure continuity of exhibition plans, as well as preparation for two "key projects" - which the minister stated are collaboration with the French Centre Pompidou for the NGP and preparation of the Central European Forum (SEFO) in Olomouc. The ministry will announce selection procedures for the director positions in the near future.

The criminal complaint against Fajt was filed by Staněk due to an author’s contract worth 1.2 million crowns or due to long-term lease contracts made by the National Gallery. According to Staněk, it is an author’s contract that does not need to be published in the contract register. It is for the amount of 1.2 million crowns, which, according to Staněk, was allocated to Fajt and relates to six exhibition projects. It was concluded on December 20, 2018, and paid out on December 27, 2018, while it was signed with a provision that it takes effect retroactively from September 2018, the minister stated. He added that the contract was signed by the chancellor of the NGP, Fajt's subordinate, who can only sign contracts up to half a million crowns.

The ministry also criticizes Fajt for a case from the year before last, when due to issues with a security agency, the gallery's facilities were closed for several days. It states that the NGP violated budget discipline in several areas when dealing with the agency. The company ABAS guarded the assets of the NGP for several months based on a tender across the entire culture sector. The company with the lowest bid won, but that meant that employees received less than the minimum wage; other institutions also had issues with security staff, which they reported to ČTK at the time. Both Fajt and the then Minister of Culture Daniel Herman stated that in the case of heritage sites and art of incalculable value, the lowest price cannot be used as a decisive criterion in a public procurement competition.

In both cases, Staněk dismissed the directors based on a legal analysis of the results of audits conducted in both institutions. "Both directors lost my trust based on the findings of the investigation in their ability to manage such significant institutions with such a large budget economically and with the responsibility of a good manager. Last year, the Ministry of Culture had to financially support the management of the NGP by more than 15 million crowns, similarly it looks like it will be this year," said Staněk.

Regarding the Olomouc museum, Staněk mentioned today the preparation for the construction of the Central European Forum Olomouc (SEFO). Miroslav Leixner, director of the department of internal audit and control at the Ministry of Culture, stated today that one audit in the museum was conducted in 2017 and a second one this year, which focused on documents related to SEFO. "The purchases of land for SEFO were also examined from 2007 to 2013, with the last piece of land becoming the property of the museum only in 2013, although requests for European grants had already been submitted in the past, so the museum did not have land on which it was supposed to be built," Staněk said. Additionally, according to him, in the mentioned years the land was not purchased at the then-current price, but received exceptions so that they could be bought at higher prices.