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Trade agency seeking direction

CzechInvest's Čermák out as CEO after less than a year on the job

By Victor Velek
Staff Writer, The Prague Post
October 31st, 2007 issue

CzechInvest, the state agency promoting investment and business development in the Czech Republic, is searching for a leader once again.
Roman Čermák, who led the agency since a controversial personnel shakeup earlier this year, has decided to step down from his post in December to work in Brussels.
Čermák did a fine job leading, said Industry and Trade Minister Martin Říman, who appointed Čermák as CEO this past April.
“He stabilized the agency and sped up the obtaining of European Union funds,” Říman said after he met with Čermák Oct. 29 to accept his resignation.
In Brussels, Čermák will coordinate the activities of the local offices of CzechInvest, CzechTrade and the Czech Business Representation. The agencies have recently moved to Czech House, the Czech Republic’s new headquarters for EU lobbying. Despite the new position, Čermák will remain a CzechInvest employee.
CzechInvest’s new CEO will likely be chosen from within the agency, added Tomáš Bartovský, Industry and Trade Ministry spokesman.
Čermák leave the leadership of CzechInvest after about eight months on the job. He came into the position after Říman dismissed Tomáš Hruda, the previous CzechInvest head, for what Říman said was ineffective management and faults in managing its funds.
Hruda is critical of the course set by Čermák and the ministry since his departure.
“Čermák has achieved nothing,” Hruda said. “In fact, closely watched and directed by the ministry, he could hardly achieve anything.”
The agency is still far from recovering from the exodus of staff that followed Hruda’s dismissal, he said: One-hundred fifty employees left the agency during that time, including its entire management.
Hruda and his supporters said that the reasons for his dismissal were unfounded and stemmed from Říman’s desire to turn CzechInvest into an agency dominated by the Industry and Trade Ministry.
Under Čermák, CzechInvest has reorganized and cut costs, merging its foreign offices with those of the state’s trade promotion agency, CzechTrade. Due to poor performance, the agency also closed down its branch office in the high-tech hub of Silicon Valley in the United States.
Despite the cuts, CzechInvest’s performance has not declined, Říman emphasized. “The volume of mediated foreign investment projects hasn’t changed,” he said.
Whomever is tapped to lead the agency will find it difficult to bring CzechInvest back to full speed, according to Hruda. As long as the ministry prefers an obedient agency to an apolitical and professional agency, CzechInvest will continue to lack the space it needs for healthy development, he said.

Victor Velek can be reached at vvelek@praguepost.com


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