Pavel Rus was also appointed to the position by Chancellor Vratislav Mynář. But his successor, Jana Vohralíková, left the Russian in the chair, saying that she is trying to put things in order after her predecessor, Miloš Balák. The Russian escorted the chancellor along with President Petr Pavlo a month ago.
On Wednesday, however, the presidential office announced a selection process for Rus’ position. This happened after a series of investigative articles by Seznam Zpráv, which exposed suspicions surrounding Rus’s tenure. They resemble the times of his twice-convicted predecessor Balák. The latest findings were published by Seznam Správy just on Wednesday.
The castle is looking for a new director after less than a year of Rus’s tenure. The winner of the tender should start from the New Year. Seznam The News found this out from an ad that appeared on the Personalka.cz server on Wednesday and was also posted on the official board by the Lány Forestry Administration itself.
Why are we running a competition? We decided so
The presidential office did not explain why Hrad took the step when asked by Seznam Zpráv.
“The Office of the President of the Republic has decided to announce a transparent selection process in which anyone can apply, including Pavel Rus,” stated only Mária Pfeiferová from the Communications Department of the Presidential Office.
And she has not yet specified who exactly will choose the successor. “The new director will be chosen by a selection committee whose composition will be decided by the head of the Office of the President of the Republic,” added Pfeiferová.
If the Castle finds another suitable candidate for the position, according to Pfeiferová, it will mean that the Russian will end his position as director of the forest administration at the end of the year.
In the advertisement, the presidential office is looking for a university student with at least eight years of professional experience who will manage thousands of hectares of land and an annual budget of approximately 80 million crowns. Those interested can apply until November 27. At the same time, the presidential office claims the right to cancel the competition at any time.
Photo: personalka.cz/727573
Advertisement in which the Castle is looking for a new director of the Lány Forestry Administration.
The Russian did not respond to the question of whether he plans to enter the tender before the publication of the text.
Hunting for a sponsor, jobs for a classmate
Even after Petr Pavel joined the Castle, money from orders continued to flow to acquaintances of the convicted ex-boss Lán Balák. His successor, Rus, stayed at the Amálie mansion without a contract, he paid the rent only after inquiries from Seznam Zpráv, but Chancellor Vohralíková signed the return lease. Some employees of the forest administration wrote a petition against the Russian.
The reporters also described the case of how an important sponsor of Petr Pavel organized a hunt in the reserve. However, the order and contract for hunting game for 700,000 was created and entered by the forest administration in the register of contracts only after Nauzal became interested in the event. In the end, Vohraliková told journalists that it was an administrative error, from which she will not draw any consequences.
The fact that Pavel Rus, unlike other managers of the Castle, stayed on after she took office was also justified by the new chancellor with the argument that she had no information that his selection was manipulated in the era of Vratislav Mynář. Jana Vohralíková also added that Mynář’s selection committee also included people who were not employees of the Castle.
However, Seznam Správa found out that the two members of the commission who came from outside and consecrated the appointment of Pavel Rus to Mynář were hosted by the Lány Forestry Administration in the presidential park. The circumstances of the hunts there have been investigated by the police for a long time, and both mentioned members of the selection committee are silent about them.
The National Central Office against Organized Crime (NCOZ) in Lány is investigating not only the activities of Balák, but also the current director Russ himself. For example, reporters reported that his son took a picture with a rifle in the presidential park next to a dead silver fallow deer worth about 40,000 crowns. The Russian claims that he shot the animal before taking office. At the invitation of Vratislav Mynar and for free.
