Minister Jandák dismissed the director of the heritage institutes

PRAGUE - Minister of Culture Vítězslav Jandák today dismissed the director of all regional offices of the National Heritage Institute and its general director Zdeněk Novák, who had been in office since December 1. A selection procedure will be announced on Monday, Jandák told reporters today.
According to the minister, he made the decision based on information that part of the Hunger Wall in Prague at Strahov is being demolished. However, according to his new first deputy František Formánek, the minister's decision is part of a larger systemic change.
Petr Miller, former Minister of Labor and Social Affairs, now the new director of the human resources department of the Ministry of Culture, said at a press conference that the selection process should be completed within ten days.
According to sources close to the ministry, the reason for Novák's dismissal was a report by Nova Television, in which Novák commented on the case of St. Michael's Church in Prague. In the program, Novák was presented as a person who had personal contacts with Jerry Nowikovský, the man behind the companies that had leased and later purchased St. Michael's Church from the National Library (NK).
The Nova reporter also showed minutes from a meeting indicating that Novák was indifferent to what the company was doing and operating in the building. The report also suggested that Novák was one of the people who advocated for the sale of the church to Nowikovský. The same individual had purchased two chateaus from the state in the 1990s, which were managed by the NK. Despite the municipalities of Buštěhrad and Tmaň repeatedly warning the ministry about their deterioration, officials were unable to persuade Nowikovský to take care of them.
The former church now belongs to a private owner, but it is still subject to disputes as it was when it belonged to the state. The National Library, which the state tasked with managing the property, sold it to its long-term tenant. Heritage protectors, non-governmental anti-corruption organizations, and other entities criticize the reconstruction of the church, the previously disadvantageous lease agreement, and the background of its creation, as well as the connection of the NK with a company that is allegedly suspected of money laundering.
Non-partisan Novák served in the Ministry of Culture for ten years. He is a trained garden and landscape architect and heritage protector. Before joining the ministry, he managed the former Heritage Institute in Brno for two years. He was succeeded in the role of first deputy by František Formánek.