Student Agency boss Jančura lashes out at corrupt politicians, flawed competition watchdog

Radim Jančura is one of the best known and most outspoken Czech businessmen, famous for creating a business empire with a turnover of billions of crowns from a small start-up placing Czech au-pairs abroad, Student Agency, created in the mid-1990s.

Jančura’s many ventures, which now include a travel, coach and rail business, have often involved clashes with local and national politicians, and administrations, who are not always keen to see a new competitor on the block. He is also a board member on the Anti-Corruption Endowment Fund (NFPK).

The Czech businessman of the year in 2005, speaks about some of the anti-graft fund’s recent attacks on Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Jaromír Drábek (Top 09), his rapid disillusionment with Public Affairs (VV), clashes with regional party bosses, and the failure of the Czech competition office to perform its anti-graft role. His critical comments about Finance Minister Miroslav Kalousek sparked the deputy leader of TOP 09 (first published in the Czech version of this server) to start legal proceedings against him for defamation.

Q: Why did you decide to actively participate in the Anticorruption Endowment (NFPK)?

JANČURA: The fact that Karel Janeček established the fund means he put himself in the game. And naturally pressures will accrue against his company. It’s in Karel Randák that I see the beauty of the fund. He is a very industrious person — the heart of the fund – and his investigative team prepares its evidence in such a way as to prevent the affairs it looks into from being swept under the rug. As a former intelligence service head, he knows a great deal — and though there are some things he’s not allowed to discuss, he is able to perform these duties… 

Q: At the beginning of April, in relation to a new system for paying out welfare payments, you made the following sharply worded comment against [Labor Minister Jaromír Drábek] and his deputy: “Šiška, Drábek, return your kickbacks! Your business has ended.” 

JANČURA: We’re going after Minister Drábek to prevent the whole affair [of a new and flawed information systems being introduced to process labor office claims] ending up as another newspaper story about a stolen two billion; to prevent the Office for the Protection of Competition (ÚOHS) from [merely] issuing a five million crown fine in three years time to the perpetrators, essentially legalizing what transpired. And that is why we issued a recommendation on behalf of Student Agency to the anti-monopoly authority to annul the fulfilment of the contract.

And we want to take this to the point that Minister Drábek, Mr. [Vladimír] Šiška and the company Fujitsu — which programmed the new system without a public tender process on the basis of a license from Microsoft – are simply made to return the money. This includes commissions. From what I understand, Fujitsu is preparing similar scenarios for other ministries. We want to stub that out, and in this case put him in the game with Student Agency, because when you take away two billion from someone then you never know what will happen.

Q: Should the current government fall in your view as several protest movements, which have gained traction in recent weeks, are demanding? Or is it merely sufficient to secure the resignations of Jaromír Drábek and Pavel Dobeš, as you recently indicated via a survey conducted by Hospodářské noviny?

JANČURA: Minister Dobeš inappropriately sent more than half a billion crowns to Czech Railways (ČD). One could even say that it was done outside of existing contracts. This was despite the fact that we made an offer that we will operate his loss-making trains EuroCity and InterCity, but he wasn’t interested. For me, this is a person who has no interest in making savings, and that is why he has no business in this government. ‘How can a politician who in all likelihood stole billions end up in charge of the state purse?’

Ministr Drábek and his deputy Šiška, on the other hand, are de facto thieves. When his assistant creates a two billion crown program without a tender, then his boss must surely know about that and also have his fingers in the pie. For that I need no proof.

[TOP 09 Finance Minister Miroslav] Kalousek is a chapter unto himself. We let the wealthiest person in this country – thanks to multi-billion defence contracts; thanks to an agreement to collect a toll from the company Kapsch, which is also his handiwork; thanks to software for Minister Drábek, in which, according to my information, he also has his fingers – become Minister of Finance. How can a politician who organized all this and who in all likelihood stole a few billion for himself, be in charge of the state purse? That is asinine to say the least.

Q: In a recent interview with Czech Position, Andrej Babiš [a Czech businessman and head of the Agrofert group, reportedly worth billions] said that it would be entirely beneficial for someone to run the country as a family firm. Do you agree?

‘The government is lowering expenditures at the various ministries. That is obviously a good thing. But it is also important to optimize the administrative side to make it as small as possible.’

JANČURA: Everything is about processes. Each surplus person represents a weak spot for the company and its expenses – let’s say that the costs of labor are half a million crowns per year plus the management associated with steering that. The present government is lowering expenditures at various ministries. That is obviously a good thing. But as long as it will not concurrently simplify processes, bureaucracy and administration, then people will run away from their offices, as is happening today in droves at the employment offices because they are working with an ineffective information system, which cost two billion and was patched together in four months. People are leaving [there] because they are overworked. So it is important to optimise the administration to make it as small as possible.