CZECHIA: Michal Krapinec leaves as chief executive of state-owned operator České dráhy on 31 August. Transport ministry director Lenka Hamplová takes over on 1 September, with Prague’s city council and the Central Bohemian regional assembly still to approve the 30-year contract the operator won.
The supervisory board agreed the departure with him at an extraordinary meeting and elected Lenka Hamplová chair of the management board and chief executive. She has worked at the transport ministry since 2008 and has headed its economics and infrastructure section since 2023, after three years as deputy minister. She sat on the operator’s supervisory board from 2021 to 2024 and has been a member of its audit committee since 2017.
Prague’s city council still has to approve the CZK 165.17bn (EUR 6.86bn) contract. The Central Bohemian assembly votes on 7 September. The Office for the Protection of Competition (ÚOHS) is separately reviewing the operator’s order for the EMU 400 trains meant to run the service.
Cost mandate from the ministry
Transport minister Ivan Bednárik said he respected the board’s agreement. He expects Lenka Hamplová to cut unnecessary costs, above all at head-office level, simplify the organisation and restore the company’s financial health. The operator works in a competitive environment and must act accordingly, he said.
Dan Ťok, deputy chair of the supervisory board, told journalists her main task is to slow the growth of the company’s debt. Lenka Hamplová said her first job is to get to grips with the finances and operations and find savings where they make sense, without cutting staff, passenger comfort or quality.
Security clearance and the timing
Michal Krapinec resigned for personal reasons and the board accepted, Dan Ťok said. The meeting was called because he had recently handed back his Confidential-level security clearance. Michal Krapinec said he did not need it.
Lenka Hamplová holds a valid clearance at that level, according to supervisory board chair Vazil Hudák. Dan Ťok said the board gave her a full contract rather than an interim mandate until spring 2027, when her predecessor’s contract would have expired, and held no selection procedure to avoid weeks of uncertainty at the top.
Michal Krapinec has spent 15 years at the company and more than four at the top. He said it is more stable, more modern and financially stronger than four years ago. It employs more than 13,000 people.
Approvals and the regulator
RegioJet, the losing bidder, did not object before the deadline of 21 August, Petr Borecký, the Central Bohemian region’s transport councillor, said. The operator bid CZK 165.17bn against RegioJet’s CZK 183.65bn (EUR 7.63bn) for a contract the contracting authorities had valued at CZK 142bn (EUR 5.90bn).
ÚOHS has been running a first-instance proceeding since late July on the operator’s framework agreement for the EMU 400 units, after a petition from Stadler Praha aimed at the choice of supplier and an allegedly abnormally low price, spokesman Martin Švanda said. Škoda Group won the framework with CZK 36.39bn (EUR 1.51bn) against Stadler’s CZK 38.66bn (EUR 1.61bn).
A further complaint, from a party the region does not know, challenges the 30-year term of the operating contract itself. ÚOHS has taken no decision on it, Petr Borecký said.
Political reaction
Martin Kupka, the former transport minister under whom Michal Krapinec was appointed after a selection procedure, praised him and said he saw an attempt to take control of the operator through backroom deals. Zdeněk Hřib of the Pirates said the change fitted the government’s efforts to dismantle the nomination law.
From 1 September the management board consists of Lenka Hamplová as chair, Jiří Ješeta as deputy chair for passenger transport and Lukáš Svoboda for finance and procurement.