“Czech” savings bank? Nowhere. Her boss wants to rid the Czech Republic of its crown, because of Putin

Salomon, who has been at the head of Česká spořitelna since 2016, called for the adoption of the euro. “Let’s adopt the euro! It is not only a currency, but also a symbol of a strong EU, which we need and in which we should be heard (as it is successful with the purchase of ammunition for Ukraine). In addition, the euro increases the allies’ willingness to defend not only the Czech Republic, but also the stability of the eurozone from Putin’s terrorism,” wrote Salomon on the X network as part of the Economic Newspaper Forum.

Petr Honzejk, the commentator of Hospodářské noviny, agrees with his words, who made do with three exclamation points.

According to former ODS politician Pavel Drobil, this opinion deserves a thumbs up from the head of the largest Czech bank. “… says the one who clearly makes money from holding the crown, so thumbs up for me,” responded Drobil.

And Radek Špicar, vice president of the Union of Industry and Transport, sees it the same way. “I appreciate the support for the adoption of the euro from those who will lose part of their income by switching to the single European currency. They clearly show that there are more important reasons,” Špicar is clear.

“Thanks to Tomáš Salomon for his clear stance from the position of the head of the largest Czech bank, and to Hospodářské noviny for keeping the topic in the public space after President Pavel’s New Year’s speech,” said Špicar.

Česká spořitelna has been getting into internet debates quite regularly lately. Last April, for example, she called on the University of Economics to dismiss the dean of the Faculty of Economics, Miroslav Ševčík, saying that she would continue to sponsor the school after his dismissal. Many people were angered by such framing and called for the cancellation of accounts with Česká spořitelna, for example the political movement Trikolora, for which Ševčík ran in the parliamentary elections.

“Okay, so let’s continue to chain it, something along the lines of – keep blackmailing the college (set terms) and we’ll cancel your account (set terms). It is fair. They can choose who they will sponsor, and the clients can choose which bank they will put their money into,” responded ANO MP Patrik Nacher.

The largest Czech bank then took back its words. “We support students and student programs at the entire VŠE, so we cannot condition our support on the dismissal or retention of the dean of one of the faculties,” said Filip Hrubý, a spokesman for the savings bank.

At the end of last year, it also became clear that Česká spořitelna had set an unprecedentedly high fee for ATM withdrawals with a foreign card. She used it in the amount of 169 crowns for one transaction.

The peculiar policy of withdrawing money from ATMs surprised everyone, including the well-known fighter against business malfeasance Janko Rubeš. He showed the receipt from the ATM, where the withdrawal of 200 crowns actually cost 369 crowns.

“We charge a fee because the management of ATMs is very expensive (lease of the location, energy, ensuring security, etc.),” the savings bank explained on the X social network.

This partly amused and partly angered many. They do not understand how the customer’s choice differs from a choice with another card in terms of renting a location, energy consumption or ensuring security.

“When withdrawing with a domestic card, the ATM probably runs on solar power and monitors itself :),” laughed one customer.

“That you need to lie and make a fool of yourself… When you don’t have the balls to admit that jerking off strangers is good business, maybe it’s better not to comment at all,” advised another.