It amazes me how politics is becoming more aggressive towards the governor of Krkok

It was an analogy for the movement and the leaders of the region, and for me it was psychologically difficult. I hit rock bottom, but now I’m much more experienced, a 47-year-old politician originally from Krnovsko.

Did you decide for a long time if you would be the first to kill Governor Vondrek?
It was very difficult, not like deciding whether to buy or not to buy a roll. I consulted with my colleagues and, of course, with my children. However, I have to emphasize that even if I didn’t agree, it certainly wouldn’t mean that he would stay five years old. In the end, after several meetings with coalition partners, I was appointed. We wanted to maintain the continuity of the regional leadership, especially the regional large-scale transformation project.

You were immediately criticized a lot. While you were an original supporter of Vondrk, it turned out that you will not succeed, the former mayor of Ostrava, Tom Macura, even called you a stupid Honza on social media. What do you think?
I really don’t want to comment on this question. That old fool Honza is still sitting here, he didn’t collapse, on the contrary, the consequences are visible behind him. The regional team works, so the relations with the modified leadership of Ostrava are above standard. The regional coalition is fully functional and I think we have very good interpersonal relations.

Have you cleared things up with your predecessor?
We met about thirteen days after the wedding. I told him my opinion on what had happened. In the same way, he said his vision.

He forgave vm and you replaced him? And do you work together somehow?
I don’t see it as someone in this situation having to take anything away from someone. We cooperate with Ivo Vondrk in the framework of the regional council.

And what about the situation in the ANO movement in the region? After a lot of research, has the situation so-called normalized?
Urit ctm calming. The situation has filtered out and we are the stable team to move the region forward.

Do you see a big difference between the work of the governor and his deputy?
It’s a really big change. As a deputy, you work on all matters, but as a governor, I had to take on and divide areas in a very short time, for example health care, transport, the environment, etc., it is worth combining. And I had a great advantage in that I have known for seven years how the regional administration works.

Did anything surprise you about the post of governor?
It amazes me how politics has become much more personal, aggressive and hard, which unfortunately has spread from national republics to regional ones as well. Here, for example, did you see the last one of the regional council, where we were attacked by some known people…

No fuss

When you consider this really a very dramatic event, you were very far behind, where the former governor as a representative was, on the contrary, very combative and met a lot of protesters. There was criticism that you should have stood up to them…
I don’t think so. I’m a hunter who relies on not making too much noise. Of course, I know how to argue, raise my voice, but here it was too much for me. On the contrary, I was convinced that it would only make the situation worse.

These people are mainly fighting to ensure that no military warehouses are created near Monovia, or, as they claim, an American military warehouse. How is the situation there now?
So it is at the level of the signed memorandum that there will be an army logistics center. I have never discussed it with anyone else, I take it to mean that it is going according to the contract. In addition, the flying area is therefore more of a sleepy industrial zone, where many people have lost their jobs.

Probably the most recent projects in the region are projects worth billions of crowns in Ostrava and the Karvina region under the Just Transformation programme, such as black cube, EDEN, POHO park and others. How is it going with them at the same time?
At the regional level, seven projects have been approved for financing, and now we are waiting for the final decision of the Ministry of the Environment. It should probably fall this year. And we continue with other projects. For example, a black cube can be built in the fifth year. In this way, in my role as governor, I have been involved in this project from the beginning.

But first of all, these projects are criticized because they are purely academic and will not help the people who will lose their jobs in connection with the termination of the coal plant.
Everything has its relevance. In Karvina, we need the support of high altitudes, because the development of remoteness will also help this region. At the same time, the bag for science and research was given to the company, which will apply the scientific knowledge in practice and will need a new employee.

But, for example, the deadlines for the completion of some of these projects in 2027 are well within the limits, so I would say that they are unfair, knowing how the construction works and their construction look like.
Yes, the timeline at the Ministry of the Environment is lower. It’s all a mole. I know that it is good on all sides and we will do our best to make it happen for you.

First, a gigafactory, i.e. a battery factory, should be established in Karvinska. Is it true?
At the moment, it is a large industrial site with an area of ​​more than a hundred hectares. Our goal is to make investments there that will provide jobs for people. That’s all that can be done about it.

Why did you leave the tourism industry in charge, which has not been done so far by the governor in the less than twenty years of the region’s existence? Is it such an easy area?
Definitely not, always during the covid this area got to zero and now it has been closed. But you know, we’ve been in the tourism business for seven years, we’re sleepy, and I dare say that other regions look at us like we’re sleepy. Mme sv characters, for example Technotrasu or Pojez, it just catches. And it’s a joy for me.

Ldr Tuh? That surprised me

What do you want to accomplish in the regional elections, which are held five years from now at the beginning of January?
A year is really a short time, but I consider it essential to start a large transformation project, we will understandably focus on health care and the availability of care, which is very important. We also have a big traffic jam. There really isn’t enough work.

And then you want to continue as a governor, what does it mean to be the leader of the regional candidates of the ANO movement? They are talking about you as a one-year-old who will finish this election period and then someone else will be the leader. The most speculation is about the mayor of Havova, MP and ANO regional leader Josef Blic.
That’s a question on the ground, but yes, I would like to continue as governor and build on my previous work. Who will lead the candidate, however, will be decided in the ANO movement in the region.

But as usual, the governor of Prague and especially the chairman of the movement, Andrej Babi, will have the last word. And that day I have my favorite: former police chief Tom Tuh. Was it surprising?
I have to admit that it was surprising, I can’t stop it. There are some decision-making processes set up here in the framework of the Lensk warehouse, and I don’t know if the chairman will decide otherwise. However, I think that the governor should be a local person who has worked here for a long time. He should earn his place as a candidate in the region. I do not know, however, that the chairman would stand against the unified vision of the entire region.