Minister of Finance Alena Schillerová (ANO) has a close relationship with her former deputy. Last year’s economic paper they explained, that Schiller was frequently absent from video conferences of EU finance ministers because of his poor English. Dupáková who represents it.

At the same time, he was among the senior staff of the office, including Schillerová he gave out eleven and a half million crown in honors, despite the country’s high budget deficit and promises to save.

In October this year, Dupáková left the ministry after six years and took up a new position at the Czech Embassy to the EU in Brussels. This came two days after the parliamentary elections, which were lost to the ANO movement. And the ČSSD coalition, of which Dupáková was a member, left the lower house.

Schillerová, who is now chairman of ANO’s new parliamentary club, denied that he would be lobbying to replace his former deputy. Dupáková himself does not communicate with Aktuálně.cz. The Ministry of Finance claims to have passed the selection process which started last August. According to the Ministry of Finance, the move to Brussels is not related to the election results.

“Posting deadlines are set by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and reflect the need to complete all administrative tasks related to the selection process and necessary preparations regarding the performance of the foreign service,” said Ministry of Finance spokesman Tomáš Weiss.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where the places in Brussels fall, informed the editors of HN and Aktuálně.cz that Dupáková was sent in connection with the second Czech presidency in the European Union. It will start in the middle of next year.

At the same time, the office managed by Jakub Kulhánek (ČSSD) confirmed that the table stand for Dupáková was superbly made. The Ministry of Finance transferred it to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs along with Dupáková’s salary. The number of people initially approved for Brussels does not include their positions.

What is he doing in Brussels?

It is not clear what Lenka Dupáková’s work in Brussels would contain. Several HN and Aktuálně.cz sources confirmed that he does not belong to any department for the representation of the Czech Republic in the European Union and does not have a set agenda.

It is impossible to know the direct assignment of the former deputy. “I just opened a bank account in Brussels, I’m busy,” Dupáková replied when journalists managed to reach him by phone. He did not respond to the next two scheduled call dates about his work and did not call back.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs claimed that Dupáková had a “coordinating role” in Brussels. “The main work at the moment is horizontal coordination, especially the issue of the so-called carbon tax, including future anchors in certain working groups,” said Černín Palace spokeswoman Eva Davidová. The ministry did not specify what “horizontal coordination” meant.

According to the ministry, Dupáková’s superior was the head of the office, in this case Ambassador Edita Hrdá. When asked what tasks Dupáková had been entrusted with in recent weeks, he responded by saying that he had no right to publish them. He referred the journalist back to the ministry.

Dupáková is classified in the fourteenth salary class in Brussels, the second highest after the head of the office, Ambassador Hrdé. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs refused to disclose how much the former deputy minister’s salary was. Usually, however, the fourteenth salary class, including compensation and personal evaluation, ranges between seven and eight thousand euros, that is, up to two hundred thousand crowns.

It doesn’t make any sense, said the MEP

The carbon tariffs mentioned are legislation under the English abbreviation CBAM, under which EU countries wish to tax imports of goods from countries with low environmental protections. The task is part of thirteen “green” proposals known as the Fit For 55 package. Work is in its early stages.

“CBAM is technically a relatively simple matter. It would be complicated to relate it to emission allowances and compliance with World Trade Organization rules, but that is decided by the European Commission,” said MEP Luděk Niedermayer (for TOP 09), a member of the European Parliament’s economic committee, who will work on the formulation of legislation to participate.

“From the point of view of the interests of the Czech Republic, the other parts of the package are much more important. It doesn’t make sense that one person should work on a third of the 13 parts, especially the simpler ones,” added Niedermayer. Prior to the deputy’s arrival, a Czech expert was already working at the agency in Brussels, which was among other things responsible for the carbon assignment.

Fewer people have voted for the presidency than in the case of Malta

In the past, other ministries and headquarters fought with Schiller’s department over everyone who should have gone to Brussels to become president. The reason is salary expense. In the end, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs lobbied for an additional 69 diplomats and experts. In total, there will be around 170 Czech experts working for the EU leadership in Brussels, the fewest the country has ever had as president. Lesser Malta also pays negotiators more.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not provide an answer as to whether sending civil servants with high salary groups and without an appropriate agenda was in line with the Babiš government’s goal of saving the presidential budget.

Moreover, although Dupáková has been an employee of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for one and a half months, he still sits on the body nominated by the Ministry of Finance as his deputy. For example, in the Committee on Economics and Finance, an advisory body to the EU.

“Lenka Dupáková’s membership in the Economic and Finance Committee has been temporarily maintained due to the smooth delivery of this agenda. However, prospectively, membership will be confirmed by representatives of the Ministry of Finance,” added a spokesman for Weiss. Dupáková also continues to sit on the supervisory board of Národní rozvojová banka, where the finance department nominated him again last April.

Post-Soviet bank

Dupáková works in the ministry as a representative for international relations and financial markets. He is also responsible for representing the Czech Republic in two post-Soviet banks – the International Investment Bank (MIB) and the International Bank for Economic Cooperation (MBHS). Western Allies warned, that the authorities, which Czechia still hasn’t left since the fall of the Iron Curtain, can serve Russia to cover international espionage. Moscow holds the majority in it.

However, in 2019, the Babiš government approved moving the MIB headquarters from Moscow to Hungary, thus opening the door to the European Union. At that time, the Ministry of Finance complied with the wishes of the Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán who came to support the ANO chairman even before the parliamentary elections. Orbán described MIB’s move to his country as an opportunity for Hungary to become an international financial center.

However, the Czech parliament has yet to approve the amendments to the international agreement required by law. The government withdrew the proposal two years ago. After the senators made it clear to Dupáks that they would not support the ratification. Since then, the problem has hung in a legal vacuum. The government did not submit it again to legislators.

According to information from Aktuálně.cz and HN Dupáková, while still deputy, negotiated with the head of the Castle’s foreign department, Rudolf Jindrák, whom President Miloš Zeman appointed as plenipotentiary for Czech-Russian relations and Prime Minister Babiš as his adviser. However, the Ministry of Finance has so far refused to say what happened to the negotiations.

“Negotiations with government representatives for Czech-Russian relations took place regarding issues relating to the membership of the Czech Republic in international financial institutions. Given that the subject matter of the meeting was matters subject to statutory regimes, we did not publish the details of negotiations and won’t do it right now.” said a spokesperson for the Weiss Finance Department.

He did not comment on the fact that, according to the newsroom, Dupáková had also met with the Russian ambassador to the Czech Republic, Alexander Zmejevsky, on the same issue. Such a meeting is not standard in diplomacy from the position of Undersecretary of Finance.

The Ministry of Finance, led by Schiller and Dupák, has not backed down from the second bank, MBHS, which is still based in Moscow. Even though it was approved in 2017 by the government of Bohuslav Sobotka (ČSSD), where Babiš served as minister of finance. Alena Schillerová has long claimed that she is taking a step in this direction. What it was, but he couldn’t say, because it was a secret process.

Minister Schiller runs away from questions CNN News Prima in English (14/05/2020)