Illustrative photo – On April 3, 2019, in Štěpánov, Olomouc, representatives of the army took over two of the five new vehicles for the recovery and removal of Pandur wheeled armored vehicles and other military equipment. The contract is worth approximately 240 million crowns. From the left are Jaroslav Trakal, director of the Logistics Agency of the Army of the Czech Republic, and Jiří Kašpárek from the supplier company VTÚ.
Prague – Jiří Kašpárek, former director of LOM Praha Trade, became the new director of the state enterprise Military Technical Institute (VTÚ). As of today, he was appointed to the position by the Minister of Defense Jana Černochová (ODS). The Ministry of Defense told ČTK in a press release. Libor Tomolya, the director of the spin-off plant of the Military Technical Institute of Aviation and Air Defense, was entrusted with the management of the company.
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“The tasks of the new director are primarily to stabilize the personnel situation, rework the business and financial plan for this year, which was rejected by the supervisory board, to ensure the proper operation of this strategic enterprise for the state's defense capability and the continuation of important projects,” the ministry said.
According to the ministry, Kašpárek previously held several positions at VTÚ, most recently as director of the special production department between 2019 and 2021. He has experience in the trade and production department of a state-owned enterprise, in the financial field and in project management. He also worked in the army and the Ministry of Defense. “Thanks to the fact that he knows VTÚ in detail, he will be able to immediately get involved in solving the problems faced by the state enterprise,” the office said.
According to him, in the past Kašpárek served as a soldier and in foreign operations, for example as the commander of the security company in Kosovo, he was twice in Afghanistan as the commander of the National Support Element (NSE) unit in Kabul and the head of the logistics group in Faizabad. At the time, the ministry justified the move by “significant dissatisfaction of the company's employees with the management of the company and its individual spin-off plants”. The newspaper Právo reported at the time that some of the employees sided with Novotný, who wrote a petition in his support.
After Novotný's dismissal, Tomolya was entrusted with the proceedings. He subsequently dismissed the technical and commercial director of the VTÚ Jitka Čapková and the director of the spin-off plant of the Military Technical Institute of the Ground Forces, Ján Gurník, resigned from his position. Jaromír Šebesta was entrusted with its management.
