Besser replaced the head of the Heritage Inspection

Jiří Varhaník, longtime director of the Heritage Inspection

Prague - The Heritage Inspection, the supervisory body of the Ministry of Culture, will have new leadership. Minister Jiří Besser (for TOP 09) today dismissed long-time director Jiří Varhaník. He was dissatisfied with the inspection's previous work and its insufficient cooperation with other bodies of the Ministry of Culture (MK) as well as with regional and municipal offices of heritage care. Besser also appointed Varhaník's successor, Martin Zídek, who previously worked in the heritage department of the Central Bohemian Region. Zídek will take up the position on Tuesday, January 4.
    Besser expects greater transparency and information from the new leadership when carrying out heritage supervision. "When I look at it as an ordinary user, I find only one report about the Heritage Inspection on the Ministry's website from September 2008. That's the first sign that something is not in ideal form," the minister stated on the website.
    "I believe I communicated as needed; I am not aware of any professional shortcomings," said the dismissed Varhaník to ČTK. According to him, the reasons for his dismissal are different; it may involve some unsatisfied individuals whom the inspection monitored. There were reportedly more cases where the inspection found problems, identified them, and the affected entity was displeased. However, Varhaník does not want to speculate about specific possibilities.
    Varhaník claims he was not informed in advance about the minister's intention to dismiss him or his reservations regarding the work of the Heritage Inspection. Today is Varhaník's last day at work; he will end his position on Tuesday and then leave the ministry.
    According to the minister, the inspection has only sporadically reported in recent years on the conclusions it has obtained during supervision. Important control conclusions were allegedly not available to the departments of the ministry that should work with them, namely the heritage care department and the legislative and legal department.
    It allegedly happened that regional and municipal offices received different information from the Heritage Inspection than what the heritage care department provided. Thus, completely opposite positions were departing from one ministry.
    "I wanted to talk to Dr. Varhaník about this between the holidays, but he didn't want to come from his holiday at Orlík to Prague. Even though I considered some form of further cooperation, I no longer see space for it," the minister added.
    The minister defined several basic tasks for the new director of the inspection. The Heritage Inspection should, in his opinion, provide more information about the conclusions of heritage inspections, and it should publish its findings on the ministry's website as well as in the press. Another task is to formulate methodological materials for regional and municipal offices and for the National Heritage Institute (NPÚ) in cooperation with other departments of the ministry. The aim should be to unify the application of the Act on State Heritage Care. The deficiencies identified during heritage inspections should in the future be more effectively reflected in the emerging legislation.
    The Heritage Inspection is a specialized supervisory body of the MK in the field of state heritage care. In the organizational structure of the ministry, the inspection is directly subordinate to the minister.