Plzeň will continue to search for the head of its cultural city project

Plzeň - Plzeň will continue to search for a new head of its European Capital of Culture 2015 project and will announce a new selection procedure. This time, suitable candidates will be approached directly, and the city will take two to three months for this. The decision was made today by the supervisory board of the Plzeň 2015 company, which is preparing the project. At the same time, they appointed the current program director of the project, Jiří Sulženko, to this position starting August 1. Sulženko has experience in production and has been the director of the charitable organization Kulturní Jižní Město for the past three years. This was reported by the spokesperson of the city hall, Zdeňka Kubalová.
"This is a fundamental intervention in the activities of this company, so we carefully consider every step," said the mayor of Plzeň and chairman of the supervisory board Martin Baxa (ODS) regarding the board's meeting.
Since the recommendation of the selection committee from June 19 was not unequivocal, the supervisory board reserved the option to approach additional candidates. According to Baxa, however, there was too little time for that, but it is a promising way to find the right person. "Unfortunately, we found that the given time frame is short for such an important decision concerning the personalities we approached, so we canceled the selection procedure today and ordered a new closed one," added Baxa.
The search for a new director should not take longer than two to three months, with the city itself approaching suitable applicants. "We have already approached four candidates in this way, I think very relevant ones, two declined and two expressed interest in discussing the offer with us," the mayor added. Up to ten candidates should be contacted, with the conditions for the closed selection procedure defined by the supervisory board on July 24.
Ten candidates applied for the position of director of Plzeň 2015, eight of whom met the mandatory requirements. Four advanced to the second round, including architect Jiří Boudník and higher education teacher Roman Černík.
From January until now, the project has been temporarily managed by Erich Beneš, director of the Unit for Coordination of European Projects of the City of Plzeň, after Tomáš Froyda resigned last November to lead the Alfa Theatre. Beneš will end this role on July 31.
From August onwards, the company will be led by Sulženko, who started as the program director of the EHMK on June 1. "He quickly integrated into the project and met our expectations; in addition, he has experience managing a charitable organization and has personally convinced me with his approach to setting priorities for the temporary management of the company," stated Baxa. Temporarily, Sulženko will hold both positions. "My priority is to continue consolidating the program, work on the Světovar project, and continue the administrative consolidation of the company," Sulženko said to ČTK after the board meeting.