Prague, Feb 27 (CTK) – The National Gallery (NG) in Prague has selected a new security agency and is likely to sign a contract with it on guarding the NG buildings and collections yesterday, NG general director Jiri Fajt has told CTK, adding that the NG premises would open on Tuesday.
The new contract will be signed for one year only and in the meantime, the NG will put up a tender for security services, he added.
The NG had to unexpectedly close its premises during the weekend due to its dispute with the ABAS IPS Management security agency that had withdrawn from a contract with it. The agency, which has secured the NG’s protection since October 2016, claims that the NG owes it money.
The agency also rejected Fajt’s criticism and said it would defend itself against his statements by legal means.
Fajt says the displayed artifacts were damaged during the agency’s watching the NG premises and that its guards had physical conflicts with visitors.
If the agency did not withdraw from the contract, Fajt said he was prepared to terminate it himself.
“We are in an emergency regime now,” he said, adding that the new agency was selected in a non-public process with one bidder only.
All NG premises should be opened to the public as of Tuesday, he said.
Most of the Culture Ministry’s subsidised organisations cooperate with the ABAS IPS Management agency and not only the NG, but also other organisations had problems with it, for instance, the Rudolfinum Gallery, which its director Petr Nedoma confirmed to CTK.
The NG must sign a contract with the selected “emergency” firm yesterday.
After a new security agency is selected in an open tender, a two-month notice period will start for the “emergency” firm, Fajt said.
The Culture Ministry need not approve the one-year contract with the firm selected yesterday, Fajt added.
The tender will include demands for qualification preconditions of the security agency, which the previous contract lacked.
The new contract as well as the future contract with the tender’s winner will also include a clause saying the agency’s workers take up the NG artifacts and premises in their care, which the ABAS agency did not have, to prevent possible damage to artifacts and other problems.
In the past, only one case of slight damage caused to an exhibit was registered in several years, while during the contract with ABAS, seven artifacts were damaged, Fajt said.
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