Prague, July 28 (CTK) – Businessman Petr Stuchlik, 41, candidate for Prague mayor of the senior government ANO movement, wants to communicate with the public and between the City Hall and districts better than current Mayor Adriana Krnacova (ANO), he has said in an interview with CTK.
Prague needs someone at its helm who is not afraid of making decisions and at the same time is able to negotiate support, Stuchlik, leader of the ANO list of candidates in Prague, said.
He plans to bring experienced experts as his advisers to the City Hall if he becomes Prague mayor, he added.
He considers transport, the inability to complete investments and unbalanced relations between Prague inhabitants and visitors its hot issues.
Krnacova has been often criticised for her clumsiness in communication, which Stuchlik wants to change. He said he would like to improve communication, for instance between the City Hall and particular Prague districts.
Stuchlik replaced Patrik Nacher in the position of ANO’s Prague election leader a week ago. Nacher was chosen by the ANO members in Prague.
The list of candidates was changed after the intervention by the ANO national leadership and PM and ANO chairman Andrej Babis. Nacher is now number two of the ANO election candidates in Prague, followed by former finance minister Ivan Pilny.
The ANO election team has considerably changed. Some of the current Prague councillors were eliminated from it or they run at the bottom positions.
ANO has a strong election team, Stuchlik said.
He wants to introduce his team of advisers soon, he said without elaborating.
The major problems in Prague in the past eight years has been the stagnation of significant investments, Stuchlik said he said. It is necessary to carry out building projects in Prague quickly, he noted.
He agrees, for instance, with the joint plan of the Penta investment group and the Prague Transport Company on the line D that may speed up its construction.
Another significant topic is accessible housing, he said. However, he added that the City Hall should only buy flats in exceptional cases, he added.
The capital city must also regulate services like Airbn, but not ban them completely, he said.
“Tourists and other visitors are important for Prague, but they must not worsen the Praguers’ quality of life. Commuters from other regions play also an important role in the capital, but not be at the expense of residents either. Prague must belong to Praguers again,” Stuchlik told CTK.
Born in Zlin, south Moravia, in 1977, Stuchlik graduated from the Prague’s University of Economics (VSE) in 2001, studied marketing at the Erasmus University in Rotterdam and recently completed his studies of OPM management at the Harvard Business School, the USA.
Before founding financial consulting company Fincentrum in 2000, he worked with various firms at home and abroad. He and his trade partner sold a majority of Fincentrum to ARX Equity Partners and Capital Dynamics investment funds, but kept a minority stake together with the firm’s management.
In January 2014, Stuchlik bought the Express FM and Classic FM radio stations, in which a two-third stake was bought by Seznam.cz last year.
Some criticise Stuchlik for having invested in the Fair Credit company which provides high-interest loans.
Stuchlik has reacted saying he is only a passive investor and decided to invest in this company because it treats its clients decently, without driving anyone into financial problems or a distraint trap.
However, Fair Credit was placed 30th out of 42 assessed firms in the index of responsible crediting issued by the People in Need humanitarian NGO.
In an interview with CTK on Saturday, Stuchlik did not rule out that he might sell his about 20-percent share in the controversial Fair Credit firm.
