EU funds agency officials charged over “golden parachutes”

The organized crime unite of the Czech police have charged five current and former officials of the Regional Council Severozápad, an agency in charge of distributing EU’s cohesion funds, with breach of trust. Among those charged is former Ústí region governor and Civic Democrat MP Jiří Šulc, the head of the council said. Mr Šulc reportedly faces allegations that in his capacity as the council’s chairman, he included non-competition clauses in the contracts of two former directors of the agency worth hundreds of thousands of crowns. In 2011, the Regional Council Severozápad became embroiled in a corruption scandal; a year later, its director, Petr Kušnierz was sentenced for 7.5 years in jail for bribe-taking.

Author: Jan Richter