At an extraordinary general meeting of the state-owned company operating Bratislava M. R. Štefánik Airport (BTS) yesterday, 9 September, a decision was taken to replace the complete BTS management. Only two of the shareholders, the Ministry of Transport, Post and Telecommunications, and the National Property Fund (FNM) attended the shareholder’s meeting.
Maros Jancula was chosen to replace Zdenek Schraml as chairman of the Board, and Jaroslav Macho and Juraj Mitka will topple Radko Zabransky and Jozef Pojedinec as Board members. It was the Ministry of Transport, Post and Telecommunications that initiated the full change of management at the company, quoting discontent over the financial state of the airport as the reason.
Ministry spokesman Martin Krajcovic noted that under the previous government the airport had become overly influenced by Vladimir Poor,who is well-known for his getting rich quick from being a waiter in Trnava to a multi-millionaire while working for HZDS in the 1990s.
Krajcovic said the new management faces a tough task in consolidating the airport’s finances, adding that both the state and society in general would have to pay the price of the bad management through higher costs.