Members of the national committee of the Mayors and Independents movement have elected a candidate for the position of Minister for Regional Development. They are nominating the outgoing governor of the Karlovy Vary Region, Petr Kulhánek, to lead the ministry. He will take over from Ivan Bartoš, who left office on 30 September.
Kulhánek has extensive experience in regional policy and development. During his tenure as mayor of Karlovy Vary or as head of the Karlovy Vary Region, he has significantly moved this structurally affected region from the bottom ranks of national rankings assessing regions in the areas of environment, health, material security or education. As a result, the region is seeing new university courses opening up, the quality of life is increasing and the perception of the region's brand is changing positively.
"There are urgent tasks ahead of me and my team at the MMR that need to be addressed as soon as possible, and I am ready to get started immediately. This is about effective assistance to the regions affected by the floods. Above all, it is to tackle the digitisation of construction management as quickly as possible. I will be contacting all relevant stakeholders within hours to arrange meetings and start addressing the matter from the first hour of taking office." Petr Kulhánek summed up his plans.
"From the beginning, we have been trying to calm the situation down, bearing in mind our commitments not only to our voters but to all citizens. People don't want to see internal disputes, they want to see the results of our work. One of the ways to calm the situation is to replace the pirate ministers so that the individual ministries, and therefore the government as a whole, can continue this work. I believe that Petr Kulhánek is the right choice, he is an experienced crisis manager with knowledge of both the MMR agenda and the needs of the regions." said the chairman of the national committee of the Mayors Vít Rakušan.
Petr Kulhánek (*1971)
graduate of the University of Economics in Prague
2006 co-founder of the Karlovy Vary Civic Alternative (KOA)
2006 - present member of the City Council of Karlovy Vary
2010 - 2018 Mayor of Karlovy Vary (KOA)
2014 - 2018 Vice-Chairman of the SMO ČR for European Affairs
2012 - present member of the Karlovy Vary Regional Council
2020 - present Governor of the Karlovy Vary Region (for STAN, KOA, VPM Cheb, TOP09)
During his time in the region, he has recorded the following achievements:
- initiation and approval by government decree of the First Modern Statute of the Spa Place for Karlovy Vary
- integrated city development plan (IPRM) - one of the best evaluated in the Czech Republic, drawn in excess of the allocation from regions/cities where the allocation was not exhausted
- transnational serial nomination of European spa towns to the UNESCO World Heritage List - Great Spa Towns of Europe - initiation in 2010, chairing the steering group of mayors of all 11 towns, managing the process of access documentation until successful inscription in 2021
- a robust incentive package of benefits for health care professionals in the Karlovy Vary Region, the broadest in the Czech Republic - effective motivation brought over 200 health care professionals to the region, 100 new doctors are studying and will work in the Karlovy Vary Region
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