Zikmundová ran against Třebíč bypass her Czech ministry reviewed

Simeona Zikmundová, a director at the Czech Ministry of the Environment, ran in the autumn municipal elections in Třebíč for a movement that opposes the planned bypass road. Yet the department she heads already assessed the documents for the same construction project last year.

A dual role bordering on a conflict of interest

Zikmundová was tenth on the list and did not win a seat on the city council. The situation nevertheless remains ambiguous: the ministry section she leads found serious errors in the bypass approval. It cannot be ruled out that the dispute over the road will land on her subordinates’ desks again.

How the official would act in that case is unknown, for example whether someone else would handle the file. Zikmundová did not answer direct questions, and the ministry’s spokesperson has been silent for three weeks. A simple question about possible bias, sent on October 9, also went unanswered despite two reminders.

Blanka Kutilová, who led the Mosty Třebíč list, is outraged by the very question: in her words, officials are fully independent and simply do their jobs. She is convinced that Zikmundová would certainly recuse herself if the case were reviewed again, since that follows “automatically” from the situation. But no such statement has come from the official herself or from the ministry.

Why the road is contested

In Třebíč, in the Vysočina Region, people are arguing over the route: whether it should pass closer to the town or farther from it. Opponents call the project a “reverse bypass”, believing it will not relieve the town of traffic.

Two years ago the regional authority issued the mandatory EIA opinion on environmental impact, without which a building permit cannot be obtained. Last year the ministry annulled it: measures to reduce harm to nature were described insufficiently, for example it was not stated how much exhaust the new road would add or how it would be measured. The ministry did not, however, decide which route option is better.

In September the Vysočina Region issued a new, corrected opinion. Opponents, environmentalists and residents are likely to challenge it again. “We will keep fighting this route,” said Jaromír Barák, head of the association against the bypass. Michal Kuk, a lawyer with Frank Bold, noted that even after changes to the Building Act the ministry can review the EIA opinion again, since objections in the field of nature protection remain within its remit.

Past interventions and reputation

It emerged earlier that Zikmundová had already used her authority to influence another case. She sent a subordinate in Ostrava a ready-made draft decision in a multibillion-crown case involving waste dumped on a spoil heap after coal mining, and the official, Tomislav Střelec, only had to add details and send the document to the parties. The decision stated that no culprit could be found: there was no evidence against the Ostrava construction firm Ridera Bohemia, which had been under suspicion from the start.

At first the ministry did not answer questions, but after the story was published it said everything had been lawful. According to the press office, preparing a decision in Prague and issuing it in Ostrava is not unusual but cooperation within a single section. Minister Igor Červený (Motoristé sobě) promised after the story broke to review the ministry’s actions.

Until this year Zikmundová was the ministry’s state secretary, effectively the head of its administration, and under the current leadership she became director for the execution of state administration. In 2022 she sought a place in the leadership of the Supreme Audit Office (NKÚ), but then-president Miloš Zeman refused to appoint her over her “moral qualities”. The office’s head, Miloslav Kala, also opposed her: Zikmundová had worked there under president František Dohnal, who was convicted of blocking an audit. Today she is considered one of the most influential ministry officials.

Around Prague, based on reporting by seznamzpravy.cz