Zdenek Bakala

Biographical Information
"Zdenek Bakala is turning his focus to promoting transparency, announced a new NGO that will fight against corruption. His impetus in part is to get the Czech government to auction assets more fairly. Bakala built a coal and mining empire; his investment vehicle BXR has stakes in New World Resources and Ferrexpo, both of whose stock prices have suffered over the past year. New World Resources is reportedly considering a merger with Polish coking coal producer, JSW. The avid cycler bought a stake in the Belgian professional cycling team Quick Step, which is expected to compete in the Tour de France in 2013. Bakala recently invested in a new vineyard in South Africa, one of his cycling hot spots. He is married to a former Miss Czechoslovakia."

"Previous positions: 2005-2010: member of supervisory board of the Prague Stock Exchange; 1992-2005: board member of Prague Stock Exchange; 1992: co-founder of Prague Stock Exchange 1994-2002: founder, CEO, Patria Finance; 1990-1994: head of Czechoslovakia desk, Credit Suisse First Boston (London, Prague); 1989-1990: corporate finance department, Drexel Burnham Lambert (New York)

"Mr. Bakala's interests range far beyond mining: he was a friend of Vaclav Havel, the recently deceased Czech president, playwright and former dissident, and he's the primary benefactor of the Library of Vaclav Havel, which is now being built and will be the Czech Republic's first-ever presidential library... Private investment company BXR Group, in which Mr. Bakala holds a non-controlling 50% stake, manages roughly $6 billion in assets, owns the largest private rail-based logistics company in Central Europe, has vast residential and commercial real-estate holdings across the region and owns the biggest Czech publisher of financial news... Inspired by Mr. Havel's work to increase political transparency and openness, Mr. Bakala is one of the few Czech financiers to disclose his political donations and he's behind the March launch of Aspen Institute Prague, a new regional branch of the U.S.-based nonpartisan think tank that focuses on civil-society issues. Mr. Bakala says his goal with the institute is to promote greater transparency in politics and business dealings."

Affiliations

 * Director, CEED Institute