Czech Railways general director dismissed

The advisory board of state-owned Czech Railways dismissed the general director of the company, Petr Žaluda, and the three other members of the executive board on Tuesday. Mr. Žaluda told the iDnes.cz news server that he was not allowed to attend the meeting of the advisory board, where the decision of his dismissal was made, and that he was given no indication of problems with his leadership. He has headed Czech Railways since 2008 and during that time the company undertook major modernization projects. Lucrative tenders for the modernization have been criticized in the past years for lack of transparency. The advisory board had renewed Mr. Žaluda’s latest term as general director only this January, unanimously. Transport Minister Zdeněk Žak has so far refused to comment.