Vladimír Železný (born 3 March 1945) is a Czech businessman and politician. He was the first CEO of TV NOVA, a popular Czech television station and was a member of the European Parliament between 2004 and 2009. As a media mogul with political influence, he has been compared to Rupert Murdoch and Silvio Berlusconi. He was convicted of tax evasion in 2007.

Early life and media career

Born to a Jewish family, Železný made headlines in 1968, at the age of 23, when he broadcast in defiance of orders pictures of Russian tanks driving through Prague during the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia. signed a licensing agreement with a joint venture partly owned by CME. In February 1994 he launched TV NOVA which became the most popular network, although it was criticised as undermining the cultural tradition of Czechs.

In 1999 CET21 terminated the licensing agreement, effectively seizing control of the station and making CME's investment worthless. Subsequently, some 20 suits started in front of the Czech courts and international tribunals. While the CME (at the time incorporated in Netherlands and controlled by American national Ronald Lauder) started UNCITRAL arbitration proceedings against the Czech Republic (in Stockholm) under the Bilateral investment treaty between the Czech Republic and Netherlands, Ronald Lauder himself started UNCITRAL arbitration proceedings against the Czech Republic (in London) under the Bilateral investment treaty between the Czech Republic and the United States. While the London tribunal dismissed the claim by Lauder, the Stockholm tribunal, effectively dealing with the same issue, found the Czech Republic liable for not protecting the CME's investment in the Czech Republic and awarded CME damages of $270 million, which were eventually paid from taxpayers' money. Under a different arbitration award, Železný was to pay damages of $23 million. CME also eventually regained control of the channel. to March 2014 he was the CEO of TV Barrandov.

Political career

In 2002, Železný was elected to the Czech Senate for the Znojmo circuit. Analysts said he selected the seat based on the high ratings of TV Nova and high rates of unemployment and said he was "widely suspected" of seeking election only to secure parliamentary immunity.

In 2004 he was elected to the European Parliament. He founded the Independent Democrats (Nezávislí demokraté) in 2005 and was elected its chairman. In 2006 he unsuccessfully sought election to the Chamber of Deputies.

In 2008 he told Prague Radio he was a "fierce eurosceptic" and said the European Union was "an over-regulated environment which strongly resembles what we know from our communist past" In 2009 he launched Libertas.cz. Later he was acquitted of the charges.

See also

  • CME/Lauder v. Czech Republic

References

  • Curriculum by Vladimír Vaďura
  • European political group at the European Parliament http://indemgroup.org/

Media, articles, case studies

  • Zelezny says he was offered higher preferences for bribe, praguemonitor.com/ČTK, 27 Mar 2006
  • EP-Abgeordneter Vladimír Železný in Prag vor Gericht, tschechien-online.org, 31 Jan 2006
  • Vladimír Zelezny: Der Medienboss, arte-tv.com, 6 Oct 2005
  • Czech Mate: CME and Vladimir Zelezny, Harvard Business Online, 10 Feb 2004
  • Mejstřík opět navrhl slyšení o TV Nova, senátoři jej znovu zamítli (Senator Martin Mejstřík tries again to initiate Senate hearing on TV Nova), cestazmeny.cz (Cesta změny), 23 May 2003
  • Mejstřík inicioval veřejné slyšení ve věci arbitráže Novy (Senator Martin Mejstřík trying to hold public hearing to seek recovery of funds), cestazmeny.cz, 18 Apr 2003