Pavel Tykač

Pavel Tykač
Born (1964-05-15) May 15, 1964
Čelákovice, Czechoslovakia
Alma mater Czech Technical University in Prague
Occupation investor
Net worth US$1.03 billion (2015)[1]
Spouse(s) Ivana Tykač (current), Daniela Kuchtová (divorced)
Children 6

Pavel Tykač (born 15 May 1964 in Čelákovice) is a Czech entrepreneur and investor. His wealth is estimated at US$1.03 billion, which according to Forbes magazine makes him the fifth richest person in the Czech Republic (Forbes rankings 2015).[2]

Pavel Tykač started his entrepreneurial career after the Revolution by sale of computer technology. In the beginning of the 90s he and his partners established Vikomt company which had a great break through on the market.[3] He sold his share of the company in the middle of the 90s. He used the acquired money to take over at the time small Regiobanka in Karlovy Vary (today`s Hypoteční banka); he subsequently sold it to IPB at a very advantageous price.[4] Already at that time he was considered to be a very rich man. In 1995 he participated in the creation of free community of investors around Motoinvest whose participants gained shares in several banks and investment funds thanks to buying cheap shares after the privatization.[5] Forced termination of their activities has led to the rapid sale of assets of the majority of participants in this community.[6] At the turn of the millennium, after several years in seclusion, Tykač returned to the world of big business. Share trades (mainly electricity company ČEZ and Telefonica) and currency rate movement speculations are probably the biggest source of Tykač`s billion-dollar assets.[7] In 2006, he invested into a minority share of the mining group Czech Coal, and in 2010 became its sole owner.[8]

Education

Tykač studied at the Czech Technical University in Prague where he obtained an engineer's degree in 1987.

Early career

Tykač first got rich selling computers – his company Vikomt, which he founded with his father and several friends, imported computers in large numbers into Czechoslovakia. His company demanded payment in advance from its customers, thanks to which it could boast turnover of around a billion crowns after two years.[9] After three years Tykač sold his share in Vikomt and with the earnings turned to speculation on the share market. He made a capital investment in Regiobanka Hradec Králové where he sat on the board. He earned another large amount of money when he sold his share in Regiobanka to IPB which was then looking for a bank for its mortgage programme. It was the CZK 300 to 350 million that he earned from the sale of computers and the profit from the purchase and quick sale of his share in Regiobanka that formed the founding capital for the start of Motoinvest. The Motoinvest financial group had originally experienced astronomical success and became the swift moving fish in the backwaters of early Czech capitalism under different owners. The company was founded in 1991 for the purpose of trading in securities. It was established by nuclear physicist and lawyer Aleš Tříska, the brother of the co-author of Czech voucher privatisation, Dušan Tříska.

In 1994 Motoinvest was purchased by Tykač’s company a. s. Tara, which became its 100% owner – at that time Motoinvest had already had five owners.

Tykač and co. entered into the financial markets as amateurs – none of them were an economist. They included electro-technician David Knop-Kostka, scientist Libor Sadílek, and mathematician Radek Peleška. There was also Jan Dienstl who has continued to work with Tykač to this day – he was an engineer. Tykač was the central figure in Motoinvest (he acted as its general director), but it was later shown that he had an influential advisor. Svatopluk Pokáč was the post-Velvet Revolution deputy chairman of the federal government and until 1989 the head of the State Bank of Czechoslovakia. It was he who helped the non-economists and “boys”, as Tykač and his colleagues were called, earn the big money which later became the basis of their wealth.[9] The company, with ownership of hundreds of millions of crowns, thus entered the market with plans to build a strong grouping that would amass the biggest possible package of shares in funds and businesses that were controlled primarily by state-owned banks.

The media, however, pointed out that the nearly CZK 4 billion which the company was able to invest in shares after only two years was a suspiciously large sum – and speculated that Motobanka could also have other undeclared sources of money than only its profit from the sale of Vikomt and Regiobanka. These included, for example, investors linked to Liechtenstein citizen Kurt Franz. Tykač acted as an executive in his company Atlantic, which dealt in real estate. Given that the boom in property had quickly faded, Atlantic according to Tykač never began to operate. Interpol, however, investigated the Liechtenstein owner of the company CTC, Kurt Franz, and the Swiss lawyer Sergio Bossi and their possible links to Liechtenstein companies that were supposed to have been used for laundering dirty money and cooperating with the mafia. But such claims have never been proven. Tykač later purchased Atlantic from CTC and according to Dienstl became its sole owner.[9]

Criminal investigations

Tykač is the effective owner of Czech Coal with 50% of its shares. He originally purchased a 40% share in the company in spring 2006 and then quickly increased that share to 49% for allegedly nearly CZK 10 billon.[10] Tykač purchased the additional 1% from his partners Petr Pudil and Vasil Bobela in 2009.[10]

Apart from his holding in Czech Coal, Tykač also operates on the real estate and financial markets. He has been described as “a person with the reputation of an unscrupulous player and a secretive pirate of Czech business comparable to Gordon Gekko …, professing greed as the highest virtue”.[11]

His earlier activities on the financial market in the 1990s included the acquisition of CS Fund, the asset manager of three smaller investment funds, which Tykač divested himself of just a few weeks before it was ‘tunneled’ or defrauded in March 1997.[11] The most valuable acquisition of his investment company, Motoinvest, established in 1991, however, was Agrobanka. It was this company that financed most of Tykač’s activities, which before long led it to the brink of ruin as the bank was unable to meet its liabilities, leading to the intervention the Czech National Bank to rescue its clients by pumping CZK 20 billion into it.[11] Tykač also acquired shares through Motoinvest in other banks whose capital was subsequently passed on to companies and funds linked to Tykač whereupon those banks also went bankrupt as a result of these transactions, e.g. Kreditní banka Plzeň, and Ekoagrobanka. As a result, he is often called "the pest of the capital market" in the Czech Republic, an appellation which he failed to have the Czech courts prohibit the magazine Respekt from using in connection with his person.[12]

Tykač was investigated by the police in 2006 over the tunneling of CS Fund, but the prosecution was later suspended. Many of his former associates[13] have been convicted of financial crimes and have often ended up behind bars, although Tykač himself has always remained at liberty.[14] Investigations against him, however, continue.[15] In 2012, František Bušek alleged in court that he assisted Tykač in defrauding CS Fund of CZK 1.23 billion. Tykač said the allegation was the result of an earlier failed attempt by Bušek to blackmail him.[16] Tykač kept a very low profile from the late 1990s only to re-emerge in 2006 with his purchase of shares in Czech Coal, since when he has aggressively defended the price demands of the company and lobbied for the cancellation of the brown coal mining limits in North Bohemia, beyond which lie huge coal reserves.[11]

Further examples of Tykač’s alleged unscrupulousness include posting letters to the wives of shareholders who were refusing to sell him a Czech Coal competitor, Sokolovské uhelné, urging them to talk their husbands into the deal, and the way he dealt with a run-down but listed residence he owned in the exclusive Prague quarter of Vinohrady – it mysteriously caught fire twice and was eventually demolished without permission.[11]

Involvement into the energy sector

Ending coal war with the ČEZ group

At the turn of 2012-13, as the owner of Czech Coal, Tykač ended the so-called coal war about the price of brown coal with the ČEZ group. Eight years of conflict, which began even before Tykač joined the coal business, was terminated by a mutual agreement of the parties[17] and by signing a 50 year contract about coal supply to the power plant Počerady.

Hard clash with EPH because of power plant Opatovice

In 2012 Tykač`s Czech Coal terminated the contract for the supply of coal to the power plant Opatovice,[18] which belongs to the Energy and Industrial Holding (EPH) owned by Křetínský and JT Bank. Tykač justified this step by EPH having claims of half a billion CZK. The conflict between Czech Coal and EPH ended with amicable settlement in 2014. Part of the deal was the mutual termination of litigation.

The dispute with Sokolovská uhelná

Since 2006 Tykač supported the minority shareholder of Sokolov coal company Jan Kroužecký in his conflict with the majority shareholders. Subsequent litigation lasted for years. In 2015 the whole issue ended in an agreement when Kroužecký sold his shares to the company, that was now completely controlled by its majority shareholders František Štěpánek and Jaroslav Rokos. The price of Kroužecký`s 30% share of the company was supposedly around 4-5 billion CZK. There are speculations that most of this money was received by Tykač, who had previously bought Kroužecký`s share. Only Štěpánek publicly addressed ending of the dispute by saying that the company bought Kroužecký`s share, there was a longstanding dispute settlement and that the parties consider the transaction to be positive and beneficial.[19]

The case with Respekt

In 2013 weekly magazine Respekt published an information[20] about the alleged freezing of Tykač`s assets of roughly 19 bil CZK by Swiss claimants. This should have occurred due to the renewed prosecution in the case of stripped assets of CS Funds in the Czech Republic. Tykač denied any blocking of his assets[21] with a statement that it is a deliberate or unconscious attempt to prevent the signing of a contract between ČEZ and Czech Coal about a long-term supply of coal to power plant Počerady.

Tykač and the CS Funds

One of the media monitored cases associated with Pavel Tykač are the CS Funds. 1,3 bil CZK was fraudulently withdrawn from the funds in 1997.[22] Four offenders were convicted in 2001 (legally effective in 2007.)[23] In 2006 prosecution of Tykač and another five people started. The prosecution of Tykač and other three suspects was terminated after a review by the Supreme Public Prosecutor's Office in 2008 with the conclusion that the conduct of these persons in connection with CS Funds had not been a criminal offense.[24] The remaining two suspects were indicted in the same year, but were subsequently freed by the Municipal Court in Prague in 2012.[25]

Tykač prosecuted again because of the CS Funds

Tykač`s involvement in the money withdrawal from the CS Funds became a subject of criminal prosecution again in 2013,[26] when criminal proceedings against him were resumed. New facts that led to the restoration of the process were represented by a particularly dubious testimony of people who either changed their testimony or refused to testify in the retrial.[27] Based on this testimony, the police and the prosecution tried to secure Tykač`s property twice. In both cases the court found the decision as unjustified and it was canceled.[28]

In March 2015 the police investigation ended after two and a half years with a recommendation for indictment submitted to the Chief Prosecutor's Office in Prague.[29]

Tykač is innocent

In December 2015 the High Prosecutor's Office in Prague terminated the prosecution against Tykač.[30] State prosecutor Zdeněk Matula stated in the preamble that no evidence of Tykač`s guilt had been found. This verdict thus ended 19 years of CS Funds cause. In his interview for Forbes magazine in 2014 Tykač stated that, in his opinion, the money from the funds disappeared during the management of its new owners, to whom the funds were sold by the Motoinvest group after pressure caused by a hostile attack of ČNB.[31] This caused a wave of inspections of tax authorities, the Stock Exchange, Securities Office, a wave of police interrogations and strongly negative media atmosphere directed against "Motoinvest group".[32]

Support of the North Bohemia region

Through his company Czech Coal and Vršanská uhelná Tykač supports number of projects and activities related to the region in northern Bohemia, for example, a grant program to support education called Clever Heads for the North,[33] the top club of Women Handball DHK Baník Most, he also supports municipalities in the region, an example is his investment into the reconstruction of the Most hospital.[34]

Support for single parents

Together with his second wife Ivana Tykač established a non-profit organization Women for Women that is helping women and single mothers with children who find themselves in difficult circumstances and can not solve them on their own. The organization provides them with subsidized housing, psychosocial and legal assistance.[35]

School meals for starving children

Women for Women, o.p.s. is the initiator and operator of the Czech largest award-winning project[36] that provides school meals to starving children in Czech elementary schools - Lunches for children.[37] This project fed nearly 2,100 children in almost 500 schools during the 2014/2015 school year.[38]

Family and personal life

Pavel Tykač is married for the second time. Together with his wife Ivana Tykač is raising eight children. He currently lives with his family in Switzerland.[39]

Tykač played competitive table tennis in his youth, nowadays he plays recreational tennis and badminton league in Prague.

References

  1. ↑ . Forbes.com. Retrieved March 2015.
  2. ↑ Agustino Fontevecchia. "Pavel Tykac". Forbes. Retrieved 12 March 2015.
  3. ↑ "Zuzana Kubátová: Tykač opět hraje vabank. Teď o uhlí". Hospodářské noviny (in Czech). 2010-12-14. Retrieved 2016-05-03.
  4. ↑ "Tykač vs. Takáč | Peníze.cz". www.penize.cz. Retrieved 2016-05-03.
  5. ↑ Macháček, Jan. "Respekt".
  6. ↑ "Zuzana Kubátová: Tykač opět hraje vabank. Teď o uhlí". Hospodářské noviny (in Czech). 2010-12-14. Retrieved 2016-05-03.
  7. ↑ webmaster@tyden.cz, TYDEN, www.tyden.cz, e-mail: (2008-04-06). "Pavel Tykač nakupuje akcie Unipetrolu a Telefóniky". TÝDEN.cz. Retrieved 2016-05-03.
  8. ↑ "Noví uhlobaroni v Mostě". iDNES.cz. 2006-05-17. Retrieved 2016-05-03.
  9. 1 2 3 prvnizpravy.cz, Jak kamarádi Tykač a Dienstl k miliardám přišli [How friends Tykač and Dienstl came into their billions], 21 December 2011
  10. 1 2 Hospodařský noviny, 3 September 2009. “Moves among the coal barons. Financier Tykač now owns exactly half of Czech Coal (Czech)
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 Lidový noviny, 19 October 2011. “Roman wants to destroy the pirate of Czech business. Who is Pavel Tykač?” (Czech)
  12. ↑ Spurný, J., Účet pro Pavla Tykače [A bill for Pavel Tykač], Respekt, 13 August 2006
  13. ↑ "Soud uložil makléři z kauzy CS fondů podmínku". novinky.cz. Retrieved 12 March 2015.
  14. ↑ Česká televize. "Tykač bude kvůli CS Fondům znovu stíhán". ČT24. Retrieved 12 March 2015.
  15. ↑ "Tykač se stíhání v kauze CS Fondů nevyhne. Válková zrušila stížnost své předchůdkyně". Hospodářské noviny. Retrieved 12 March 2015.
  16. ↑ Lidový noviny, 29 February 2012.“I tunnelled CS Fund with Tykač, says court witness (Czech)
  17. ↑ "ČEZ se dohodl s Tykačem, nakoupí uhlí za skoro 200 miliard". E15.cz. 2013-03-18. Retrieved 2016-05-04.
  18. ↑ "Uhelná válka miliardářů se vyhrocuje. Czech Coal vypověděl smlouvu elektrárně Opatovice". Hospodářské noviny (in Czech). 2012-06-07. Retrieved 2016-05-04.
  19. ↑ "Konec sporů o Sokolovskou uhelnou: Firmu plně ovládli Štěpánek a Rokos, vydělá i Tykač". Hospodářské noviny (in Czech). 2015-05-20. Retrieved 2016-05-04.
  20. ↑ Spurný, Jaroslav. "Drobní miliardáři, plačte!". respekt.ihned.cz. Retrieved 2016-05-04.
  21. ↑ televize, Česká. "Švýcaři měli zmrazit Tykačovi 19 miliard, podnikatel to popřel". ČT24. Retrieved 2016-05-04.
  22. ↑ Macháček, Jan. "Z C. S. Fondů se ztratila více než miliarda". www.respekt.cz. Retrieved 2016-05-04.
  23. ↑ "Tunelář Matoulek je za mřížemi. Dorazil sám". tn.nova.cz. 2009-08-20. Retrieved 2016-05-04.
  24. ↑ "Česká pozice | Informace pro svobodné lidi". Lidovky.cz. 2015-02-15. Retrieved 2016-05-04.
  25. ↑ "Nezastavil krádež miliardy, nyní chce odškodné devět milionů". Aktuálně.cz - Víte co se právě děje. Retrieved 2016-05-04.
  26. ↑ "Soud obnovil stíhání miliardáře Tykače". Novinky.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 2016-05-04.
  27. ↑ "Dlouhá Tykačova noční můra: Výpověď tuneláře ve výslužbě stačit nebude". Euro.cz. 2015-05-10. Retrieved 2016-05-04.
  28. ↑ "Soud odblokoval Tykačovi majetek za 102 milionů korun". iDNES.cz. 2013-08-14. Retrieved 2016-05-04.
  29. ↑ televize, Česká. "Policie navrhla obžalovat Tykače z vytunelování CS Fondů". ČT24. Retrieved 2016-05-04.
  30. ↑ webmaster@tyden.cz, TYDEN, www.tyden.cz, e-mail: (2015-12-29). "Tykačovi obhájci: Zastavení jsme čekali, svědci byli nevěrohodní". TÝDEN.cz. Retrieved 2016-05-04.
  31. ↑ "Forbesovské ohlédnutí: Tykač ve verzi 2014 | iUHLI.cz | Page 3". iUHLI.cz (in Czech). 2015-12-01. Retrieved 2016-05-04.
  32. ↑ "Česká pozice | Informace pro svobodné lidi". Lidovky.cz. 2015-02-15. Retrieved 2016-05-04.
  33. ↑ "Chytré hlavy pro Sever 2015: Environmentální výchova, vzdělání a osvěta (EVVO): Ústecký kraj". www.kr-ustecky.cz. Retrieved 2016-05-04.
  34. ↑ "Miliardář Tykač a modelka Erbová si prohlédli vylepšenou mosteckou porodnici". Mostecký deník. 2015-11-12. Retrieved 2016-05-04.
  35. ↑ (m.vitasek@seznam.cz), Michal Vitásek. "WOMEN FOR WOMEN, o.p.s.". www.women-for-women.cz. Retrieved 2016-05-04.
  36. ↑ "Každý desátý školák nemá peníze na oběd, varuje oceněná reklama". Hospodářské noviny (in Czech). 2015-11-12. Retrieved 2016-05-04.
  37. ↑ "Domů | Obědy pro děti". www.obedyprodeti.cz. Retrieved 2016-05-04.
  38. ↑ "Budou děti o hladu? Rodiče nemají peníze na školní obědy". tn.nova.cz. 2015-09-01. Retrieved 2016-05-04.
  39. ↑ "Manželka podnikatele Tykače porodila šesté dítě | Lidé". Lidovky.cz. 2013-11-04. Retrieved 2016-05-04.
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