Zbyněk Stanjura (born 15 February 1964) is a

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

who has been serving as

minister of finance A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfolio ...

in Petr Fiala's Cabinet since 17 December 2021. He was previously appointed to the Cabinet of Petr Nečas on 12 December 2012, serving as minister of transport until July 2013. He has been a member of the

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourb ...

since 2010, representing the Civic Democratic Party (ODS), and previously served as Mayor of Opava from 2002 to 2010.

Political career

Early political career

Stanjura was the mayor of Opava between 2002 and 2010. In the 2010 parliamentary election, he was elected to the Chamber of Deputies representing the Moravian-Silesian Region, from fourth place on the ODS candidate list. Stanjura became leader of the ODS parliamentary group on 11 May 2011. He served as minister of transport in the Cabinet of Petr Nečas from 2012 until 2013.

Post-Nečas Premiership

In the 2013 parliamentary election, Stanjura was the lead candidate for ODS in the Moravian-Silesian Region, and in November, he was again elected as leader of the ODS parliamentary group. In the 2014 municipal elections, Stanjura was included on the ODS candidate list for Opava, but was not elected. For the 2017 parliamentary election, he was again lead candidate for ODS in the Moravian-Silesian Region, winning 3,648 preferential votes and defending his mandate as a deputy. On 24 October 2017, Stanjura was again elected leader of the ODS parliamentary group.

Minister of Finance

In the 2021 parliamentary election, Stanjura was the leader of the Spolu coalition's candidate list in the Moravian-Silesian Region, and was again elected as a deputy. He was re-elected as the leader of the ODS parliamentary group, but left the position in December and was replaced by Marek Benda. Stanjura took office as

after the 2021 elections. His stated aim as finance minister has been to implement spending cuts and bring the fiscal deficit below 3% of gross domestic product. Stanjura defended his position as first vice-chairman of ODS at the party's 30th Congress in April 2022, winning 477 votes. He defended the position again at the 31st party congress in April 2024, receiving 383 votes from 527 delegates.

Controversy

Stanjura claimed to have sold his

joint-stock company A joint-stock company (JSC) is a business entity in which shares of the company's stock can be bought and sold by shareholders. Each shareholder owns company stock in proportion, evidenced by their shares (certificates of ownership). Shareho ...

Eskon to his wife, Hana Malurová, in 2002. Aktuálně.cz reported that the sale of the company to his wife was to avoid the recently approved law requiring mayors to disclose their assets.

Other activities

European Bank for Reconstruction and Development The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, shortened to EBRD ( French: ''Banque européenne pour la reconstruction et le développement'' or ''BERD''), is an international financial institution founded in 1991 in Paris. As a multilat ...

(EBRD), ex-officio member of the board of governors (since 2021) *

European Investment Bank The European Investment Bank (EIB) is the European Union's investment bank and is owned by the 27 member states. It is the largest multilateral financial institution in the world. The EIB finances and invests both through equity and debt sol ...

(EIB), ex-officio member of the board of governors (since 2021) *

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...

, ex-officio member of the board of governors (since 2021)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stanjura, Zbynek 1964 births Living people People from Opava Civic Democratic Party (Czech Republic) MPs Transport ministers of the Czech Republic Civic Democratic Party (Czech Republic) Government ministers Civic Democratic Party (Czech Republic) mayors Mayors of places in the Czech Republic Members of the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Republic (2017–2021) Members of the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Republic (2013–2017) Members of the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Republic (2010–2013) Members of the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Republic (2021–2025) Finance ministers of the Czech Republic Brno University of Technology alumni