Otakar Smolík, the former chief executive of the Zdravotní pojišťovna ministerstva vnitra, received bonuses and exit payments totalling more than 35 million crowns over the last three years on top of his salary; the police are looking into the matter.
Otakar Smolík, the former chief executive of the Zdravotní pojišťovna ministerstva vnitra (ZPMV), received more than 35 million crowns in extraordinary bonuses and exit payments over the last three years. His annual salary was around 2.4 million crowns. The figures were established by Radiožurnál and taken up by other media on 8 October 2026 [1].
Amounts paid
In 2026 the insurer paid Smolík a record of more than 17 million crowns. He left the insurer in the spring of 2026. The bonuses were approved by the then director-general David Kostka, who left the post after eleven years [1].
In 2024 Smolík received 8 million crowns as an exit payment because his position was abolished, even though he stayed with the insurer in a new post. At that time the insurer had been running at a loss for several years, and its board was urging the management to make operating savings [1].
Between 2023 and 2025 high exit payments also went to a former head of a section of the director-general's office (9.3 million crowns) and a former adviser to the head of the performance section (about 6.1 million crowns) [1].
Legal assessment and reactions
The lawyer Ondřej Preuss said that an exit payment is meant to bridge a period without work. If an employee takes up a job with the same employer again, the entitlement should in his view lapse. For severance pay, the Labour Code provides that a proportionate part is returned after re-employment by the same employer [1].
Health Minister Adam Vojtěch said that his ministry, together with the Ministry of Finance, had initiated an audit of the insurer's management and that the Ministry of Health was prepared to file a criminal complaint. According to him, the bonuses at ZPMV were higher than at the Všeobecná zdravotní pojišťovna, which has five times as many insured persons. According to Blesk.cz, the police are already looking into the matter [1].
Chronology
- — Smolík, a former manager of the ZPMV insurer, received bonuses and severance pay totalling 35 million crowns over the last three years in addition to his salary. iROZHLAS Blesk.cz
Sources
- Blesk.cz — 8 October 2026