Its assets attract not only banks, investment groups and influential financiers. By 2043, the Catholic Church is to receive about 47 billion crowns as compensation for the property stolen by the Communists, which will not be returned to it.
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Individual dioceses are looking for ways to deal with millions of crowns, where to store them, how to evaluate them. Church officials are not always able to choose a safe investment.
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Last year, the bishops first began to examine the transaction of the České Budějovice diocese, which in the art linked to the fugitive and investigated businessman František Savov.
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Now, according to the findings of the List of News, the church is trying to withdraw from another controversial financial group, into which it has poured millions of crowns: Arca Capital.
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Minerals bet
The Czech-Slovak group Arca is mainly associated with its founder, the Slovak billionaire living in the Czech Republic Pavol Krúpa, who does not hide his contacts with the Castle and President Miloš Zeman. Krúpa Zeman and his presidential party SPOZ sponsored the campaigns, and two years ago Zeman again awarded Krúpa the Medal of Merit.
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The bond between Zeman and Krupa could be suitable for negotiations with the Catholic Church, as its Czech head Dominik Duka gets along well with the president.
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In 2016, the Diocese of Ostrava and Opava decided on a financial adventure. For 17 million crowns, it acquired 150 shares in the investment fund Arca Capital CEE, thereby acquired a stake at 2.64 percent. The fund invests money in the field of energy, real estate and was known for owning (until the end of last year) the mineral water Ondrášovka and Karlovarská Korunní.
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In recent months, the Arca branch has run into huge financial difficulties spiced up by a fierce battle between managers and co-owners. There is a risk that Arca will not have enough resources to satisfy thousands of its creditors. According to estimates, liabilities climb to one billion euros, ie about 26 billion crowns. The case is already being dealt with by the police, and insolvency is underway.
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Developments in recent months have made the Ostrava-Opava diocese nervous and they are trying to get rid of their share, which it bought for 17 million four years ago.
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“The investment was part of our investment strategy and investment diversification and was arranged by those responsible for the investment. We are not pleased with the current events at Arca and we are trying to coordinate the process with other small shareholders. We offer the fund’s shares for sale on the stock exchange, “said Martin David, Auxiliary Bishop of Ostrava and Opava, in the News List.
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According to the semi-annual report Arca Capital CEE was a fund with a loss of 34 million crowns in the first six months of this year. According to Bishop David, however, the diocese has not lost money yet. “The investment in the fund has so far brought a profit from the dividend paid and the shares sold. We currently own 133 of these shares, “said Bishop David.
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War of the Exparties
Entrepreneur Pavol Krúpa, who has earned the title of “raider” for his tough business style, works in the Arca Capital CEE investment fund in the role of Chairman of the Supervisory Board. He claims that he is currently trying to help creditors in the battle for their invested money. He relies critically on the fund’s management.
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“The members of the fund’s supervisory board do their best to prevent the purposeful activities of a member of the board of directors, Peter Janiga, a person related to the Arca Group, and others who seek to damage the fund. The Supervisory Board does everything to eliminate the negative effects, prevent the decrease in the value of the fund and protect the rights of shareholders, “Seznam wrote to Krúpa Reports.
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The diocese of Ostrava-Opava is not surprised that it wants to withdraw from the Arca investment fund as soon as possible. It is not just about financial difficulties, but also an aggravated relationship between the key figures of the whole group.
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In recent months, Krúpa has come into open conflict with his former close collaborator and current head of the Arca group, Rastislav Velič. Due to promissory notes with an allegedly forged Krúpa signature filed a criminal complaint.
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Sponsor of Babiš and Zeman
Although Pavol Krúpa comes from Slovakia, he has long had access to the highest levels of Czech politics. He first drew considerable attention in 2007, when he bought a stake in Moravia Energo from former Prime Minister Stanislav Gross for 110 million.
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A few years later, he managed to get close to the Babišov-Zemanovo set. In 2012, according to the Arca State Guard server, it sponsored the YES movement; a year later, Krúpa supported Miloš Zeman in his first presidential campaign. Before the regional elections in 2016, Krúpa also sent 300,000 crowns to the presidential Party of Citizens’ Rights – Zemanovci.
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“I have never done business with the state. My motivation was quite simple. In the first choice, Zeman was an uncle from Vysočina and an outsider. Jaroš Masopust, who was a follower of Zeman, came to me and asked me if I could sponsor Miloš. I didn’t know Zeman at the time, but Jaroš is an honest guy, “Krúpa commented in the October part of the Insider podcast.
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Krúpa gained the Castle’s favor with long-term criticism and attacks on the business activities of coal baron Zdeněk Bakala, whom Zeman has been attacking for years due to control of OKD.
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In 2015, Krúpa discussed the action against Bakal with the president directly at Prague Castle. Two years later, he funded a new party, the Good Choice Party, led by former Deputy Chairman of TOP 09 and Mayor of Čeladná in North Moravia, Pavol Lukša. This political project also targeted Bakal’s business.
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Bakala eventually sued Krupa in the USA for alleged blackmail, but Krup’s persistent attacks on the barbarian earned Zeman a state award in 2018.
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