The 50-year-old Ivan Bednárik is expected to assume the post of Czech Minister of Transport this week, according to political and sector sources. If confirmed, the appointment would bring one of the most experienced rail managers in Central Europe into the Czech government.
Bednárik was most recently CEO of Železnice Slovenskej republiky (ŽSR), Slovakia’s national rail infrastructure manager, a position he took up in May 2025. He announced his resignation from the role on 27 November, amid growing speculation about his move into Czech politics.
His professional background is closely linked to rail freight and passenger transport. Between 2014 and 2020, Bednárik served as Chairman and CEO of ČD Cargo, the Czech state freight operator. During his six-year tenure, the company moved from heavy losses to hundreds of millions of Czech crowns in profit, according to sector analysts. Under his leadership, ČD Cargo modernised its locomotive fleet, acquiring Siemens Vectron and Bombardier TRAXX multi-system locomotives, refurbishing diesel units and investing in new freight wagons. The operator also strengthened its international footprint and exited several loss-making contracts.
Prior to joining ČD Cargo, Bednárik worked in senior commercial roles in logistics and forwarding companies, including Express Group in Slovakia, where he served as board member and commercial director. Earlier in his career, he held management positions in trading and forwarding firms active in commodity flows from the former Soviet Union.
In December 2020, Bednárik became CEO of České dráhy (ČD), the Czech national passenger railway carrier, taking office during the peak of the COVID-19 crisis. Faced with multi-billion-crown losses, he initiated cost-cutting measures, including a reduction in management positions and a smaller supervisory board. He left the post in February 2022, citing unresolved differences with the company’s supervisory board and objections to the scale of savings demanded by the new government.
One of the key disputes reportedly concerned payments for land used by the Czech rail infrastructure manager, amounting to approximately CZK 3.5 billion, which Bednárik had included in ČD’s business plan but which the government declined to approve.
After leaving the ČD Group, Bednárik acted as an adviser to the Slovak transport minister and later to his predecessor at ŽSR. As CEO of ŽSR, he had to deal with two serious rail accidents in autumn 2025, including a head-on collision near Rožňava that injured 91 people and a later incident near Bratislava involving a train passing a signal at danger.
Bednárik holds a secondary school diploma from a grammar school in Zlaté Moravce, Slovakia, studied management at a college affiliated with the University of New South Wales in Sydney, and completed an MBA at the Central European Management Institute (CEMI) in 2017.
If appointed minister, Bednárik would bring hands-on experience across freight, passenger operations and infrastructure management at a time when Czech transport policy faces major challenges, including rail investment planning, infrastructure safety and the competitiveness of rail freight in Central Europe.
