Vít Bárta

Vít Bárta (born 5 December 1973) is a Czech businessman and politician who served as Minister of Transport from 2010 to 2011 and as Member of the Chamber of Deputies (MP) from 2010 to 2013. In 2011 Bárta announced his resignation from the government due to prosecution when he was accused of bribery by his party colleagues. After his conviction and subsequent acquittal, Bárta became chairman of the Public Affairs political party and held the position in 2013.

Political career He was elected to the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic and became a member of Petr Nečas' cabinet. He became chairman of Public Affairs on 16 February 2013, a position he held until delivering his resignation on 26 November of the same year.

Controversy In April 2011, Bárta was accused of bribery by his colleagues from Public Affairs, deputies Jaroslav Škárka, Stanislav Huml, and Kristýna Kočí. The deputies were subsequently expelled from the party. The incident caused serious problems in the Czech government coalition.

On 8 April 2011, Bárta announced his resignation from the government of Petr Nečas.

A year later, in April 2012, Bárta was convicted of bribery and conditionally sentenced to 18 months of imprisonment. In January 2013, Bárta was acquitted by the Prague 5 district court, a decision which was confirmed by Prague's city court two months later. He was subsequently awarded compensation totalling around 950,000 Czech koruna.