Ivan Pilip
Ivan Pilip (born 4 August 1963 in Prague) is a Czech politician and economist who was finance minister from June 1997 to July 1998, after having been the Minister of Education, Youth and Sport from 1994 to 1997.
Ivan Pilip | |
|---|---|
| 2nd Finance Minister of the Czech Republic | |
| In office 3 June 1997 – 22 July 1998 | |
| Prime Minister | Václav Klaus Josef Tošovský |
| Preceded by | Ivan Kočárník |
| Succeeded by | Ivo Svoboda |
| Minister of Education, Youth and Sport | |
| In office 1994–1997 | |
| Prime Minister | Václav Klaus |
| Preceded by | Petr Piťha |
| Succeeded by | Jiří Gruša |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 4 August 1963 Prague, Czechoslovakia |
| Political party | KDS ODS US–DEU |
| Spouse | Lucie Pilipova |
| Profession | Economist |
Pilip was educated as an economist, before entering politics in the Christian Democratic Party (KDS) after the fall of Communism in the Czech Republic. Pilip served in government from 1992 to 1998, leading the KDS before it merged with the Civic Democratic Party. Pilip was among the deputies who split from the Civic Democrats to form the Freedom Union and in 1998 he went into opposition.
Pilip was detained in Cuba in early 2001 for almost a month after meeting opponents of the Cuban government, before being released after international pressure on Cuba. He lost his seat in the Chamber of Deputies in 2002, but would serve as interim leader of Freedom Union for a period afterwards, before serving as a Vice-President at the European Investment Bank from 2004 to 2007.