About

General counsel since June 2016 of the largest internet-based travel company in the Czech Republic, Invia, Karel Budka emphasises the ‘cross border character of [his] work involving all major economies in CEE’. With this involving ‘recent acquisitions of significant assets in the German market’, Budka is able to say it has made him ‘better understand small market differences between the individual countries and how to approach problem solving’ when approaching cross-border and multinational deals and arrangements. Budka is the first GC of Invia, and as such has been a revolutionary presence in how the company deals with legal matters. He goes into how he has built the legal function of the company since taking over: ‘I centralised the procurement of legal services for the entire Invia Group, and also founded a small legal department. Our approach is to consider if we have enough time and experience to solve a given matter internally and, if not, how best to approach an external law firm. My philosophy, whether providing or buying legal services, is to never sacrifice the quality of legal services for price’. Budka has also recently been promoted to the board of directors of the organisation, which will allow him to provide more direct input of legal considerations to strategic matters that affect the company going forward; a highly impressive achievement given the short length of his tenure with Invia so far.