In the Czech pavilion built for Expo 2025, the dismantling of the interior equipment has begun

Prague – The dismantling of air conditioning units and interior furnishings has begun in the Czech pavilion built for the World Expo 2025 in Osaka, Japan. Adam Čörgö, spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, stated this today in response to a query from ČTK. This is the first phase of the pavilion's demolition, which according to earlier statements by Foreign Minister Petr Macinka (Motorists) will last several months, at the latest until November.

At the end of June, Macinka stated that there were no interested buyers for the Czech pavilion, and the only economical option is its demolition. He added that funds originally earmarked for the purchase of a new building for the embassy in Kyiv will go towards unresolved obligations and the demolition itself.

In July, the minister added that the demolition will be carried out by a Japanese company that won the tender. According to him, the firm has experience with similar projects, as it participated in the installation and dismantling of several other pavilions. Initially, Macinka did not specify the costs, but later informed the server that the contracted price is 6.5 million crowns before tax. However, the final costs may still change depending on the actual course of the work and any complications or extra work.

The project for the Czech participation in Expo 2025, according to earlier statements by Macinka, has escalated from the originally set budget of 290 million crowns to more than 600 million, for which he repeatedly criticized former Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský (for the ODS) and former general commissioner of the Czech participation in the exhibition Ondřej Soška. Both rejected the criticism, asserting that the budget was not exceeded, with Soška stating that the participation concept planned a budget of around 500 million crowns, which included funds not only from the state budget but also from regions, institutions, or companies.

The cabinet originally allocated 290 million crowns for financing the Czech participation in the exhibition. Last July, the then government of Petr Fiala (ODS) approved an increase of up to an additional 120 million from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, resulting in a total provision of 410 million. An additional 150 to 210 million was planned to be secured from external sources, such as companies.

At the beginning of July, Soška also objected to the criticism of the Czech pavilion itself, which, according to Macinka, had no interested buyers, making its demolition the most economical option. According to Soška, the total price of the pavilion rose to 248 million crowns, with a residual value estimated at about 90 million. "That is why we sought to sell the entire pavilion so that it could continue serving the public, similar to a part of the pavilion from Expo 1958 at Prague's Letná," he wrote. Toward the end of Soška's mandate, he claimed there were specific interested parties from both the public and private sectors, and since April, Czech Centers and the ministry have been negotiating the fate of the pavilion. "The assertion that 'there are no interested buyers' is significantly different from 'we cannot agree on the terms,'" Soška stated.

Expo 2025 took place from April 13 to October 13 on the artificial island of Jumejima in Osaka. The Czech National Pavilion was built by the Japanese company Daisue. During the exhibition, more than one and a half million visitors attended.