Brno will sell or demolish the Jalta house in the city center

Brno - The Jalta House on Dominikánské Square in the center of Brno, which the city acquired two years ago in a controversial exchange, will be sold or demolished by the city hall. According to Deputy Mayor Oliver Pospíšil (ČSSD), it is not worth renovating because it would cost the city up to a quarter of a billion crowns. This is reported in today's edition of Brněnský deník.
    The purchase of the Jalta Passage adjacent to the New City Hall was approved two years ago by the previous council led by ODS, which wanted to relocate municipal officials there. Entrepreneur Miroslav Lekeš obtained the building from the city in exchange for three houses in the city center and land in sought-after neighborhoods Pisárky and Stránice. The total value of these properties is around 100 million crowns.
    The acquisition of Jalta is one of the most controversial actions approved by the previous council. Politicians decided on the deal unusually in a secret vote, so it is not possible to determine who supported the transaction. The deal was prepared and pushed through by former Deputy Radomír Jonáš (ODS). The politician initially claimed that the renovation of the building would cost 20 million, later 50 million crowns. In the fall of 2005, when the matter was being discussed, he also stated that officials would move into the new space in September 2006.
    According to Pospíšil, however, the building is in very poor condition. "If we were to build such a building from scratch, it would be 100 million crowns more expensive," said Pospíšil. The missing funds for a new building could be obtained by the city precisely from the sale of Jalta.
    Some council members have labeled the deal as disadvantageous from the very beginning. The transaction was also investigated by the police over suspicions of corruption, but the case was dismissed.