The Palmovka Center will not be closed, the opposition did not succeed in enforcing its termination

Prague - The opposition in Prague 8 has failed to push through the abolition of the company Centrum Palmovka (CP), which is owned by the city hall of the eighth municipal district. The proposal was presented to the councilors by opposition councilor Jan Čáp (TOP 09). The reason is allegedly the ineffectiveness of this company. CP was established years ago by Prague 8 to manage the construction of a new town hall in Palmovka and to address heating management. The construction, costing 1.1 billion crowns, was supposed to be completed in March 2016, but is currently halted.

"The company does not carry out the activities for which it was established. The only reason for maintaining the company could be to preserve positions," explained Čáp. The construction of the town hall was not the only thing halted; the company was also supposed to manage heating, which the current city hall administration transferred to a new joint-stock company this year.

No one from the Prague 8 leadership commented on the proposal during the discussion of the material, and Mayor Roman Petrus (ČSSD) very quickly ended the discussion. Opposition councilor Ondřej Gros (ODS) reacted unfavorably to this quick approach, criticizing the rapid proceedings.

Problems related to the construction have been dragging on for several months. The company has already filed a lawsuit in July to determine the owner of the unfinished building. Doubts about ownership arose from an analysis of contracts commissioned by CP. The court will thus address whether the owner of the incomplete building is the company or the capital city itself.

Due to this doubt, according to the spokesperson, CP has stopped paying the construction company Metrostav. They are demanding about 240 million crowns from CP and want to resolve the payment through arbitration. In May, Metrostav suspended the construction. It is unclear when the construction will be completed.

The construction of the center for over 1.1 billion crowns was approved by Prague 8 already in 2010. So far, they have paid the construction company about half of the amount. The actual construction began last April. The building is expected to occupy an area of more than 16,000 m².