Developer filed a lawsuit in Ostrava for frustrated investment

Ostrava - The dispute between the city of Ostrava and the company Amádeus Real, which was supposed to build a shopping center in the central district of Moravská Ostrava and Přívoz, ends in court. The information was confirmed to ČTK by Mayor Petr Kajnar (ČSSD). The city does not yet have further details regarding the lawsuit. Thus, it does not even know what compensation the company will be claiming for the unrealized construction. However, it had previously quantified the damages for the thwarted investment at 1.6 billion crowns in a letter to the city, Kajnar told ČTK. The developer has not commented on the case for several months.
    Last March, Amádeus Real withdrew from the purchase agreement for the land on Dr. Edvard Beneš Square in the city center, where the planned commercial complex was to be built. The developer withdrew from the contract after the central district of Moravská Ostrava did not grant approval for the construction. The district eventually granted consent retroactively. The city then formally contested the withdrawal from the contract.
    According to Kajnar, the lawsuit was filed with the Municipal Court in Prague, and the city will now request that the court provide it with the lawsuit. Kajnar reiterated today that the city does not consider the withdrawal from the contract valid and believes that the company should fulfill its obligations. He considers the reason for terminating the contract as a pretext.
    The city had previously agreed with the district that the legal dispute with the developer would be handled by the district. The city's leadership faced criticism from opposition councilor and lawyer Petr Kausta (elected for the Ostravak movement), who argued that the city should lead the dispute instead. Kausta described the city's approach as evasive.
    The spokesperson for the district, Jana Pondělíčková, told ČTK today that the district had already received the necessary documents from the city regarding the entire case. "We will probably forward them to an external lawyer on Friday for review and to provide us with a legal opinion. We cannot comment on the lawsuit at this moment, as we have not yet received it," added Pondělíčková.
    The media representative of the company, Jan Piskáček, declined to comment on the filing of the lawsuit today and did not want to confirm whether the company had filed it.