<div>Chamber of Architects criticizes the competition announced by VUT in Brno</div>

Brno - The Czech Chamber of Architects has submitted a complaint to the antitrust office regarding the current selection of the designer for the new building of the Faculty of Fine Arts at the Brno University of Technology. The chamber stated in a press release today that it considers the competition to be irregular. It is concerned, for example, about the composition of the jury, which, according to the chamber, did not have a majority of members with professional qualifications. According to the university's bursar, Vladimír Kotek, however, the competition is "completely in accordance with the public procurement law."
     The tender for designers is valued at around half a million crowns. However, according to the chamber, this reward should be higher and amount to a percentage of up to one and a half percent of the construction cost, which is approximately three million crowns.
     Therefore, according to the chamber, the competition was irregular, and authorized architects should not participate. "The aim of this effort is to prompt the call for a reassessment of the situation, to annul the irregularity of the competition, and to prepare and announce a proper, regular competition," representatives of the chamber stated in the press release.
     The new building of the Faculty of Fine Arts is to be constructed by 2015 on the school grounds in Brno under Palackého hill. "Half of the funds for the construction will come from the state budget, and the other half from the school's resources," Kotek told ČTK today. Currently, the faculty is located in two places in Brno. The new building will cost approximately 300 million crowns.