Airport Brno believes in an agreement with the region regarding the construction of a logistics park

Brno - The company Brno Airport still believes that it will reach an agreement with the new leadership of the South Moravian Region on the construction of a logistics park on land near the airport in Brno-Tuřany. The airport and the adjacent land belong to the region, and the company leases them. The previous regional leadership agreed to the construction. However, the new regional council did not approve a proposal on Thursday to make the necessary changes for the commencement of construction. The nearly billion-koruna investment is therefore at risk, stated the spokesperson for Brno Airport, Kateřina Pichalová, today to ČTK. The company wants to negotiate with the region again.

The company Brno Airport has leased the Brno airport from the region for 50 years since the beginning of the millennium. Its subsidiary, Brno Airport Logistic Park (BALP), wants to build the logistics park, leasing the land for the park's construction since 2007 with the help of an easement. The park is to serve the international transport company TNT, which wants to offer around 125 jobs. If the construction is not approved this May, the easement will expire. The company would still have the land leased, but would no longer have the necessary permits for construction. The permits now need to be revised.

The necessary changes that the regional council needs to approve have not been sanctioned, complicating the construction process. According to Pichalová, TNT and its partners had already initiated preparatory work in light of the previous support from the region's leadership. "They have invested a considerable amount of money. Now, the company's investments worth nearly a billion koruna are at risk. By blocking the investment, it may happen that the company will have to implement the project outside the Czech Republic," Pichalová warned.

In the past, the region was led by the ČSSD with KDU-ČSL, after the elections they were replaced by ANO, ČSSD, Mayors for South Moravia, and TOP 09 with Žít Brno. According to the Deputy Governor Taťána Malá (ANO), the new leadership is interested in constructing the center, but first needs to review the relations between the region and Brno Airport. Another reason for the region's disagreement with the necessary changes is, according to her, inconsistencies in the application for the change and the attached documentation, as well as fundamental changes from the original project considered for the area.

Some media speculated that the region should not benefit from the center under the existing conditions. "We want to set the use of the land so that it is the most advantageous for the region," emphasized Malá. According to her, in the past, the region received around 20 million koruna annually for the lease of the airport, which it reinvested back into the airport.

The new leadership wants to change that. "We are happy to inform the current representatives of the region about everything concerning the airport and its operations. However, the logistics park project does not need to be linked to a potential review of legal relationships. TNT's partners have prepared a solution that ensures direct revenue from the use of the land to the region's budget. Thus, the region would gain money from establishing the right to construct the park," Pichalová said. The chairman of the board of Brno Airport, Jiří Filip, stated that the project would benefit South Moravia, enhance the region's land value, and create jobs.

TNT flies from Brno several times a week and transports approximately 4,000 tons. They have no facilities at the airport and transport prepared shipments there. The initial investment for construction was estimated at around half a billion koruna. The buildings were planned to be located on an area of about 1.5 hectares.