The ministry wants to increase the share capital of the Thermal hotel by 300 million CZK

Prague - The Ministry of Finance will propose to the government to increase the equity capital of the Karlovy Vary hotel Thermal by 300 million crowns to 1.1 billion crowns. The reason is the drop in revenue due to the pandemic, rising construction costs, and unexpected expenses associated with the modernization of the hotel, such as the need for the disposal of hazardous materials or the necessity of remedying the emergency metal structures. The press release on this was announced by the Ministry of Finance, which exercises the state's shareholder rights in the hotel.

“Over the last three years, construction prices have risen by almost a third. The complex, which serves as a cultural, congress, and spa center of the Karlovy Vary region, has been turned into a house of ghosts by the pandemic. The actual condition of the structures revealed by the modernization is far worse than was anticipated during the last increase of the equity capital in 2016," said Finance Minister Alena Schillerová (for ANO). According to her, in light of the investment plan until 2025 and considering the risk of a reduction in subsidies for reducing the building's energy consumption, increasing the equity capital is the only possible step.

Hotel Thermal was built in the second half of the 1970s based on the architectural design by Věra and Vladimír Machonins for the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. The reconstruction, which began last year, is expected to cost about 580 million according to the original plan, with 300 million coming from the state as an investment in the hotel’s equity. The project also received an additional 148 million for energy savings from the State Environmental Fund. The rest will be covered by a loan.