The volume of public construction contracts increased by a tenth by October

Prague - The volume of orders awarded by public investors in the Czech Republic to construction companies increased by ten percent year-on-year to 162.5 billion crowns by the end of September this year. The main reason was the increase in the value of contracts for transport infrastructure. The number of contracts decreased by seven percent to 3552. The largest issuer was the state Road and Motorway Directorate of the Czech Republic with contracts worth 40.9 billion. The value of newly issued contracts increased by 17 percent, according to data from the IS company available to ČTK.

The value of awarded contracts for civil engineering decreased by 15.6 percent to 37.1 billion crowns. In the case of engineering constructions, mainly consisting of transport projects, the volume of contracts increased by 19.7 percent to 125.4 billion crowns.

For 23 contracts in nine months, the value exceeded one billion crowns, with four added in September. The largest was the construction of a section of the bypass around České Budějovice in the section Hodějovice - Třebonín worth 7.02 billion. The Road and Motorway Directorate of the Czech Republic awarded it to the Slovak-Italian consortium Doprastav-Salini Impregilo. For the entire last year, public administration awarded 19 billion contracts, while there were 16 by the end of September.

Among individual companies, the largest volume of contracts was obtained by Eurovia CS, which won 87 tenders worth 4.53 billion crowns. Of the additional 30.37 billion, this company will have a share through partnerships with other companies.

According to IS construction market analyst Ivan Vrhel, the continuing rise in bid prices increases the value of awarded contracts. Prices in competitions by the end of September reached an average of 102 percent of the expected price levels. For civil engineering contracts, they were higher by 0.6 percent, while for engineering contracts by 2.6 percent. Year-on-year, companies' bid prices exceeded the expected by 4.8 percentage points.

The share of contracts co-financed by European subsidies in the total value of construction contracts increased year-on-year by 7.2 percentage points to 57.9 percent.

The average size of a contract until September was 45.7 million crowns, which is about a fifth more year-on-year.

From the regions, the most awarded contracts went to the South Bohemian Region with a share of 14.5 percent. This was followed by the Central Bohemian Region (11.4 percent), the Olomouc Region (10.5 percent) and Prague (8.6 percent). The smallest share was held by the Liberec Region with two percent.

The value of newly announced contracts until the end of September increased year-on-year by 17.4 percent to 119.2 billion crowns. The volume of contracts in civil engineering decreased year-on-year by 6.3 percent, while in engineering it increased by 30 percent. A total of 20 announced contracts exceeded one billion crowns, compared to nine in the same period last year. The largest was the electrification and increase in capacity of the railway track Uničov - Olomouc, with an expected price of 4.43 billion. It was announced by the state Administration of Railway Transport.

Public contracts accounted for 42 percent of the total revenues of construction companies last year, according to the Czech Statistical Office. The lowest was two years ago with a share of 32.6 percent and the highest in 2002 with 55.1 percent.