The defendants in the case of the repair of the Kladruby stud farm deny guilt

"The damage incurred was a fraction of what was reimbursed in relation to the preparation of project documentation and the activities of the investor's technical supervision. The conditions for executing this project were not met, so the damage corresponds to the estimated value of the public procurement, which is approximately 250 million crowns, or the offered price," said prosecutor Adam Borgula to journalists.

The indictment assesses the actions of the defendants as organized activity. However, the prosecutor emphasized that it is not about "an organized criminal group." "The organization lay in the fact that the probability of committing the crime was increased by the involvement of representatives of the investor's technical supervision, representatives of the contracting authority, as well as future contractors or other bidders, essentially all parties," Borgula said. According to him, for example, agreements were made between future bidders regarding the bid prices for some contracts. "There were also instances where, before the commencement of the procurement procedures, qualifications and technical parameters of the procurement documentation were transferred ahead of the publication," said Borgula.

The acts described in the indictment relate to the first and second phases of the restoration of the stud farm. "These are public contracts, whether for the construction part of the project or for the technical supervision of the investor and for the suppliers of design work, as well as some other smaller public contracts," Borgula said.

The defense counsel of Chládek and Tintěra Pardubice, Jiří Slezák, labelled the indictment as unfounded. "We believe that the indictment is unfounded; I speak for Chládek and Tintěra, but I have the feeling that many defendants think the same way. This is a complex matter, we assert that we have not committed any manipulations," Slezák said. According to him, the defense will challenge the legality of the conducted wiretaps. "It's a setup; in my case, it's all confusing," said one of the defendants, Jiří Jehlička, to journalists.

Today’s main hearing began with the presentation of the indictment, which was filed on suspicions of gaining an advantage in public procurement, harming the financial interests of the European Union, subsidy fraud, collusion in public procurement, and violating regulations regarding competition rules in the preparation and implementation of the procurement procedure for the project "Restoration of components of the national cultural monument Stud Farm in Kladruby nad Labem."

The legal qualifications are not the same for all defendants. For attempted harm to the financial interests of the EU faces up to ten years in prison, just as for the preparation of subsidy fraud. For gaining an advantage in public procurement and collusion in public procurement, the court can send the accused behind bars for up to eight years. Violating regulations on competition rules can be punished by up to five years of imprisonment.

In the Kladruby stud farm, the police's Organized Crime Detection Unit intervened in the spring of 2013. Eighteen people from construction companies and the stud farm were gradually charged, along with five companies. Among the defendants are companies such as Geosan Stavební, Strabag, Cettus, and Metrostav. One of the charged individuals died before the indictment was filed, thus halting his criminal prosecution.