Opposition wants to cancel the competition for the sale of the diplomatic quarter in Troja

Prague - According to the opposition ČSSD, Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg (TOP 09) should cancel the public tender for the sale of the diplomatic quarter in Prague's Troja because only one bidder applied. The Social Democrats stated this today in a statement sent to ČTK.
    "The tender with a single applicant raises suspicions that it was tailored for them," said the shadow foreign minister for the ČSSD, Lubomír Zaorálek. If only one bidder submits a proposal in the tender, it is not a competition, he added. Similar objections to such a tender have also been raised by the anti-corruption organization Transparency International.
    The Ministry confirmed back in July that only one company applied for the tender. It met the condition that the price of the complex was at least 395 million crowns. According to earlier information, its construction cost the state at least 363 million crowns.
    Originally, 15 companies expressed interest in the lucrative property, which picked up detailed documentation. Representatives of nine of them also toured the diplomatic quarter. However, only one company ultimately submitted an offer.
    The properties are being sold by the Diplomatic Service, which is a contributory organization of the ministry. The reason given is their financially unsustainable and ineffective maintenance. Other state institutions were not interested in the complex, so private individuals can purchase it now. The government consented to the sale.
    In the past, the Diplomatic Service offered for rent, for example, apartments ranging in size from 176 to 260 square meters. Some of the apartments include fireplaces, terraces, and winter gardens. The apartments located on the ground floor have front gardens. The complex of residential buildings in a quiet residential environment is the work of architects Jan Bočan and Zdeněk Rothbauer. The buildings housed, for example, the Afghan and Palestinian embassies. Employees of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) lived there. In 2002, the buildings were damaged by flooding, with damages amounting to around 40 million crowns.