The MPs are asking Babiš not to delay with the money for the new seat of the NKÚ

Prague - The Chamber Control Committee today asked Finance Minister Andrej Babiš to submit a proposal in government without unnecessary delay that would allow the Supreme Audit Office to use saved funds from previous years for the construction of its new headquarters. The President of the SAO, Miloslav Kala, complained to the committee that the minister is not taking action on this matter. Deputy Minister Jan Gregor apologized for the delay. He expressed hope that the matter could be discussed in the government within a few weeks.

The office has been located for several years in a rented building, and the state has failed to find another suitable building owned by the state. Therefore, the SAO decided to build a new headquarters, which should cost about 600 million crowns. It will also include the chamber's library and archive. In this context, Kala mentioned that while searching for a suitable state-owned building, he explored more than ten ruins in state hands. "Anyone interested, I can provide a guide to Prague's state ruins," he noted.

For the SAO to utilize the saved money from previous years, it must, according to the law, request the Ministry of Finance for approval to use claims from so-called unspent non-profile claims for profiling expenditures. Kala said that he cannot propose this to the government himself. Therefore, he reached out to the Finance Minister last November, but has not received any response to this day.

"Unofficially, I started to learn that the minister does not want to implement the project and claims that we have a good lease and should remain in that building," Kala told ČTK. He fears that if the office remains in its current headquarters, it would have no other solution, and after the rental contract ends, the owner would increase the rent.

The chairman of the chamber's budget committee, Václav Votava (ČSSD), reminded the meeting today that funding for the construction of the new headquarters was already approved by the budget committee last year when it approved the SAO's budget. He emphasized that Minister Babiš is obliged to respect this. The chairman of the control committee, Vladimír Koníček (KSČM), stated that he sees the problem in the minister himself.

Deputy Gregor expressed regret over the longer reaction time of the ministry. He appreciated that a reasonable solution for the new headquarters had been found and counted on the office's request being discussed in the government within a few weeks.