The mayor of Liberec wants to abolish selection procedures for European projects

Liberec - The Mayor of Liberec, Jan Korytář (Change for Liberec), wants to cancel the public tenders for the reconstruction of the municipal baths and the completion of the swimming pool, which were ordered by the previous city leadership. The city council selected the suppliers for the hundred-million projects at the beginning of March. However, Korytář told reporters today that he would not sign contracts with the contracting companies. He prefers new tenders. The decision will be up to the councillors who will meet on Thursday.
  In the competition for the completion of the swimming pool, the Liberec construction company Syner emerged victorious. The repair of the baths was to be managed by the Pardubice company Chládek and Tintěra. Both construction projects have approved financial support from European funds. According to estimates, the revitalization of the municipal baths and the completion of the swimming pool are expected to cost more than 400 million crowns in total.
  "I want to propose to the council to cancel the resolution of the council that announced the winners of these two contracts, because I believe there are many serious reasons for doing so," said Korytář. He relies on two legal opinions and also the opinion of Transparency International Czech Republic, which indicates that there are deficiencies and risks for the city in the contracts, such as price increases for construction through so-called additional work. According to the mayor, it would be possible to negotiate an even more favorable price. Korytář added that he fears that the city could lose funding from the grant.
  Both contracts were awarded by the previous leadership of Liberec, led by the ODS. Some members of the new city council later stated that the contracts could have been 'tailored' for the selected companies. They argued, for example, that there were a small number of applicants participating in the competitions. However, similar suspicions have not yet been confirmed.
  Both projects have received approved grants from European sources. According to Korytář, adjustments in the schedule for drawing funds should not pose a problem, as the constructions would only be delayed by a matter of months. "There is a window of approximately 15, or 30 months for us to manage to utilize the grant," Korytář added. The fifteen-month buffer is, according to him, in the case of the renovation of the baths, while the pool has a double buffer.
  According to Eva Jouklová, spokesperson for the Regional Council of the Northeast Cohesion Region, both projects must be completed by June 30, 2015, as specified in the 27th round of calls in which they were submitted. "The city must adhere to the schedule. However, if it cannot adhere to it, it will apply for its extension, which will then be approved or not approved by the Committee of the Regional Council," Jouklová told ČTK.
  After reconstruction, the building of the municipal baths is to house the Liberec Regional Gallery, which is currently located in already inadequate premises. The project for the completion of the Liberec swimming pool includes the construction of a new 25-meter pool and also a tower with the possibility of teaching diving.