Regeneration of brownfields in the Czech Republic will cost a total of 200 billion

Prague - The revitalization of abandoned industrial sites - brownfields - is estimated by the Ministry of Industry and Trade to cost 200 billion crowns. To the maximum possible extent, European funds should be involved in their regeneration by 2013. This follows from the national strategy for the regeneration of brownfields, which the government will discuss on Wednesday without a debate.
    According to a study by the CzechInvest agency, there are 2,355 of these underutilized lands, buildings, and sites in the Czech Republic, covering a total area of more than 10,000 hectares.
    The strategy, in addition to involving European resources, also considers that a revitalized brownfield could have other uses besides industrial. The authors of the document, for example, recommend the construction of public service buildings, and they can also be used for agriculture or housing. The long-term goal is to reduce the number of brownfields and the appropriation of agricultural land for new construction in accordance with the principles of sustainable development.
    A brownfield is a land or building that is not being effectively utilized, is neglected, and in many cases is contaminated. The property cannot be utilized without revitalization, which often entails costs in the order of tens or hundreds of millions of crowns.
    In recent years, the state has financially supported the regeneration of unused industrial, agricultural, military, or mining sites. With the financial support of the state, 2,959 hectares of industrial zones have been created in the Czech Republic since 1998, including 530 hectares of regenerated brownfields.
    For the years 2007 to 2013, the Czech Republic has approximately 14 billion crowns available in European Union funds for projects related to business real estate and the remediation of old environmental burdens.