Skanska must return 57 million to Bublava for the aquapark

Sokolov - The municipality of Bublava does not have to pay the company Skanska 19 million crowns for a part of the never-completed aqua park. Skanska, as the successor of the former IPS, must instead return 57 million crowns to the municipality, which it paid for the first part of the construction from state subsidies. This was decided today by the Sokolov District Court. The verdict is not legally binding. Skanska will not comment on it before receiving the written version.
According to the court, the contract between the municipality and the company was invalid from the beginning, as the municipal council did not approve it but only acknowledged it. "The court is convinced that the then-mayor did not act according to the will of the municipality, but without appropriate authorization. The public tender was announced on March 28, 1999, and the only meeting where it was discussed was on May 17, 1999," stated Judge Jaroslav Simet, for example.
According to the ruling, the councilors did not clearly express their intent to announce a tender and acquire property in the future. According to the judge, especially in such a small municipality, public funds should be handled carefully. "It is not possible for the municipality to express its will in any way other than by acclamation," the judge stated.
According to the judge, Skanska never wanted to be the owner of the aqua park, but if the contract is invalid and even though it is built on municipal land, the owner is the one who created the work. The company will thus be left with a shell of a building. In addition to the 57 million, it must also pay the municipality penalties on this amount. Since 2007, when the court established the claim for penalties, it will be an additional approximately 30 million crowns.
Last year, the judge urged the parties to reach an agreement. It is likely that Skanska will appeal again, and the more than ten-year dispute will drag on further. A representative of Skanska did not attend the court today.
Skanska wanted 19 million crowns from the municipality for unpaid invoices for part of the construction work. The municipality, in a counterclaim, demanded back 57 million from the construction company, which it had already paid from state subsidies that the municipality must return and will be repaying for years.
"Of the total 57 million that we had to return, part was forgiven by the state and we have to repay a total of 33 million. We still have 19 million left to repay," said Bublava Mayor Igor Jirsík (independent) to ČTK.
If today's ruling becomes legally binding and the municipality indeed receives the money back, it intends to first pay off debts to the state. But the remainder would help start investing in the municipality again. "We could not apply for grants from the European Union or the ministries. Now we would embark on, for example, repairing communications and basic things that people in the municipality have been deprived of for ten years," added Jirsík.
Skanska's spokesperson Lucie Laňková told ČTK that they will not comment on the ruling now. "At this moment, we need to wait for the written version of the ruling so that we can familiarize ourselves with its detailed reasoning. Afterwards, we will be able to comment on the court's verdict," Laňková conveyed.
Bublava began constructing the aqua park in 1999. Initially, the small municipality with 320 inhabitants, and also without a water source, received subsidies for the construction. However, when they stopped coming, the municipality could not afford to complete it. Due to the repayment of subsidies for the aqua park, it ranks among the most indebted municipalities in the country.