The court addresses the dispute between the state and a company regarding the Czech pavilion at Expo 2020 in Dubai

Prague - The company MCI Prague is demanding 63 million crowns from the state in court, along with a nearly identical amount in interest, for not allowing it to complete the construction of the Czech pavilion at the World Expo 2020 in Dubai. This was reported today by Hospodářské noviny (HN). The case has been under the jurisdiction of the District Court for Prague 1 for the third year and will be revisited at the beginning of October.

The company began constructing the Czech pavilion for the World Expo in the United Arab Emirates. However, the Office of the General Commissioner (KGK), led by Jiří František Potužník, terminated its contract with MCI effective September 2020. This cancellation was justified by repeated breaches of contractual obligations and delays in supplies. The pavilion was then completed by the Dubai company Pico, and MCI Prague received 53 million crowns from the state for the portion already constructed.

MCI Prague claims that construction in Dubai was progressing well and that the delays were caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to the contract termination, the company filed a lawsuit against the state for the total construction payment of 63 million crowns, along with a penalty of 0.1 percent daily, which, according to HN, totals over 100 million crowns.

According to HN, the legal representative of the Office of the General Commissioner, Veronika Žánová, rejected the excuses regarding the pandemic. "Most things should have been completed before COVID," she stated. According to her, the company also failed to adhere to its own project documentation. "It was a totally botched, incomplete pavilion," she said.

Last March, the court ruled in favor of the state in the first-instance judgment. Judge Petra Lukášková remarked at that time that MCI Prague had long-term difficulties with the project due to missed deadlines and issues with the construction process.

However, the appellate court ordered early this year that the claim from MCI must be re-evaluated. The main reason was that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs dissolved the Office of the General Commissioner as of January 1, 2023, and transferred its agenda to Czech Centers. However, the court considering the lawsuit was not informed of this and continued the proceedings with the office. Therefore, the evidence discussed during the last two hearings must, according to HN, be reviewed again with the correct defendant.

The new hearings took place on Tuesday. Judge Lukášková postponed the hearing until early October due to the necessity of repeating part of the evidence and plans to issue a ruling then.

The Expo 2020 was postponed for a year due to the coronavirus epidemic and took place from October 2021 to March 2022. The design of the Czech pavilion was devised by architects Jindřich Ráftl and Jan Tůma from the Formosa AA studio. The Czech Republic presented itself at the expo as a land of nature, science, and innovation. The main theme of its exhibition was the Solar Air Water Earth Resource (S.A.W.E.R.) system, which produced water from the air using solar energy to irrigate the garden surrounding the Czech pavilion. The Czech Republic received an award for innovation that creates opportunities for this technology.