No state institution has yet shown interest in the Štiřín castle complex

Prague - No state institution has yet shown interest in the Štiřín Castle complex in Kamenice near Prague; they still have time until early October. This was stated today by the director of the Office for Representation of the State in Property Matters, Kateřina Arajmu, to the members of the control committee. If the situation does not change, the property office would begin preparations for the sale, according to her statement. The office took over the castle in June from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which no longer needs the complex. The control committee had previously adopted a resolution that the property should remain state-owned.

"A domestic offer is still ongoing; no state institution has yet expressed interest in the property. The only preliminary interest we have recorded concerns part of the movable property, which has significant historical value, and has been indicated by the National Heritage Institute," Arajmu said. She noted that maintaining the complex currently costs the property office about 800,000 crowns a month, and in winter, the monthly amount could rise to one million crowns. "It is unsustainable for us to hold this empty complex in the long term," she added.

According to Arajmu, the property office is not currently preparing the sale of Štiřín Castle, but once the deadline for state institutions has passed, it will have to legally prepare a tender or auction. Given the purely commercial nature of the castle, she finds it hard to imagine its use in the public interest, the director remarked regarding the condition for another legal option, which is a gratuitous transfer.

Preparation for sale would involve the processing of an expert appraisal and international advertising. For the actual sale, the office would use, according to Arajmu, an electronic auction system. The director also informed the members of parliament that the property office has already received "some kind of working expert appraisal," which valued the complex at three billion to 3.5 billion crowns. She also pointed out that state institutions could express interest in the property even during its sale, which would block the process. The office would then evaluate whether the transfer to this institution would meet the legal requirements.

In the past, there have been several discussions regarding the sale of the complex, which also includes a golf course and ponds. About ten years ago, during the tenure of Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg (TOP 09), these considerations arose due to budgetary measures. Privatization was later proposed by then-Finance Minister Andrej Babiš (ANO). Subsequently, when he held the position of Prime Minister, he withdrew from the intention, justifying that the number of events held at Štiřín had significantly increased, and it is also open to the public year-round. At the end of the previous electoral term of the House of Representatives, the effort to transfer the founding function of the contributory organization Štiřín Castle from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the House ultimately failed, although it had the support of the majority of deputies.