Chinese spas in Pasohlávky are not yet being built, although they are supposed to be completed in a year

Brno - While the building of the regional Pálava Sanatorium in Pasohlávky near Brno is nearly finished after about two years of work, nothing is happening on the nearby land designated for the construction of a spa complex. The Chinese company RiseSun had committed to build a spa there within seven years when it purchased the land from the region in 2019. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the deadline has been pushed back by a year. The cost of the project was estimated to exceed one billion crowns. At this point, it is clear that no one is building the spa. Therefore, they cannot meet the deadline, said Martina Žídková, spokesperson for the regional authority, to ČTK.

RiseSun acquired the land in January 2019 for 380 million crowns. The purchase agreement was then signed by representatives of Thermal Pasohlávky, the predecessor of today's regional company Jihomoravská zdravotní, and RiseSun's General Director Sü Ťie. According to the contract addendum, the buyer is obliged to present a final occupancy permit or a final decision on occupancy or another final decision permitting the use of the spa within eight years from the date of the contract. If this does not happen, they must pay a fine of up to one hundred million crowns.

The company obtained a construction permit in the summer of 2024, but no work has progressed since then. The spa should have been completed already within a year. The company has not yet responded to inquiries from ČTK via email. There is no information about the project on their website. "Jihomoravská zdravotní will proceed according to the purchase agreement and will enforce the contractual penalty in the event of non-fulfillment of contractual obligations. We also have information that the company is looking for an investor. We are in occasional contact with them," said Žídková. The region is not aware that the company wants to sell the land.

Chinese companies began to show interest in the development of spa tourism in South Moravia as early as 2012. Three years later, then-regional governor Michal Hašek, elected by the Social Democracy party, signed a memorandum with the governor of Hebei province on cooperation for the spa project. The new regional leadership, led by the ANO movement, then considered two options: the establishment of a joint venture followed by construction, or selling the land to an investor. Ultimately, the latter option was preferred.

The sale was approved by the councilors in December 2018. Fifty-two councilors voted in favor, including the current deputy governor Jiří Crha (ODS). No one voted against, and five opposition Christian Democrats, including current governor Jan Grolich (KDU-ČSL), abstained. "I did not agree with the proposed method of sale because the land was sold as a whole, even though I was convinced that dividing and selling it in parts would be more efficient and would allow the gradual development of the area where construction could take place," he told ČTK today.

He believes that the fact that construction has not yet started on the land is not the responsibility of the region or the current leadership, but of the investor.