ANO asks Prime Minister Fiala to transfer the agenda of digitization of building procedures to DESÚ

Prague - The opposition movement ANO has called on Prime Minister Petr Fiala (ODS) in an open letter to transfer the agenda of the digitalization of the building approval process (DSP) from the Ministry of Regional Development (MMR) to the Transport and Energy Construction Office (DESÚ), which falls under the Ministry of Transport. According to them, there is no expert team at the MMR that would be capable of carrying out the digitalization. They also pointed out that the Office for the Protection of Competition (ÚOHS) canceled the previously announced tender. The letter is available to ČTK, and they are seeking a response from Minister Ivan Bartoš (Pirates). The minister has a press conference planned for Tuesday regarding the DSP.

According to the ANO movement, speeding up the building approval process is one of the few issues on which there is consensus across the political spectrum. "Surely you have also noticed the uncertainty and concern that exists in this matter across municipalities, regions, professional and trade associations, as well as among private entities," noted the first vice-chairman of ANO, shadow prime minister Karel Havlíček.

The chairman of the ÚOHS, Petr Mlsna, definitively canceled the DSP tender announced by the MMR in March at the end of November. He thus confirmed the decision of his office from September. The ministry is convinced that it acted entirely transparently in the tender. It is preparing an administrative lawsuit, spokesperson Veronika Hešíková told ČTK earlier.

The ÚOHS is currently also examining another contract for the DSP, which the ministry concluded without a public tender in November. Office spokesperson Martin Švanda confirmed to ČTK that the ÚOHS received two submissions requesting a ban on the performance of this contract. However, the administrative proceedings have not yet concluded.

The ministry has been seeking a supplier for the digitalization of the building approval process since 2021, under the previous management, with an estimated contract value of 1.9 billion crowns. However, the ministry canceled the original tender and announced a new competition in March of this year, in which it selected a new supplier in early June who is expected to conduct the digitalization for approximately 1.2 billion crowns less than the offer from 2021.

The ÚOHS canceled this tender in September and prohibited the performance of the contract until the completion of the administrative proceedings. The MMR filed an appeal to the chairman of the office, who, however, did not heed its arguments and confirmed the first-instance decision. Thus, the selection process is canceled.

The MMR plans to launch the digitalization of the building approval process in July of next year. Its implementation has already been postponed twice; initially, the system was supposed to be operational this summer.