The chief engineer of the Kuks reconstruction stated that he did not understand the contracts.

Prague - The chief engineer of the reconstruction of the Baroque complex in Kuks, Dalibor Dubový, stated today in court that he did not understand the issue of public procurement at all. The architect claims that this is why he sought the assistance of co-defendant Petr Semeniuk when preparing the tender documents and other materials. According to the indictment, the men tailored the contract to fit the winning company Gema Art Group. The Ministry of Finance is seeking compensation from the four defendants, which it has estimated at 267 million crowns.

The contract "Kuks - Pomegranate, Hospital - revitalization of restoration" cost more than 322 million, of which over 314 million was covered by EU funds. The tender was won in 2013 by the consortium Hochtief.CZ - Gema Art Group. Dubový previously sent internal information from the preparation of the tender conditions via email to his acquaintance Semeniuk in 2011 and 2012, who, according to the state prosecutor, forwarded them to two employees of Gema. The company then allegedly influenced the form of the relevant documents to suit its needs.

Sixty-seven-year-old Dubový said today that he disagrees with the indictment and denied that he had arranged an advantage for anyone in the tender. However, he admitted to communicating with Semeniuk. From the architect's testimony, it emerged that the position of chief engineer of the reconstruction project, which he obtained at the National Heritage Institute, was beyond his capabilities.

"In 2010, I saw an advertisement on the internet for applying for the position of chief engineer of the project. I was intrigued. In 2015 I was supposed to retire, the construction was for four years, and so I thought I would try something new at the end of my career," Dubový described in his testimony at the Prague Municipal Court. "It was never mentioned that I would be compiling the tender documents. I was absolutely unqualified for that," he emphasized. However, the state prosecutor pointed out that he had cooperation in the creation of the tender conditions in his employment contract.

Dubový, who was also a member of the evaluation committee, stated that the project manager requested him to create the tender documents. "I received this order from my boss, and since I am from the old school, I don't think too much about orders. I worked with the public procurement law for the first time. We were under incredible time pressure. I ran out of strength and sense," he said.

According to him, no one from the official consulting places wanted to help him. Therefore, he accepted Semeniuk's offer, whom he allegedly did not know before and who originally came to ask if his company could be involved in the reconstruction of Kuks. "He helped me structure the public procurement. I have only done one reconstruction in my life and that was not in the context of public procurement," the architect communicated.

"I believed that he was a professional in this matter," Dubový replied to the judge's question about why he thought Semeniuk was an expert on cultural heritage when he actually did technical supervision on the railway. "He was a builder, I was a builder. I took it as collegial assistance. He wanted nothing for it, and neither did I," he declared. In response to the judge's remark that sending internal information to Semeniuk was a violation of Dubový's confidentiality obligation, he stated that his fundamental goal was to realize and deliver the construction.

Semeniuk was a councilor in Prague 22 (for SOUSEDÉ). After the indictment was filed, he resigned from his position and denied the charges at that time. He excused himself from the main hearing today for health reasons. The statutory director of Gema, Zdeněk Fučík, who also did not appear in court, and company supervisory board member Kateřina Richterová are also facing the indictment. She refused to testify in the matter.

For arranging an advantage in public procurement and damaging the financial interests of the EU, Dubový, Fučík, and Richterová face up to ten years in prison. Semeniuk could receive a sentence of up to twelve years because he is also accused of forging a promissory note for 12 million crowns with Fučík's signature. The prosecution believes that he forged the promissory note because he apparently did not agree with Fučík on a reward for his activities in preparing the contract.