Olomouc city councillors greenlighted the water park for half a billion

Olomouc - The Olomouc city council today gave the green light to the long-awaited construction of a water park. They decided based on the recommendation of the councilors that the center for water attractions, costing nearly half a billion crowns, will be built by the municipality in cooperation with a consortium of companies Atzwanger, Gemo, and Skanska. The construction of the water park on the outskirts of the city near the road to Brno could start this year. It is expected to be completed by the beginning of 2009. The operation of the water park will be year-round.
    The municipality will create a joint-stock company with the consortium of companies called Aquapark Olomouc. The city will contribute 32 million crowns as well as land and preparatory materials for the construction of the water park valued at over 58 million crowns. The consortium’s contribution will amount to 111 million crowns.
    In the first phase, the city will be a minority shareholder in the company, holding 45 percent of the company’s shares. However, within ten years, it plans to gradually increase its stake to 100 percent. For the remaining shares, the municipality will pay the consortium 189 million crowns.
    Deputy Mayor Jiří Martinák told the council that the council decided to cooperate with a private entity for economic reasons. He noted that if the city were to build the water park on its own, it would have to take out a loan, and the construction cost would reach nearly 700 million crowns. "Another option would have been leasing. In that case, the costs could have reached up to 900 million crowns," said Martinák.
    According to Mayor Martin Novotný, the collaboration with the consortium of companies is particularly justified as it means that the municipality will not have to significantly incur debt or make a one-time payment of hundreds of millions of crowns. "The city's direct investments in the construction of the water park will amount to just under 222 million crowns, which represents our cash contribution to the company and the purchase of shares. It's important to note that expenses will be spread over ten years," emphasized Novotný.
    The construction of the water park will require 497 million crowns. The construction costs will be covered by the money that the city and the consortium invest in the joint company, along with a loan. The company Aquapark Olomouc will need to borrow over 400 million crowns for the construction and startup of the water attraction center.
    The consortium of companies will operate the water park for 20 years. They will receive annual contributions from the municipality to partially cover operational costs. In the first five years, the contribution will amount to nearly 30 million crowns, rising to 39 million crowns at the end of the cooperation.
    The municipality awarded the contract to the consortium of companies Atzwanger, Gemo, and Skanska based on a concession procedure. The city decided to announce the competition based on legal counsel. The year before last autumn, the municipality chose the German-Italian-Swiss company Atzwanger without a bidding process, with which it initially wanted to carry out the project. The circumstances of this cooperation attracted the interest of the unit for the detection of corruption and financial crime in the past. For instance, the police examined whether politicians had circumvented the public procurement law while planning the construction. Ultimately, they concluded that no laws were violated.
    The initiative Our Olomouc has been protesting against the construction of the water park for some time. According to its representatives, the operation will be loss-making and the city should not replace business entrepreneurs.