Prague canceled the selection of a company for the completion of the headquarters of the space agency EUSPA

Prague - Prague has canceled the selection of the construction company PORR in the tender for the completion of the Nová Palmovka building in Prague 8, designated as the seat of the European Union Agency for the Space Program (EUSPA). The original resolution regarding the selection of the contractor was annulled today by the city council due to the necessary review of the objections received regarding the tender. According to the agreement, EUSPA is expected to move into the new premises in the currently under-construction building in 2026 from its current location in Holešovice.

The building in Palmovka began construction in 2014, intended to house the town hall complemented by a shopping center. Work was interrupted a year later due to various disputes, and the construction has been halted since. After lengthy negotiations, the building was taken over by the City Hall from Prague 8 in 2021, which then considered placing the emergency services headquarters there. Eventually, an agreement was reached with the state and EUSPA, as its current headquarters in Holešovice is no longer sufficient in terms of capacity.

In April, the city council decided on the outcome of the tender for the completion of the building, in which the company PORR succeeded with a bid of 2.62 billion crowns. According to the document approved today, objections were raised against the decision, leading the council to cancel the selection. "The content of the objections raised doubts about the selected contractor's compliance with the participation conditions and also questioned the authenticity and truthfulness of the information provided by the selected contractor, as well as a request for the direct exclusion of the selected contractor," states the document approved today.

Councilor Zdeněk Kovářík mentioned that he will inform Finance Minister Zbyněk Stanjura (both ODS) about the matter on Tuesday and will not comment further on any potential delays in construction until then. According to him, the situation is a result of the construction law. "It is an inconvenience, but there is nothing we can do about it; the Chamber of Deputies would have to significantly simplify the public procurement law and prevent such wordplay," he said.

The delays in the tender were criticized by the chairman of the Prague opposition organization ANO and the supervisory committee Ondřej Prokop. "Prague is suffering due to the coalition's inability to ensure a complete and functional investment department," he stated. He added that the investment department has been paralyzed, as the city leadership had not been able to appoint its director for a year and a half. His appointment was only approved by the council today. "The commitment to hand over the reconstructed building to the tenant in 2026 is now becoming practically unattainable, and unfortunately, the city is at risk of embarrassment even on an international level," Prokop added.

EUSPA moved to Prague from Brussels on September 6, 2012, initially under the name European Global Navigation Satellite Systems Agency (GSA). It includes, among other things, the management of EU space program operations, including existing satellite and navigation projects such as Galileo, EGNOS, or Copernicus.