Prostějov is building a water center, apparently against EU rules

Olomouc - The city of Prostějov, which plans to build a recreational center in Krasice, is apparently going to build it in violation of European Union regulations. It did not announce a tender, but directly chose a firm aligned with the city hall. The water center with pools and slides and an adjoining parking lot will cost a total of 180 million crowns. The city council wants to open it this July, before the municipal elections, writes today's Central Moravian supplement of Mladá fronta Dnes.
The city, together with Prostějov's Micso, founded the company Mi Pro Stav, which secured a loan and is managing the entire project from a construction perspective. The city hall currently has a ten percent stake in the joint company. However, during this year, it will become the majority owner of the aquapark and will repay the loan at 23 million crowns per year for eight years.
However, according to EU rules, without a tender, cities cannot operate in this manner. In neighboring Olomouc, councilors even completely canceled a similar project for the construction of an aquapark worth several hundred million crowns.
"As for the establishment of a company where a private partner has the majority, Czech legislation does not require a public tender. However, there are rulings from the European Court of Justice, according to which cooperation between public and private partners must be viewed in the long term," explained the economic deputy of the mayor of Olomouc, Martin Novotný (ODS), to the newspaper why the regional city withdrew from the project with a private partner.
The difference between Olomouc and Prostějov is that construction has already begun in Prostějov. "We had analyses from lawyers indicating that we were proceeding correctly. What are we supposed to do now? Contracts are signed, so should we cancel the construction?" wondered Prostějov's deputy mayor Vlastimil Uchytil (ODS).
However, in the future, the city hall may face problems. It may have difficulties, for instance, in obtaining European grants or face sanctions. The specific penalties, however, are not clear. Even the Czech representation of the European Commission in Prague has been unable to provide a clear statement on the whole matter in the past few days. "Lawyers recommended that we proceed through a public tender. Only this guarantees legal certainty for all parties involved," claims Novotný.
The city’s recreational center in Krasice in Prostějov, where the swimming pool known as Koupelky and the infamously notorious Roma colony U svaté Anny were located, is expected to be opened by the city hall this summer. "This type of facility is missing in Prostějov. We want to offer our citizens a quality swimming pool complemented by a system of playgrounds. For the last two or three years, we have discussed this topic in meetings with citizens and also based on the results of sociological surveys," stated deputy mayor Alois Mačák (ČSSD).
In addition to the 160 million crowns for the aquapark, which the city will repay, the construction of the adjacent parking lot will cost an additional 20 million crowns.