The court annulled the fine of 300,000 CZK for the Olomouc city hall

Brno - The Regional Court in Brno cancelled the fine of 300,000 crowns imposed on the Olomouc city hall by the Office for the Protection of Competition (ÚOHS) for the reconstruction of Lower Square. CTK learned this from the court's official bulletin. The court did not publish its reasoning. The contract worth over 100 million crowns was won in 2011 by a consortium of companies Strabag and Horstav Olomouc, which submitted a joint bid. However, according to the office, the companies did not meet the qualification requirements.

"The sanction is meant to have a corrective and preventive effect, but it also has a repressive character, as it somewhat rectifies the consequences of the violation of legal obligations. I believe that the amount of the imposed fine meets both of these functions," stated the chairman of the ÚOHS, Petr Rafaj, in a second-degree decision in 2017.

The antimonopoly office criticized the city for the fact that the selected bidder presented an invalid contract in its bid, through which it demonstrated the economic and financial qualification requirements via a subcontractor.

The reconstruction of Lower Square in Olomouc was completed in 2013. It was prolonged, among other reasons, due to archaeological research. Archaeologists uncovered the foundations of a Romanesque church from the 12th century and the chapel of Saint Margaret from the 15th century. Valuable discoveries also included a burial site near the Neptune fountain.

The city had to pay the fine back in 2017 when the decision of the office's chairman became legally binding. It is possible to file a cassation complaint against the court's decision with the Supreme Administrative Court (NSS). If the NSS does not uphold potential complaints and the case does not return to the regional court, it will be re-examined by the ÚOHS.