Ústí n.L. cannot yet sell the Mariánský Bridge to the state, the court said

Ústí nad Labem - The city of Ústí nad Labem cannot sell the Mariánský Bridge over the Elbe River to the Directorate of Roads and Highways (ŘSD) for now. A spokesperson for Hutní Montáže Ostrava, which constructed the bridge, informed ČTK in a press release today that the company has succeeded in court with its request for a preliminary injunction, which bans this step for the city council.
    Hutní Montáže turned to the court because they have been in a dispute with the city since 1999 over the payment for the bridge. They demanded 180 million crowns; the director of Hutní Montáže, Miroslav Přecechtěl, stated today in the company's announcement that, including adjustments, the amount now exceeds 500 million crowns. "The sale of the bridge would jeopardize our chance of ever receiving this receivable from the city," he explained the company's action.
    The city's spokesperson, Milan Knotek, told ČTK today that the city council does not yet have the court's decision. It will comment on it once received. The intention to sell the bridge to the ŘSD, which is responsible for highways and first-class roads, was announced by the city at the end of last year. They wanted to complete the transfer this year.
    The Mariánský Bridge was ceremoniously opened in 1998 after five years of construction. It cost the municipal treasury more than three-quarters of a billion, almost twice as much as the original plans. The final amount at that time represented nearly the annual budget of the city. Thus, it became the most expensive transport construction financed by the city in the republic since 1948.
    In 1999, the bridge was selected among the ten most beautiful buildings of world architecture of the 1990s, where reinforced concrete was used. It joined such gems as the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, the Millennium Dome in London, and the Twin Towers skyscrapers.