Prague - Construction company Metrostav has appealed to the Office for the Protection of Competition (ÚOHS) against the result of the tender for the renovation of the State Opera building in Prague. The newspaper E15 reported this today, according to which the start of the reconstruction is threatened with a delay of several months. The tender was won by the company Hochtief CZ with the lowest bid of 857.6 million crowns. The National Theatre, which announced the competition, is reportedly unaware of any wrongdoing.
The winner of the tender was selected by the National Theatre based on the recommendations of a government-appointed evaluation committee before last year's Christmas. "The evaluation of the public contract was conducted in accordance with all legal requirements and within optimal time frames. All bidders for this public contract met the qualification requirements, and no one was excluded from the competition," said National Theatre spokesman Tomáš Staněk.
However, the E15 newspaper writes that unsuccessful bidders criticized, for example, that some competing firms were unable to prove whether they had ever renovated a historic building and did not specify whether they had the necessary technical equipment or restorers. Hochtief CZ claims that it met all qualification requirements, having previously renovated, for example, the memorial on Vítkov Hill in Prague and the Baroque hospital Kuks, as well as restoring the Broumov Monastery. Metrostav did not comment on the reasons for its appeal.
Discussions about the opera's reconstruction have been ongoing for years, and the price the state is set to pay has increased. When the competition was announced last February, it was estimated at around one billion crowns. Three bidders remained below this figure in the tender, while three others exceeded it. Among them was the company Opera 2016, which consisted of Metrostav, Průmstav, Geosan Group, and PSJ. The funding for the general reconstruction is secured by the Care for the National Cultural Heritage program.
The buildings of the State Opera have been closed for more than five months; according to the original plans, construction was supposed to begin last autumn. The renovation of the State Opera buildings is expected to take 27 months, concluding in 2018. The program for this and next season is taking place at alternative venues.
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