Construction production in the Liberec region increased by almost a third last year, despite the coronavirus pandemic, which is the highest increase in the Czech Republic. According to data published by the Czech Statistical Office (ČSÚ), construction companies in the region last year worked for 4.082 billion crowns, which was the most in the last ten years. Hundreds of millions were invested by the Liberec Region, the Directorate of Roads and Motorways of the Czech Republic (ŘSD), but also by private investors. Housing construction in the region increased by a quarter last year.
Massive investments continue this year as well. ŘSD plans to launch projects worth about a billion in the region this year. One of the largest is the reconstruction of two bridges on the stretch through Liberec for CZK 377 million, which began in mid-March and is progressing rapidly. The extension of the I / 9 road from Svor to Nový Bor is being prepared for almost CZK 600 million. The Liberec Region plans to invest CZK 1.2 billion this year. The construction of a new emergency medicine pavilion in Liberec for more than CZK 2.6 billion is also being prepared, and it should start this year.
Whether the high pace will be maintained, however, is not yet clear, construction has been complicated by the war in Ukraine and the associated iron shortage. “Prices are growing at such a rate that it is not possible to find a supplier for some constructions,” said Deputy Governor of Liberec for Transport Jan Sviták (Mayors for the Liberec Region).
According to Sviták, the region has already increased the estimated prices for contracts by up to 40 percent, however, bidders do not apply for some competitions. “We have agreed that we will release the upper limit for key constructions that we need to do this year, such as the bridge in Brniště, in order to guarantee that some companies will apply. We have nothing else left at the moment,” Sviták said. Newly, the region will probably introduce an inflation clause in the contracts, which will allow the price to increase, which has so far been resisted. According to Sviták, some constructions will probably have to be postponed.
The region has already had to cancel the competition for the planned construction of a parking house in the vicinity of its headquarters in Liberec. BAK won the public tender in March with a price of 196 million crowns, but immediately announced that it was unable to start and complete the contract in time due to developments in the construction market. The other six bidders eventually rejected the contract, citing a shortage of steel. The region therefore had to cancel the competition and wants to repeat it. However, Deputy Governor for Economics Zbyněk Miklík (Pirates) admitted that the region may have to postpone construction due to the situation.
Source: CTK
