Prague 1 will not withdraw from the contract, which privatized the apartment of former Minister of Health Petr Arenberger at the turn of 2018 and 2019. Yesterday, after a four-hour discussion, the representatives of the city district did not approve the proposal of the representative of Pavel Čižinský (Prague Sobě) concerning the resignation and the subsequent lawsuit for the return of the apartment to the property of the city district. The deputies approved the report of the control committee, according to which the city district office partially erred in the sale, as did the then mayor Čižinský.
Arenberger paid CZK 11.5 million for an apartment with a surgery in Bolzanova Street with an area of almost 250 sqm, before which he had rented it from the town hall since 1994. The sale received attention after Arenberger briefly became Minister of Health this year and the media informed about the ambiguities regarding his assets. The privatization of the apartment has since been criticized by Čižinský, who signed the contract as mayor in 2018, but according to his statements, on the basis of false information. The case was dealt with by the police, which was postponed in July this year.
Yesterday, Čižinský argued at the council that Arenberger did not live in the apartment before the sale. According to him, this is proved by low to zero water consumption or photographs of the interiors of the apartment, which did not correspond to permanent housing. He also mentioned other circumstances, such as only one registered person, forwarding the ex-minister’s mail to the address of his house in Kobylisy, Prague, or ambiguities surrounding the area of the apartment. According to him, Arenberger deliberately deceived the city district during the privatization.
“I have proven that we can talk about privatization fraud and that the legal prospects of trying to get the apartment back are good,” he said. “If we are to have the respect of contractual partners, then they must know that if they break the contract, then sanctions will come,” he added.
The chairman of the control committee, David Bodeček (Pirates), stated that, according to the conclusions of the committee, the sale took place in principle correctly, even though there were mistakes made by the city district. According to him, the lease agreement of 1994 stated a different ratio of residential and non-residential part than in the privatization contract. In 1994, most of it was for the surgery, while in privatization it was reversed. According to him, the area also differed – 210 meters were stated in the lease agreement, while in the purchase 245. However, these changes come from 2016, when the conditions for privatization were being prepared, Bodeček added. Deputies yesterday ordered the council to investigate the irregularities.
Another problem pointed out by Čižinský and others is that during the privatization, the former minister owned another property. However, he already owned the house in Kobylisy in 1994, when he rented the surgery with the apartment, and during the privatization, according to the findings of the control committee, no one from the town hall asked him about it. As a result of an error in his birth number, officials incorrectly searched for his property, so the explanatory memorandum to the sale resolution provided information that he did not own any real estate. However, according to Bodeček, this was also the fault of the office.
Regarding the low to zero water consumption, Bodeček stated that, according to his statement, the former minister had his own water supply in the apartment. Čižinský called it absurd. He added that in the event of withdrawal from the contract and a subsequent legal dispute, possible losses for the city district are in the order of tens of thousands of crowns, while in the event of success, the profit will be in the millions. According to Bodeček, even after the return of the apartment in the city district, the situation before the sale would return, ie to a lease for an indefinite period with a minimum rent. Čižinský said that at least the lease of the non-residential part would be reversible.
The deputies also approved yesterday that Čižinský, with his media outlets regarding the case, violated the deputy’s code of ethics, according to which he must not mislead the public. At the instigation of the Audit Committee, the deputies called on Čižinský to publish only complete and verified information in the future and to avoid damaging the reputation of the city district.
Source: CTK
