In an open letter, the opposition ANO movement has called on Premiér Petr Fiala (ODS) to transfer the agenda of the digitisation of construction proceedings (DSŘ) from the Ministry for Regional Development (MMR) to the Transport and Energy Construction Office (DESÚ), which falls under the remit of the Transport Ministry. According to him, there is no expert team at the MoDM that would be able to implement the digitisation. It also pointed out that the Office for the Protection of Competition (OPC) cancelled the previously announced tender.
According to the ANO movement, speeding up the construction procedure is one of the few things on which there is agreement across the political spectrum. “Surely even you yourself have noticed the uncertainty and concern that prevails in this matter across municipalities, regions, professional and trade associations, as well as across private entities,” noted ANO First Deputy Chairman and Shadow Premiér Karel Havlicek.
At the end of November, Petr Mlsna, the chairman of the Office of Public Prosecutor’s Office, finally cancelled the tender for the DSŘ, which the Ministry of Regional Development announced in March. He thus confirmed his office’s decision from September. The ministry is convinced that it followed a completely transparent procedure in the tender. It is preparing an administrative lawsuit, ministry spokeswoman Veronika Hešíková told announced earlier.
The Office is currently looking into another contract for the DSŘ, which the ministry concluded without a tender in November. Martin Švanda, a spokesman for the office, confirmed that the Office has received two complaints requesting a ban on this contract. However, the administrative proceedings have not yet ended.
The ministry had been looking for a supplier of the system for digitisation of construction procedures since 2021 under the previous administration, and the estimated price of the contract was CZK 1.9 billion. However, the ministry cancelled the original tender and announced a new tender in March this year, selecting a new contractor in early June to carry out the digitisation approximately CZK 1.2 billion cheaper than the 2021 bid.
This tender was cancelled by the Office of the Public Prosecutor’s Office in September and the contract was banned until the end of the administrative proceedings. The MMR filed an appeal to the President of the Office, but the latter did not hear its arguments and upheld the first instance decision. The tender is thus cancelled.
The MMR plans to start digitising the construction procedure from July next year. Its operation has already been delayed twice, and the system was originally supposed to be fully operational this summer.
Source: CTK
