Czech Post is preparing to sell the first of its closed branches in Liberec. It will ask for at least CZK 8.7 million for the house in the Vesec district in an electronic auction, which corresponds to an expert’s report, the Czech Post website showed today. In the regional city, Česká pošta closed half of its 12 branches from 1 July, including the second largest one in the Globus shopping centre, where the post office was leased. The Liberec municipality is interested in buying some of the buildings of Česká pošta.
“We have a resolution from the city council to negotiate the purchase. There are three buildings in Liberec – apart from the branch in Vesec, there is also a branch in Švermova Street in Františkov and then at Vápenka,” said Mayor Jaroslav Zámečník (Mayors for the Liberec Region). He said the town is also interested in the building in Vratislavice nad Nisou, where the post office is still operating. “I held talks with a representative of the Czech Post last week, I repeated the interest again, but we will have no priority, we will have to compete in an auction with other bidders,” he added.
The family house in Česká Street, which used to house the post office in Vesec, is located on the main road next to the primary school, with a bus stop in front of it. The 524-square-metre plot includes a small garden in addition to the house. In addition to the now vacant post office, there are two rented apartments 1+1 and 3+1 on the first floor. The building is approximately 125 years old, has a basement and an attic. According to the expert, its condition is well preserved.
“Participating in the auction is always a problem for the city, we have to have some kind of limit approved, without that hardly anyone dares to bid, and unfortunately such a secret will not last long,” said Zámečník. The maximum price in Liberec has to be approved by the city council, whose deliberations are public. “This puts us at a disadvantage in the auctions,” the Liberec mayor added.
Czech Post has closed nearly 300 branches in the country since July due to cost-cutting, leaving 2,900 and laying off about 1,500 people. The post office has argued that demand for traditional postal services is declining and it wants to mitigate its losses by reducing the number of branches and laying off some employees. In the Liberec region, 13 branches closed at the beginning of the holiday season, most of them in the regional capital, where the post office closed six. Three post offices were lost in Česká Lípa, two in Jablonec nad Nisou and one each in Turnov and Rokytnice nad Jizerou.
Source: Czech Post and CTK
