Czech Post has offered for sale a building at the corner of Jindřišská Street and Politických vězňů Street in Prague on the public administration portal. State institutions can show interest in the building within 30 days. The minimum price is estimated at CZK 1.325 billion, announced Matyáš Vitík, a spokesman for the post office today.
If no one from the state sector is interested in the building, the company will start preparing an offer for sale to other entities. The city council has already expressed interest in the building.
Together with the purchase contract, a lease agreement will be concluded, on the basis of which the Czech Post will be entitled to use the roofed hall of the main post office, as well as the premises on the second floor and six parking spaces in the unroofed yard.
The interest of the Prague City Council to participate in the possible auctions of the central office and other properties was approved by the Prague city councillors at the end of June. The city said then that it would prefer to buy the properties outright. The municipality is also interested in the building on Moravská Street in Prague 2.
The large Neo-Renaissance building was built between 1871 and 1874 and subsequently expanded. In 1998 it was declared a cultural monument. The Post Office offers a wide range of services in the building, and the side wing with an entrance from Politických vězňů Street houses the headquarters of the Czech Post. An interesting feature is the 1,780 mailboxes located in the building. Some of them are original, some are modern. The Czech Post has been located in the building since 1873.
Last week, the post office sold three unneeded properties in Prague’s Krč district in an electronic auction. Together, they will fetch almost CZK 400 million. In an effort to cut its losses, the post office has closed down three hundred branches in the Czech Republic since July this year and announced that it would be disposing of its assets. Each of the three properties on offer was sold by the post office through its own auction. The building in Na Strži Street had the highest asking price, over CZK 310 million.
Last year the Czech Post reported a loss of CZK 1.73 billion, this year it should have been up to CZK 4 billion, so it resorted to austerity measures. By the end of June, it had closed 300 of its 3,200 branches.
Source: Czech Post and CTK
