Milan Ganik, the developer of Central Park residential project in Prague 3-Žižkov, is battling with Česká spořitelna, which financed the project. Ganik claims the bank withheld CZK 1bn from from the project’s investors.
Five years ago, the bank, which at the time had a 20-percent stake in the project, took over the project after Ganik stopped paying the construction company Geosan. This discouraged buyers, and Ganik was unable to repay the loan. In 2010, Ganik sued the bank, arguing that the bank had planned to take over the high-end project. Česká spořitelna has denied the accusations, and legal action has been postponed.
Hospodářské noviny writes that Ganik sold 3 ha of the land, zoned for sports and recreation, to a company called Ortenaria, which immediately started pushing for a change to the master plan. The company ended up paying just CZK 15m for the land, which was actually worth CZK 298m. Central Park’s civic association are now suing the banks involved. A complaint should be filed against the top management of Erste Group, writes the paper.
