The Interior Ministry has given the Czech Post the approval to sell its central office on Prague’s Jindřišská Street, the sale will be in the form of an e-auction, announced Matyáš Vitík, a spokesman for Česká pošta. According to him, it will be a condition that the branch of the Czech Post continues to operate there. According to earlier information, the estimated price is over one billion crowns. The sale is part of the austerity measures that Czech Post is taking due to deepening losses. From 1 July, the post office will also close 300 branches across the Czech Republic.
“The Interior Ministry has agreed that we can sell the building. It will be in the form of an e-auction, anyone can apply and the highest bidder can buy the building,” a spokesman for the post office said. He added that the post office will want to maintain services for clients at the site, so part of the sale will be a condition of the lease.
The capital has previously expressed interest in the purchase. If Prague buys the building in Jindřišská Street, one of the options for its use is that it could house municipal officials in the future. It is not clear whether this will happen.
The large Neo-Renaissance building was built between 1871 and 1874 and subsequently expanded. It was declared a cultural monument in 1998. The post office offers a wide range of services in it, 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 year the Czech Post reported a loss of CZK 1.73 billion, this year it should have been as much as four billion, so it had to resort to austerity measures. The post office employs almost 23,000 people and by the end of May it had eliminated 924 jobs in connection with the closure of branches, of which about 600 employees had been fired and there should be no more.
Source: Seznam Zprávy and CTK
