Prague to have material prepared for DPP’s withdrawal from Nové Holešovice

13 March 2024

Prague’s management will have the transport company (DPP) prepare a material on the withdrawal of DPP from the joint venture Nové Holešovice with Karlín Group and CPI Property Group. The reason for this is the suspicion that some of the participants in the Dozimetr case are linked to the planned construction project in the vicinity of the Nádraží Holešovice C metro station. The Deputy Mayor Zdeněk Hřib (Pirates) announced today that he had sent a letter to DPP Director Petr Witovský asking him to prepare the material.

It was reported today, that the possible involvement of businessman Tomáš Pitr and former DPP supervisory board member and Prague 9 deputy mayor Marek Doležal in the planned construction around the Nádraží Holešovice C metro station. Doležal was not charged with anything, but had to resign because of the case.

The joint venture was established by the city in 2021 with the Karlín Group, and was later joined by another developer, CPI Property Group. According to a January decision by DPP’s supervisory board, the transaction, through which the company will acquire the land from DPP, should be worth at least CZK 173 million.

“In view of the new facts within the Nové Holešovice joint venture, please immediately prepare a material for the Prague City Council for a decision by the DPP general meeting on the withdrawal of DPP from the joint venture,” Hřib wrote to Witowski in a letter available to the Czech Press Agency. The document is to be prepared by DPP for the general meeting, i.e. the city council.

According to the letter, Hřib also expects an explanation and information about the current situation from the DPP director at the supervisory board meeting scheduled for 27 March. “Should the information about the connection of the Nové Holešovice joint venture project with the Dozimetr case be confirmed, I expect your personal responsibility to be taken,” Hřib writes. According to him, it is impossible for the Dozimetr case to continue to damage the reputation of the DPP.

It was reported that detectives came across the names of Pitr and Doležal in connection with the investigation into the planned reconstruction of the Nádraží Holešovice metro station. Detectives allegedly found notes with charts and sums that meant commissions during a search. Doležal has not yet been charged with anything, but he had to resign because of the case. When asked by the server, he denied that he had received money from the reconstruction.

The joint venture has faced criticism in the past and its preparation was the subject of one of the audits commissioned by the municipality on the instructions of councillors because of the Dozimetr corruption case. The DPP rejected the criticism, saying its representatives believe that cooperation with private entities abroad is a common and effective way of evaluating assets and that the terms of cooperation are set in a way that is advantageous and transparent for the city. The Dozimetr case concerns contracts in the DPP and police proposed to indict 11 people in it last October. They are being prosecuted for, among other things, participating in an organised criminal group, accepting bribes, bribery and laundering the proceeds of crime.

Source: Lidovky.cz and CTK

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