Brno invested 3.5 billion last year, missing a fifth of the plan

Brno – Last year, Brno was unable to utilize one-fifth of the funds designated for planned investments. It invested around 3.5 billion crowns from the planned 4.39 billion, Radka Loukotová from the press department of the municipality told ČTK. She identified repeated tenders and the length of the construction process as the problem. It is a similar figure to recent years. This year, the city plans to invest almost five billion crowns.

According to Loukotová, the amount does not include the purchase of shares in the Technology Park for 558 million crowns.

Last year, the funds could not be spent in the planned amount for long-term projects, for example. The investments will eventually take place, but later. "An example is the large city ring road in the section Žabovřeská I, where construction was delayed due to an appeal by the Water Association from Tetčice, so the allocated 35 million crowns was not used as expected," said Loukotová.

Changes to the schedule caused a 99 million reduction in fund utilization for the relocation of the tram line from Dornych street to Plotní and also delayed the reconstruction of Benešova street, where an appeal was filed against the zoning decision.

The relocation of the tram line from Dornych to Plotní was among the largest planned investments last year. From the project worth more than a billion, the city spent over 300 million last year. It also dedicated nearly 300 million to the construction of residential buildings on Vojtova street and over 100 million for soundproofing the tram line on the Cejl-Zábrdovická route.

"A problem was, for example, finding a contractor for the project for the Pastviny Primary School, which involves adding new spaces to the school," explained Loukotová. The first tender had one bid with a high price, no one applied for the next one, and the successful bid came only with the third competition.

Another example according to Loukotová is the contract for the preparation of project documentation for the reconstruction of the triangle near Semilassa. After three unsuccessful tenders, the project has been halted and the terms of reference are to be changed. "More entities will be involved to fix more things at once. Only on the third attempt was a contractor selected for the reconstruction of the residential building on Podnásepní street," she added.

This year, the largest investment projects are expected to include the completion of sewage construction, continuing work on the relocation of the tram line from Dornych to Plotní, the large city ring road in the section Žabovřeská, and the start of above-ground construction of the Janáček Cultural Center. The city has approved a budget for this year with revenues of 14.1 billion and expenditures of 16 billion crowns. The difference will be covered by funds from last year.