Pardubice - The Pardubice ČSSD is against the sale of an architecturally valuable, yet dilapidated passage in the city center. The price offered by the only interested party is too low, and the bidding process for the sale was non-transparent, said ČSSD officials to reporters today. Milan Tichý (ODS), chairman of the Board of the City Development Fund of Pardubice (MRFP), which owns the property, rejects these objections and considers the only realistic solution to be to get rid of the passage. After repeated bidding processes for the sale, only two companies responded to the municipality, one of which did not meet the competition's requirements. The only remaining contender is the Prague Real Estate Administration, which offers 36 million crowns for the buildings and ten million crowns for the land. The city originally expected offers around three times higher. The transaction will be decided by the council on Tuesday. "We are fundamentally against the sale. The action is poorly timed; given the economic crisis, now is the worst time," said the chairman of the Pardubice ČSSD and vice-chairman of the MRFP board, Jindřich Tauber. Tichý, on the other hand, argues that there was a buyer two years ago who offered 130 million crowns for the passage, but due to delays caused by the councilors, the right time was missed. "We have no other interested party, and I will vote for the sale; it is necessary. This was also recommended by the entire board of the fund, including Mr. Tauber. Time works against us, and the devastation continues," Tichý told ČTK. The fund's passage brings in about two million crowns annually from rentals of apartments and commercial spaces. The ČSSD would like to use this income to finance the most necessary repairs in order to wait for a more favorable time for the sale, and for the overall reconstruction, it proposes reducing the planned project for the renovation of the swimming complex worth up to three-quarters of a billion crowns and using the money for the passage. "That is not realistic. The city does not have free money for the swimming complex; it can obtain it through loans or grants. Even if the project is reduced, once the reconstruction starts, more hidden defects will certainly emerge, and costs will surely increase," Tichý stated. The Social Democrats also criticize the bidding process, which they believe was not publicized adequately. Tichý rejects these objections. "Advertisements were published in newspapers, it was published in the Commercial Bulletin, we published the competition conditions on the fund's website. That is a completely standard and legal way. What more should we have done? The vice-chairman Tauber raised his hand for it too," Tichý stated. According to the social democrats, the sale is purposefully prepared so that the passage is sold to a pre-selected interested party with ties to the city leadership. They plan to call for Tichý's resignation at Tuesday's council meeting. The passage is built in the art deco style according to a design by architect Ladislav Machoňa and is listed among heritage-protected buildings. The upper floors contain apartments, while the ground floor houses shops.
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