The police are dealing with the renovation of the square in the center of Ostrava

Ostrava - The anti-corruption police have started addressing the ambiguities surrounding the reconstruction of Masaryk Square in the center of Ostrava. This is reported by today's edition of the Moravskoslezský deník. According to the paper, the builders used a lower quality paving material in violation of the contract compared to what they received payment for from the city hall. Roman Skřepek, spokesman for the Anti-Corruption and Financial Crime Unit, confirmed to the newspaper that the Ostrava branch is indeed looking into the case.
    According to him, the case is being investigated as a suspicion of fraud. "We have conducted a preliminary investigation, and a decision on the next steps is being made at this time," said Skřepek.
    The reconstruction of the central square in Ostrava cost, according to the newspaper, 98 million crowns and was carried out by a consortium of companies under the banner of Tchas, now Eiffage Construction. Most of the costs were covered by the city of Ostrava, with fifteen million crowns contributed by the city district of Moravská Ostrava and Přívoz. The new surface of the square is to be paved with granite slabs in three different shades and marble paving stones. Viewed from above, the square is intended to resemble a Persian carpet with fringes.
    It was the leadership of the Ostrava city hall that handed an important piece of evidence to the detectives - an expert report evaluating the quality of the construction material used, prepared by the certified Testing Laboratory for Stone and Aggregates in Hořice. "We had an assessment done on the quality and origin of the stone used on Masaryk Square. We provided all the documentation to the police. Due to the investigation, I cannot provide any further information," confirmed Zdeněk Trejbal (ČSSD), the investment deputy of the Ostrava mayor.
    The conclusions of the petrographic analysis, which the newspaper has access to, indicate that the stone used for the paving slabs on Masaryk Square has a 95% probability of not originating from domestic quarries. This would contradict the contract signed by the city with Tchas. "Based on experience, it is most likely stone originating from China," states the report. Of the four samples of stone taken from the square, three did not meet the specification requirements. The biggest problem was slip resistance.
    Former owner of the company Tchas, Václav Daněk, replied via email to the newspaper's inquiry that he unfortunately cannot comment relevantly on the newspaper's questions. "Since I have not been a member of the statutory body of TCHAS (now Eiffage Construction) for almost three years," Daněk explained.
    For Eiffage Construction, which bought Tchas some time ago, this is also an issue from several years ago. People who were involved in the construction no longer work for the company, according to spokesperson Vladimír Raszka. "We do not have information on the ongoing investigation in this matter, therefore we cannot comment on it," responded Raszka to the newspaper's inquiries.