The representatives of K. Vary argued over the sale of historic buildings

Karlovy Vary - Today, Karlovy Vary city councilors had a dispute over the sale of three historic houses in the city center. Although the proposal was withdrawn from the meeting agenda and the council canceled the tender for the sale of the properties on Lázeňská Street, the opposition deemed the actions of the ruling coalition of ODS and ČSSD strange. The intention to sell the houses was chiefly criticized by the Communists, European Democrats, and the Karlovy Vary Civic Alternative.
    Jiří Kotek (ED) called ODS and ČSSD a pseudocoalition, acting under the influence of various personal interests. He considers their actions in trying to sell the houses to be strange and completely incomprehensible. "Let someone explain to me why the buildings were to be given to companies that offered up to 50 million crowns less than other interested parties," Kotek stated.
    The Communists fundamentally reject the sale and any potential repetition of the tender and questioned the preparation of the expert opinion. According to them, it is not objective for such an opinion to be prepared by a company that manages the mentioned properties. "This is very valuable property that we certainly should not be rid of. The commission for managing the city's property did not discuss the selection criteria at all," said KSČM councilor Jaroslav Borka.
    The city leadership was unable to justify why the council actually canceled the tender after the publication of the results. On Wednesday, the spokesperson for the city hall stated that it was due to personnel changes in the council and the city leadership following the municipal elections. Deputy Mayor Tomáš Hybner (ČSSD) announced at today's council meeting that the media influenced the cancellation of the tender, which reported poorly and harmed the city. Finally, he told ČTK that the decision to cancel the tender was mainly spontaneous. "The terms of the proceedings allowed us to do so," added Hybner.
    Representatives of two companies that won the tender for the sale of the houses also spoke at the council meeting. Markéta Azemovičová from Slot Game stated that the events related to the sale of the houses are harming them. She emphasized that although she did not offer the highest price, from 2003 to 2006, she contributed over 26 million crowns to the city for its own events and to organizations organized or supported by it. "The 47 million we offered was not the final price. We also committed to a financial donation of ten million crowns to the K. Vary City Foundation," noted Azemovičová.
    The Moser glassworks was to acquire another of the offered houses. They are now considering whether to participate in the repeated tender if the city announces it. "We cannot say for now. It will depend on what the conditions will be. The cancellation of the tender did not explicitly harm us. It only tied up our interest-free principal of 50 million crowns in cash for a longer time," said glassworks director Antonín Vlk.
    The houses in the central spa area, for which the city could have gained over 110 million crowns after evaluating the tender, are referred to as the family silver by many councilors. They house, for example, the city information center, the Golden Key Museum, and the Paderewski Club. However, the city no longer wants to invest further in the historic houses. According to energy audits, the reconstruction of all the buildings would cost between 60 million and 70 million crowns. The investments are too high, and the little interest in the offered rentals makes the operation of the buildings significantly more expensive, justified Deputy Mayor Hybner’s call for sale.