Kateřina Menzelová

A luxury five-star Sofitel hotel was to arise on one of the most prestigious addresses in the Czech capital. But it was not to be. The lot on the corner of Mikulandská street and Národní třída, the avenue that runs from the Vltava River to the edge of Wenceslas Square, is still an unassuming parking lot, belying the fact that it is the most expensive plot in Prague.

Over the past 10 years, the Supreme Audit Office (NKÚ) carried out 11 audits focusing on the construction or upgrading of terrestrial communications, i.e. motorways and first class roads, rail corridors and the Elbe waterway, where, all in all, dozens of billions of crowns flow in annually. The auditors focused on prices and everything that influenced them. The result? It’s not just the costs that are flexible but also the end dates.

Czech state bodies and institutions’ key financial statements will be used to calculate the debt and deficit of public finances. Such highly sensitive information helps the markets predict whether the state can meet its commitments — but not all the data are wholly reliable, the Supreme Audit Office (NKÚ) warns. Clear definitions of basic accounting concepts are missing, which can lead to different interpretations of these categories and thus incomparable data. Look to Greece to understand what that can mean.

Perhaps no new Czech law has been anticipated with such great hopes — both justified and idealistic — as the amended law on public tenders. The legislation aimed at cutting out corrupt practices from public contracts came into force on April 1. While the law is certainly a step in the right direction, as indicated by the rush to churn out tenders under the provisions of the old law before it expired, it is still far from ideal.