The Czech capital will respect the verdict of the anti-monopoly office (ÚOHS) and cancel the awarding of a Kč 76 million public order for outfitting the Municipal Police with an array of vehicles, Prague Mayor Bohuslav Svoboda (Civic Democrats, ODS) has said.
“The decision of ÚOHS regards the city police proves that not all contracts were in order. Therefore, we will not submit an appeal, which I regard as unnecessary,” Svoboda said, as quoted by the business daily Hospodářský noviny. “I will call a new tender that will be transparent, as it should be.”
The tender for 16 different types of vehicles, including minibuses, was announced during the tenure of the former chief of the Prague police, Vladimír Kotrouš, who in November was caught taking a cash bribe in connection with a multi-million crown order for the ÚOOZ police unit that investigates organized crime.
Svoboda will also likely cancel orders for Hummers and hovercrafts that were arranged when Kotrouš was in office. “I developed a conceptual study that will require the city to get rid of [them],” he said, adding that police officers could better patrol the streets of Prague in smaller cars, according to Hospodářský noviny.
As part of the ÚOHS decision, Prague is required to pay the costs of investigating the public tender (Kč 30,000).
