Mladá Boleslav fined by Antitrust Office for contract amendment on bike path

The contract for the construction of the bike path on Republic Square was announced by Mladá Boleslav in the summer of 2021 through an open procedure, with an estimated price of 23 million CZK excluding VAT. In October of that year, the city signed a contract with the company H-Intes, which committed to build the bike path for 16.9 million CZK. Work began in October 2021, was paused in November due to weather, and resumed in April 2022. Another interruption was necessary from May to July 2022 due to another construction project in the same area. Work on the bike path was completed in early August. In mid-July, the city and the contractor signed an amendment to the contract, increasing the project price to 21 million CZK excluding VAT. This increase included 1.8 million CZK for additional work and 2.3 million CZK for so-called price indexation.

“The contracting authority increased selected budget items by various percentages, the so-called index, thereby changing the contractual terms in favor of the selected contractor,” stated the ÚOHS. According to its decision, such a procedure could have influenced the selection of the contractor because it was non-transparent.

“This is new information for us. We stand by our actions and are considering further legal steps, most likely filing an administrative lawsuit with the Regional Court in Brno,” said Charousková.

The ÚOHS imposed a fine of 200,000 CZK on Mladá Boleslav, which is the minimum penalty under the law. The city appealed to the head of the office, Petr Mlsna, who did not accept its arguments and upheld the original decision. Mladá Boleslav must now pay the fine. The city can challenge the decision with an administrative lawsuit at the Regional Court in Brno, but filing the lawsuit does not delay the obligation to pay the fine.