Updates: 11.03.2022 12:18
Released: 11.03.2022, 12:11

Prague – The management of the Prague City Council is looking for additional private accommodation for Ukrainian refugees, offering hotels set by the government 180 crowns per night per adult and 100 crowns per child. The mayor of Prague, Zdeněk Hřib (Pirates), told reporters that the city would want to negotiate higher payments with regard to the prices of accommodation in the metropolis. The first people in the gym are also staying tonight. The President of the Association of Hotels and Restaurants of the Czech Republic, Václav Stárek, told ČTK that the association offers the city 1,700 seats, but at a price of 500 crowns per night.

“In Prague and the Central Bohemian Region, I am now looking for accommodation capacity, if someone can place accommodation capacity at a price set by the government, so please do so using the web form,” said Hřib. He added that Prague now has to accommodate 300 to 500 people a day.

According to him, the capital is now working with government-determined payments. “It also seems unrealistic to us in Prague, at the moment we are trying to achieve whatever is possible at this price,” he said. He added that the city will probably negotiate next week with the government to increase the amount. The director of the Prague fire brigade, Luděk Prudil, said that the accommodation could also be outside Prague. “It is possible that contracts for accommodation at lower prices will go outside the territory of Prague,” he said.

Tonight, according to the mayor, the first refugees are also staying in one of the gyms they are preparing at the request of the city council. The city will inform you exactly where it will be during the day.

Stárek stated today that members of the Association of Hotels and Restaurants can make another 1,700 beds available in Prague, and it could no longer be free, but the amount of 500 crowns per night was set in advance. According to him, no one has contacted the association so far that they would be interested.

The association has previously provided the Administration of Refugee Facilities with a list of 4,000 beds available throughout the Czech Republic, which was free, according to members, some are still vacant. Stárek added that the association does not have detailed information. According to one capacity, hotels can provide a month, ie until the beginning of April. Stárek pointed out that accommodation of refugees in hotels can help during the biggest crisis, but it is not a long-term solution.

The Prague Assistance Center for Aid to Ukrainian Refugees has handled a total of over 25,000 people since the beginning of the Russian invasion. On Thursday, 2,872 applicants registered, of which 375 applied for accommodation, 188 refugees took buses and trains to other centers during the past day. The number of refugees from war-torn Ukraine, according to Interior Minister Vitus Austrian (STAN) on Thursday, exceeded 200,000.

The staff of the assistance center, which moved from the Municipal Library to the Congress Center a week ago, has so far handled the most applicants on Tuesday, namely 3667. On other days, it handles an average of around 3,000 people; The workplace operates non-stop and is common to the capital and the Central Bohemian Region. On Monday afternoon, due to a huge influx, applications had to be suspended, and new ones opened again early on Tuesday morning. Firefighters have been transporting some applicants to less busy centers in other regions since the weekend.

Since the outbreak of fighting in Ukraine two weeks ago, an estimated 200,000 refugees have arrived in the Czech Republic, and thousands more arrive daily, with children and women predominating. Most of them go to Prague and its surroundings.

73,144 refugees from Ukraine have already registered in the Czech Republic at the Aliens Police or in assistance centers. There were 4817 of them on Thursday, their number is slightly declining since last week. 121,511 of the Ministry of the Interior issued special visas for people affected by the Russian invasion, 13,397 people received them on Thursday. Data released internally today at twitter. Not only people who fled Ukraine after the start of Russian aggression can apply for visas, but also, for example, those who live longer in the Czech Republic, their residence permit expires and they would otherwise have to return to Ukraine.