The CSSD will try to sell the palace in the center of Prague and clear debts
This is roughly the largest debt of the party associated with an overdraft facility with Fio banka. The CSSD leadership wants to erase it with the sale. But if the sale occurs at all.
“The party’s presidency has approved that we can prepare for the sale of Lann’s palace,” chairman Michal Šmarda told Práva. “It would help solve the most acute debt we have, and that is an overdraft with Fio banka, which is currently around 205 million crowns,” he added.
The tenant has the right to veto
The neo-Gothic building of 2,000 square meters is in a lucrative location near Masaryk railway station. It has been leased to Pensum, part of the Finep holding company, which has been de facto in its hands for ten years. In 2014, the CSSD concluded a lease agreement for another 25 years, with the company participating in the reconstruction.
The contract raised questions for an unusually long time. It can bring even more complications now. “Approving the terms of the sale is not easy at all. We are bound by certain conditions in the bank, because the property, like others, is liable for the overdraft we use. And, of course, the current tenant, who has the right of veto, can also sell, “said the statutory vice-chairman Igor Bruzl.
It is thus possible that the sale will not take place at all in the end. “It simply came to our notice then. The economic situation we have found ourselves in is sad, “the statutory vice-chairman explained.
Pensum has already shown interest in buying. It offered the mentioned 200 million crowns, which corresponds to the estimate that the CSSD had prepared. The CSSD also wants to address other interested parties. If someone offers a larger amount, they want to try to agree on a solution with the tenant and the bank. It is also possible to leave the lease to the new owner.
The annual rental income of the palace is changing. It is currently about 6 million and should decrease over time, Bruzl added.
In the People’s House of Ukrainian families
Soc. dem. to decide for free shelter a dozen families of war refugees from Ukraine. Some found asylum directly on the upper floors of the Prague headquarters and in the regions. “We found refugees from Ukraine in the People’s House in Prague, in Jihlava, in Hradec Králové in Pilsen, where we temporarily accommodated families,” said Šmarda.
Lann’s Palace |
The neo-Gothic palace building (pictured) dates from the 19th century and is a cultural monument. It is named after the Czech industrialist Vojtěch Knight Lann, among others the founders of the Kladno steelworks. You are on the corner of Hybernská and Havlíčkova streets, opposite the Masaryk railway station building. It is currently housed in the palace of several companies, on the ground floor of the restaurant. |