Election 2022 | Elections 2022: Upheavals of the Prague ruling coalition: Dosimeter, Lysolaje, overpriced coffee machine
In November 2020, i.e. during the coronavirus pandemic and also during the first tightening of belts, information became public that Mayor Zdeněk Hřib (Pirates) bought a coffee machine for the office for one hundred thousand crowns. This especially raised the opposition, but also some coalition partners.
“Singles, seniors, entrepreneurs and artists… You all perceive this as utter mockery!” representative Tomáš Portlík (42, ODS) told Blesk at the time. The expenditure was also raised by coalition partner Jiří Pospíšil (44, United forces for Prague). “We will ask the mayor about him. At a time when it is missing from the city budget, I find it outrageous. It has a strong symbolism that shows that papalas drink wine and want others to drink water and save more,” he said to Blesku.
But Hřib said then that he definitely did not order such an expensive coffee machine. “Thank you for the warning, the initiative has been forwarded to the director of the office as I expect personnel consequences to be drawn,” replied Hřib, saying that purchases in amounts are approved separately by the directors of the respective departments.