Czech state targeted

ECE has already notified the Ministry of Finance of the Czech Republic of its plan to file the arbitration petition. The government now has six months to come to an agreement with ECE. "The Ministry of Finance is reviewing the petition, making use of the half-year statutory period," Jakub Haas, deputy spokesman for the ministry, told Czech Business Weekly.

ECE wants nearly CZK1 (€.039, zł.0.150) billion from the Czech Republic as compensation for delays during the building-permit procedure for their shopping center in Liberec. The company particularly objected to the Ministry for Regional Development annulling the planning permit in August for the construction of the shopping center after accepting objections from Netherlands-based Multi Development Czech Republic about not being able to participate in the building permit procedure.

Multi Development, a competitor of ECE, is developing its own Forum shopping center only a few hundred meters away from ECE's Galerie in downtown Liberec.

Kamila Jušková

This is an edited version of an article originally published in Czech Business Weekly