Large public contracts keep The Czech construction industry afloat, with their number growing annually by over 23 percent. In the first three quarters of this year, 5,844 contracts were awarded, totaling 167.9 billion koruna in value, which marks a 19.2 percent increase. These statistics come from an analysis by CEEC Research.
“Public procurers have projects ready and up to 400 billion koruna lying in municipal accounts,” said Executive Director of CEEC Research, Michal Vacek. This highlights the critical role that public contracts play in the Czech construction industry, constituting a third of the market volume. This sentiment is echoed by Kamil Jeřábek, Managing Director of Wienerberger, a company that manufactures bricks and roof tiles.
The largest contract this year was announced in March by the Railway Administration, planning to build an ETCS traffic safety system on the line from the state border with Germany to Kralupy nad Vltavou, worth 12.8 billion koruna. Among the top three contracts is also an August contract from the Prague Water Company for the reconstruction and expansion of the Central Wastewater Treatment Plant in Prague on the Imperial Island (7.3 billion) and an announcement from the Directorate of Roads and Highways for the construction of the D3 motorway from Prague via Tábor and České Budějovice to the border with Austria (6.2 billion).
The largest awarded contract in September was the construction of a facility for the energy use of waste in the power plant location Mělník by the company ČEZ and the building of a multifunctional sports hall in Brno worth 4.4 billion korun. Among the significant contracts also includes the modernization of the Liberec Regional Hospital worth 3.1 billion koruna.
However, September was not very successful in building construction. “Demand for construction work remains weak due to high construction costs,” said Martin Gürtler, an analyst at Komerční banka. This underlines the challenges the Czech construction industry faces amidst increasing demands and costs.