Prague Fights to Nullify Suspicious Property Auction of Soukup’s Real Estate

The City of Prague is taking legal action to invalidate last year’s controversial auction where it acquired properties from businessman Jaromír Soukup for 649 million Czech crowns. The city council has unanimously approved this decision amid suspicions of price manipulation due to an alleged information leak about Prague’s maximum bid limit.

The property in question, spanning approximately 17,000 square meters with several office buildings in Prague’s Braník district, was purchased at more than triple the starting price of 201 million crowns. The city’s final bid came suspiciously close to their secret maximum limit of 650 million crowns, despite the property’s estimated value being only around 300 million.

The plot thickened when it was revealed that the competing bidder was a subsidiary of IFIS investment fund, which holds claims against Soukup’s companies and is involved in their reorganization. The mysterious bidder stopped just short at 647.9 million crowns.

City officials, including Deputy Mayors Jiří Pospíšil and Jana Komrsková, have filed a criminal complaint over suspicions that their maximum bid limit was leaked, allowing the competing bidder to strategically drive up the price.

The case has sparked debate about the property’s future use, with some officials advocating for its development into an educational campus to address the shortage of high school capacity in the city.