A record 35 Czech projects were accepted for brownfield regeneration subsidies

Subsidies from the Regeneration of Brownfields for Business Use program will be shared between 35 projects.

There is CZK 200 million in the call, the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MPO) can, according to its plan, distribute CZK 500 million from the European money of the National Recovery Plan among cities, town districts, municipalities and regions. This follows from today's annoucement from the CzechInvest agency. According to CzechInvest, the current number of subsidy applicants is the largest compared to previous calls.

The number of accepted projects is about four times larger than in the last call of the previous program and exceeded the milestone set in the National Recovery Plan, which was supposed to support at least 20 projects.

"The interest in the program does not surprise us. It becomes clear that the interest significantly exceeds the possibilities of our support and points to the need for an increase in the future," said David Petr, director of the business localization department of the CzechInvest agency, which helps municipalities prepare projects.

Among the registered projects, the most common are plans to convert brownfields into offices for local entrepreneurs and tradesmen, spaces for services, restaurants, cafes, social halls or municipal housing. "Reconstructions predominate, one-third of plans involve the demolition and construction of new energy-efficient buildings. This type of project was not previously supported. Newly, municipalities and cities from the entire Czech Republic, including Prague, and not only from coal-fired and economically troubled regions, as was the case in the past. We received the most project plans, specifically six, from the Vysočina Region," said Jan Hana, head of the brownfields department at the Ministry of Industry.

In the current challenge, the revitalized property may not be used for business purposes for the first time, but can also be used for non-business purposes. "We will also support so-called mixed projects. An example of such a project could be the reconstruction of a building, during which a store or other facilities for services will be placed on the ground floor and a library operated by the municipality on the second above-ground floor. Thus, we have heard the requests of the mayors, who have been calling for the multi-function of regenerated brownfields for a long time ,'' said Zbyněk Pokorný, director of the department of brownfields and innovative business development from the Ministry of Industry and Trade. According to him, the construction of municipal apartments can also be financed thanks to the new setup.

Support for one project can amount from one to CZK 40 million. The condition is that the applicant pays at least ten percent of the total costs from sources other than the subsidy. A maximum contribution of 6,500 crowns is calculated per cubic meter of built-up space. Applicants must complete the project by December 31, 2025 at the latest, the sustainability period of the project is set until the end of 2028.

The MPO has been providing subsidies for the regeneration of brownfields and their future use for business purposes since 2017. The Regeneration and Business Use of Brownfields program was intended for municipalities and cities in the Moravian-Silesian, Ústí and Karlovy Vary regions and in other economically troubled regions. In the previous five calls of the program, the resort selected 29 projects.

Source: CzechInvest and CTK