Usti nad Labem - On Thursday 12 June, chief of the North-West operation program Petr Kusnierz was sentenced for accepting millions of Czech crowns in bribes and manipulating EU grants worth CZK 23 billion (EUR 920 million).
The Czech Republic may be fined CZK 5 billion (EUR 200 million) by the European Commission (EC) for the manipulations committed by Kusnierz.
The EU subsidy manipulation in the North-West operation program was proved by an audit report produced by Deloitte and approved by the EC last week. Aktualne.cz has the report at its disposal.
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The report is so critical that the EC will have cut the subsidies for the North-West operation program. According to unofficial information from the EC, the financial aid may be cut by 25 percent, which equals CZK 5.5 billion.
The EC is still to announce when it will decide on the fine.
The 38-page report analyzes the system implemented by Northwest Regional Cohesion Council head Petr Kusnierz in the years 2009-2011. According to the report, the system allowed the council - which consisted of local politicians from Usti nad Labem and Karlovy Vary - to allocate the EU subsidies in any way they wished.
In result, a large majority of the EU aid for the North-West operational program was received by the regional authorities and used for school and road reconstruction projects, with the companies contracted for these public works having clear links to - or being directly owned by - local politicians.
The EC has approved the Deloitte report and will use it to decide how much of the grant for the Usti nad Labem and Karlovy Vary regions will be cut. The EC will use the COCOF (Coordination Committee of the Funds) rule which says that grant manipulations will result in the awarded sum being cut by 25 or more percent.
