Audit Office: State failing to manage public investments effectively

The Czech state has long been failing to manage public investments effectively, with decision-making fragmented, poorly coordinated and often disconnected from actual needs, financial realities and measurable benefits, according to the conclusion of an audit into state investment policy between 2020 and 2025 by the Supreme Audit Office (NKÚ). The report draws on audits focused on transport infrastructure projects.

According to the watchdog, the shortcomings have resulted in wasteful spending, rising project costs and a loss of public trust.

As an example of unnecessary cost increases, the NKÚ pointed to motorway construction. The state paid an average of nearly CZK 275 million per kilometer of motorway opened in 2020. By 2024, the figure had risen to CZK 505 million per kilometer, representing an increase of about 84 percent.

“This enormous increase in costs cannot be attributed solely to high inflation or differing technological complexity of construction projects,” the NKÚ said.