Transparency International calls for audit on Office of the President tenders

Anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International (TI) called for an audit into the financial management of the Office of the President on Tuesday.  TI Director Petr Leyer told news site Aktuálně.cz that “a group of people has made the Office of the President into a profitable political-entrepreneurial business” and that Prague Castle contracts are an example of how not to conduct public tenders.

The call comes after the court convicted the director of the Lány Forrest Administration, Miloš Balák, for manipulating tenders worth hundreds of millions of crowns. Mr Balák has since appealed the decision.  Lány is the traditional country residence of the president.