The establishment of a new state office or the relocation of an existing one to new premises usually attracts the attention of journalists and the real estate market. The establishment of the Slovak Ministry of Tourism and Sports was no exception, reports sme.sk. The fact is that no state office today pays more for a square meter of office space.
The ministry, with a planned 250 employees, is located in Bratislava in a renovated industrial building on the Danube embankment from the development company JTRE. Minister Dušan Keketi claimed that the choice of the building was a “good deal”.
When looking for offices, the ministry first checked the available capacities owned by the state, but without success. So it issued a call, to which 11 private landlords responded. The final selection was made after physical inspections.
Analysts from the ÚHP (Value for Money Department) point out that today there are no central rules on how and for how much offices should choose office space. For example, such basic frameworks exist when purchasing vehicles.
Authorities do not even have to hold a competition, because the lease of real estate is subject to an exception in the Public Procurement Act. In practice, it happens that there are huge differences between the offices of individual authorities. While some public buildings do not even have air conditioning, others work from luxurious offices in Bratislava's downtown.
The Ministry of Tourism and Sports pays nearly €20 per sqm/month. This is only office space, without common areas or energy, which are paid separately. In total, it pays €99,000 per month, and after energy or parking fees are added, the bill is €122,000. The ministry saves on energy bills, as it is a new, energy-efficient building, but the price for parking, for example, is above standard: €210 per parking space per month. The price on the market normally ranges from €60 to €150.
The problem is that, according to analysts, about half of current leases of various state institutions have rents that are higher than current market prices, either as a result of the indexation or poorly negotiated conditions when concluding the contract.
