The Brno Grand Prix? Ticket price hike imminent
The most expensive item is the reforestation fee each year before the Grand Prix. This year it was about a hundred and fifteen million crowns. "The mass of people who come to Brno at the Grand Prix will spend money on accommodation, food or entertainment there, which should more or less offset the costs of organising the event, including the reforestation fee," the economist Petr Pelc assessed.
According to him, the importance of the race is also in attracting tourists to the city. "The campus doesn't have that many world-class tourist attractions. The Grand Prize attracts visitors from abroad. It is as important to Brno as, say, a Tuřan airport or a fairground. And these are projects that are supported with public money," the economist added.
Brno Grand Prix
- cost of the past five years: CZK 686 million
- profits from the past five years: CZK 682 million
- problem: lack of money to organise, mounting clearance fee for promoter Dorna
- possible solutions: more money from the state, use of advertising space, increase in ticket price
- state of play: renegotiation of contract to host races for the next five years
According to the director of the Institute of Public Administration, Filip Hrůza, organizers must now evaluate whether the race is advantageous for Brno. "The Grand Prix sucks money out of public budgets for other things. But to some extent it is a political issue, not an economic one," he thinks.
In the future, the cost of a motoring event may be even higher. In fact, the option of increasing the reforestation fee almost double is in play.
"The situation is not closed, we must try to negotiate the best possible terms with Dorna. It also depends on the extent to which the state is prepared to contribute to hosting the race. Should the worst-case scenarios materialise, I am afraid that it is not realistic for the city and the region to pay the amount," Brno Mayor Markéta Vaňková admitted.
As the newspaper Rovnost has already reported, representatives of both the South Moravia Region and Brno are also discussing the possibility of using advertising due to the difficulty of raising money for the Grand Prix. "Dorna's condition is that advertising must be placed in places that don't take up cameras. Also limited is the choice of companies, because if Dorna has a general sponsor, then a company from the same area cannot be the second sponsor," Vaňková explained.
For the next few years, the organisers can also get more money from tickets. "We have to sit down and say what the cost is going to be. And we have to adjust the ticket revaluation," said Brno's opposition representative for the Yes movement and former mayor Petr Vokřál.
D5 accident: Highway closed by truck crash
The incident was reported around 08:00 on the 22nd kilometre in the direction of Prague. "The highway is closed, at least for freight. Passenger cars can go through the gas station," police spokeswoman Michaela Richter said this morning. Traffic was restored around 2:30 p.m. Preliminary damage, according to Richter, is at least two million crowns; the cause of the accident is being investigated by police officers.
A spokesman for the Central Bohemian firefighters, Petr Svoboda, said that one truck was carrying passenger vehicles and the other a plastic granulate. "Due to the large impact, there was a shift in the transported vehicles which firefighters first had to secure against a possible fall," he added.
One of the cars had a damaged fuel tank that leaked about 200 gallons of diesel fuel. Another 200 litres were drained by firefighters. Environmental workers from Beroun City Council were called to the accident because of a fuel leak. The clearing of crashed vehicles and the clearing of the highway was secured by a private firm, which also removed the contaminated soil.
