The Brno Grand Prix? Ticket hikes are imminent
The most expensive item is the annual listing fee before the Grand Prix. This year it was about a hundred and fifteen million crowns. "A mass of people who come to Brno during the Grand Prix will spend money on accommodation, food or entertainment, which should more or less offset the costs associated with organizing the event, including the registration fee," said economist Petr Pelc.
According to him, the importance of the race is also in attracting tourists to the city. "Brno doesn't have that many world-class tourist attractions. The big prize attracts visitors from abroad as well. It is as important for Brno as, for example, the Turin airport or the exhibition centre. And these are projects that are supported with public money," the economist added.
Grand Prix in Brno
- costs for the past five years: CZK 686 million
- profits from the past five years: CZK 682 million
- problem: lack of money for organizing, increasing registration fee for the promoter company Dorna
- possible solutions: more money from the state, use of advertising space, increase of ticket prices
- state of play: negotiations on a new contract for the organisation of races for the next five years
According to the Director of the Institute of Public Administration Filip Hrůza, the organizers must now evaluate whether the race is advantageous for Brno. "Grand Prix sucks money out of public budgets for other things. To a certain extent, however, this is a political and not an economic issue," he thinks.
In the future, the cost of a motoring event may be even higher. The option of increasing the listing fee to almost double is in play.
"The situation is not closed, we must try to negotiate the best possible conditions with Dorna. It also depends on the extent to which the state is prepared to contribute to the organization of the race. If the worst-case scenarios were to materialize, I am afraid it is not realistic for the city and the region to pay the amount," admitted Brno Mayor Markéta Vaňková.
As Deník Rovnost has already reported, representatives of the South Moravian Region and Brno are also discussing the possibility of using advertising due to difficulties in obtaining money for the Grand Prix. "Dorn's condition is that advertising must be placed in places that don't have cameras. The selection of companies is also limited, because if Dorna has a general sponsor, then the second sponsor cannot be a company from the same area," Vaňková explained.
Organizers can also get more money from tickets in the coming years. "We have to sit down and say what the cost is going to be. And we must adapt the revaluation of tickets accordingly," said former Mayor Petr Vokřál, an opposition representative for the ANO movement in Brno.
D5 crash: Motorway closed by truck collision
The incident was reported around 08:00 on the 22nd kilometer in the direction of Prague. "The highway is closed, at least to freight traffic. Passenger cars can go through a gas station," police spokeswoman Michaela Richterová said this morning. Traffic was restored around 14:30. According to Richterová, the preliminary damage is at least CZK 2 million and police officers are investigating the cause of the accident.
Central Bohemian fire department spokesman Petr Svoboda said one truck was carrying passenger vehicles and the other was carrying plastic granulate. "Due to the large impact, the transported vehicles were moved, which firefighters first had to secure against a possible fall," he added.
One of the cars had a damaged fuel tank, leaking about 200 liters of diesel. Another 200 litres were pumped out by firefighters. Workers from the Beroun City Council's environmental department were called to the accident due to a fuel leak. The recovery of the crashed vehicles and the clearing of the highway was ensured by a private company, which also extracted contaminated soil.
