Brno Grand Prix? Ticket price rise threat
The most expensive item to be paid before the Grand Prix is the annual listing fee. This year, the fee was around 115 million Czech crowns. "Masses of people who come to Brno to see the Grand Prix spend money here for their accommodation, food and leisure activities, which should more or less balance out the cost associated with the organization of the event, including the listing fee," economist Petr Pelc evaluated the situation.
He says that holding the race is also beneficial in that it brings tourists into the city. "There aren't that many world tourist attractions in Brno. The Grand Prix pulls in visitors from abroad as well. The race is as much important for Brno as Tuřany Airport or the exhibition centre, for example. And those projects are funded from public money," added the economist.
Brno Grand Prix
– the costs in the past five years: CZK 686 million
– the profits in the past five years: CZK 682 million
– problems: insufficient funds for the organization of the event, rising cost of the listing fee charged by the promoter, Dorna
– possible solutions: more funding from the government, utilizing some spaces for advertising, increasing ticket prices
– current situation: talks in progress over a new five-year contract to hold the race
According to the Head of the Public Administration Institute, Filip Hrůza, the organizers must now assess whether the race brings benefits to Brno. "The Grand Prix draws money from public funds for other purposes. To some extent, this is a political issue, not an economic one," he thinks.
The cost associated with the motoring event may be even higher in the future. There is a possibility that the listing fee will go up to almost a double of what it's now.
"The situation hasn't been resolved yet. We must try to come to an agreement with Dorna on the best possible conditions. It also depends on how much the government is willing to contribute towards the organization of the race. If it came to any of the worst-case scenarios, I'm afraid it is not realistic for the City and Region councils to pay the balance," admits Markéta Vaňková, the Mayor of Brno.
As reported by the Rovnost daily newspaper, the local government representatives of South Moravia Region and Brno are also discussing the possibility of using advertising to tackle the problem of acquiring money for the Grand Prix. "Dorna imposes a condition that all advertisements must be located in places which are not visible in the shots of cameras. The choice of companies is also limited, because in the case that Dorna already has a general sponsor, another company from the same industry can't become a sponsor," explained Vaňková.
The organizers can also gain more money from entrance tickets in the years to come. "We have to sit down and talk about how much the cost would actually come to. With this in mind, we must adjust the reprising of the tickets accordingly," said Petr Vokřál, Brno's opposition representative for the ANO movement and former Mayor.
A road accident on the D5: A motorway closed after a collision of lorries
The incident was reported around 8 a.m. and was based at kilometre 22 Prague-bound. "The motorway has been closed off – for freight traffic, to be more specific. Passenger cars can go via a petrol station," said Michaela Richterová, a police spokeswoman, in the morning. The road was re-opened for traffic at around 2.30 p.m. According to Richterová, the cost of the damage is estimated to be at least two million Czech crowns. The police are now investigating the cause of the accident.
The spokesman of the Central Bohemia Fire Brigade, Petr Svoboda, said that one of the lorries carried passenger cars, while the other was transporting plastic granules. "Due to the severity of the impact, the carried vehicles moved out of their place, so the firefighters had to secure them first to prevent any potential slides," he added.
The fuel tank in one of the lorries was ruptured causing about 200 litres of diesel to spill. The firefighters managed to pump out further 200 litres. Because the incident involved fuel spillage, officers of the Department for Environment at Beroun Town Hall were called to the scene. The clearing of the crashed vehicles and unblocking the motorway was secured by a private company, which also extracted the contaminated soil.
