Current Affairs Foreign ministry considering sale of Štiřín Chateau
With saving the order of the day, individual ministries are busy reviewing expendables in every sphere of activity. In addition to freezing projects and cutting jobs, some of them are considering selling off property that they can spare. In the wake of getting government approval for closing down five Czech embassies, the foreign ministry said it was considering selling the stately Štiřín chateau which it occasionally uses for international gatherings.
Štiřín Chateau
The Baroque chateau with its English style-park, located some 25 kms
southeast of Prague, has been in state ownership since 1945, when it was
confiscated from the Ringhoffer family. During the communist years it was
largely neglected, serving as a holiday resort for party bosses and it was
not until a major restoration in the late 1980s that the chateau regained
its former stately appearance. In 1991 it came under the administration of
the Czech foreign ministry as a highly representative site for
international gatherings, conveniently close to Prague. In the last 15
years the state has poured millions of crowns into its maintenance. Now
Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg says the chateau is a luxury the
ministry can ill-afford to maintain.
“If the opportunity presents itself and the price is right the ministry would be prepared to sell the chateau. In view of the need to save money this has become an option.”
The idea is not new – the ministry considered selling the chateau a few years ago –but it decided not to push ahead with the sale because the global crisis was impacting prices of real estate the world over. A real estate company then put its market value at 650 million crowns. Today real estate dealers put it at around 2 billion crowns. Michal Krejčiřík who specializes in the sale of stately homes and smaller chateaux, says it may take years to find a buyer.
Karel Schwarzenberg
“I can tell you that we have a big problem finding Czech buyers for
properties of this kind. We are now in the process of selling a much
smaller chateau and the interested parties are either Russians or
Americans. In the case of Štiřín the price tag is extremely high meaning
that the ministry will have to wait for the right buyer to come along. And
it may wait for as long as ten years. On the other hand someone may turn up
– as they say there is always a buyer for everything.”
The foreign ministry has indicated it is aware of the problem and is in no hurry. Minister Schwarzenberg said he did not think the property could be sold through an auction and the matter is to be entrusted to a real estate company.
