Czech Expo 2015 pavilion to be chosen in competition

Prague, March 4 (CTK) - The design of the pavilion to represent the Czech Republic at the Expo 2015 world exhibition in Milan will be chosen in a competition in June, to which the late Jan Kaplicky's project will also be admitted, Jiri Frantisek Potuznik said Monday.

Potuznik, general commissioner for Czech participation in Expo 2015, said the government decided on the participation in the event on February 27.

For the first time, a condition for the government to nod to the project worth 260 million crowns was the business sector's financial participation.

"Now we are seeking a legal framework for the tender. We've registered a strong interest [of bidders] from the business sector as well as institutions such as universities," Potuznik said.

He said the overall contributions from private investors and other partners might reach some 50 million crowns.

The cabinet has promised to earmark 60 million crowns for the Czech participation in the Milan event, and another 70 million are available as yields from the previous Expo held in Shanghai in 2010, and 80 million will be provided from ministries, self-rule regions and the capital of Prague.

The media have already reported that the Czech pavilion in Milan might be shaped as "the blob", or Kaplicky's project of Prague's new National Library building that won an international competition but has never been constructed, or as the Stork's Nest, a farm belonging to influential entrepreneur Andrej Babis.

"All this has only been the gathering of information. Only after the tender it will be clear what the new pavilion will look like," said Potuznik.

The winner of the tender is supposed to build and equip the pavilion, which the Czech participation management will hire from him. The building is to be used also after the end of Expo 2015.

The Czech Republic has not chosen or booked a site in the Expo 2015 complex as yet, though 80 percent of its area has already been booked, Potuznik admitted.

At the last expo in 2010, the Czech pavilion won the silver medal for the most creative exhibition. The pavilion remained in China, it was bought by the Farm of Czechoslovak-Chinese Friendship for 33 million crowns.

The then budget of the Czech participation was 470 million crowns.