Home » News » According to Dostalová, the EC approved the notification for the COVID spa program. About 120,000 people are waiting for the opportunity to redeem the voucher

According to Dostalová, the EC approved the notification for the COVID spa program. About 120,000 people are waiting for the opportunity to redeem the voucher

So far, about 126,000 people have downloaded the voucher. However, due to the limit on the number of vouchers received, many spas temporarily stopped receiving them. About 120,000 people are still waiting to redeem their voucher. According to Dostalová, the situation should improve soon.

“We expect many spas to resume the voucher process because they have been limited by both public support and the capacity of the spas,” she said.


According to her, the use of the voucher will need to be discussed with specific spas. Dostálová also pointed out that the voucher is not intended only for the summer months, but is valid until the end of this year. Her department is negotiating another extension of the program.

However, Dostálová acknowledged that the ministry was surprised by the enormous interest in vouchers. “We did not expect such a huge boom, because the spa reported large declines at the end of June, of course, the West Bohemian triangle still has the biggest problems today,” she stated.

Vouchers are seen as subsidies. It complicates the administration, Bláha warned

According to Bláha, the program works well, especially at smaller spas in the Karlovy Vary region. For larger complexes, however, it is rather a complication. “At the last moment, a week before the start of the project, a decision came from the Ministry of Regional Development or from the state administration in general that the program fulfills the characteristics of public support,” said Bláha.

According to him, every provision of the voucher began to be seen as the receipt of a subsidy, which greatly complicated the entire administration of the program. “Then the program became a kind of black moth for us.”

Bláha also does not believe in the use of all vouchers selected so far. According to him, about a third will remain unused.

In response, Dostálová stated in the program Otázky Václava Moravec that if the spa is not interested in support, the list of places to use vouchers can be extended to larger cities, such as Prague or Brno.


Polčák: Support should be graduated. The offer was aimed at the sick and the elderly

The COVID spa program was also criticized by Stanislav Polčák (STAN), chairman of the Association of Local Authorities and MEP. “I have a feeling that many were looking forward to the spa, and instead of going there, that time turned into a nightmare, a phone call to hotels,” he said. “It’s a good idea, but it went awry as usual, and I think much more could have been done.”

According to Polčák, the support was also to be graduated – first, the offer was to go to the sick, seniors or single women. “Because today they find out that they would like to go to the spa, but there is nowhere,” he added.

“What the ministry has set up is a symptom of a dysfunctional state administration, which is in a kind of crisis and unable to administer basic relief packages,” added Petr Leyer, a lawyer at Transparency International, who was another guest on the show. “It simply came to our notice then. However, the real administration is one crisis after another, which is repeated. But that’s still the better case, “he said.

Leyer sees a greater risk of corruption and non-transparency in other programs, such as the subsidy for holiday holidays in the Czech Republic in the media, on the Internet and billboards, which the Ministry of Regional Development is currently preparing.


Funding for the program will increase to 800 thousand euros per applicant

The COVID spa program was officially launched on July 1. A voucher for a discount of CZK 4,000 for a stay of at least six nights and at least five procedures valid from 1 July to 31 December can be downloaded by people on the Kudyznudy.cz portal or generated directly at the spa facilities.

Due to the limit on the number of vouchers received, many spas temporarily stopped receiving them. For now, businesses have to follow de minimis aid, which has a limit of 200 thousand euros (about 5.3 million crowns). Once the notification is granted, the program will be subject to a temporary framework, ie the maximum amount that applicants can draw from public support schemes. It amounts to 800 thousand euros (about 21.3 million crowns) per applicant.

Dostálová would like to submit the building law to the government on August 24. Polčák called it a hybrid

Minister Dostálová also commented on the new Building Act in the program Otázky Václava Moravec. She would like to submit it to the government on Monday, August 24. Before the weekend, after a two-day meeting, the Legislative Council of the Government recommended to the Cabinet to approve the amended wording of the bill.

“There is nothing fundamental there that we cannot explain, it is just terminological clarifications. Therefore, I am sure that we can present it on August 24, “said Dostálová.


According to the government’s plan, the law should apply from the spring of 2021. The cabinet promises to significantly speed up and simplify the permitting of constructions. It should gradually enter into force by mid-2023.

Stanislav Polčák described the law presented in OVM as a hybrid. “We are very upset by the outcome of the settlement as to which authorities will remain in the municipalities. Because it is said beautifully – there was an agreement with the Union of Towns and Municipalities that the building authorities would remain in the municipalities. But they will remain there only in a very small form, “he said. According to Dostalová, however, municipal building authorities are not an emergency service, which means that a driving distance of 20 minutes is not required.

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