Repairs and maintenance of Class I roads cost CZK 62.5 billion. A third of these roads remained in a substandard and disrepair state
PRESS RELEASE ON AUDIT NO 23/26 – 25 November 2024
Almost one-third of the length of Class I roads, which are mainly intended for long-distance and interstate transport, were in a substandard and disrepair condition in our country between 2021 and 2023. This is despite the fact that the Road and Motorway Directorate (RMD) received CZK 6.9 billion more than originally planned for the repair and maintenance of these roads between 2018 and 2023, thus spending a total of CZK 62.5 billion. This was revealed by an audit of the Supreme Audit Office (SAO), which inspected spending on repairs and maintenance of Class I roads. In a sample of 57 audited projects, no ineffective spending of funds was found.
Defects such as potholes, cracks, ruts, hollows, etc. occur on roads in the "substandard and disrepair" category. The auditors found that in repairing defects, in some cases, the RMD proceeded uneconomically. For example, a pothole on a road in Bilina was repaired seven times in a row temporarily, always in winter. Only the eighth repair, carried out after almost 4.5 years in June 2023, was already permanent. Auditors found a similar practice in Pardubice. Here, the RMD repaired the road at one place four times in a row, always in winter, i.e. temporarily. This condition lasted for two years. Moreover, in January 2023 it turned out that the temporary road repair lasted less than one month.
Up-to-date and objective information on the condition of roads is to be provided for the RMD by the "Road Management System". It should then be used to plan road repairs and maintenance in the most cost-effective way. Although the RMD purchased the system for CZK 179 million in 2019, it expects its full use in 2027 at the earliest.
As the auditors discovered, the structural and technical condition of Class I roads was not properly mapped either. The main inspections of the condition of the roads were carried out by the RMD in violation of the legal regulations, as they did not monitor the entire road body, did not register and monitor all drainage facilities, traffic signs, etc. The SAO's finding is illustrated by the following example: in 2018, a total of 25 km of Class I roads were registered as being in "substandard and disrepair" condition for selected road sections. Three years later, it was already 1,298 km of Class I roads. According to the auditors, the RMD did not carry out the main inspections correctly and objectively in 2018, as the increase of more than 5,000% between 2018 and 2021 is not credible.
The RMD chose an uneconomical procedure when awarding a public contract for the selection of a supplier of asphalt compacted layers. The estimated value of the contract, determined according to the applicable price standard, should have been around CZK 23.9 million. The RMD received a bid from a single bidder - i.e. with no other competition - with a price exceeding this price standard by 48%. Although it did not have to rush to select a contractor and conclude a framework agreement, because such repairs are not carried out in winter, the RMD concluded a framework agreement with this single bidder in October 2019. The works, for which the RMD eventually paid CZK 42.8 million, did not start until April 2020.
The SAO audit also revealed that the Ministry of Transport has not fulfilled its legal obligation to keep a central register of roads for 17 years, i.e. since 2007. Owners and users of roads and relevant administrative authorities cannot fully use information on road closures, detours, traffic restrictions, etc. on all categories of roads. The SAO has already criticised this fact in the audit No 19/10.
Communication Department
Supreme Audit Office