Czech Interior Ministry: It is unacceptable to evict residential hotel tenants in order to access state aid for arrivals from Ukraine

Only establishments with which the regional authorities have concluded agreements and contracts will receive contributions from the Czech state for the accommodation of refugees fleeing Russia’s war against Ukraine. The state will not send money to the owners, but will provide it to the regional authorities.

The regional level of administration will then distribute the funding. The Czech Interior Ministry informed the Czech News Agency about the process over the weekend.

The ministry was responding to reports that some owners of boarding houses or residential hotels were evicting current tenants and instead wanted to rent to newcomers from Ukraine because of the state contribution to their housing. The ministry says such evictions would be unconscionable.

Last Wednesday, the Czech government decided that the state would pay 250 CZK [EUR 10] per night in hotels or guesthouses hosting refugees from Russia’s war against Ukraine; payment is not intended to cover any type of meal service. “The Home Office has noted reports that some private owners of boarding houses or residential hotels are set to evict their current tenants in a bid to access the state contribution for accommodation Ukrainians fleeing the war. Such actions are not permitted. said ministry spokeswoman Klára Dlubalová.

Czech Interior Minister Vít Rakušan (Mayors and Independents – STAN) called on accommodation operators to offer only their really unoccupied capacities for accommodation of refugees from Russia’s war against Ukraine. “We will not allow anyone to traffic in human suffering. This contribution is not to make profit, but to be able to take care of women and children fleeing war,” the minister said.

Daniel Hůle, an expert from the Czech NGO People in need, sounded the alarm about the eviction on Twitter. He alleged that the country’s first residential hotel had already evicted its tenants in order to receive the state allocation for housing refugees.

This tweet has since been deleted. Other experts have also criticized the implementation of this support.

According to them, the amounts disbursed should not be uniform, but graduated according to the standards of a structure. Opposition politicians from the ANO movement have been promoting the compensation model to these business owners that they pioneered during the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to the Ministry of the Interior, the state contribution is not intended for the operators of installations, but for the regional authorities. “The redistribution of the contribution is therefore the responsibility of the regional authority and falls within its competence. If an operator moves Ukrainian citizens to a boarding house or a hotel residence without the prior agreement and consent of the regional authority, this operator will not ‘will not be entitled to a contribution,’ said the ministry spokeswoman.

Dlubalová added that the regional authorities are looking for accommodation and it is up to them to decide which capacities they will contract. For temporary emergency shelters, for example in gymnasiums, the cost is estimated at 200 CZK [EUR 8] per person per day including food.

In pensions or hotel residences, the cost is estimated at 250 CZK without food. Speaking after last week’s cabinet meeting, the interior minister said regional authorities should contribute an additional CZK 100 [EUR 4] from their own resources.

According to the head of the Association of Hotels and Restaurants of the Czech Republic, Václav Stárek, the amount now established will not cover the costs, which he calculated at 500 CZK. [EUR 20] per person per night. Czech Finance Minister Zbyněk Stanjura (Civic Democratic Party – ODS) noted that with an allocation of this amount, a homeowner would receive 45,000 CZK [EUR 1 800] monthly to house a mother with two children.

“Don’t be angry, but this exceeds the reality of the public budget. Not only the state budget, but also that of the regions and municipalities. We should also ask ourselves whether such a price implies a profit,” Stanjura said. .

The contribution of 250 CZK for the accommodation of a mother with two children brings in 22,500 CZK [EUR 900] per month’s rent. If the regional authorities themselves paid an additional 100 CZK per person per night, the total rent paid would be 31,500 CZK. [EUR 1 275] per month.