The government is failing to manage public investments effectively. This leads to a waste of resources and increased project costs.
PRESS RELEASE ON THE SAO’S COMPREHENSIVE REPORT ON THE STATE’S INVESTMENT POLICY FOR 2020–2025 from the perspective of audits focusing on transportation infrastructure – 8 June 2026
The aim of public investment is to strengthen the economic development and competitiveness of the country. The government spends hundreds of billions of crowns on investments every year. In 2025 alone, that figure exceeded CZK 400 billion. Yet the management of public investments has long been failing. Decision-making on investments is fragmented, uncoordinated, and often disconnected from real needs, financial capabilities, and measurable benefits. This situation leads to the waste of public funds, increased project costs, and a loss of public trust. The Supreme Audit Office (SAO) states this in its comprehensive report released today covering the years 2020 to 2025 on the state’s investment policy from the perspective of audits focused on transportation infrastructure.
Given the fact that government spending on transportation infrastructure is among the highest, the SAO bases its findings on the results of 13 audits in this area. These audits were completed between 2020 and 2025 and highlight significant and recurring systemic shortcomings. In preparing the comprehensive report, the SAO also drew on its analytical work.
In the conclusion of its comprehensive report, the SAO calls on state institutions to shift their approach from spending to responsible investment and from ad hoc investments to a binding plan. According to the SAO, investments that do not bring demonstrable benefits for economic development and the quality of life of citizens must be strictly rejected; clear, measurable, and verifiable goals must be set; across-the-board subsidies must be limited; and financial instruments that compel beneficiaries to manage funds responsibly must be systematically utilised. Furthermore, it is necessary to rigorously monitor the quality of performance and, without exception, enforce penalties for non-compliance with contractual terms, put an end to excessive bureaucracy, and ensure a truly competitive environment in public procurement.
Shortcomings from A to Z
SAO audits have long pointed out shortcomings ranging from the preparatory phase through to the completion of construction work, including late complaints and substandard repairs. Administratively burdensome zoning and building permit processes, errors in project preparation, incomplete documentation, and failure to adhere to schedules have long led to delays and cost overruns in the construction of roads, motorways, and other transportation infrastructure. Due to protracted preparation—lasting in some cases for decades—major transportation projects and their connections to the key European transportation network have not been completed.
The SAO demonstrates unnecessary cost overruns using the example of motorway construction. Between 2020 and 2024, 41 highway sections with a total length exceeding 300 km were opened to traffic. This is good news, especially in the context of previous years, when, for example, not a single kilometre of motorway was opened in the Czech Republic in 2014 and only four kilometres in 2018. And at what cost did we build them? While the government paid an average of nearly CZK 275 million per kilometre of motorway opened in 2020, by 2024 this figure had risen to CZK 505 million—an increase of nearly 84%. This enormous price increase cannot be attributed solely to high inflation or differences in the technological complexity of the projects. According to auditors, the main problem in the development of transport infrastructure in the Czech Republic is the inefficient use of resources.
Individual audits also revealed, for example, that it took the Ministry of Transport (MoT) and the Road and Motorway Directorate (RMD) a total of 21 years to prepare for the construction of the D4 motorway section. Furthermore, implementing the project through a public-private partnership (PPP) may not be as advantageous for the state as originally anticipated. The entire commitment arising from the PPP project constitutes a quasi-mandatory expenditure that the government will have to finance until 2049. After 10 years, the RMD failed to complete the modernisation of 20 sections of the D1 motorway for CZK 28 billion; traffic safety was threatened by bridges and overpasses in poor or disrepair condition, and driving comfort was reduced by substandard road repairs.
Repairs and maintenance of A-Class roads cost CZK 62.5 billion. Nevertheless, one-third of these roads were in poor or disrepair condition at the time of the SAO’s audit. The dysfunctional weigh-in-motion system also played a role in this. Overloaded lorries continue to damage Czech roads and motorways.
Another example: the MoT, the State Fund for Transport Infrastructure, and the Ministry of Regional Development invested money in cycling routes. However, they had no overview of their condition, length, or usage. Their construction was accompanied by significant price discrepancies.
An audit published by the SAO at the end of April revealed that plans to build high-speed railways, estimated to cost at least CZK 737 billion, are being hampered by the government’s fundamental lack of preparedness. Although CZK 5.6 billion has already been spent on preparations, the government has not yet identified funding sources. Combined with uncertain benefits and unresolved international agreements on cross-border connections, it is thus becoming clear that the scale of the planned investments significantly exceeds the realistic capacity of public budgets.
Overview of the 13 SAO audits completed between 2020 and 2025
- 19/10 - Repair and maintenance of bridges
- 20/11 - Construction, maintenance and repairs of cycling infrastructure
- 20/14 - Public transport using electric power supported from the Transport 2014-2020 Operational Programme
- 21/03 - State and EU funds earmarked for the promotion of recreational voyages
- 21/36 - State and EU funds earmarked for reconstruction of selected off-corridor railway tracks
- 21/37 - State and EU funds earmarked for D1 motorway modernisation
- 22/08 - State and EU funds earmarked for the construction of the D35 motorway
- 22/29 - State funds earmarked for the preparation, construction, and operation of the D4 motorway in the form of a public-private partnership (PPP)
- 23/13 - State and EU funds earmarked for the development of combined freight transport
- 23/26 - State funds earmarked for repairs and maintenance of A-class roads
- 24/11 - Funds earmarked for checkweighing of vehicles on motorways and A-Class roads and revenue of the State Fund for Transport Infrastructure from fines imposed in connection with checkweighing of vehicles
- 24/18 - Funds earmarked for the development and operation of rest areas on motorways and income of the Road and Motorway Directorate from the rental of rest areas
- 25/09 - Funds earmarked for the preparation of construction of high-speed railway connections
Supreme Audit Office