European Banking & Financial Forum, Prague, March 28, 2006 [pdf]
5th European Transport Congress, Brno, 2 June 2006 [pdf]
Legislation
104/2000 Coll.
ACT
of 4th April 2000
on the State Fund of Transport Infrastructure
and an amendment to the Act No. 171/1991 Coll., on the Powers of Authorities of the Czech Republic in Matters Regarding the Transfer of State Assets to Other Persons
and the National Property Fund of the Czech Republic,
as amended
(changes marked in the text come into force from 1 January 2007)
The Parliament has passed the following Act of the Czech Republic
PART ONE
STATE FUND OF TRANSPORT INFRASTRUCTURE
Article 1
(1) A State Fund of Transport Infrastructure shall be established and shall have its seat in Prague (hereinafter referred to as “the Fund”).
(2) The Fund is a legal entity subordinate to the Ministry of Transport and Communications (hereinafter referred to as “the Ministry”).
(3) The assets managed by the Fund are the property of the State.
Article 2
Purpose of the Fund
(1) The Fund shall use its income for the benefit of development, construction, maintenance and modernisation of roads and motorways, railways and domestic waterways as follows:
a) Financing of construction, modernisation, repair and maintenance of roads and motorways 1);
b) Providing financial contributions to construction and modernisation of individual sections of roads and motorways;
c) Financing of construction, modernisation, repair and maintenance of national and regional railways 2);
d) Financing of construction and modernisation of inland waterways significant for transport 3);
e) The payment of instalments on loans and interest on loans and other expenditure related to debt service;
f) The provision of financial contributions to research and design work, studies and specialist activities related to construction, modernisation and repair of roads and motorways, waterways significant for transport and national and regional railways;
g) The provision of financial contributions for programs aimed at increasing of transport safety accessibility to persons with restricted movement and orientation;
h) The provision of financial contributions for construction and maintenance of cycling paths;
i) Financing of implementation and operation costs of electronic toll system;
j) Financing of licensees´ refund under the license agreement for construction, operation and maintence of transport infrastructure and financing of costs related to contracting of the license agreement;
k) The costs of the Fund's activities.
(2) The Fund transfers its financial means according to the paragraph (1) to state bodies, state contributory organisations or state organisations, which manage assets of the transport infrastructure,3a) to regions,3b) to the persons to whom the state assigned responsibility to carry out some of its competences as an owner of that property under a special law3c) and to other persons undertaking construction, modernisation, repairs and maintenance under paragraph (1).
Article 3
(1) The Fund shall conclude contracts with recipients of monies from the Fund under an another act 4); the subject of the contracts shall be the achievement of the purpose of the Fund in accordance with Article 2. The Fund is responsible for an efficient use of these monies in accordance with its approved budget.
(2) The Fund may check that recipients use monies in accordance with the contracts concluded under paragraph (1). If serious discrepancies are found it may request that the monies be returned, suspend drawing on them and take other necessary measures to secure the expected efficiency and harmony of the financed activities with valid legislation and international obligations. The Fund may ascertain all information necessary for such checks from recipients of monies and persons with contractual obligations to the Fund.
(3) The details of the Fund's activities and its internal organisation are set out in the Fund's statutes, which is approved by the government subsequent to a proposal made by the Minister of Transport and Communications (hereinafter referred to as “the Minister”).
Article 4
Income of the Fund
(1) The Fund's income comprises:
a) Transfers of revenue from privatisation that is an income of the Czech Republic and which fall under the Ministry of Finance
b) Transfers of road tax revenue;
c) Transfers of revenue on consumer tax on hydrocarbon fuels and lubricants;
d) Transfers of revenue on time charges 5);
e) Transfers of revenue on toll fee 5);
f) Revenue on securities and public collections organised by the Fund;
g) Loans, deposit interest, penalties, insurance benefits and other payments from individuals and legal entities;
h) Transfers of revenue on state income resulting from license agreement for construction, operation and maintenance of transport infrastructure;
i) Contributions from the European Commission via the relevant European fund;
j) Gifts and inheritance;
k) Subsidies from the state budget.
(2) The amount of payments of consumer tax on hydrocarbon fuel and lubricants is set by another law.
(3) The Fund may accept and use gifts and inheritance only under the conditions and for the purposes set by the donor or testator, provided such conditions coincide with the subject of the Fund's activities.
(4) At the end of each calendar year the balances of Fund's income shall be transferred to the following calendar year.
Article 5
Budget and Accounts of the Fund
(1) For each budgetary year the Fund shall draft a proposal for the Fund´s budget, which it shall submit through the Minister to the Government by August 31. The Government submits the draft budget after any changes that it had made, for approval by the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Republic, together with the proposal for the budget of the Czech Republic. The Fund's budget includes:
a) An enumerative list of projects financed by the Fund, including total costs of the project, budgeted amount for the current year and terms of realization;
b) A summary of receivables and obligations;
c) A proposal for the structure of loans which the Fund intends to accept in the budgetary year, including due dates and interest rate limits;
d) A proposal for the repayment schedule for the principle and interest on loans received.
(2) The Fund sets its total expenditures in the draft proposal of its budget as an amount, which the administrator of the budget chapter announced according to a special law 5a). In this amount the Fund includes also the amount, which shall be devoted to financing of programmes or projects co-financed from the budget of the European Union.
Article 5a
(1) Together with its draft budget the Fund drafts a mid-term perspective in cooperation with the Ministry. The perspective contains expected Fund´s income and expenditure for each year it is drafted for, presumptions and intentions pursuant to which the income and expenditure are expected and planned, and that at least in this scope:
a) total income and expenditure of the Fund;
b) expenditure on programs or projects cofinanced from the European Union´s budget;
c) expenditure on programs or projects cofinanced from credits taken by the state and cofinanced from credits with state guarantee.
(2) The mid-term perspective is drafted for a 2-year-period immediately subsequent to the year the Fund´s budget is proposed for. Indicators of expenditure set at the beginning of financing of the program or project cofinanced from the European Union´s budget are binding at drafting the mid-term perspective.
(3) The Ministry of Finance´s decree sets the deadline for submitting of documents necessary for drafting the mid-term perspective, their scope and structure 5b).
(4) The procedure of the Fund´s budget approval under the paragraph (1) holds accordingly for the approval of the mid-term perspective.
Article 5b
(1) After the end of the budgetary year the Fund shall draft a proposal for its annual financial statements and an annual report on the Fund's activities (hereinafter “the Annual Report”) and submit it through the Minister to the government for discussion and the Chamber of Deputies for approval, within three months of the end of the budgetary year. Before being submitted to the Chamber of Deputies the annual financial statements must be verified by an auditor.
(2) The expenditure items in the Fund's budget shall be structured in accordance with the Fund's purpose, as set out in Article 2(a) to (k) and by investment project.
(3) The additional receipt of loans in a budgetary year shall be approved by the government subsequent to a proposal made by the Fund and submitted through the Minister, The provisions of paragraph (3) shall apply, as appropriate.
(4) The Fund shall keep its accounts in accordance with another act 6).
(5) The Fund's accounts shall be divided into two areas so that it is possible to monitor the costs of its own activities and the costs of other activities separately.
Article 5c
Provisional Budgetary Period
If the Fund´s budget for the corresponding budgetary year is not approved by the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic before the first day of the budgetary year, the budgetary management shall act to the amounts of income and expenditure of the Fund approved for the previous budgetary year, at the period from the first day of the budgetary year to the budget´s approval for this year.
Article 6
Bodies of the Fund
The Bodies of the Fund are the committee of the Fund (hereinafter referred to as “the Committee”), the supervisory board of the Fund (hereinafter referred to as “the Supervisory Board”) and the director of the Fund (hereinafter referred to as “the Director”).
Committee
Article 7
(1) The Committee has nine members. The Minister is the chairman of the Committee.
(2) The deputy chairman and the other seven members of the Committee are appointed and recalled by the government, subsequent to proposals made by the Minister, for four-year terms of office. Committee members may serve no more than two consecutive terms of office.
(3) The chairman manages the Committee's activities. Committee meetings are governed by the rules of procedure, which are approved by a Committee resolution.
(4) Committee members are entitled to a fee, which the government approves in a resolution. The fees and the refunding of wages to the employers of Committee members are costs of the Fund's activities under Article 2(i).
(5) Membership of the Committee is an obstacle in work due to public interest addressed by another act 7).
Article 8
(1) The Committee discusses matters, which are the purpose of the Fund or the subject of the Fund's activities.
(2) The Committee approves:
a) The proposal for the Fund's budget;
b) The proposal for the mid-term perspective;
c) The proposal for the Fund's annual financial statements;
d) The proposal for the Fund's Annual Report;
e) The plan of the Fund's income and expenditure;
f) The annual programme of announcing tenders for the implementation of investment projects in accordance with another act;
g) The release of monies for investment projects in accordance with the Fund's approved statutes;
h) Inspection reports on the progress of investment projects;
i) The settlement of investment projects.
(3) The Ministry shall publish decisions of the Committee in the Official Transport Journal.(4) The Committee appoints and recalls the Director. Appointment establishes an employment relationship with the Fund.
(4) The Committee appoints and recalls the Director. Appointment establishes an employment relationship with the Fund.
(5) The Committee sets the Director's salary in accordance with another act 8).
Article 9
Supervisory Board
(1) The Supervisory Board is the Fund's control body. It supervises the activities and financial management of the Fund. The Supervisory Board has five members. Members of the Supervisory Board are elected and recalled by the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic for a four-year term of office.
(2) The Supervisory Board elects a chairman and a deputy chairman from its members. The Supervisory Board approves resolutions by voting. A vote is made or a resolution is passed if no less than four members of the Supervisory Board vote for it.
(3) The meetings of the Supervisory Board are governed by the rules, which the Supervisory Board approves in a resolution.
(4) The Supervisory Board shall inform the Ministry, the government and the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic immediately, if it ascertains shortcomings in the activities and financial management of the Fund.
(5) Supervisory Board members are entitled to a fee, which the government approves in a resolution. The fees and the refunding of wages to the employers of Supervisory Board members are costs of the Fund's activities under the Article 2, paragraph (1), item k).
(6) Membership of the Supervisory Board is an obstacle in work due to public interest addressed by another act 7).
Article 10
Director
(1) The Director is the Fund's statutory body.
(2) The Director, in particular:
a) Implements Committee decisions on the release of monies from the Fund for projects under Article 2;
b) Implements other measures approved or discussed by the Committee;
c) Manages the activities of the Fund's apparatus.
Article 11
Conflict of Interest Provisions
(1) Holding the position of chairman of the Committee, member of the Committee or member of the Supervisory Board is incompatible with the position of Director, with an employment relationship with the Fund and positions in management and control bodies of legal entities, which have received monies from the Fund.
(2) Members of the Fund's bodies may not be engaged in gainful activity in an employment, service or similar relationship with individuals and legal entities who have received or are to receive monies from the Fund.
(3) The government shall recall the deputy chairman of the Committee or a member of the Committee if he/she breaches the obligations contained in subsections (1) and (2).
(4) The Fund may request that a person who has breached the aforesaid obligations surrenders the benefit, which he/she thereby acquired. The right to claim compensation is not hereby affected.
Article 12
Remuneration of the Fund's employees shall be governed by another act 8).
PART TWO
deleted
Article 13
deleted
PART THREE
TEMPORARY PROVISIONS
Article 14
The Fund shall draft its budget for 2000 in connection with chapter 327 of the state budget for the year 2000 and submit the budget to the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic for approval.
PART FOUR
EFFECT
Article 15
This act comes into effect on 1st July 2000.
Klaus, in his own hand Havel, in his own hand Zeman, in his own hand
1) Article 2(2) of the Roads Act, No. 13/1997 Coll.
2) Article 3(1) of the Railways Act, No. 266/1994 Coll., as amended by Act the No. 23/2000 Coll.
3) Article 3 of the Domestic Shipping Act, No. 114/1995 Coll.
3a) Article 20 of the Act No. 77/2002 Coll. on the Joint Stock Company České dráhy Act, the State organisation Správa železniční dopravní cesty and the change of the Act No. 266/1994 Coll. of the Railways as amended and the Act No. 77/1997 Coll. of the Roads.
3b) Article 9 (1) second clause of the Act No. 13/1997 Coll. as amended by Act No. 132/2000 Coll.
3c) Article 18a to 18f of the Act No. 13/1997 Coll. as amended by the Act No. 256/2002 Coll.
4) The Commercial Code, Act No. 513/1991 Coll., as amended.
5) Act No. 13/1997 Coll., as amended by Act No. 102/2000 Coll.
5a) Article 8b (3) of the Act No. 218/2000 Coll. about budgetary rules, as amended by the Act No. 482/2004 Coll.
6) Accountancy Act, No. 563/1991 Coll., as amended.
7) Article 124(1) of the Labour Code, Act No. 65/1965 Coll., as amended by Act No. 74/1994 Coll.
8) Act on Salary and Remuneration for Being on Call in Budgetary and Some Other Organisations and Bodies, No. 143/1992 Coll., as amended.