The Czech Republic is not yet prepared for efficient construction of the high-speed rail network
The Czech Republic is not yet equipped to effectively build the high-speed rail network it plans to complete around 2050.
Press Releases
SAO President at a meeting with Ambassadors: The EU’s concept of sustainability is at odds with rising debt
“In the European Union’s economy, we have ceased to respect economic principles. Sustainability, as the EU conceives it, is at odds with rising debt. We are taking on more and more debt, thereby depleting the resources of future generations.” This was stated by Miloslav Kala, President of the Supreme Audit Office (SAO), on Wednesday, 22 April 2026, at the now-traditional meeting with EU Ambassadors.
State equity interests are not managed in accordance with the rules set out by the government itself. Seven of the 21 measures have remained solely on paper.
Ministries are not managing their equity interests in commercial companies in accordance with the State Ownership Policy Strategy. The government approved this Strategy in 2020 in response to an earlier audit by the Supreme Audit Office (SAO) from 2015, with the aim of ensuring transparent and effective exercise of ownership rights.
Central government accounting is underutilised. The key lies in education and simplification
In practice, central government accounting is used only to a limited extent and financial reporting could be simplified. This was stated by the Supreme Audit Office and the Faculty of Finance and Accounting at the Prague University of Economics and Business, the authors of a joint report which was presented today at an expert conference on the use of central government accounting.
SAO audits in 2025: results often do not justify the high investments
Despite high investments, the state has failed to modernise key areas of its operations. The digitalisation of public administration often merely transfers complex processes to an online environment without truly simplifying them. While the state is building new highways, it has not implemented effective tools to mitigate the damage caused primarily by overloaded freight traffic.
According to the Ministry of Regional Development, the renovation of local roads is a local issue; yet, it has provided municipalities with nearly five billion in subsidies
According to its own statement, the Ministry of Regional Development considers the renovation of local roads to be a local issue. Nevertheless, from 2019 through February 2025, it provided municipalities with subsidies totalling CZK 4.7 billion from the state budget for this renovation, supporting a total of 2,150 projects
Measures by the Ministry of Agriculture to address flood damage: insufficient water retention in the landscape
Over the past 27 years, floods have caused a total of 260 billion crowns in damage in the Czech Republic. Flood control measures are intended to prevent extensive damage. The Supreme Audit Office audited CZK 7.1 billion spent by the Ministry of Agriculture between the years 2020 and 2024 on flood protection and water retention in the landscape.
Leaders of EUROSAI Supreme Audit Institutions met in Prague to discuss deepening of cooperation
Deepening cooperation and sharing experience among Supreme Audit Institutions affiliated with EUROSAI was the theme of a two-day conference held on Tuesday and Wednesday, 10 and 11 March 2026, at the SAO headquarters in Prague.
The 7th edition of the Public Administration Hackathon was dominated by applications with help-oriented themes
Assisting with health problems, finding care for the infirm, helping in the event of imminent outdoor danger or creating a tool to help doctors in their work. These are the predominant themes of the winners of the seventh annual nationwide Public Administration Hackathon.
The Ministry of the Interior has spent over CZK 870 million on professionalising and improving the quality of the civil service. However, it did not achieve the desired effect
Almost 61% of civil service authorities* failed to implement the required minimum standard for effective authority management within the set deadline. The desired digitalisation of civil servant training and of the civil service examinations has not been achieved.
New Member of the SAO Board Tereza Koucká Hőfferová took her oath before the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic
On Monday, 16 February 2026, Tereza Koucká Hőfferová, a new Member of the Supreme Audit Office (SAO) Board, took her oath of office before Tomio Okamura, Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, and thus assumed her new position.
The information from the National Sports Agency's accounts and budget for 2024 is reliable. The closing account did not contain some key information
The Supreme Audit Office reviewed the data in the closing account, accounting, and financial statements of the National Sports Agency for 2024.
The Head of India's 42,000 state auditors met with the SAO President in Prague to discuss mutual cooperation in the INTOSAI Knowledge Sharing Committee
On Monday, 9 February 2026, two prominent representatives of the International Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI) and members of the INTOSAI Governing Board met at the headquarters of the Supreme Audit Office in Prague.
Even after eight years, the Ministry has failed to establish a functioning national system for the protection of soft targets. Activity only increased after the attack in 2023
Even after eight years, the Ministry of the Interior has failed to create a functioning national system for the protection of soft targets, as envisaged in the Concept for the Protection of Soft Targets for 2017-2020.
Funds provided for expert consultations and advice helped Czech teams to participate more frequently in international research programmes
Funds provided for expert consultations and advice to applicants for grants from international research programmes contributed to an increase in the participation of Czech research teams in these programmes.
Tereza Koucká Hőfferová was elected as a Member of the SAO Board
The new Member of the SAO Board will be the current Director of the Legal Department, Ms Tereza Koucká Hőfferová. Members of Parliament elected her in a secret ballot on Wednesday, 28 January 2026, with 144 of the 177 members present voting in favour of her election.
Half a billion spent ineffectively: projects failed to improve the quality of education. However, the Ministry did a good job of integrating Ukrainian pupils into Czech schools
Between 2016 and 2023, the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports spent more than half a billion Czech crowns from state and European Union funds on projects designed to improve the quality of education in regional schools and the results of primary and secondary school pupils.
The Czech Customs Administration enforces judicial claims more effectively than the courts previously did. However, this has not led to an increase in the use of monetary penalties
The courts were unsuccessful in enforcing judicial claims, which include e.g. monetary penalties, court fees, and fines. Between 2021 and 2023, the courts enforced, on average, only eight per cent of the total volume of judicial claims.
Fifty billion was not enough for digitalisation projects. The state promised fully digital services from 2025, but only 18% of them were successful
Although the Czech Republic invested more than CZK 50 billion in public administration digitalisation projects between 2020 and 2024, it failed to meet its original goal—that by February 2025, government services would be fully digitalised and citizens would have the right to communicate with the state digitally.
The results of transport research, which cost almost two billion crowns from the state budget, are sometimes not reflected in practice
Almost CZK 2 billion was allocated in the state budget for the TRANSPORT 2020+ programme, which aims to support applied research, experimental development, and innovation in transport. The results are then to be put into practice, which should, among other things, increase the Czech Republic's competitiveness in this area.