Petr Rafaj, Chairman of The Office for Protection of Competition (ÚOHS ) in Czech Republic confirmed that Czech Railways (ČD) received a record CZK 25 million (EUR 0.9 million) fine for the acquisition of Railjet trains from Siemens, without open competition.

Initially the company wanted to purchase 16 Railjet units, the the order was changed 15 trains with different configuration and in a final stage to only seven units.   According to Rafaj, “Czech Railways broke the law by entering into contract for the reconfiguration of the negotiated procedure without publication, without complying with legal requirements. This could have had significant influence on the selection of the best offer”.