Syner Group won’t be returning EU subsidies

It's been reported that regional officials ordered the Liberec-based construction sector giant Syner Group to return CZK 10.6m in European subsidies for the construction of an inline skating path near the Liberec stadium. The regional council found that the company, SFM Liberec, did not meet one of the criteria for the subsidy – that of being a small or mid-sized company. However, the regional council's orders were countermanded by then-finance minister Andrej Babiš, who ordered an inquiry to the matter. The investigation found no reason so suspect that SFM Liberec intentionally broke the law and made its claim without realizing that it didn't fall into the right size category. To qualify, a company can have up to 250 employees and turnover of no more than CZK 1.3bn. At the time, Syner Group was making CZK 4bn in turnover and employed 800 people. The case, which was reported by Hospodářské noviny, is raising eyebrows because of it similarities to the Čapi hnízdo project near Benešov, for which a company connected to Andrej Babiš's company Agrofert received subsidies. Syner Group never returned the subsidies, meaning that taxpayers ended up financing the work.