PRAGUE, Aug. 21 (Xinhua) -- Czech government has approved on Monday to buy out a pig farm located on the site of a former Nazi protectorate concentration camp for the Romani in Lety, Pisek, a town 100 km south of Prague.
Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka said he is very glad that the government has made the decision, adding that the victims of Nazi persecution and the Holocaust "deserve our respect".
He said the decision is important from a symbolic point of view as the cabinet has finally removed the embarrassment that used to be a burden for the country for decades since the pig farm was built in 1972.
Czech Minister of Culture Daniel Herman told reporters that pig breeding is due to end in late spring next year. A decent memorial is expected to be established in the near future.
The sale contract between the state and AGPI company, the owner of the pig farm, will be signed next month.
AGPI Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors Jan Cech confirmed Monday that as soon as AGPI has signed the contract for the sale of the state premises, its shareholders have to give their consent at the general meeting as well. The contract will become effective after the New Year.
The price so far is not announced, but will be disclosed once all papers are signed. Previously Czech President Milos Zeman said that he had refused to shut down the farm as a prime minister because it would cost taxpayers around 400 million crowns (about 18 million U.S. dollars).
The Roma activist communities perceive the purchase as a relief and hope for its soon demolition.
The Czech Republic has been largely criticized by local organizations and international institutions. The European Parliament also called for the removal of the farm.
The camp in Lety was opened in August 1940 as a working camp under the protectorate of Nazi Germany during the WWII. Since May 1943, over 1,300 Romani had passed the camp, and 327 of them died.
