Badriket leaking money – risks losing millions: “Too early”

Badriket opened on September 30 last year; one of the municipality's largest and most expensive construction projects ever. This was preceded by a sometimes infected and loud political debate – about where it would be located and what it would cost.

Badriket currently needs to make 29.4 million crowns per year in revenue to make ends meet.

This is based on the Municipal Council´s 2019 decision, which set the cost of the construction at 510 million crowns, with the goal of attracting 380,000 visitors per year. The visitor statistics were widely criticised for being optimistic.

So the question is: how is it looking at the beginning?

The statistics for January and February 2023 show that they are at 13 percent of the required revenue. This would mean 22.4 million crowns by the end of the year. In turn, that would mean a loss of seven million crowns.

But it is difficult to draw conclusions from the numbers already. They are based on the results for the first two months of the year, which are calculated in twelfths of a year, and this does not give a completely fair picture for a newly started, seasonal business.

Maria Mera, Head of Office and Controller for the Culture and Leisure Administration, is not drawing any conclusions based on two months' results. She emphasises that:

– It is a completely new business and it is a trial year. It is a business we are establishing, which needs time to grow. This is a type of business that has never been seen in the history of the municipality, and it is a completely new way of thinking.