Commercial Gazette: What It Is Used For and How to Publish Information

Quick Overview

• The Commercial Gazette serves as the official publication for information required by law concerning business entities and legal entities.
• The Gazette is available online and can be searched, for example, by company name, identification number, or publication date.
• If the law requires the publication of certain information, it may be necessary to submit a notice for publication in the Commercial Gazette.
• The Public Procurement Bulletin serves a different purpose—it publishes information related to public procurement.
• The obligation to publish and the required content of the notice depend on the specific legal situation.

Not sure whether you need to publish a certain change in the Commercial Gazette or file it with the Commercial Register? Our attorneys will review which obligations apply to your company and help you properly handle the necessary steps.

What Is a Gazette?

A gazette is a periodical (regularly published) publication used for the official publication of various information. Gazettes are most commonly found in state administration and local government. Official gazettes are official in nature, well-organized, and easily accessible to the general public. They are often available in both print and electronic formats. They are published regularly, most often monthly, quarterly, or as needed.

In this article, we will focus specifically on two types of gazettes that pertain to entrepreneurs and companies— the Commercial Gazette and the Public Procurement Gazette.

What Is the Commercial Gazette Used For?

The Commercial Gazette is an official periodical (official journal) used to publish important information about business entities. Its purpose is to ensure transparency in commercial and legal relationships and thereby provide the public with access to information regarding, for example, companies, insolvency proceedings, or auctions.

The Ministry of the Interior of the Czech Republic is responsible for publishing the Commercial Gazette through the Public Administration Portal. The technical aspects and operation of this portal as they relate to the Commercial Gazette are provided under contract by Economia, a.s., as the operator.

The basic rules governing the operation of the Commercial Gazette are set forth in the Government Regulation on the Commercial Gazette. Among other things, this regulation specifies what information may be published in the Gazette, who submits the materials for publication, and who is responsible for their accuracy.

What You’ll Find in the Commercial Gazette

In the Commercial Gazette, you will find a wide range of legally significant information that is required to be published to ensure the transparency of legal and commercial relationships. The content is intended not only for business owners but also for the general public, creditors, and lawyers. This includes, for example:

• Information from public registers: Entries concerning business entities and entrepreneurs (such as the formation and dissolution of companies, changes in statutory bodies, changes in registered office, legal form, etc.) and data on business entity transformations (mergers, divisions, transfers of assets).
• Insolvency Proceedings: This includes information on the commencement of insolvency proceedings, decisions on bankruptcy or debt relief, calls for the filing of claims, information on creditors’ meetings, insolvency administrators, reorganization plans, etc.
• Company Liquidation: Notices regarding a company entering liquidation, calls for the filing of claims, and reports on the progress and completion of liquidation.
• Public auctions: Notices regarding the holding of public auctions (date, location, subject of the auction).
• Proposed Actions and Decisions Concerning Corporations: Notices of intent to transfer a business or decisions regarding a change in legal form or the dissolution of a company.

How the Commercial Gazette Works and How to Search It

The Commercial Gazette is available online on the public administration portal. Basic searches are free. On the website, you can search by business name (company name), ID number, topic (e.g., insolvency, liquidation, auctions, etc.), publication date, document type, and other criteria (e.g., legal form of the company). You can also open a specific issue by date and browse through what was published.

However, only data from the last 6 months is available for free. If you would like older records, you will need to pay for a subscription. Three subscription options are available: DATA, ON-LINE, and PREMIUM. With the DATA version, you’ll receive a selection of entries by category via email. With the ON-LINE version, you’ll gain access to an online archive dating back to 1992, and with the PREMIUM version, you’ll receive both benefits plus the ability to download data from the gazette.

There is also a fee for publishing information in the Commercial Gazette. Prices vary depending on the nature of the notice and its total length. The lowest fee applies to the publication of information regarding the liquidation of a company, and the highest fee applies to the publication of financial statements.

How to Publish Information in the Commercial Gazette

If you need to publish your own notice in the Commercial Gazette, first verify whether publication is required by law and what information the notice must contain. You can submit a publication request through the operator of the Commercial Gazette. However, for some types of information, the entrepreneur does not handle the publication directly—for example, information from public registers is provided to the operator by the relevant registry court.

When submitting your own notice, it is therefore important to select the correct section, provide the required information, and submit all necessary supporting documents. The cost of publication depends on the type and scope of the notice.

What to Check Before Publication

• whether you actually have a legal obligation to publish the notice,
• who is responsible for ensuring the notice is published,
• what information the text must contain,
• whether additional documents are required,
• by what deadline the information must be published,
• whether the notice must be published repeatedly.

From our experience: When publishing in the Commercial Gazette, the problem is not usually the submission itself, but rather correctly determining what is to be published, who is responsible for the publication, and by what deadline. A common mistake is confusing the obligation to file with the Commercial Register with the obligation to publish a separate notice. Each situation must therefore be assessed according to the specific legal provision.

Are you dealing with the liquidation of a company, a change in the Commercial Register, or another corporate change, and unsure of exactly what you need to publish? An attorney can help you identify your specific obligations and ensure they are properly fulfilled within the required timeframes.

Public Procurement Bulletin

The Public Procurement Bulletin is an official electronic platform where contracting authorities (typically government agencies, municipalities, regions, and public-law organizations) are required to publish information about public procurement contracts. It serves to ensure transparency and equal access for all potential contractors to contracts financed by public funds.

It is administered by the Ministry of Regional Development, and its legal framework is based on the Public Procurement Act.

What is a public contract?

A public contract is a contractual relationship in which a contracting authority (such as the state, a region, a municipality, a public institution, or another public-law entity) purchases goods, services, or construction work from a private contractor. In other words, it is a situation in which the state or another public entity spends public funds to purchase goods, services, or construction work from external companies or contractors.

The main purpose of public procurement is to ensure that public funds are used transparently, economically, and efficiently, and that all potential suppliers have equal opportunities to participate.

Public procurement is divided into three basic types based on the subject matter:

1. Public procurement for supplies —for example, the purchase of office equipment, vehicles, or IT technology.
2. Public procurement for services —such as legal, consulting, cleaning, or IT services.
3. Public works contracts —for example, the construction of roads and buildings or the renovation of public facilities.

At the same time, contracts are classified by value into above-threshold, below-threshold, and small-scale contracts, with different rules applying to each category regarding the procurement process and the contracting authority’s obligations.

What You’ll Find in the Public Procurement Bulletin

• Awarded Contracts: This section includes a detailed description of the subject matter of the contract, the contracting authority’s identification information, the type and estimated value of the contract, the type of procurement procedure, the conditions for participation, the deadline for submitting bids, and the evaluation criteria by which bids will be assessed.
• Changes or amendments to contracts: During the process, it may become necessary to clarify or change certain conditions specified in the original notice. The contracting authority is therefore required to publish any changes or amendments to the notice in the bulletin—for example, an extension of the deadline for submitting bids or a clarification of technical requirements.
• Public Procurement Results: Once the procurement process is complete, a notice of the results is published. In this notice, the contracting authority discloses who was awarded the contract, the price at which the contract was awarded, how many bids were submitted, and, if applicable, the reasons why certain bidders were disqualified.
• Notice of Cancellation of the Procurement Procedure: This is published in the official gazette if the contracting authority terminates the procurement procedure for any reason without selecting a contractor.

How to Search the Public Procurement Bulletin

New notices announcing the start of procurement procedures are published daily in the bulletin. The publicly accessible website allows you to use full-text search by keywords (e.g., “cleaning services,” “building renovation”) or filter by various criteria —field of activity (CPV code), region, contracting authority, contract type (above-threshold, below-threshold, small-scale contracts), stage of the procedure, publication date, and more.

You must then prepare a bid that strictly complies with the contracting authority’s requirements, including formal presentation (often in electronic form, with specific file formats and submission deadlines). Once the selection process is complete, the contracting authority will publish a notice of the results, which you can also monitor in the official gazette. If your bid was not successful, you have the option to request a justification for the decision and file an objection.

Summary

The Commercial Gazette serves as the official publication for legally significant information concerning entrepreneurs and legal entities, and its publication is managed by the Ministry of the Interior through the Public Administration Portal. If the law requires certain information to be published, it is important to verify whether the entrepreneur is directly responsible for the publication or, for example, the registry court; what information the notice must contain; and by what deadline it must be published. The Public Procurement Bulletin serves a different purpose and is used to publish information about procurement procedures and public contracts. Both systems thus support public access to legally and commercially significant information, but each operates under different rules.