Sun rising in the East

Eastern Poland continues to attract increasing interest from both Polish and overseas investors. Its main cities, such as Lublin, Białystok and Suwałki, are also becoming more tempting to logistics and manufacturing firms planning to expand.

The investment in the road network in this part of the country is an important factor in the region’s growth. The completion of new sections of expressways, including the Via Carpatia, has meant vastly improved links with the countries located to the north and south of Poland, and has considerably shortened travel times between cities – both in the region and for the entire country.

The availability of land at low prices is another crucial factor. Cities that have established themselves as core logistics locations are increasingly experiencing both labour shortages and a paucity of conveniently-located development land, while their land prices are having a serious impact on project profitability levels. Therefore, further improvements to the road infrastructure will continue to increase the attractiveness of many development sites in eastern Poland and the perception that these are genuine investment destinations. It should be expected that some of these sites in locations treated by investors as priorities will be largely developed by the time the Via Carpatia route comes into use, with neighbouring areas also likely to be considered as interesting investment opportunities in the future.

Eastern Poland is also set to benefit from recent amendments to the legislation on special economic zones. The concept of ‘extending economic zones across the whole of Poland’ could open up growth opportunities for a number of areas in the eastern part of the country. The availability of land and the price for it, the local labour market and the growth in business locations nearby are all likely to encourage other logistics and manufacturing companies to invest in these areas, where such activity was recently thought to be unprofitable.

The actual demand for land in eastern Poland represents a small percentage of the entire Polish warehouse market. But considering the factors mentioned above, this trend should soon become a thing of the past.