In the public domain

 Construction companies in Poland seem unwilling to be drawn on the subject of public sector building construction, with replies to questions about such contracts given through tight–lips. Marcin Gesing, director for communications and promotion for Mostostal–Polimex, puts it this way: “We try to construct various types of projects, starting with housing, through industrial and up to commercial investments, with public orders being very much a side–line. There is nothing wrong with tackling such contracts, but if we don’t it matters little.”

The construction of a hospital, school or court house differs little in terms of the technology required and the difficulties involved from those of commercial investments. Public tenders do generate interest, but much depends on the size of the order, since large and lucrative jobs are few and far between.

Despite all the grumbling, the best thing about pubic sector orders is that payment is guaranteed for the work done. Various things can happen when working for a private investor – problems with financial fluidity for example, or attempts to get out of transferring part of the monies due.

One thing to be said in favour of at least most public investments is that firms can bask in the prestige attached to the buildings, which become well–known and much visited, such as theatres, opera houses and court buildings – they are very rarely just another closed office building or warehouse. Prof. Ewa Kuryłowicz is an architect at the Warsaw design office of APA Kuryłowicz & Associates, which has won the competition for the design of the new building for Warsaw University’s languages institute in the Powiśle district of the city. She claims that: “We approach the design of each building with the same care, but I have to admit that a number of public buildings are of a much more distinguished character due to the function they perform, which are generally for more elevated purposes than the accumulation of capital.” In her opinion, the interest in such competitions is no less than for those announced by private companies. The estimated value of the Warsaw University investment is PLN 100 mln, with the buildings to be ready by 2009 at the latest. The university authorities will try to cover up to 75 pct of the project cost from EU funds.

Finance is the greatest headache for public investments. The requirements are huge, whereas the room for manoeuvre is small. The European Union does, indeed, support investments, and is more willing to fork out for infrastructure, such as roads and sewage systems. Piotr Husejko of the budget and analysis department of Poznań council says: “We are not planning to pay for the construction of public sector projects. We are trying to win EU funding, but this is only possible when we can prove that a given investment is strictly necessary for levelling out differences in growth between Poland and other EU countries(...)Last year, on education related investments, including repairs, Poznań spent a total of PLN 23 mln, which is a mere 7 pct of the city’s investment budget. We have only spent several hundred thousand złoty so far on cultural projects, mainly on upkeep and maintenance. This is understandable, since a new theatre or museum does not need to be built every year.”

Private companies are pinning much hope on the public–private partnership (PPP) structure. In theory it is a simple idea: a private firm takes on a public commission with its own money and receives in exchange the right to charge fees for its usufruct over a specific period. But despite the fact that the PPP act was passed last year, the requisite ordinances and regulations still have to be approved to allow it to come into force. Alfred Watzl of Strabag speaks bluntly about the current situation: “We have had positive experiences with the PPP system in the German market and are, therefore, very interested in this kind of project. At the moment, however, an effective brake on what we wish to do is the lack of the legislation needed to allow local councils to hold such tenders.”

            Ewa Andrzejewska