The last resort

The committee appointed by Marek Pol, the Minister for Infrastructure, to investigate the handling of the tender for the extension of Warsaw Okęcie Airport, is to begin its deliberations as Eurobuild goes to press.  Companies Hochtief and Strabag, whose bids were rejected in the original tender, are pinning their hopes on the committee's findings, which they believe should uncover evidence of malpractice. Should their motions for reconvening the second stage of the tender fail here too, they will take their grievances to the courts. The Okęcie extension tender began on 10th August 2000 and the saga is now two years old. In July 2001, a repeat hearing of the first stage was ordered. Over two months later, Przedsiębiorstwo Państwowe "Porty Lotnicze" (PPL) [the State Company "Polish Airports"] announced that the following consortia had qualified for the 2nd stage: Hochtief, Budimex-Ferrovial and Strabag.  From November that year, a committe