Sensible marriage or free love?

Spring is here and falling in love again is all the rage. Unfortunately, everyday reality can intrude upon such whims. So while perhaps new love cannot blossom, still the old partnerships remain. A good partnership can be the basis for a perfect relationship – even if it is the public and private sectors that are sweet on each other

The possibility of such stable relationships was one of the most important subjects at Eurobuild CEE’s  ‘European funds and development of infrastructure’ conference on April 7th in Warsaw at the InterContinental Hotel. Andrzej Bogucki, a board member of PL.2012 delivered the opening lecture. It was about opportunities presented to Poland by the tournament, cooperation in the field of infrastructure and problems with project funding. The subject of the partnership of local government and private investors was also dealt with.

After this presentation, the experts discussed the prospects for transportation infrastructure development in Poland. Lech Witecki, head of the General Directorate of National Roads and Motorways (GDDKiA), Anna Siejda of the Centre for EU Transport Projects, Sebastian Gościniarek of PricewaterhouseCoopers, Wojciech Rybak of PKP (Polish State Railways) and Michał Kurzyński from Chadbourne & Parke, shared their knowledge with the participants. Tomasz Opaliński, legal advisor from the Garrigues law office, outlined the advantages of public-private partnership. He discussed, among other topics, the advantages of risk distribution. Later on, the lawyer, accompanied by Andrzej Panasiuk, a member of the PKP board and the director of corporate governance, as well as Aleksander Granowski from the British-Polish Chamber of Commerce and Irena Herbst, the chair of the Centrum PPP fund, gave a short talk about the problems that projects carried out in such a way could encounter. “There is a need for a better climate. Meanwhile, some say that there should be a fourth ‘P’ in the abbreviation. And the fourth should stand for ‘prosecutor’,” complained Irena Herbst. She had a point: a relationship has no chance of surviving if what we have is a love-triangle. Examples of public-private cohabitations constituted the main part of the conference. Kacper Kozłowski of Investment Support introduced the audience to the arcane nature of infrastructure development, after which Adam Kalata of BIEG 2012 presented the Gdańsk stadium design for the European championships. Vice-mayor of Radom Igor Marszałkiewicz encouraged cooperation over the exceptionally interesting design of the Radomniak stadium. “Radom enjoys a high position among investor-attractive towns in Poland – it is even at the peak, one might say,” is how the vice-mayor describeded his city.

The next three panellists informed the audience about the most important aspects of public transport. Agnieszka Gołębiowksa of the infrastructure department of the Kujawsko-Pomorskie voivodship (provincial government), discoursed on the rules of cooperation between Bydgoszcz and Toruń for the BiT-City project. Krzysztof Karos, the chairman of Tramwaje Warszawskie (Warsaw Tramways), revealed some of the development plans of the company. Anna Węgrzanowska of PKO BP led the post-presentation discussion and at the same time declared a willingness to fund such projects.

It might seem that Kraków is a conservative city that doesn’t much approve of free love. However, representative of the city Janina Pokrywa related some of the good and bad experiences her city hall has had with private investors. Mariusz Szubra of International Management Services and Konrad Jaworski of Poland Car Parking also took part in the discussion about the development of public car parks.

The panel on (what might seem) the male dominated field of water supply systems and canalization was led by Alina Sarnacka of PricewaterhouseCoopers. But before this, the conversation was preceded by short presentations from Lucyna Golatowska, the director of Miejskie Przedsiębiorstwo Wodociągów i Kanalizacji w Warszawie (Warsaw’s subsidiary for waterworks and sewage works) and Stanisław Drzewiecki, the chairman of Miejskie Przedsiębiorstwo Wodociągów w Bydgoszczy in Bydgoszcz. Dariusz Kacprzyk, the director of BRE Bank’s department for cooperation with large clients, was also invited to join the discussion on funding such investments.

The last part of the conference featured a debate about the revitalization of urban areas. According to Włodzimierz Tomaszewski, the vice-mayor of Łódź, a partnership with a private entity has yet to be consummated, but the city is still waiting for offers. The local authorities of Bielsko-Biała already have some experience with private partners. Waldemar Jędrusiński, the first vice-mayor of this Silesian town, characterized PPPs as like marriages: sometimes quite successful, other times less so, but generally an institution worthy of respect. Jan Szymański of the Pomorskie voivodship and Dionizy Smoleń of Deloitte also took part in the discussion. If there is one firm conclusion that was reached during this conference, it was that the good times have come for PPPs. Such relationships are profitable for both parties and at the same time can speed up the development of the country. Furthermore, EU funds are available to support them. And crucially, legislators have now enshrined these alliances in law. So why not put your heart into such a relationship? – if not out of love, then at least out of common sense? ν (EG)