Polish contractors have no space to breathe

“If you look at countries with similar size to Poland, there are three, four, five or even ten companies of one billion euro in revenue. In Poland we have one or two companies that are capable of doing this. All the others are below one billion,” says Manuel Mota. “Portugal is a small country, but the biggest Portuguese company is three times bigger than the biggest in Poland. Of course, this is the result of its internationalisation. In the case of Mota-Engil, 80 pct of our turnover is generated abroad. This is because we had space to move into 17 years ago, and so we came to Poland and we went to Latin America. But what will happen when there is no more space left? Polish companies will not be able to grow and they will not achieve a significant position across Europe and worldwide,” Manuel Mota predicts. According to the CEO of Mota-Engil, it is very difficult for local Polish investors and entrepreneurs to survive on a market that is so aggressive and where the margins for contractors are very much being squeezed.