Poland’s (infra)structural foundations: are PPPs still the future?

In the October issue of the CEE Legal Matters, Tomasz Darowski, Partner from the Infrastructure and Energy Practice, analyzes what the future might hold for the PPP model in Poland.

Poland is undoubtedly one of the main pathways into the European Union’s affluent west. The importance of its infrastructure is reflected in its prioritized investment position. Looking at investments made by the European Investment Bank alone, one could see that out of the EUR 79.8 billion invested in the country since 1990, about 47% went to infrastructure.

According to Tomasz Darowski, the greatest number of PPP projects in Poland were implemented in transportation infrastructure, energy efficiency, sports and tourism infrastructure, and water and sewage management. He agrees that 2020 was not a lean year in terms of the number of projects and highlights the change in the situation of PPP projects for the first two quarters of 2021. “The economic uncertainty caused a significant reduction in the level of investment in the private sector and affected the declined interest in public investment,” he says.

“It is expected that due to the decreasing amount of EU funds granted to Poland in the coming years, the importance of PPP will increase, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic which had a very negative impact on local government finances,” comments Tomasz Darowski and adds that the PPP model would make it possible to finance more projects.

The article entitled “Poland’s (infra)structural foundations: are PPPs still the future?” is available in the October issue of the CEE Legal Matters.