National Stadium operator in talks with the state to keep the job

A new operator for the Euro 2012 flagship investment could be selected in the near-term, the Puls Biznesu daily reports. The contest, however, could end up coming full circle, as the current operator has confirmed that steps were taken to prolong the agreement for Poland’s most impressive sports arena so far.
Poland’s Ministry of Sports, Joanna Mucha, says with the decision is expected to be taken within several weeks. “We’re now working on the details of the agreement. Our goal is to maximize the income coming in from commercial activities of the stadium, as well as to attract a strategic sponsor. I think we’ve managed to optimize the management model,” says Joanna Mucha, Poland’s Minister of Sports.
The National Sport Centre is so far considered the best candidate to commercialize Warsaw’s stadium, though none of the ministers have confirmed the choice yet. Set up in September 2007, a special purpose vehicle NSC was supervising the work on the stadium until it was delivered in 2012, and was appointed by the state to operate the project in August 2010. As the agreement is to expire by the end of 2012, NSC is now most likely to get the job. “According to the agreement, the company is to be financed from public funds, and all income from its commercial activity will be transferred back to the budget,” says the spokeswoman for NSC, Daria Kulińska.
The National Sports Centre hopes that no later than by the end of 2013, Warsaw’s stadium would begin to generate the profit. “Providing the proper legal regulations in the agreement to operate the facility is now crucial, to maximize the future income from its commercial activity,” says NCS’ representative.