The massive EU’s subsidies along with the upcoming EURO 2012 football championships have been encouraging the foreign companies to build roads across Poland for the past two years. Though a lot of the contracts are set to expire in the near-term and the number of new tenders continues to diminish, the competition continues to accelerate with new players striving to get their piece from the Polish road business. Following the Chinese, Italians are now trying their hand on the Poland’s infrastructure sector, submitting offers for the Warsaw S8 route, linking Opacz with Paszków. Of the 22 bidders, two were Italian, with one company from Turkey and one from Australia. “The Italians have set up their branch in Poland, employing Polish specialists, who know the specificity of the local market,” says Zbigniew Kotlarek Polish Road Congress Chief adding that in his opinion the Italians are a bit late, as number of the road contracts in Poland is likely to decrease. Italian groups Salini and Todini compete for a PLN 1bn contract.
Marek Michałowski of the Polish Association of Construction Employers believes that the tough competition is pushing contractors to submit bids that are so low they have no chance of covering the costs of construction.
