On 10 October 2018, IPFA Europe (International Project Finance Association) in partnership with Dentons held an event in Warsaw entitled “10 Years of the PPP Market in Poland (2008-2018) – a Breakthrough?”. For the first time, the event was organized under the honorary patronage of Poland’s Ministry of Investment and Development. The event highlighted the opportunities and challenges of PPP projects in Poland, in light of the recent amendments to the PPP Act, which strive to make PPP a more competitive form of project execution.

The event also presented the latest data on the status of PPP projects contemplated at the central level. Nearly 100 representatives of public authorities, private partners, financial institutions, lawyers, and consultants attended the event.

Tomasz Korczyński, Co-Head of Dentons’ PPP department and member of the Polish IPFA Board, delivered the welcome speech. He kicked off with a brief overview of the Polish PPP market, noting the mature legal and stable macroeconomic environment, favorable political climate, reliable private sector, stable banking sector and ongoing demand from the public sector. He then discussed the historical phases of Polish PPP legislation, from the early days prior to 2005 to the first PPP Act of 2005, the successor PPP Act of 2008, the 2009 Act on Building or Service Licenses 2009, and finally the most recent Act which is about to take effect.

Lilianna Bogusz, Director of the PPP Department at the Ministry of Investment and Development, discussed the last 10 years in Poland and more broadly in Europe. She presented statistical data and project values since 1990, and provided statistics on other PPP contracts signed in Europe and Poland with a breakdown by sector. According to Mrs. Bogusz, the key factors instrumental to the overall success of PPP projects in Poland included a transparent and competitive process of selecting private partners, public support and organizational and legal bases.

Two panel discussions followed. The first of these, “The Amended PPP Act – new opening or improving?”, was moderated by Tomasz Korczyński, and consisted of:

• Anna Łopaciuk, Manager, Sector Projects Department, BGK
• Mirosław Józefczuk, Board Member, Warbud
• Artur Tusiński, Mayor, Podkowa Leśna
• Tomasz Zwoliński, Counsel, Dentons

The panelists discussed the importance of the recent amendments for the BGK Bank, the role of banks in the new legal environment, and Ministry’s stronger position in the process. Warbud’s representative discussed their best practices in implementing PPP projects. The Mayor of Podkowa Leśna answered questions regarding practical differences between project financing from borrowed funds and the PPP formula. Tomasz Zwoliński discussed the impact of the recent amendments on the execution of direct contracts with public entities.

The panelists also discussed the new procedure for pre-execution analyses. The second panel discussion summarized the last 10 years of PPP projects in Poland. Moderated by Bartosz Mysiorski, Senior PPP Development Manager at Dentons and an advisor to the Centrum PPP Foundation, the panelists were:

• Anna Węgrzanowska, Director of Public Sector Department, PKO Bank Polski
• Maciej Kopański, Development Director, Engie Polska
• Lilianna Bogusz, Director of PPP, Ministry of Investment and Development
• Wojciech Zemła, Secretary of Sopot City

Irena Herbst, Deputy CEO, Centrum PPP Irena Herbst, co-author of the first PPP Act, discussed how projects were executed more than 10 years ago. She mentioned the long yet dynamic progress of the PPP formula in the Polish legal and business environment, and noted that currently the “Development of PPP in Poland” initiative is an official governmental program co-financed by the European Social Fund. Anna Węgrzynowska shared her view the perspective of a project financing institution, with a particular focus on public entities’ increased capacity for preparing bankable PPP projects. The Secretary of the City of Sopot talked about his city’s pioneering history in this field. The panelists also analyzed market growth in recent years and how to accelerating it. Key factors discussed included early consultations on the planned projects with financing institutions, long-term and strategic thinking, as well as pre-execution analyses and consulting.

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