Projects in Poland

Project Summary Documents

Project Summary Documents (PSDs) are disclosed for each project prior to Board consideration. They contain project descriptions, financial details, client information, environmental issues, tender guidelines, and contact details. PSDs for private sector projects are disclosed at least 30 days prior to Board consideration and for state sector projects, at least 60 days.

Project Summary Documents 

Signed projects

Board approval is the final stage in the project approval process. After Board approval, the EBRD and the client sign the deal and it becomes legally binding. Signed project lists reflect year-end data.

Signed projects  (0.1Mb) 

Case studies

Cleaning up Poland’s power sector

Constructed in 1966, Patnow is one of three power plants at Patnow Adamow Konin (PAK) near the Polish town of Konin on Lake Goplo. It is typical of the vast, polluting Soviet-era power stations on which most of the country still relies for its power. In past years, Patnow has even found itself on the World Wildlife Fund’s “Dirty Thirty” list, naming and shaming the 30 worst polluters in Europe.

As the industry begins slowly to privatise, things have clearly got to change. The EBRD has provided PAK with €63 million over 14 years as part of a €550 million project to construct a new environmentally friendly unit at Patnow II using new technology that will reduce emissions into the atmosphere, create jobs and provide cheaper electricity for consumers.

PAK is already one of Poland’s largest and lowestcost electricity producers and one of only three big power providers to privatise so far. Since its privatisation in 1999, the company (responsible for 13 per cent of the country’s electricity) has been owned and controlled by Elektrim S.A.

Roman Jarosinski, Vice President of Elektrim S.A.’s Management Board, said: “It should be underlined that presently this is the biggest ever investment in the Polish power industry.” Analysts’ predictions show that operating profits for the Patnow II plant should increase substantially by 2020 as a result of the new efficiency measures. Along with the environmentally friendly technology, the new unit will set a standard for all Polish coal-fi red power plants.

Low fuel costs, low transportation costs due to its proximity to the lignite mines (which have reserves to supply the plant for 40 years) and high efficiency due to the new technology mean that PAK will act as a benchmark for other energy competitors in Poland.

The key environmental issue is, of course, air emissions. Sulphur emissions will be reduced by an impressive 50 per cent when modernisation is complete. This is basically because the new unit will replace two old and inefficient mazut-fired units and will use state-of-the-art pollution-control technology.

Construction of the new lignite-fired unit will be finished by SNC of Canada, one of the industry’s leading contractors. It will meet the relevant EU emission standards (which would otherwise have rendered the plant illegal) and the client will have to submit annual environmental reports to the Bank, detailing environmental and health and safety performance.

Environment Protection Director, Dr Maciej Kabata, says the new unit meets “the stringent ecological parameters of Polish and European standards. By installing such ecological devices, the negative influence on the natural environment near to the power station as well as in the whole Wielkopolska region will be considerably reduced.”

Helping to modernise Poland's railways

The Bank has been co-operating with Poland's national railway company (PKP) in supporting the modernisation of the railway sector for a number of years, starting in 1996 with provision of financing for track maintenance machinery and upgrading of selected railway stations along the E-20 (Berlin-Warsaw) route. It had been urging the adoption of an accelerated reform programme and a greater participation of the private sector in core railway operations, particular freight transport. Following the adoption of the new Railway Law in 2000, the Bank supported its reform oriented implementation through two loans to the PKP SA - the holding company of the Group. The first of the two loans financed part of the successful labour restructuring programme prepared in full cooperation of the workforce and the trade unions. The second loan allowed the Group to settle specified historic financial and trading debts allowing newly created PKP Holding subsidiaries to commence independent operations in October 2001 with 'clean' balance sheets. In addition, in March 2004 the Bank provided a non-sovereign loan to one of the PKP Group subsidiaries, PKP Energetyka, to finance cost saving investment in network maintenance.

Krakow Water Supply and Waste Water Treatment Company

Wastewater from Krakow, Poland's third-largest city, will be cleaner when it enters the nearby Vistula River as a result of a €20 million loan from the EBRD, provided in 2000, to the local municipal water company, MPWiK. The loan will allow the city to extend and modernise its mechanical wastewater treatment facility and construct a biological treatment facility in the Plaszow area of the city. Not only will this help Krakow to reduce the level of pollution but it will also enable the city to comply with EU environmental standards and improve its sewerage and waste-water services. The project has resulted from the EBRD's close cooperation with the city of Krakow, the EU's Instrument for Structural Policies for Pre-accession (ISPA) programme, the Ministry of Environment and the National Fund for Environmental Protection.

Gdansk and Sopot urban transport project

A €12 million EBRD loan, provided in 2001, to the city of Gdansk and a €5 million loan to the city of Sopot is helping to promote economic development in Poland's Tri-City area by supporting public transport improvements. The Sopot loan is helping to relieve traffic congestion and reduce pollution by financing new traffic-activated signalling and the construction of a pedestrian underpass connecting the urban centres of Gdansk and Gdynia. The Gdansk loan is supporting investment in new buses, tram and tram track refurbishment, and introduction of electronic ticketing. Both projects, which receive support from the EU's Phare programme, demonstrate the EBRD's ability to bring together technical assistance and bank financing to support investment in local infrastructure.

EU/EBRD SME Facility

The EU/EBRD SME Facility was launched in 1999, by the Bank and the EU's Phare programme, to encourage growth and development of SMEs by facilitating their access to loans, leasing and equity finance from local financial intermediaries. Poland is the largest beneficiary of the programme with €190 million committed to date. Facilities have been signed with six banks: Bank Zachodni WBK SA, ING Bank Slaski SA, Fortis Bank, Raiffeisen Bank Polska SA, Pekao SA and PKO BP SA and four leasing companies: BZ WBK Leasing SA, Raiffeisen Leasing Polska SA, EFL SA, SG Equipment Leasing Polska Sp z o.o.. SMEs play a vital role in the economy by underpinning growth and providing job opportunities, and participating banks and leasing companiesconsider the credit lines important to the development of their SME and micro-lending strategies. In Poland the average size of loan is €20,000, which underscores their importance to entrepreneurs and small businesses.

Rhein-Hyp BRE Bank Hipoteczny SA

A framework agreement, made in 2002, with Rheinhyp BRE, one of Poland's new specialised mortgage banks, will allow the EBRD to invest amounts of up to €25 million for euro-denominated bonds and US$ 25 million for dollar-denominated bonds over the next three years in Rheinhyp BRE's mortgage bond programmes. By supporting the issuance of mortgage bonds, the EBRD will help the company access a lower cost of funding, which should then make lower-cost, long-term funding available for residential mortgages. The creation of a thriving mortgage market is an important element of the transition process: only through increased competition and a wider choice of financial products will there be growth in affordable residential and rental housing. As the EBRD will participate as anchor investor in the first private placement of mortgage bonds in Poland, its investment will encourage participation of commercial investors (banks, pension and investment funds), increase investors' comfort in the new financial instrument and contribute to the underdeveloped fixed income non-sovereign securities market in Poland.