Skip to main content

New Polish government of Jaroslaw Kaczynski rethinks road spend

Poland might double road spend after the new government criticised spending calculations up to 2025 put together by the previous administration. The Vice-Minister of Infrastructure said expenditure would need to nearly double to around €47 billion for the planned new dual carriageways and motorways. A report by daily economic and political newspaper Rzeczpospolita said the government is calling the estimate of €3.7 million to build a 1km of road “unrealistic”. The rethink comes after Poland's euros
December 7, 2015 Read time: 2 mins
Poland might double road spend after the new government criticised spending calculations up to 2025 put together by the previous administration.

The Vice-Minister of Infrastructure said expenditure would need to nearly double to around €47 billion for the planned new dual carriageways and motorways.

A report by daily economic and political newspaper Rzeczpospolita said the government is calling the estimate of €3.7 million to build a 1km of road “unrealistic”.

The rethink comes after Poland's eurosceptic and conservative opposition Law and Justice Party won parliamentary elections in October, signalling a shift towards left-leaning economic policies. PiS, as Law and Justice and Law is known by its Polish acronym, is in favour of more public spending.

Law and Justice, led by Jaroslaw Kaczynski, defeated prime minister Ewa Kopacz of the centrist Civic Platform.

News agencies reported that the return to power of Justice and Law after eight years in opposition will probably mean an increase in state control of the economy with more taxes on banks and a slow-down in privatisation. Also, adopting the euro is not likely on the party’s agenda.

Rating agency Standard and Poor's said Poland's A- rating with a positive outlook remains unchanged for the moment. S&P head analyst on Poland, Felix Winnekens, said the rating could dip to “stable” if there were “reversals regarding fiscal consolidation, macroeconomic management or monetary policy”.

It was in August that then prime minister Kopacz announced that around €25 billion were to be earmarked for roads up to 2023, with almost 60 ring roads and 4,000km  new road expected to be built.

Meanwhile, the city of Ruda Slaska will allocate €70 million in loans from the European Investment Bank towards paying for the €162 million needed for infrastructure work, including roads, between 2016-2019.

Related Content

  • Putin orders doubling road-building in Russia by 2022
    November 21, 2014
    Russia looks set to accelerate its road building programme – Eugene Gerden writes The volume of road building in Russia should be doubled by 2022, according to a recent order of Russia’s president Vladimir Putin. He said, “We need a real breakthrough in road building during the next several years. These volumes should be doubled during the coming decade.”
  • East Africa drives towards road tolling
    March 18, 2016
    Road tolling is increasing in East Africa as the region’s countries expand highway networks - Shem Oirere writes. The drive towards road tolling in East Africa is gaining momentum. Uganda appears to have broken ranks with its neighbours to make huge strides in achieving progress with this innovative road financing plan. Road tolling has hitherto has been held back in East Africa for lack of political goodwill and State bureaucracies. Kenyan government officials have made announcements on planned road tollin
  • Bulgaria: back on track?
    July 23, 2012
    Several important Bulgarian road projects are expected to gain momentum over the coming weeks, a welcome boost for a sector that has been beset by delays in the past. In mid-September, the National Road Infrastructure Agency (NRIA) announced that it would soon be declaring new tenders for the construction of two key road projects worth a total of US$94 million (approximately €68.8 million). One section will link the south-eastern city of Kardzhali to Podkova, near the Greek border: the second will connect t
  • Recession impact report on worldwide infrastructure spending
    May 10, 2012
    A new report examines how aggressive government belt-tightening and financial market deleveraging restrained worldwide infrastructure investments for 2012 and probably for the next five years. In the US, for instance, Infrastructure2012: Spotlight on Leadership, released by the Urban Land Institute (ULI) and Ernst & Young, says that constrained public budgets and a growing recognition at the local level of the importance of infrastructure, combined with lack of action at the federal level, are causing state