Euro 2012 law being scrutinized in Polish Senate
The new Euro 2012 act, passed by the Lower House of Parliament on 7 September, designed to speed up the nation?s preparations for the EUFA football championships which Poland and Ukraine are co-hosting, is now being reviewed by the Senate.
The act assumes that special purpose companies will be set up to carry out all necessary preparation for the Euro 2012 finals.
The companies will be established by the state treasury and the cities hosting the event: Warsaw, Pozna?, Gda?sk, Chorzów, Wroc?aw and Kraków.
The share capital of each company will be at least 2 million zloty.
Sport Minister El?bieta Jakubiak is optimistic that the scenario will effectively facilitate the construction of stadiums and infrastructure before the football event in Poland.
The minister added that the cities hosting the Euro 2012 Championship would be equipped with all necessary instruments to carry out the investments, including possibilities to commission expert opinion.
Senator Stanislaw Kogut, Law and Justice (PiS) praises the new act saying that establishing special-purpose companies is a good idea.
Senator Tomasz Misiak, from the opposition Civic Platform (PO) believes that simplification of public tender procedures is a good move. In his opinion, the existing law is very far from perfect and the provisions included in the new act regulating public tender procedures will help complete the investments in time.
Under the new act, the construction of infrastructure for Euro 2012 will be financed by the state budget, local governments and the European Union.
The Council of Ministers will draw up a list of specific initiatives in a separate decree.
Poland has been criticized for moving to slowly to settle tenders and organize the initial stages of preparation of infrastructure. In Warsaw, authorities have yet to finalize plans for a new national stadium.
