Protecting the EU market and companies in tenders: Discussions and challenges at the European Economic Congress in Katowice

– We should defend the European Union market and EU companies in tenders more strongly. At the moment, more and more entities from outside the EU are taking part in tenders and due to the lack of appropriate certification, they are treated in the same way as European companies,” he said during the European Economic Congress in Katowice – Artur Popko, President of the Management Board of Budimex SA.

As part of the Congress, a discussion panel was held on Construction – Investments, tenders, competition.

With the participation of Budimex and:

• Marek Mazurek, Chairman of the Board, CEO, Izostal
• Hubert Nowak, President, Public Procurement Office
• Piotr Kledzik, Chairman of the Board, PORR SA
• Wojciech Trojanowski, Member of the Board, STRABAG Sp. z o.o.

– The Polish construction industry accounts for 7% of GDP and over a million people working in the construction industry. This sector of the economy bears a large share of economic development – says Artur Popko.                                                                                                                                     

„Meanwhile, in infrastructure construction, we have been dealing with a real decline in production for 3 months – at the level of over 13%. This is a noticeable gap. And this segment of the construction industry has been the workhorse of the entire construction sector in recent years,” added the President of Budimex.

The interlocutors also discussed the certification process prepared by the government for construction contractors. They emphasized that certification must be real and concern the personal, technical and financial potential of contractors, not only administrative.  The draft provisions that are currently being prepared are insufficient, the interlocutors emphasized.

Budimex emphasised that the railway market also needs certification analogous to the road market. 

According to the unanimous opinion of representatives of the construction industry, the unstable number of tenders on the market and the lack of certification are the biggest threats to the industry.