New laws, for those who can afford them
By Aleksander Nowacki
The ever-growing allegations of impropriety in relations between the government and business saw a new development last week, when Jan Maria Rokita, member of the Rywingate investigative commission and a Civic Platform (PO) leader, accused the Treasury Ministry of literally selling specific laws to Bartimpex, a holding owned by Aleksander Gudzowaty, the country's second richest man.
"To eliminate Rokita would be a pleasure," Gudzowaty said at a press conference on Thursday. He denied all allegations made by the politician, claiming that the deal was beneficial to all involved.
At the root of the acrimony is last October's privatization deal in which Bartimpex acquired an 85-percent stake in Wrocław-based spirits producer Wratislavia Polmos for zł. 64.6 million (€14.5 million). The deal envisaged a
zł. 10-million (€2.25-million) investment in the company on the condition that nine articles in the Biofuels Act be passed by parliament. The articles were specified in the agreement.
According to the Supreme Chamber of Control (NIK), whose report was the basis for Rokita's accusations, the deal "failed to protect any interests but Aleksander Gudzowaty's." At a press conference last Wednesday, Rokita called for voting on the law, scheduled for the next day, to be suspended. His proposition did not meet with the speaker's approval and the act was passed by a 301-89 majority. According to Marek Borowski, the Sejm speaker, the law does not contain the articles that Rokita questioned.
Meanwhile, Wiesław Kaczmarek, the treasury minister at the time the deal was signed, leapt to Gudzowaty's defense, saying that it was an accepted practice to offer incentives to investors, and that Bartimpex had the right to expect concessions in return for an undertaking to spend money on the plant. He declined, however, to name parallel cases.
According to Gudzowaty, it was natural that the commitment was conditional on laws that would stimulate development of the biofuels market. Otherwise, he said, the investment "would not make any business sense at all."
Hours before the act was voted in, Gudzowaty went on record saying that he considered his zł. 126-million (€28.4-million) investments in the biofuels sector "a failure." Gudzowaty claimed that Wratislavia and Leszno-based Akwawit, another biofuels producer owned by him, have been losing money due to the monopolistic practices of fuel giant PKN Orlen, which depresses bioethanol prices to below cost.
Robert Gmyrek, biofuels office director at Orlen, countered that the current price of bioethanol is the result of a temporary surplus on the market and it would be wrong for the government to attempt any intervention in the issue.
To offset the effects of low prices, Gudzowaty said his company would increase its exports, as well as invest in new technologies, which would allow the company to reduce its costs of production.
The new law is likely to give the industry a boost that Bartimpex's owner has long desired. As of October 1 this year, all fuel sold in Poland will have to contain between 3.5 percent and 5 percent biocomponents. The minimum level will increase to 4 percent over time.
The act had been previously at the root of the Polish Popular Party (PSL)'s exit from the government coalition, when the law's previous version was vetoed by the president and the Sejm failed to overturn the veto.
The government hopes the act will aid the country's ailing agriculture and processing industry. Permits to produce biofuels will only be granted to businesses that sign a minimum five-year contract with farmers for raw material deliveries. Rapeseed production is expected to rise threefold as a result of the new legislation.
