Protesters block construction of British Petroleum petrol station in Krakow

British Petroleum (BP) is demanding that the Malopolska Voivode and the President of Krakow pay zl.1.7 million compensation for not having sufficiently protected its investment, namely the construction of petrol station in Krakow. BP received planning permission in spite of protests from ecologists and local residents. The Krakow City Hall and General Office of Building Control agreed that there were no arguments against the BP investment. However, several protests were organized, in which the crowd blocked the start of construction and workers had to be evacuated by the police. According to BP, the President of Krakow did too far little to stop the protests which meant that BP had to suspend the investment. Andrzej Kubas, who is representing BP in Poland, said that both the company and public interest has suffered. BP argues that city officials should have been more tough with the protesters and has decided to settle the issue through the courts. (Rzeczpospolita, p. C1) A.D.