The politics of privatization

During a conference organized by the Polish Society of Entrepreneurship Support, politicians and entrepreneurs said that privatization is the only way forward for the Polish economy.

"The state is not only just a bad owner, it is not an owner at all," said the president of the Adam Smith Center, Robert Gwiazdowski, who added that privatization was absolutely necessary if Poland is to have a healthy economy. He stressed, however, that a thorough analysis of the market is vital before any privatization steps are taken.

Former Economy Minister Janusz Steinhoff, also a supporter of privatization, shared Gwiazdowski's opinion that the process cannot be conducted hastily. "It should be an element of the government's economic policy, not a goal in itself," he said, adding that privatization should be preceded by a deregulatory process and the breaking of monopolies.

However, participants said the current political circumstances bode ill for the privatization process, with politicians using the sell-off of state assets for political leverage. "There isn't much being said about privatization and if there is, then it's in a negative context," said the Undersecretary of State at the Treasury Ministry, Przemysław Morysiak.

Sejm deputy Adam Szejnfeld of Civic Platform (PO) said that privatization was the main impasse during the coalition negotiations between PO and Law and Justice (PiS). "We are for complete, total and profound privatization. Our partners have a different approach," he said. He added that with such radically different policies, it would be very difficult to educate the public about the advantages of privatization.