EU-funded National Recovery Fund (KPO) projects are set to spur construction sector investment in Poland from 2025, says one of Poland’s largest construction firms, Erbud. However, the shortage of qualified constriction workers could hamper the progress of these investments.
Besides this public investment, the government has announced the “Housing for a Start” programme that will subsidise people in a certain income bracket when paying rent. It is hoped this will spur private construction of more apartment buildings.
The first quarter saw slowing investment in Poland due to the reduced utilisation of EU infrastructure funds following the completion of the previous, 2014-2020 term, which resulted in lower infrastructure sector output. Q2 however saw on-year investment growth, most likely driven by defence spending, Erbud notes.
Polish construction companies are reporting a lack of new orders. There are three main factors hampering activity. The receipt of EU KPO funds has been delayed, while the new government is reviewing all infrastructure projects, which has led numerous investments to be suspended. Finally, many infrastructure projects have not yet been implemented because they are in the phase of prolonged negotiations, especially in the energy sector.
“Investment growth may be driven in the coming years by the need to increase labour productivity, as well as partial automation of processes in the face of rapidly increasing labour costs and the need to implement the energy transformation, which entails the need for high investment outlays to expand generation capacity,” the firm says in its latest earnings report seen by Kallanish.
The Polish government projects total investment into renewable energy up to 2040 of PLN 726.4 billion ($189.5 billion), of which PLN 261.8 billion will occur in 2023-2030 and PLN 464.5 billion in 2031-2040.
Adam Smith Poland
