European Commissioner Johannes Hahn (L), Minister of Regional Development Elzbieta Bienkowska (C) and Minister of Transport Slawomir Nowak (R): photo - EPA/Olivier Hoslet
After a meeting in Brussels today with European Commissioner Johannes Hahn, Minister Elzbieta Bienkowska forecast “good news over the coming weeks” regarding the funding.
“It is possible that the unblocking of funds for Polish roads will occur at the turn of February and March,” she told Polish Radio, having attended the meeting together with Polish Transport Minister Slawomir Nowak.
“It's important that it happens rather soon, so as to calm the situation,” she added.
Some 3.5 billion zloty (837.7 million euro) of funding was blocked owing to allegations of price-fixing.
Poland uncovered the alleged cartel, and a prosecutor has charged one director of the General Directorate of National Roads and Motorways (GDDKiA),and 10 construction company directors.
On Thursday, Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski claimed that if Poland has illuminated any wrongdoing, it could ultimately work in the country's favour, not excluding with regards to next week's EU budget talks for 2014-2020.
"If a Polish institution - a Polish prosecutor - is capable of discovering price-fixing, that will build our authority, showing that the Polish state works efficiently, giving us additional arguments in our negotiations about a generous European budget deal,” he told television station TVN24.
Bienkowska has said that further documentation of the case will be dispatched as soon as possible to the EC.
Meanwhile, European Commissioner Johannes Hahn stopped short of making any concrete pledges, but indicated that Bienkowska's forecast was attainable.
“It all depends on when we receive the information from Poland,” he told Polish Radio.
“However, if on receiving it we find that it is satisfactory, then this forecast is not impossible,”he said. (nh)