The past 2020 was very difficult due to the coronavirus pandemic. We checked what the Krakow City Hall spent the money on during this period. The list of contracts signed by the municipality includes 6,451 items.
Which of them were the most expensive, but also the most eye-catching?
Delivery of diagnostic gloves and protective helmets – PLN 164,880. Agreement with CMS Polska.
Production and delivery of promotional materials, i.e. 10 thousand. pieces of wooden toys – rattles “Wawel Dragon” – 153 750 zlotys. Agreement with Wojciech Bajor Bajo.
Maintaining cleanliness and order in the city of Krakow – 581 569 236.41 PLN. Agreement with MPO Kraków.
Waste management service – PLN 1,561,843,461. Agreement with MPO in Krakow.
Delivery of coffee capsules – PLN 12,474.05. Agreement with Lyreco Polska SA.
100 free “PET” bottle crushers for downtown residents – 23.5 thousand. PLN. Contract with Chirs Star Krzysztof Dzido.
Provision of the car park of the Franciscan monastery (25 places) on the days of the sessions of the Krakow City Council – 26.4 thousand PLN. Agreement with the Monastery of St. Francis of Assisi, the Order of Friars Minor Conventual (Franciscans).
Implementation of the public task entitled “The Lucky Jew: Updating Traditions” – 10,000 PLN. Festivalt Association.
Development of a multi-variant and multi-sector concept for the construction of the Balicka Route – PLN 2,453,850. Agreement with Voessing Polska.
Printing of the Kraków.pl newspaper – PLN 791,413.20. Contract with “Leyko” printing house.
Custom-made Krakow caps – 10,000 PLN PLN. Agreement with the “Perfekt” Production and Service Company.
Making 200 pieces of a case for a commemorative medal to commemorate the XXX anniversary of the Revival of the Local Government – PLN 12,181. Contract with Elżbieta Makowska. The price for the medals was PLN 27,060. The contract was signed with the Karol Badyna Forma Sculpture Studio.
Purchase of promotional materials – Duke fountain pens – PLN 9,940.25. Agreement with “Kartos” Dłużniak Spółka Jawna.
Reconstruction of the Kraków Swoszowice railway station together with the construction of a park & ride car park – PLN 43 095 557.37. Agreement with PKP Polskie Linie Kolejowe SA.
Construction of the Kraków Sanctuary passenger stop on the line no. 94 – 27 859 272.76. Agreement with PKP Polskie Linie Kolejowe SA.
Lease of an envelope – PLN 12,504.50. Agreement with PPSERVICE SC.
A special-purpose subsidy for the implementation of the “Opera Rara 2020” task – PLN 1.7 million. Agreement with Capella Cracoviensis.
Purchase of police cars with hybrid drive for the Municipal Police Headquarters – PLN 1.1 million. Agreement with the State Treasury – the Voivodship Headquarters of Poland in Krakow.
Agreement on the creation and financing of a joint cultural institution entitled Institute for Intercultural Dialogue John Paul II in Krakow – PLN 12,765,900. Agreement with the Lesser Poland Voivodeship and the John Paul II Center “Do not be afraid”.
Preparation and implementation of the project “Dance with us! Polish National Dances” on November 14, 2020 in the TS Wisła hall – 30 thousand. PLN. Agreement with the Art & Sound Association.
Lease of space in the building at ul. Mogilska 41 – PLN 29,445,507.08. Agreement with WX Office Innovation.
You can find here the Polish article in Gazeta Krakowka.
More on the purchase of plots of land for parks, additional funds at the disposal of districts, increased expenditure on the construction of pavements and subsidies for residents investing in Renewable Energy Sources (RES) and micro-retention – this is the shortest summary of the amendments by councilors from the Kraków club for residents to next year’s budget.
In our opinion, in this record-high budget, not enough money goes directly to the residents for things that are closest to them
Łukasz Gibała, leader of the KdM club
New Year – New Pavements!
According to KdM councilors, this type of expenditure includes construction of new pavements. According to the proposal of President Jacek Majchrowski, 5 million PLN is to be allocated for this purpose.
“It’s definitely not enough. Unfortunately, there are still plenty of places in our city, especially in the outskirts, where, for example, children on their way to school or to a stop have to go along the road. This is unacceptable in the 2nd largest city in Poland. Pedestrian safety should be a priority” – explains Gibała. Therefore, the KdM club wants to allocate an additional 3 million PLN to the construction of pavements.
A deep need for forests & parks
The KdM councilors also emphasize that the pandemic has clearly shown how much the inhabitants need forests and parks – which are the subject of another amendment. “The coronavirus highlighted the lack of green areas in our city, so we want to increase funds for the purchase of land for future parks and forests” – says councilor Łukasz Maślona from KdM.
A step towards renewable energy!
Councilors propose that this amount increase from PLN 1 million to PLN 11 million. Another change in the budget they propose is money that will go directly to the residents. “We believe that in a budget of more than seven billion, allocating only 3 million PLN to support residents who install renewable energy or capture rainwater is definitely not enough. That is why we have proposed three million for each subsidy system for Krakow citizens who will take actions that have a positive impact on the effects of climate change” – explains Maślona.
District councilors should distribute the money!
Councilor Jan Pietras, former chairman of the IX district council, is the initiator of the amendment increasing the funds in the special-purpose reserve that will be available to districts. “It is the district councilors that are closest to the inhabitants, they know local problems best. Our amendment aims to make it easier for them to deal with these problems. These are often small investments – lighting a pedestrian crossing or providing benches – for which, unfortunately, money is usually not enough” – argues councilor Pietras.
The original article, in the Polish language, from Gazeta Krakowska, can be found here.
In September 2017, Massive Dynamic AG Polska (a branch of Massive Dynamic AG based in Switzerland) submitted a proposal to build an underground metro network for Krakow and the Krakow agglomeration for about 45 billion PLN on the basis of a public-private partnership. Its representatives resent the president of Krakow and his subordinate officials that for three years their actions have only discouraged the investor from actions that would largely solve transport problems in the capital of Małopolska and neighboring municipalities.
What would the project mean?
The undertaking would consist in the fact that Massive Dynamic AG will design, build and finance the metro network, then use it and earn money on it until the return on investment (analyzes have shown a return on the investment after 22 years), and then it will hand over the property to the city.
The concept proposed by Massive Dynamic AG assumed the construction of 5 metro lines with a total length of over 170 km (139 stations and 19 park & ride parking lots with a total capacity of about 6,100 parking spaces). It would be a subway network that would connect Krakow with the adjacent municipalities. 4 lines would run radially with a common point at the Main Railway Station, and 1 line would be a circumferential line.
The Numbers
It was noted that, according to preliminary arrangements with the provincial conservation authorities, the metro could run at a depth of at least 20 meters. The first 2 lines would be built within 3 years. The following ticket prices were adopted: tourists staying up to 3 days: 72-hour ticket – 54 PLN; tourists staying over 3 days: 7-day ticket – 74 PLN; students from outside the commune: monthly ticket – 82 PLN; students living in Krakow: monthly ticket – 65 PLN; people commuting to work from outside the commune: monthly ticket – 129 PLN; Krakow residents: monthly ticket – 92 PLN.
What happened?
The case was transferred to the Municipal Economy Department of the Krakow City Hall. “There, after the initial meeting, I was informed about the need to be patient. From the beginning of December 2017 to the end of March 2018, I was disposed of for all kinds of contacts with the Municipal Economy Department because of the lack of time for meetings regarding the metro” – admits Marcin Boroń, president of Massive Dynamic AG Polska.
In connection with the situation, in June 2018, Massive Dynamic AG submitted a petition to the Krakow City Council, in which it renewed its proposal to build the metro. As a result, there was finally a meeting with the management of the Municipal Economy Department, where president Marcin Boroń presented the concept of the metro to officials. He declared that the company had adequate financial resources and was in talks with companies involved in tunneling (Herrenknecht), rolling stock production (Siemens), and train traffic control systems.
Officials pointed out that a Study for Collision-Free Transport in Krakow is being developed, its effect may be the construction of the 1st metro line, therefore any works related to the construction of the metro line would have to be carried out in parallel and completely independent of the route of the metro in the eastern corridor analyzed in the Study West. Officials also pointed out that 3 metro lines were planned in the Krakow Development Study. The concept would, therefore, have to be adapted to this document or changed. The representatives of the city hall also expected more specific analyzes and documents confirming the investor’s financial capacity.
In October 2018, Massive Dynamic AG submitted to the office the preliminary analysis of the investment, and two months later it sent documents confirming the financial capacity. In order to read the documents sent, including agreements with foreign partners, the investor expected the city to sign a confidentiality agreement. The contract template was sent to the office at the end of 2018.
“After sending these documents, the Municipal Economy Department began to act very slowly. After many phone calls and messages sent by e-mail, a meeting with the vice-president of Krakow, Andrzej Kulig, was finally arranged on February 12, 2019, i.e. after more than 16 months from the moment our company submitted the proposal to build the metro“ – emphasizes President Marcin Boroń. “At the meeting attended by other representatives of the office, the scope of the project was initially discussed and it was agreed that a confidentiality agreement would be prepared. Later, the office again acted very sluggishly, in my opinion, so as to discourage us from further action in this matter”.
2019 & The Mayor of Krakow
In April 2019, Massive Dynamic filed a complaint against the work of the vice-president of Krakow, Andrzej Kulig, and the Municipal Economy Department. The Mayor of Krakow, Jacek Majchrowski, found it unfounded. In response, he recalled that the proposed solutions for the metro were not in line with the spatial development study for Kraków. The president also emphasized that although the president of Massive Dynamic Polska had sent documents confirming financial credibility, officials could not read their content, because they were secured with a password along with the information that they could be read after signing a confidentiality agreement.
The president also asked attention that the proposed routes of the metro lines should be verified by professional analyzes and forecasts of traffic, as well as the locations of transfer stations/nodes so that they do not conflict with the existing development. The president also noted that the city could not afford to cooperate with one entity selected without respecting the provisions related to public procurement.
Lack of interest…
“If it were an investment under a public-private partnership, the city could have prepared a tender and started a technical dialogue with our company” – says President Marcin Boroń. “We presented the general concept of the metro lines, which could be detailed at subsequent stages of the works to meet the city’s requirements. However, about PLN 20 million would be needed to conduct detailed analyzes. We could not afford such an expense without any agreements, especially non-disclosure agreements. It is difficult to imagine that without it, we would disclose all the financial secrets of our company to the office” – he adds.
Massive Dynamic AG also submitted complaints to the Krakow City Council and tried to present its vision to the councilors at the RMK session. “Until today, however, we have not obtained consent for it” – says President Marcin Boroń.
On the other hand, the chairman of the Krakow City Council, Dominik Jaśkowiec (PO councilor), informed Gazeta Krakowsa that he would look at the matter. “We have not recently invited guests to the meetings of the Krakow City Council due to the coronavirus pandemic. If epidemiological conditions make it possible, a presentation of the subway project could be organized in September” – explains Dominik Jaśkowiec.
Krakow voted in favor of having a metro line!
In May 2014, the inhabitants of Kraków voted in favor of building the metro in a referendum. In September 2018, the city signed an agreement with ILF Consulting Engineers Polska to develop a study for collision-free transport, including metro, for 9.4 million. The contract includes a deadline for the completion of the works by the end of 2019. Just before that date, the Krakow authorities informed that the document would not be prepared on time, as the proposals for the location of underground stops for the metro (planned on the Nowa Huta – city center – Bronowice route) were negatively assessed by the conservation authorities.
Initially, the Małopolska Voivodship Conservator of Monuments Monika Bogdanowska agreed only to the metro stop at the Nowaka-Jeziorański Square, so in the vicinity of the Main Railway Station. There was no consent for stops at the Mogilskie roundabout, the intersection of Dunajewskiego, Karmelicka and Podwale streets, and the square between Karmelicka and Dolnych Młynów streets, where there is now an above-ground parking lot and a municipal park is to be built. The contractors of the study proposed new solutions for the stops and the conservation authorities approved two of them: in the area of the Mogilskie roundabout and ul. Karmelicka, but with conditions. In the case of the Mogilskie roundabout, the recommendation was that the stop should not collide with the remains of the former fortification buildings.
Half a year ago, it seemed that both parties would be able to complete all the details efficiently and by the end of June this year, the authors of the study would be able to complete the necessary work. However, there are further delays and so far the Study has not been presented…
For more details on how the proposed 5 metro lines would look like, please do check the Gazeta Krakowska article and photos.
Yours truly,
The Twisted Red LadyBug bringing you the Krakow News
The first session of the Krakow City Council after the summer break will take place this week. There are many indications that councilors will not yet deal with the issue of increasing the price of tickets for public transport. Officials want to give themselves and the councilors more time to talk about the final shape of the increases, before the latter deal with the project. This one has still not appeared among the draft resolutions awaiting adoption.
Officials plan to increase the public transport ticket prices
I was telling you already that the officials were getting ready to increase the prices of tickets for public transport. In July, it was officially known what changes were planned by officials. As they explained, the increases are necessary, because the Coronavirus pandemic had a negative impact on the city’s transport budget and if we want to maintain the pre-pandemic network and frequency of connections in the autumn, the increases are necessary.
It seemed that the councilors would deal with the raises at the first session after the holidays, which is on the last Wednesday of August (Yup! Tomorrow!). But they won’t! “In order for the print to go to the session, the president must submit it at least one week before the session, i.e. by 17th August. It has not happened so far and I doubt it will change” – Dominik Jaśkowiec, chairman of the City Council tells us. The draft resolution is still not in the Public Information Bulletin.
Confirmation from The Mayor
His words are confirmed by a spokeswoman for Jacek Majchrowski. “The ticket resolution will not be available until one of the September sessions. We want to propose a project that has a chance to be adopted and will be a compromise” – says Monika Chylaszek. The officials will, therefore, work with the councilors on the project for some time to come.
What are the current propositions?
a one-way ticket for 6 PLN (now 4.6),
a 10-minute ticket for 3 PLN (now a 20-minute ticket for 3.6)
a 90-mint ticket for 8 PLN (now 6). The entire ticket tariff is to be changed. There will be no more monthly tickets for one or two lines. The current monthly ticket for all lines on the Krakow Card, instead of 69, is to cost 96 PLN (zone I) and 110 PLN (zone I and II).
New transport tickets may appear
A novelty will be the possibility to buy a 6-month ticket for all lines for the Krakow Card (i.e. for people paying taxes in Krakow) for 480 or 550 PLN (zones I and II).
Zone III is also to be a novelty – these are the farthest areas outside the city, where public transport from Krakow now commutes. However, we still do not know the border of the third zone. A monthly ticket for zone I, without Krakow Card, is to cost 128 PLN for the zone I, 96 PLN for zone II, and 69 PLN for zone III. In turn, a ticket without Krakow Card for zones I and II will cost 146 PLN(the same for zones II and III), and 166 PLN for all zones.
In addition, the tariff will include a monthly social ticket for 30, 50, and 70 PLN (zone I, I and II, zone I, II, and III) and an activation ticket for the unemployed for 50 and 100 PLN (zone I, I and II).
Coronavirus affecting public transport/price of tickets
According to officials, the increases are necessary due to the coronavirus epidemic, which plowed through the city’s transport systems. How much Krakow’s public transport has suffered can be seen from the April data on the inflow of ticket sales – only 4.12 million PLN, compared to 23.76 million PLNin April 2019. It was a little better in May – 8.89 million PLN. But that was over 16 million PLNless than in May a year ago. In June, the proceeds amounted to 13.2 million PLN. A year ago, it was 22.7 millionPLN.
During the epidemic, the daily revenues from ticket sales decreased from approx. 1.5-2.5 million PLN to several dozen thousand zlotys or a maximum of 200-400 thousand PLN.
“We estimate that by the end of the year, the revenues from tickets will be at the level we forecast, i.e. in autumn they will reach 70%. what before the pandemic, we will lose PLN 100 to 140 million by the end of the year” – Łukasz Franek, director of the Public Transport Board told Gazeta Krakowska some time ago.
Already in this year’s city budget for public transport, a deficit of PLN 300 million was planned. If the above assumptions are met, at the end of the year the budget gap in public transport will start to reach half a billion zlotys.
Original article (in Polish language) from Gazeta Krakowska can be found here.
More than 100 million PLNis needed for the Fast Agglomeration Railway in the direction of Nowa Huta (7 stops). This cannot be built without EU subsidies. Councillors will therefore appeal to the prime minister, ministers and the EU commissioner for transport to provide financing for this investment from EU funds planned for 2021-2027.
Fast Railway is a priority for Krakow Public Transport
The development of the Fast Agglomeration Railway is one of Krakow’s transport priorities. One of the variants assumes the extension of SKA by the Balice – Nowa Huta Przyczesości line. There are 7 stops to be built along the route: Prądnicka, 29 Listopada, Prądnik Biały, Jagiełły, Kocmyrzowska, Lubocza and Nowa Huta Przyside. Over PLN 100 million is needed for their construction.
EU Help Is Needed!
“Further development of the SKA network in Krakow depends on the city’s ability to raise funds for the construction of new stops. That is why it is fundamental to place this task in the new EU financial perspective for 2021-2027” – we read in the motion for a resolution which will be adopted by the Krakow City Council at the next session. The project was submitted by the councilors of the Platforma club. Modern Civic Coalition.
Construction of railway stops is not the task of the city. But Krakow co-finances their construction as part of Integrated Territorial Investment Strategies for the Krakow Functional Area. This is how stops are built in Swoszowice, Prądnik Czerwony, and the estate Piast. The cost of their construction is about 82 million PLN, 70% covered by the EU subsidy from the Regional Operational Program of the Lesser Poland Voivodeship for 2014-2020.
Yours truly,
The Twisted Red LadyBug Bringing You The Latest Krakow News
Share:
Reading time: 1 min
Get more stuff
Subscribe to our mailing list and get interesting stuff and updates to your email inbox.
Recent Comments