Transport, like other sectors of the economy, has undergone two significant trials over the last fifteen years. The first was the complete change of the economic and political system at the beginning of the 1990s, and the second was Poland’s accession to the European Union in 2004. Quite surprisingly, favorable conditions for economic reform were created by the Law on Economic Activity, adopted by the Sejm in December 1988. It was difficult to suspect the then-Sejm of a conspiracy aimed at overthrowing the communist system and introducing a market economy, but as a result of this law coming into force from the beginning of 1989, it was permissible to undertake almost any economic activity without the permission of the authorities. It was a revolutionary law, as previously every economic activity was licensed, i.e., controlled and restricted administratively.
The aforementioned law was not aimed solely at transport, but it had a significant impact on this sector of the economy, especially on road transport. Assessing road transport in Poland from the point of view of meeting market needs, it can be stated that a customer-consumer market was formed here at a rapid pace. Although the road transport market has been re-regulated since 1991 in terms of international transport, and since 1998 in relation to domestic passenger transport, road transport can be considered the “winner” of the first period of transformation. This is evidenced by the fact that only public road transport has recorded a steady increase in transport over the past fifteen years.
At this point, it is worth mentioning the second significant effect of the transformation, which was the decline in the transport intensity of the economy. It resulted from its rationalization and lower demand for transport, primarily of energy raw materials. As a result, the structure of transport needs also changed. Road transport, which was quickly privatized and reacted flexibly to changes in the market environment, adapted to these changes the fastest. Unfortunately, similar observations cannot be made regarding other branches of transport. They remained in the hands of state monopolies. As a result, despite more than 15 years having passed since the start of the systemic reform, old-style thinking still persists in Poland – through the prism of the interests of transport companies. This resulted and still results from the fact that the ministry responsible for transport was and to a large extent remains a ministry of several state-owned transport companies, and not of millions of passengers and shippers.
Despite their monopolistic position, companies such as PKP or LOT increased their losses and lost market share. Only remnants remained of the great shipowner – Polish Ocean Lines. The period preceding Poland’s accession to the European Union was not used to improve road and rail infrastructure. As a result of limited access to the hinterland, Polish seaports lost cargo to Western European ports.
The article comes from the magazine “Logistyka”, No. 2/2006.