Editor Iwo Nowak spoke with Maciej Madejak, Vice President of ProLogis, about the Polish warehouse space market.
Iwo Nowak: A warehouse alone, without good road infrastructure, does not mean much. How do you assess our current infrastructure?
Maciej Madejak: The current road infrastructure in Poland is not sufficiently developed. Due to its central location in Europe, Poland could act as a transit country; unfortunately, it is not fully utilizing this potential. There is, of course, an improvement in this area, but the process of modernization and the construction of roads and motorways is not proceeding as quickly as market players would expect – not only warehouse space developers, but also the entire logistics sector. Poland’s accession to the European Union and the increasing availability of structural aid have created a unique opportunity for the rapid modernization of the transport system in Poland. Several countries have taken advantage of a similar opportunity in the past; the example of Spain is particularly instructive in this regard, as it used EU funds to create a modern system of motorways and expressways, and has recently been using them to build a high-speed rail network. I am convinced that a significant improvement in the infrastructure and road facilities in our country is only a matter of time. We have high hopes for the awarding of the rights to host the 2012 European Football Championship to Poland and Ukraine, and thus for the developed program for the development of road connections between the cities where Euro 2012 matches will be held, as well as cross-border connections.
I.N.: Which regions of the country are the most attractive for investors in terms of building facilities and leasing warehouse space, and where is there stagnation and nothing will happen for the coming months or years?
M.M.: The warehouse space market in Poland would develop faster in some regions if not for certain administrative restrictions or the aforementioned poorly developed infrastructure. Despite the unquestionable dominance of the Warsaw region as the main cluster of modern warehouse space, many new markets have developed recently. And although there are still many undeveloped places, one cannot ignore the potential of cities such as, for example, Wrocław, Poznań, Gdańsk, Szczecin, or Katowice. The ProLogis portfolio is located in as many as 6 regions of Poland: from Pomerania, through Greater Poland, Warsaw, the Central region, to Upper and Lower Silesia. Within these locations, we plan to build at least another 1.8 million square meters of space. Therefore, over time, along with the further development of logistics and transport in Poland, we will reach the level of trade exchange of Western Europe, and thus fill in the blank spots on the map.
The article comes from the magazine “Logistyka” 4/2008.