Reuters

W roku 2013 miasto  dotknęły przejściowe problemy finansowe, które stały się przedmiotem alarmistycznego zainteresowania mediów polskich i zagranicznych. Jednak polityka zaciskania pasa pozwoliła wkrótce przezwyciężyć kryzys i otworzyła  w kolejnych latach nowe perspektywy rozwoju.

Puls Biznesu z 23.01.2013 donosił: Agencja informacyjna Reuters odwiedziła  Pabianice, których burmistrz zmaga się, by załatać poważną dziurę budżetową miasta.

- Żyjemy w biedzie. Nie mamy pieniędzy – powiedział w rozmowie z Reutersem Zbigniew Dychto, burmistrz Pabianic. Burmistrz sprzedaje nieruchomości, by pozyskać pieniądze, ale miasta w dalszym ciągu nie stać na naprawę chodników, a dług lokalnego szpitala przekracza już roczny budżet miejski. Pabianice posłużyły agencji Reuters jako przykład złej sytuacji finansowej małych miast w Polsce, która może przyczynić się do pogłębienia spowolnienia gospodarczego w tym roku w kraju. „Mniejsze samorządy, w tym Pabianice, są tak zadłużone że Ministerstwo Finansów musiało wkroczyć z pożyczkami”, wskazuje Reuters.

Reuters informował: Polish belt-tightening risks squeezing growth (polskie zaciskanie pasa grozi spowolnieniem gospodarczym)

Pabianice, Poland (Reuters) – The Polish town of Pabianice is broke (Pabianice są bankrutem). The mayor is selling off property to raise cash but still cannot afford to fix the paving stones and the local hospital has racked up more debt than the annual municipal budget.

Poland has weathered the economic slowdown better than most other European Union members but public finance are under stress in small towns and the state treasury alike, and this may deepen a downturn that is forecast for this year.

A handful of smaller local authorities including Pabianice, a community of 70,000 which lies 150 km (95 miles) southwest of Warsaw, are so indebted that the finance ministry has had to step in with loans.

“We’re living in a state of poverty,” said Zbigniew Dychto, Pabianice’s mayor. “I don’t have money”. (“Żyjemy w stanie ubóstwa” – powiedział Zbigniew Dychto, prezydent Pabianic. “Nie mam pieniędzy.”)

Tax revenues are falling across the country as the economy slows, forcing Poland to cut the kind of spending which has played a crucial role in driving economic growth: state investments in projects such as new roads and public buildings.

The 2012 budget deficit has yet to be announced, but Reuters calculations based on finance ministry data show central government revenue was about $2 billion (1 billion pounds) lower than projected in the budget, about 0,.4 percent of gross domestic product (GDP).

Such problems are mirrored at the local level. Out of Poland’s roughly 3,000 municipalities, only 2 percent were running a budget surplus last year, data obtained by Reuters shows. Several of the biggest cities are at, or near their debt ceilings, so cannot borrow much more to make ends meet.

By comparison, in Hungary, the most indebted of the EU’s eastern countries, the central government took over a huge chunk of local debt last year to give municipalities a fresh start.

These problems – falling tax revenue leading to budget shortfalls – have grown familiar to most EU countries since the financial crisis four years ago.

Poland is more exposed than most of its neighbours for two reasons. First, it is committed to cutting its deficit and debt as it wants to exit an excessive deficit procedure this year. This was imposed by the European Commission for breaking EU budget rules, and Poland cannot resort to more borrowing to ease the pressure on public finances.

Secondly, economic growth depend to a much greater extent than in many other EU countries on public investment spending, the item most likely to be cut because other items of budget expenditure are mandatory.

Public investment amounted to 5.7 percent of Polish GDP in 2011, European Commission data show, compared with 2.3 percent in the euro zone.

This investment has been used to fund the new roads, public buildings and sports stadiums that have turned Poland into a big construction site and helped to make it the only EU member to avoid recession over the past for years.

“Capping investments is a double-edged sword for the government,” said Wadim Tyszkiewicz, head of the association of local governments which represents mayors struggling to balance their budgets. “It will hit economic growth for sure.”

The strain on the budget comes as a tricky time for Poland because EU funding, which pays for a large chunk of the public investments, is slowing. European Commission forecasts that Polish public investment will fall 15 percent this year and another 14 percent in 2014. This follows average annual growth of 16 percent between 2007 and 2011. (…)

The drop off in public investment, with other factors, means “the chances that Poland will slip into recession in the first half of 2013 are growing”, said Ernest Pytlarczyk, chief economist at BRE bank in Warsaw. Poland has not suffered a full recession year since 1991 when the economy was undergoing traumatic “shock therapy” market reforms after the fall of communism.

In Pabianice, the lack of public cash is filtering through into the real economy. Zamkowa Street, once the main shopping thoroughfare, is now potholed and almost deserted. It is lined with empty shop-fronts, their windows smashed.

Jakub Morawski’s DVD rental shop is one of the few businesses still operating. “Look outside and see our pavements and streets look like,” he said. “It’s a disaster.” (…)

(W Pabianicach brak publicznego finansowania odbija się na realnej gospodarce. Ulica Zamkowa, niegdyś główna arteria handlowa, jest podziurawiona i bezludna. Straszą puste wystawy i rozbite szyby.

Wypożyczalnia DVD Jakuba Morawskiego należy do niewielu biznesów, które jeszcze działają. „Zobaczcie jak wyglądają nasze ulice” – mówi – „Istna katastrofa”.)

Pabianice miały  ilustrować – przyznajmy - nieco satyrycznie, znamiona powszechnego spowolnienia gospodarczego  w Europie Środkowej.

Agencja prasowa Reuters powstała w XIX wieku  w Akwizgranie z inicjatywy Paula Juliusa Reutera, który zajmował się dostarczaniem informacji o cenach akcji za pomocą gołębi pomiędzy Brukselą a Akwizgranem.  Centrala agencji do 1939 roku mieściła się w Londynie przy Fleet Street, a od 2005 znajduje się na Canary Wharf. W 2008 r. spółka Reuters Group została przejęta przez kanadyjską Thompson Corporation. Reuters działa w 200 miastach i 94 krajach i dostarcza informacje tekstowe w  19 językach.

https://www.reuters.com/

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W 2006 roku w Londynie nakładem Transparency International ukazała się publikacja „Global Corruption Report”, w której zawarta jest pochwała administracji samorządowej w Pabianicach. W 2004 i 2005 roku zostały bowiem ogłoszone konkursy na stanowiska urzędnicze.

(…) Some local governments have begun to understand that good governance is also a route to political success and are introducing transparent standards of operation on their own initiative, despite the dearth of official regulations.

In 2004, the head of the administration of Pabianice introduced competitive procedures to the recruitment of public officials. At the end of 2004, two competitions to fill vacancies in the administration were announced and the requirement details were published on the Internet and the local bulletin board.

In early 2005, the Pabianice administration issued six more regulations to align its policy with EU standards. In addition to the competitive recruitment process, the district now possesses formal rules for performance assessment, remuneration and career advancement, and an ethical code for its officials.

Autor: Sławomir Saładaj