By Ed Wight

Even without the recent national tragedy, Poland was hardly looking forward to next month’s World Cup. For a start, it didn’t qualify. Secondly, as soon as it’s over the world’s eyes will turn their focus on what Warsaw is doing to prepare for the next big footballing event, the Euro 2012 championships.

That focus could prove uncomfortable. Since winning the right to host the event jointly with Ukraine, Poland has struggled to match up to UEFA standards. Problems include a woeful lack of hotels and stadiums and an underdeveloped transport infrastructure for moving fans between the four host cities of Gdansk, Warsaw, Poznan and Wroclaw.

Part of the problem has been lack of cash – with a ballooning budget deficit, funds are scarce – and legal issues have thwarted public-private partnerships. Poland still has more than 1,000km of roads to build; to date it has managed only 75km. At that rate, it will take over 30 years to get the 1,100km needed by 2012.

In a drive to move things forward, the government has turned to outside help. Last year the Chinese signed a contract to build 50km, undercutting the Polish estimate of €750m by more than half. Now companies from Belarus, Croatia, Macedonia, India, and Turkey have got in line and are bidding for contracts.

Up for grabs are tenders for 300km of express roads, 200km of highways and 16 contracts for work on other major roads. Indian engineering and construction company Punj Lloyd has offered €105m for the construction of a ringroad. With a budget of just €1.8bn, foreign bids like this that are 40%–50% lower than those of Polish companies suit Warsaw just fine.

It doesn’t suit Polish construction companies though. They complain that because non-EU companies don’t have to comply with minimum wage regulations and other issues that bind domestic businesses, competition is unfair. “We aren’t afraid of competing with them, but we want the rivalry to be on a fair basis. It’s well known that Chinese companies are subsidised and can therefore offer prices at below cost,” says Janusz Zaleski, vice-president of the Polish Union of Construction Employers.

That is the least of Jacek Rostowskf’s concerns. Poland’s finance minister still plans to visit Shanghai Expo this summer in a bid to woo more Chinese investment.

It may be scant comfort right now but analysts from rating agencies say the air crash in Russia which claimed the life of the Polish President Lech Kaczynski and scores of other senior Polish public figures is not likely to influence the condition of the country’s economy nor its debt rating.