It nearly happened: just before the election, the site of the Bolesławiec PKS bus station and the building located there were to be auctioned. Notices of the tenders for the two properties were printed in a nationwide newspaper. The contents of the notice alarmed opposition county councillors. Information that questions were planned for the county authorities reached the round building. On 28 October, the day before the county session, Starosta Dariusz Kwaśniewski recommended cancelling the tender.

Nevertheless, Councillor Janusz Puzio asked Dariusz Kwaśniewski why, two days before the election, such a large and important asset was to be sold, with payment scheduled in instalments without specifying in the notice their number, repayment period or interest rate.

– Mr Starosta [...] among many other matters, we sought a dignified place where hundreds of people commuting to the city could wait for transport. Especially young people coming to county schools. The matter could not be resolved; a responsible, managerial approach was lacking. Regardless of the fact that we learned that the tender had been cancelled, its announcement is a fact, as is all the tender documentation. We are concerned about the way the county’s assets are being managed and ask you, Mr Starosta, to explain this matter – said Janusz Puzio.

The councillor was concerned about the form of payment specified in the documents. According to his knowledge, payment was to be made in instalments without specifying their number, repayment period or interest rate. Puzio also drew attention to a strange provision in the draft notarial deed concerning the planned tender: “The Buyer estimates that the value of the investment […] will amount to up to PLN 18 million.” – What would happen if an investor came forward who wanted to invest more than 18 million, and whose interests are served by limiting the value of the investment? – asked Janusz Puzio.

The starosta replied that the County Board had approved the sale of the land and bus station. In Kwaśniewski’s view, the wording of the notice complied with the law. It was as a result of comments from officials, who drew his attention to some wording in the notice, that he suggested to the PKS president that the tender be cancelled.

Here is the explanation we received from the starosty office:

On 28 October 2014, the President of PKS w Bolesławcu Spółka z o.o. accepted the starosta’s recommendation, submitted on behalf of the shareholders’ meeting, to cancel the tender. The documents were to be refined. PKS w Bolesławcu Spółka z o.o., which announced the tender, has detailed information about the exact costs.

A necessary condition of the sale is ensuring that the bus station continues to operate (information in the attached documents). Such a solution will be good for residents and for PKS Bolesławiec Spółka z o.o., which will consequently be able to purchase new, safer buses while also providing passengers with modern infrastructure at the bus station. It will be more rational, cheaper and more convenient for travellers.

The election date is irrelevant in this matter. It was the president’s autonomous decision. The owner’s approvals for the sale of the bus-station plots were issued in April 2013 and February 2014. The next tender will be announced in 2015.

Explanation from the PKS president:

Ladies and Gentlemen

I would like to join the ongoing discussion about the sale of the site of the current PKS bus station in Bolesławiec and offer a few words of explanation, especially since the matter is beginning to be discussed in the context of the upcoming local-government elections.

The decision to sell the plots on which the PKS bus station in Bolesławiec is currently located has nothing, and had nothing, to do with the date of the upcoming local-government elections.

Przedsiębiorstwo Komunikacji Samochodowej w Bolesławcu is undergoing restructuring. In agreement with the workforce, a programme has been implemented that aims to reduce the Company’s operating costs, increase revenue and raise the standard of the services provided.

Implementing some elements of this programme requires funds that will enable the renovation and modernisation of the Company’s infrastructure and the purchase of new means of transport.

It was therefore decided to announce a tender for the sale of the site of the current bus station, subject to one fundamental condition. The purchaser of the property will be required to develop the site in such a way that a service and retail complex is created there, incorporating a modern bus station with all its elements (a passenger waiting room, ticket offices, sanitary facilities, departure bays, etc.). Bus stations in Głogów, Legnica, Jelenia Góra (currently under construction) and Wrocław (currently being implemented) have been or are being modernised in a similar way. Thus, regarding the sale of the PKS bus-station site in Bolesławiec, this is “all there is and nothing more.”

I believe that both residents and the 130-person PKS Bolesławiec workforce care equally about ensuring that the PKS bus station and the buses we use are a showcase for the city and county, providing suitable comfort both while travelling and while waiting for a connection.

Yours sincerely, President of the Management Board
Józef Haluch