Civil Servants Learning Languages

Adult Education for Euro 2012

Due to the upcoming Euro 2012, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Administration (MSWiA) has decided to enroll as many as 7,300 civil servants such as police officers, office workers and public officers into language study courses. Such professional training of firefighters, customs officers, government protection workers is said to cost PLN 23.5 million. The training is being financed by the European Union as “improving the know-how of civil servants”. “The Euro 2012 football championships will draw many tourists and sports fans to Poland and we want to be prepared for them. It is most important that civil servants who have direct contact with foreigners are trained,” says Krzysztof Hajdas, spokesperson for the Warsaw Police Department. Police officers form the largest group on these courses, but they are not the only group that participates.

The regional emergency services, hospitals and public offices also have also sent their employees onto these courses. In Katowice and Łódź about PLN 500,000 was acquired from EU funds to train nurses, doctors and ambulance crews in foreign languages. ”Euro 2012 is a perfect opportunity to not only learn languages but also take advantage of  EU funds. Increasingly more schools decide to take advantage of EU money,” says Anna Idzikowska, owner of the language school Szuster, in Łódź, where currently she is teaching almost 200 medical workers from the region. She received PLN 740,000 for her project. The host cities for Euro 2012 are heading this language revolution. In Poznań, bus and tram drivers will undergo language training, whereas Warsaw’s Municipal Transport Department (ZTM) will educate their ticket collectors. In Poznań, even taxi drivers have decided to learn foreign languages. The upcoming football championships are not the only reason for this sudden rush towards knowledge; another is the availability of EU funds. The budget of the Human Capital Program which finances language courses amounts to €11.3 billion. It is not known how much of this money was spent on such courses, but they are necessary because according to Eurostat it appears that 1/3 of Polish people (37%) does not know any foreign language.
Dziennik

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Decisive Battle

Has the Waiting Finished?

Companies tendering for the second metro line will meet in court to argue about what can be seen in the Istanbul photos. The trial, which is the last chance for China Overseas Engineering Group, began yesterday. In April the group lost a tender to Astaldi-Gülermak, an Italian-Turkish consortium, which offered PLN 4.1 billion. The Chinese appealed against such a decision claiming that they have strong evidence that will disqualify the Italians and Turks. According to them, Gülermak cheated the Polish metro authorities boasting about the completed Istanbul stations. However, the media showed photographs suggesting otherwise. Astaldi-Gülermak claims that the photos show an unfinished shopping centre, a hotel and a school. Their competitors maintain that the photographs show metro stations. They also want to prove that Gülermak is an inexperienced company. A company that also appealed against the bidding was Warsaw-based Mostostal. After it turned out that the company has proxy difficulties, it was dismissed from further legal procedures. It can only be hoped that the metro verdict will be delivered in the nearest future. And time is running out. Polish government officials plan to restore traffic over the completed underground stations before Euro 2012. Yet it will be impossible to do so if the contract is not signed by autumn 2009.
Gazeta Wyborcza

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Airport in Modlin

Modlin Revamped

The Governor of Mazovian Province has given permission for an airport to be built in Modlin. It will be one of the most important infrastructural investments for Euro 2012. The first passengers will be able to make use of the airport in the spring of 2012. Construction of the Modlin airport, a key investment for the entire Mazovian Province, will relieve the overcrowded Fryderyk Chopin airport in Warsaw. The investment is one of the government’s priority projects as part of Poland’s organisation of the European Football Championships in 2012.

“The opening of the airport in Modlin is not only an opportunity to unburden Okęcie airport, but also to stimulate economic development of the entire region, a chance for creating new workplaces, as well as increasing investment and tourism,” says the President of Mazovian Province Adam Struzik. The airport will be built in a convenient location, which is currently being used for civil aviation, mostly private, where the S-7 Warsaw-Gdańsk highway and regional road No. 62 converge. The merit of this location is the fact that there is a rail link which allows for direct connection with the airport and the capital. The airport in Modlin will service international flights, as well as local flights between regional airports. The role of the new airport is to complement Warsaw’s Okęcie airport. Moreover, it will provide something which is impossible at Okęcie, i.e. a night service for international flights, including transfer flights. It is estimated that between the years 2012 and 2014 as many as 2 million passengers will make use of Modlin airport. The whole investment will cost around PLN 400 million, ofwhich PLN 50 million will come from the regional self-government and the rest from EU subsidies.
Gazeta Prawna

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New Hosts of Euro 2012

A Lot on Viktor's Mind

At first every one thought that it is only a rumour, but now Germany seems to be very close to taking over the organisation of Euro 2012 from Ukraine. Viktor Yushchenko, the President of Ukraine, announced recently that the country has serious financial problems. According to Bild it is almost certain that the football matches will take place in Berlin and Lipsk. “Ukraine is able to cover only 5% of all costs needed for the organisation of Euro 2012. This means that they lack about €665 million needed for bringing Kiev, Lvov, Donieck and Dniepropietrovsk up to UEFA requirements. So far only Kiev has been approved of by UEFA,” reports Bild. The German newspaper also writes about the high level of economic recession in Ukraine and it  quotes Michael Platini who said that Germany is one of the options that should be taken into consideration in case Ukraine fails. However, information about changing one of the hosts of Euro 2012 has not yet been confirmed. Wolfgang Niersbach, secretary general of the German Football Association (DFB), said that everyone wants Poland and Ukraine to be the hosts of Euro 2012.
Dziennik

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Blind People at Euro 2012

Helping the Blind

In all stadiums built for Euro 2012 there will be special seats equipped with headphones for blind people and their guardians. “There is already such equipment at stadiums in Manchester and London, and also in Austria and Switzerland (developed for Euro 2008). But Poland will provide twice as many seats for blind people,” says Katarzyna Meller, spokesperson of PL 2012, the company responsible for organising Euro 2012. “What is more, their seats will not be placed in a different sector but among able-bodied fans. We do not want them to feel isolated, alienated and pushed aside”. Up till now, blind people have not been coming to matches; what would be the point of coming if they cannot see anyway? “The most important thing is to become a part of the show and feel its vibes. I always come home from a match, hardly being able to speak from all the shouting,” says Marcin Kaczorowski, who is blind, once a Łódź Widzew masseur and now a loyal fan. “When I was a part of the club’s medical staff, the team’s manager or the other masseur would describe to me what was going on on the pitch. Sometimes I guessed myself, hearing the referee’s whistle, players’ shouts or the crowd’s reaction. These days, I take a radio to the match and with one ear I listen to the live coverage of the match on the radio, and with the other to the sounds coming from the pitch,” says Marcin.

At stadiums in Warsaw, Gdańsk, Poznań and Wrocław, which are preparing about 50 seats for the blind and as many for their guardians, radios will not be needed. There will be headphone sets provided and live coverage will be transmitted for the blind. “It will be a more descriptive coverage than the one you hear on the radio,” says Tomasz Strzymiński from the Audiodeskrypcja foundation, being a blind fan himself. “A commentator has to know what a player wears, what exactly they do, where the ball is. He has to know not only that somebody kicked a ball but how he kicked it, so that a blind person can ‘see’ the match in their heads. Instead of names and stories we need to be told what is happening”. Two years ago, thanks to his initiative, during a match between Jagiellonia Białystok and Zagłębie Lubin, for the first time 17 blind fans had the chance to come to a match. “That match made us realise how much there is still to be done. I heard the radio coverage myself and I know what is needed now in radio coverages for blind people. These days there is lack of annotating experts in Poland. We need to find them before Euro 2012,” says Strzymiński. Katarzyna Meller reassures us that all will be done before the championships as the costs of European-standard commentator training will probably be covered by UEFA.
Wyborcza.pl

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No Euro 2012 in Poland

No Infrastructure

According to UEFA requirements, residential centres for Euro 2012 football teams should be ready next year, but this is not possible. “We will ask UEFA to postpone the deadline,” said Adam Olkowicz, deputy head of the Polish Football Association (PZPN). According to Gazeta Wyborcza, 44 Polish resorts want to host the finalists of Euro 2012, but unfortunately none of them meet UEFA’s requirements. Footballers should have at their disposal four star hotels with at least 60 rooms, a full-sized pitch, stands with one thousand seats, and three additional playing fields. Moreover, the residential centres must be near airports. UEFA wants residential centres to be ready in the second half of 2010. “We will inform UEFA that we are not able to finish work on time. Besides, we think that residential centres do not have to be ready two years before Euro 2012. We will do our best to convince UEFA to postpone the deadline,” said Adam Olkowicz. “I am optimistic and I think we will be on time with everything,” he added.
Dziennik

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Euro 2012 Decision

Taking Place

Warsaw, Gdańsk, Poznań and Wrocław will host Euro 2012. The UEFA Executive Committee holds that the Euro 2012 games should be played at four Polish and four Ukrainian stadiums. Even though Poland’s Kraków and Chorzów are also ready, UEFA rejected those cities having acknowledged that the Polish Football Association’s choices and all agreements which have already been signed should also be taken into account. The final decision concerning Ukrainian cities is still to be taken. Only Kiev has a chance to meet all the criteria, and so far it has been selected to be a semi-final city. However, the local airport which is reportedly too small seems to be the next problem.

Dniepropietrovsk and Odessa were rejected and the other three Ukrainian cities of Donetsk, Charkov and Lviv have time until November 30 to make the necessary improvements. Perhaps only one of them will be selected. Michel Platini, head of UEFA, admitted that Ukraine has been granted half a year more for the preparations only because of guarantees given by Viktor Yushchenko. “From the very beginning we have been fighting for an equal division of our roles. There were no reasons for breaking the initial agreements concluded with Polish cities. I can only sympathise with fans from Kraków and Chorzów,” said Grzegorz Lato, head of the Polish Football Association (PZPN). Hryhorij Surkis, head of the Football Federation of Ukraine, said that the verdict is severe but just. He continued saying: “I must emphasise Michel Platini’s wisdom and UEFA’s patience. If we have six months extra for the preparations, it means that those who govern European football want Euro 2012 to take place in our country.” Surkis is sure that this joint championships will take place at eight stadiums, together with the final in Kiev.
Rzeczpospolita

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PKP Toilet Contest

No New Look

All the fuss is about the new design of three out of seven toilet facilities at Warsaw’s Central Station. According to an official announcement by Polish State Railways (PKP). The competition jury for the new toilet design is looking at ecological and energy-efficient designs, which “will meet the new needs of passengers”. Competition entries can be delivered by May 5^th 2009 and the results will be announced a month later. PKP should perhaps renovate the whole of Central Station, which is squalid and falling apart, instead of just focusing on three toilets alone.

PKP spokesman Michał Wrzosek says, “It is easy to announce a contest for the new look of the Station, but will it do any good? We will get a lot of breathtaking designs none of which can be carried out, because they are either too expensive or too avant-garde. It is much easier to do smaller projects like these toilets”. According to Wrzosek, the toilets will be renovated along with the renovation of the whole Central Station in 2010. Will it take place? An official announcement is less than certain; it states that the winning designs “are likely” to be carried out before Euro 2012. The jury is made up of  PKP representatives and the well-known Polish architects Ewa Kuryłowicz and Andrzej Chołdzyński. Chłodzyński says, “It won’t do me any harm. Central Station is a pearl of Modernism; the problem is that it is in terrible condition. The renovation must begin from the very basics, for example the toilets”. The toilet competition includes prizes worth PLN 40,000. A PR company was hired to promote the initiative.

“A jury with great architects and prizes, all for three toilets. I would like to thank PKP for giving me another reason to laugh because as we all know laughter is the best medicine,” says Adrian Furgalski, from Tor Economic Advisors. “PKP wastes time on some ridiculous competition and all that passengers really want is a speedy renovation of this whole mess”. The Railway Stations Unit, which separated from PKP in 2005, will be responsible for the renovation of Central Station in Warsaw. The company was supposed to be a gold mine for the whole of PKP. The seventy-two largest and busiest Polish railway stations in the main Polish cities, including Central Station, Eastern Station, and Western station in Warsaw, are under the management of this company. They were all supposed to be transformed into modern rail hubs connecting offices of the 21^st century and shopping malls and, what is most important, finally start making a profit.

“Instead the company will end up just washing ceilings and choosing a new design for toilets,” says Karol Trammer, editor of the railway monthly Z biegiem szyn. “We are supposed to have super stations in Warsaw for Euro 2012, but this is just wishful thinking and again PKP has shown its true colours”. We must recall that Railway Stations Unit was supposed to find private investors that would change the Eastern and Western stations in Warsaw into palaces made of steel and glass. Unfortunately, it has failed. What about Central Station? At best it will stink a little less for Euro 2012. We called Wieslawa Kopec-Olszewska, who is the director responsible for preparing all PKP stations for Euro 2012, but she said that Central Station is not under her management.
Rzeczpospolita

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Fight over Euro 2012

Euro Partners?

Ukraine is struggling with the crisis but no matter what happens Ukraine will not let Poland hold more football matches during Euro 2012. “Kiev does not accept the fact that Poland may hold more matches than Ukraine. This is our priority,” said Viktor Yushchenko, the President of Ukraine. Yushchenko assures everyone that no later than May four out of six Ukrainian cities that want to hold Euro 2012 will meet all UEFA expectations. “We will be on time with everything,” he adds. Ukraine does not even take into consideration the situation in which one of the partner countries holds more matches than the other. However, in case Ukraine is late with preparations for Euro 2012, Poland will gain two more matches. On May UEFA will decide which cities will hold Euro 2012.
Dziennik

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Euro 2012

United We Stand?

Euro 2012 will be held in six Polish cities and only two cities in Ukraine. Football matches will be played in Warsaw, Gdańsk, Poznań, Kraków, Chorzów, and Wrocław, although UEFA will take the final decision in May. In Ukraine only Kiev and Donieck are able to hold the Euro 2012. The other cities have serious financial problems and what is more the government of Ukraine has ceased funding Euro 2012 investments. However, the Ukrainian people are optimistic. “At the beginning of February David Taylor, UEFA secretary-general, praised us,” says Sergey Vasilev, a spokesman of the Ukrainian football federation. UEFA may announce that Euro 2012 will be held in six cities in Poland and two in Ukraine very soon. Nonetheless, assessments will continue every six months. There are no financial problems in Poland and work on the National Stadium in Warsaw continues. Building sites in Gdańsk and Wrocław are currently being prepared whilst in Poznań and Kraków stadia already exist and only require minor modifications, as does the stadium in Chorzów. “We’re on time,” said Mirosław Drzewiecki, the Minister of Sport.
Dziennik

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