Money for tourism from National Recovery Plan (KPO) blocked? Operators have been waiting for over a month to sign contracts, and the beneficiaries are becoming impatient.
The Polish Agency for Enterprise Development has completed the recruitment process for regional operators of fund distribution programs for the HoReCa sector. However, over a month has passed since this event, and the contracts with the operators have still not been signed. Why? No one knows, but unofficially it is said to be due to appeal procedures that are blocking the Polish Agency for Enterprise Development. This situation is causing significant chaos as businesses are eager to use the funds from KPO, and they are bombarding the selected operators with questions. The operators must turn them away as they have neither the money nor any information about the future of this project.
“The situation is very worrying for us. These are the first funds from KPO that could quickly and efficiently reach businesses in the tourism and catering industry. We currently do not know when this will happen, and now is the ideal time to quickly carry out investments before the approaching tourist season. This is a very important issue for the West Pomeranian Voivodeship, as well as other regions,” says Hanna Mojsiuk, President of Northern Chamber of Commerce in Szczecin.
There was supposed to be support for tourism and catering, but there has been a month of silence
One of the investments planned in KPO is A 1.2.1 providing support for the HoReCa industry with investments for businesses (micro, small, medium) in products, services and staff skills related to diversification of operations.
The total amount of funds planned for this undertaking is over a billion zlotys. The distribution of funds for regions was decided by the Polish Agency for Enterprise Development on January 5. Since then, there has been minimal progress on the matter.
“Businesses want to make the most of the season. There will be an intervention with the Minister.”
It is unknown when applications can be submitted and how long the recruitment process will take. The recruitment process is supposed to be announced on the same day for the whole country and will be conducted through the Polish Agency for Enterprise Development’s information system. The applications will then be sent for assessment and further processing to individual operators.
“Entrepreneurs are looking for information because they want to prepare investments and get started on their implementation. Unfortunately, the operators do not have the information they could provide based on substantive documents. It’s worth mentioning that operators across Poland are required to carry out advertising and informational campaigns in this area. The current pace of work suggests that this season, businesses will no longer be able to use the funds intended for the tourism sector, which would be a huge disappointment for many companies,” says Dr. Piotr Wolny, Director of the Northern Chamber of Commerce office in Szczecin.
The Northern Chamber of Commerce is calling for an urgent resolution on when operators will be able to use the funds intended for the HoReCa sector from KPO. This is a matter of importance for businesses in West Pomerania. We will be writing on this matter to the Polish Agency for Enterprise Development and intervening with the Minister of Sport and Tourism.
