On Monday, local media reported that the current president of H.Cegielski-Poznań SA, Elżbieta Wawrzynkiewicz, resigned from her position on April 12. In an interview with “Gazeta Wyborcza”, Wawrzynkiewicz indicated that the reason for this decision was primarily the lack of cooperation from Polska Grupa Zbrojeniowa, to which the plant has belonged since last year. Recently, local media also reported on the company's financial problems.
In recent years, the company has recorded losses
To the situation in the plants. Hipolit Cegielski was commented on by the Mayor of Poznań, Jacek Jaśkowiak, on Tuesday at a press conference. In a conversation with journalists, he emphasized that “it is not our ambition to take over anything. We are terrified that PiS has led the icon of Poznań to such a terrible financial situation. They actually drained the properties, took them out through various developers, and it's terrifying.”
As Jaśkowiak said, the company has recorded losses in recent years. He indicated that in 2022 the loss was PLN 56 million, while last year it amounted to PLN 30 million. “This is the icon of Poznań. When I was a student of a mechanical technical school, I worked there physically, we had internships there. I will encourage councilors to save it,” Jaśkowiak declared.
“We have shown through municipal companies Modertrans, MTP, Aquanet (…) that municipal property can be managed efficiently. It does not have to be the case that something that is state or local government does not have to function efficiently,” he added. The president announced that he had already talked about a possible takeover of the company by the city, among others. with the current president of H.Cegielski-Poznań SA, Elżbieta Wawrzynkiewicz, and with Deputy Prime Minister Krzysztof Gawkowski, who visited Poznań on Monday on the occasion of the INSECON congress.
“PiS destroyed Cegielski”
“We cannot allow the icon of Poznań to fall,” Jaśkowiak emphasized and pointed out that this is what he understood as patriotism, as “taking care of our heritage.” He recalled other symbols of Poznań, such as the Old Market Square, which has been renovated in recent years, and ul. Saint Marcin. “This is my way of expressing patriotism – not platitudes and what PiS did to Cegielski. I will never forgive them for this,” he said.
When asked what, in his opinion, the plants could produce, Jaśkowiak replied that “first of all, we should definitely take advantage of the opportunities that these plants have today (…) and the competences of employees in the field of armaments.”
“We can also look for areas that would be very important for the city. We were able to increase the market share of trams that we produce in Poznań through a municipal company, from 10 to 26 percent. (…). Thanks to the councilors' decision, we transferred the land on Stalowa Street and strengthened the company. And what did PiS do at that time? PiS destroyed Cegielski. He drained these properties and it is simply unacceptable,” Jaśkowiak emphasized.
authors: Anna Jowsa, Rafał Pogrzebny
