Offshore Industry – a Chance for Polish Economy
BOGDAN GUTKOWSKI Chairman of BIG InvestConsult AG talks to Antoni Styrczula
What is offshore industry?
Offshore industry produces industrial equipment intended for use
at sea – e.g. for the oil and gas mining sector and the offshore wind
energy, such as oil and gas platforms and rigs, wind turbines and related
power equipment, as well as automatic steering systems, etc.
The Offshore industry also needs specialized ships to transport all
the modules of such platforms and wind turbines to their destinations
and install them.
Are Polish companies prepared to work for the offshore
industry?
Of course they are. Generally production in Poland is on a high technological
level. One can say that outsourcing marketing services,
good quality control and professional logistic, can be very helpful
and useful for Polish producers. That is why, modern production
providers, offering Polish companies their professional contacts, as
well as contract arrangements with western manufacturers, may be
helpful in developing offshore industry in Poland.
Isn’t your company BIG InvestConsult AG a production
provider?
Yes. Right now we’re settling in Poland, where we want to make use of
our experience in the power industry and of our good ties to western
Europe. Some Polish sub-contractors already know of our production
cooperation offer for western manufacturers and I hope, we will soon
be able to present some meaningful production successes in Poland.
How do we compare to other European countries in offshore
industry?
Poland has extensive wind energy resources in the Baltic Sea, but is not
using them. Despite the fact, that wind energy is the fastest-growing
power sector in Europe, production for the offshore wind energy sector
in Poland is still rather rare, although there are Polish companies, which
produce elements of offshore equipment and underwater foundations.
Poland has a huge production and industrial potential, which is not
yet sufficiently involved in cooperation with western offshore industry,
especially producing for the North Sea.
Offshore industry is a good opportunity for Polish economy, because
it is a branch that needs large quantities of processed steel and castings,
as well as highly-processed products. Offshore production can
also considerably activate related branches like shipbuilding.
In Europe offshore industry has helped to create new jobs. The same
could happen in Poland. Our main assets are an excellent geographical
location, low labour costs, production quality, flexibility, and
punctuality. In all this Polish companies are much better than their
Asian counterparts.