Does the city support local entrepreneurs enough?

The councilor's interpellation contains more questions about specific city actions that have a positive impact on the business environment. It is not without reason that he also refers to the announcements of the city's mayor, Wojciech Bakun, from the time before he took office.

The councillor also included a number of questions in the document regarding the Business Council, asking for specifics on this matter. Has it been established and what real actions has it taken, and if not, what were the reasons for not establishing the body? The councillor asked a similar question regarding the announced investor guardian for companies, and also asked how many investors the city has managed to attract since its establishment. Many questions also concerned commercial premises in the city's resources and possible discounts or preferential forms of rent. It is hard not to notice empty windows in the city with a "for rent" sign, where businesses used to be run.

How many investors did you manage to attract?

The Business Council in the city has not been established, and the city's cooperation with local businesses has taken on a more flexible form - it results from the response to the complex interpellation. The argument used in the explanation of this state of affairs is that such a body as the Business Council would not bring real value. The city has focused on "constant, ongoing contact with entrepreneurs - through individual meetings, industry consultations and dialogue with economic organizations" (quote).

As President W. Bakun argues, the city has organised and will organise meetings with individual sectors: gastronomy, trade, transport and industry, which allows for "a more precise response to the problems of individual groups (quote)." An example is the formula of the so-called Przemyśl Business Scene, which is to be a space for exchanging opinions with entrepreneurs (the first such meeting took place quite recently, on 28 May this year, at the Przemyśl Fortress Command Centre).

In the matter of the investor advisor for companies, announced during the presidential campaign, the city mayor [paywall] recalled that since December 2022, the office has had a position of the president's representative for investor and business services, who focuses on "building trust, conducting dialogue with potential investors and promoting a long-term approach to investments (quote)." His tasks include, among others, cooperation with business entities, institutions and organizations in the field of acquiring investors, initiating programs developing entrepreneurship or providing information on the conditions and opportunities for investing in the city, as well as supporting local entrepreneurs. As it results from the city's response, "it is difficult to indicate at this stage specific investors who have been directly acquired."

Can tenants count on discounts?

It turns out that in 2023 there were 10 inquiries from potential investors, and last year - 9. Talks are still ongoing with the manufacturing entity included in the latter group. The Przemyśl Municipality currently has 265 commercial premises, of which only 21 remain unrented - according to the city's response (with 8 - due to poor technical condition or intended for sale - not being available for rent). As for the analysis of rent rates, it was carried out in the first quarter of this year and the city is currently considering their update. Their amount is specified in the ordinance of March 2021. The city allows the possibility of departing from the aforementioned rates only in two cases. Firstly, if a tenant was not selected in the second tender due to the lack of participants meeting the conditions included in the announcement, and the city incurs significant maintenance costs of the premises or it requires renovation involving significant financial outlays. Secondly, when the lease agreement was concluded with a commercial law entity of which the municipal commune is a shareholder or co-owner (however, the rent cannot be lower than the costs of maintaining the premises).

The city explains that it did not apply any discounts when renting premises, however, in accordance with the tender regulations in this respect, if the first tender is unsuccessful, the entity selected in the second one can count on a 10 percent reduction in the starting price.