A billion down the drain: where did the money for the CPK go?

Hundreds of millions of zlotys have been spent on preparatory work and audits for the CPK company, while current investment schedules confirm that not a single shovel will be put into the ground for airport infrastructure before August 2026. The scale of these expenditures contrasts with the zero progress of construction work in the Baranów municipality. Taxpayers' money has been entirely consumed by planning processes, feasibility studies, and the extensive administration of the special-purpose vehicle.

The titular "billion" in public debate is an estimated figure that includes not only direct expenses but also contracted long-term liabilities. Data published by the portal Money.pl on May 9, 2024, shows that the sum of expenditures on preparatory stages has reached hundreds of millions of zlotys. In exchange for this capital, the state has received plans, architectural concepts, and environmental analyses. None of these have translated into the presence of heavy equipment on the construction site. The financing mechanism for the project, which was supposed to be the showcase of the previous government, was based on shifting the budgetary burden solely onto documentation. Instead of payments for construction, the CPK company generated liabilities toward external entities providing consulting, legal, and design services.

Audit instead of concrete: how funds turned into paper

Critics of the project have long pointed to the gap between ambitious announcements and the pace of work. Television reports, including a TVN24 piece from January 30, 2024, exposed the state of limbo in which the investment found itself. The term "megalomaniacal" in reference to the CPK became the subject of an audit analysis. The audit, announced in December 2023 by the company's management, was intended to answer the question of why, despite such high financial outlays, the progress of construction work is hovering around zero.

Expenditures that appear in the company's books as "preparatory work" include a range of intellectual and bureaucratic activities. Consulting firms and law firms specializing in public procurement law have become the main beneficiaries of the funds. Each of these entities issued invoices for studies necessary to begin construction. The number of these documents and their cost raise controversy because physical infrastructure has still not been developed. It is worth noting that the CPK company has not published a full, detailed breakdown of payments to individual external entities, which makes it difficult to verify whether the consulting rates are market-competitive.

Strategy in question

The approach to the CPK underwent a drastic verification after the change of the ruling party. Maciej Lasek, the government plenipotentiary for the CPK, in an interview with OKO.press on May 1, 2024, defined a new direction of action: verifying the reality of the project. His strategy is based on the assumption that the previous plans were burdened by wishful thinking. In practice, this means abandoning optimistic assumptions regarding deadlines in favor of cold economic calculation.

Within the company, this process caused tensions. On one side are supporters of continuation, who argue that the justification for building a central airport is indisputable. The Jagiellonian Club, in its position from February 7, 2024, emphasized that although an audit is needed, it cannot become a tool to completely discard the idea of building a transport hub. On the other hand, auditors point to numerous irregularities in the planning process. Some analyses were commissioned in a manner that did not guarantee the highest cost-effectiveness. This suggests that taxpayers' money was treated as an unlimited source of funding for political ambitions.

This dispute concerns the technical aspects of building the runway and terminal. It is a conflict over the limits of the state budget's capacity. The state should be a manager of funds that demands hard evidence for the profitability of every zloty spent. Answering the question about the justification for these expenses has already cost hundreds of millions, and the final shape of the investment remains uncertain.

Financial drain: where did the taxpayers' money escape to?

An analysis of the CPK company's expenditures allows for the identification of categories that consumed the largest sums. Land acquisition is one of them. It is a tedious process requiring the involvement of appraisers, lawyers, and officials. Although this action is necessary, in the context of no shovel being put in the ground, it remains isolated from the main goal of the investment. Money also flowed into expensive information and promotional campaigns intended to build public support for the project.

In December 2023, both Bankier.pl and Newseria BIZNES warned that without a detailed audit, it is impossible to determine whether these funds were spent in accordance with the principles of purposefulness. An audit became a necessity because the scale of expenditures at the conceptual stage ceased to be proportional to the results achieved. When hundreds of millions of zlotys are paid for documents that end up in a drawer or require re-verification by a new board, a justified suspicion of waste arises.

The catch is that stopping the project also costs money. Contracts with design offices, contractual penalties, and the costs of maintaining administrative structures generate constant outflows from the state budget. The taxpayer is in a trap. Continuing the project in its current form may be economically unjustified, and withdrawing from it means losing all sunk costs. It is an investment dilemma in which decision-makers are afraid to admit a mistake, hoping that further millions will save previous investments.

The future of CPK: cuts or real implementation?

The massive costs incurred before the start of construction work may lead to a situation where the budget for the construction itself is depleted before it even begins. Wnp.pl already pointed out in February 2024 that this is a phenomenon of eating one's own tail. The longer the preparations last, the less money remains for concrete implementation. Maciej Lasek consistently brings the discussion down to the level of economic realities. His approach is based on verifying every link in the investment chain. If the project does not hold up in the numbers, it must be cut back.

Such an approach arouses the fury of supporters of the full version of the CPK, who believe it is sabotage of the national interest. However, from a fiscal point of view, every zloty spent on irrational design assumptions is a loss that cannot be recovered. The real challenge for the government now is not just auditing the past, but creating a new roadmap. Will the CPK even be built in any form? This question remains open. There is a risk that the project will be "concreted" in a phase of constant planning. In that case, the only lasting trace of the investment of the century will be hundreds of volumes of technical documentation and audit reports, for which we all paid without gaining any new transport infrastructure.

What this means for you

As a taxpayer, you are financing a process that in theory is supposed to bring a modern transport hub, but in practice has become a bottomless pit for consulting and law firms. Every month of delay in deciding what happens next means more invoices for servicing a frozen project. The entities handling the investment process gain from this, while you lose – in the form of a lack of new connections and wasted opportunities for infrastructure development. The catch is that politicians are afraid of radical cuts, fearing accusations of abandoning grand plans. This makes us pay for maintaining the appearance of construction activity.

Questions and answers

Has a billion zlotys actually been spent?

Media reports mention hundreds of millions of zlotys spent on preparatory work and audits. The exact amount is the subject of ongoing audits, which are intended to determine what portion of these funds was spent effectively and what was the result of inflated consulting service costs.

Why is the audit so important for the CPK?

The audit is intended to verify the reality of costs and schedules, which, according to the current government plenipotentiary, Maciej Lasek, were based on the wishful thinking of the previous authorities. Without reliable verification, the state is unable to assess whether the project can be financed without violating budget stability.

Has the construction of the CPK been completely stopped?

The project is in a phase of deep verification. The government emphasizes that in its current form, the investment is too expensive and requires revision. There is no decision to completely abandon it, but the priority has become bringing the assumptions down to economic realities.

What exactly was the hundreds of millions of zlotys spent on?

These funds were spent on multi-layered environmental analyses, technical documentation, land acquisition, legal advice regarding tenders, and handling administrative processes. These are costs preceding physical construction.

Is it possible to recover this money?

Most of these funds are so-called sunk costs. The money was paid for completed consulting and legal services, so it is impossible to recover it. It is only possible to limit further expenditures by optimizing the project.