Q: I can imagine you’re quite pleased with your supply figures?
A: That’s true, in late January we topped our record daily supply from the 2006 peak by more than 15%. Current weather forecasts and user orders suggest usage at slightly over 20%. Mazowsze Gas Company has invested a lot in modernization, thanks to which there should be no supply problems over winter. Where necessary we expanded our system, together with the Pomeranian Gas Company we invested considerably in a pipeline supplying Mikołajki, Pisz, Węgorzewo, Giżycko and Szczytno. We also take care to maintain steady supplies to regions most prone to gas supply problems, like the area around Białystok and Warsaw.

Q: What other investments are you planning?
A: As a distribution system operator we constantly invest a lot in the system’s maintenance and expansion. In 2009 we spent about PLN 220 million on upgrades, this year we also expect to invest over PLN 200 million. Most of these projects will be local, mainly new attachments to the system and modernization. But we are also underway with some quite large-scale investments – for instance this year we will finish switching the town Pisz from propane-butane to high-methane natural gas won from re-gasifying LNG, and will start similiar projects in Suwałki, Ełk and Olecko. We also plan to supply LNG to areas with no access to the regular system. In future, when the market and local infrastructure allow it, we will hook these terrains up to our main system. This year we also want to improve gas supply to the Błonie area, which has an electric plant run on natural gas we provide. We will also raise supply to areas south of Warsaw from Grodzisk Mazowiecki to Piaseczno and Góra Kalwaria. For this we intend to apply for EU funding.

Our biggest investment, however, built by the Powiśle Park Company we founded in 2009, is out new Warsaw headquarters on Kruczkowskiego Street. In February we started with the demolition of a ruined former gasworks on the site and in June or July we hope to get permission to start our construction. On the same site we also want to put up five blocks of flats for sale.
Of course we also invest in areas like personnel, management systems and IT.

Q: How are you faring under the crisis?
A: The economic troubles Poland has been going through recently have not affected us in any special way. True, there’s been a supply drop to our corporate customers, mainly due to production cuts and less need for gas fuel. But supplies to other clients have not diminished, on the contrary, we receive quite a lot of requests for inclusion in our network. Paradoxically, our problems lie not in waning demand for gas but in our system’s inability to supply all of those who want our gas. With this in mind, we spend a lot on expanding our network so that new customers have easy access to our gas. This we finance with our own money, loans and EU funds. So, despite the crisis we’ve managed to keep to our sustained growth strategy.

Q: What about employment?
Our strategic plan is quite ambitious. The main goals are sustained growth and raising the company’s value, which we have been managing quite well by raising gas supplies and expanding our customer pool. And we are doing this without employment cuts. This is possible thanks to modern technical, IT and management solutions which help raise effectiveness. Another reason why we’ve managed to keep employment on a steady level is that we outsource some our work to subsidiaries.

Q: Technical progress usually means training specialists. Is this the case in the gas branch?
The production of qualified staff capable of handling every task entrusted to it is one of the key challenges before the gas branch today. This is especially important in view of rapidly-advancing technology and the ongoing standardization process. I myself chair the Technical Standards Committee at the Chamber of Natural Gas Industry. Classically-trained technical staff may not be able to cope with all modern-day demands. We need skilled technicians able to keep abreast of the changing market. Such personnel should have the opportunity to raise and develop their professional skills, which among others calls for a comprehensive training system not just on the vocational, but also on the secondary and academic level. With this in mind we have launched a number of initiatives to support the training of gas personnel, we are also striving for the official restoration of the profession of gas technician.

Q: What are these initiatives?
One, of which we are especially proud, is a professional training scheme at the Technical Secondary School for Sanitation Technology no. 3 in Łódź. This will include a gas technology class patroned by our company, a post-secondary professional course and evening classes. The project has been granted over PLN 1.2 million from the European Social Fund (ESF) under the Operational Programme Human Capital 2007–2013. Students at the Łódź school will attend specialist courses preparing them for work in gas industry, they will also attend gas industry fairs and professional workshops and visit gas plants. This will prepare them for future work as gas technicians. The idea has found broad acclaim throughout the gas branch, and we plan to launch another such initiative together with the Scientific-Technical Association of Oil and Gas Industry Engineers and Technicians (SITPNiG), the Carpathian Gas Company, the Mining and Metallurgy Academy in Cracow. The site will be the Technical Secondary School for Oil Industry in Krosno, which I graduated from. We’ve also been successful in including the profession of gas technician in registers run by the Education and Labour Ministries. There is also general agreement in the branch that a qualifying commission for gas technicians should be created in Łódź. All these undertakings have one aim – to train highly-skilled, competent and reliable gas industry staff. Not just for us but also other operators. This way the entire branch will continue to grow.