Cezary Grabarczyk will continue on as Poland's infrastructure minister, after announcing that a deal had been reached to build a section of a highway to the German border. The agreement sets financing for the construction of a 105-km stretch.

Prime Minister Tusk had given Grabarczyk until July 1 to conclude the deal, or else lose his job.

“[On Tuesday] night we signed the final deal for the Swiecko-Nowy Tomysl section [of the road]," Grabarczyk told a news conference with PM Tusk, noting that the deal was worth nearly $500 (zł.1,550) million.

“The whole thing had become a bit of a horror. The talks were complicated as the European Investment Bank, 11 commercial banks and also the company responsible for the construction are all contributing to the financing,” Grabarczyk added.

“I am happy to find that Minister Grabarczyk has passed the first test and can go on doing his job,” Prime Minister Tusk commented.

The Tusk government is still struggling to upgrade Poland's outdated road network in time for the Euro 2012 soccer tournament, which Poland will co-host with Ukraine. Poland has begun to use EU funding for the projects, but legal wrangling and bureaucracy have bogged down the process.

Government statistics show Poland has only three major highways, totalling less than 1,000 km.

AK

Source: Thompson Reuters