20 Years of Democracy

Whilst 20 years of democracy have improved many areas of Polish life radically, other areas still suffer from the historical effects of communism. With 20 years of democracy, we take the view of someone who has been transplanted from the communist era into today's Poland.

Financial

There have been major changes in terms of finance; Poland was a cash economy, in fact during communist times only Poles who traveled were likely to have a credit card. Bank loans were very scarce and difficult to obtain, unless you had friends in high places.

Today the amount of banks and credit institutions have exploded, there are representatives of virtually every European Bank group. In my own city of 350,000 people, there are over 70 bank groups and another 180 companies advertising loans.

The competition between banks is very fierce although much of their income is derived from small loans between 1,000 and 20,000 Zloty, (300 to 3500 US$). Another major part of banks income is the financing of property projects, most of which are instigated by none Polish companies, the bulk of which are German.

The Last major income for the proliferation of banks is the funds transferred from abroad by Polish Emigre workers from UK, Ireland, The Netherlands etc. etc.

Unfortunately this "progress" has seen the centers of smaller cities become rather uninteresting, for example in my own market square there are 12 Banks which equals the number of normal shops selling clothes, food etc.

Towns and Cities

One major improvement is the cleanliness of towns and cities, during communism rubbish lined the gutters, drunks laid in the street outside shops selling cheap Vodka. Parks and government buildings were run down, everything needed paint.

At present, the vast majority of cities are clean and automatic road and path sweepers are running permanently. The habits of many Polish people have not changed, care for the environment and dumping building waste etc. is still random and not controlled.

Many of the old buildings in the towns and cities have been renovated, this in part due to a government policy covering those who wish to reclaim property lost in the war. The policy stated, yes you can have your family property back, as long as you refurbish it to a good standard. This is one of the government policies that worked well.

Shopping

20 years ago, most people did their shopping took it home and ate it on the same day, usually buying from Kiosks or some of the terrible Spolem shops. This type of shop often had a number after its name, for example Spolem 500.

This meant that the shop had over 500 articles for sale, in truth this was rarely the case. Many people bought from the Kiosks, which seemed to be on every street corner. With the opening of Supermarkets and Hypermarkets 80% of the Kiosks closed or changed to selling newspapers and magazines.

The growth of Shopping Malls, Shopping Parks and other retail outlets familiar to Westerners has been phenomenal, companies such as Tesco, IKEA, OBI, Castorama, Media Markt etc. have seen very swift growth in the Polish market.

The current recession does not seem to have affected retail sales very much.

Before these new outlets opened, Polish people forecasted Doom for the companies feeling that people could not afford such luxury. Now the weekly shopping has become a form of leisure activity, particularly for people from villages where there is very little communal entertainment.

Transport

Some things have not changed, the Taxi drivers at Warsaw and other airports still rip you off if possible. (See the travel page for advice). Busses however in most conurbations have been changed for the more modern variety without curtains, cleaned regularly and with the same technology as the rest of Europe.

The train system whilst there have been several improvements in cleanliness and food on the trains, still suffers from the fact that they are run by many different companies so the ticket you buy doesn’t mean you can use any train for the same route.

A few models dominated the cars 20 years ago. The Polonaise, a Polish built basic car with poor performance. The Malutki, a roller skate of a car, otherwise known as the Fiat 500, (Manufacture of these only stopped in 2005). The other car seen frequently was the Lada, (Wada is the Polish pronunciation), this was a Russian rot box, built on a 50-year-old Fiat design.

Over 90% of the cars, 20 years ago were one of the preceding types.

At present probably less than 5% of cars are the Polonaise, Fiat 500, Lada, category and most cars, although older than western Europe are Opel, BMW, Mercedes etc. the same as would be found in any European town or city.

Education

The Polish education system 20 years ago, was crumbling, relying on the goodwill of teachers to keep things going. The quality of education being good, although the equipment, from pencils to laboratory tools, was not available and had to be supplied by students.

Poland had at that time over 55% of students entering further education.

The Polish education system is certainly better after 20 of democracy, students still have to supply their own books, the thirst for knowledge is still their although diminished somewhat due to the realization that traveling abroad can bring greater wealth than Polish education.

One mail difference is the English Language; arguably, 50% of young people speak some English.

Working

20 years ago, everyone had an education, job and pension, however humble people survived on the low wages. Good jobs were given to family members, friends or those who paid.

The present situation is that work is available; the wages are relatively poor compared to Western Europe. This disparity has led to several companies moving production facilities to Poland, making cars, computer accessories, cosmetics etc.

It is unlikely that wages will rise to Western standards in the foreseeable future, indeed this is what the companies who have moved to Poland have bet on. Even today, a doctor, with 8 years of university education starting his career receives much less than a bus driver.

General

Therefore, after 20 years of democracy, things are much better, although many of the older generation comment about people becoming less dependent on each other and greater materialism. I suspect the actual quality of life has not changed, although this depends on your view of quality of life.

I believe that quality of life is not what you have, but your surroundings, friends, people around you and your community. If this is true then I think the changes, whilst good are superficial.

If you believe that quality of life is your home, your car, your work and environment then undoubtedly things are much much better.