Investor-friendly
Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski

"We are aware of the fact that quick economic growth in our city depends on our ability to attract both external foreign and domestic capital. Therefore, we are making efforts to be an investor-friendly municipality," says Jan Szostak, Mayor of Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski. It is clear that accomplishment of this objective is moving steadily ahead.
 Ostrowiec, with a population of 80,000, is a rapidly growing industrial city and administrative center located on the no. 9 national road running from Warsaw to Slovakia and Southern Europe. The industrial traditions of Ostrowiec date back over 100 years, when metallurgy and heavy industry flourished in the city. In the inter-war period, Ostrowiec was an important site in the Central Industrial District. The dependence of the city's economy on metallurgy, however, has been decreasing recently. At the beginning of the 1990's, new investors and new capital entered Ostrowiec, and a whole new spectrum of economic activities increased in significance. These include clothing manufacture and export (elegant clothes and underwear, as well as protective and work clothing), production of building materials, wood and metal processing, and subassembly and plastic components production.
 It may seem that all this should be enough for a city of 80,000, but it is only the beginning of a wide-scale process. Ostrowiec is still awaiting future investors with an infrastructure and communication systems that are continuously being modernized and fully developed investment sites totaling several hundred hectares in three industrial zones, as well as a business environment consisting of numerous banks, notary and legal offices, sworn translators and business organizations.  The restructuring process of the last few years has resulted in state-owned and public companies being outnumbered by those from the private sector, and the establishing of numerous small and medium-sized companies that are supported by the city authorities' sensible tax policies. According to these, producers located in Ostrowiec have access to a market of 7,000,000. consumers within a radius of barely 200 km, including Warsaw, Krakow, Katowice, Lublin and Łódź, not to mention the proximity of the Ukrainian and Byelorussian markets. Investors can be confident about the availability of qualified personnel. Ostrowiec has a wide network of schools of various levels, including the Higher School of Business and Entrepreneurship. Moreover, Ostrowiec has vast experience in cooperating on an international scale. It has maintained official relationships with the following foreign cities: Gennevilliers in France since 1959, Sounthorpe in Britain since 1992 and Byela Cerkiev in Ukraine since 1999, and it is still open to new partners.

In fact, the city is open in all respects. It displays an abundance of cultural life, well developed sports facilities, including a stadium, tennis courts, indoor swimming pools,  an entertainment hall, and interesting tourist attractions and historical sites. The original 16th century city layout, including the Baroque St Stanislav church, famous stately homes, the 17th century St Michael's church, and the old post office with a drive-through hall that draw just as much attention as the unique, Neolithic flint mine in the archaeological site in Krzemionki. Tourists can even visit two underground routes.
 Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski, with its enormous development potential, is obviously a city that is ready to make a huge leap forward; a leap that provides an excellent opportunity for those who are clever and quick.