TRANSFORMATION OF THE SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC STRUCTURE OF THE SILESIA REGION ECONOMIC AND ENYIRONMENTAL STUDIES No. 5 OPOLE 2003 Janusz SŁODCZYK Opole University THE ECONOMY OF OPOLE PROYINCE The tradition of industrial production in Opole Region dates back to the ancient times, and the preserved craftsmen’s artefacts and objects found in numerous excavations can only too well testify to the truth of the statement. The oldest branches of production, which were developing in Opole Silesia in the remote past, included various crafts, extraction of ores and metallurgy. In the 18th century the economic activity outside agriculture, which was carried out by the local people, played a vitally significant role in the economy of the region [Straszewicz, 1970], The most important branches of production included textile industry, which was based on flax plantations, and sheep breeding, which developed mainly in the Southern part of the region, in the foreland of the Sudetes. As well as exploration of sod ores, the possibility of making use of tim- ber from the forests covering the northern part of the region for burning purposes, provided the basis of development of iron metallurgy, most of all, in the Mała Panew River Valley. The water resources in the rivers and their availability for energy producing purposes again proved vital while founding metallurgy centres in this area. Later, it was coal brought here from the mines of Upper Silesia that became the chief source of energy for the local metallurgy industry. Another traditional branch, which developed successfully in Opole Silesia, was production of limę, based on the local natural sources that are especially rich in the area of Strzelce Opolskie. At the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century, in the time of the industrial revolution and early capitalism, Opole Region wit- nessed a fast development of the existing branches of production and ap- pearance of new types of industry. Apart from the above-mentioned met­ allurgy, limę production and textile industry, the following branches 56 JANUSZ SŁODCZYK developed rapidly: food industry, cement production, iron-based industry and some other minor ones. The most important industrial centres in- cluded: Opole, the Mała Panew Valley, and later — Koźle and Kędzie­ rzyn. Gradually, in comparison with the other branches, the significance of the limę and cement industries grew to the extent that they became the leading branches in Opole Silesia. In the time before World War 2, Opole Region had an industrial sector of differentiated production lines, considerable potential and fairly even distribution. In consequence of the Second World War, Opole Silesia be­ came part of the Polish State. However, the military activity during the war brought about destruction of considerable industrial potential of the Region. Accordingly, in the first period after the war, the Polish authori- ties concentrated on rebuilding and re-starting the ruined businesses which had been in operation before the Second World War. In the subse- quent years, though, within the so-called period of socialist industrialis- ation, an attempt was madę at modernising the existing and creating new elements of the economic structure of the Region. Opole Region be­ came then a strong industrial centre, specialising in manufacture of elec- tric and engineering commodities such as: vans (Nysa), agricultural ma- chines (Brzeg, Strzelce Opolskie), installations for Chemical industry (Nysa, Opole), electric engines (Brzeg), machines and tools (Kluczbork). Chemical industry (nitrogenous fertilizers - Kędzierzyn-Koźle, coking plant — Zdzieszowice, carbo-chemistry and petrochemistry - Blachownia Śląska) developed to a great extent, too. The traditional specialisation in cement production was further developed (the construction of new ce­ ment plants in Strzelce Opolskie and Górażdże), as well as the impor­ tant place in the economy of the region was retained by metal industry establishments (Ozimek, Zawadzkie). Centres of glaziery (Jedlicze), pa- per production (Krapkowice, Głuchołazy), a number of furniture manu- facturing plants, textile manufacturing factories (among others: Prud­ nik, Kietrz, Głubczyce, Opole, Dobrzeń Wielki), and also leather Processing plants (Krapkowice, Prudnik, Głuchołazy) were in operation. Apart from that, the branch of agricultural and food industry became an integral part of the economic structure of the Region, with such plants as: sugar-factories (Otmuchów, Baborów, Polska Cerekiew), confection- ery manufacturers (Nysa, Brzeg), large edible fat manufacturing plants (Brzeg), breweries (Głubczyce, Namysłów) and a number of other compa- nies. In the last forty years of the centrally planned economy, the largest investment carried out in the area of the Region was Opole Power Plant. Despite the relatively high level of industrialisation of Opole Region there did not appear in its area any great concentration of industry like THE ECONOMY OF OPOLE PROVINCE 57 those in the neighbouring regions. The industry developed rather evenly in the individual areas and city centres of Opole Silesia. Although Opole Region is characterised by good conditions for devel- opment of agriculture and comparatively high agricultural culture, it was industry which - in the forty-year period after the War - became the engine of its economy. This fact manifested itself in the percentage of the inhabitants employed in the industry, which - in comparison with the other provinces — belonged to the highest in the country. It must be underlined here that in the conditions of centrally controlled economy, the rise in the employment figures in industry was to a large extent an expression of its extensive development. This means that the rise in pro- duction was obtained through an increase in the employment and not by a rise in productivity. The change in the political system and economic model, which occurred in Poland, gave rise to a series of processes that, to a great ex- tent, influenced the situation and economic structure of Opole Region. There followed far-reaching transformations in the ownership structure and the process of privatising has not yet been finished. Unfortunately, there also occurred a drop in the demand for a number of commodities produced in the Region, as well as a new challenge for companies based in Opole Region to compete with manufacturers from other regions of Poland and - what turned out even morę challenging - with large multi- national corporations. Not all of the enterprises could meet the demands of the new conditionings. Some lines of production had to be closed and even whole companies became liąuidated as a result. At the same time there appeared new enterprises and new directions of production, con- nected with external, mostly foreign-based, Capital. It should be stressed that from the point of view of demands of the Re­ gion^ economy, the inflow of the Capital from outside the Region so far has not been adeąuate to counterbalance the loss of workplaces in the production sphere or in other branches. In conseąuence, unemployment, whose spatial structure is greatly differentiated (Fig. 1), has become a lasting element of the labour market in the Region. For example, in the eastern part (inhabited mainly by the population of the Silesian ori- gin) the unemployment ratę is clearly lower (in some communes it does not exceed 5%). One of the reasons for this State of things in this area is mass, seasonal or permanent leaving for Germany or other EU countries in search of jobs. A far morę difficult situation is noticed in the labour market in the south-western and western parts of Opole Region (in cer- tain communes the unemployment ratę exceeds 20%). Again the factors influencing the ratę in this area include limitation of employment and 58 JANUSZ SŁODCZYK Fig. 1. The unenployment ratę in Opole Province according to counties in 2001 liąuidation of large enterprises based in Nysa, Głuchołazy or Paczków, and also the speedy dissolution of state-run farms. After a few years of transforming the economy, industry is still the dominating sector of economy of Opole Region. This manifests itself in the share of this sector in creating the gross added value (GAV), which amounts to 30.6%, that is morę than the average for the whole country (27.9%). As regards market-related services it is 38% of GAV, non-mar- ket services - 15%, construction industry - 9% and in agriculture - 7% (compared to the national 5%). Generally, the presented region is distin- guished by a higher share of the first and second sectors in the economy than the average value for Poland, and a lower share of services. An indicator of the role of industry in Opole Region is also the share of this sector in the structure of the employed. It must be underlined that the role of the industry as the employer is becoming restricted, which manifests itself in the decrease in the share of the employed in the in­ dustry from 27.5% in 1990 to 22.2% in 2000. In comparison with the other regions in the country this percentage is high (a higher percentage of the share of the employed in the industry is recorded only in the Prov- ince of Silesia). The role of industry in the structure of the employed is spatially dif- ferentiated. The counties in which the percentage of the employed in the THE ECONOMY OF OPOLE PROYINCE 59 industry sector exceeds 45% form a large area that encompasses the cen­ tral and eastern part of the Region (Fig. 2). This group includes the fol- lowing counties: Kędzierzyn-Koźle, Krapkowice, Opole (except the city of Opole) and Olesno. Share of the in industry Economic subjects in industry A 27.52-40.27% sector per 1,000 inhabitants Lj 40.28-45.21% H 45.21-61.48% 11.13 17.82 24.51 Fig. 2. Share of the employed in industry and the number of economic subjects regis- tered in the REGON system in industry sector in Opole Province in 2001 The structure of industry according to the branches is characterised by a considerable degree of differentiation, which is considered to be a strong point in the economy of the Region.