WBJ #11 2012

A Polish billionaire is getting into the debtcollection business

The battle over emissions between Poland and the EU heats up

More turmoil for Poland’s sports minister ahead of Euro 2012

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WWW.WBJ.PL

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VOLUME 18, NUMBER 11 • MARCH 19-25, 2012 . z∏.12.50 (VAT 8% included) . ISSN 1233 7889 INDEX-RUCH-332-127

Book of Lists Gala 2012

Since 1994 . Poland’s only business weekly in English

Dealing with loss One year after cuts in funeral subsidies, Poland's undertakers are adapting to a changing market

Warsaw Business Journal Group launched the 2012 edition of the Book of Lists and announced the winners of this year’s WBJ Spotlight Awards 8-9

12-13

REAL ESTATE

COURTESY OF ART NORBLIN

Lokale Immobilia

• Art Norblin • Chopin Airport City • HB Reavis interview 15-17

In this issue

SHUTTERSTOCK

News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2-5 Business . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6-7 Book of Lists Gala . . . . . . . . . . . .8-9 IT in Focus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10 Finance & Economics . . . . . . . . . .11 Cover Story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12-13 Opinion & Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . .14 Lokale Immobilia . . . . . . . . . . .15-17 The List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18-19 Markets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21 Lifestyle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22 Last Word . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23

Changing moods

Rising stock

Are Donald Tusk and Jaros∏aw Kaczyƒski really at war or are they for once willing to cooperate?

3, 4

The Warsaw Stock Exchange announced strong profits, and the Vienna bourse suggested a “merger of equals” 7

NEWS

www.wbj.pl

Among those injured in the horrific bus crash that claimed the lives of 28 people, including 22 children in Switzerland last Tuesday, were two Polish boys. They did not suffer any serious injuries and were able to return to their homes in Belgium last week. The coach, which was transporting 52 people back to Belgium following a skiing trip, hit a wall in a tunnel head-on around 9 pm on March 13.

is how much Poland’s GDP will grow this year, according to JP Morgan.

z∏.16.37 billion was Poland’s budget deficit at the end of February, the Ministry of Finance announced.

That’s 47% of the 2012 plan.

z∏.5.85 is the amount drivers had to pay last week for one liter of 95-octane gasoline in Gubin, Lubuskie voivodship.

9.1% was the growth of Polish industrial production in 2011, the best result in the EU.

Quote of the Week “It was the greatest con of the last two decades.”

Former Prime Minister and current opposition leader Jaros∏aw Kaczyƒski, referring to the ruling Civic Platform party’s failure to mention that it planned to raise the retirement age during last year’s parliamentary election campaign.

Figures in focus Nanny states?

Expenditure on social protection as a percentage of GDP, 2009, selected EU27 countries 35

*Highest in EU27 **Lowest in EU27

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Remi Adekoya

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with civilians subsequently getting killed and wounded in the crossfire. Another version suggests the soldiers had attacked the village on the orders of a superior officer, with another saying that faulty ammunition and equipment had led to the tragedy.

In a statement last Wednesday, Supreme Court judge Wies∏aw B∏uÊ said it had been right for the prosecutor to initiate proceedings after the Nangar Khel incident where, “as some commentators seem to forget,” civilians died.

Poland currently has around 2,500 soldiers stationed in Afghanistan as part of a UN-mandated NATO-ISAF force.

On WBJ.pl EU flexing its muscles on cohesion funds In an historic move, the EU has decided to block half a billion euros in cohesion funds to Hungary as punishment for the country’s bad fiscal policy. As the country that has benefited the most from EU cohesion funds in recent years, Poland has a lot at stake if this becomes a more common EU alternative to convince member states to straighten out their finances. Log on to WBJ.pl to find out more.

Source: Eurostat

Company index Ablon Group ..............................17 GE Hitachi ....................................7 Penta Investments ......................6 Alfa Asset Management ............16 Gery.pl ........................................10 PGE ..............................................7 Alior Bank ....................................6 getBack ........................................6

DATELINE

March 20

WARMIA AND MAZURIA TEMPT INVESTORS

Event:

Web:

This conference will provide information about the investment potential of Warmia and Mazury. There is a possibility to arrange individual meetings with representatives of the region, local authorities and the technology park.

Polish Information and Foreign Investment Agency ul. Bagatela 12, Warsaw prospectsinpoland.com

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GLIWICE. LOGISTICS. THE FUTURE

Location:

Event:

Location:

The purpose of the meeting is to present the prospects for development of the warehousing and logistics sector in the region, as well as the preferences of tenants of logistics facilities and the latest trends in the design of warehouse and logistics complexes.

Gold Hotel Silvia, Gliwice

PGNiG ..........................................5

Amazon.com ..........................6, 23 Getin Holding ..............................6 PKP ..............................................3 Areva ............................................7 HB Reavis Group................8, 9, 16 Art Norblin ................................17 Hines Polska ..............................15 Asseco Poland..............................8

Anti-immigration website criticized Both Poland’s Ombudsman and members of the European Parliament have denounced a website backed by Geert Wilder’s right-wing Party for Freedom (PVV), which invites Dutch citizens to post complaints about Central and Eastern Europeans living in the Netherlands. ●

June due to a lack of evidence that they had intended to kill the civilians. The law therefore required them to be presumed innocent.

However, the appeals prosecutor said the original acquittal was made without a complete assessment of the evidence. He therefore requested a full re-trial of all the soldiers.

The Supreme Court subsequently decided that just four of the soldiers should be retried.

The Supreme Court stated that the accused soldiers had given conflicting versions of the events that led up to the deaths of the civilians. One explanation given was that the troops had targeted Taliban fighters after being attacked,

Ge

Poland’s Supreme Court has overturned the decision to acquit four Polish soldiers of killing Afghan civilians in the village of Nangar Khel in 2007, meaning those men will once again face a trial for war crimes. At the same time, the court has upheld the “not guilty” verdict given to three other soldiers who had faced the same charges.

All seven soldiers had been charged with war crimes for launching a mortar and machine-gun attack on Nangar Khel that claimed the lives of six civilians, including at least one child and four women. Another three women were seriously injured in the incident.

The men were acquitted last

k*

Two Polish kids injured in Swiss bus tragedy

3.2%

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Despite the fact that Poland’s crime rate remained almost flat last year, authorities looked at citizens’ private data 700,000 times more than a year earlier, Dziennik Gazeta Prawna reported.

Since 2010, Polish authorities have accessed private information such as cell phone users’ data, phone call logs and call locations 1.3 million times, making Poles the most surveilled citizens in Europe, the daily wrote.

The Nangar Khel trial

ar

Poles under surveillance

Numbers in the News

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The Polish Information and Foreign Investment Agency (PAIiIZ) will be looking for projects in which Chinese sovereign wealth fund China Investment Corp could invest in Poland, the agency’s head, S∏awomir Majman, told Reuters. “As for the size of their investments, the sky is the limit,” he added. PAIiIZ signed investment deals with China Development Bank and China’s National Development and Reform Commission in December 2011.

IN THE SPOTLIGHT

De

Massive Chinese investments ahead?

MARCH 19-25, 2012

AFP/EASTNEWS

2

Biedecki......................................10 Bithell Holdings ........................10 BRE Bank ................................8, 9

Investkredit Bank ......................17 Ipla..............................................10

PKP PLK ......................................3 PMR ........................................3, 17 Polish Airports

Jastrz´bska Spó∏ka W´glowa......7 State Enterprise ........................15 Jones Lang LaSalle ..................15 Polish State Railways ................16

Budimex ....................................15 JP Morgan ..................................11 PRC Architekci ..........................17

Web:

prospectsinpoland.com

28

GREAT PLACE TO WORK GALA

Capital Park Group ....................17

Event:

This event honors the Polish enterprises using unique practices and human resource management programs that promote the values of credibility, respect, fairness, pride and camaraderie in the relationship between management and employees.

Warsaw Stock Exchange greatplacetowork.pl

CBRE ..........................................16

BZ WBK ..........................6, 8, 9, 11 Karmar ......................................17

Location: Web:

29-30 FACILITY MANAGEMENT & PROPERTY MANAGEMENT Event:

Location: Web:

Now in its eighth edition, the forum will provide a platform for the exchange of experiences, opinions and problems relating to all aspects of how buildings function.

Hotel Novotel Warsaw Airport scc.com.pl

Provident Polska..........................6

Kelkoo ........................................10 PwC ..........................................8, 9 KGHM ......................................8, 9 CEE Stock Exchange Group ........7

Redefine ....................................10 Kredyt Bank ................................8

China Development Bank............2 Kruk..............................................6

Space Developers ........................8

China Investment Corp................2 Lubasa........................................16 Strabag ....................................8, 9 Comarch ....................................10 Cyfrowy Polsat ..........................10 Deutsche Börse ..........................7 DI BRE ....................................6, 10 Dom Development ....................16

MasterCard ................................11 Tieto Poland ..............................16 MGC Inwest ................................17 Toshiba ......................................23 Microsoft ....................................10 Miller, Canfield, W. Babicki, A.

Eastbridge ....................................6 Che∏chowski & Partners. ..........14

Toys ‘R’ Us....................................6 Vienna Stock Exchange ..............7 Visa ............................................11

Echo Investment ........................16 Moody’s ......................................11 Warsaw Stock Exchange ............7 Eiffage Budownictwo Mitex ......16 Motorola ....................................23 Empik Media & Fashion Group ..6 Netshare ....................................10

Westinghouse ..............................7

Eurovia..........................................3 Nordea........................................11 Xandora Holdings Limited ..........6 Frazpc.pl ....................................10 Panattoni Europe ....................8, 9 X -Trade Brokers........................20

NEWS

MARCH 19-25, 2012

www.wbj.pl

Politics

Unpublished Szymborska poems found

A roller-coaster week in Polish politics

Last week started out with the ruling party threatening to try Law and Justice (PiS) leader Jaros∏aw Kaczyƒski before the State Tribunal, but ended with the two parties agreeing to cooperate on the matter of deregulating Poland’s professions. And in between, PiS held a march to demonstrate against the government’s plans to increase the retirement age to 67 for both men and women.

“We have to show the government a red card,” Jaros∏aw Kaczyƒski thundered to his supporters at the rally, held in Warsaw last Wednesday.

Mr Kaczyƒski said the ruling Civic Platform (PO) party had purposely not revealed its plans to raise the retirement age during last year’s parliamentary election campaign, since it knew that doing so would have lost it the election. The PiS leader called the move the “greatest

Poems from the late Polish Nobel Prizewinning poet Wis∏awa Szymborska have been discovered by her secretary, Micha∏ Rusinek. The poems were not published when they were written in the 1940s because communist censors at the time would not allow it, reported Gazeta Wyborcza.

con” of the last two decades.

Trying times On Monday, PO announced that it had almost finished drafting its official petition to try Mr Kaczyƒski, as well as Zbigniew Ziobro, a former justice minister, before Poland’s State Tribunal.

The charges concern the period of 2006-2007, when Jaros∏aw Kaczyƒski was prime minister. The two politicians are accused of breaching Poland’s constitution by abusing their authority, while Mr Kaczyƒski is also accused of illegally giving Mr Ziobro additional powers.

“We cannot have a situation where a PM or minister acts in a way that is not in accordance with the rules and regulations accepted in a country which has the rule of law,” Ma∏gorzata KidawaB∏oƒska, the deputy head of PO’s parliamentary caucus, told journalists at a press conference.

Two of Poland’s opposition parties, Palikot’s Movement (RP) and the Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) declared their support for the petition, but PO will also need the votes of its junior coalition

COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

“We have to show the government a red card,”Jaros∏aw Kaczyƒski said in a week that finished with signs of cooperation between PO and PiS

PKP to increase investments In 2012, Polish State Railways (PKP) plans to spend z∏.7-8 billion on railway investments, according to Andrzej Massel, undersecretary of state at the Ministry of Transport, reported Rzeczpospolita.

The funds will allow for the renovation of around 1,027 km of track. In 2011 PKP PLK, the company responsible for maintaining rail tracks in Poland, spent z∏.3.6 billion on investments. ●

Mr Kaczyƒski said the ruling PO party had conned the public partner, the Polish Peoples’ Party (PSL), to push the motion through. Currently, it is not clear whether PSL will support the move, which its spokesperson called an “unnecessary heating of the political atmosphere.”

Even within PO itself there is no consensus on the issue, with the Justice Minister Jaros∏aw Gowin saying he would not support the attempt to try Mr Kaczyƒski and Mr Ziobro.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister

Donald Tusk distanced himself from the motion, saying that although he disapproved of the way Mr Ziobro and Mr Kaczyƒski had acted when they were in power, he “wasn’t convinced that there had been a blatant breaking of the law.”

Deregulation Furthermore, Mr Tusk also invited Mr Kaczyƒski to a meeting on Thursday to discuss the deregulation efforts that PO is trying to push and which the PiS leader has said

his party is interested in supporting.

Mr Kaczyƒski declined the invitation but wrote the PM a reply saying he felt that “important substantive discussions should be held between a special team set up by PiS, and Mr Gowin,” who is spearheading the deregulation efforts.

In response, Mr Gowin invited PiS’s deregulation team to meet with him this week. (See story, p. 4.)

Remi Adekoya

Road building

Cracking up Why are so many cracks being discovered on Poland's newest roads?

Poland’s roads authority has discovered a large number of cracks on several newly built highways throughout the country, blaming the situation on “errors in the art of building.” One contractor, however, has said the asphalt it is required to use is not suited to Polish conditions, while construction experts have said low prices offered in tenders have negatively affected the quality of road building.

The General Directorate for National Roads and Motorways (GDDKiA) wrote in a report: “The results of studies conducted by GDDKiA laboratories are shocking – over 90 percent of cracks on the under-construction A2 highway are the result of manifest errors in the art of building.”

In an earlier report, the GDDKiA said cracks found on both the A1 and A2 were caused by “sloppy” construction. Poland is hoping the A2 will be ready before the start of the Euro 2012 soccer championship.

Due to February’s sub-zero temperatures, cracks have formed in sections of road that hadn’t been sealed properly, or where incisions were made too deeply, the GDDKiA wrote.

Heavy-duty vehicles were in several cases allowed to traverse unfinished sections of road, also leading to cracking.

GDDKiA representatives told a press conference last Tuesday that on a section of the A2 highway running from Stryków to Konotopa, a total of 206 cracks were counted.

Following its findings, the Directorate called on all contractors working on the stretch to submit individual repair plans.

Asphalt technologies Eurovia, a company that’s building a section of the A2 between Stryków and Konotopa, said it doesn’t agree that the damage is a result of sloppy work. On the section of road Eurovia is working on, a total of 99 cracks were counted, GDDKiA said.

Company vice president Przemys∏aw Skonieczny told PAP that the cracks appeared due to the GDDKiA-mandated use of a type of asphalt that’s not suited to the Polish

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climate, since it is too hard and cracks easily in cold temperatures.

The roads body responded strongly to Eurovia’s claim, issuing a statement entitled “Eurovia – 99 cracks covered with three lies.” It then set out to debunk Eurovia’s three “lies,” saying that the type of asphalt used is not a factor.

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Tender troubles One other explanation, experts have said, is that the amount many contractors agreed to be paid at the tender stage barely covers construction costs, leading builders to use low-quality labor and materials, in turn leading to more cracking.

Bart∏omiej Sosna, head construction analyst at PMR Publications, said contractors have used the same technology to build roads for a couple of years now, and yet only in 2012 have cracks started appearing on such a large scale.

“In my opinion this is definitely (at least partially) a result of very low prices offered in tenders and lower quality of materials and labor used in the construction GP phase,” he told WBJ.

Grupa HRC SA

in the Book of Lists 2012 ranking HR Companies - Executive Search

Managing Director of Valkea Media SA

Warsaw Business Journal Editor-in-Chief

Monika Stawicka

Andrew Kureth

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NEWS

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Deregulation

MARCH 19-25, 2012

Religious funding

PO and PiS to cooperate? Government presents proposal said it will soon unveil a list of 200 professions, labeled “Kaczyƒski’s packet,” which it thinks should be opened up at once.

PiS leader Jaros∏aw Kaczyƒski said at a press conference that his party wanted a “great and general unblocking” in Poland, adding that PiS was ready to cooperate with the ruling Civic Platform (PO) on the matter. This week a special PiS deregulation team is set to meet with Mr Gowin to discuss how to go about the issue.

Remi Adekoya

COURTESY OF FLICKR/KPRM

Poland’s politicians seem to have caught deregulation fever, with bitter rivals the ruling Civic Platform (PO) party and opposition Law and Justice (PiS) revealing plans to cooperate over the deregulation of at least 200 professions.

It all started with justice minister and PO party member Jaros∏aw Gowin saying he intended to drastically reduce the number of professions in Poland that require practitioners to acquire a professional license. He pointed to the fact that there are 380 protected professions in the country, which he said is the highest number in the EU. In comparison, Sweden has 91 such professions and Germany 152.

It should, however, also be taken into consideration that there are almost 100 professions connected with mining alone in Poland, whereas in some European countries the industry barely exists. There are also 49 different types of

doctors on the list. Nevertheless, Mr Gowin said his government intends to “smash the wall that millions of young Poles run into.”

Among others, Mr Gowin wants to open up professions dealing with stockbroking, financial advisory, the law, real estate and mining. The minister plans to start with 49 professions and add a further 200 before the end of the year.

In a move that surprised some, PiS announced that it not only backs the deregulation move but in fact thinks Mr Gowin is moving too slowly. It

PiS thinks Justice Minister Jaros∏aw Gowin is moving ahead too slowly with deregulation reforms

to liquidate Church Fund The church opposes the move, saying the fund is “not theft” Poland’s Minister of Administration and Digitization, Micha∏ Boni, has outlined a legislative proposal to liquidate the Church Fund, through which the government subsidizes social insurance payments for the clergy.

The Church Fund was established by the communist government in 1950 to compensate the church for property confiscated since the end of World War II. It costs the state budget around z∏.90 million per year.

According to the government’s plan, religious institutions in Poland – by far the largest of which is the Roman Catholic Church – would have to cover their leaders’ social insurance payments themselves. However, citizens would be allowed to donate 0.3 percent of their income tax to the religious institution of their choice.

Prime Minister Donald Tusk told reporters last week that the liquidation of the Church Fund is not an attempt to “financially and politically

COURTESY OF FLICKR/KPRM

Although normally at odds with one another, Poland’s two largest parties are hoping to work together to open up at least 200 professions

Mr Boni’s proposal has drawn a sharp reaction from the church annoy the church.”

“Let there be no groups for which the state behaves somehow more generously, or spares from the duty of collecting funds for their own retirement,” he added.

The church speaks Poland’s episcopate has agreed to the transformation of the Church Fund, but not to its liquidation. The country’s Primate Archbishop, Józef Kowalczyk, said last week that the Fund “is not theft, only the minimum restitution for what the then-state deprived the church,” the website of news-

paper Rzeczpospolita reported.

It is still not clear whether the government will decide to put an end to the Church Fund regardless of whether it gets agreement from the church.

Last Friday, following discussions the previous day with members of the episcopate of the Roman Catholic Church in Poland, the government held talks with representatives of other faiths.

From the perspective of the budget, the changes are only cosmetic, experts say, but smaller churches are afraid that they could suffer finanGareth Price cially.

NEWS

MARCH 19-25, 2012

www.wbj.pl

5

EU relations

Gas prices

Standoff on climate policy continues

Higher gas prices set to begin from April

Poland says it is gathering support from fellow CEE countries to oppose the bloc’s climate plans; the EC says it will go forward despite Polish opposition

Commissioner Hedegaard says Poland’s “no” won’t stop EU climate plans which would impose significant costs on European economies and in particular on coal-dependent CEE members, must be re-evaluated in light of the current financial crisis. It also says EU efforts to reduce CO2 emissions would be useless without similar commitments from other large polluters such as China, India and the US. “The EU may not reduce its emissions on its own since it poses a threat to our economies and does not serve the climate well – our industry

flees to India and China, but this way the emissions are not reduced; on the contrary,” Mr Korolec said in a statement.

Although Poland has long opposed ambitious EU-wide climate-policy goals, its specific objections to the road map keep changing. There are some signs that the EC might be getting tired of adapting its proposal. European Commissioner Connie Hedegaard has said Poland’s “no” would not stop Europe from moving forward.

While stressing that the EC was still examining its options,

Climate Action spokesperson Isaac Valero-Ladrón told WBJ that the EU’s legislative arm feels there is enough support to come forward with a legislative or policy proposal. Among them are some that do not require unanimity among EU members to be adopted, he added.

“Poland has enormous potential when it comes to energy efficiency. But if you look at climate change as a burden, then you only see costs.”

Alice Trudelle

Poland’s Energy Regulatory Office (URE) has approved an increase in consumer gas prices of 7 to 10 percent, effective from April. The fees will differ depending on which tariff group customers fall into and in which voivodship they reside.

According to the URE, the average increase in fees for those who use gas only for cooking (and therefore fall into the first tariff group) will be around z∏.1.81 per month.

An average increase of z∏.8.81 per month will apply to the second tariff group, which encompasses those who use

natural gas for cooking and heating water. Those who fall within the final category, which applies to consumers who use gas to heat their homes, will pay on average z∏.35.42 more per month.

The URE’s move to approve an increase in fees comes after several months of talks with Poland’s gas monopolist PGNiG. “In comparison to other European countries, prices for Polish consumers after the fee changes will still be the lowest,” PGNiG said in a statement.

According to PGNiG, the new tariffs largely stem from a recent weakening of the z∏oty, which has made gas imports Ella Pa∏ka more expensive.

SHUTTERSTOCK

COURTESY OF THE EU COUNCIL

Tensions continue to mount between Brussels and Warsaw around the EU’s “Roadmap for moving to a competitive low-carbon economy in 2050” after Poland was the only country to oppose its adoption at a meeting of Environment Ministers on March 9.

Polish Environment Minister Marcin Korolec said upon his return to Warsaw last week that other countries in the CEE region supported Poland’s view and together they had submitted amendments to the document. But as WBJ went to press, no other country had formally lent its support to Poland in the country’s stance against the EU. The EU’s plan aims to set higher CO2 emissions-reduction targets (compared to 1990 levels) after 2020, including cuts of 40 percent by 2030, 60 percent by 2040 and 80 to 95 percent by 2050. Poland argues that EU climate policy,

Polish consumers will pay on average 7 to 10 percent more

After the hike Polish consumers will still pay less than most other Europeans, says PGNiG

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in the Book of Lists 2012 ranking Warehouse Space Developers

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BUSINESS

www.wbj.pl

Debt collection

MARCH 19-25, 2012

Retail

Polish billionaire to launch Penta Investments to bid new debt-collection firm for 40 percent of EM&F

Leszek Czarnecki plans to launch getBack within a month she said. “According to my estimates, the market has seen a growth of 50 percent year-on-year in 2011 in terms of nominal value, and I would not rule out that in terms of face value the figure reached over 100 percent,” Ms Rokicka added.

Piotr Krupa, CEO of Kruk, a WSE-listed debt-collection company that describes itself as the leading firm in the Polish market, said he has been aware of Mr Czarnecki’s plan for some time. “The decision by a key player in financial services to enter the market shows how

attractive the market is,” he said. “The new company will probably have access to funding. We are aware that we must now run faster and be more innovative,” he added.

According to BZ WBK, the supply of bad debts from banks in Poland is set to increase significantly through to 2013, with the face value of banking non-performing loans sold in Poland set to amount to z∏.6.3 billion in 2011 and z∏.7.5 billion in 2012, translating into z∏.790 million and z∏.1 billion in real value in 2011 and 2012, respectively.

Alice Trudelle

Legal News Contact: Miros∏aw Stefanik ms@pnplaw.pl

Plans to change ‘family-friendly’ tax break The Ministry of Finance has announced that it plans to introduce personal income tax changes, which would become valid from January 1, 2013.

The changes are set to affect the most popular tax break for parents with children, the so-called “family-friendly” tax break.

Under the changes, taxpayers with only one child who earn more than z∏.85,528 would not be entitled to the family-friendly tax break.

Unfortunately, the above income would be calculated as the total income of both spouses, which means that only parents whose total household income does not exceed z∏.85,528 would be able to take advantage of the tax break.

In the case of taxpayers with two children, they would be entitled to the tax break irrespective of their total income and, as is the case now, this tax break would amount to z∏.92.67 per month or z∏.1,112.04 per year.

Reduced tax privileges The Ministry of Finance plans to put a limit on a privilege that currently allows those

from a select group of professions to deduct a lump-sum amount of 50 percent of tax from their income. Those who enjoy this privilege include artists, authors and architects.

The amendment would mean that the maximum amount deductible from income would be z∏.42,764, so costs could not exceed half of the amount of the first tax rate (z∏.85,528).

New act on sign language On April 1, 2012, the provisions of the new Act on Sign Language and Other Means of Communication will come into force.

The act introduces a definition of Polish sign language (PSL), a definition of the language and sign system (LSS) and definitions of communication methods for deaf and blind persons (CMDBP).

Under the provisions of the act, public administration authorities will be obliged to make available a service which enables communication for deaf and blind persons.

This will include ensuring the availability of a sign-language translator or to ensure that a translator-guide is available. ●

BROUGHT TO YOU BY PETER NIELSEN & PARTNERS LAW OFFICE

Private investment firm Eastbridge, a 60 percent shareholder in the Empik Media & Fashion Group, and Central European investment group Penta Investments have jointly announced a public tender aimed at giving Penta the chance to buy out the remaining 40 percent of EM&F. The public tender offer, at z∏.9.85 per share, is being organized in the hope that the new shareholder structure will help management to revitalize the company. If the tender is successful, the two companies will delist EM&F from the Warsaw Stock Exchange.

Penta Investments, which will be the sole purchaser, has set up a special purpose vehicle, Xandora Holdings Limited, to acquire the shares.

The move comes not long after EM&F Group’s announcement that it continued to suffer losses in its fashion segment last year. Its e-commerce division, meanwhile, is expected to soon face competition

COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Poland’s fourth-richest man according to Forbes’ 2012 ranking, is about to venture into the debt-collection business with the launch of a new company, called getBack.

“The firm will start operating within a month. We are currently in the process of recruitment,” confirmed Maria Bniƒska, head of PR at Getin Holding, Mr Czarnecki’s investment fund.

Ms Bniƒska also confirmed that, like the majority of Mr Czarnecki’s investments in the past, getBack will be an independent venture. She declined however to disclose further details on the size of the investment or the share of the Polish debt-collection market it aims to compete for, citing the need to keep such information from competitors.

According to DI BRE analyst Iza Rokicka, it makes sense for the billionaire to venture into the debt-collection business. Even though it is a highly competitive market, both profitability and growth prospects are high,

EM&F’s majority shareholder wants to revitalize the company

COURTESY OF PRZEDSI´BIORCZOÊÇ

Financial sector tycoon Leszek Czarnecki is planning to launch getBack within a month

If the tender is successful, EM&F will be delisted from the WSE from Amazon.com, which plans to enter the Polish market. The recent entrance of Toys ‘R’ Us has also brought additional competition to the company’s Smyk toy stores.

Nonetheless, EM&F still recorded a net profit of z∏.89 million in 2011, an increase of 9 percent over the previous year.

According to Maciej Dyjas, the president of the management board at Eastbridge, EM&F will undergo an “expensive restructuring

process of its fashion division,” adding that additional investments may also be required for further expansion.

The price proposed for the public tender is close to the current market rate, and therefore offers no premium for minority shareholders, said Zbigniew Obara, analyst at Alior Bank. For that reason, the success of the tender and the subsequent planned withdrawal from the WSE are not a sure bet, he added. EP

Consumer finance

Regulations, increased competition turn up the heat on banks Non-banking financial institutions are benefiting from increased consumerloan demand and restrictions on banks The National Bank of Poland’s latest quarterly survey of lending managers shows that banks are feeling the heat of rising competition in the consumer-credit market, especially from nonbanking financial institutions.

The advertising for such products seems omnipresent – as a glance at the billboards lining Poland’s streets, or at the ads populating Polish TV channels, will show – reflecting the increased struggle to attract clients.

As the pressure built, banks slightly eased their standards for granting consumer loans in the fourth quarter of 2011, according to the NBP’s survey.

Senior loan officers surveyed by the NBP said the major reasons behind the decision were higher demand for consumer loans and the

aforementioned rise in competition. Nearly half said they had experienced competitive pressures, primarily from nonbank financial institutions.

According to Wiktor Kamiƒski, vice president of the Polish National Association of Co-operative Savings and Credit Unions, the whole non-banking financial services sector is undergoing an expansion. The main cause, according to him, are two recent regulatory changes.

An expanding sector One is the Polish Financial Supervision Authority’s Recommendation-T of 2010, which tightened the conditions on banks for granting loans to individuals. The other was Poland’s adoption in December 2011 of the European Commission’s Consumer Credit Directive, which increases consumer protection. These made it harder for banks to lend to consumers, opening up the door for other financial institutions to fill the gap.

One such company is Provident Polska, a firm that spe-

cializes in delivering cash loans directly to homes. The company saw the amount of credit it issued grow by 10 percent in 2011, and its profit rise by 35 percent. Confident in further growth opportunities, the firm increased its agent numbers by 13 percent last year.

Provident Polska country manager David Parkinson said the firm started returning to growth in Q3 2010, before the regulatory changes. But he also admitted that competition had heated up in 2011, with advertising in the financial sector (mainly by banks) increasing to the tune of 200 percent.

Banks surveyed by the NBP in the first quarter of this year forecast a continued deterioration in the financial standing of households in the coming months. With banks also declaring they have no intention of revising their policies for granting consumer loans in the first quarter of 2012, competition can be expected to remain heated, and the non-banking sector to profit.

Alice Trudelle

BUSINESS

MARCH 19-25. 2012

www.wbj.pl

Warsaw Stock Exchange

Record profit for JSW

WSE profit rises, regional rival interested in ‘merger of equals’ The Warsaw Stock Exchange recorded a net profit of z∏.134.1 million in 2011, an increase of 41.5 percent from last year. The WSE’s strong results continue to confirm its strengthening position in the CEE region, the company said in a statement.

The strength of the Polish bourse has also attracted interest from a regional rival, the CEE Stock Exchange Group (CEESEG), which says it is open to holding “merger of equals” talks with the WSE. The CEESEG currently comprises the stock exchanges of Budapest, Ljubljana, Prague and Vienna, after the Vienna exchange took over the other three bourses in 2010.

Michael Buhl, the Vienna Bourse’s co-chief executive officer, recently told Bloomberg, “We [the CEESEG] would be open to doing something with Warsaw though they see us a competitor,” adding that “we would be interested in a stronger cooperation up to a possible

merger. A merger of equals ultimately would make sense.”

In response, WSE CEO Ludwik Sobolewski told WBJ that a merger of equals would be difficult in practice, “and those difficulties are even more demanding when there is an imbalance in size and power of potential partners.” He declined to give any more specific comment.

Maria Zorn, a spokesperson for the Vienna Stock Exchange, told WBJ, “The CEESEG has expansion potential and we are considering further acquisitions over the medium to long term.

We are interested in all stock exchanges of the region but are currently not engaged in any concrete talks.” She added that she did not have any information on when any potential talks could take place.

The WSE’s market capitalization, at €121.1 billion as of January 2012, is at roughly the WSE CEO Ludwik Sobolewski says a “merger of equals” with regional rival CEESEG same level as that of the would be difficult in practice CEESEG, whose market cap is And despite the similarities, the WSE currently implementrespectively. The WSE’s sales €123.5 billion.

As of January 2012, the revenues, meanwhile, in- the two exchanges run on com- ing UTP technology from total year-to-date turnover of creased 19.1 percent to z∏.268.8 peting trading technologies, NYSE Euronext, thereby creatthe CEESEG and WSE was million in 2011, the highest in with the CEESEG using the ing another challenge to any Ella Pa∏ka Deutsche Börse’s system and possible merger. €8.4 billion and €8.2 billion its history.

COURTESY OF THE WSE

The Warsaw Stock Exchange saw its 2011 net profit rise 41.5 percent

Polish coal miner Jastrz´bska Spó∏ka W´glowa recorded a net profit of z∏.2.1 billion for 2011 – a 40% increase y/y and a record for the company.

The firm, which is the EU’s largest producer of coking coal, saw its revenues grow by 28.6% y/y. The good performance was attributed to high coke and coal prices as well as a weaker z∏oty in the second half of the year.

Nuclear tender to launch this spring State-owned utility PGE, which has been charged with overseeing the building of the first two nuclear plants in Poland, is expected to announce a tender for the supply of reactors within two months, the company’s CEO Wojciech Ostrowski said last week. The tender is set to be worth at least z∏.35 billion.

Interested parties include US firms GE Hitachi and Westinghouse, as well as French firm Areva. ●

Taxes

Finance minister announces new bank tax for this year

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Mr Rostowski’s plan has received a lukewarm reception from bankers

The tax will be calculated differently for Polish and foreignowned banks Polish Finance Minister Jacek Rostowski confirmed at a conference last week that the government plans to implement a new bank tax later this year.

The new tax is being implemented to generate revenue that will be used to guarantee deposits in Poland’s banking system and protect the market from insolvencies.

The proceeds will be paid into a special stability fund that will be under the auspices of the Bank Guarantee Fund. The exact amount of tax due will be calculated differently, depending on whether the bank is a foreign-owned lender operating in Poland or a Polish bank.

In the case of a Polish bank, the reference point will be the size of the assets declared in the company’s financial statement for the previous year. It is not yet clear how the tax will be calculated for foreign

lenders operating in Poland.

Mr Rostowski had been floating the idea of a new bank tax for some time but he had not set a specific time limit for its implementation until now.

Some representatives of the banking sector have, unsurprisingly, expressed their skepticism at the idea.

Krzysztof Pietraszkiewicz, head of the Polish Bank Association (ZBP), appealed to Mr Rostowski to take “great care in introducing various burdens on RA the banking sector.”

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in the Book ofLists 2012 ranking Public Relations Companies

Managing Director of Valkea Media SA

Warsaw Business Journal Editor-in-Chief

Monika Stawicka

Andrew Kureth

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BOOK OF LISTS GALA

www.wbj.pl

MARCH 19-25, 2012

Book of Lists Gala 2012

An evening to celebrate business leaders and success On the evening of March 15, the Warsaw Business Journal Group held its annual Book of Lists Gala to celebrate the launch of the Book of Lists publication and to present awards to businesses and business leaders operating in the Polish market and beyond.

Even in the face of the economic storms that have buffeted much of Europe, many of Poland’s business leaders have successfully capitalized on business opportunit i e s where others

would have stumbled.

The success of these businesses is proof of their ingenuity and resilience in the face of adversity and of the strength of the Polish economy.

With a sense of strong admiration, the Warsaw Business Journal Group, including its editorial staff, salespeople and management, came together to acknowledge and award the outstanding mem-

bers of Poland’s business community, by presenting this year’s WBJ Spotlight Awards.

And the awards go to …

Andrew Kureth, editor-inchief of WBJ, had the pleasure of presenting Spain’s Banco Santander with the Investor of the Year award for its ambitious role not only in taking over BZ WBK but also in helping create the third-largest bank in the Polish market, by merging BZ WBK with Kredyt Bank.

Copper miner KGHM won in the International Success Story of the Year category for the major deals it struck in China and Canada.

The Real Estate Investor of the Year award went to HB Reavis Group for its achievements in developing and redeveloping office and railway buildings in Warsaw.

The Business Leader of the Year award went to Jan

ALL PHOTOS BY MICHA¸ GABRIEL/WBJ

The 17th annual Book of Lists Gala once again honored the achievements of Poland’s business community

The John Paul II Collection Museum stands ready to welcome the gala’s guests Kulczyk, whose growing empire continues to make its mark all over the world. Mr Kulczyk’s achievements show that Polish businesses can have a global reach.

Top-ranked companies Companies that topped the rankings of five of Poland’s most dynamically growing sectors in this year’s Book of Lists

were awarded certificates marking their achievement.

BRE Bank was ranked first in the Investment Banks and Advisors category while Asseco Poland, the country’s largest IT firm, picked up the top spot in the Systems Integrators ranking. PwC picked up the award for the top Business Consulting Company.

Panattoni Europe and Strabag

won in the top Warehouse Space Developers ranking and General Contractors ranking respectively.

The essential guide for business The Book of Lists Gala also showcased some top musical talent, with the Queens of Violins, a violin duet formed

by Anita Tubaja and Karolina

BOOK OF LISTS GALA

MARCH 19-25, 2012

From left to right: Andrew Kureth (WBJ), Dominika Kulczyk-Lubomirska, Stanislav Frnka (HB Reavis), Wojciech K´dzia (KGHM), and Feliks Szyszkowiak (BZ WBK)

www.wbj.pl

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From left to right: Pawe∏ Antonik (Strabag), Robert Dobrzycki (Panattoni Europe), Roman Lubaczewski (PwC), and Tomasz Ga∏ka (BRE Bank)

WBJ gave out its Spotlight Awards and certificates to Poland’s top business leaders The Queens of Violins duo put on an unforgettable performance Wróbel in 2007, playing to the audience before dinner was served. The musical duo fiddled away on electronic violins, to putting on an unforgettable performance.

Everyone in attendance was also able to pick up copies of the Warsaw Business Journal Group’s publications, including the 2012 edition of

Book of Lists, which features over 200 pages of essential information about the largest companies operating in Poland. The companies, ranked in an easy-to-use guide, include 2,000 firms in 70 different sectors. Three additional rankings were added this year: Fair Organizers, Wind Farms and Four-Star

Hotels.

The evening showcased the value of Book of Lists in highlighting the activities and services of companies in Poland, while also providing an opportunity to show how business leaders are pushing the boundaries of markets both in Poland and abroad.

Ella Pa∏ka

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Guests were treated to a sumptuous buffet provided by Grand Catering

WBJ would like to thank its partners for the Book of Lists Gala:

in the Book of Lists 2012 ranking European Union Funds Consulting Companies

Managing Director of Valkea Media SA

Warsaw Business Journal Editor-in-Chief

Monika Stawicka

Andrew Kureth

10

IT IN FOCUS

www.wbj.pl

Online media

MARCH 19-25, 2012

Technology

Cyfrowy Polsat to buy Comarch to build cloud apps on Microsoft technology ipla for z∏.150 million The firm hopes to capitalize on an uptick in popularity of cloud computing in Poland

Cyfrowy Polsat currently specializes in satellite TV services Analysts say that despite the potential synergies between the two companies, ipla is not worth as much as Cyfrowy Polsat has agreed to pay for it, since the entire Polish online video platform market last year was worth around just half the z∏.150 million offered by Cyfrowy Polsat.

“The price is quite high – ipla is unprofitable at the moment,” said Piotr Grzybowski, an analyst at DI BRE. “However, when Cyfrowy

Polish IT and software producer Comarch is one of the first firms to actively use cloud computing as part of its IT solutions in Poland. This year, it will also be the first firm in Poland to build applications in Microsoft’s Windows Azure cloud system.

Cloud computing involves the use of applications from the internet, rather than on locally installed software or hardware. The trend toward cloud computing, which began

Warsaw and Dresden, Germany.

“Most companies are just talking about cloud technology in Poland, meanwhile six percent of our ERP is from the cloud,” Mr Rymarczyk added.

Many of the cloud-computing applications that Comarch is working on involve e-commerce, which is seeing a boom in Poland.

Online sales reached €4.5 billion in 2011, an increase of 32 percent y/y, according to a study from UK firm Kelkoo, with this figure expected to grow by a further 24 percent Ella Pa∏ka this year.

Polsat’s strategy is considered on its own, the transaction is reasonable: ipla is strong in online video and will help Cyfrowy Polsat improve in this segment,” he added.

“Ipla has huge operating leverage, with online revenues increasing at a moderate pace. The company can be profitable, and with synergies added to the equation, profitability in 2014 is a possibility,” Mr Grzybowski said.

Gareth Price

COURTESY OF MICROSOFT

Cyfrowy Polsat, the Polish media group controlled by billionaire Zygmunt Solorz-˚ak, last week agreed to buy online video service provider ipla for z∏.150 million.

Cyfrowy Polsat will acquire 100 percent stakes in four companies that operate ipla: Redefine, Gery.pl, Frazpc.pl and Netshare. All of the firms are owned by Bithell Holdings, a Cyprus-registered enterprise also controlled by Mr Solorz˚ak.

The transfer of ownership rights and the payment for the shares are due to be completed on April 2.

Cyfrowy Polsat president Dominik Libicki told journalists last week that “ipla is the market leader, just like Cyfrowy Polsat is the leader of the satellite platform market.

These firms are different only technologically.”

COURTESY OF CYFROWY POLSAT

Despite potential synergies, the firm might have agreed to pay over the odds for the online video service

around two years ago, is growing at a rate of 20 to 30 percent per year, according to Zbigniew Rymarczyk, director of enterprise resource planning (ERP) and member of the board at Comarch.

Previously, problems with security, experience and knowhow, as well as weak internet access, prevented the technology from expanding in the Polish market. But now, increased security policies, special physical safeguards, and additional power sources have made the technology much safer, said Mr Rymarczyk.

At the moment, Comarch’s data centers include Kraków,

Comarch has two data centers in Poland and one in Germany

Legal Forum

Communal flats – a good deal?

Rados∏aw Biedecki Partner The purchase of a well-located, communal apartment for a low price can be a great investment.

But who can benefit, and how does it work?

The general picture is that many housing communes are eager to get rid of the apartments they own.

From their perspective, and taking into consideration the important rebates granted, sale prices are not material in their revenue budgets.

But with the completion of such transactions, the communes rid themselves of the headache of dealing with unpaid rents and no longer have to manage the properties. From the tenant’s point of view, the offer is a bargain and a great opportunity since nobody knows for how long, or even if, the commune will continue the policy of selling.

Communes are not obliged to sell flats or grant discounts on their prices and the tenant has no right to claim such advantages from a sale.

The communes themselves are the final decision-makers when it

comes to whether they want to sell, if they are ready to grant a discount and what the level of that discount should be. Communes do this by way of a resolution.

Conditions of sale If the commune decides to sell, the first step is the preparation by a valuation expert of an inventory and a valuation of the property. This valuation and the list of properties and/or premises subject to be sold, is then published. The valuation is valid for 12 months from its drafting but requires an update after this period.

The principle is that communal properties should be sold via a public tender. One exception is the sale of properties to those who benefit from a priority right, such as existing tenants of communal apartments. Tenants with leases for an indefinite period of time hold this right for an indefinite period of time.

The said priority right means that the commune cannot sell an apartment without first offering to sell it to the existing tenant. This priority

right also applies in other cases. For example, in a case where communal authorities want to sell a whole building, tenants are able to express before anyone else whether they want to acquire the flats they currently rent in the block.

The commune has to inform tenants in writing about the planned sale of the building and about the tenants’ priority rights.

In case the tenant exercises his/her right, then the tender procedure is not applicable and an official record (minutes) is made, which is considered to be a preliminary agreement. As a next step, an agreement in the form of a notarial deed is signed.

In practice most communes incentivize tenants who have lease agreements for an indefinite period of time to purchase the flats they live in by offering them the legal division of the flat (if necessary) and a very attractive price.

The mayor or president of the city decides, under consent of the commune’s counsel, about the

value of the discount. Communes provide rebates based on different criteria, including: (a) the term of the lease; (b) the building’s age and its technical standing; (c) the simultaneous sale of all premises in the building; (d) the single payment or payment in installments.

Often, discounts amount to 80, 90 or even 98 percent of the value of the property. A payment by installments should take no longer than 10 years and shall be secured by collateral, in particular a mortgage over the premises.

The same discount is applicable to all attachments to the flat, including shares in the plot of land on which the building stands (irrespective of the legal title, i.e. full ownership or shares in perpetual usufruct of the land), garage, attic, basement, etc.

Yet the discount also entails certain limitations for the five years fol-

Legal Forum is a paid-for module which gives law firms in Poland an opportunity to discuss and inform readers about important developments in the market.

The content is created in consultation with Warsaw Business Journal's editorial staff.

lowing the purchase of the property. In case the flat is sold prior to the lapse of the above-mentioned period, the profit from such a sale shall be paid to the commune. The heirs of the purchaser are legally bound by the same rules regarding the potential discount reimbursement.

The rebate is not repayable to the commune if: (a) the purchaser or beneficiary of the donation is a close relative; (b) the premises are exchanged for other premises for the purpose of living in; (c) the money earned from the sale is used within 12 months for the purchase of another flat or property for living purposes; (d) the commune agrees that the discount is not reimbursable.

The communes’ flats might be financially very attractive, but attention should be paid to discount reimbursement and the technical standing of the premises, and building. ●

FINANCE & ECONOMICS

MARCH 19-25, 2012

www.wbj.pl

11

Card payments

Poles still paying highest interchange fees in Europe

Consumer inflation rises faster than expected Poland’s consumer price index (CPI) inflation reading rose to an above-forecast 4.3 percent year-on-year in February from 4.1 percent y/y a month earlier.

According to Piotr Bujak, chief economist Poland at Nordea Markets, CPI data surprised on the upside mostly due to higher prices of foodstuffs, alcohol, tobacco and fuel. “We think this is largely a

lagged pass-through effect from [a] substantially weakened [z∏oty] in [the] last months of 2011,” Mr Bujak wrote in a research note.

Looking ahead, Nordea expects CPI inflation to fall as a result of a significant appreciation of the z∏oty since the start of the year and because of a weakening demand-side pressure on prices.

Although the headline inflation rate came in higher than analysts had predicted, their estimate of core inflation for January and February still indicates a drop to 2.5-2.7 percent year on year from the peak of 3.1 percent y/y in December 2011.

“If these estimates are confirmed by official core inflation data due for release [this]

week, this should alleviate central bankers’ worries about underlying inflationary pressures,” Mr Bujak wrote.

Nordea expects Poland’s rate-setting Monetary Policy Council to become less hawkish than it has been recently, although Mr Bujak wrote that a rate cut is not likely before the final quarter of this year.

chants as more stores and service centers would accept payment cards. In Poland it is currently difficult to pay by card outside of the larger cities, Mr Kuk said.

The issue of interchange fees is in the charge of the NBP, Poland’s consumer watchdog UOKiK and the Ministry of Finance. At the last meeting held at the NBP’s headquarters, the three groups met with the commercial banks in Poland and representatives from Visa.

MasterCard did not attend as it had “doubts about whether the action was legal or not,” Mr Kuk said.

Mr Kuk said a decision would be made at the end of March.

Ella Pa∏ka

Above target Poland’s consumer price index inflation reading, which has held above the NBP's 1.5-3.5% target for over a year now

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Gareth Price

2011

2012

JP Morgan raises GDP forecast for Poland JP Morgan forecasts that Poland’s GDP will grow by 3.2 percent for full-year 2012.

That’s up from an earlier forecast of 3.0 percent.

Despite the rise in forecast, the bank insists that it still expects a slowdown in the coming quarters.

JP Morgan notes that the Polish economy entered 2012 in high gear, without showing signs of slowing down after 2011. It also pointed out that at the end of February, it raised its GDP forecast for Q1 2012 to 2.75 percent y/y from 2.0 percent.

Poland’s GDP grew by 4.3 percent in 2011.

Down, again?

Poland’s annual GDP growth by year, % 10

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2011

Source: Central Statistical Office

Polish bonds get top short-term rating from Moody’s Moody’s Investors Service assigned a Prime-1 shortterm debt rating to the government of Poland last week. Polish bonds’ existing long-term rating remains A2 and carries a stable outlook. Prime-1 is Moody’s highest rating for short-

term bonds, while an A2 long-term rating is an upper-medium grade that indicates low credit risk.

The ratings agency said the newly assigned Prime-1 rating for Poland’s shortterm debt was driven by the country’s twin achievements

of increasing cash reserves steadily since 2008, while seeing a marked decline in the stock of short-term outstanding debt from around 4 percent of GDP in 2008 to under 1 percent by the end of 2011.

SR, AT

in the Book of Lists 2012 ranking Language Schools Managing Director of Valkea Media SA

Warsaw Business Journal Editor-in-Chief

Monika Stawicka

Andrew Kureth

Source: Central Statistical Office

Banks in Poland earn z∏.1.5 billion a year on interchange fees

Maciej Gajewski, a press officer for Visa Europe in Warsaw said that “Visa Europe appreciates and backs the initiative of the central bank, with which we cooperate towards the public good, namely the development of cashless transactions in Poland.”

“Because payment cards are becoming more widely accepted, there will be more transactions as well as clients, so banks will not have to lose on the [rate] reductions,” Mr Kuk said.

He added that the market is growing and hence the “profit pie” after a division will be larger.

A lowering of interchange fees would have a positive impact on consumers and mer-

Jul Au g Se p Oc t No v De c Jan Feb

by WBJ, Rados∏aw Ró˝ycki, press officer from BZ WBK, said his bank agrees with the proposed changes by the NBP.

Jun

to be the catalyst that makes these changes this year,” he said.

However, when contacted

Feb Ma r Ap r Ma y

The National Bank of Poland has proposed that banks lower their interchange fees to put them more in line with European Union levels.

Interchange fees are paid by merchants and shop owners who utilize terminals that allow their customers to pay with a credit or debit card. Currently, Poland has the highest interchange rates in the EU, at around 1.6 percent, compared to the EU average of around 0.7 percent.

According to the NBP, com-

mercial banks in Poland currently earn, on average, around z∏.1.5 billion annually from these fees. But the central bank is opposed to the current rates and has said that it wants to lower them from the 1.6 percent average to 1.1 percent for debit cards and 1.2 for credit cards.

According to Przemys∏aw Kuk, press officer at the NBP, “commercial banks in Poland believe that our market is smaller, younger and under-invested and as a result interchange fees have to be higher.” He added that the NBP does not agree with this belief but does not have any legal tools, so it is attempting to use “moral suasion” over the banks. “We want

SHUTTERSTOCK

But recent initiatives by the NBP may help reduce rates to EU levels

COVER STORY

www.wbj.pl

Small stores disappearing Since 2009, 50,000 small stores have closed in Poland, as supermarkets continue to increase their dominance over the market, reported Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.

In 2011, the number of stores fell by 6.3% to 324,000, according to a report by Soliditet Polska. “The fish business is the one that was hit the hardest, with 808 stores in 2011, compared to 948 a year earlier. That’s a fall of 14.8%,” said Tomasz Starzyk, an expert at Soliditet Polska.

Industrial production on the rise Industrial production in Poland increased by 9.1% y/y in January 2012, according to data from Eurostat. This was the highest increase in the EU, where industrial production fell overall by 1% during the same period. Economists say that weak results across much of the region resulted from declining sales in countries such as Spain and Italy, whose economies have suffered as a result of the eurozone financial crisis. The most significant falls in production came in Luxembourg and Finland, where output fell 10.4% and 6.0% respectively.

Krupnik Vodka headed to America Warsaw Stock Exchangelisted Belvedere Group’s Krupnik Vodka brand will soon be introduced in the US market. “We want to start selling Krupnik in the US by the end of June,” Krzysztof Tryliƒski, the director general of Belvedere Group, told Parkiet. Krupnik Vodka can already be found in Austria, China and Germany. It is Belvedere Group’s fastest-growing brand of vodka in Poland. US sales of Belvedere Group’s Sobieski Vodka brand rose 16% in 2011. ●

MARCH 19-25, 2012

Funeral subsidies

Changing times for Poland’s funeral industry

Andrew Nawrocki

Cuts in government benefits for funerals are affecting the sector, with mixed effects both on the industry and on the way Poles deal with the loss of loved ones In an effort to bring in more money to the state budget, the Polish government cut state subsidies for covering the cost of a funeral and related expenses by over 30 percent in March last year. The cuts reduced the amount Poles receive from z∏.6,400, the highest in Europe, to z∏.4,000.

Overnight, average Poles found themselves with significantly less money to spend on funeral arrangements for their loved ones. A year later, the sector has seen a drop in sales of luxury coffins, but also the rise of new insurance products and an increase in the number of Poles opting for cremation, not so long ago still a rare option in this overwhelmingly Catholic country.

ALICE TRUDELLE/WBJ

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Mixed effects

Polish religious leaders still favor traditional burials, but are now considering cremation “a sad necessity of a new time”

Coffin-makers offer a mixed picture when it comes to the effects of the cuts in government benefits, with the highend coffin sub-sector bearing most of the brunt.

Tomasz Kilarski, marketing specialist at Lindner, a leading Polish coffin producer with a monthly production of over 12,000 coffins, said his firm actually saw a 60 percent increase in sales between 2010 and 2011. The company exports its production all over Europe, and although the sales increase was certainly helped by strong exports, Mr Kilarski noted that domestic sales were also growing.

“In January 2012 we reached a record sales result in the domestic market, with good quality and cheap coffins both seeing high demand,” he told WBJ. However, Mr Kilarski said Lindner saw a sharp drop in sales of luxury coffins, which shrunk by some 50 percent last year.

Meanwhile, some insurance companies have been quick to take advantage of last years’ subsidy cut to propose new products. Since mid-2010, when the government’s plans were made known, the insurance industry has seen a rise in funeral-related insurance products. These often take the form of fixed, monthly installments ranging from as little as z∏.10 to z∏.100, an increasingly popular solution in Poland for those not wanting to burden their loved ones with a financial headache after their death.

One company, MACIF ˚ycie TUW, teamed up with Mementis.pl, a web portal that brings together a network of more than 80 licensed providers specializing in funeral and cremation needs, to create a specialized insurance product that covers burial costs.

“We are seeing a large interest in this new offer,” said

Philippe Saffray, MACIF’s president. Marek Zmys∏owski, CEO of Mementis.pl, echoed this sentiment, adding that Poland’s life and post-life insurance market still have

government introduced its cuts, the number of cremations in their network grew by about 10 percent, said Mr Zmys∏owski. This is significant, he pointed out, since less

“Grim demographic prospects are giving headaches to the Polish government, but they spell a potential boom in business for coffin makers, funeral parlors, etc.” plenty of room for growth.

The hardest hit by government cuts was arguably the largely de-regulated funeralhome market, which comprises around 3,000 businesses, in part because of the rise in popularity of cremations. Market players such as Mementis.pl say that the cremation market has seen significant growth since the government implemented the plan. Already in the three months after the

than a decade ago cremations were rare in Poland, since the Catholic Church frowns upon the practice.

Ashes to ashes Indeed crematoria, almost non-existent in Poland only a decade ago, are seeing a rise in popularity. Since 2000, the number of crematoria in the country has more than tripled, according to figures from Gazeta Wyborcza. Admittedly,

the total number of crematoria (around 13) is still very small compared to neighboring Germany for example, where there are around 140.

Poland still lags far behind the UK as well, where around 75 percent of deaths are followed by cremation.

But according to Memento, a bimonthly newsletter on the funeral industry, the number of cremations in Poland grew by 18 percent in the first half of 2011 compared to the same period in 2010. Although it is difficult to obtain precise figures from this tight-lipped industry, with many firms unwilling to share information, it is clear that more and more Poles are favoring this less traditional method.

Part of the reason may simply come down to cost, with the average price of a cremation about 10 percent less than a burial ceremony, according to Mementis.pl’s Zmys∏owski. In

COVER STORY

ALICE TRUDELLE/WBJ

MARCH 19-25, 2012

Poles now receive z∏.4,000 to pay for funeral costs 2010, the cost of cremating a body ranged from approximately z∏.600 to z∏.800, with the highest costs found in big cities, such as Warsaw, Gdaƒsk, and Poznaƒ.

According to Mr Kilarski from Lindner, “Poland is simply moving in trend with the rest of Europe.” Cremations are much simpler and cheaper than burials, particularly with close relatives increasingly living further away from their core family members, he added.

Another important influence on Poles’ decision whether to opt for cremation, especially among the older generation, has been the stance of the Catholic Church on the issue. Poland’s religious leaders have long opposed cremation, but this also seems to be changing.

In November 2011, in an open-letter that was read aloud at sermons throughout the country, the Polish Episcopate outlined the cases where cremation was to be allowed to take place.

Observing the increased frequency at which Poles are opting for cremation, the country’s religious leadership noted that traditional burials are still the preferred way for

Catholics to part with loved ones. However, in some cases, for instance when the deceased was living abroad, cremation can be justified. But it must take place after a proper mass with the body has been performed, and the ashes must then be buried. Archbishop Stanis∏aw Gàdecki noted at the time that the burial of ashes was “a sad necessity of a new time,” but that the church could not fully condone the practice, as burning the body goes against the Catholic belief in resurrection.

Still, after years of the church resolutely disavowing the process, the letter constituted an important step towards a possible further increase in the popularity of cremations. According to Mr Zmys∏owski, with many young Poles viewing cremation as the more “hygienic and aesthetic” option, we could be witnessing serious changes in Poland that won’t only affect the industry, but will also certainly impact the whole Polish culture of dealing with loss.

An aging population Another factor set to influence the industry is Poland’s aging population. According

Subsidized funerals Government allocation for funeral expenses, selected EU countries, 2009, in €. Numbers for Poland are shown for 2010, before the government cut subsidies, and for 2011, after the cuts were implemented 2,000 1,609 1,500 1,221 1,199 1,006 1,000

850 448

500

0

0

ary

UK

186 0 ng

an y

Hu

lic ub

rm Ge

d

ria

Re p

Cz ech

Au st

11

lan Ire

20

urg

Po la

nd

bo

ark nm De

Lux em

Po la

nd

20

10

0

Source: biznes.onet.pl

to recent numbers from the World Bank, Poland’s demographic dependency ratio (the ratio of population over 65 to people between 16 and 64) will double in the next 25 years from its current level of about 30 percent to 60 percent.

This means that Poland is set to see an important increase in funerals in coming years, at the same time as a decrease in the number of relatives that can help to pay for them. These grim demographic prospects are giving headaches to the government, which is now struggling to raise the retirement age and reform pensions.

But they spell a potential boom in business for coffin makers, funeral parlors, crematoria and related businesses.

However, the same demographic trends will eventually end up shrinking the total population, with the average number of children per Polish woman standing at about 1.3. This places Poland in 207th position globally in terms of child birth according to the most recent estimates by the CIA World Factbook, and raises economic concerns for the whole of Poland’s economy in the long term, including the funeral industry.

Looking forward, the Polish funeral industry, in particular coffin makers, has one advantage on its side, namely the fact that Poland maintains a competitive edge when it comes to providing quality products at cheaper prices than most of its European counterparts. Boosting exports is thus a possible means of maintaining growth.

Meanwhile, only time will tell if the industry, and indeed Polish society, will undergo a more profound transformation as more Poles embrace cremation. ●

www.wbj.pl

13

14

OPINION & ANALYSIS

www.wbj.pl

MARCH 19-25, 2012

EU carbon emissions reductions: Poland had no choice but to veto Paul Fogo

L

ast week Poland stood alone in casting its veto against further cuts in carbon emissions. On Friday, March 9, Poland’s Minister of the Environment vetoed the European Commission’s proposal to cut the emission of greenhouse gases beyond the current 20 percent reduction goals now in place. Poland’s veto is the second in less than a year it has cast to block the EC’s effort to impose further CO2 reductions on member states.

The proposal, if adopted, would have obligated Poland to reduce its CO2 emissions by 40 percent by 2030 and 80 percent by 2050. At present Poland is committed to reducing its CO2 emis-

sions by 20 percent (as compared to 1990 levels) by 2020, together with the other member states.

In reality, Poland had no choice but to veto the proposal. Poland relies on coal-fired power plants to produce nearly 95 percent of all its electricity. If the EU were to adopt more stringent CO2 reduction goals, Poland would be faced with the monumental task of revamping its entire power sector in order to achieve the more ambitious CO2 reduction targets. No other EU member state relies on coal to the extent Poland does to produce its electricity. If Poland were forced to reduce its CO2 emissions by more than 20 per-

cent, it would have to shutter many of its existing power plants, as well as shelve its current plans to construct not fewer than 12 new coal-fired power plants within the next 10 years.

While Poland is taking steps to develop alternative sources of energy, such as nuclear, wind and natural gas, most experts agree that alternative energy sources together will not come close to satisfying Poland’s energy needs. For the foreseeable future, therefore, Poland has no choice but to use coal to satisfy domestic demand for energy.

In fairness, Poland is on track to achieve a 20 percent reduction in

greenhouse gas emissions by 2020.

Beginning next year energy costs are expected to jump as Poland begins to gradually reduce the number of emission allowances currently given to the power sector for free under Poland’s National Allocation Plan. In anticipation of the increase in the cost for such emission allowances, Polish industry and power plants have begun to invest in newer technologies to reduce CO2 emissions; however, even the newest technology will not enable Poland to achieve the more ambitious CO2 reductions sought by the EU. If the EU expects Poland to agree to further CO2 reductions beyond the

current 20 percent threshold, the EU will need to commit substantial financial resources to Poland beyond what is currently available to modernize its power sector. Until the EU agrees to provide Poland with such financial assistance, Poland will have no choice but to continue to veto each and every future EU proposal to impose mandatory CO2 reductions beyond the current 20 percent threshold. ● Paul Fogo is a senior attorney with Miller, Canfield, W. Babicki, A. Che∏chowski & Partners.

Read his blog, “Legal Eye” on WBJ.pl

PO calls out Kaczyƒski

T

he ruling Civic Platform (PO) party has announced that its official petition to try former prime minister and current leader of Law and Justice (PiS), Jaros∏aw Kaczyƒski, along with former justice minister, Zbigniew Ziobro, before the State Tribunal, is “almost ready.”

The two politicians are accused of breaching Poland’s constitution when PiS was in power, while Mr Kaczyƒski is also accused of the “improper supervision of ministers” during the same period.

“We cannot have a situation where a PM or minister acts in a way that is not in accordance with the rules and regulations accepted in a country

which has the rule of law,” said Ma∏gorzata Kidawa-B∏oƒska, the deputy head of PO’s parliamentary club.

Take that The charges concern the period 200507, during which PiS was in power. Mr Kaczyƒski was PM (from 2006) and Mr Ziobro was justice minister.

It is not clear if PO will get the necessary number of votes to push the motion through parliament, but this is clearly a move meant to provoke a reaction from Jaros∏aw Kaczyƒski.

After five years in power, PO has suddenly decided that both Mr Kaczyƒski and Mr Ziobro need to be hauled before the State Tribunal, thus suggest-

ing that the ruling party has an agenda.

I wrote in my blog on WBJ.pl two weeks ago that a quiet Mr Kaczyƒski meant trouble for Prime Minister Tusk, and PO’s actions suggest the party agrees with that line of thinking.

Mr Tusk and his party have taken a hammering in the polls recently and they seem to be hoping that Mr Kaczyƒski will overreact to this move, leading the PiS leader to discredit himself.

In the past, Mr Kaczyƒski has made statements to the effect that the PM is running what amounts to a dictatorship, in what is more or less a banana republic. Civic Platform will be hoping once again for this type of response,

which almost invariably invokes rolled eyes from the public at large.

The ruling party will also be hoping that bringing up the subject of the way PiS ruled in 2005-2007 will remind Poles of how bad those years were in Poland, as many people still feel they were.

Playing it cool However, Mr Kaczyƒski has so far been playing it cool. He said that he would be “glad” to appear before the State Tribunal as then he would have the opportunity to “say everything.”

Last week, the PiS leader even talked about cooperation with PO regarding the government’s efforts to

Remi Adekoya open up some 200 regulated professions in Poland.

This was certainly not the reaction PO had been hoping for, but they remember that in the past, Mr Kaczyƒski has made a conscious effort to play the cool, calm-headed statesman for a while only to unexpectedly snap at the slightest provocation and launch into irrational tirades that cost him weeks of negative publicity in the media. And so the baiting will continue. ● Remi Adekoya is Warsaw Business Journal’s politics editor. Read his blog “The business of politics” on WBJ.pl

The French cul-de-sac

As

France’s presidential election looms, the country is approaching a breaking point. For three decades, under both the right and the left, the country has pursued the same incompatible, if not contradictory, goals. With the sovereign-debt crisis pushing French banks – and thus the French economy – to the wall, something will have to give, and soon.

When the crunch comes – almost certainly in the year or two following the election – it will cause radical, wrenching change, perhaps even more far-reaching than Charles de Gaulle’s coup d’état, which led to the establishment of the Fifth Republic in 1958.

Most French politicians and bureaucrats call such notions scare-

mongering. After all, aren’t key indicators like debt ratios or budgetdeficit trends worse in the United States and Britain? Indeed, France’s predicament might seem comparable with the “Anglo Saxons,” were it not for the French political class’ beloved baby, the euro.

Insurmountable barrier While the euro has not caused France’s economic problems, its politicians’ commitment to the single currency represents an insurmountable barrier to solving them. The basic problem is that the country’s supergenerous welfare state (public spending amounts to about 57 percent of GDP in 2010, compared to 51 percent in the United Kingdom and 48 percent in Germany) stifles the growth

needed for the euro to remain viable.

The most serious structural flaws concern high payroll taxes and labormarket regulation, which make it difficult – or at least prohibitively expensive – for firms to reduce their workforce when business conditions worsen. The OECD reports that in 2010, France’s “tax wedge” (income taxes plus employee and employer socialsecurity contributions minus cash transfers as a percentage of total labor costs) was at least 13 percentage points above the OECD average at every level of household income.

The result has been elevated unit labor costs relative to France’s peer group (especially Germany) and stubbornly high unemployment.

The current election campaign is accordingly centered on France’s fis-

Brigitte Granville

cal position. Everyone agrees that deficit reduction is required, while differing on how to go about it. Mr Sarkozy’s proposed cure is to boost growth by reducing the tax burden on employers, while simultaneously hiking the rate of value-added tax. His main opponent, Socialist leader François Hollande, would impose higher taxes mainly on the wealthy and the financial sector, but also on big business.

rency) and avoiding a chronically depressed economy will be to put off the day of reckoning for as long as possible. This dead-end strategy will feature vain attempts to game Germany and desperate economic expedients, such as the essentially coercive capture of domestic savings to finance government debt. But the day of reckoning will come, and France’s ruling establishment will be judged harshly when it does. ●

Muddling through

Brigitte Granville is professor of international economics and economic policy at Queen Mary, University of London, and the author of the forthcoming book Remembering Inflation, Princeton University Press.

Copyright: Project Syndicate, 2012. project-syndicate.org

With the only effective solutions – fullblown euro-zone political union, or abandoning the euro – ruled out, muddling through is all that is left.

France’s response to the tension between preserving the European project (equated with the single cur-

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Developer HB Reavis Group will make further land acquisitions in Poland this year

Capital Park Group has revealed its plans for the historic Norblin site in Warsaw

16

17

LOKALE IMMOBILIA

W a r s a w B u s i n e s s J o u r n a l ’s w e e k ly s u p p l e m e n t o n re a l e s t a t e , c o n s t r u c t i o n a n d d e v e l o p m e n t

Construction company Budimex has been selected as general contractor of the Centrum Biurowe Neptun office project that developer Hines Polska will build in Gdaƒsk on the Baltic Sea. The value of the agreement amounts to €18.7 million. The Neptun office scheme will be a 19-floor building with approximately 21,600 sqm of usable space. The development is scheduled to be completed in September next year.

Outsourcing boosts Kraków offices The southern Polish city of Kraków is experiencing strong office occupier demand as a result of its popularity among business services sector firms, according to a recent report by Jones Lang LaSalle. Potential tenants are currently looking for approximately 60,000 sqm of office space in the city, the report says. ●

PPL looks for investors for the capital’s Chopin Airport City The planned 165,000sqm complex will be the first airport business park in Poland Polish Airports State Enterprise (PPL) is in preliminary talks with investors interested in developing the planned Chopin Airport City business park in Warsaw. The company touted the project at the recent MIPIM 2012 international property fair in Cannes, France.

“Our participation in the largest fair of its kind in the world proved a success. We held tens of meetings with investors and developers who showed a lot of interest in our project,” Micha∏ Marzec, general director of PPL, told journalists last week.

He added that the compa-

The project will involve the transformation of 22.5 hectares of land ny had established crucial business contacts which look very promising for the Chopin Airport City development. More concrete business talks concerning the investment are to be held at

the Expo Real property fair in Munich, Germany, later this year.

The Chopin Airport City project will involve the transformation of 22.5 hectares of land located nearby to Termi-

In this issue Chopin Airport City . . . . . . . . . .15 HB Reavis plans . . . . . . . . . . . . .16 Aquarius Business House . . . .16 Property-related stocks . . . . . .16

Karolkowa delay . . . . . . . . . . . .17

COURTESY OF PPL

Galeria Korona Kielce . . . . . . . .17

COURTESY OF PPL

ArtNorblin design . . . . . . . . . . .17 Growing DIY market . . . . . . . . .17

MARCH 19-25, 2012, LI 17/11

Office

COURTESY OF PPL

Budimex to build Neptun in Gdaƒsk

•

nal A of Warsaw’s international airport and will be the first scheme of its kind in Poland.

The investment will comprise 16 buildings with class-A office and complementary retail-service space whose total

usable area is expected to exceed 165,000 sqm. The structures will sit on 10 hectares of land, while the remaining area will accommodate public spaces, including a park.

Work is now underway on both the architectural concept and the business model of the project. The assumption is that PPL will make the land available for the scheme while the company’s partners will shoulder most of the cost of the construction.

According to Mr Marzec, the value of the Chopin Airport City development will amount to approximately z∏.1 billion, excluding the price of the land. He expects construction on the first phase of the project to commence within the next two years and the whole scheme to be ready in 10 years.

Adam Zdrodowski

LOKALE IMMOBILIA – REAL ESTATE

www.wbj.pl

Dom Development launches Wilno apartments Warsaw Stock Exchange-listed developer Dom Development has launched construction on and sales of apartments in the fourth phase of its Wilno multifamily residential project in the Polish capital. The new offer comprises a total of 109 housing units in five buildings which are scheduled to be completed in the second quarter of 2013.

CBRE recommercializes Focus Mall Rybnik The Focus Mall Rybnik shopping center in Silesia will be recommercialized with Alfa Asset Management, the mall’s manager, having recently selected CBRE as the exclusive agent for the process.

CBRE is now also recommercializing, although not on an exclusive basis, other Focus Mall schemes in Poland. ●

MARCH 19-25, 2012

Developers

HB Reavis to buy more land in Poland The developer will invest €150-200 million in the Polish property market this year Slovak developer HB Reavis Group, which has acquired a number of prime plots of land in Warsaw in recent months, is planning further investment in the Polish market this year. The company is eying sites in the capital, as well as those located in Poland’s regional cities.

Altogether, the firm, which is currently working on the development of the plots it has already acquired, will invest €150-200 million in the Polish property market in 2012, said Stanislav Frnka, country CEO at HB Reavis Poland.

He added that the company had been analyzing the Polish market for years and waiting for the right moment for entry, which came when the prices of land decreased to acceptable levels after the global financial crisis.

“We have investigated CEE markets for many years, searching for good acquisition targets. Before the crisis, the prices of land plots were very high, which we did not want to accept. Afterwards, we were

waiting for the decrease of the prices to reasonable levels,” Mr Frnka said.

Since 2010 the company has felt the time was right to make acquisitions, especially in Poland. As the Slovak market is limited in terms of its size, expanding to other CEE markets seemed the natural next step in the process of developing the company.

“The Polish market is big, healthy, and one of the closest to us, so it was a natural step.

We have had the money prepared for acquisitions for several years. As we saw good opportunities, we just acquired them,” Mr Frnka said.

on which Spanish developer Lubasa originally planned an investment.

According to Mr Frnka, it’s likely that the firm will make more acquisitions in Warsaw in the coming months. “It probably won’t be the size of the Inflancka and Chmielna plots, but we are still eager to acquire new projects.”

Regional cities are also on the company’s radar. The company already has a site in Kielce where a shopping mall will be developed. “We are still looking for good opportunities to develop shopping malls in Polish regional cities,” Mr Frnka said.

New acquisitions

Work in progress

Last year, HB Reavis signed a €110 million agreement with Polish State Railways (PKP) concerning the development of the Warszawa Zachodnia (Warsaw West) railway station in the Polish capital, along with an accompanying office complex.

It also acquired plots located in central Warsaw from PKP on which high-rise developments can be built. Earlier this month, it was revealed that the firm had taken over a plot on the city’s ul. Inflancka,

Meanwhile, preparatory work is underway on projects that will be built on the plots that the firm has already acquired.

The details of the Warszawa Zachodnia scheme are still to be discussed with Warsaw city authorities, but according to Mr Frnka the terms previously agreed with PKP will be fulfilled.

In the case of the Chmielna plot, the architectural concept is now being developed with Mr Frnka promising landmark architecture at the site. The

% change (week)

52-week low

52-week high

% change (year)

Total shares

Market value (z∏. mln)

BUDIMEX

85.50

-0.35

64.00

109.20

94.60

25,530,098

2,182.82

CELTIC

16.55

-2.76

15.55

22.70

21.00

34,068,252

563.83

DOMDEV

38.85

-0.38

23.50

50.80

45.90

24,560,222

954.16

ECHO

4.06

-0.98

3.05

5.55

4.63

420,000,000

1,705.20

ELBUDOWA

116.00

-0.85

87.00

168.00

158.00

4,747,608

550.72

ENERGOPLD

2.02

0.00

1.81

4.10

3.79

70,972,001

143.36

ERBUD

21.50

4.37

14.65

41.45

48.00

12,644,169

271.85

GANT

9.85

8.48

5.85

14.20

15.99

20,499,953

201.92

GTC

7.11

-4.82

6.80

21.79

21.08

219,372,990

1,559.74

HBPOLSKA

1.05

-12.50

0.70

2.59

2.61

210,558,445

221.09

JWCONSTR

7.35

4.26

4.36

15.50

14.44

54,073,280

397.44

LCCORP

1.32

3.13

0.85

1.62

1.69

447,558,311

590.78

MARVIPOL

9.80

2.08

7.22

9.95

9.24

36,923,400

361.85

MIRBUD

2.19

-0.45

1.94

4.63

4.40

75,000,000

164.25

MOSTALWAR

19.19

1.16

15.40

45.69

47.01

20,000,000

383.80

MOSTALZAB

1.58

-1.25

1.07

2.89

2.87

149,130,538

235.63

ORCOGROUP

17.04

5.38

14.00

40.00

32.55

17,053,866

290.60

PBG

44.75

-17.13

42.59

197.60

195.50

14,295,000

639.70

PLAZACNTR

2.61

0.38

1.80

5.15

4.00

297,174,515

775.63

POLAQUA

7.05

-0.98

4.53

18.99

19.49

27,500,100

193.88

POLIMEXMS

1.55

-1.90

1.23

3.64

3.45

521,154,076

807.79

POLNORD

17.64

2.62

11.03

33.55

30.98

23,798,439

419.80

RANKPROGR

16.97

6.26

8.60

16.97

10.18

37,145,050

630.35

ROBYG

1.45

5.07

1.04

2.13

1.86

257,390,000

373.22

RONSON

1.15

0.00

0.77

1.58

1.41

272,360,000

313.21

TRAKCJA

1.25

-7.41

0.65

3.72

3.61

232,105,480

290.13

ULMA

71.90

12.43

57.00

88.00

83.30

5,255,632

377.88

UNIBEP

5.88

2.44

4.47

8.07

8.93

33,927,184

199.49

WARIMPEX

4.32

1.41

2.95

10.89

10.75

54,000,000

233.28

ZUE

7.65

-4.38

5.07

14.00

14.00

22,000,000

168.30

Adam Zdrodowski

According to HB Reavis Poland’s Frnka, prices of land have already decreased to acceptable levels

COURTESY OF ECHO INVESTMENT

Closing price on March 15

offices, which distinguishes the investment from the original Lubasa plans for the site.

In the development of the planned investments, HB Reavis is going to use its own equity, as well as bank financing. “We are not considering looking for a financial partner other than banks,” Mr Frnka said.

Work on phase II of Aquarius Business House gets underway

Property-related stocks Security

first drawings of the investment will be shown to the public in a few months, he said.

The first project to be launched will likely be the scheme on ul. Inflancka, where construction on the first phase is expected to commence in May or June of this year. Ultimately, the whole plot will be developed with

COURTESY OF HB REAVIS/BART¸OMIEJ RAMZA

16

The first phase of the Aquarius Business House is over 85 percent commercialized Developer Echo Investment will soon launch construction on the second phase of its Aquarius Business House office project in Wroc∏aw, Lower Silesia voivodship. The decision follows the news that the first phase of the development is now over 85 percent commercialized.

IT company Tieto Poland recently chose the expansion option included in its original lease agreement, signed in October last year, that concerns space in the first phase of Aquarius Business House.

The company has increased the area it will occupy in the investment to over 8,500 sqm.

“The choice of our scheme and the decision to further develop the firm in Wroc∏aw, in our building, confirms that the project has been well prepared in terms of the technological solutions and business offer,” Rafa∏ Mazurczak, sales director in the office department at Echo Investment, said in a statement.

The Aquarius Business House development is locat-

ed at the intersection of ul.

Borowska and ul. Swobodna in downtown Wroc∏aw. It will deliver a total of 25,000 sqm of GLA. Construction on the first phase of the two-phase project launched in June last year and will finish in November.

The second phase of the scheme is scheduled to be completed in September 2013. Eiffage Budownictwo Mitex is the general contractor of the shell and core of the development.

Adam Zdrodowski

LOKALE IMMOBILIA – REAL ESTATE

Revitalization

COURTESY OF ART NORBLIN

The project will deliver 61,000 sqm of usable space

Developer Capital Park Group last week revealed the architectural vision of its ArtNorblin revitalization project in Warsaw. The project will involve the transformation of the former Norblin factory located at the intersection of ul. Prosta and ul. ˚elazna in the capital’s Wola district.

The scheme, which has been designed by the PRC Architekci studio, envisages the preservation of 11 buildings entered in the historical buildings register, as well as the development of a number of new structures with office and retail-service space.

Altogether, more than 61,000 sqm of usable space, including approximately 22,000 sqm of retail-service and cultural space, and 39,000 sqm of class-A office space will be created at the Norblin site, most of which has to date been inaccessible to the public.

“ArtNorblin will become a unique spot on the map of Warsaw. Two hectares of hitherto closed land will become the center of life in this part of the capital,” said Kinga Nowakowska, general director of Capital Park subsidiary Art Norblin which owns the Norblin site.

She added that the company had analyzed hundreds of projects around the world in terms of trends for the design of multi-function spaces. “We are convinced that ArtNorblin will join the group of the best examples of schemes in its category,” Ms Nowakowska said.

Igor Galas from PRC Architekci stressed that the ArtNorblin project is the most challenging scheme the studio has ever worked on. The character of the development means complex solutions will have to be used in the construction process.

“The historic buildings have to be transformed or moved by means of technologies that have so far been used in [just] a few [of the] most spectacular undertakings in the history of the Polish construction industry,” Mr Galas said.

Art Norblin will apply for a building permit for the ArtNorblin scheme in the upcoming months, with construction expected to commence next year and finish in 2015. According to Ms Nowakowska, the investment will cost around z∏.500 million to build.

The number of new “Do-ItYourself” retail stores in Poland is expected to increase markedly this year following strong growth in 2011, according to a report by market research company PMR. A total of 415 DIY stores were opened in Poland in 2011, compared to 272 a year earlier.

This year, PMR expects 485 stores to be opened.

“Poland is the leader in [Central and Eastern Europe] by the number of new stores opened per year,” Jaros∏aw Frontczak, a retail analyst at PMR, said in a statement.

An average of 27 DIY chain stores were opened each

year in Poland between 2000 and 2010, with 65 new chain stores opened in the country last year.

At least 50 of the 485 new stores expected in Poland this

year will be chain stores, according to PMR’s report.

Retailers’ plans for the next few years suggest further expansion is in the cards.

Gareth Price

Build it, and they will come Number of DIY stores in Central and Eastern Europe in 2012 (forecast) 500 400 300 200 100 0 Poland Czech Republic Romania

Hungary

Slovakia

Bulgaria

Karolkowa Business Park scheme delayed due to financing issues Developer Ablon Group has terminated its agreement with Investkredit Bank concerning financing the Karolkowa Business Park office project in Warsaw due to what it described as a “breach of contractual obligations” on the part of the bank.

Ablon has already arranged for the rescheduling of the development with Karmar, the

general contractor of the investment, with the new delivery date having been set for October 15, 2013. Originally, the scheme was expected to be completed in May next year.

“We remain optimistic about the viability of the Karolkowa Business Park and are confident of securing alternative financing in a short period of time,” Uri Heller, CEO of

Ablon Group, said in a statement.

Located on ul. Karolkowa in Warsaw’s Wola district, Karolkowa Business Park will be a class-A office project offering 15,000 sqm of leasable office and 3,000 sqm of retail and entertainment space. Construction on the facility launched in August 2011.

Adam Zdrodowski

Adam Zdrodowski

3

rd

Work on Galeria Korona Kielce mall nearing completion

PLACE

Prochem

COURTESY OF AGENCJA MEDIALNA ARETE

Lubin-based real estate investor MGC Inwest is finishing work on its Galeria Korona Kielce shopping center project in Kielce, Âwi´tokrzyskie voivodship. The 93,000-sqm development is scheduled to open for business on May 16.

Construction on the mall is expected to be completed in April, with workers currently finishing work on the building’s facade. Work is also nearing completion on the spaces already leased by the center’s tenants, as well as on a swimming pool that will be part of the investment.

Located between Kielce’s ul. Warszawska, ul. Polna and ul. Radiowa, the Galeria Korona Kielce mall will feature approximately 160 stores and points of service.

Galeria Korona Kielce will open for business on May 16 Tenants will include a ninescreen cinema, a grocery supermarket, as well as

stores of major clothing brands.

Adam Zdrodowski

17

Sharp increase in DIY store construction expected in Poland

Capital Park reveals its vision of ArtNorblin project in Warsaw

The z∏.500 million development will involve the revitalization of a historic site in the Wola district

www.wbj.pl

Source: PMR Publications

MARCH 19-25, 2012

in the Book of Lists 2012 ranking Architectural Firms

Managing Director of Valkea Media SA

Warsaw Business Journal Editor-in-Chief

Monika Stawicka

Andrew Kureth

18

THE LIST

www.wbj.pl

MARCH 19-25, 2012

Corporate Services

Business Consulting Companies

Rank

Ranked by total number of consultants

Company name Address Tel./Fax E-mail Web page

Number of consultants: Total / Polish / Foreign

PwC (1)

Revenue from Total revenue management from consulting consulting (z∏. mln) (z∏. mln)

Total revenue (z∏. mln)

www.bookoflists.pl

Main activities

Selected clients

Total employees / Year founded

Top local executive / Title

1st half of 2011 / 2010 / 2009 / 2008

433 421 12

WND WND WND WND

WND 188.8 146.9 146.7

WND 453.7 389.1 399.7

Financial advice; strategic advice for public and private sectors: business plans, investment consultancy, development management and strategy; transaction and crisis consulting; sustainable development consulting; economic inquiry and expertise; legal, tax and audit consulting

PT; PKN Orlen; PZU; PKO BP; PGNiG

1,765 1990

Olga Grygier-Siddons

2

Ernst & Young (1) Rondo ONZ 1, 00-124 Warsaw 22 557-7000/22 557-7001 ernst.young@pl.ey.com www.ey.com/pl

394 WND WND

WND 157.0 110.7 98.8

WND 176.0 133.7 120.8

WND 497.0 406.1 444.0

Business consulting; IT consulting

PGNiG; PGE; Tauron; Orlen; Pekao

1,585 1990

Duleep Aluwihare; Piotr Piela

3

Deloitte Al. Jana Paw∏a II 19, 00-854 Warsaw 22 511-0811/22 511-0813 dpoland@deloittece.com www.deloitte.com/pl

305 305 -

80.5 124.9 120.2 180.5

211.0 341.0 335.6 363.7

216.2 344.6 340.3 371.8

Business, tax, financial advice; audits

Aviva; Energa; Enea; Chancellery of the Prime Minister of Poland; Orlen

1,119 1990

Marek Metrycki; Dariusz Kraszewski

4

Capgemini Polska Sp. z o.o. ul. Pi´kna 18, 00-541 Warsaw 22 464-7000/22 464-7100 office.pl@capgemini.com www.pl.capgemini.com

265 WND WND

WND WND WND WND

WND WND WND WND

WND 471.5 392.3 333.2

Strategies and business transformation; IT technology consulting; supply chain management; customer relationship management; finance, business process and efficiency management; IT project management

WND

4,200 1996

WND

5

KPMG ul. Ch∏odna 51, 00-867 Warsaw 22 528-1100/22 528-1009 kpmg@kpmg.pl www.kpmg.pl

189 184 5

31.5 45.5 57.1 55.8(2)

41.8 66.5 70.7 72.3(2)

230.0 407.0 455.0 440.3(2)

WND

WND

1,289 1990

Andrzej Âcis∏owski

6

WYG International Sp. z o.o. ul. Marynarska 15, 02-674 Warsaw 22 492-7100/22 492-7113 warszawa@wyginternational.pl www.wyginternational.pl

186 186 -

32.7 58.6 72.4 62.1

32.7 58.6 72.4 62.1

46.2 76.7 100.5 68.6

WND

Polish Agency for Enterprise Development; Centrum Rozwoju Zasobów Ludzkich; Bumar; Centre for Education Development; regional employment agencies

231 1999

Andrzej Dziurdzik President

7

F5 Konsulting Sp. z o.o. ul. Sk∏adowa 5, 61-897 Poznaƒ 61 856-6960/61 853-0295 konsulting@f5.pl www.f5.pl

90 90 -

6.0 18.2 19.6 18.9

6.0 18.2 19.6 18.9

6.0 18.2 19.6 18.9

Business consulting; EU projects; human resources development

Chancellery of the Prime Minister of Poland; Ministry of Treasury; Poszukiwania Naftowe Diament; Polish Agency for Entreprise Development; PKP

120 1991

Marek Pankowski

8

House of Skills (Konsorcjum doradczo-szkoleniowe SA) ul. Flisa 4, 02-247 Warsaw 22 577-4040/22 577-4047 office@weknowhow.pl www.weknowhow.pl

73 70 3

1.0 2.7 3.3 3.6

1.0 2.7 3.3 3.6

9.9 27.6 24.6 24.5

Strategy; leadership and management; talent management; efficiency: individual, team, project, organization; executive development

PKN Orlen; Grupa ING; ArcelorMittal Poland; Skanska; Raiffeisen Bank Polska

98 2004

Aleksander Drzewiecki

9

Infovide-Matrix SA ul. Prosta 51, 00-838 Warsaw 22 440-2500/22 440-2501 infovidematrix@ivmx.pl www.infovidematrix.pl

60 60 -

WND WND WND WND

64.7 151.2 155.2 165.2

66.1 186.8 209.2 213.7

Consulting services and IT solutions

Deutsche Bank; Raiffeisen Bank; Ministry of the Interior and Administration; Generali; PGNiG

587 1991

Jan Maciejewicz

50 WND WND

WND WND WND WND

WND WND WND WND

WND WND WND WND

Organizational efficiency development; leadership development; employees engagement development

WND

WND 1995

Edward Stanoch

DGA SA ul. Towarowa 35, 61-896 Poznaƒ 11 61 859-5900/61 859-5901 dgasa@dga.com.pl www.dga.pl

40 40 -

1.8 6.5 10.1 7.2

12.8 35.6 49.6 25.2

14.7 36.8 52.3 27.4

Strategies for business development; business plans and financial models; business valuation; privatization; M&A; preparation and implementation of comprehensive training and consulting projects; outplacement projects; research projects; comprehensive support for human resources

WND

50 1990

Andrzej G∏owacki

APAX Consulting Sp. z o.o.

Al. Ujazdowskie 41, 00-540 Warsaw 12 22 319-5755/22 319-5758 biuro@apax.pl www.apax.pl

38 28 10

WND WND WND WND

WND WND WND WND

WND WND WND WND

Strategic advice; restructuring; operational advice; financial advice; IT consulting; interim management

Grupa PKP Cargo; Impel; Miasteczko Multimedialne; Polskie Porty Lotnicze; Agencja Rozwoju Przemys∏u

40 2007

Dariusz Brzeziƒski

Doradca Consultants Ltd. Sp. z o.o. ul. WolnoÊci 18A, 81-327 Gdynia 13 58 621-0331/58 621-9927 office@doradca.com.pl www.doradca.com.pl

32 32 -

4.6 8.0 5.1 5.6

4.6 8.0 5.1 5.6

4.7 8.1 5.6 6.0

Management consultancy

Polish Agency for Enterprise Development; Energa; TP; Sopra Consulting; Sopot City Hall

45 1985

Jaros∏aw Zysnarski

Hay Group Sp. z o.o. ul. Flisa 4, 02-247 Warsaw 14 22 577-4444/22 577-4445 haygroup@haygroup.pl www.haygroup.pl

30 30 -

WND WND WND WND

13.7 13.1 11.9 15.5

13.7 13.1 11.9 15.5

Transforming business strategies into organizational solutions; strategy decoding and development; broad support at post M&A; operational reorganization and improvment; climate change; leadership transformation; talent managment; reward strategies and rerward information services

Skandia; AkzoNobel; KBC Group; HDI; BG˚

45 1998

Mik Kuczkiewicz

Mercer (Polska) Sp. z o.o.

Al. Jerozolimskie 94, 00-807 Warsaw 22 456-4020/22 456-4021 ewa.pieniazek@mercer.com www.mercer.com.pl

20 20 -

WND WND WND WND

1.4 4.6 6.5 2.2

3.4 10.8 20.7 18.0

WND

WND

WND 1999

Krzysztof Nowak

FIRMA 2000 Sp. z o.o. ul. Królowej Marysieƒki 90, 02-954 Warsaw 16 22 642-5872/22 642-5873 mail@firma2000.pl www.firma2000.pl

17 17 -

0.9 1.1 0.8 0.3

0.9 1.1 0.8 0.3

4.5 12.5 5.4 1.6

Training; project management and advice; EU funds acquiring; communication campaigns design and implementation; monitoring and valuation systems

Cersanit; Echo Investment; Vaillant; Softronic; Polish Agency for Enterprise Development

27 1999

Marcin Opas

17 17 -

WND 3.2 2.7 1.0

WND 10.1 9.8 9.0

WND 34.1 32.4 35.7

Audit; tax advisory; transaction advice; consulting; outsourcing solutions

Mo-Bruk; Wielkopolska Spó∏ka Gazownictwa; SGB Bank; PGE Energia Odnawialna; Ruch

225 1993

Cecylia Pol; Tomasz Wróblewski

1

Al. Armii Ludowej 14, 00-638 Warsaw 22 523-4000/22 523-4040 pwcpoland@pl.pwc.com www.pwc.com/pl

Aon Hewitt ul. Marsza∏kowska 76, 00-517 Warsaw 10 22 696-5220/22 696-5221 dominika.korzeniowska@aonhewitt.com www.aon.com/poland/

15

16

Grant Thornton Fràckowiak Sp. z o.o., Sp.k.

Pl. Wiosny Ludów 2, 61-831 Poznaƒ 61 850-9200/61 850-9201 info@gtfr.pl www.grantthornton.pl

President

Managing Partners

Managing Partners

Senior Partner

President

President

President

President

Managing Partner

President

President

Board Member

President

President; Vice-President

THE LIST

Rank

MARCH 19-25, 2012

Company name Address Tel./Fax E-mail Web page

Number of consultants: Total / Polish / Foreign

Revenue from Total revenue management from consulting consulting (z∏. mln) (z∏. mln)

Total revenue (z∏. mln)

www.wbj.pl

Main activities

Selected clients

Total employees / Year founded

Top local executive / Title

19

1st half of 2011 / 2010 / 2009 / 2008

MDDP Business Consulting (MDDP Sp. z o.o. Finanse i Ksi´gowoÊç Sp.k.) ul. Ksià˝´ca 4, 00-498 Warsaw 16 22 322-6888/22 322-6889 wlodzimierz.makowski@mddp.pl www.mddp.pl

17 17 -

4.1 6.0 5.7 4.9

5.3 6.0 5.7 4.9

5.3 6.0 5.7 4.9

Strategy definition and implementation; cost management; risk management; project management; performance and productivity management; IT systems implementation management; due diligence; advice on SOX; internal audit; restructuring; corporate advisory

Bumar; Pfizer; TVN; Polpharma; NFI EMF

22 2006

W∏odzimierz Makowski

Polinvest Sp. z o.o. ul. Jana Bro˝ka 3, 30-347 Kraków 16 12 263-7002/12 263-7001 polinvest@polinvest.pl www.polinvest.pl

17 17 -

1.3 4.3 3.9 3.2

1.3 4.3 3.9 3.2

1.3 4.3 3.9 3.2

Advisory for energy, heating, waste management, water supply, medical, construction, public and private sectors

PGNiG; PKP Energetyka; Polskie LNG; Gaz System; Krakowski Holding Komunalny

20 1989

Wies∏aw Samitowski

REAS Sp. z o.o., Sp.k. ul. Belwederska 9/103, 00-761 Warsaw 20 22 380-2100/22 380-2101 office@reas.pl www.reas.pl

16 15 1

WND WND WND WND

WND WND WND WND

WND WND WND WND

Financial advisory; property valuations; advice on developer activities; market and competition monitoring

Dom Development; Qualia Development; Robyg; Ronson; Skanska

18 1997

Kazimierz Kirejczyk

HRM partners SA ul. K.K. Baczyƒskiego 1, 00-036 Warsaw 21 22 244-1550/22 244-1551 hrmpartners@hrmpartners.pl www.hrmpartners.pl

14 14 -

WND WND WND WND

1.2 2.7 2.4 4.1

1.2 2.7 2.4 4.1

Designing and implementing of effective HR solutions based on own benchmarks

PKN Orlen; Christianapol; Siódemka; Dalkia Polska; Chancellery of the Prime Minister of Poland

14 2000

Zbigniew Woêniakowski

Grupa Kapita∏owa PKF Consult ul. Elblàska 15/17, 01-747 Warsaw 22 22 560-7650/22 560-7663 pkfconsult@pkfconsult.pl www.pkfconsult.pl

11 11 -

1.6 3.0 2.5 3.1

2.1 3.4 7.2 4.1

13.2 18.8 19.7 17.7

M&A; economic entity, asset and trademark valuation; EU grants; privatization

Grupa Bumar; Agencja Rozwoju Przemys∏u; Ministry of Treasury; PKP; PWPW

175 1993

Holon Consultants Sp. z o.o.

Al. Jana Paw∏a II 23, 00-854 Warsaw 23 22 653-9090/22 653-9099 biuro@holon.pl www.holon.pl

10 9 1

WND WND WND WND

WND WND WND WND

WND WND WND WND

Capital raising; M&A; Polish market entry strategies for foreign companies; corporate finance; strategic consulting

Nippon Express; Szybka Kolej Miejska; Agrico; Grupa Nowy Szpital; ETOS-Divers

12 2002

Maciej CieÊlak

A & Lupa International ul. Andersa 21/34, 00-159 Warsaw 24 22 831-0271 office@andlupa.com www.andlupa.com

8 WND WND

Below 0.5 WND WND WND

Below 0.5 WND WND WND

Below 0.5 WND WND WND

WND

Metro Group; JTI; Sab Miller; L’Oreal

WND 2008

Agnieszka Lupa

Ageron Polska ul. StaroÊciƒska 1B, 02-516 Warsaw 25 22 646-4221/22 646-4223 ageron@ageron.pl www.ageron.pl

7 7 -

WND WND WND WND

WND WND WND WND

WND WND WND WND

Internationalization process support; market research; strategic planning

Polska Organizacja Turystyczna; Ministry of Economy; Marshall’s Office of Wielkopolskie Voivodship; Marshall’s Office of Ma∏opolskie Voivodship; DolnoÊlàski WUP

12 2003

Micha∏ Zieliƒski

UBIK Business Consulting Sp. z o.o. ul. Emili Plater 53, 00-113 Warsaw 26 22 423-7060/22 211-1607 info@ubikbc.pl www.ubikbc.pl

6 5 1

WND WND WND WND

WND WND WND WND

WND WND WND 0.5

WND

Microsoft Poland; TVN; Groupon; Loyalty Partners; Allegro

7 2006

Krzysztof Kowalczyk

Consulco Poland Sp. z o.o. ul. Mokotowska 57/5, 00-542 Warsaw 27 22 622-0602/22 628-1746 warsaw@consulco.com www.consulco.com

2 WND WND

WND WND WND WND

WND WND WND WND

WND WND WND WND

WND

WND

WND 2008

Tomasz Ko∏aczyk

Accenture Sp. z o.o. ul. Sienna 39, 00-121 Warsaw NR 22 464-0000/22 464-0001 pl.office@accenture.com www.accenture.pl/com

WND WND WND

94.4 72.0 90.3 107.6

320.1 244.1 306.1 364.8

322.2 245.9 308.9 367.0

WND

WND

WND 1993

WND

Alma Consulting Group Polska Sp. z o.o. ul. Cha∏ubiƒskiego 8, 00-613 Warsaw NR 22 330-6000/22 330-6010 info@almacg.pl www.almacg.pl

WND WND WND

WND WND WND WND

WND WND WND WND

WND WND WND WND

WND

Cersanit II; Danone; Grupa Animex; Lafarge Cement; Michelin Polska; Opoczno I; SaintGobain Construction Products Polska

WND 2004

Beata Bartkiewicz-Chudak

WND WND WND

WND WND WND WND

WND WND WND WND

WND WND WND WND

Full range of HR advice and support

Auchan; Norauto; Simply; Decathlon; Sodexo

WND 2000

˚aneta Poirieux

Carnelian Partners Sp. z o.o. ul. Rac∏awicka 146, 02-117 Warsaw NR 22 572-5660/22 572-5669 carnelian@carnelian.pl www.carnelian.pl

WND 7 WND

0.5 1.0 0.4 0.7

0.5 1.0 0.4 0.7

1.0 2.2 1.1 1.3

Investment banking; strategic advice

Dr Irena Eris; Granit Strzegom; Sobies∏aw Zasada; Fabryka Drutu Gliwice; Call2Action

8 2006

Edyta Skoczyƒska

Carrywater Group SA Al. Jerozolimskie 65/79, 00-697 Warsaw NR 22 630-6655/22 630-6656 biuro@carrywater.com www.carrywater.com

WND WND WND

WND WND WND WND

WND WND WND WND

WND WND WND WND

Business consulting; IT consulting; project management

Grupa TP; Enea Operator; Liberty Direct; RWE; Polska Telefonia Cyfrowa

63 2005

Pawe∏ Biarda

getsix Group ul. Szwedzka 5, 55-040 Bielany Wroc∏awskie NR 71 388-1300/71 388-1310 office@getsix.pl www.getsix.pl

WND WND WND

WND WND WND WND

WND WND WND WND

WND WND WND WND

Virtual office services; start-up support; business planning and modeling; accounting services; payroll and HR; IT services; legal and tax advisory

WND

45 2006

Monika Martynkiewicz-Frank; Claus Frank; Roy Heynlein

Grupa training & consulting Sp.c. ul. Rzymska 22/1, 03-976 Warsaw NR 22 353-0659/22 843-3365 grupa@grupatc.pl www.grupatc.pl

WND WND WND

0.4 0.7 0.6 0.3

WND WND WND WND

0.7 1.4 1.4 1.5

31 2005

Ewa Kastory-Senn; Miros∏awa Kownacka-Banasiak

The Boston Consulting Group Sp. z o.o. ul. Mokotowska 1, 00-640 Warsaw NR 22 820-3600/22 820-3636 kontakt@bcg.com www.bcg.com

WND WND WND

WND WND WND WND

WND WND WND WND

WND WND WND WND

WND 1997

Franciszek Hutten-Czapski

Bilans Consulting Development ul. Marysiƒska 40, 04-606 Warsaw NR 22 815-6416/22 815-6416

sekretariat@bcdevelopment.com.pl www.bcdevelopment.com.pl

Notes: NR = Not Ranked, WND = Would Not Disclose. Research for The List was conducted in November 2011. Number of employees is as of October 2011. All information pertains to the companies’ activities in Poland. Companies not responding to our survey are not listed.

Footnotes: (1) Financial year: July 1 - June 30; (2) Financial year: July 1, 2008 - June 30, 2009.

Training and advisory projects; executive coatching; School of Negotiations based on business practice; Volkswagen Bank; Netto; Leroy Merlin; Jeronimo School of Group Training; Study of Transactional Martins; Dystrybucja; Wincanton Analysis

Services for companies in banking, insurance, energy and telecom sectors

WND

Partner

President

President

President

Jan Ca∏y Vice-President

Managing Partner

Managing Director

President

Country Manager

Managing Director

Managing Director

President

President

Partners

Partners

Managing Director; Partner

To the best of WBJ ’s knowledge, the information is accurate as of press time. While every effort is made to ensure accuracy and thoroughness, omissions and typographical errors may occur. Corrections or additions to The List should be sent, on official letterhead, to Warsaw Business Journal, attn. Joanna Raszka, ul. Elblàska 15/17, 01-747 Warsaw, via fax to (+48) 22 639-8569, or via e-mail to wbjbol@wbj.pl. Copyright 2011, Valkea Media SA. The List may not be reprinted or reproduced in whole or in part without prior written permission of the publisher. Reprints are available.

20

MARKETS

www.wbj.pl

MARCH 19-25, 2012

Stocks report

world stock indices DJIA

NASDAQ

13,252.76 (March 15 close)

S&P500

3,056.37 (March 15 close)

2.67% (for the week)

FTSE100

1,402.60 (March 15 close)

2.89% (for the week)

DAX

5,940.72 (March 15 close)

2.69% (for the week)

1.38% (for the week)

Strong gains for the WIG

NIKKEI225 7,144.45 (March 15 close)

10,123.28 (March 15 close)

4.53% (for the week)

3.63% (for the week)

CHANGE: 6.90%

CHANGE: 15.39%

CHANGE: 9.83%

CHANGE: 4.22%

CHANGE: 17.59%

CHANGE: 18.26%

(year to March 15)

(year to March 15)

(year to March 15)

(year to March 15)

(year to March 15)

(year to March 15)

52-week high: 13,253.51

52-week high: 3,059.81

52-week high: 1,406.63

52-week high: 6,103.73

52-week high: 7,600.41

52-week high: 10,207.91

52-week low: 10,404.49

52-week low: 2,298.89

52-week low: 1,074.77

52-week low: 4,791.01

52-week low: 4,965.80

52-week low: 8,135.79

Andrew Nawrocki WBJ market analyst Last week was a good one for the Polish bourse, with both the main WIG and blue-chip WIG20 indices closing higher each day.

With volatility dipping to 15 points as measured by the CBOE VIX – its lowest level since May 2011 – investors grew increasingly confident, pushing indices throughout Europe higher.

The start of the week was calm, with European stocks reviving during a three-session rally on Monday.

Despite negative Italian GDP data, indices managed to make small gains, with the WIG rising 0.15 percent.

On Tuesday, stocks continued their upward climb, though gains were thwarted in mid-afternoon after Poland’s current account deficit as well as a drop in retail prices came in higher

Major indices WIG

42,281.33 (March 15 close)

WIG20

2,344.17 (March 15 close)

15.03

14.03

13.03

12.03

09.03

08.03

07.03

06.03

05.03

02.03

01.03

29.02

28.02

15.03

14.03

13.03

12.03

09.03

08.03

07.03

06.03

05.03

2,200 02.03

40,000

01.03

2,240

29.02

40,600

28.02

2,280

27.02

41,200

24.02

2,320

23.02

41,800

22.02

2,360

21.02

42,400

20.02

2,400

17.02

43,000

27.02

52-week low: 2,089.84

24.02

Change year to March 15: 5.78%

23.02

52-week low: 36,549.47

22.02

52-week high: 2,932.62

Change year to March 15: 8.39%

21.02

Change for the week: 2.07%

20.02

52-week high: 50,371.74

17.02

Change for the week: 2.28%

Top 5 RESBUD PRESCO BEST HERMAN DREWEX

Closing 30.15 9.48 22.00 4.64 0.45

% change (week) 52-week high 183.10 30.18 50.72 9.50 46.47 22.22 35.28 5.95 32.35 1.65

52-week low 2.88 4.00 4.60 0.45 0.16

Top 5 GETIN CYFRPOLSAT LOTOS KGHM BRE

Closing 2.64 14.30 26.36 154.00 308.50

% change (week) 10.92 5.93 5.52 4.90 4.22

52-week high 15.29 17.69 49.50 200.30 357.90

52-week low 2.01 11.60 21.30 102.40 203.30

Bottom 5 BOMI PBG ATLANTAPL POLLENAE HBPOLSKA

Closing 2.09 44.75 11.02 7.19 1.05

% change (week) -20.23 -17.13 -15.17 -13.37 -12.5

52-week low 1.93 41.85 7.50 7.19 0.66

Bottom 5 PBG GTC ASSECOPOL POLIMEXMS CEZ

Closing 44.75 7.11 50.00 1.55 136.50

% change (week) -17.13 -4.82 -2.53 -1.90 -0.36

52-week high 200.60 21.79 55.45 3.67 155.00

52-week low 41.85 6.63 34.50 1.19 116.10

52-week high 7.74 200.60 16.50 11.47 2.63

Currency report

Z∏oty depreciates

Other indices sWIG80

10,536.29 (March 15 close)

NewConnect

43.06 (March 15 close)

WIG-Banki

SOURCE: WSE

15.03

14.03

13.03

12.03

09.03

08.03

07.03

06.03

05.03

02.03

01.03

29.02

28.02

27.02

15.03

14.03

13.03

12.03

09.03

08.03

07.03

06.03

05.03

02.03

01.03

5,700 29.02

42.0

28.02

5,800

27.02

42.4

24.02

5,900

23.02

42.8

22.02

6,000

21.02

43.2

20.02

6,100

17.02

43.6

24.02

52-week low: 4,944.19

23.02

Change year to March 15: 10.35%

22.02

52-week low: 40.16

21.02

52-week high: 7,387.49

Change year to March 15: 3.13%

20.02

Change for the week: 2.73%

17.02

52-week high: 59.33

6,200

The z∏oty entered a corrective movement last week despite positive news from the local economy. The Ministry of Finance declared that by the end of March it will have covered 50 percent of Poland’s debt needs for this year. This is clear evidence of huge demand for Polish bonds and Treasury bills.

In addition, another large investment bank, UBS, increased its GDP forecasts for Poland to 3 percent, from the previous 2.5 percent.

Marek Belka, the president of Poland’s central bank also stated that he is looking “with optimism” at the development of the Polish economy. Mr Belka said the only “danger” comes from the euro-zone debt crisis.

The z∏oty’s depreciation could be called “technical” and not “fundamental.”

6,116.99 (March 15 close)

Change for the week: 0.63%

44.0

Adam Narczewski X-Trade Brokers DM SA

15.03

14.03

13.03

12.03

09.03

08.03

07.03

06.03

05.03

52-week low: 8,218.71

02.03

28.02

52-week high: 12,932.00

27.02

24.02

15.03

14.03

13.03

12.03

09.03

08.03

07.03

06.03

05.03

10,000 02.03

2,400

01.03

10,120

29.02

2,440

28.02

10,240

27.02

2,480

24.02

10,360

23.02

2,520

22.02

10,480

21.02

2,560

20.02

10,600

17.02

2,600

23.02

Change year to March 15: 22.45%

22.02

52-week low: 2,076.52

21.02

Change year to March 15: 16.95%

20.02

Change for the week: 1.95%

17.02

52-week high: 2,987.72

01.03

2,561.54 (March 15 close)

Change for the week: 3.38%

29.02

mWIG40

than expected.

Both the WIG and WIG20 got a major boost on Wednesday after the previous day’s session in the US closed strongly higher. With the S&P 500 reaching levels not seen since June 2008, European indices followed suit, with the WIG gaining nearly 1.5 percent, while the WIG20 added 1.7 percent.

On Thursday, markets throughout Europe took a step back, with many investors cashing in on a week of gains. Still, strong macroeconomic data from the US helped extend gains, with most of Europe closing higher. The WIG managed to gain half a percent.

Finally, on Friday, markets slipped, with the WIG and WIG20 ending the day down 0.17 and 0.27 percent, respectively. ●

Even the decline of the EUR/USD should not have caused the corrective movement. The main currency pair extended its decline, which began last week after the Fed’s interest rate statement. This past week the market tested the $1.30 level but was unable to break it.

Towards the end of the week the EUR/USD regained ground and advanced all the way to $1.314, but still remains in a downward trend.

After reaching its weekly high of z∏.4.15, the EUR/PLN retreated and finished the week at z∏.4.12.

The USD/PLN climbed all the way to z∏.3.195, but the sudden dollar depreciation on Friday pushed it back to z∏.3.14. The Swiss franc regained value against the z∏oty to z∏.3.41. ●

currency rates 3.7910

3.8008

3.7884

13.03

14.03

15.03

16.03

3.8050 12.03

SOURCE: NBP

3.8083 09.03

0.1076

0.1078 16.03

3.5

3.7849

PLN-100JPY

4.0

15.03

0.1075 14.03

0.1059 13.03

12.03

0.1058 09.03

3.4210

3.4260 16.03

0.10

0.1058

PLN-RUB

0.12

15.03

3.4195 14.03

3.4103 13.03

3.4125

3.4055 12.03

16.03

15.03

14.03

13.03

12.03

09.03

4.9810

4.9697

4.9781

4.9028

4.9053

PLN-CHF

3.6

3.3

09.03

3.1723

3.1688 16.03

4.8

4.9047

PLN-GBP

5.2

15.03

3.1699 14.03

3.1288 13.03

12.03

3.1126 09.03

4.1420

4.1367 16.03

3.0

3.1285

PLN-USD

3.5

15.03

4.1395 14.03

4.1132 13.03

12.03

4.1143 09.03

4

4.1062

PLN-EUR

5

SPORTS

MARCH 19-25, 2012

www.wbj.pl

No giantkilling in Polish Cup

Sports and politics

The director of Poland’s National Sports Centre (NCS), Damian Drobika, was dismissed from his position by the country’s Minister of Sport, Joanna Mucha, last Tuesday.

The announcement came one day after Mr Drobika’s deputy, Marek Wieczorek, handed in his resignation, accusing his superior of obstructing his ability to do his job.

“Because of his actions, I cannot perform tasks that were assigned to me by Ms

Mucha,” Mr Wieczorek said.

For his part, Mr Drobika denied these allegations, saying that his former colleague was unable to do his job properly because he is incompetent. In the end neither man was saved, with Piotr Marsza∏ek, the director of the Olympic Training Center in Wa∏cz, now installed as the acting head of the NCS for at least the next two months.

This is just the latest in a long line of incidents that have brought the sports minister into the headlines in recent weeks. In February, Rafa∏ Kapler, the previous head of the NCS, resigned over delays to Warsaw’s new

National Stadium. Ms Mucha was then forced to deal with the fallout after it emerged that Mr Kapler would still receive a bonus despite failing to achieve all his goals.

Ms Mucha also came under criticism from the Polish media after giving the position of deputy head of the NCS to Mr Wieczorek, the former owner of beauty salons in Lublin. It was suggested that Mr Wieczorek was given the position because he was a friend of the minister. Both parties denied this however, with Mr Wieczorek suggesting that there was a media witch hunt to force him out of the job.

David Ingham

COURTESY OF FLICKR/KPRM

Head of National Sports Centre sacked Poland’s Minister of Sport also accepted the resignation of the NCS’s deputy head

Minister of Sport Joanna Mucha

Soccer

COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA COMMONS COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Brazil to play Japan in Wroc∏aw

Members of Brazil’s national soccer team, also known as “The Samba Boys”

Agnieszka Radwaƒska

Tennis

Agnieszka Radwaƒska up to four in WTA rankings The Polish player reached the quarterfinals of the Indian Wells hard-court tournament last week Polish tennis star Agnieszka Radwaƒska moved up to number four in the official WTA rankings following a good performance at the Indian Wells hard-court tournament last week.

The Kraków-born 23year-old advanced to the quarterfinals after America’s

Jamie Hampton retired with Ms Radwaƒska leading 6:3, 4:6, 3:0.

However, in order to ensure she moved up one place in the new rankings Ms Radwaƒska needed to do better than Denmark’s Caroline Wozniacki. Last Tuesday, the Dane lost in straight sets to former world number-one Ana Ivanovic, to ensure Ms Radwaƒska continues her great start to 2012.

In the quarterfinals, Ms Radwaƒska came up against current world number-one,

Belarus’ Victoria Azarenka.

Despite a string of good results in recent weeks, including victory at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships in February, Ms Radwaƒska was dispatched with relative ease by the Belarusian. The reigning Australian Open champion won the first set 6-0, and despite a minor rally by the Polish star, Ms Azarenka won the second set 6-2 to book her place in the semifinal.

David Ingham

21

The Municipal Stadium’s operators have bypassed PZPN to attract the five-time World Cup winners The national soccer teams of Brazil and Japan are set to play an international friendly match at Wroc∏aw’s Municipal Stadium on October 16.

Attracting Brazil, a team that has won more World Cups than any other country, is a major coup for the stadium’s operator, who announced that the agreement was not made in cooperation with Poland’s football association, PZPN. “This will be the hit of the season,” the mayor of Wroc∏aw, Rafa∏ Dutkiewicz, told reporters.

He added that Brazil and Japan had decided to come to Wroc∏aw because they both want to play a game in Europe

in the autumn and because Wroc∏aw has a brand-new, state-of-the-art stadium.

But the visit of the “Samba Boys,” as the Brazil team is known, will not be the only match in Wroc∏aw this year to feature some of the world’s best players. In addition to hosting the October friendly and three Euro 2012 games, Wroc∏aw’s stadium will also host a tournament featuring professional sides from Poland, England, Germany and Russia this July.

“We are planning a stadium Polish Masters tournament involving the best teams in Europe,” said Mayor Dutkiewicz. “Âlàsk Wroc∏aw will play Borussia Dortmund, FC Shakhtar Donetsk and Tottenham Hotspur. We signed a letter of intent and soon we will negotiate a definitive agreement,” he added.

David Ingham

Third-division side Gryf Wejherowo failed to cause an upset in their Polish Cup quarterfinal first-leg match with Ekstraklasa leaders Legia Warszawa last week. The lower-league team had no doubt hoped that Legia would have an off day during the visit to their tiny stadium in the town of Wejherowo, close to the Baltic coast.

But in the end the side from the capital proved far too strong, securing a 3-0 win courtesy of two goals from Micha∏ ˚yro, and one from Ismael Blanco. After the game, Gryf’s manager Grzegorz Niciƒski said, “I would like to emphasize that we had to deal with a very good team that is on track to win the Polish championship.”

Kowalczyk fails to reach sprint final Polish cross-country skier Justyna Kowalczyk failed to advance to the final of the sprint at the World Cup event in Stockholm last week, further tightening her rival Marit Bjørgen’s grip on the title. The Norwegian skier, who won the event, now leads Ms Kowalczyk by 160 points in the overall standings. Ms Kowalczyk, who fell for the fourth time in five races, said in a statement on her website: “I do not know what happened … before the last straight I was in a good position to attack.

Unfortunately I stumbled.”

Smolarek wants to score for his dad Polish soccer player Ebi Smolarek said last week he wanted to honor the memory of his late father by scoring a goal in the Dutch league. “I’d like to score a goal as soon as possible and send it to heaven, to my dad,” the ADO Den Haag striker said. “But I find it hard to say whether I can. The last days were a nightmare both physically and mentally,” he added. His father, who died on March 7, was a Polish international who represented Poland at both the 1982 and 1986 World Cup finals. ●

22

LIFESTYLE

www.wbj.pl

Exhibition

MARCH 19-25, 2012

Concert

Historic stadium photos Victorian girl power Emilie Autumn March 20, 8 pm Progresja Music Club ul. Kaliskiego 15a Warsaw Singer-songwriter, poet and violinist Emilie Autumn and her band The Bloody Crumpets will be in the capital for a notto-be missed show this March.

The classically trained performer, who has described her musical style as both “Victoriandustrial” and glam rock, incorporates a variety of musical genres in to her work, as well as elements of burlesque dance.

The California native, who has been compared to performers including Kate Bush, Tori Amos, and Nigel Kennedy – who she describes as a musical influence – got her first break as

David Ingham

For more information, log on to archeologiafotografii.pl

a backing singer for Courtney Love’s 2004 tour in support of the album “American Sweetheart.”

She has subsequently gone on to release three studio albums of her own, with her current tour in support of her most recent release, this year’s “Fight Like a Girl.”

In addition to her musical

talents, Ms Autumn is also a writer, and has released a semiautobiographical novel entitled “The Asylum for Wayward Victorian Girls,” which is based on her time spent in a psychiatric ward while suffering from depression.

David Ingham

For more information, log on to progresja.com

Opera

The battle for Russia War and Peace March 27 and 28, 7 pm Teatr Wielki / Polish National Opera Plac Teatralny 1 Warsaw An operatic version of Leo Tolstoy’s famed novel “War and Peace” is set to be performed

by St Petersburg’s Mariinsky Theatre company during a guest appearance at the capital’s Teatr Wielki this March.

The production, which is directed by Andrei Konchalovsky, has already garnered

great reviews during a worldwide tour which has seen performances in New York, London, Paris and Tokyo, among other cities.

The show, which has a cast of 450 actors, was originally written by Sergei Prokofiev and tells the story of the French invasion of Russia in 1812, through the eyes of the Russian aristocracy.

David Ingham

For more information, log on to teatrwielki.pl

COURTESY OF TEATR WIELKI

Mr D∏ubak’s photos comprise important historical documentation of a stadium that became a major propaganda tool of the communist government from the 1950s onwards, and are particularly relevant this year given the fact that the new National Stadium, which is located on the same site, has only recently opened its doors.

COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

The Archeology of Photography Foundation takes a look back at the history of Warsaw’s iconic National Stadium this month, offering a unique chance to see images from the construction process of the

original 10th Anniversary Stadium.

The exhibition, which contains the work of the late Polish photographer Zbigniew D∏ubak, shows the construction process of the old stadium during the spring of 1955.

The photographs had previously remained undiscovered in the artist’s personal archive for over 50 years until they were found in 2009, with this exhibition being the first presentation of them to the public.

COURTESY OF ARMELLE D¸UBAK/FUNDACJA ARCHEOLOGII FOTOGRAFII

Zbigniew D∏ubak – Stadium '55 Until April 1 Archeology of Photography Foundation Galeria Kordegarda ul. Krakowskie PrzedmieÊcie 15/17 Warsaw

Museums, galleries and venues in Warsaw Centre for Contemporary Art at Ujazdowski Castle ul. Jazdów 2 www.csw.art.pl Czarna Gallery ul. Marsza∏kowska 4 www.czarnagaleria.art.pl Galeria 022, DAP, Lufcik ul. Mazowiecka 11a www.owzpap.pl Galeria 65 ul. Bema 65 www.galeria65.com Galeria Appendix 2 (Praga) ul. Bia∏ostocka 9 www.appendix2.com Galeria Asymetria ul. Nowogrodzka 18a www.asymetria.eu Galeria Foksal ul. Foksal 1-4 www.galeriafoksal.pl Galeria Milano Rondo Waszyngtona 2A (Praga) www.milano.arts.pl Galeria Schody ul. Nowy Âwiat 39 www.galeriaschody.pl

Green Gallery ul. Krzywe Ko∏o 2/4 www.greengallery.pl

Simonis Gallery ul. Burakowska 9 www.simonisgallery.com

Katarzyna Napiórkowska Art Gallery ul. Âwi´tokrzyska 32, ul.

Krakowskie PrzedmieÊcie 42/44 and Old Town Square 19/21 www.napiorkowska.pl

State Archaeological Museum in Warsaw ul. D∏uga 52 (Arsena∏) www.pma.pl

Królikarnia National Gallery ul. Pu∏awska 113a www.krolikarnia.mnw.art.pl Le Guern Gallery ul. Widok 8, www.leguern.pl Museum of Independence Aleja SolidarnoÊci 62 www.muzeumniepodleglosci.art.pl National Museum in Warsaw Al. Jerozolimskie 3 www.mnw.art.pl Polish National Opera at Teatr Wielki Pl. Teatralny 1 www.teatrwielki.pl Pracownia Galeria ul. Emilii Plater 14 www.pracowniagaleria.pl

State Ethnographic Museum ul. Kredytowa 1 www.ethnomuseum.website.pl Historical Museum of Warsaw Old Town Square 28-42 www.mhw.pl History Meeting House of Warsaw ul. Karowa 20 www.dsh.waw.pl Warsaw Philharmonic ul. Jasna 5 www.filharmonia.pl Warsaw Rising Museum ul. Grzybowska 79 www.1944.pl

Galeria XX1 Al. Jana Paw∏a II 36 www.galeriaxx1.pl

Rempex Art and Auction House ul. Karowa 31 www.rempex.com.pl

Wilanów Palace Museum and Wilanów Poster Museum ul. St Kostki Potockiego 10/16 www.milanow-palac.pl www.postermuseum.pl

Galeria Zoya ul. Kopernika 32 m.8 www.zoya.art.pl

Royal Castle Pl. Zamkowy 4 www.zamek-krolewski.com.pl

Zachęta National Art Gallery Pl. Ma∏achowskiego 3 www.zacheta.art.pl

LAST WORD

MARCH 19-25, 2012

www.wbj.pl

23

Tech Eye

Unhealthy obsessions and moist nightmares

Motoactv joggers and the desire to outrun debt collectors. Wrist-mounted, it tracks your workout stats, such as pace, distance, calories burned and possibly thigh chafing. It also syncs with Android OS smartphones “to receive incoming calls and texts.”

The device – available in 8GB or 16GB – packs a 1.6-inch touchscreen and a battery that will give you

around five hours of music playback while you’re working out. Moreover, the Motoactv got a firmware update last week that improves battery life and adds things like yoga, dancing and skiing to the list of individually trackable activities. Price: $249 (on Amazon.com).

All that sounds good, no? Or at least interesting. And so do most of the fitness gadgets we research, yet we never actually go jogging. Why? Laziness, mainly, and beer. But also this: for every example of cool fitness tech, there are 10 gadgets that are best enjoyed while in a state of absolute sloth.

Take the Qosmio X775 laptop.

It’s safe to assume that making consumers fatter was not one of the design goals set by engineers at Toshiba (toshiba.com). And yet it’s a design outcome.

Techeye has gone hands on with the Qosmio X775, so you can trust us when we say it leads to extreme indolence. With a 1TB hard drive, an Intel quad-core i7 processor, and a 1.5GB GeForce GTX 560M graphics card, the urge to play games on this thing is freakishly strong. The 17.3-inch display and

blu-ray optical drive just exacerbate the problem.

The laptop has other faults as well, ones which do not relate to user fatness. There’s only one main heat exhaust, and when you’ve got a

ing from its mistakes. The Qosmio X775 is less heavy, less ugly and less awkwardly designed than gaming computers the firm put out a few years ago.

It’s not perfect, but if you’re look-

COURTESY OF TOSHIBA

ever get to exercise is researching the latest health-craze gadgets, like the Motoactv fitness tracker/music player from Motorola (motorola.com).

If Techeye were looking for a reason to take up jogging, the Motoactv would come in third after women

COURTESY OF MOTOROLA

Techeye has a recurring dream about a place where “Fat Americans” is a type of weather. A type of precipitation, to be precise.

In the dream, a tastefully attired meteorologist appears on TV. He has a mustache that seems to have migrated a few centimeters eastward from the center of his face and he issues an urgent warning that all locals must seek refuge.

“There’s a 90 percent chance of Fat Americans this evening, folks,” he says, mustache flopping asymmetrically. “Bring in your pets, park your car under a roof and remember … wait 10 minutes after the last ‘splat’ before going outside.”

Then the sun is obscured by a giant buffet-table-shaped cloud. The air is filled with the scent of ranch dressing and marshmallows. Pinprick shadows appear on the pavement, but they quickly swell to obese proportions. That’s when Techeye looks skyward … … and we wake up, sweating.

Afterwards, we resolve to start exercising, and to never eat ranch-dressing-dipped marshmallows again.

It never sticks though. Our resolution, that is. About the closest we

Qosimo X775 graphics-heavy program running the fan can get pretty loud. The display also feels a little flimsy and, to be frank, the styling is a tad boorish, as though someone subcontracted the design work to a basement-dwelling uncle.

Still, it feels like Toshiba is learn-

ing for an affordable (around $1,300), portable rig that’s able to handle graphically demanding applications, the Qosmio X775 is a darn good choice.

Now, if only it didn’t encourage laziness and dreams of fleshy, falling Yankees … ●

Ever seen a migrating mustache? Let us know: techeye.wbj@gmail.com

To advertise in WBJ’s classifieds section, contact Ms Agnieszka Brejwo, at (+48) 222-577-526 or abrejwo@wbj.pl