WBJ #35 2013

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The right reigns in Poland Roman Giertych, a former deputy PM and nationalist leader, talks politics in an exclusive interview with WBJ

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WWW.WBJ.PL

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For the second month in a row, Poland’s PMI indicator showed the manufacturing sector is growing, fueling economic optimism

VOLUME 19, NUMBER 35 • SEPTEMBER 9-15, 2013 . z∏.12.50 (VAT 8% included) . ISSN 1233 7889 INDEX-RUCH-332-127

Since 1994 . Poland’s only business weekly in English

Big promises Prime Minister Donald Tusk dominated the news last week, promising a return to robust economic growth and introducing a pension reform plan he says will solve Poland’s debt woes.

3 Skepticism ensued

Focus on Mazowieckie WBJ presents another sneak peek of its latest Investing in Poland 2014 publication, this time with the spotlight on the Mazowieckie voivodship 8

Krynica Economic Forum

In this issue News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2-4 Business . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5-6 Finance & Economics . . . . . . . . . . .7 Investing in Poland . . . . . . . . . . . . .8 Economic Forum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9 Interview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10-11 Banking in Focus . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13 Opinion & Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . .14 Lokale Immobilia . . . . . . . . . .15-18 Markets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19 The List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20-21 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22 Lifestyle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23

COURTESY OF KPRM/FLICKR

Politicians made precious few probusiness proposals at this year’s forum 9

Booming banks

Pointing fingers

Polish banks are again posting record profits, but a wave of consolidation is “inevitable,” say experts. Check out our special focus from the “Trendbook” section of Investing in Poland 2014 13

Poland’s foreign minister has drawn the ire of Russia by pointing out that Moscow helped Syria build its chemical weapons arsenal 4

NEWS

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IN THE SPOTLIGHT

Numbers in the News

the effects of the government’s OFE plan announcement continued to resonate. Investors ignored the fact that other markets were showing growth, including Germany’s DAX and France’s CAC40. At the end of the day, the WIG20 lost 4.6 percent, the medium-cap mWIG40 index lost 4.3 percent and the small-cap sWIG80 index lost 3.6 percent.

The Union of Jewish Religious Communities in Poland has submitted a petition to Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal asking it to look into whether Poland’s ban on ritual slaughter is in accordance with the European Convention on Human Rights. The religious union of Polish Muslims is preparing a similar petition. Ritual slaughter has been banned in Poland since December 2012.

Mother guilty in death of baby girl Katarzyna W. (full name withheld due to Polish privacy laws) has been found guilty of murdering her six-month-old daughter Magda in early 2012. She has been sentenced to 25 years in prison. She can appeal the verdict. The prosecution had argued that Ms W. should receive life in prison. The verdict comes after a nearly seven-month trial, including 13 court hearings and 40 witness testimonies. ●

Natalia Kopytnik, Beata Socha

is Poland’s competitiveness ranking in a report by the World Economic Forum. Poland has dropped one spot from last year.

52.6 was Poland’s manufacturing PMI score for August, a full point higher than expected. Experts said it indicated an economic rebound was underway.

2.5% continues to be the National Bank of Poland’s benchmark interest rate, after the Monetary Policy Council decided to leave it unchanged at its sitting last week.

Quote of the Week “We can say that Poles have managed to fend off the crisis. It was banging on our door but didn’t break it open.”

Prime Minister Donald Tusk speaking at the Krynica Economic Forum last week where he announced the economic crisis was over.

Figures in focus Breaking the law Number of actions taken in 2012 against selected member states for their failure to fulfill EU-mandated obligations 12

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*Highest in EU **Lowest in EU

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While some argue that a strike on Syria would deter other oppressive regimes from using the worst weapons on their own people, renowned economist Jeffrey Sachs says the US is only interested in fighting a proxy war with Iran. Log on to WBJ.pl for his view.

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Ita

Sachs: hands off Syria

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Despite the ongoing civil war in Syria, Poland continues to trade with the Middle Eastern country. Trade relations between the two countries have never been significant, totaling only several million dollars per year. The bulk of Poland’s exports to Syria is foodstuffs, particularly dairy products, as well as goods made from paper and wood. However imports from Syria are virtually nonexistent.

The government’s OFE proposal will also allow people who until now have been members of private pension funds to decide if they want their pension savings to remain in OFEs. If they don’t submit a written declaration to that effect, their assets will be automatically transferred to the state-run social security system (see story, p. 3). The proposal now has to be adopted by the parliament and signed by the president.

On the day of the announcement, the WSE saw a huge sell-off, during which the blue-chip WIG20 index lost 2.5 percent. The blow was even greater on Thursday, as

42nd

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Poland still trading with Syria

Polish stocks slumped and government bond yields rose to their highest levels in almost a year as the government unveiled changes to its pension system that stopped just short of full nationalization of private pension funds.

In view of the proposed changes, which Prime Minister Donald Tusk presented on Wednesday last week, the government will redeem all the treasury bonds held by the private pension funds (OFEs), which account for 51.5 percent of their assets. Their value will instead be recorded within each insured person’s individual account in the state social security system.

These drops were accompanied by high trade volumes.

On Thursday trade exceeded z∏.2 billion, more than twice as high as normal. After a slight increase on Friday, the WIG20 closed 5.4 percent below its Tuesday close.

Analysts were cautious to read too much into Friday’s rebound. “It is still hard to talk about optimism and think of any serious recovery from the losses,” Roman Przasnyski from Open Finance wrote in a statement.

“After two days of strong, sometimes even panicky selling, a rebound is a natural thing. … The increase we saw [on Friday] is merely a corrective movement and is by no means an indication of a turn for the better on WSE,” Marcin Kiepas from Admiral Markets wrote in an e-mailed comment.

is the share of open pension funds’ assets that the government will move to the state-run social security system, ZUS.

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The National Bank of Poland’s Monetary Policy Council (RPP) left the country’s benchmark interest rate unchanged at 2.5 percent last week.

The decision was widely expected, as council members had made it clear in their statements to the media recently that they plan to leave rates unchanged for the rest of the year.

SHUTTERSTOCK

RPP leaves rates unchanged

Too soon for optimism

51.5%

Ire lan d Ne the r lan Cz ds ech Re pu blic **

OFE plans shake markets

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Ritual slaughter ban challenged

SEPTEMBER 9-15, 2013

Pol a

2

Source: Court of Justice of the European Union

Company index Admiral Markets ........................................2 LPP ..............................................................6 Airbus ........................................................15 Markit ..........................................................7

Calendar

September 10 Event:

Location:

Allied Irish Banks......................................13

Banco Santander ......................................13 Bank Pekao ..............................................13

Nomura International ................................3

17

INVESTING IN POLAND 2014 CONFERENCE

Bank Zachodni WBK ......................3, 13, 18 Nordea Bank ............................................13

Authorities from Warmia and Mazury voivodship will present its offer to potential investors from Scandinavia. Guests will participate in panel discussions and relax on a golf course afterwards.

Event:

The conference will mark the launch of the 2014 edition of Warsaw Business Journal Group’s Investing in Poland annual publication. It will feature panel discussions examining investment conditions and incentives, with one panel focusing on outsourcing as a major investment trend in Poland.

Villa Foksal, ul. Foksal 3/5, Warsaw WBJ.pl

BG˚ ............................................................13 Open Finance ..............................................2

Sand Valley Golf & Country Club ul. Sand Valley 23, Pas∏´k prospectsinpoland.com

12

BALTIC PEARLS

Event:

A conference dedicated to investments in the Pomerania voivodship. Present and future projects will be highlighted and discussions will be held on how the global economy has affected the region. The conference will be followed by a VIP gala.

Location: Web:

Boeing........................................................15 Castorama ................................................15

27 Event:

Sofitel Grand Sopot Hotel ul Powstaƒców Warszawy 12/14, Sopot

Location:

prospectsinpoland.com

Web:

THE POLISH PHENOMENON: WHAT’S NEXT FOR EUROPE’S NEW POWERHOUSE? This conference will feature panel discussions on Poland’s successful managing of the financial crisis, while also trying to map a way forward for the CEE’s biggest economy. The keynote speaker will be Marek Belka, head of the National Bank of Poland.

The Kosciuszko Foundation 15 E 65th Street, New York, NY 10065 thekf.org

Panattoni Europe ......................................15 PKO Bank Polski ......................................13

CCC ..............................................................6 Cushman & Wakefield ..............................15

Polbank EFG ..............................................13

Deloitte ......................................................13 Polkomtel ....................................................9 Echo Investment........................................18 Polsat ..........................................................9 Euler Hermes ..............................................3 P∏askowicki & Partnerzy Architekci ........18 Fakro ............................................................9

Web:

Noble Securities........................................19

OPEN TO SCANDINAVIA

Web:

Location:

MLP Group ................................................17

Amazon ......................................................15

Rabobank ..................................................13

Getin Noble Bank ......................................13 Homo Homini ..............................................4 HSBC ..........................................................7

Raiffeisen Bank ........................................13 Schneider Electric ....................................18

JEMS Architekci ........................................18 Strabag ......................................................18 Jones Lang LaSalle ..................................15 TFS Silesia ..................................................6 KBC ............................................................13 KGHM ..........................................................5

UniCredit....................................................13 Warsaw Chopin Airport ........................8, 15

Kongsberg ................................................17 Land Development ....................................15

Warsaw Stock Exchange ......2, 3, 6, 8, 9, 18, 19

LOT ..........................................................6, 9 X-Trade Brokers ....................................3, 19 Louis Vuitton..............................................15 Zdrojowa Invest ........................................18

NEWS

SEPTEMBER 9-15, 2013

www.wbj.pl

Pension funds

Gov’t chops OFE assets in half Polish private pension funds (OFEs) will transfer nearly half of their assets to the staterun pay-as-you-go social security system, ZUS, Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced at a press conference with Finance Minister Jacek Rostowski and Labor Minister W∏adys∏aw Kosiniak-Kamysz last week.

Mr Tusk said that the private pension system has “turned out to be too costly,” and added that “the impact of OFEs on public debt is overwhelming – it is making it impossible to focus on public investments.”

Mr Tusk’s proposal for the future of open pension funds will see OFEs’ treasury-bond assets transferred to ZUS. That will account for some 51.5 percent of the entire value of their assets.

OFEs will keep the remaining portion of their portfolio, roughly 48.5 percent, which is invested in the stock market.

“OFEs’ contribution to economic growth consists in their activity on the stock exchange,” Mr Rostowski said, explaining the ministry’s rationale behind the decision.

OFEs “will also no longer be allowed to invest in treasury bonds or debentures guaranteed by the state,” Mr Rostowski stated. Mr KosiniakKamysz explained, however, that they will still have the

option of investing in corporate or municipal bonds.

Security above all The prime minister also stressed that one of the primary goals of the reform was to ensure that future pensions are secure. In order to do that, the proposal will allow Poles to choose whether they want a portion of their pension contribution to remain in the OFE system, or if their entire pension contribution should go to ZUS. “Our goal was to limit the risk to an absolute minimum,” the prime minister said, and explained that Poles who “choose to keep playing the stock market game” will have three months to submit a declaration to ZUS. If they don’t, they will automatically be

COURTESY OF KPRM/FLICKR

Polish private pension funds will transfer 51.5 percent of their assets to the state-run social security system

Finance Minister Jacek Rostowski and Prime Minister Donald Tusk not the best solution. ... The state should not give in to the temptation of nationalizing private assets,” the prime minister said.

where everyone remains in the OFE system, funds invested in shares will be limited to a little over z∏.250 million [per month].”

Estimates show that if less than 70 percent of all OFE members keep their savings in the private pension system, OFEs will be forced to withdraw funds from the stock market, “even up to z∏.400 million [each month] if only 20 percent of people stay in private funds,” the analysts wrote.

On the day the of the prime minister’s announcement, the Warsaw Stock Exchange’s blue-chip WIG20 index fell by 2.5 percent and the overall WIG index by 2.1 percent.

The blue chip WIG20 index lost as much as 5.4 percent by the end of trading on Friday.

According to employers’ confederation Lewiatan, the move “will significantly reduce the capital inflows to the stock

“OFEs could lose any meaningful presence in markets.

That would be Poland’s loss.” transferred to the state-run system, together with their entire OFE savings.

Additionally, 10 years prior to reaching retirement age, a person’s pension savings will be gradually transferred to ZUS. The first tranche, scheduled for 2014, will involve moving z∏.10 billion from OFEs to the social security system.

Mr Tusk stressed that the government’s intention is not to nationalize private businesses, but to ensure the safety of future pensions. “We have decided that nationalization is

Ripple effect Analysts are wary of the decision to limit the scope of private pension funds and the consequences it may have on the economy.

The outflow of funds OFEs have invested in the stock market is all but inevitable, analysts from X-Trade Brokers, a large Warsaw-based brokerage, said.

“Until now, OFEs invested some z∏.300 million in stocks each month. … Assuming the unrealistic best-case scenario,

market … [it will impede] privatization through the stock exchange and the growth potential of the WSE.” The Treasury is currently having a hard time finding buyers for its stakes in statecontrolled companies. Traditionally, OFEs were one of the major investors in state-controlled firms, but are now more likely to sell shares from their own portfolio than acquire new ones.

“OFEs could lose any meaningful presence in markets. That would be Poland’s loss given the lack of other ideas on the table to increase private savings,” Peter Attard Montalto, emerging markets economist at Nomura International, wrote in a comment.

Currently, OFEs hold stakes in over 200 companies worth some z∏.103 billion. Altogether OFEs’ assets under management are valued at z∏.272 bilBeata Socha lion.

Prime minister: Poland ‘victorious’ over crisis Prime Minister Donald Tusk has said there will be “no recession in Poland” and expects the country’s GDP growth rate to reach 3 percent in 2014 COURTESY OF KPRM/FLICKR

Prime Minister Donald Tusk has announced that he expects the Polish economy to pick up steam in the upcoming months, growing at a rate of 2 percent in Q4 of this year and by 3 percent in 2014. Mr Tusk made the comments at the Economic Forum in Krynica-Zdrój, in southern Poland, saying that “the crisis in Europe is ending.

There will be no recession or stagnation in Poland.”

Mr Tusk said that the crisis had been “banging on [Poland’s] door but didn’t break it open. We didn’t let the crisis into Poland.”

“Today is a day on which we can announce victory: a victory

Realistic assumptions?

Prime Minister Donald Tusk waxed optimistic at the Economic Forum in Krynica-Zdrój over the crisis, which did not come to Poland in the end. This is also a day on which we are able to say that there are realistic chances for growth,” Mr Tusk added.

The prime minister expects Poland will end this year with its economy having grown by 1.5 percent. He also stated that by 2017, Poland’s GDP will be val-

ued at z∏.2 trillion, which would be double the figure of just 10 years prior. “That figure would make an impression on anybody,” Mr Tusk said.

Mr Tusk also announced that by 2016, his government would have introduced a “friendlier” tax system through a plan which the government will reveal details of in the autumn.

But are Mr Tusk’s predictions rooted in economic reality?

“Regarding the prime minister’s growth forecasts, in recent months an increasing amount of reasons have appeared to justify upgrading GDP projections for Poland. We recently upgraded our forecast to 1.2 percent growth in 2013 and 2.7 percent next year,” said Piotr Bielski, senior economist at BZ WBK. “Nevertheless, Mr Tusk’s forecasts are slightly too optimistic. To grow by 1.5 percent this year we would have to grow by 2 percent in Q3 and 2.5 percent or higher in Q4 and that seems unlikely,” added Mr Bielski.

Przemys∏aw Kwiecieƒ, chief economist at X-Trade Brokers, agreed that Mr Tusk was being overly optimistic in his expectations. “Things will improve in the upcoming months, but 3 percent growth

in 2014 is a bit of a stretch,” he said.

However, Mr Kwiecieƒ added that based on inventory data he had seen recently, he would probably raise a June forecast he had made for 1.5 percent growth in the second half of 2013.

“I think it could be a bit higher than that,” he said.

Happy days here again?

After recording robust growth in 2011, when GDP expanded by 4.5 percent, the Polish economy has slowed down markedly, growing by 1.9 percent in 2012 and then at a snail’s pace of 0.5 percent in the first quarter of 2013.

However, Q2 of this year already showed some improvement in the economic climate, with growth accelerating to 0.8 percent, according to the Central Statistical Office.

Remi Adekoya

3

Moody’s: OFE changes won’t hit rating The government’s proposal to transfer some assets from private pension funds (OFEs) to the state-controlled system does not significantly change Moody’s assessment of Poland’s credit rating, the agency said in a statement. Moody’s analysts believe that the changes will indeed improve public finances in the short term, but will increase the payments tied to pensions and reduce liquidity in the capital market.

Firms don’t want ‘Made in Poland’ label The European Commission has proposed that goods made in the EU be labeled by their country of origin, but Polish companies have said they do not want their goods to be labeled “Made in Poland.” Currently, producers can label their products simply “Made in the EU.” The Commission’s proposal would eliminate this option, but many Polish companies fear that a “Made in Poland” label would cause consumers to turn away.

August sees fewer bankruptcies Sixty-six companies filed for bankruptcy in August according to Euler Hermes, 33 percent fewer than in July, when as many as 98 firms went out of business. Out of the 10 largest companies that went bankrupt, six were construction companies and two were metal-elements warehouses – firms that are closely tied to the construction industry.

Ports to invest z∏.10 billion by 2020 Polish ports plan investments worth over z∏.10 billion in the years 2014-2020, Transport Minister S∏awomir Nowak said last week.

Deputy Economy Minister Ilona Antoniszyn-Klik said that forthcoming EU funding should be spent on innovative investments in the sector. ●

4

NEWS

www.wbj.pl

SEPTEMBER 9-15, 2013

International

Kaczyƒski lays out economic plans

Russia blasts Sikorski’s statements on Syria arsenal Russia’s Foreign Affairs Ministry last week flatly denied Polish Foreign Minister Rados∏aw Sikorski’s statement that Moscow has “additional reasons to feel responsible for the Syrian chemical arsenal, as it was built thanks to Russian technology.”

In the late-August interview with Le Monde where he made the statement, Mr Sikorski also said that, “If Russia, which opposes carrying out a military intervention in Syria, declared to take responsibility for securing that arsenal, it would make a difference.”

Moscow’s denial was categorical. “There is nothing more distant from reality than a belief that it was Russian technologies, rather than Western ones, that built the foundation for the Syrian chemical industry in the 70s and 80s,” the Russian Foreign Ministry stated.

Read the report In response to the Russian ministry’s statements, Mr Sikorski said at a press conference that “many countries, including the

old Soviet Union, had their role in building the Syrian chemical arsenal.”

The Polish foreign minister’s Twitter account then published links to documents including a declassified CIA report, which clearly stated that the Soviet Union played a significant role in building Syria’s chemical weapons arsenal.

Rossiyskaya Gazeta, a Russian government daily, waded into the issue, stating, “Mr Sikorski probably thought long and hard about how to differentiate himself from the chorus of EU politicians who with every passing day understand better what would be the caststrophic consequences for international relations of a US attack on Syria without the permission of the United Nations.”

Count out Poland though Although Poland has said it will not take part in any eventual military operation in Syria, it has condemned what Mr Sikorski said was “most probably the use by the Assad regime of chemical weapons.”

COURTESY OF THE WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM

The Polish foreign minister said that Russia is at least partly responsible for Syria’s chemical weapons capabilities

Foreign Minister Rados∏aw Sikorski has come under fire from Moscow for his accusation that Russia is partly to blame for Syria’s arsenal of chemical weapons The foreign minister also said that in his opinion, US President Barack Obama had decided to consult the US Congress on a possible strike in Syria to give Russia and China a chance to “evolve their positions.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin has been among the loudest critics of a possible US intervention in Syria.

He has described the accusations leveled against the Assad regime of chemical weapons use as “absolute

nonsense.”

Last week, the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted to authorize the use of US military force against Syria, the first in a series of votes as Mr Obama’s request makes its way through select congressional committees. It will then come before the two chambers of the US Congress – the House of Representatives and the Senate – for a final vote, which could take place this week.

Remi Adekoya

Jaros∏aw Kaczyƒski, leader of Law and Justice (PiS), currently the party in Poland with the most popular support, has announced that if he becomes prime minister he would raise taxes on the wealthiest Poles, tax stock-exchange transactions and introduce punitive taxes on employers to force them to raise wages.

In an interview with Rzeczpospolita, Mr Kaczyƒski said Polish employees are paid too little. “The state must bring pressure on employers to increase salaries by, for example, introducing punitive taxes [on employers who pay too low salaries],” said the PiS leader.

“Do we want our society to be permanently divided into a small group of beneficiaries while the rest are just laborers?” Mr Kaczyƒski asked.

Mr Kaczyƒski wants the highest-earning Poles to pay a 39 percent tax rate compared to the current maximum 32 percent. The PiS leader also wants a 1 percent tax on financial transactions on the primary market of the stock exchange and 0.5 percent on the secondary market. In addition, Mr Kaczyƒski is proposing a 1 percent revenue tax on large supermarkets.

The last time PiS was in power, from 2005 to 2007, it was often criticized for focusing too heavily on corruption. But the issue is still a priority for Mr Kaczyƒski, who said corrupt businessmen “have cause to fear” if PiS comes back to power.

PiS also says it wants to see domestic firms treated better.

“Poles see the dishonest competition and the lack of symmetry when it comes to dealing with foreign companies and Polish companies,” he said.

“Every Pole can see that a large corporation is allowed more.

That is unacceptable.”

In response, Prime Minister Donald Tusk said that Mr Kaczyƒski “has the right to his pessimistic visions. I want people to be happy.”

Defending his economic record, Mr Tusk said he had rightly predicted that Poland would survive the crisis without going into recession. A September Homo Homini poll had PiS with 34 percent support while Mr Tusk’s Civic Platform had 21 percent. Next was the Democratic Left Alliance, with 15 percent support and the Polish People’s Party with 6 percent.

Remi Adekoya

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BUSINESS

SEPTEMBER 9-15, 2013

www.wbj.pl

5

Food

Meat producers continue to expand their presence in Asian countries, while Russia imposes stricter regulations Polish food, especially meat, is becoming increasingly popular in Asia. Polish food exports to China have quadrupled in the first six months of 2013, propelled by high demand for pork. Pork was also the main factor behind a 44 percent increase in food exports to Japan, while those to Saudi Arabia grew by 23 percent. On the negative side, however, exports to Turkey fell by 61 percent due to an unfavorable customs policy for meat products.

Despite its growing popularity in Asia, the majority of food exported by Poland is still bought by EU members such

as Germany (€2 billion) and the UK (€682 million). Russia, despite a series of incidents involving Polish produce, also increased its imports of Polish food in H1 2013 by 21 percent to €641 million.

In late August, Russia complained about a batch of Spanish fatback which had been illegally shipped with a delivery of Polish meat. According to chief veterinary officer Janusz Zwiàzek, however, the illegal batch did not originate in Poland. Considering that the refrigerated truck transporting the meat went through Lithuania and Belarus before entering Russia, and that the seal on the container did not resemble a Polish one, the illegal fatback was likely added to the shipment en route to its destination in Moscow, Mr Zwiàzek told business daily Puls Biznesu. The Polish meat plant from which the delivery

was sent, however, has been banned from exporting any meat to Russia until the matter is resolved.

Similarly, Polish cheese producer Polmlek was blacklisted after Russia returned 12 metric tons of its cheese in late August, alleging that its labels were forged. Only two days earlier, Russia’s food safety inspectorate, Rosselkhoznadzor, expressed reservations about the quality of Polish fruit and vegetables imported to Russia. According to the authority, out of six tons of products with higher-thanacceptable nitrate levels, four tons came from Poland.

claimed is brewing. “It is a matter of stricter standards,” Mr Kalemba explained in an interview with Polish Radio.

The minister said that Russia’s recent actions are not directed at Poland alone but at all EU countries. “Poland cannot complain it is being treated more rigorously by Russian [food inspectors],” Mr Kalemba added.

Still, after a series of incidents involving Polish meat products in the first half of 2013, including reports of horse meat found in Polish beef, the industry has a lot of bad PR to make up for. “The [meat] business’ image has suffered greatly. We need to regain our customers’ trust,” Andrzej Gantner, head of the Polish Food Producers Federation, told the Newseria news agency.

Overall, Polish food exports rose by 13.8 percent in the first half of the year, totaling almost €9.3 billion. Even with imports rising by 4.1 percent to nearly €7 billion), the trade surplus for food products stood at €2.4 billion and was 56 percent higher than last year.

No ‘trade war’ Polish Agriculture Minister Stanis∏aw Kalemba said he does not consider the recent disputes over Polish produce a “trade war” with Russia, as some media reports have

Companies

KGHM shakeup sees three executives let go

Beata Socha

Two of copper and silver mining giant KGHM’s vice presidents have been dismissed by the company’s supervisory board while another one handed in her resignation. The only two board members who will remain in their posts are the firm’s CEO Herbert Wirth and Wojciech K´dzia, the company’s vice president responsible for production.

The management board members who were dismissed were W∏odzimierz Kiciƒski, the company’s CFO and Adam Sawicki, who was in charge of corporate affairs.

Both men joined the company in 2012. Dorota W∏och, who resigned from her position, had worked at KGHM since 1994, most recently as the director of development.

The supervisory board has already appointed new management board members: Jaros∏aw Romanowski, Marcin Chmielewski and Jacek Kardela. Mr Romanowski will replace Mr Kiciƒski as the chief financial officer of the copper giant. Mr Chmielewski will take over corporate affairs

COURTESY OF THE TREASURY MINISTRY

Copper giant KGHM has already appointed three new management board members and is looking to “consolidate the group”

Deputy Treasury Minister Zdzis∏aw Gawlik from Mr Sawicki, while Mr Chmielewski will be responsible for the company’s development strategy.

Resource pooling The main reason for the shakeup was the need to consolidate the KGHM capital group and improve the company’s efficiency, the firm said in a statement. It added that one of the first orders of business for the new management board will be modifying the company’s strategy.

“Macroeconomic conditions have not been in our favor recently. We have to pool our resources together and undertake some serious and effective action to help our company and the entire

KGHM capital group increase its value,” the company’s CEO Herbert Wirth said at a press conference.

According to sources quoted by business daily Parkiet, the changes were most likely influenced by the return of Zdzis∏aw Gawlik to the position of deputy minister of the State Treasury, after a yearlong absence. The Treasury owns 31.8 percent of KGHM’s shares, and supervision of the firm falls under Mr Gawlik’s jurisdiction.

KGHM is the world’s biggest silver producer and one of the biggest copper producers. The company operates mines in Poland, Canada, Chile, and the US. Beata Socha

SHUTTERSTOCK

Polish food conquers eastern markets, despite Russia’s new restrictions

Polish pork is landing on an increasing number of Asian dinner tables Kie∏basa anyone?

Major importers of Polish agricultural produce Country

volume

increase (H1 2013 y/y)

Germany

€2 billion

20.5%

UK

€682 million

12.4%

Russia

€641 million

21%

Czech Republic

€544.2 million

7.1%

Slovakia

€318.7 million

18.5% Source: Rzeczpospolita

6

BUSINESS

www.wbj.pl

SEPTEMBER 9-15, 2013

Retail

Footwear and clothing giants surprise with strong results

Polish clothing and footwear producers have had reason to smile recently. With retail sales continuing to climb, their tills have been full. Two of the major players in the clothing and footwear industry, LPP and CCC, have post-

ed impressive results for the first eight months of 2013.

WSE-listed clothing retailer LPP saw its consolidated revenue for the first eight months of 2013 at z∏.2.46 billion, which is a 25 percent increase compared to the same period last year. In August alone, its sales revenue stood at z∏.351 million, a 31 percent bump year-onyear. The group’s sales margin is estimated at 51 percent.

Meanwhile, WSE-listed footwear retailer CCC also noted an increase in its con-

solidated revenues, which amounted to z∏.856.9 million for the January-August period, 14.5 percent more than in the first eight months of 2012.

Its August sales figure came in at nearly z∏.100 million, 14.4 percent more than last year.

The results are in line with recent overall retail trade figures in Poland, which saw a 4.3 percent increase in July, following an increase in June of 1.8 percent. By contrast, retail sales in the euro zone fell by 1.3 percent in July y/y.

Dariusz Pachla, LPP’s deputy CEO. “The clothing market there is estimated at $15 billion compared with about half of that value in Poland,” he explained.

LPP’s retail network comprises 1,179 stores and its brands include Reserved, Cropp, House, Mohito and Sinsay.

Beata Socha

Long climb back Poland’s retail sales growth (%, y/y), January 2011-July 2013 19 17 15 13 11 9 7 5 3 1 -1 -3

Source: Central Statistical Office

Clothing retailer LPP and footwear chain CCC have achieved good results and are looking toward international expansion

CCC plans to expand further in Western Europe, possibly in the UK, Italy, the Benelux or Scandinavia.

Meanwhile, Polish clothing retailer LPP announced in late August that it is working on franchise agreements to establish a sales network in the Middle East. The first market it will venture into will be the United Arab Emirates, said

Jan. ’11 Feb. ’11 Mar. ’11 Apr. ’11 May ’11 Jun. ’11 Jul. ’11 Aug. ’11 Sep. ’11 Oct. ’11 Nov. ’11 Dec. ’11 Jan. ’12 Feb. ’12 Mar. ’12 Apr. ’12 May ’12 Jun. ’12 Jul. ’12 Aug. ’12 Sep. ’12 Oct. ’12 Nov. ’12 Dec. ’12 Jan. ’13 Feb. ’13 Mar. ’13 Apr. ’13 May ’13 Jun. ’13 Jul. ’13

Clothing retailers are announcing good results

In late August the footwear producer announced that it plans to spend about z∏.100 million on new stores in 2014, expanding the firm’s total retail area by some 90,000 sqm in addition to the 59,000 sqm planned for 2013. It will also build a new logistics center for z∏.60 million, the company’s CEO Piotr Nowjalis said at a press conference.

The CCC Group is one of the biggest footwear retailers and producers in Poland. It also has a significant presence abroad, with its network including stores in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Russia, Latvia, Romania, Kazakhstan and Ukraine. This year the company has moved into four new markets: Austria, Slovenia, Croatia and Turkey.

In Q4 2013 it will also open its first store in Germany. In 2014

Airlines

LOT to delay request for state aid The company’s finances are improving following the implementation of a restructuring plan Due to better-than-expected financial results in the first half of 2013, Poland’s state-owned airline LOT will not put in a request for a second tranche of financial aid from the Treasury Ministry this month, the firm’s CEO Sebastian Mikosz told the Polish Press Agency.

Mr Mikosz said the firm’s improving financial situation resulted from the restructuring program it has been implementing. LOT has resigned from a number of unprofitable routes and has embarked on a program to “decisively cut costs while at the same time increasing sales and making changes to our offer in order to generate extra revenue,” Mr Mikosz added.

As a result, in the first half of 2013, the company’s net loss from core operations was z∏.29 million less than expected.

“The last two months also follow the same positive trend,” Mr Mikosz told business daily Puls Biznesu.

Will still need aid though However, Mr Mikosz did admit that the airline will almost certainly make the request soon. Mr Mikosz said the firm would likely ask for the aid from the Treasury Ministry in October.

LOT received a govern-

COURTESY OF LOT

SHUTTERSTOCK

Expansion plans

Sebastion Mikosz, CEO of LOT ment bailout of some z∏.400 million in December last year. In June a restructuring plan was approved by the Treasury Ministry for the company and sent to the European Commission. The document stated that the airline may need z∏.381 million more in public aid.

Mr Mikosz said that the Treasury Ministry would make the final decision on the amount of money that would be granted in a second tranche of state aid.

After the first half of this year, LOT had a loss of

z∏.159 million from its core operations. By the end of the year it is expected to reduce that loss to z∏.132 million.

However, the restructuring plan it presented to the European Commission assumed a higher 2013 loss of z∏.142 million.

Between January and June, LOT transported over 2 million passengers. The Treasury Ministry owns 67.97 percent of the national carrrier, TFS Silesia owns 25.1 percent, while 6.93 percent belongs to LOT’s employees.

RA, AK

FINANCE & ECONOMICS

SEPTEMBER 9-15, 2013

www.wbj.pl

Manufacturing

Poland’s manufacturing PMI came in much better than expected, offering new hope that the economy is rebounding Poland’s recovery is “gaining traction” according to experts at Markit and HSBC, after their latest manufacturing sector Purchasing Managers’ Index reading showed that Poland’s factories did much better than expected in August.

The headline manufacturing sector PMI reading came in at 52.6 for August, a big improvement from July’s 51.1 score and a full point better than the market had expected,

with the average consensus forecast at 51.6.

A reading above 50 indicates improving business conditions, and August was the second month in a row that Poland recorded an above-50 score.

The country’s manufacturing PMI reading has improved by more than one point in each of the last four months.

The figure “signalled the first continuous improvement in business conditions in the manufacturing sector since October 2011, and to the greatest extent since July 2011. The three main components of the PMI – new orders, output and employment – all exerted positive contributions in August,” the firms said in a report

Bouncing back Poland’s manufacturing PMI score*, August 2011-August 2013 53 52 51 50 49 48 47 Au g Se . ’11 p.

Oc ’11 t.

No ’11 v De . ’11 c.

Jan ’11 .

Feb ’12 Ma . ’12 r.

Ap ’12 r.

Ma ’12 y Jun ’12 .’

Jul 12 Au . ’12 g.

Se ’12 p.

Oc ’12 t.

No ’12 v De . ’12 c.

Jan ’12 .

Feb ’13 Ma . ’13 r.

Ap ’13 r.

Ma ’13 y Jun ’13 .’

Jul 13 Au . ’13 g. ’13

46 *A score above 50 indicates improving market conditions, a score below 50 indicates deteriorating market conditions

Source: Markit, HSBC

SHUTTERSTOCK

PMI figures offer bright outlook

Production is rising on the back of increasing foreign and domestic orders released along with the data.

In more good news, demand improved both in terms of domestic orders and foreign orders. New order growth expanded at the fastest rate since March 2011, and new export business increased at the fastest pace since April 2011.

In turn, manufacturers had to increase employment levels.

Employment in the sector rose for the first time in a year, the report said.

“The improvement in the Polish growth outlook could be traced in hard economic data as well such as strong sold indus-

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trial output and retail sales in July,” said Murat Ulgen, Chief Economist, Central & Eastern Europe and sub-Saharan Africa at HSBC in a statement.

Reasons to be hopeful “Meanwhile consumer confidence in August also rose to its highest level in more than a year. While it is early to say whether this momentum could be sustained, there are reasons to be hopeful with the eurozone being out of its long recession as of the second quarter and Poland’s resilience to a global liquidity shock given its

low current account deficit and low inflation,” Mr Ulgen added.

Local experts also saw the data as positive. Economists at Citi Handlowy wrote that they saw no reason to change their forecast that Poland’s GDP could grow by as much as 2 percent in the second half of this year. However, they said there was still no reason to believe that Poland’s Monetary Policy Council members would break from their oft-stated mantra that they will not change interest rates for the rest of this year.

Andrew Kureth

7

Poland less competitive The NBP announced that Poland has dropped one spot in the World Economic Forum’s competitiveness ranking for 2013-2014, to 42nd place. The NBP said that Poland’s economic performance has been fairly stable since 2005, though the country has been unable to improve its ranking in four main areas assessed by the World Economic Forum: its institutions, infrastructure, macroeconomic environment, health and education.

z∏.50 bln deficit in draft 2014 budget The government has adopted draft budget for 2014. The proposal sees revenues at z∏.276.5 billion and expenses at z∏.324.2 billion, which translates into a deficit of z∏.47.7 billion. PM Donald Tusk called the proposal “cautious.” The government also decided to raise the excise duty on alcohol by 15%. The draft forecasts GDP growth at 2.5% in 2014 and inflation at 2.4%. ●

8

INVESTING IN POLAND

www.wbj.pl

SEPTEMBER 9-15, 2013

Mazowieckie Key facts Voivode: Jacek Koz∏owski Marshall: Adam Struzik Area: 35,558 sq km Population (Dec. 2012): 5,301,760 Working-age population (Dec. 2012): 3,333,922 Unemployment rate (June 2013): 11.1% Average monthly wage (June 2013): z∏.4,593.31 GDP (2010): z∏.315.83 bln, up 7.4% y/y (22.3% of national GDP) Natural resources: loams, natural aggregate, quartz sands Number of students of higher education: 317,338 Number of institutions of higher education: 106 Major universities: University of Warsaw, Warsaw School of Economics, Warsaw University of Technology Major airports: Warsaw Chopin Airport, Modlin Airport Special Economic Zones: Tarnobrzeg Special Economic Zone “EURO-PARK WIS¸OSAN”: 322.27 ha (175.85 ha available) Warmia-Mazury Special Economic Zone: 170 ha (4.80 ha available) “STARACHOWICE” Special Economic Zone: 18.27 ha (10.24 ha available) ¸ódê Special Economic Zone: 59.49 ha (6.08 ha available)

Suwalki Special Economic Zone: 23.92 ha (none available)

Myszyniec Łyse Chorzele Kadzidło Jednorożec

Żuromin

Zielona

Strzegowo Sierpc Raciąż

Estimated investment

presence in the voivodship skews the figures significantly. The difference in wages between the capital and the smaller cities such as Radom and P∏ock can be large. Those smaller cities can offer far lower labor costs than the capital, while still offering access to many of the same transport links and markets.

The region is probably the best-developed when it comes to transport. It has two airports

Ostrołęka Rzekuń

Przesnysz Ciechanów

Glinojeck

Różan Maków Mazowiecki

Komorowo Ostrów Mazowiecki

Drobin Brok Sochocin Pułtusk Investment outlays (in 2011): z∏.45.78 bln Małkinia Bielsk Wyszków Górna (private sector: z∏.31 bln; public sector: z∏.14.78 Płońsk Nasielsk Ostrówek Płock bln) Lochów Gostynin Legionowo Wyszogród Nowy Dwór Of which: Tłuszcz Gąbin Węgrów Mazowiecki Industry: z∏.9.51 bln Sochaczew Mińsk Of which: manufacturing: z∏.5.28 bln Kałuszyn Pruszków Warsaw Mazowiecki Teresin Construction: z∏.2.27 bln Mrozy Kotuń Cegłów Konstancin-Jeziorna Otwock Real estate activities: z∏.5.16 bln Piaseczno Żyrardów Trade and repair of motor vehicles: z∏.4.19 bln Trąbki Pilawa Transportation and storage: z∏.6.96 bln Garwolin Grójec Number of new partnerships and companies registered Żelechów Łaskarzew Warka (2012): 11,228, up 17.2% y/y Białobrzegi Number of new sole proprietorships registered (2012): 45,083, Nowe Miasto Kozienice nad Pilicą down 1.8% y/y Pionki Radom Recent major investors: Faurecia, General Electric, LG ElecPrzysucha tronics, Skanska, Stora Enso Zwoleń Szydłowiec Sources of major foreign investment: Finland, France, South Lipsko Korea, Sweden, US

Mazowieckie voivodship Mazowieckie is a true dichotomy. It has the country’s capital and biggest economic hub in the CEE region, while other parts of the voivodship have a large rural population.

Mazowieckie is by far the wealthiest of Poland’s voivodships, with its GDP accounting for nearly one quarter of the country’s entire GDP. However, that data is somewhat misleading, as Warsaw’s

Mława

– Warsaw Chopin Airport and Modlin Airport, with a third in Radom under construction. It has several highways and national roads and an extended rail network.

Hosting some of the bestrecognized institutions of higher education in Poland and the largest student population in the country, Mazowieckie also offers investors a large pool of qualified, increasingly multilin-

gual and highly mobile labor.

Mazowieckie’s economy is one of the most diverse in Poland, providing a home for firms from the construction, financial, IT, automotive and petrochemical industries. By contrast, the region’s rural population (approximately 1.8 million) is one of the largest in the country, and both agriculture and the food processing industry are major employers. ●

Sokołów Podlaski Mordy Łosice Siedlce

Voivodship budget 2012:

2013 (projected):

Revenues: z∏.2.489 bln Expenditures: z∏.2.462 bln Surplus: z∏.27 mln

Revenues: z∏.2.817 bln Expenditures: z∏.2.861 bln Deficit: z∏.44 mln

Key contacts Mazovia Development Agency Investor and Exporter Service Centre ul. Bertolda Brechta 3, 03-342 Warszawa Piotr S∏ojewski, vice-president, English speaker: coie@armsa.pl ☎ +48 22 566-4760 Katarzyna Cesarczyk, acting chief manager, English speaker: k.cesarczyk@armsa.pl ☎ +48 22 566-4789

Major cities

Warsaw Poland’s capital is the biggest city in the country and one of the biggest financial and economic centers in the CEE region. Its GDP per capita is three times higher that the country’s average, providing investors with a substantial consumer market.

The Warsaw Stock Exchange is the region’s leading bourse, with one of the biggest numbers of IPOs in Europe.

The city attracts outsourcing, shared-service and IT investments from international firms lured by the city’s well-educated labor force.

Warsaw is also Poland’s top academic center and the most important destination for R&D in the country. Its young, motivated and highly skilled workforce boasts international experience and strong foreign-language skills. Other key industries include insurance, telecommunications, pharmaceuticals, construction and food processing.

Warsaw is the leading city in Central Europe in terms of the number of square meters of newly constructed office space (over 400,000 sqm), many of which have LEED and BREEAM certification. According to local authorities, green areas cover 28 percent of the city.

Warsaw has seen a major acceleration of infrastructure

AVAILABLE

NOW!

Radom investments in areas such as public transportation and culture. Thanks to the modernization and expansion of the “Czajka” sewage treatment plant, the largest environmental project in Europe, worth z∏.4 billion, Warsaw for the first time treats all of its waste water. The construction of the second subway line is another huge investment. It is due to be completed by the end of 2014.

Mayor: Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz Area code: 22 Area: 517.24 sq km Population (Dec. 2012): 1,715,517 Working-age population (Dec. 2011): 1,075,666 Unemployment rate (June 2013): 4.9% Percentage of city covered by zoning plans: 30% Recent major investors: Hochtief, IBM, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Nordea Group, Orange, Skanska, T-Mobile Contacts: Warsaw City Hall, Office of the Mayor Pl. Bankowy 3/5 00-950 Warsaw ☎ +48 22 443-1028 ☎ +48 22 443-1029 +48 22 443-9956 +48 22 443-9957 gabinetprezydenta@um.warszawa.pl

With only 100 kilometers separating Radom and Warsaw, the city is close to several major transportation routes. According to the local investment authorities, labor costs in the city are up to 50 percent lower than in Warsaw or Kraków. With some 15,000 students in the city there are many qualified people looking for work there.

City authorities are pushing hard to attract firms in precision-oriented industries, including metals processing, electronics, technology, electromechanics, chemical and cosmetics. Many of Radom’s enterprises operate within the local subzone of the Tarnobrzeg Special Economic Zone, which provides financing for investments, as well as property tax exemptions and other incentives.

The city was once the capital of its own voivodship and a thriving production center that exported various equipment to the countries in the Soviet bloc. The transition to a capitalist economy has been tough on the city though, and has led to relatively high unemployment levels. Several state-controlled companies have adjusted well, including firms in the tobacco industry.

Additionally, several foreign companies

have launched operations in Radom. However, it is small and medium-sized businesses that dominate the city’s economy, and they are still flourishing. Radom boasts around one registered one-person enterprise for every 10 inhabitants.

The city is also redeveloping its airport, which as of press time was expected to be operational by the end of 2013.

Mayor: Andrzej Kosztowniak Area code: 36 Area: 111.80 sq km Population (Dec. 2012): 219,703 Working-age population (Dec. 2011): 141,714 Unemployment rate (June 2013): 22.7% Percentage of city covered by zoning plans: 11% Recent major investors: AIG Lincoln, Aplisens, Imperial Tobacco, ITM, Jadar, Zbyszko, Iron Mountain, DPC Ministry of Finance Contacts: Investor Assistance Office ul. 53 ˚eromskiego 26-600 Radom ☎ +48 48 362-0332 coi@umradom.pl Marcin Kucharski ☎ +48 362-0358 m.kucharski@umradom.pl

Find this content and more in Investing in Poland 2014. Information and key data about all of Poland’s voivodships can be found inside. Also, find analyses of major trends moving Poland’s economy. Want more?

Pick up the publication or visit WBJ.pl for more information.

ECONOMIC FORUM

SEPTEMBER 9-15, 2013

Media patronage

COURTESY OF M. ÂMIAROWSKI/KPRM

Limits of mixing business and politics on display at Krynica Economic Forum

Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico (middle) received the “Man of the Year” award at the forum

This year’s Economic Forum in KrynicaZdrój was overshadowed by political statements Politics and business are two sides of the same coin – political support is often needed to make big deals. It was therefore little surprise to see political leaders sitting next to businesspeople at the Economic Forum in Krynica-Zdrój last week.

This year, however, political involvement in business might have gone a bit too far.

The crisis is over.

Or is it?

The event opened with Prime Minister Donald Tusk announcing that the “crisis is over” and that Poland’s GDP growth in Q4 of 2013 may surpass 2 percent and top 1.5 percent over the entire year (see story, p. 3). It was a bold statement, and was met with popular acclaim. There’s nothing that businesspeople like more than hearing about a good economic outlook in the country they’re investing in.

However, there were those skeptical about the prime minister’s assertions, especially given his track record in bold economic forecasts. In 2008 he announced at the forum that Poland could join the euro zone by 2011. A few days later, Lehman Brothers went bust, and the whole plan went out the window. Hopefully this time, Mr Tusk’s projections are more on target.

The optimism did not last long, however, and moods quickly turned sour the following day, after the Prime Minister announced that the government plans to move over half of the assets belonging to open pension funds to the state-run social security system (see story, p. 3). Most CEOs attending the forum, expecting that their

company’s stock would be hurt by the move, became increasingly edgy as WSE indices headed south.

Jaros∏aw Kaczyƒski, the leader of Poland’s largest opposition party, Law and Justice, didn’t help matters when he announced his economic program for Poland, which he plans to implement if he is voted into power in the 2015 parliamentary elections (see story p. 4). His plan includes raising taxes for the richest, increasing the minimum wage and imposing levies on stockmarket transactions.

Mr Kaczyƒski’s sentiment was different from Mr Tusk’s, as he maintained that the worst for Poland’s economy was far from over, and said that those who earn the most should pay the most to overcome the economic slowdown.

Leave us be After the opposition leader’s statement, most of the businesspeople at the forum seemed to want nothing more than for politicians to leave them and their businesses in peace. In fact, the most valuable discussions were the ones without any politicians on the panel.

During the discussions on sports marketing or corporate social responsibility, experts and CEOs were able to talk shop freely and even reveal some business practices they have kept secret for years. For example, attendees learned that if you want to put your firm’s logo on the jersey of soccer team Legia Warszawa, you’ll have to pay z∏.2.5 million.

On the other hand, most of the discussions with politicians among the panelists usually followed the same formula: CEOs complaining to politicians what institutional problems they see in their respective sectors, and politicians promising to solve them.

There were a few excep-

tions, though. The panel about Polish companies expanding to the east was dominated by businesspeople telling politicians (represented here by MEP Pawe∏ Kowal) that they did not need their help in doing business abroad. They even claimed that politicians’ involvement in trade relations often did them more harm than good.

“I’ve been doing business there (in Russia and Ukraine) for over 10 years, and I haven’t met with any politicians there, there was never a need for that,” said Micha∏ So∏owow, whose companies invest in many CEE markets.

“I never had to pay any bribes in Russia or Ukraine, while I was forced to pay them in Poland,” added Ryszard Florek, CEO of Fakro, a window manufacturer, whose companies control 40 and 60 percent of the Russian and Ukrainian markets respectively.

There’s a lesson to be learned here. It’s obviously impossible not to invite politicians to the forum, as they bring much-needed prestige and media attention to the event. But maybe the organizers could limit their numbers and let them talk amongst themselves, leaving business discussions to businesspeople.

Still, it’s worth coming to Krynica-Zdrój for the Economic Forum each year. The discussions are insightful and the quality of most panels is usually top-notch. It’s also probably one of the very few places where you can stand in a coffee line with Zygmunt Solorz-˚ak, owner of TV network Polsat and mobile operator Polkomtel and one of the richest Poles, or discuss inflight meals with LOT’s CEO Sebastian Mikosz. To meet and talk to politicians you don’t really need to go to Krynica-Zdrój, anyway.

Jacek Ciesnowski

www.wbj.pl

9

10

INTERVIEW

www.wbj.pl

SEPTEMBER 9-15, 2013

Politics

Giertych: The right has won Poland’s culture war ance as to what the next move should be.

Roman Giertych, a former deputy prime minister and minister of education, sits down with WBJ to talk about Poland’s place in the EU, possible euro adoption, the state of Polish politics and his predictions for the upcoming European and national parliamentary elections Ewa Boniecka: You recently got involved in the issue of ritual slaughter in Poland, acting as the representative of the European Jewish Association. How do you see the fact that religious slaughter remains banned in Poland

and how do you think the matter could be resolved?

Roman Giertych: I see the issue as the product of a leftist ideology, one which is cynical and hypocritical in its core as it attempts to obscure antiSemitic attitudes with pre-

Former Deputy Prime Minister Roman Giertych tenses of fighting against animal suffering.

I think that even if not directly anti-Semitic, the positions of Jaros∏aw Kaczyƒski and Janusz Palikot [both of whom supported the ban on ritual slaughter] during the

vote in the Sejm, has damaged the image of the Polish parliament.

But at the meeting of members of the European Jewish Association with Foreign Minister Rados∏aw Sikorski, we heard the gov-

ernment promise to resolve the matter and allow Jewish and Muslim communities in Poland carry out ritual slaughter for religious purposes. Now the matter will go to the Constitutional Tribunal for review and guid-

COURTESY OF ROMAN GIERTYCH LAW OFFICE

“The right will continue to govern Poland for many years to come.”

Let’s talk about Europe. You actively campaigned against EU accession as a politician.

How do you look at that decision now?

I have always been open towards the European Union.

I voted against Poland’s accession mainly because I was against the conditions of Poland’s accession, including the mandatory adoption of the euro as our national currency. I saw it as harmful to Poland and I haven’t changed my position. The fact that Poland has not adopted the euro is a good thing.

It is a clever tactic when Polish politicians say that we have to adopt the euro, but without pointing to a specific date. In my view, the fact that Poland kept its national currency protected us against the financial and economic crisis which hit the EU. It has also been beneficial to our economy and particularly to our exports.

If we had adopted the euro, we would be in the same tight spot that Spain found itself in.

Do you believe that the entire idea of a common European currency was a mistake and that EU members should return to their national currencies?

Yes, because the introduction

INTERVIEW

of the common currency without implementing a common fiscal policy leads to a situation where one country with a loose fiscal policy lives at the expense of the others.

But the reforms recently introduced in the European Union – the fiscal compact and financial control mechanisms – should help EU members coordinate their financial policies better and thus lead towards closer political integration of the EU. Doesn’t that address your reservations?

It is not an answer because I do not believe in closer integration of the EU. The idea of building a federal Europe, which my friend Foreign Minister Rados∏aw Sikorski has suggested, is a beautiful idea, but completely unrealistic in today’s Europe. It will likely remain unrealistic for the next hundred years.

But since introducing the euro leads to the harmonization of national budgets, public spending and tax systems, in practice it means relinquishing control of all national spending and individual nations’ fiscal policies to the European Union, regardless of the differences in their economic development, national priorities for setting taxes or financing various domains of national activity.

In my view, such control from the EU is unacceptable.

The European Union is not a federal state, but a community of independent nations.

And this is the kind of European Union that I support.

You criticize Law and Justice (PiS) and its leader Jaros∏aw Kaczyƒski. You warn the public about the possible scenario of PiS coming back to power, which you portray as the worst possible scenario for Poland. But at the same time you are very critical of the ruling Civic Platform (PO) and Prime Minister Donald Tusk. How exactly would you describe your stand?

I am outside those parties and I can say things that no member of PO or PiS would say publicly. At least until, as in the case of [former Justice Minister] Jaros∏aw Gowin, they decide to start an open battle for the leadership of the party. But my criticism of PO and PiS has different foundations. My criticism of Jaros∏aw Kaczyƒski is much stronger than that of Donald Tusk. I remember well what political methods Jaros∏aw Kaczyƒski uses and what PiS’s real political agenda is, hidden beneath its nationalist and conservative slogans.

It is an agenda for the persecution of certain groups of society, mostly well-educated people, medical doctors, lawyers. It is a system of using illegal mechanisms to control

people and cause enmity between various groups of society.

And it is all underpinned with leftist and revolutionary social slogans about caring for the poor, dividing public money equally and the like. So in my view PiS is full of contradictions: it likes to be seen as the party which brought about an end to communism but at the same time it is using the same hypocritical methods of deceiving people.

In my criticism of PO and the government I point to specific mistakes in certain domains such as education and health care. But I see Donald Tusk in a generally positive light and I think that his government’s economic and foreign policy is rational and effective.

That does not mean that I’m not looking for alternative proposals for Poles, but so far I do not see any. I would want to see a new political formation emerge on our political scene, one which would favor a free-market economy and conservative social values. So it would combine some elements of PO’s program, but also strong Christian philosophy and a different approach towards ethical matters: civil unions or in vitro would be out of the question.

According to opinion polls, PO and the government are losing support while PiS is gaining in popularity. What do you think will be the outcome of the upcoming 2014 elections to the European Parliament and of Poland’s parliamentary election the next year?

In my opinion PiS will win the elections to the European Parliament because people want to demonstrate their dissatisfaction with PO. But there are still two years before the parliamentary elections.

port, it is usually its opposition that is benefiting. And PO’s main opposition is PiS. Polish society is not as polarized, politically speaking, as Western European societies.

Poland’s political establishment is different. Due to the fact that conservative views prevail in our society, the ruling party and the main opposition party both represent right-wing views and compete for a conservative electorate, regardless of the differences in their official programs.

So I think that if PO does not make a serious move towards the conservative electorate, it could lose the 2015 parliamentary election and PiS will win a majority in parliament. I presented this opinion to PO politicians in December of 2012, when nothing yet pointed to the present political crisis.

Now the question that remains to be answered is whether PiS will win an absolute majority in the parliamentary elections, allowing it to form a government on its own. If it doesn’t win outright, it will have to look for a coalition partner and that will be very difficult, if not impossible. But there is no doubt in my mind that PO is in big trouble, unless it manages to mount a serious offensive and recover politically.

Do you think that the issue of the Smolensk catastrophe will play an important role in the election campaigns?

Jaros∏aw Kaczyƒski will raise that issue because it is his bone of contention with Donald Tusk, who PiS blames for the disaster. But the issue will not be the main theme of the campaign. PiS has already realized that it will not win votes with that issue, so it will explore other options, mainly social matters.

Yet people’s fear of a

“[PiS’s] agenda is for the persecution of certain groups of society, mostly well-educated people.”

Once the economy starts improving and if Donald Tusk takes PO more to the right instead of veering towards the left as he has been recently, conservative voters could return to PO. I believe that Donald Tusk made a political mistake by supporting civil unions, in vitro and other leftist ethical views. He wanted to gain the support of leftist voters. He seemed to think that PO’s main competitor is Palikot’s Movement or Europe Plus, which are bound to fail, anyway.

Mr Tusk ignored the fact that in a democracy when the governing party is losing sup-

return to power by PiS, which made people vote for PO in the first place, is now losing importance. Young people don’t remember the time when PiS was the governing party and they don’t remember the kind of state it was trying to create. Nevertheless, the main political confrontation during the upcoming election campaign, just as it was in the previous ones, will be between the two party leaders, Donald Tusk and Jaros∏aw Kaczyƒski.

Do you think that PiS without Jaros∏aw Kaczyƒski’s leadership would be a different party?

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Roman Giertych speaks in the Sejm in 2007 It would certainly be a different situation, but PiS will always remain a radical nationalist party and would probably be led by Antoni Macierewicz.

And can you imagine PO without Donald Tusk as its leader?

I do not think that he will resign from being PO’s leader, or that his party will want him to quit, but I can imagine that Donald Tusk might at some point resign from the position of prime minister.

Do you really think that Donald Tusk could resign from being head of government?

Well, I think it is possible because PO will sooner or later have to face the increasing threat of a PiS victory. It might look for radical ways of preventing that from happening. Donald Tusk stepping down from the post of prime minister certainly qualifies as such a dramatic step.

You seem to completely ignore the possible role of leftist parties: SLD, Palikot’s Movement and Europe Plus in the upcoming elections.

These groups aim to provide an alternative to conservative parties, primarily towards PiS. In some European coun-

tries, including France, leftist parties are winning support.

Can the left also make a comeback in Poland?

I am not claiming that leftist parties cannot form an alternative to right-wing ones in Europe. But Poland has a specific political history. In Poland the left is marginalized, because it was totally discredited during communist rule. The present left lacks leaders of great stature to build its credibility.

Leftist parties in Poland, with most of their leaders having communist roots, are not seen by the majority of Poles as a credible alternative to conservative parties. In my view, the right will continue to govern Poland for many years to come. And if Donald Tusk fails to realize that – he will no longer be in power.

According to surveys, nearly three-fourths of the people who have abandoned PO consider themselves conservatives and only onefourth claim to have leftist views. And those conservative supporters of PO do not like its present policy of distancing itself from Christian and pro-family values. The ideological war in Poland has already been won by the right and that has its consequences in shaping the political scene.

You have done a lot to promote right-wing ideology in Poland. In 1989, you reactivated the radical right-wing organization called the AllPolish Youth, which had been active before World War II. You were its leader until 1994. Now that organization, along with other radical nationalist groups, is demonstrating on the streets and at universities promoting antiSemitic views and anti-democratic ideas. How do you feel about that?

When I reactivated the All-Polish Youth, it was a patriotic Catholic organization, supported by many politicians and figures such as Wies∏aw Chrzanowski, imprisoned during the communist regime as a member of the opposition, and the first Speaker of the Sejm after the transformation in Poland.

I have always been against nationalism. In my book published in 1993 titled “Counterrevolution of the Youth” I wrote that nationalism is a travesty of patriotism. I was attacked by various radical organizations for that statement. When the All-Polish Youth, along with such organizations as the National Radical Camp, turned towards nationalism and anti-Semitism, I spoke out against their activities and their leaders. ●

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From Investing in Poland 2014

Bank on consolidation

Remi Adekoya

One of the reasons Poland was not hit as hard as its European contemporaries by the 2008-09 financial crisis was because it had a healthy banking system that did not require any public aid.

Conservative business models meant Polish banks largely kept their distance from the complicated financial derivatives that eventually wreaked havoc in the Western world’s banking system.

Meanwhile, strong banking oversight from Poland’s Financial Supervision Authority (KNF) helped keep risky foreign-currency denominated mortgage loans under control during the pre-crisis boom years.

And although it was feared that overseas parent banks (over 70 percent of Poland’s banking system is in foreign hands) would withdraw funds from their subsidiaries in order to bolster lending activities in their domestic markets, this ultimately did not happen.

Record profits Poland’s banks are in healthy shape today as well. Last year, they recorded a record-high aggregate net profit of z∏.16.2 billion, a 4 percent year-onyear increase, according to data from the National Bank of Poland. This despite a marked slowdown in the Polish economy, which grew by just 1.9 percent in 2012 com-

SHUTTERSTOCK

Poland has a healthy banking system – but expect a significant amount of consolidation in the sector in the near future

pared to 4.5 percent in 2011.

And although the first half of 2013 offered slower growth rates for banks, with aggregate net profit at z∏.8.2 billion, a 0.6 percent increase on the same period in 2012, the figure was still the best result the industry in Poland has ever recorded.

Meanwhile, in the opinion of ratings agency Fitch, the 2013 outlook for the Polish banking sector remains “stable, despite weaker than expected growth and profitability.”

According to Deloitte, Poland’s banking sector still has room to increase its market penetration.

“Due to the size of its population, Poland is in a league of its own within [Central Europe],” Deloitte’s analysts wrote in a 2013 report that focused on the banking sector in eight Central European countries: Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary,

Poland, Romania, Serbia and Slovakia.

Deloitte described Poland’s banking sector as the biggest in Central Europe, with assets of €314 billion (as of 2011), making up over 35.1 percent of the aggregated assets of banks in the eight countries surveyed.

It also stated that the Polish market is far from saturated.

“The banking market penetration in Poland has much room for an increase. Of the addressable group, 20.4 million Poles are already customers of at least one bank, so the penetration ratio stands at 67 percent, putting Poland in the middle of the CE countries group analyzed,” wrote Deloitte.

According to the advisory, the penetration ratio in Poland will increase in the years to come and will reach 73 percent in 2015, 78 percent in 2020 and 82 percent in 2025.

The big banks

Time to consolidate

The 10 largest banks in Poland by assets as of end-2012

This increase in penetration will likely be accompanied by systematic consolidation in the sector. The last couple of years have seen three major M&A deals in Poland’s banking industry. In 2010, Spanish Banco Santander paid Allied Irish Banks €2.9 billion for its 70 percent stake in Bank Zachodni WBK (then Poland’a fifth-largest bank by assets). Then in 2012, Banco Santander reached a deal to merge its Polish Bank Zachodni WBK unit with Kredyt Bank, the Polish arm of the Belgian financial group KBC. This created the third-

PKO BP (excluding Nordea assets) Bank Pekao

z∏.193.5 billion z∏.151 billion

BRE Bank

z∏.102.3 billion

ING Bank Âlàski

z∏.78.3 billion

Bank Zachodni WBK

z∏.60 billion

Raiffeisen Bank Polska

z∏.54.7 billion

Bank Millennium

z∏.52.7 billion

Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego

z∏.48.7 billion

Bank Handlowy

z∏.42.9 billion

BG˚

z∏.37.2 billion

largest bank in Poland by deposits, loans, branches and profit, according to Santander.

The merged entity has roughly 3.5 million clients in Poland.

“Thanks to this merger, Banco Santander will significantly strengthen its presence in Poland, one of the most dynamically growing economies in Europe,” Emilio Botin, executive chairman of Banco Santander, said in a statement at the time.

In 2011, Raiffeisen Bank acquired a 70 percent majority share in Polbank EFG for €490 million. “With its clear focus on retail banking, Polbank is an ideal complement to Raiffeisen Bank Polska. We are creating a broad basis to develop successfully in one of the most solid and most strongly growing economies in Central and Eastern Europe,” said RBI CEO Herbert Stepic when the deal was announced.

Commenting on the deals, Deloitte wrote that “These transactions are proving the need for scale in the Polish domestic market.”

Then, in June of 2013, Poland’s biggest lender, the state-controlled PKO Bank Polski, announced it was buying Nordea Bank’s Polish assets for z∏.2.83 billion, marking its first-ever takeover.

PKO BP and Nordea Bank Polska’s total assets now amount to z∏.230.9 billion, with UniCredit-owned Bank Pekao in second position at z∏.150.9 billion. This has led analysts to forecast that Pekao may now be interested in strengthening its own position in Poland as well.

Indeed, in August of this year, business daily Parkiet reported that Pekao had made an offer to Rabobank for its BG˚ Polish subsidiary, valued at z∏.3.5-4 billion. Pekao has however not yet officially confirmed that report.

There still appears to be room for consolidation in Poland as the 10 largest banks hold 60 percent of the sector’s assets, compared with the 76 percent average for the Central European countries surveyed by Deloitte.

Consolidations are all the more attractive in Poland as “organic growth rates are in a downward trend which might be accelerated by the looming cyclical slowdown,” the advisory wrote.

By consolidating smaller banks, market leaders in Poland’s banking system could realize significant economies of scale and benefit from costreductions as a way to offset stagnating revenues and the continued slowdown in most of their domestic countries.

After the annoucement of the PKO BP-Nordea Bank merger, Mateusz Morawiecki, CEO of Bank Zachodni WBK, said, “Further consolidation of the Polish banking sector is unavoidable.”

“Taking into account the level of concentration ... I believe there will be another consolidation wave,” he added.

Getin Noble Bank, the seventh-largest bank in Poland, with deposits amounting to z∏.53.5 billion in 2012, has already announced through its CEO Krzysztof Rosiƒski that it will be active in the consolidation process in the banking sector. “I keep repeating that we are carefully looking at the market and, if an opportunity appears, we will try to make use of it,” he said.

Not so fast But the KNF might have other ideas. In June this year, the institution’s head, Andrzej Jakubiak, told the Polish Press Agency, “In the case of the largest banks – meaning the top 10, perhaps 15 – we expect that changes in the shareholder structure will take place by seeking a new investor and not through consolidation.”

“In particular, we don’t want to allow Poland’s three biggest banks control some 70 percent of the market, as that

leads to limiting competition,” he added.

Mr Jakubiak’s words echoed a statement issued by the KNF on June 13, following the PKO BP-Nordea announcement, in which the watchdog said it thinks that in terms of market concentration, the Polish banking sector is “close to optimum.”

Mr Jakubiak said that the KNF would carefully examine any future takeover bids from banks, warning against a situation in which the top banks hold more than 50 percent of the market. “It could be dangerous for the whole system when a bank this big gets in trouble. Other things that need to be considered are the competion within the banking market and the manner in which bank owners sell their investments,” Mr Jakubiak said.

He added that only one bank is for sale in Poland now.

It ranks among the second 10 largest banks in the country and is a stock-exchange-listed entity, he revealed. However, despite the KNF’s skepticism regarding future consolidation in Poland’s banking sector, the trend seems clear. And inevitable.

Constant streamlining The volatility and dynamism of the post-crisis global banking environment has altered the ways in which the industry functions. Constant streamlining is now the order of the day.

Polish banks, like all others, must sustain their profitability and meet the expectations of their shareholders in order to survive.

M&As are now being used globally to implement the restructuring of banks, many of which have taken a battering in recent years and have no choice but to grow leaner. Polish banks will also need to become more competitive through economies of scale and to increase their market share by tapping into the potential client base that still exists in Poland. If they do this, they have every chance of remaining a success story in the region and indeed the whole continent. The bestcase scenario, of course, would be if not only their shareholders benefit from this process, but their clients as well. ●

Source: Warsaw Business Journal

Find this content and more in Investing in Poland 2014. Information and key data about all of Poland’s voivodships can be found inside. Also, find analyses of major trends moving Poland’s economy. Want more?

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Could Tusk lose his parliamentary majority?

Remi Adekoya

W

ith Poland’s first black MP John Godson quitting Civic Platform (PO) last week, the ruling PO-Polish People’s Party (PSL) coalition saw its parliamentary majority shrink to three votes. Then it was announced that Jacek ˚alek, an MP, was being suspended from PO for three months for having repeatedly broken with party ranks during parliamentary voting.

On the news, Jaros∏aw Gowin, a former justice minister who lost PO’s leadership election to Prime Minister Donald Tusk last month, announced he was voluntarily suspending his own membership of the party in solidarity with Mr ˚alek, a political ally.

All three politicians are staunch conservatives whose main beef with the PM today is that he has taken the party too far to the left on social and economic issues.

Mr Gowin himself had been given a symbolic fine by PO’s disciplinary committee, also for breaking with

party discipline during several parliamentary votes. But now his voluntary suspension means the PO-PSL coalition has the thinnest of possible majorities – one vote.

Lech Kaczyƒski, who perished along with 95 others in a plane crash in Smolensk, Russia in 2010, has stated publicly that he is convinced the PM was directly or indirectly responsible for his brother’s death.

In the worst case, Mr Kaczyƒski suggests, Mr Tusk was actively involved in a plot with Vladimir Putin to assasinate his brother. In the best case, the PM’s attempts to marginalize his brother led to the presidential plane traveling bereft of the proper security, says Mr Kaczyƒski.

Either way, if Mr Kaczyƒski ever becomes PM, Donald Tusk can look forward to spending a lot of time with Polish prosecutors. And so the last thing he can afford now is to lose power to Jaros∏aw Kaczyƒski.

Snap elections?

With PO having a bad run in the polls of late, it canot be ruled out that some other party MPs might decide to jump ship. Commenting on the situation, Pawe∏ GraÊ, PO’s spokesperson, said, “There will not be a battle to keep the majority at all costs. If the coalition loses its majority, the alternative is snap elections.”

But is PO really ready for that right now? Hardly.

If elections were held today, PO’s main rival, Law and Justice, would very possibly win and Mr Tusk would lose power. But Donald Tusk stands to lose more than power. He could very well lose his freedom.

Jaros∏aw Kaczyƒski, leader of PiS and twin brother of the late President

The options So what are the PM’s options? He could reach for a third coalition partner in the shape of the Democratic Left Alliance, a post-communist for-

mation with a wily and pragmatic leader, Leszek Miller (PM of Poland from 2001-2004). Mr Tusk and Mr Miller are said to get on well, two alpha-male types with a healthy respect for each other. Managing a coalition with Mr Miller would be hard and expensive for Mr Tusk, but feasible.

The second option would be to add to the coalition Palikot’s Movement, led by the erratic and bellicose Janusz Palikot, a nihilistic megalomaniac. But Mr Palikot would be a potentially problematic coalition partner. He thrives on scandal and being the center of attention. This would be unlikely to change were he to enter a coalition government. He would doubtless cause Mr Tusk trouble sooner or later.

Mr Tusk’s third option is to simply buy over a few disgruntled MPs from other parties. In fact, this process has been going on for a while now. In the last few months,

four MPs have deserted Palikot’s Movement to form their own parliamentary mini-caucus. They generally vote with the government and could be co-opted fully into PO to boost its official ranks.

But autumn will doubtless be a trying time for the ruling party.

Labor unions are preparing for nationwide protests and PO will be holding various internal regional elections that are bound to increase the friction in the party and bring a few skeletons out of the closet.

The prime minister will likely not make any radical moves for now, at least as long as he still has a majority, albeit by only a single vote. But if another MP does quit PO, then Donald Tusk will have no choice but to search for a second coalition partner. ● Remi Adekoya is Warsaw Business Journal’s politics editor. Read his blog, “The business of politics” on WBJ.pl

The failure of free-market finance Adair Turner

F

ive years after the collapse of US investment bank Lehman Brothers, the world has still not addressed the fundamental cause of the subsequent financial crisis – an excess of debt. And that is why economic recovery has progressed much more slowly than anyone expected (in some countries, it has not come at all).

Most economists, central bankers, and regulators not only failed to foresee the crisis, but also believed that financial stability was assured so long as inflation was low and stable. And, once the immediate crisis had been contained, we failed to foresee how painful its consequences would be.

Official forecasts in the spring of 2009 anticipated neither a slow recovery nor that the initial crisis, which was essentially confined to the United States and the United Kingdom, would soon fuel a knock-on crisis in the euro zone. And market forces did not come close to predicting nearzero interest rates for five years (and counting).

decades – in the private sector even more than in the public sector – were a major threat to economic stability.

In 1960, UK household debt amounted to less than 15 percent of GDP; by 2008, the ratio was over 90 percent. In the US, total private credit grew from around 70 percent of GDP in 1945 to well over 200 percent in 2008. As long as the debt was in the private sector, most policymakers assumed that its impact was either neutral or benign. Indeed, as former Bank of England Governor Mervyn King has noted, “money, credit, and banks play no meaningful role” in much of modern macroeconomics.

That assumption was dangerous, because debt contracts have important implications for economic stability. They are often created in excess, because in the upswing of economic cycles, risky loans look risk-free. And, once created, they introduce the rigidities of default and bankruptcy processes, with their potential for fire sales and business disruptions.

Lack of foresight

Credit and the illusion of wealth

One reason for this lack of foresight was uncritical admiration of financial innovation; another was the inherently flawed structure of the euro zone.

But the fundamental reason was the failure to understand that high debt burdens, relentlessly rising for several

Moreover, debt can drive cycles of over-investment, as described by Friedrich von Hayek. The Irish and Spanish property booms are prime examples of this. And debt can drive booms and busts in the price of existing assets: the UK housing market

over the past few decades is a case in point.

When times are good, rising leverage can make underlying problems seem to disappear. Indeed, subprime mortgage lending delivered illusory wealth increases to Americans at a time when they were suffering from stagnant or falling real wages.

But in the post-crisis downswing, accumulated debts have a powerful depressive effect, because over-leveraged businesses and consumers cut investment and consumption in an attempt to pay down their debts.

Japan’s lost decades after 1990 were the direct and inevitable consequence of the excessive leverage built up in the 1980s.

Faced with depressed private investment and consumption, rising fiscal deficits can play a useful role, offsetting the deflationary effects.

But that simply shifts leverage to the public sector, with any reduction in the ratio of private debt to GDP more than matched by an increase in the public-debt ratio: witness the Irish and Spanish governments’ high and rising debt burdens.

Private leverage levels, as much as the public-debt burden, must therefore be treated as crucial economic variables. Ignoring them before the crisis was a profound failure of economic science and policy, one for which many countries’ citizens have

suffered dearly.

Which way out of the debt trap?

Two questions follow. The first is how to navigate out of the current overhang of both private and public debt.

There are no easy options. Paying down private and public debt simultaneously depresses growth. Rapid fiscal consolidation thus can be selfdefeating. But offsetting fiscal austerity with ultra-easy monetary policies risks fueling a resurgence of private leverage in advanced economies and already has produced the dangerous spillover of rising leverage in emerging economies.

Both realism and imaginative policy are required. It is obvious that Greece cannot pay back all of its debt. But it should also be obvious that Japan will never be able to generate a primary fiscal surplus large enough to repay its government debt in the normal sense of the word “repay.” Some combination of debt restructuring and permanent debt monetization (quantitative easing that is never reversed) will in some countries be unavoidable and appropriate.

The second question is how to constrain leveraged growth in the future. Achieving this goal requires reforms with a different focus from those pursued so far. Fixing the “too big to fail” problem is certainly

important, but the direct taxpayer costs of bank rescues were small change compared to the damage wreaked by the financial crisis. And a banking system that never received a taxpayer subsidy could still support excessive private-sector leverage.

What is required is a wide-ranging policy response that combines more powerful countercyclical capital tools than currently planned under Basel 3, the restoration of quantitative reserve requirements to advancedcountry central banks’ policy toolkits, and direct borrower constraints, such as maximum loan-to-income or loanto-value limits, in residential and commercial real-estate lending.

These policies would amount to a rejection of the pre-crisis orthodoxy that free markets are as valuable in finance as they are in other economic sectors. That orthodoxy failed. If we do not address the fundamental fact that free financial markets can generate harmful levels of private-sector leverage, we will not have learned the most important lesson of the 2008 crisis. ● Adair Turner, former chairman of the United Kingdom’s Financial Services Authority, is a member of the UK’s Financial Policy Committee and the House of Lords.

Copyright: Project Syndicate, 2013.

Project-syndicate.org

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The Polish warehouse market is still far from being saturated. MLP’s Rados∏aw T. Krochta tells Lokale Immobilia which regions have the strongest potential for growth 17

WSE-listed Echo Investment has received a €22.4 million loan from Bank Zachodni WBK for its latest 32,000-sqm office project

18

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

A new hangar designated for technical maintenance has been built at Warsaw Chopin Airport, next to the Blue Jet hangar in the western part of the airport. The construction cost z∏.15.6 million and the general contractor was Land Development. The hangar will be rented out to a third party. The hangar can accommodate code-C aircraft with a wingspan of up to 36 meters – which are the aircraft that most frequently operate at Chopin.

Code-C aircraft include Boeing 737s and Airbus A320s.

Cornerstone laid for Castorama warehouse in Stryków Panattoni Europe has laid the cornerstone for a 50,000 sqm warehouse in Stryków, less than 20 km from ¸ódê in central Poland. The built-to suit facility, which is being constructed on a 12hectare plot, will be leased by Castorama Polska. The lease deal was the biggest warehouse transaction completed in Poland since 2010, while the project is the largest warehouse construction investment launched in Poland so far this year.

Construction on the facility began in July and is scheduled for completion in February 2014. ●

In this issue Warsaw’s retail market . . . . . .15 CEE warehouse market . . . . . .15 MLP interview . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17 Park Rozwoju loan . . . . . . . . . . .18 Baltic Park Molo . . . . . . . . . . . . .18

Retail

Warsaw’s retail potential to grow With 435 sqm for every 1,000 residents, Warsaw’s retail market saturation remained one of the lowest among Polish agglomerations in Q2 The Polish capital’s total retail stock, including shopping centers, retail warehousing, retail parks and outlet centers, stood at 1.588 million sqm at the end of Q2 2013. Warsaw’s stock accounts for 14 percent of the total supply in Poland, according to Jones Lang LaSalle’s recently released Warsaw City Report Q2 2013.

The total space of shopping centers alone totals 1.083 million sqm GLA within 35 schemes in the Warsaw agglomeration.

Apart from two extensions of existing shopping centers, the second quarter of 2013 saw the opening of only one new, small and convenience-type,

shopping center in Podkowa LeÊna – Galeria Podkowa – with a total area of 8,000 sqm.

However, the upcoming completion of the mixed-use Plac Unii project in Warsaw’s downtown will deliver a 15,500-sqm Galeria Miejska shopping center, scheduled to open by the end of 2013.

According to the JJL report, Warsaw’s retail market is driven by its residents’ purchasing power, which at €9,294 per person per year is the highest in Poland, and exceeds the national average by 61 percent. The most notable event in the Warsaw retail market recently was the opening of the first 270-sqm Louis Vuitton store in Poland in June, in the Vitkac center in Warsaw’s downtown.

Unsaturated market Despite having the highest purchasing power, Warsaw’s market saturation is one of the lowest among Polish agglom-

erations and stands at 435 sqm per 1,000 residents. The opening of Galeria Miejska in the Plac Unii project will bring the number up to 444 sqm per 1,000 residents.

The vacancy rate in Warsaw remains stable at 2 percent, which is one of the lowest in Poland’s major markets.

Prime shopping-center rent for a 100 sqm unit, for a tenant in the fashion sector, stands at €80-€90/sqm/month and is expected to increase during the next months to €100/sqm/month.

“It is worth noting the growing tendency to extend and remodel existing projects and to refresh their offer,” commented Anna Wysocka, head of retail agency at Jones Lang LaSalle.

“Another notable trend is the growth in the conveniencestore sector, i.e. small shopping centers located in residential areas that allow for quick shopping on the way to

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The mixed-use Plac Unii project in Warsaw’s downtown will deliver 15,500 sqm of shopping space or from work. It is also worth stressing the growing importance of high street locations, especially Nowy Âwiat,

Chmielna, Marsza∏kowska, Mokotowska and Plac Trzech Krzy˝y,” Ms Wysocka added.

KEK

Logistics

Polish warehouse market attracting producers Western European manufacturers are opening their plants in Poland and the Czech Republic The first six months of 2013 saw 1.5 million sqm of warehouse space leased in CEE, a rise compared to the same period last year, when the figure stood at 1.2 million sqm. The highest volume of leases was recorded in Poland, with almost 880,000 sqm in the first half of 2013, followed by the Czech Republic with 470,000 sqm.

“So far this year we have witnessed a number of large strategic transactions take place with over 500,000 sqm leased in Q2 alone in Poland,” Tom Listowski,

partner at Cushman & Wakefield explained.

The volume of space still in the pipeline in the CEE region stood at approximately 260,000 sqm in the first six months of the year, compared to 370,000 sqm in the same period last year.

Poles and Czechs The demand for new space is driven by Western European manufacturers who are opening their production plants in Poland and the Czech Republic, both of which border Germany and have been the driving factors in the region over the long term, according to Cushman & Wakefield experts. Together these two countries satisfied 85 percent of the total demand (see interview, p.17).

“Amazon, the internet retailer, recently decided to place a warehouse in the Czech Republic for its goods which have been returned by German customers,” said Ferdinand Hlobil, head of the CEE industrial team at Cushman & Wakefield.

“Cheaper labor force and property costs, together with [the] expansion potential of the Amazon business into the CEE region, have been so attractive that they can compensate for the costs of transporting the goods from Germany,” Mr Hlobil added.

According to recent reports, Amazon is considering yet another major expansion into CEE, where it plans to build warehouses to supply both Western and Eastern Europe.

Demand for industrial space has driven down vacancy rates within Warsaw, Budapest, Bucharest, Bratislava, Kiev, Moscow, Zagreb and Sofia since the first half of 2012, new research by Colliers Interna-

tional shows. But as industrial vacancy rates for such markets are beginning to trend downwards, the shift has yet to translate into any significant rental growth, the research finds.

KEK

Big warehouse deals The top industrial lease deals in Central Europe, 2013 Location

size (sqm)

tenant

developer

Poland, Stryków

50,000

Castorama

Panattoni

Poland, Opole

34,000

Polaris

Panattoni

Czech Republic, Prague-East

46,200

HOPI

PointPark Properties

Czech Republic, Mlada Boleslav

27,000

Skoda Auto

D+D Real

Slovakia, Senec

12,000

DSV

Prologis

Slovakia, Senec

5,000

Cerva

Prologis

Hungary, Budapest

5,200

CVR

Prologis

Source: Cushman & Wakefield, August 2013

Warsaw Business Journal presents Real Estate weekly newsletter • Know about the newest projects before they’re on the market • Keep up to date on the latest tenders and auctions • Learn the latest trends in Poland’s dynamic office, residential and retail sectors • Find out who’s who in Polish real estate To subscribe: e-mail subscribe@wbj.pl or call +48 22 639 85 68, ext. 201 and sign up for free two-week no-obligation trial subscription

SEPTEMBER 9-15, 2013

LOKALE IMMOBILIA – REAL ESTATE

Logistics

Warehouse market: still plenty of room for growth Karolina Kowalska: With almost 900,000 sqm of warehouse space leased in the first two quarters of 2013 and some 200,000 sqm still in the pipeline, Poland’s warehouse market is clearly starting to blossom. Is the global economic slowdown working in favor of cheaper locations, such as Poland?

Rados∏aw T. Krochta: It is not only a question of the slowdown, though some of the companies might have moved their warehouses to Poland from Germany or other Western European countries to save on rents and workforce. Foreign direct investment has been growing steadily for a few years now, and each year Polish warehouse stock grows by a few hundred thousand square meters.

Which region of Poland is the most popular for logistics investment?

The majority of the investments are located in Silesia, the historic center of Polish industry, especially in towns such as Katowice, Mys∏owice, Gliwice and Sosnowiec.

We have also been observing the revival of the Poznaƒ market that was expected a few years back, when the Poznaƒ ring road was completed. The improved road access didn’t attract investors right away, but it seems like they are starting to see opportunities there. A significant number of German investors are heading to the Wielkopolskie voivodship.

Poland is still attractive to our German neighbors for its lower rents, short travel times (Silesia is only a few hours’ car ride from most German cities), good infrastructure, and more importantly, a cheaper, qualified workforce.

Wages in Poland have been growing, despite the slowdown.

Is Poland losing on attractiveness as a low-cost labor investment destination?

Actually, Western employers don’t only seek out our qualified specialists because of their lower salary expectations. Many of our German clients simply can’t find qualified people in Germany, whereas in Poland there are plenty of them.

Poland offers a large number of highly qualified and welleducated graduates fluent in several foreign languages, even rare ones. It is often hard to find people with such language skills among Western Europeans.

According to the latest research, the number of students of engineering and technology has been growing since 2010. The government has been subsidizing these fields of study to increase the number of graduates in mathematics, engineering and natural sciences.

There is still huge demand for people with secondary technical education, junior technical employees, electronics technicians and mechanics. These people are also a potential group of candidates for BPOand SSC-related jobs, often hired to handle simple processes such as data entry, packaging, etc.

The Wroc∏aw area is an example of a market that lacks a qualified workforce. There’s an oversupply of workplaces and not enough qualified people for the jobs in the industrial market.

But at the same time, we are observing a change in the investment structure. Previously, companies chose Poland as the site for light industry. Now more advanced technologies are coming to our country and fewer people are needed for simpler jobs.

In which cities do you see a weaker market?

Surprisingly, we don’t see much interest in Szczecin. Despite its close proximity to Germany, there isn’t much happening there. The city is not seen as a business location.

Prospective businesses in Zachodniopomorskie are snapped up by Poznaƒ and Wroc∏aw. There is a greater interest in Zielona Góra than in Szczecin.

Locations such as Gdaƒsk and Lublin are seeing much more action. I see opportunities especially for the latter. Lublin is located near Poland’s eastern border. If the main road towards Lublin, currently called “the trail of suicides” due to its poor condition, were to be renovated, it would encourage a lot of investors to locate their logistics centers there. It is also important to point out the city’s close proximity to Ukraine.

Another city in Eastern Poland, Bia∏ystok, is in my opinion less likely to see new businesses. Lublin is a large academic center, with more technically educated people. And although Bia∏ystok is close to the border with Belarus and the Russia’s Kaliningrad oblast, Lublin is the city that has the

COURTESY OF MLP GROUP

Lokale Immobilia sits down with Rados∏aw T. Krochta, vice president of MLP Group, to discuss the development potential of the Polish warehouse market, current trends and the most popular locations in Poland

MLP Group’s Rados∏aw Krochta best potential in this part of Europe.

What about Rzeszów in southeastern Poland, and Warsaw?

Rzeszów has the “Aviation Valley” [a cluster of aerospacerelated businesses] but there is little interest in Rzeszów as an industrial area.

About half of the inquiries and investments now concern Silesia. When we add Wroc∏aw [which is nearby], without a doubt this [region] is the warehouse capital of Poland – especially the Katowice agglomeration.

Warsaw primarily attracts services, while logistics, warehouse, light manufacturing and packaging are located in Silesia.

How is the logistics market in Poland structured?

There are two major parts of the market: on the one hand there is logistics and storage, and on the other, light manufacturing. In the MLP Pruszków I warehouse complex [located near Warsaw], up to 40 percent of all operations is light production.

In each warehouse there is a small factory. It is not effective for a company to build a separate factory in the middle of nowhere. It is easier to rent a warehouse from us, put the machines in it, hire people and start producing. That’s why we call it light industry.

We have a solid cross-section of industries. There is storage of FMCGs, electronics, production of automotive components, printing and a number of other things. One of our biggest customers is Kongsberg – one of the world’s largest manufacturers of automotive parts, seats, cushions, etc. The companies in the warehouses of MLP Pruszków I, which in fact are small factories, employ some 1,000 people.

MLP has a lot of built-to-suit projects in its portfolio. Who are MLP’s clients?

Our customers are mainly companies working in logistics

or light industry. Probably there are customers who want to rent an old warehouse, but they are a minority. It is more financially prudent to rent a class-A building.

One group of customers, which is now coming to logistics parks, are companies that want to invest in warehouse space and operate close to other companies. The trend in the world is that there are fewer so-called stand-alone investments.

It is easier not to invest in the land and use your own money to build a warehouse, but to lease space and pay a monthly rent. By having a warehouse fitted with utilities, energy, and offering security and cleaning services, companies only have to cover their operating costs and can spend their money on machinery. It is a form of outsourcing.

Companies are increasingly frequently renting office space next to their warehouses. Has your company seen such a trend?

We are moving away from a situation where a company has a nice office in the city and a factory on its outskirts. It is no longer preferable to have an office located in the center of Warsaw and a factory in Garwolin, for example.

It’s easier to put everyone and everything in Pruszków, for example, which has easy access to the center of Warsaw. Already five percent of warehouse space has been turned into offices.

Is the Polish warehouse market saturated?

If we look at retail centers, today we have a number of sqm per person comparable to the European average. In terms of warehouse space, Poland’s saturation rates stand for a quarter of the European levels. In Western Europe the average per 1,000 inhabitants is 800 sqm, in Poland – it is only 200. We have four times more potential for development in Poland. ●

www.wbj.pl

17

18

www.wbj.pl

LOKALE IMMOBILIA – REAL ESTATE

SEPTEMBER 9-15, 2013

Mixed-use

Echo Investment secures €22.4m loan for Park Rozwoju

Strabag chosen as general contractor for Baltic Park Molo

The project will be developed in two phases, the first one scheduled for completion in Q1 2014

The construction of the complex, valued at z∏.200-250 million, will be partially subsidized

by EU funds

WSE-listed developer Echo Investment has been granted a €22.4 million loan for its Park Rozwoju office building in Warsaw from Bank Zachodni WBK. Located on ul. Konstruktorska in the capital’s Mokotów district, the investment will comprise two class-A buildings with a total area of 32,000 sqm. They will be joined by a one-storey connector comprising a restaurant, as well as by underground and ground-level garages with a total of 740 parking spaces.

Park Rozwoju will also feature roof terraces and a water cascade, an open-air gym and relaxation areas in its courtyard.

The complex, designed by the JEMS Architekci studio, will be developed in two phases, the first of which is scheduled for completion in Q1 2014 and the second in Q2 2015. The developer secured a “Very Good” BREEAM certification of energy efficiency

Developer Zdrojowa Invest has appointed Strabag as the general contractor for its Baltic Park Molo mixed-use project in the Baltic Sea-coast city of ÂwinoujÊcie, which is located in the northwestern voivodship of Zachodniopomorskie, on the border with Germany.

The hotel-apartment-service complex, scheduled for completion in 2020, is valued at z∏.200-250 million, z∏.25 million of which will be European Union-subsidized. Once finished, the facility will be one of the largest business hotel centers in the area. It will include a five-star hotel with 200 rooms, a four-star hotel with 400 rooms, two apartment buildings and a pier.

Strabag commenced work on the project in early September. The completion of the first phase of the project is scheduled for late 2015 or early 2016 and will comprise the four-star hotel, the apartment buildings, the pier

The two buildings comprising the Park Rozwoju complex will deliver 32,000 sqm of space for the project at the end of last year, with the highest rating ever obtained by a Polish building in this category (67.83 percent).

The first tenant for Park Rozwoju was secured in January, when Schneider Electric Polska signed a lease agreement for 7,000 sqm in the facility. The company is planning to house 700 of its employees there.

Another project which

Kielce-based Echo Investment is currently developing in the Polish capital is a 39storey scheme called Q22. It is located on ul. Grzybowska in Warsaw’s ÂródmieÊcie district, on the site of the former Mercure Hotel, which was demolished earlier this year.

The cost of the scheme, scheduled for completion in Q1 2016, is estimated at some z∏.500 million.

Karolina Kowalska

as well as an aqua park and a conference center. The 200room five-star hotel will be built in the second phase of the project.

“Baltic Park Molo is a very promising project and the scale of the investment, as well as its momentum is in line with our company’s interests, as we aim to take part in big and prestigious investments, such as retail centers, freeways and luxury hotels,” said Rein-

er Steindl, CFO of Strabag.

Baltic Park Molo was designed by the Warsawbased P∏askowicki & Partnerzy Architekci studio. The design concept was selected in a competition that included over 70 studios from Poland and abroad. Apart from the investor, the jury comprised representatives from the City of ÂwinoujÊcie and the Association of Polish Architects.

Karolina Kowalska

COURTESY OF ZDROJOWA INVEST

COURTESY OF ECHO INVESTMENT

Office

The first phase of the development will comprise a four-star hotel

MARKETS

SEPTEMBER 9-15, 2013

www.wbj.pl

Stocks report

world stock indices DJIA

NASDAQ

14,937.48 (Sep 5 close)

S&P500

3,658.78 (Sep 5 close)

0.65% (for the week)

FTSE100

1,655.08 (Sep 5 close)

1.06% (for the week)

DAX

6,547.33 (Sep 6 close)

1.03% (for the week)

2.10% (for the week)

Averse reaction

NIKKEI 8,275.67 (Sep 6 close)

13,860.81 (Sep 6 close)

2.13% (for the week)

3.52% (for the week)

CHANGE: 11.37% (year to Sep 5)

CHANGE: 17.56% (year to Sep 5)

CHANGE: 13.17% (year to Sep 5)

CHANGE: 8.63% (year to Sep 6)

CHANGE: 6.39% (year to Sep 6)

CHANGE: 29.68% (year to Sep 6)

52-week high: 15,658.43

52-week high: 3,694.19

52-week high: 1,709.67

52-week high: 6,875.60

52-week high: 8,553.74

52-week high: 15,942.60

52-week low: 12,471.49

52-week low: 2,810.80

52-week low: 1,343.35

52-week low: 5,605.60

52-week low: 6,950.53

52-week low: 8,488.14

Omar Arnaout Noble Securities SA The Warsaw Stock Exchange was certainly not the place to be for investors during the past week. The main driving force to this was the government’s announcement of the changes to private pension funds (OFEs).

What is surprising is that while markets usually react to events and indicator readings that are different from investors’ expectations, in this case investors already knew that changes to OFEs were coming, and the changes that were announced were not even as radical as many had expected.

This shows that even though the global economic situation is becoming better, there is still huge uncertainty on the market and great aversion to risk. This could be seen especially in the WIG20 Futures index, which

Major indices WIG

46,717.04 (September 6 close)

WIG20

2,238.98 (September 6 close)

Change for the week: -4.41%

52-week high: 50,223.95

Change for the week: -6.09%

52-week high: 2,628.36

Change year to September 6: -2.89%

52-week low: 41,461.34

Change year to September 6: -14.74%

52-week low: 2,177.02

51,000

2,500

49,800

2,420

48,600

2,340

47,400

2,260

46,200

06.09

05.09

04.09

03.09

02.09

30.08

29.08

28.08

27.08

26.08

23.08

22.08

21.08

20.08

19.08

16.08

14.08

13.08

12.08

09.08

2,100

06.09

05.09

04.09

03.09

02.09

30.08

29.08

28.08

27.08

26.08

23.08

22.08

21.08

20.08

19.08

16.08

14.08

13.08

12.08

2,180 09.08

45,000

Top 5 CALATRAVA TRANSPOL POLMED GANT VARIANT

Closing 0.03 5.68 2.93 1.63 2.44

% change (week) 52-week high 50.00 0.53 23.21 6.95 23.11 2.94 20.74 4.83 19.61 2.87

52-week low 0.02 3.35 1.32 1.08 1.20

Top 5 KERNEL SYNTHOS TAURONPE ASSECOPOL KGHM

Closing 47.20 4.40 4.22 45.00 120.00

% change (week) -0.42 -0.68 -1.40 -1.68 -2.12

52-week high 72.35 6.00 4.87 47.50 179.15

52-week low 45.10 4.12 3.67 36.84 106.90

Bottom 5 ARCTIC POLIMEXMS PETROLINV RUBICON MEDIATEL

Closing 2.05 0.11 0.16 0.07 0.40

% change (week) -30.51 -26.67 -23.81 -22.22 -21.57

52-week low 1.86 0.09 0.15 0.07 0.24

Bottom 5 EUROCASH GTC PZU PKNORLEN PKOBP

Closing 45.49 6.75 399.90 41.20 35.22

% change (week) -12.35 -12.34 -8.69 -8.42 -8.07

52-week high 66.56 10.25 453.60 55.56 39.60

52-week low 36.48 6.30 322.26 39.07 32.15

52-week high 7.00 0.90 2.58 0.43 1.98

3,043.50 (September 6 close)

sWIG80

OFEs in the spotlight

12,457.22 (September 6 close)

Change for the week: -1.41%

52-week high: 3,253.52

Change for the week: -2.69%

Change year to September 6: 18.49%

52-week low: 2,227.42

Change year to September 6: 18.29%

52-week low: 9,363.90

Adam Narczewski X-Trade Brokers DM SA Globally, investors closely followed the US Fed’s actions, as it is possible it will reduce its “quantitative easing” (QE) asset repurchase program as early as September. Amid these expectations, the US dollar continues to gain, causing the EUR/USD to reach levels just above $1.31, its lowest since mid-July. In Poland, a huge sell-off occurred on financial markets after the government announced a partial transfer of assets from private pension funds (OFEs) to the state-controlled ZUS. The stock market slumped and the z∏oty accelerated its depreciation.

The EUR/PLN advanced to the crucial barrier of z∏.4.30 but recovered slightly on Friday. The USD/PLN kept advancing

12,880

3,220

12,660

3,140

12,440

3,060

NewConnect

311.95 (September 6 close)

WIG-Banki

06.09

05.09

04.09

03.09

02.09

30.08

29.08

28.08

27.08

26.08

23.08

22.08

21.08

20.08

19.08

16.08

14.08

13.08

12.08

06.09

05.09

04.09

03.09

02.09

30.08

29.08

28.08

27.08

26.08

23.08

22.08

21.08

20.08

19.08

16.08

14.08

13.08

12.08

09.08

12,000

09.08

12,220

2,980 2,900

52-week high: 13,056.86

13,100

3,300

6,984.90 (September 6 close)

SOURCE: WSE

06.09

05.09

04.09

03.09

02.09

30.08

29.08

28.08

27.08

26.08

23.08

22.08

21.08

06.09

05.09

04.09

03.09

02.09

30.08

29.08

28.08

27.08

6,800

26.08

306.0

23.08

7,000

22.08

307.6 21.08

7,200

20.08

309.2

19.08

7,400

16.08

310.8

14.08

7,600

13.08

312.4

12.08

7,800

09.08

314.0

20.08

52-week low: 5,978.00

19.08

Change year to September 6: 3.89%

16.08

52-week low: 296.29

14.08

52-week high: 7,754.29

Change year to September 6: -6.10%

13.08

Change for the week: -5.54%

12.08

52-week high: 353.60

09.08

Change for the week: -0.20%

plummeted from the level of 2,388 to as low as 2,146, with the main drop coming on Thursday.

On Friday, investors were awaiting a further impulse that could bring optimism to the market on the basis of US non-farm payroll figures.

Employers added 169,000 jobs against an expected increase by 178,000, though on the other hand the unemployment rate decreased to the level of 7.3 percent.

There are indications that next week the WIG20 Futures index will see a resistance level of 2,264 points. If this level is broken then, from the technical point of view, a further increase can be expected.

But this will very much depend on factors such as next week’s macroeconomic readings. ●

Currency report

Other indices mWIG40

19

strongly to reach z∏.3.28, a two-week high, in order to finish the week near z∏.3.25.

What stopped the further depreciation of the z∏oty was Friday’s labor market report from the US, with readings that were worse than expected. That data brings into question a large reduction of the QE program by the Fed in September. Despite that, I do not see much upside potential for the z∏oty.

The situation will calm down as the market digests the pension-fund news.

Still, neither local nor external factors can give a boost to emerging markets currencies, including the z∏oty. Next week I expect the EUR/PLN to trade in the z∏.4.25-z∏.4.30 range, with the USD/PLN in the z∏.3.20-z∏.3.30 range. ●

currency rates 3.2833 06.09

3.2496 05.09

SOURCE: NBP

3.2523 04.09

3.2687 03.09

3.2839

3.2391 02.09

06.09

05.09

04.09

03.09

02.09

30.08

0.0979

0.0971

0.0968

0.0970

0.0969

100JPY/PLN

3.3

3.2

30.08

3.4549

3.4673 06.09

0.09

0.0967

RUB/PLN

0.10

05.09

3.4582 04.09

3.4681 03.09

02.09

3.4632 30.08

5.0696

5.0970 06.09

3.3

3.4497

CHF/PLN

3.5

05.09

5.0525 04.09

5.0505 03.09

02.09

4.9899 30.08

3.2463

3.2732 06.09

4.8

5.0091

GBP/PLN

5.2

05.09

3.2387 04.09

03.09

3.2164 02.09

30.08

3.2209

4.2805

4.2975 06.09

3.1

3.2433

USD/PLN

3.3

05.09

4.2673 04.09

4.2720 03.09

02.09

4.2654 30.08

4.2

4.2507

EUR/PLN

4.4

20

THE LIST

www.wbj.pl

SEPTEMBER 9-15, 2013

Construction & Real Estate

Architectural Firms Ranked by revenue from architectural design in 2012

www.bookoflists.pl

Przewodnik po polskim biznesie i gospodarce

30 20

233 1997

WND WND

99 1982

Marek Kury∏owicz; Ewa Kury∏owicz; Piotr Kuczyƒski

1

PM Group Polska Sp. z o.o. ul. Kleciƒska 125, 54-424 Wroc∏aw 71 354-8900/71 354-8901 wroclaw@pmgroup-global.com www.pmgroup-global.com

26.0 24.8 23.0 19.0

51.0 58.3 42.0 35.0

✓ ✓ -

✓ ✓ ✓

Shopping malls

✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

✓ ✓ ✓

2

Kury∏owicz & Associates Sp. z o.o. ul. Berezyƒska 25, 03-908 Warsaw 22 616-3798/22 616-3799 apaka@apaka.com.pl www.apaka.com.pl

25.5 WND 26.1 38.9

25.5 WND 26.1 38.9

✓ ✓ ✓

✓ ✓ ✓

WND

✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

✓ ✓

to the Mies Van der Rohe Award for Eko Park Grazioso; Wolf Bracka; Geocentrum Nomination Bracka; honorable mention in competition for Wroc∏awskie; S∏owiaƒskie Wzgórze; Centrum Wolf Gdaƒsk Heritage Center; main prize in competition Biznesu Grafit; University of Warsaw Faculty by Gazeta Wyborcza “The house I would like to live of Modern Languages in” for SOLO 1 in Wroc∏aw

3

Tebodin Poland Sp. z o.o. ul. TaÊmowa 7, 02-677 Warsaw 22 334-4111/22 334-4112 info@tebodin.pl www.tebodin.pl

23.3 18.0 18.2 18.9

69.8 52.6 55.2 60.2

✓ ✓ ✓

✓ ✓ -

Roads; airports; bridges; gas stations; industrial infrastructure

✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

Krasin Wind Farm (Krasin); logistics center for Grupa Raben (W∏oc∏awek); Oriflame cosmetics production plant extension (Warsaw); Kujawy cement production plant (Piechocin); production facilities in Stocznia Gdynia (Gdynia)

WND

17 17

339 2006

Jaroslav Hrabe

4

Jems Architekci Sp. z o.o. ul. Gagarina 28A, 00-754 Warsaw 22 559-2800/22 559-2803 jems@jems.pl www.jems.pl

18.9 16.8 19.1 24.2

19.0 17.0 19.1 24.2

✓ ✓ ✓

✓ ✓

WND

✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

✓ ✓ ✓

19. Dzielnica 1st phase (Warsaw); Children’s Memorial Health Institute reconstruction (Mi´dzylesie); PIXEL (Poznaƒ); TRIO (Warsaw); Apartamenty ¸owicka (Warsaw)

1st prize for project of Polish Embassy in Berlin (2012); main prize for Best Multi-family Building in Poland 2000-2012 for 19. Dzielnica residential complex (2012); 1st prize for project od Chopin Airport City (2010); honorable mention for project of Granary Island North Promontory Development (2010)

48 21

55 1989

Wojciech Zych

5

Prochem SA ul. Powàzkowska 44C, 01-797 Warsaw 22 326-0100/22 326-0101 prochem@prochem.com.pl www.prochem.com.pl

18.8 18.6 22.2 32.4

140.0 186.0 127.0 183.0

✓ ✓ -

✓ ✓ -

Environmental protection facilities

✓ ✓ ✓

✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

TBAI production plant extension (Wykroty); MCPA installation in Organika-Sarzyna (Nowa Sarzyna); air traffic control tower at ¸awica airport (Poznaƒ); “Czajka” Wastewater Treatment Plant extension

“Engineering company of the Mazowsze voivodship” (2012)

33 14

217 1947

Jaros∏aw St´pniewski

6

APA Wojciechowski Sp. z o.o. ul. Domeyki 5, 04-146 Warsaw 22 610-0085/22 610-6278 apa@apa.com.pl www.apa.com.pl

13.9 13.5 16.0 14.6

13.9 13.5 16.0 14.6

✓ ✓ ✓

✓ ✓ ✓

Sport facilities; multiplex cinemas; logistics centers

✓ ✓ ✓

✓ ✓

67 17

70 1991

Szymon Wojciechowski; Micha∏ Sadowski; Witold Dudek, Marcin Grzelewski; Agnieszka Kalinowska-So∏tys

7

Hermanowicz Rewski Architekci, HRA Architekci Sp. z o.o., Sp.k. ul. Klimczaka 8/65, 02-797 Warsaw 22 673-8556/22 673-8566 sekretariat@hermanowicz.pl www.hermanowicz.pl

12.0 10.0 21.0 17.0

12.0 10.0 21.0 17.0

✓ ✓ ✓

✓ ✓ ✓

WND

✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

✓ -

50 12

55 2004

Wojciech Hermanowicz

8

SUD Architekt Polska Sp. z o.o. ul. Chmielna 19, 00-021 Warsaw 22 556-5900/22 556-5910 nroques@sudgroupe.pl www.sudarchitectes.com

11.6 4.8 14.2 6.5

11.6 4.8 14.2 6.5

✓ ✓ ✓

✓ ✓

Municipal infrastructure faciities

✓ ✓

✓ -

Manufaktura (¸ódê); Galeria Katowicka (Katowice); Hotel Europejski (Warsaw); Forum Radunia (Gdaƒsk); Galeria Mokotów Foodcourt (Warsaw)

32 9

35 1996

9

PRC Architekci Sp. z o.o.

Al. Ujazdowskie 6A, 00-461 Warsaw 22 622-2828/22 622-2929 architekci@prc.com.pl www.prc.com.pl

10.8 8.5 7.9 7.6

11.9 9.4 8.8 8.2

✓ ✓ ✓

✓ ✓

Hotels; interior design; urban planning; landscape architecture

-

✓ -

1st place in competition for the new headquarters of Polish Embassy in Minsk; 1st place in the competition for Atrium South; 1st place in the Rezydencja Pa∏acowa (Warsaw); Park Biznesu competition for rebuilding/modernization of Pa∏acyk Teofilów (¸ódê); Pa∏acyk Przeêdzieckich Building of the Year 2003 for Liberty (Warsaw); Restaura Górskiego (Warsaw) Przeêdzieckich; Corner; nomination for Central and Eastern Europe Quality Award in 2007 for IBB Andersia; Building of the Year 2007 for IBB Andersia

32 14

35 1998

Andrzej Michalik

Epstein Sp. z o.o. ul. Wo∏oska 9A, 02-583 Warsaw 10 22 525-0300/22 525-0301 epstein@epstein.com.pl www.epstein.com.pl

8.4 8.8 5.4 6.8

14.0 14.8 9.1 11.4

✓ ✓ ✓

✓ ✓ ✓

WND

✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

Konstruktorska Business Center (Warsaw); Cosmopolitan Tower (Warsaw)

WND

25 14

60 1971

Janusz T. Lichocki

Grupa 5 Architekci Sp. z o.o. ul. Wejnerta 16A, 02-619 Warsaw 11 22 380-2300/22 380-2350 grupa5@grupa5.com.pl www.grupa5.com.pl

7.5 10.0 12.9 11.9

7.5 10.0 13.0 11.9

✓ ✓ ✓

✓ ✓ ✓

Hotels; sports facilities; railway and airport infrastructure; urban planning

✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

✓ -

GTC Platinium (Warsaw); Main Railway Station (Wroc∏aw); office building on ul.

Grzybowska (Warsaw); Dom Mody Klif (Warsaw); residential building on ul.

Mi´dzyborska (Warsaw)

WND

25 12

30 1998

Micha∏ Leszczyƒski

S.A.M.I. ARCHITEKCI Mariusz Lewandowski i Wspólnicy Sp. z o.o. ul. Dereniowa 2/9, 02-776 Warsaw 12 22 826-1015/22 826-1327 biuro@samiarchitekci.com www.samiarchitekci.com

6.0 6.0 3.7 7.0

6.1 6.0 3.8 7.1

✓ ✓ ✓

✓ ✓ ✓

Roads; hydraulic engineering

✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

17 8

20 1999

Mariusz Lewandowski

5.8 5.6 3.3 WND

5.8 5.6 3.3 WND

✓ ✓ ✓

✓ ✓ ✓

Industrial and interior design

✓ -

✓ ✓ ✓ -

Infinite Dreams (Gliwice); Railway Station interior design (Katowice); Roedl&Partner office building (Gliwice)

1st place in the contest for office building on Pl. Dominikaƒski in Wroclaw - Skanska (2012); 1st place in a contest to design the interior and “flagship” branches of ING Bank Âlàski in Warsaw and Katowice (2012); Grand Prix in Âlàskie Voivodship Architecture of the Year for Infinite Dreams (2012)

23 3

26 1998

Przemys∏aw ¸ukasik; ¸ukasz Zaga∏a

FS&P Arcus Sp. z o.o. ul. Gen. Abrahama 12/11, 03-982 Warsaw 14 22 671-9525/22 671-1236 fsparcus@fsparcus.com.pl www.fsparcus.com.pl

5.2 4.6 6.9 7.1

5.2 4.6 7.2 7.4

✓ ✓ ✓

✓ ✓ ✓

Urban planning

✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

✓ -

Concept Tower (Warsaw); Adria residential complex (Warsaw); Poema (Warsaw); Wilga 7 (Warsaw)

1st prize Uvarovo (Moscow, Russia)

22 10

27 1988

Mariusz Âcis∏o

Dedeco Sp. z o.o. ul. Wyspiaƒskiego 39/2, 70-497 Szczecin 15 91 484-1340/91 484-0982 office@dedeco.pl www.dedeco.pl

4.1 5.8 7.6 3.2

4.2 5.8 7.6 3.2

✓ ✓ ✓

✓ ✓ -

Laboratories

✓ ✓ ✓ -

✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

2nd place in the competition for the two buildings for the Interdisciplinary Centre for Mathematical Science and Technology Park in Pu∏awy; and Computer Modelling for the University of Warsaw University of Technology Warsaw (2013); Building of the Year for the Faculty Mathematics and Computer Science Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science for the (Warsaw) Warsaw University of Technology (2012); 1st place in “Dom 2012” contest for Science and Technology Park in Pu∏awy (2012)

18 9

22 1994

Piotr Hofman

KAPS - Architekci Korneluk Parysek S∏owik Sp. z o.o.

Al. Wojska Polskiego 41/47, 01-503 Warsaw 16 22 896-9360/22 896-9361 pracownia@kaps-architekci.pl www.kaps-architekci.pl

3.9 4.2 1.3 2.3

3.9 4.2 1.3 2.3

✓ ✓ ✓

✓ ✓ ✓

Entertainment parks; religious buildings; urban planning projects

✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

✓ ✓

12 5

15 2002

Maciej Parysek

Rank

Investor representation / Investment supervision / Document preparation for tenders / Management of tenders

Best Workplace in Ireland (2011); Sustainable Design and Research Award (2011); Visionary School of Design (2011); Construction Industry Safety Excellence (2011); Project/Construction Management Firm of the Year (2010)

Other

Land acquisition / Pre-investment / Cost estimate / Feasibility studies

3M (Wroclaw); Pittsburgh Glass Works (Komorniki k. Ârody Âlàskiej); Fresh Start Bakeries (Strzegom); Mando Corporation (Wa∏brzych)

Industrial / Public / Historical buildings

Recent prizes

Office / Retail / Residential

Notable projects recently completed

Total number of employees / Year founded in Poland

Services

Specialization

Number of architects / Number of licensed architects

A guide to Polish business and industry

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

Revenue from architectural design (z∏. mln)

Total revenue (z∏. mln)

2012 / 2011 / 2010 / 2009

Medusa Group Sp. z o.o., Sp.k. ul. Józefczaka 35, 41-902 Bytom 13 32 720-3077/32 720-3075 office@medusagroup.pl www.medusagroup.pl

Green Architect of the Year - PLGBC (2012); 2012 Professionals - Competition for Public Francuska Office Centre (Katowice); Galeria “Forbes Trust Architect in Mazowieckie Voivodship” for S∏oneczna (Radom); White Square Office Szymon Wojciechowski (2012); Best eco-friendly Centre (Moscow, Russia); Inkubator design 2012 in Poland - PLGBC (2012); best office Przedsi´biorczoÊci (Gdaƒsk); Equator II building for White Square Office Center (2010); CEE (Warsaw) Real Estate Quality Award Architect of the Year (2009) 1st prize for office building on ul. Post´pu 14 - HB Reavis (2012); International Property Awards Asseco headquarters (Warsaw); Polnord B3 Europe - Best Office Architecture Poland for Polheadquarters (Warsaw); Pol-Aqua Aqua Headquarters (2012); 2nd prize in headquarters (Warsaw); Saska residential competition for Schindler Polska headquarters complex (Warsaw); Wilno residential complex (2011); 1st prize in competition for District Court in (Warsaw) Siedlce (2011); 2nd prize in competition for Sinfonia Varsovia Orchestra’s Concert Hall (2010)

2nd prize for Dom Planety Gniewno Educational Eco-Energy Innovation Center concept (2011)

RICS Regeneration Award Poland for the concept of Residential complex on ul. Dereniowa tenement house on Al. Jerozolimskie in Warsaw (Warsaw); residential complex on ul.

(2011); Silver Drill for the concept of buildings Obwodowa (Warsaw); residential complex on complex on ul. Dereniowa in Warsaw (2011); ul. Jana Kazimierza (Warsaw); office buildings Barbara and Stanis∏aw Brukalscy award for the complex on ul. Daimlera (Warsaw); residential concept of extension of buiding on ul. building on ul. 1 Sierpnia (Warsaw) Su∏kowskiego in Warsaw (2011); SARP award for Supreme Administrative Court of Poland (2009)

Olimpic Park (Ko∏obrzeg); Galeria Point (Warsaw); residential building on ul. Braci Za∏uskich (Warsaw); Mausoleum of the Soldiers Fallen in the Battle of Ostro∏´ka in 1831 (Ostro∏´ka); police station (Lublin)

Honorable mention for the Museum of Polish Army in Warsaw; 1st prize for Mausoleum of the November Uprising Soldiers in Ostro∏´ka; 1st place for Olympic Park in Ko∏obrzeg; 1st prize for EkoparkBolero

Top local executive / Title

Con Murphy Managing Director

President

President

President

Partner

Nicolas Roques; Jocelyn Fillard Managing Director; Director of Architecture

President

President

President

President

Main Architects

President

President

President

THE LIST

SEPTEMBER 9-15, 2013

www.wbj.pl

Services

Total number of employees / Year founded in Poland

12 2002

Artur Jasiƒski

Chili Zet, Radio Zet - interior (Warsaw); International European School of Warsaw (Warsaw); Mokotów Nova (Warsaw); Willa 1st prize for Science and Technology Park in Olsztyn Krasicki (Warsaw); Strauss Cafe Poland (Warsaw)

8 2

9 1990

Krzysztof Wolski

17 1999

Grzegorz Czaus; Gianmara Bernardi; Ewa Krzymiƒska; Marek Âwieboda; Ewa KawulokMatkowska

Artur Jasiƒski i Wspólnicy Biuro Architektoniczne Sp. z o.o. ul. S∏onecznikowa 8A/2, 30-213 Kraków 17 12 661-8120/12 661-2098 aj@ajbiuro.pl www.ajbiuro.pl

3.2 3.6 2.8 2.4

3.2 3.6 2.8 2.4

✓ ✓ ✓

✓ ✓ -

WND

✓ ✓

✓ -

Artinex, osoba fizyczna ul. Turecka 4/20A, 00-745 Warsaw 18 22 851-0945/22 851-0944 artinex@webmedia.pl www.artinex.pl

3.1 3.1 1.5 1.2

3.4 4.4 1.7 1.3

✓ ✓ ✓

✓ ✓ ✓

Laboratories; automotive facilities; healthcare facilities

✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

✓ ✓ ✓

Studio Architektoniczne Ozone, Czaus, Bernardi Sp. z o.o. ul. Armii Krajowej 6C, 50-540 Wroc∏aw 19 71 364-7500/71 336-0231 ozone@ozone.com.pl www.ozone.com.pl

2.8 2.6 1.9 2.9

2.8 2.6 1.9 2.9

✓ ✓ ✓

✓ ✓ ✓

WND

✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

WND

WND

15 5

Przedsi´biorstwo Us∏ug Consultingowych Wadeco Sp. z o.o. ul. Madaliƒskiego 20, 02-513 Warsaw 20 22 856-5034/22 856-5043 wadeco@wadeco.pl www.wadeco.pl

1.7 2.1 2.1 2.2

2.3 2.6 2.5 2.6

✓ ✓ ✓

✓ ✓ ✓

Urban planning

✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

✓ ✓ ✓

Residential buildings on ul. Jarzàbka, ul.

Pawia, ul. Tukanów (Piaseczno); residential building on ul. Namys∏owska (Warsaw)

WND

10 4

12 1996

Stanis∏aw Chrzanowski

vsf-creative Sp. z o.o. ul. Nowogrodzka 50/515, 00-695 Warsaw 21 605-966-350 vsf-creative@vsf-creative.com www.vsf-creative.com

1.5 1.4 1.0 NA

1.5 1.4 1.0 NA

✓ ✓ ✓

✓ ✓ -

WND

✓ ✓ ✓

✓ -

Outlet Park (Szczecin); Galeria Miodowa (Kluczborg)

WND

5 2

6 2010

Paul Ayre

3DARCHITEKCI z wizjà Jakub Krzysztofik ul. ¸agiewnicka 121, 91-863 ¸ódê 22 501-499-773/42 639-5169 jk.3darchitekci@gmail.com www.3darchitekci.com.pl

1.3 1.2 1.1 1.5

1.3 1.2 1.1 1.5

✓ ✓ ✓

✓ ✓ ✓

Science labsoratories; hospitals

✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

✓ -

Gas station, retail pavilion and car wash for E. Leclerc (¸ódê); laboratory and educational 3rd prize in competition for HammerMed office building for Medical University in ¸ódê (¸ódê); building (2013); 1st prize in “Staple the City” urban ZNP school (¸ódê); DS2 Medical University in planning contest (2012); 1st prize in competition for ¸ódê dormitory (¸odzi); School of Local residential building for Dom-Invest (2011) Government New Technologies (¸ódê)

9 4

WND 2000

Jakub Krzysztofik

1.3 1.2 WND WND

WND WND WND WND

✓ ✓ ✓

✓ ✓ -

WND

✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

WND

Baumit Facade of the Year main prize for Project of Lower-Silesian Film Centre (2011)

5 5

5 1990

Rados∏aw Kurzyp

KIPP Projekt Sp. z o.o. ul. Konduktorska 4/19U, 00-775 Warsaw 24 22 565-4000/22 565-4001 kipp@kipp.com.pl www.kipp.com.pl

1.0 1.4 2.0 2.8

1.0 1.4 2.1 3.0

✓ ✓ ✓

✓ ✓

Sports facilities; swimming pools; aquaparks

✓ ✓ ✓

✓ ✓

Ergo Arena (Gdaƒsk/Sopot); Aura Island (Gdaƒsk); Aquapark (Kutno); Aquamarina (Mi´dzyzdroje); Villa Verde (Warsaw)

WND

8 2

11 1988

Adrian Górecki

Abart-Project Sp.c. ul. Kuênicza 59/60, 50-138 Wroc∏aw 25 71 342-9446/71 342-9445 ab@abart-project.com.pl www.abart-project.com.pl

0.8 1.0 0.9 0.9

0.8 1.0 0.9 0.9

✓ ✓ ✓

✓ ✓ -

Sports facilities

✓ ✓ ✓

✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

Impressio 1 (Wroc∏aw); Hotel Chris (Radków); MKM Investment (Wroc∏aw); LTBS (Wroc∏aw); Orlik playing fields (Bystrzyca K∏odzka)

WND

4 2

8 1989

Andrzej Bartnik

Atelier 2 Architekci Sp. z o.o. ul. Poznaƒska 17, 00-680 Warsaw 26 22 622-4323/22 622-4323 architekci@atelier2.pl www.atelier2.pl

0.3 0.3 0.5 0.6

0.3 0.3 0.5 0.6

✓ ✓ ✓

✓ -

WND

✓ ✓ -

✓ ✓ -

Crown Square (Warsaw); Poloneza Investment (Warsaw); archives building (Izabelin); residential building on ul.

Kociszewskich (Warsaw)

Honorable mention in contest for funeral chapel with crematory in Koszalin municipal cementary (2010-2011); honorable mention in contest for residential complex on ul. RzemieÊlnicza/ul.

Szafrana in Kraków (2011)

5 2

6 1993

Konrad KuczaKuczyƒski

PiÊniak i PiÊniak Architekci Sp.c.

Autorska Pracownia Projektowa ul. Storczyków 26A, 05-807 Podkowa LeÊna 27 22 758-9232/22 758-9032 archpisniak@tlen.pl www.archipisniak.waw.pl

0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1

0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1

✓ ✓ ✓

✓ ✓

WND

-

-

WND

WND

2 1

WND 1991

Zbignew PiÊniak

Atelier PS, Miros∏aw Polak, Marek Skwara Sp.c. ul. Jordana 10/8, 40-056 Katowice NR 32 251-4778/32 251-8218 atelierps@home.pl www.atelierps.home.pl

WND WND WND WND

WND WND WND WND

✓ ✓ ✓

✓ ✓ ✓

Educational facilities

✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

Lion Motors-Peugeot car showroom (Katowice); extension and rebuilding of Katowice School of Technology (Katowice); Bawaria Motors-BMW car showroom (Katowice); Garden Plaza (Zàbki)

WND

8 4

8 1991

Miros∏aw Polak; Marek Skwara

Autorska Pracownia Architektury Villanette, Dagmara Ob∏uska ul. Parkowa 16, 05-816 Micha∏owice NR 601-939-355 biuro@villanette.pl www.villanette.pl

WND WND WND WND

WND WND WND WND

✓ ✓ ✓

✓ -

Lodgings; spa resorts; interior; gardens

-

-

Flamenco (Warsaw); Chryzolit2 (Magdalenka); 3 projects (Amaya, Flamenco, Swing) were shown Arcadio (Konstancin); Amaya (Warsaw); at Foire de Paris Fair in France Adelina (Kraków)

2 1

7 2005

Dagmara Ob∏uska

Broadway Malyan Polska Architekci i Projektanci Sp. z o.o. ul. Emilii Plater 28, 00-688 Warsaw NR 22 630-3430/22 630-3431 warsaw@broadwaymalyan.com www.broadwaymalyan.com

WND WND 6.9 WND

WND WND 6.9 WND

✓ ✓ ✓

✓ ✓ -

Shopping malls; hotels; cinemas; cultural centers

✓

✓ -

Dekada (Kielce); P&G Studio Wella (Warsaw); GTL Fast Track, Business Lounge (Katowice)

WND

12 5

13 2002

EM Jednacz Architekci ul. Flory 5/10, 00-586 Warsaw NR 22 646-7227/22 646-7277 biuro@jednacz.com.pl www.jednacz.com.pl

WND 0.8 0.7 WND

WND 1.2 0.7 WND

✓ ✓ ✓

✓ ✓ -

WND

✓ ✓ ✓

✓ -

Residential and office building on ul. Vogla (Warsaw); Bugas (Warsaw)

Nominatin for ECOLA 2012 award

5 2

7 1992

Miros∏aw Jednacz

Jasiƒski Kruszewski Architekci Sp. z o.o. ul. Rakowiecka 45/11, 02-528 Warsaw NR 22 646-0750/22 646-0713 architektura@jk-architekci.pl www.jk-architekci.pl

WND WND WND WND

WND WND WND WND

✓ ✓ ✓

✓ ✓ ✓

WND

✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

✓ ✓ ✓ -

WND

WND

4 2

5 2004

Romuald Kruszewski; Mariusz Jasiƒski

Rolfe Judd Ltd Sp. z o.o. oddzia∏ w Polsce ul. Podchorà˝ych 1, 40-043 Katowice NR 32 251-0374 michala@rolfe-judd.co.uk www.rolfe-judd.pl

WND WND WND WND

WND WND WND WND

✓ ✓ ✓

✓ ✓ ✓

✓ ✓ ✓

✓ ✓ ✓

19 5

19 2006

Ian Greves

Rank

Investor representation / Investment supervision / Document preparation for tenders / Management of tenders

11 6

Land acquisition / Pre-investment / Cost estimate / Feasibility studies

2nd prize for Polish Embassy in Berlin (2012); 2nd Bonarka 4 Business (Kraków); IKEA Kraków; prize for Thermal Waste Treatment Plant in Kraków Solne Miasto (Wieliczka); Lublin-East District (2010); 1st prize for Brainville in Nowy Sàcz (2009); Court (Âwidnik); suites along with TVN studio 2nd prize for Cracovia sports hall in Kraków (2008); (Kraków) 2nd prize for Center for Services for Investors in Kraków (2008)

Industrial / Public / Historical buildings

Top local executive / Title

Office / Retail / Residential

Other

Number of architects / Number of licensed architects

Specialization

21

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

Revenue from architectural design (z∏. mln)

Total revenue (z∏. mln)

2012 / 2011 / 2010 / 2009

Plusart Architekci ul. Brukowa 20, 91-341 ¸ódê 22 501-594-622/42 640-6116 pa@plusart.pl www.plusart.pl

Notes: NA = Not Applicable, NR = Not Ranked, WND = Would Not Disclose.

Research for The List was conducted in April 2013. Number of employees is as of April 2013. All information pertains to the companies’ activities in Poland. Companies not responding to our survey are not listed.

WND

Notable projects recently completed

WND

Recent prizes

Fastest Growin Practice (2011); Evening Standard New Homes Awards - Best New Appartment Affordable Homes Sector (2010); Harington Planning Awards (2009); Best New Affordable Housing Scheme of the Year Award (2009); Housing Design Awards (2009); the Hotel Design Award of the Year for Refurbished Bedrooms (2009)

Director

Director

President

President

Owner

Owner

President

President

Co-owner

Chief Designer

Co-owners

Owner

David Anderson; Robert Kamiƒski Board Member; Director of Architecture

Co-owner

President; Vice President

Director

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. Monika Brysiak, ul. Elblàska 15/17, 01-747 Warsaw, via fax to +48 22 257-7500, or via e-mail to online@bookoflists.pl. Copyright 2013, 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.

22

SPORTS

www.wbj.pl

SEPTEMBER 9-15, 2013

Basketball

Poles crash out at US Open

Eurofailure

Five Polish players took part in this year’s US Open singles tournament, but only one made it past the first round

SHUTTERSTOCK

Along with Americans Serena Williams and Sloane Stephens, Agnieszka Radwaƒska is one of just three female tennis players to advance to the fourth round in all of this

year’s Grand Slam tournaments. Nevertheless, she disappointed with her performance at Flushing Meadows this year, where she was upset by Russian Ekaterina Makarova 4-6, 4-6 in the US Open.

The fourth-round game started well for Ms Radwaƒska, who won the first four games of the match. But then Ms Makarova took over, winning the next eight games.

When Ms Radwaƒska woke

Agnieszka Radwaƒska

up, she was losing 0-2 in the second set. The Pole nearly swung the momentum in her favor, winning the next three games, but finally Ms Makarova emerged victorious.

For Ms Radwaƒska the result was a frustrating repetition of past failures, as she has never made it past the US Open’s round of 16.

“The difference is surface.

Every Grand Slam is [a] different surface. I mean, the same players, the same faces. Conditions are always different everywhere, as well. It’s hot or windy or sunny or cold. It’s always changing,” said Ms Radwaƒska after the loss.

Still, Ms Radwaƒska had the best showing by a Pole in the US Open singles tournament this year. All of the others lost their first round games: Ms Radwaƒska’s sister, Urszula, lost to Ms Stephens (1-6, 1-6), ¸ukasz Kubot was defeated by Finland’s Jarkko Neminen (5-7, 5-7, 2-6), Micha∏ Przysi´˝ny was knocked out by France’s Julien Benneteau (4-6, 7-5, 4-6, 4-6) and Jerzy Janowicz, currently Poland’s best male tennis player, was unable to handle Argentina’s Maximo Gonzalez, losing 4-6, 4-6, 2-6.

Jacek Ciesnowski

COURTESY OF POLISH BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION

Tennis

Marcin Gortat

Despite high hopes, the Polish basketball team lost its first two games and will most likely crash out of the tournament Before Eurobasket 2013 began, many experts suggested that Poland could be the dark horse of the tournament.

Qualifying for the quarterfinals was seen as feasible, as was finishing the tournament in the top six, which would mean automatic qualification for next year’s FIBA World Cup. The optimism stemmed from a number of factors. First of all, there weren’t any notable absences in the squad.

The only Polish player in the NBA, Marcin Gortat, as well as Maciej Lampe, who will play in one of Europe’s best

teams (FC Barcelona) next season, were both available to play. And with a handful of solid players such as Thomas Kelati, who plays for Turkish Trabzonspor, as well as a couple of potential NBA prospects (20-year-olds Mateusz Ponitka and Przemys∏aw Karnowski) it looked like the Polish team had the personnel in place to make a splash.

Secondly, the national team has a new coach. Dirk Bauermann, a German who between 2003 and 2011 was in charge of the German national team (winning silver at Eurobasket 2005), seemed just the person the team needed to improve on its poor performances in recent years. Also, many of the teams competing at Eurobasket 2013 came without their biggest stars.

The excitement quickly waned when the Polish team

lost its first two games against two teams deemed the weakest in its group. Georgia beat Poland 84-67 and after a heated game, the Czech Republic emerged victorious by one point (69-68), leaving Poland the only team in group C without a win. Mr Gortat and Mr Lampe are having difficulty scoring in the competition, as they are being closely guarded by opposing defenses. Mr Bauermann apparently does not have a plan B to compete with other players in leading roles.

With four out of six teams in the group advancing to the next stage, it is still mathematically possible for Poland to move forward. However, the next teams on Poland’s schedule will surely be tougher to beat, with Croatia, Spain and Slovenia still left in the group.

Jacek Ciesnowski

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 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 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 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.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.wilanow-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

LIFESTYLE

SEPTEMBER 9-15, 2013

Concert

www.wbj.pl

23

Film

Combining metal with classical Remembering Wa∏´sa the hero Wa∏´sa: Man of Hope October 4 Movie theaters across Poland

Serj Tankian, until 2007 primarily known as the lead vocalist of metal band System of a Down, will perform two live concerts in Poland: one in Warsaw on October 11 and one in Gdaƒsk on the following day.

His Warsaw performance will be held in Sala Kongresowa, which can hold an audience of 2,880. The Gdaƒsk concert will take place in Ergo Arena, which can hold as many as 15,000. Mr Tankian will be accompanied by a symphonic orchestra.

Mr Tankian is not only an accomplished vocalist and multi-instrumentalist, but also a talented composer and producer. His powerful, opera-like vocals and unconventional persona have helped him win a Grammy award, which he received with System of a Down in 2006 for their song “B.Y.O.B.” His first solo album, “Elect the Dead” was released in 2007 and combined progressive metal sounds with a string section. His second solo project, “Imperfect Harmonies,” released in 2010, added influences from jazz and electronica.

In 2012 Mr Tankian released his

The latest production from Oscar-winning filmmaker Andrzej Wajda, entitled “Wa∏´sa: Man of Hope,” received a standing ovation after a special screening at the Venice Film Festival last week.

The film portrays former Polish President Lech Wa∏´sa’s early political career. It tells the story of how Mr Wa∏´sa grew from a regular blue-collar worker to the charismatic “Solidarity” trade union leader who negotiated with communist

Serj Tankian third solo album, “Harakiri.”

This year, however, has been particularly prolific for the musician. He has already completed two projects: the orchestral “Orca” and a jazz album titled “Jazz-Iz-Christ.” His latest project, the electronically infused “Fuktronic” is also expected to be released in 2013.

Orca is structured into four acts and comprises influences of both early-20th century composers like Ennio Morricone, as well as those of modern musicians, such as Philip Glass.

The Armenian-American musician, born in 1967 in Lebanon, moved to Los Angeles, California with his family at the age of five. Apart from musical interests, he is also a poet and a political activist. For his contribution to the recognition of the Armenian genocide he was awarded the Armenian Prime Minister’s Medal in 2011.

Beata Socha

Ticket prices start at z∏.130 (Gdaƒsk concert) and z∏.135 (Warsaw concert)

COURTESY OF MARCIN MAKOWSKI/WALESAFILM.PL

SHUTTERSTOCK

Serj Tankian October 11 Sala Kongresowa Warsaw

authorities and finally became a national hero and international statesman. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1983.

Though the legendary leader has largely fallen from grace in the eyes of his Polish countrymen, Andrzej Wajda says he wants to restore the image of his longtime friend as Poland’s hero. “No one seems to remember anymore that he brought us freedom,” the director told the Associated Press.

During the festival Mr Wajda also received the Persol Award, in honor of his extensive work in film. In 1999 Mr

Wajda was awarded the Academy Honorary Award “in recognition of five decades of extraordinary film direction.”

The movie, which was screened last Thursday at the 70th Venice Film Festival, is the third and final part of the Polish director’s trilogy about how worker’s disillusionment with communism helped to bring about the system’s demise. The previous two – “Man of Marble” and “Man of Iron” – were released in 1976 and 1981 respectively, while all productions were still heavily scrutinized by communist censors.

NK, JC, RA, BKS

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2011-08-08 09:38:47