WBJ #2 2013

Goodbye groszy?

Time for a tablet

The National Bank of Poland unveils a plan to make 1- and 2-groszy coins obsolete

Cheap tablet computers are pushing netbooks out of the Polish market

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WWW.WBJ.PL

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VOLUME 19, NUMBER 2 • JANUARY 21-27, 2013 . z∏.12.50 (VAT 8% included) . ISSN 1233 7889 INDEX-RUCH-332-127

LOKALE IMMOBILIA

Startup nation

COURTESY OF ZDROJOWA INVEST

REAL ESTATE

• PHN IPO • Ferio Wawer • Buyer’s market

Since 1994 . Poland’s only business weekly in English

Forty percent of young Poles say they plan to start a new business. What do they need to be successful?

12-13

14-16

In this issue News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2-4 Business . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5-6 Finance & Economics . . . . . . . . . . .7 Interview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8-9 Opinion & Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . .11 Cover Story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12-13 Lokale Immobilia . . . . . . . . . .14-16 The List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18-19 Markets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21 Lifestyle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22 Last Word . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23

Mali, maybe?

Poland’s foreign minister mulls sending Polish troops to Mali

www.martela.pl

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SHUTTERSTOCK

Sobolewski out The Treasury has dismissed the WSE’s CEO on ethics grounds

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NEWS

www.wbj.pl

JANUARY 21-27, 2013

IN THE SPOTLIGHT

Numbers in the News

Same-sex civil partnerships

105 was the number of IPOs on the Warsaw Stock Exchange in 2012, the most in Europe, according to PwC.

EAST NEWS

2.4% was the y/y growth in consumer prices in December.

Jadwiga Kaczyƒska dies

of Poles plan to change their job this year, compared to over 60% who plan to stay put, according to a poll by the Homo Homini Institute.

Quote of the Week “Mali is much closer to Europe than Afghanistan.”

Foreign Affairs Minister Rados∏aw Sikorski, speaking on the reasons for considering the participation of Polish troops in an EU mission to Mali. There are currently about 1,800 Polish troops participating in the ISAF mission in Afghanistan, according to Poland's Defense Ministry.

On WBJ.pl Alior looking for investor Warsaw Stock Exchange-listed Alior Bank will start looking for a majority-stake strategic investor before the end of Q1 2013.

According to information obtained by daily Parkiet, the Polish Financial Supervision Authority wants Alior's investor to hold a rating at least as high as the bank itself and to come from a country with a rating at least as high as Poland’s. The newspaper speculated that Russian Sberbank could be the new investor, but the bank denied having plans to enter Poland. ●

The end of Europe’s soft power?

Eurocrats can no longer gloat about the European Union’s soft power and its consequent moral superiority compared to the United States, says Robert D. Kaplan, chief geopolitical analyst at Stratfor. Read more on WBJ.pl

CALENDAR

January 24 Event:

Location:

Web:

‘GERMANY AS BUSINESS TRAVEL DESTINATION’ SEMINAR

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The seminar, organized by the German National Tourist Board, will present Germany as a world leader in various industries, science and new technologies.

Event:

Conference Room C, Expo XXI Center, ul. Pràdzyƒskiego 12/14, Warszawa

Location:

germany.travel Web:

INTERNATIONAL CONSTRUCTION FAIR BUDMA 2013 The fair’s theme is “Construction of the Future. Intelligent Architecture.” It will host, among other things, a testing zone with presentations of tools, products and machinery, this year’s building premieres as well as talks by internationally renowned architects.

Poznaƒ International Fair, ul. G∏ogowska 14, Poznaƒ budma.pl

Figures in focus Tax-hungry in the west Tax revenue as % share of GDP, selected EU countries 50 *Highest in the EU **Lowest in the EU 40

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UK

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EU

tion, citizenship rights, and joint tax benefits.

It also includes alimony privileges for partners that at the end of the civil partnership find themselves in “poverty.”

The alimony could be paid out for up to three years.

It’s difficult to predict whether any such law will be passed by parliament. Opposing them are right-wing parties Law and Justice and Solidarna Polska. Politicians from the Polish People’s Party, the junior coalition partner in government, have also said that they will not support any legislation that would make same-sex civil partnerships legal. There are also many conservative members of PO who are likely to oppose the proposals as well.

JC

Fra nce

the rights and responsibilities of the two partners. One specifies that both sides will decide each other’s rights and responsibilities in a notarial act, while the other one states that both partners will have the same and equal rights. They both state that the civil partnership would have to be officially registered to become legal.

The PO proposal is more flexible. It states that the partnership documents could be signed either in the presence of a Public Registry official or a notary public. It offers many of the same legal rights to same-sex couples afforded by marriage, including inheritance, pension funds, notary and medical rights. Notably lacking from the bill, however, are adop-

rk*

This week, politicians will debate whether to legalize civil partnerships for same-sex couples. There are currently three legislative projects proposing regulations on the matter, which the Sejm (the lower house of Polish parliament) will begin debate on.

Socially liberal parties Palikot’s Movement (RP) and the Democratic Left Alliance (SLD), have together proposed two bills, and senior government coalition partner Civic Platform (PO) has its own proposal regarding the issue. Each of the proposals would cover issues related to opposite-sex couples, as well as same-sex ones.

The main difference between the two projects proposed by RP and SLD regards

nm a

Poland's GDP will grow to $1.415 trillion by 2030, according to a report by consultancy PwC. By then, Poland’s GDP will be worth 34 percent of Germany's GDP. Currently, the proportion is 25 percent.

However, in 2050, Poland will no longer be one of the world’s 20 strongest economies, PwC analysts say. This will mostly be due to demography, including low immigration levels, and low savings. PwC expects China to be the top world economy in 2030.

11%

De

GDP to $1.4 trillion by 2030

48% is how many Polish companies are planning to hire professionals and managers, according to Antal International

SHUTTERSTOCK

Jadwiga Kaczyƒska, the mother of late Polish President Lech Kaczyƒski and his twin brother, former Prime Minister Jaros∏aw Kaczyƒski, died on Thursday at the age of 86. She was born in 1926 in Starachowice, in south-central Poland, but spent most of her life in Warsaw. During World War II, she took part in the underground movement against German occupation. She was a Polish philologist and spent a large part of her life working as a schoolteacher.

Source: Eurostat

Company index Alior Bank ................................................2

Manta Multimedia ....................................5

Antal International ..................................2

MCI..........................................................12

APA Kury∏owicz & Associates................14

Meble Emilia ..........................................14

APAX Consulting Group ........................14

Mennica Polska......................................16

Apple ........................................................5

Microsoft ..................................................5

Auchan....................................................14

Millennium Bank......................................7

Bank Pekao ............................................12

NAC ........................................................21

Biedronka ................................................5

Nordea Bank ............................................7

BZ WBK ....................................................7

Nvidia ......................................................23

Carrefour ..................................................5

PAP ..........................................................7

CBOS ........................................................8

PayPal ......................................................4

CBRE ......................................................15

Pekao ......................................................20

Colliers International ............................15

Peter Nielsen & Partners........................6

Decathlon ..............................................14

PKO BP ..................................................12

Dell ..........................................................5

Polski Holding NieruchomoÊci..............16

Ernst & Young ........................................13

Press42.com ..........................................13

EuCO KRIS MAKS ....................................4

PwC ......................................................2, 5

GoClever ..................................................5

PZU ........................................................20

Griffin ......................................................14

P∏askowicki & Partnerzy Architekci ......16

Grupa Radius..........................................16

Raiffeisen Bank Polska..........................12

Hauwei ....................................................23

Raiffeisen Evolution

Hays ........................................................15

Project Development..............................14

Home Broker..........................................15

Samsung ............................................5, 23

HP ............................................................5

Sberbank ..................................................2

IDC ............................................................5

Standard & Poor’s....................................5

Jones Lang LaSalle................................14

Sud Architects ........................................14

KGHM......................................................20

Warsaw Stock Exchange..................2, 3, 5

London Stock Exchange ..........................5

Zdrojowa Invest ......................................16

NEWS

JANUARY 21-27, 2013

www.wbj.pl

3

International politics

The country’s chief diplomat says he will not rule out sending Polish troops to aid the Malian government take on Islamic fundamentalists Foreign Affairs Minister Rados∏aw Sikorski has announced that Poland’s participation in the EU’s upcoming military training mission in Mali should not be ruled out. Mr Sikorski made the statements on public radio while emphasizing that no decisions have been made yet.

However, he did point out that the situation in Mali is important, as the country is

situated relatively close to the EU. The EU agreed last week to send hundreds of military personnel to train Malian government forces in fighting Islamist radicals, as a civil war in the country threatens to spill across its borders. The mission will comprise about 200 military trainers as well as some security personnel.

the government in the country’s capital, Bamako.

Meanwhile, ECOWAS, the Economic Community of West African States, will send at least 2,000 troops to Mali in the coming days. More are expected afterwards.

The EU itself is not considering a combat role in Mali.

‘In our interest’ Mr Sikorski said he would consult with Prime Minister Donald Tusk and President Bronis∏aw Komorowski on the Mali issue.

Regarding factors Poland would take into account when making the decision to send troops to Mali, Mr Sikorski pointed out that Poland was still involved in Afghanistan and

Another Afghanistan?

There is fear that Islamic fundamentalists, who control an area the size of France in Northern Mali, will turn it into an Afghanistan-style terrorist base and perhaps even try to take over the entire country.

France has already begun military action in Mali to support

that it had already taken part in several missions in Africa, such as in Congo and Chad.

However, Mr Sikorski also said he believed that it is in Poland’s interest to “strengthen European security and defense policy. No decisions have been made but I cannot rule it out in the long run.”

Mr Sikorski added that Poland understands and supports France’s decision to send troops to Mali.

“We know how dangerous it is when terrorists have physical control of a territory, because then they can train and plan operations.”

He pointed out that Mali is “much closer to Europe than Afghanistan.”

Remi Adekoya

COURTESY OF THE MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS

Sikorski suggests Polish troops could be sent to Mali

Mr Sikorski said it was in Poland’s interest to “strengthen European security and defense policy”

Stock exchange

New president of WSE appointed COURTESY OF THE WARSAW STOCK EXCHANGE

The bourse’s management board dismissed Ludwik Sobolewski on ethics grounds

Adam Maciejewski (pictured) takes over as president of the Warsaw Stock Exchange from Ludwik Sobolewski

Adam Maciejewski is the Warsaw Stock Exchange’s new president, after the bourse’s shareholders appointed him at an extraordinary general meeting last Thursday. Earlier that day the WSE’s shareholders dismissed Ludwik Sobolewski from the position.

Mr Sobolewski was suspended by the WSE’s super-

visory board on December 21, 2012, following accusations that he and his subordinate Emil St´pieƒ were soliciting funds from companies listed on the stock market to support a movie featuring Mr Sobolewski’s girlfriend.

The decision to replace Mr Sobolewski was made by the Treasury Ministry, which holds a 51.7 percent stake in the exchange. The dismissal comes a year and a half before the end of Mr Sobolewski’s term.

Mr Sobolewski became president of the WSE in

2006, when the market was booming, and led the exchange through the global economic crisis with success.

Market experts see the Warsaw Stock Exchange’s IPO in 2010 as one of Mr Sobolewski’s biggest achievements. The popularity of the WSE’s offer was larger than expected.

Mr Sobolewski has also successfully managed to attract foreign firms to the Warsaw Stock Exchange, increasing its regional footprint as stock exchanges consolidate globally. Firms from 17 countries outside of

Poland are listed on the exchange.

However, Mr Sobolewski has also overseen less successful projects: NewConnect – a stock market for smaller, innovative companies, and Catalyst – a bond market. Both projects have not lived up to expectations.

Adam Maciejewski, Mr Sobolewski’s successor, has worked at the WSE since 1994. Since 2006 he had held the positions of vice president and member of the WSE’s management board.

Marta Mardosz

NEWS

www.wbj.pl

Billions to battle unemployment The Ministry of Regional Development has said that z∏.5 billion is to be spent this year in Poland within the framework of the Human Capital program financed from the European Social Fund. The ministry hopes that projects funded from the program will help fight unemployment.

Poles e-shopping abroad Poles use e-commerce sites from outside the country mostly in search of cheaper products, according to a report by online payment firm PayPal. The most common types of goods purchased this way are software and virtual goods (23%), electronics (15%), clothing (11%), cosmetics and perfume (7%) and jewelry and watches (5%). Some 23% of those surveyed spent less than z∏.100 on single purchases but, in turn, 22% spent more than z∏.900. About 26% shopped in US online stores and 20% in those located in the UK. ●

JANUARY 21-27, 2013

Charity

WOÂP raises millions, once again Thousands of auctions, several hundred thousand volunteers and millions in contributions. The Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity does it again By midnight on Sunday January 13, nearly z∏.40 million had been raised by this year’s Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity (WOÂP), an annual charity drive. The charity purchases state-of-the-art hospital equipment for pediatric wards, and this year, for the first time, for geriatric wards as well.

“There are many regions in Poland that don’t have geriatric hospital care, and even if they have it, they’re usually poorly equipped. We can change this,” said Jerzy Owsiak, the head and founder of the charity.

The results are similar to last year’s, though the exact amount raised during the drive won’t be known until March.

Usually, the final amount is 3040 percent higher than what is recorded immediately after the day-long fundraiser, as money from auctions and events flow in over the following couple of weeks.

Poland’s largest annual charity fundraiser got under way on January 13, with 120,000 volunteers collecting money for equipment and ther-

apies for sick children and the elderly. The event, which includes a day-long media marathon, celebrity auctions, concerts and volunteers collecting money out on the streets, took place for the 21st consecutive year.

Auctions galore As always, there were thousands of auctions, in which potential benefactors could bid on many unusual items. One “lucky” winner could spend a day in a correctional facility, another was invited to the presidential residency in Wis∏a for a weekend stay.

There were also hundreds of memorabilia, signed and donated by athletes, politicians, and entertainers from Poland and abroad. Items included Mike Tyson boxing gloves, as well as jerseys and soccer balls from the numerous national teams that played in the Euro 2012 competition in Poland last summer.

One of the traditions of the charity is the auction of goldplated, numbered, heart-

COURTESY OF WOÂP / B¸A˚EJ SENDZIERSKI

4

Founder Jerzy Owsiak led the charity drive for the 21st consecutive year shaped medallions. The one with number 1 is usually bought after a heated auction, with many companies, organizations and businesspeople participating. This year the highest bidder was EuCO KRIS MAKS,

which paid z∏.150,000 for the medallion.

According to its organizers, the drive is one of the most effective operations of its kind in the world. Last year, WOÂP raised z∏.50.6 million, a record-

best result. That money was spent on state-of-the-art lifesaving equipment for premature babies and insulin pumps for pregnant women with diabetes.

Jacek Ciesnowski

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BUSINESS

JANUARY 21-27, 2013

www.wbj.pl

5

Stock exchange

WSE leads Europe in number of IPOs in 2012

EU law

European Parliament curbs rating agencies’ powers

COURTESY OF THE WARSAW STOCK EXCHANGE

The Warsaw Stock Exchange took the top spot in Europe in the number of IPOs it held in 2012, hosting 105 of them, according to PwC’s IPO Watch Europe report.

Second on the list was the London Stock Exchange, with 73 IPOs. However, in terms of value of the public offerings, Warsaw was 5th on the continent.

Even with 40 percent of Europe’s IPOs, the value Warsaw Stock Exchange debuts came to only €731 million.

Compared to London’s €5.1 billion, that’s small potatoes.

All these figures are also smaller than those from 2011.

That year, the WSE held 203 IPOs worth €2.2 billion in total. At the same time, London was home to 101 IPOs valued at €14.1 billion.

Even with these lower figures, the fourth quarter of 2012 was much better than the last three months of 2011 for the whole Europe. In Q4 of 2012, the value of all IPOs in Europe totaled €7.5 billion, compared to only €0.9 billion

SHUTTERSTOCK

The Warsaw bourse held 105 IPOs – though their total value was far smaller than that of other European exchanges

The value of IPOs on the WSE in 2012 amounted to €731 million the year before. That number, the highest since Q3 of 2011 (€9.4 billion), shows promise for the upcoming year, analysts said.

“Even with unfavorable political and economic conditions in Europe, the prospects for IPOs look better, especially considering the increase in activity in the last quarter of 2012. The European markets look more optimistic,” said Tomasz Konieczny, a partner in the assurance and advisory services department of PwC. PwC also predicts that many companies will restart their

plans to go public, if economic activity rises.

It’s hard to say if 2013 will be as successful for the WSE as 2012 was. So far it’s hard to find a company like Alior Bank, whose IPO in December was worth €511 million, which was the 5th-biggest IPO in the whole of Europe in Q4.

The number of new companies on NewConnect (Warsaw’s secondary market) is also way down. In 2011 there were 172 IPOs, and last year only 89 (16 in Q4), and the trend will probably continue.

New legislation could allow investors and credit issuers to sue rating agencies Last year, when nine euro zone countries were downgraded by ratings agency Standard & Poor’s, the currency union took a big confidence hit. This prompted EU officials to put stricter regulations on credit rating agencies.

The EU began working on new regulations that were passed on January 16.

“Before the crisis, ratings agencies had given many unstable banks a triple-A rat-

ing and rated certain ‘junk’ financial instruments as safe products. When these institutions collapsed, the agencies refused to accept any responsibility, arguing they were only giving an opinion,” said Arlene McCarthy, a vice-chair of the European Parliament’s economic and monetary affairs committee.

The new law allows investors and share issuers to claim damages from a ratings agency if they suffer losses due to a rating that can be proven as ill-founded and which harmed their interests.

One of the main goals of the

legislation is to reduce investors’ reliance on ratings agencies.

Credit institutions and investment firms will have to put internal procedures in place for assessing their own credit risk, instead of relying solely on ratings agencies’ analyses.

Under the EU plan, each ratings agency would be allowed to publish unsolicited assessments of governments’ creditworthiness. The agencies would need to explain the key factors underlying their ratings and refrain from making any direct or explicit recommendations on countries’ policies.

Jacek Ciesnowski

Jacek Ciesnowski

Electronics

Low prices drive surge in tablet sales The new wave of cheap tablets is pushing netbooks out of the market Tablets priced below z∏.600 are cornering Poland’s electronics market. Their 2013 sales could reach 300,000 units, according to daily Rzeczpospolita. Just last year, experts expressed concern as to whether Poles would accept these latest computing innovations, but fast forward to today and tablets have arrived in many of the country’s households.

Market-watchers are crediting Chinese producers, who deliver cheap brands to retailers such as Biedronka and Carrefour. Analysis firm IDC estimates that, in total, more than 700,000 units were sold in Poland in 2012, over 400 percent the 2011 figure of 170,000.

The most popular tablets

available in Poland in Q1 2012 were the more expensively priced iPad and Samsung Galaxy Tab devices. The cheaper brands, costing less than z∏.1,000, had a market share of just 13 percent.

But with decreasing prices, the situation changed rapidly.

“In Q3 the tablets with a price tag of less than z∏.600 accounted for over 50 percent of the sales of all tablets in Poland,” said IDC analyst Marcin Kujda.

The prices continue to drop. And while the low-price tablets may not be as powerful or as fast as their high-end counterparts made by Apple and Samsung, the low price tag is something most consumers look for when purchasing new electronic devices. And now the cheapest devices can be bought for less than z∏.300.

That lower prices are the main factor behind the surge

in tablet sales is clearly visible in the market. GoClever, a company that produced tablets sold in discount chain Biedronka didn’t release official sales data, but admitted to Rzeczpospolita that sales rose by 600 percent in 2012 compared to the year before.

The leader in tablets sales in Poland, Manta Multimedia, sold 100,000 units in the first 11 months of 2012, according to the company’s own data. This year it plans to sell over 300,000 tablets.

On the other hand, the last netbooks are currently being sold in Polish electronic hardware stores. The segment is dying because of lack of support by producers – Samsung, Dell, HP, and many others have stopped producing new units.

Software giant Microsoft has also stopped supporting Windows development for netbooks.

Jacek Ciesnowski

Karpielówka Restaurant Our name comes from an area in Zakopane, and in our restaurant you can feel the air and the atmosphere of the Tatra Mountains.

With our original highlander décor and the climate of an outlaw’s cottage, it’s the perfect place to dine on traditional dishes including our specials: dumplings, knuckle baked with onion, dishes with oscypek cheese and much more.

We can organize wedding dinners, conferences and banquets, as well as picnics with BBQ and bonfire. Check our lunch menu, our delivery service and catering options. ul. Indiry Gandhi 11, tel. 22 644 85 10 | Imielin Metro Station, close to Multikino; City Hall Ursynów; 5 minute walk towards St. Thomas the Apostle Church Open 12:00-last guest. | Reservations: +48 22-644-85-10 or karpielowka@home.pl www.karpielowka.com.pl | Check our Facebook page

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BUSINESS

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JANUARY 21-27, 2013

Currency

The proposal would see cash transactions rounded up or down to the nearest z∏.0.05, and could save the bank millions For the National Bank of Poland, producing z∏.0.01 and z∏.0.02 (one- and two-groszy) coins far exceeds their nominal value. The NBP is therefore exploring ways to at least reduce, if not completely eliminate, the coins from circulation.

Withdrawing the coins from the market altogether would be easiest solution, but would also be strongly opposed by retailers, who prefer to use prices ending in “.99” as a marketing

tool. Customers would also likely oppose the measure, expecting prices for such products to rise.

Instead, the NBP is proposing that the prices be rounded up or down on cash payments only. “Our main goal is to make the cash transactions easier and more efficient. Our proposal would round the final cash payment to z∏.0.05,” said the NBP’s Aleksander Proksa, who wrote the proposal.

The NBP hopes its idea will satisfy both retailers and consumers, while saving z∏.40 million in coin-production costs.

According to the proposal, prices would remain intact, but the total payment would be rounded up or down. For

example, instead of paying z∏.10.97, a customer would pay just z∏.10.95 in cash. Payments made with credit cards, debit cards or by bank transfer would remain the same.

“There are currently 7 billion one- and two-groszy coins on the market, out of a total of 13 billion coins. These low denomination coins often go unused, and they rest in people’s drawers. Nearly a third of Poles admit this,” said Barbara Jaroszek, deputy director of the NBP’s cash & issue department.

The NBP claims that the move would not affect inflation. “According to our analysis, rounding the payments would have neutral effect on

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

Remittance of unpaid ZUS contributions On January 15, 2013, the act of November 9, 2012 on redemption of liabilities incurred from contributions unpaid by persons conducting off-rural business activity (Dz.U.2012.1551) came into force. A person conducting off-rural business activity could be understood, among other things, as a shareholder of a one-person limited liability company, a partner in a general partnership, in a limited partnership or partner company, as well as a natural person conducting a business activity.

Upon a motion of a person liable for compulsory pension, disability and accident insurance for conducting an off-rural business activity in the period from January 1, 1999 until February 28, 2009, unpaid contributions for these types of insurance may be remitted for the above period. Moreover, the overdue interest on the above contributions, extension payments, costs of reminders, additional payments, and costs of enforcement as calculated by a Social Insurance Institution (ZUS) division head, a tax office head or an enforcement officer may also be remitted.

The motion on redemption may be submitted within 24 months upon the date of the act coming into force. It may be submitted as well by an heir or by a third person if ZUS has decided that person is responsible for these liabilities.

Penalties for failing to submit financial statements of companies With the beginning of a new calendar year it has to be remembered that in accordance with the Commercial Companies Code, an ordinary shareholders’ meeting of a limited liability company or a joint stock company should be held within six months upon the end of each fiscal year.

The subject of such a meeting should be,

among other things, the approval of the financial statement for the last fiscal year.

In the case of most limited liability companies, the fiscal year coincides with the calendar year. When that is the case, such a meeting should take place no later than on June 30, 2013 and the management board of the company is obliged to submit the financial statement for 2012 to the court and to register an entry about it.

Many members of management boards of limited liability companies and joint stock companies do not fulfill these obligations. Failing to submit a financial statement to the court is punishable by a fine or restriction of freedom. In some cases a court may decide on a ban on occupying specific posts, for example in companies’ management boards or supervisory boards. Moreover, if, despite the fine imposed by the court, a management board of a limited liability company or joint stock company does not fulfill the above obligation, the court may appoint an administrator for the company for a period of time not longer than a year.

CPI. The individual customer would probably spend several dozen groszy more per year at most,”added Marcin Kaszuba, director of the public relations and marketing department at the NBP. The retailers understand the problem, but they have some concerns of their own.

“There is the cost of rounding the payments, and there will be costs involved, whether you’ll round the payments up or down, and these will be paid by the market. And that includes both customers and retailers. We don’t like being the only ones that would have to pay for it,” Mr Maria Andrzej Faliƒski, president of the Polish Trade and Distribution Organization (POHiD) told WBJ. “There will be many instances in which the same product will have a different cost in the same place,” added Mr Faliƒski. “For example, when I buy something and pay cash for it, I could pay a different amount than if I were paying for it with a credit card.

Also, something bought individually could have a different

SHUTTERSTOCK

NBP unveils plan to eliminate low-denomination coins

Soon to be a thing of the past? price than the same thing bought in bulk,” he said. He suggested that this could pose problems in accounting and taxation, and that he would like to see some regulations in tax law that would prevent potential disputes with the Tax Office.

Similar regulations have been implemented in other countries, where the production of low-denomination coins had become unprofitable. For example, in the Czech Republic all coins with

a denomination lower than 1 Czech koruna were withdrawn from the market, but prices in stores still end in “.99” “We can suspect that Polish stores would keep the ‘.99’ prices intact, for marketing reasons, or even lower them to ‘.95.’ ” Mr Kaszuba said.

The proposal was sent to the Ministry of Finance, where it will be reviewed. If passed by parliament, it would come into force from January 1, 2015.

Jacek Ciesnowski

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FINANCE & ECONOMICS

Trade sees strong rise in 2012

Marta Mardosz

bank issued its core inflation figures. Excluding food and energy, prices rose by 1.4 percent y/y in December 2012.

This was the lowest point since November 2010, the National Bank of Poland reported. The other three core inflation indices declined as well.

Analysts at bank BZ WBK wrote in a statement that “inflationary pressure is no threat for the economy. ...

[The] data support our forecast that the Council will make no pause at the upcoming meeting and will cut rates by 25 basis points.”

RG, AK

Precipitous drop Poland’s consumer price index of inflation (%), December 2010-December 2012 5

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ects, worth a total of €497 million. When complete, these investments are expected to provide some 4,000 jobs.

The Ma∏opolskie voivodship received six projects worth a total of €7.9 million, which are expected to provide some 1,500 jobs.

The most popular sectors for investment included innovative services, automotive, research and development, and aerospace.

1

in 2013 will be comparable to 2012,” said Iwona Chojnowska-Haponik, head of PAIiIZ’s investor services department.

The agency reported that the largest amounts of investment capital came from Japan, the United States and countries from the European Union, specifically France, Germany and the UK. Most of the projects were located in the Lower Silesia and Ma∏opolskie voivodships.

Lower Silesia received 18 proj-

. ‘1

Last year foreign companies invested around €1.2 billion in 53 projects that are expected to create some 10,000 jobs, the Polish Information and Foreign Investment Agency (PAIiIZ) announced last Wednesday.

What’s more, agency officials think that it’s possible Poland could attract a similar amount this year, despite expectations for slower economic growth.

“It is still possible that the inflow of foreign investments

Feb

Poland attracted €1.2 billion in foreign investment in 2012

by 5.1 percent. Meanwhile, transportation prices rose 1.1 percent. The only prices to drop were those of clothing and footwear (-4.7 percent) and products related to health (-0.2 percent). The figure is now below the NBP’s target of 2.5 percent.

Analysts agreed that the data was likely to provide an argument for the Monetary Policy Council to cut interest rates again, for the fourth month in a row, at its February meeting. Poland’s reference interest rate now stands at 4.0 percent.

On Wednesday, the central

In December 2012, Poland’s consumer price index inflation rate rose by 2.4 percent in annual terms and 0.1 percent m/m, the Central Statistical Office announced. Analysts surveyed by PAP had expected the y/y figure to be 2.5 percent.

In annual terms, food prices rose by 4.0 percent, while electricity, gas and other fuels rose

‘10

Marta Mardosz

Inflation is now below the National Bank of Poland’s target, boosting arguments for central bankers to further cut interest rates

. ‘1

imports will decrease in the first half of 2013. “Imports decreased at the end of 2012 and the trend will continue in the first months of 2013,” he told WBJ. Poland’s largest trade partner, Germany, accounted for 25.3 percent of Polish imports, and 21.3 percent of Polish exports, drops of 0.9 percentage points and 1.1 percentage points respectively.

c.

lion in the same period of 2011.

“Polish foreign trade will continue to increase in 2013, however at the beginning of the year Polish imports will fall because of less demand,” Piotr Bujak, chief economist for Poland at Nordea Bank, told WBJ. However, “Polish exports will grow,” he added.

Grzegorz Maliszewski, chief economist at Millennium Bank, agreed that Polish

7

CPI drops to 2.4%, making another rate cut likely

Jan

Polish companies exported goods worth nearly z∏.540 billion and brought in imports worth z∏.588 billion between January and November 2012, the Central Statistical Office reported. According to the report, exports and imports increased by 8.1 percent and 3.2 percent year-on-year, respectively.

The result was a decrease in Poland’s trade deficit to z∏.34 billion, from z∏.58 bil-

www.wbj.pl

Inflation

De

JANUARY 21-27, 2013

Source: Central Statistical Office

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INTERVIEW

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28% support for gov’t According to a survey by polling firm CBOS, 28% of Poles support the current government, while 35% said they opposed it and 34% were neutral.

Compared with December data, proportions of both supporters and opponents was lower, by five and four percentage points, respectively. The government is more popular with those who have a university education (46%), those whose per capita income is z∏.1,500 or more (52%) and the inhabitants of the largest cities (42%).

Voivodships set to spend The authorities of all 16 Polish voivodships plan to increase investment outlays in 2013. In total, they expect to spend z∏.9.3 billion on projects such as new roads and infrastructure, which is 14% more than in 2012.

The Silesia voivodship expects to spend the most, with investment plans of z∏.1.25 billion, 86% more than in last year’s budget. ●

JANUARY 21-27, 2013

Society

The reasons behind radicalism Jacek Raciborski, professor of sociology and politics at Warsaw University, sits down with WBJ to talk about the activity of radical nationalistic groups in Poland, divisions in the country and Poles’ attitude towards the state Ewa Boniecka:How do you see the activity of the right-wing radical groups in Poland and the roots of their nationalistic ideology?

Jacek Raciborski: Such nationalistic views have always been present in Poland, while often being buried underneath the political scene. The only difficulty has been to mobilize those who hold them at a certain moment, and there is now a convenient climate for articulating such views.

These radical right-wing groups relate to some historical ideas of the nation from Poland’s interwar period. They call for the abolition of the “Round Table Republic” as

they describe Poland [a reference to the Round Table negotiations between the communist government and the opposition movement in the late 1980s]. They attack democratic institutions, accuse the prime minister and the president of treason and of being “servants” to Russia and Germany. They oppose the European Union. Though they hold anti-Semitic views,they do not express them clearly in public, instead using a sort of doublelanguage: one official, with certain camouflage, and another more direct, used inside the group.

Yet the pressure of dominant society is so strong that

COURTESY OF JACEK RACIBORSKI

8

Professor Raciborski thinks radical right-wing groups won’t have any significant influence on Polish politics

INTERVIEW

JANUARY 21-27, 2013

their anti-Semitic and antidemocratic slogans are condemned. So I do not think that the activity of those radical, nationalistic groups could have any significant influence on Polish politics.

But what social and political factors contribute to creating a favorable climate for these groups and their ability to mobilize people?

I see two processes occurring in Poland now. One is the “Europeanization” and modernization of Poland, the spreading of cosmopolitanism and traditionalists’ negative reaction to this.

The second process is the relative stability of the cadre of Poland’s political elite. This lends a certain effectiveness to slogans about the “treason of elites” who during the Round Table negotiations agreed to share the power in the country between communists and the chosen leaders of Solidarity.

That agreement, opening the road to the peaceful transformation of Poland, is now rejected by right-wing radicals.

Many people are becoming increasingly alienated from

describe them as “Generation N” (from the Polish word nienawiÊç – hate). As a professor, you have contact with many young people. How you see their attitude towards life?

I think that describing the young Poles as “Generation N” is journalistic sensationalism. Our young people are very different, I do not see them as hateful. The young people whom I observe are conformist, pragmatic, and trained for competition in the marketplace. The problem is that they were trained to participate in a competition in times of prosperity and now those rules are more difficult.

They know that it is tougher now to make a career, to find a proper job, but still the majority of my graduates believe that they will make it and they are counting on their own individual success.

They are also adapted to a free-market economic system better than the older generation; they know foreign languages and use EU opportunities to study, move and work abroad. Yes, they are usually indifferent towards politics, but I do not see them as being

“Many people are becoming increasingly alienated from the whole political class, which has led to hostility towards our democratic system.” the whole political class, which has led to hostility towards our democratic system and support for anti-democratic views.

Some anti-Semitic views are also present among certain groups of society, and while I do not think that Polish society is particularly prone to such views, they should neither be exaggerated nor ignored.

Such radical groups have appeared not only in Poland and in the region, but also in the West. Do they have common characteristics?

There are some common characteristics – anger and frustration, feelings of being abandoned by politicians in a time of financial and economic crisis. Yet generally such movements in the West are not aimed against democratic systems. In the mature democracies of Western Europe there are various civil organizations, such as trade unions, and they generally support democratic values while protesting against specific issues.

The demonstrations organized in Poland and in some countries in Central and Eastern Europe don’t have such well-developed social capital. They also exploit some historical insecurities and patriotic emotions.

There is concern about Poland’s younger generation, which has a high rate of unemployment. Some analysts

obsessed by hate against the system. I am even quite astonished by the strength of liberal ideas among young people, who take freedom in personal and social life for granted.

You are talking about young, educated Poles. But there are many less-educated, unemployed young people who have been pushed from the mainstream of society. Are they more inclined to rally against the system?

Even those less educated and unable to find a job have the ability to adapt to the current difficult economic realities much better than their fathers.

They are not so used to previous high standards of living as their unemployed peers from rich Western countries, so they are less rebellious. And being an electronic generation, young Poles are mobile and knowledgeable about the outside world.

What are the roots of the weakness of our political and social mechanisms?

This is the consequence of our history. In the 19th century, which was the most important period for shaping nations, state institutions and building mature societies, Poland did not exist as an independent state. After state and social institutions were not created at that time, it was very difficult to catch up. This distinguished us from the countries

and societies of Western Europe. The findings of the European Social Survey show that Poland holds last place in the number of social organizations, the level of citizen participation in social activity and the level of confidence towards state institutions and other members of society.

So how can we change this state of affairs?

We have to continue the process of transformation, because even small improvements in the functioning of our institutions can bring visible positive results. I see such areas of improvement where there are modern mechanisms and standards applied. Some positive impulses are coming from the European Union, some we impose on our own.

This is happening mostly on the local level, which is cause for some optimism. I would say that certain positive changes in various areas of life are happening much quicker than politicians had planned for.

Still, the attitude of Poles towards state institutions is not only critical, but often hostile. Why? We are still learning to perceive the state as our partner, not an enemy. In Western Europe, when reference is made to the state, it is not only about government. The state is seen as the community of citizens who are paying taxes and consider themselves stakeholders in the state regardless of which party is in power. In Poland it is different – we are inclined to identify the state with the current government and when people do not like it, they become hostile towards the entire state. And the most important thing is that Poles’ attitude towards the state does not come from being a being citizen but instead from simply being a Pole, a member of the nation, with a strong ethnic identification. In contrast, most modern states include citizens of various ethnic backgrounds who identify with the state and its institutions.

We still have a long way to go, to see the state as a community of citizens and to build respect towards the state and its institutions. Nonetheless I share the opinion of those analysts from Poland and abroad who point out that Poland achieved the fundamental success of building a democratic, independent and secure state.

What we have done in the last 20 years is something that was not possible to achieve in the previous 300-400 years of our history. I think that it is very important to make all political parties and citizens understand and respect that fundamental fact,while we are making further efforts to develop our country. ●

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9

OPINION & ANALYSIS

JANUARY 21-27, 2013

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11

A breach in the euro zone dike Ashoka Mody

W

hile all eyes have been on the European periphery, has the core been cracking? The Bundesbank has lowered its forecast for German annual GDP growth in 2013 to 0.4 percent. The Central Bank of the Netherlands expects Dutch GDP to shrink by 0.5 percent this year – and to contract further in 2014.

“The European crisismanagement process has been predicated on the Scarlett O’Hara principle that ‘tomorrow will be a better day.’ ” The euro zone crisis may be entering its third stage. In the first stage, beginning in the spring of 2008, the locus of the North Atlantic crisis moved from the United States to the euro zone. Banks in the euro zone came under pressure, and interbank tensions increased.

In the second stage, starting in the spring of 2009, the crisis spread to the sovereigns, as investors grew increas-

ingly worried that propping up banks would strain government finances. In turn, sovereign weakness made the banks appear riskier, and the banks and their home governments became joined at the hip.

Throughout the crisis, it has been widely assumed – at least so far – that the euro zone core would remain solid, and would continue to write the checks for the periphery’s distressed governments and banks. That assumption appeared plausible. A “two-speed” Europe was the new normal.

recovery. Following the German economy’s sharp contraction in the last quarter of 2012, the question for the country today is whether it can avoid a technical recession (defined as two consecutive quarters of economic contraction).

Europe does not have its own growth engine. The German rebound was initially robust because world trade rose rapidly after a precipitous fall.

China’s voracious appetite for German cars and machines provided the needed boost, even as Germany’s traditional trade partners in Europe struggled.

A subtle change Dragging each other down

In particular, Germany stood above the fray. Following a strong performance in 2010, Germany’s GDP exceeded pre-crisis levels by early 2011, a somewhat better achievement than that of the US. Indeed, given Germany’s surprisingly impressive employment performance, another Wirtschaftswunder appeared to be in the making.

Then a subtle change occurred.

The US – despite a historically slow return to normalcy – pulled ahead of Germany. Absent a prolonged fiscalcliff and debt-ceiling mess, the US may be cobbling together a sustainable

Since then, however, Chinese demand growth has slowed, and Germany’s European trading partners are in even deeper trouble. Fiscal austerity in the periphery requires cutting back on imports; hence, the countries exporting to the periphery need to curtail their own imports – and so the process cascades. This trade multiplier is causing European economies to drag each other down, and the rest of the world is feeling the effects.

The Dutch economy’s poor prospects are similarly alarming. The Netherlands is second only to Ger-

many in the volume of credit that it channels through the so-called “Target 2” system to the euro zone periphery, and it is the periphery’s largest creditor in per capita terms.

Economic forecasters continue to promise that growth will revive. Things will begin to look up in the second half of 2013, we are told. But the track record of charting this recovery has been discouraging. In his book “The Signal and the Noise,” the American statistician Nate Silver says that forecasters perform worst when faced with a circumstance that they have not encountered before. This is such a circumstance.

More hope and cheer?

In April 2010, the International Monetary Fund’s “World Economic Outlook” projected 1.8 percent annual GDP growth in Germany and the Netherlands in 2013. In October of last year, the IMF lowered its 2013 growth forecast for Germany to 0.9 percent and to 0.4 percent for the Netherlands. And, a mere two months later, both countries’ central banks report that even these reduced expectations are too optimistic. Who is to say that the

second half of 2013 will bring more hope and cheer?

The European crisis-management process has been predicated on the Scarlett O’Hara principle that “tomorrow will be a better day.” Although everyone knows that postponing hard decisions only makes the problem larger, they could still believe that there would always be a firm line of defense.

That may be changing.

The third stage of the euro zone crisis will arrive when the economic strength of the core is in doubt. Those very doubts undermine the credibility of the safety net that has been supporting the European periphery.

A solution to the euro zone crisis that relies on Germany has always been politically uncertain. It may soon become economically untenable. ● Ashoka Mody, a former mission chief for Germany and Ireland at the International Monetary Fund, is currently visiting professor of international economic policy at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University.

Copyright: Project Syndicate, 2013. project-syndicate.org

Britain’s European home Martin Schulz

B

ritish Prime Minister David Cameron’s long-awaited speech on Europe, which was postponed last week, may well mark a turning point with respect to Britain’s position within the European Union.

Any attempt by the United Kingdom to repatriate powers to Westminster is likely to be a drawn-out and cumbersome negotiation. As previous experience has shown, internal discussions on constitutional competences – essentially political navelgazing – can distract attention from the far more pressing issues of economic growth and jobs.

Attempting to revisit major parts of EU law and picking and choosing the bits of which the UK approves could set a dangerous precedent.

Indeed, it could lead to piecemeal legislation, disintegration, and potentially the breakup of the Union. However attractive repatriation may seem on the surface, it would involve long and complex procedures – with no guarantee of a favorable outcome.

Ultimately, of course, whether to repatriate competences or exit from the EU are decisions for the British

government and the British people to make. But it is my strong belief that full UK membership is in the interest of the British and Europe alike. The single market benefits the British economy enormously, and the EU remains by far the UK’s biggest trade partner, accounting for almost 50 percent of British exports.

‘Disaster’ awaits In a globalized world, it is not in the UK’s interest to downgrade to some kind of second-class EU membership, as this would merely weaken its own influence in Europe and beyond.

Certainly, Britain’s friends recognize this. In recent days, the United States has rightly warned that a possible referendum in the UK could mean that the country turns inward, while Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny has said that a British exit from the EU would be a “disaster.”

Leading British business figures, too, have cautioned Mr Cameron that he risks destabilizing the UK economy inadvertently if he seeks a wholesale renegotiation of EU membership. Their voices, however late in

the day they have come, should be heeded.

The euro zone is integrating more deeply and rapidly not on a whim, but out of sheer necessity. The UK has chosen to remain outside the monetary union with a clear opt-out from the common currency. So, while the Cameron government’s support for deeper euro zone integration is welcome, the euro zone cannot and will not be shaped from outside and according to British interests.

A major role The UK is not in a position to block the other EU member states from deeper integration, given most other member states’ political will to move forward. Indeed, last year’s negotiations on the “fiscal compact” should already have demonstrated to Mr Cameron the difficulty of exercising the so-called national veto.

Still, the UK has played a leading role in designing key EU policies, including measures concerning the single market, overseas development aid, trade, and climate change. UK leadership in these areas has been highly

appreciated – and would be sorely missed should the British decide to leave. In the field of Justice and Home Affairs, for example, the UK has so far played a major role in shaping EU policies that all member states must adopt in less than two years.

But the Cameron government appears to be preparing to opt out of these policies completely. Surely it cannot be expected that the EU institutions and the other 26 member states will stand idly by while the UK opts out of more than 130 of those measures – in essence re-erecting national borders in the fight against cross-border crime – and then seeks to rejoin a select few that it considers to be in its “national interest.”

Attempting to repatriate competences from the EU may play well in Britain’s notoriously euroskeptic media and parts of the Conservative Party, but I would question whether it is truly in the UK’s long-term interest.

More than a set of rules The EU is much more than a set of rules governing the internal market and the free movement of goods, serv-

ices, capital, and people. It is a unique and historic project that has unified the European continent. Nation-states have pooled sovereignty voluntarily, because they believe that together, they are stronger. I believe in the UK’s role in helping to lead this project – in Europe’s interest and its own.

I suspect that Mr Cameron is playing a dangerous game for purely tactical, domestic reasons. I believe him when he says that he wants the UK to remain a member of the EU. But he increasingly resembles the sorcerer’s apprentice, who cannot tame the forces that he has conjured – forces that want to leave the EU for ideological reasons, to the detriment of the British people.

January 1, 2013, marked 40 years of British membership of the EU. The Union is likely to become even more significant in the next 40 years, which is why the UK should remain fully committed to shaping its future. ● Martin Schulz is president of the European Parliament.

Copyright: Project Syndicate, 2013. project-syndicate.org

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COVER STORY

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Gov’t doled out z∏.3.4 billion in 2011 In 2011, the Polish government supported 130,000 companies with over z∏.3.4 billion in “de minimis” aid, according to the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK). “De minimis” refers to government aid which does not require notification to the European Commission.

UOKiK said that this figure was about 25% lower than in the previous year, adding that the drop was due to smaller number of EU funds granted to Poland.

Z∏oty weakens on World Bank forecast The z∏oty dropped to sixweek lows along with other emerging-market assets following a cut in the World Bank’s global growth forecast, and general expectations that the Polish central bank will cut rates in February. Last Wednesday the z∏oty reached z∏.4.128 against the euro – its weakest point since December 6.

Three banks fined z∏.6.5 million Polish regulators fined PKO Bank Polski, Bank Pekao and Raiffeisen Bank Polska on grounds of not respecting consumer rights. PKO BP was fined z∏.2.84 million, Pekao was slapped with a z∏.1.83 million fine, while Raiffeisen Polska was handed a z∏.1.83 million fine. The banks can still appeal the court’s decision.

Unemployment to reach 14%?

Unemployment in the winter months could reach 14%, according to Deputy Labor Minister Jacek M´cina. Mr M´cina said that unemployment is most certainly likely to increase between January and March.

Between March and April seasonal work – in horticulture, agriculture, tourism, catering, and perhaps the construction industry – will pick up again. Unemployment in Poland was 13.3% in December, according to the Labor Ministry. ●

JANUARY 21-27, 2013

Entrepreneurship

Poland’s startup generation

Joanna Irzabek

Poland produces some pretty innovative startup companies.

But most are still learning the basics of successful entrepreneurship Three big Polish companies are already interested in her product, but Anna Czoska isn’t hiding her plans to conquer foreign markets. Her mobile application, which has won the praise of several juries, is defying the economic downturn by riding its wave.

Virtual Recruiter has found its niche market in a large number of job seekers. There is a free basic version for future sales managers, marketers and other sought-after positions, but employees are interested in the app too. “I’m a generation Y girl and would like to use it myself,” said Ms Czoska, the startup’s founder.

A recent survey ordered by the Polish Agency for Enterprise Development (PARP) shows that more than 40 percent of twenty-something Poles of Anna’s generation Y intend to set up a company within the next three years. Is this genuine entrepreneurial zest or a way to survive an economic downturn that has rendered 13.3 percent of Poles unemployed, many of them young?

A million-dollar idea MCI, a private equity group operating in CEE, runs two startup funds, MCI.BioVentures and Helix Ventures Partners, both co-financed by public partners, the National Capital Fund and PARP. BioVen-

tures invests sums ranging from €1 to €5 million in health care, medtech and life science projects, while HVP invests up to €1.5 million in early stage projects in cloud computing, internet, software, mobile and wireless technologies.

“Polish entrepreneurs do not lack innovative ideas, especially in IT,” said Piotr Pajewski, who manages HVP. Where they are at a disadvantage is financing. “Our support makes it possible to take up projects that otherwise would have been dropped,” he said.

Lewiatan Business Angels (LBA), the largest business angels network in Poland and one of many such cooperation platforms for investors and originators that have mushroomed in Poland in recent years, confirms that most of their investment goes to projects in IT and mobile technologies.

“Investors are interested in this dynamic sector, which is expected to yield high returns,” said Szymon Kurzyca, a financial expert at Lewiatan Business Angels.

But it’s also a matter of supply.

LBA receives hundreds of mobile and internet-based projects per year, but very few based on scientific research in chemistry, physics and engineering. “There are many interesting projects developed in Polish university labs, but most of them never see the light of day,” he said.

I don’t want to be a startup founder Some other Polish startupbased tech services include a price-search engine, a dating portal, a mobile application

Small sums, big impact The Eastern Business Angels Network is a supra-regional cooperation platform for investors and originators, one of many such platforms that have mushroomed in Poland in recent years co-financed with the European and state money. The total sum invested so far by the network’s business angels totals z∏.3 million.

“It might not be a huge sum, but it’s a typical size of investment in early-stage projects, especially in Eastern Poland. We are expecting another round of private equi-

ty and venture capital involvement soon,” said Cezary Pasternak, project coordinator at the network, which spans southeastern Poland.

The five projects in their portfolio so far are mainly in IT. Only some are in biotech and fiberoptics. “It follows the country-wide trend,” he said.

Typical investment: MCI: €1-5 million Eastern Business Angels Network: z∏.1 million Innovation Nest: $ 25,000 LBA: up to z∏.1 million

SHUTTERSTOCK

12

Mobile application startups are popular funding targets for early-stage investors According to the European Regional Innovation Scoreboard 2012, Poland is not as

for grocery shopping and smart management of your busy schedule. All of these are

“There is enough money available through various programs that finance startup development. What is needed are innovative ideas with high commercial potential.” innovative as most would like it to be. It’s in the weakest category of “modest innovators.”

Robert Bogdanowicz, a young scientist at Gdansk Technical University and previous Stanford University intern, is doing

cool and useful, and provide much-needed proof of the entrepreneurial spirit of Poland’s generation Y. But how innovative and profitable are they really? Is it what big fish are looking for?

research in material science with a focus on diamonds.

He’s interested in innovations and would like to commercialize his findings, but has no intention of giving up his scientific career to pursue a startup dream.

“The ministerial system of appraising scientific research makes it practically impossible to do both,” he said. “I treasure my research too much to give it up completely.”

Commercialization is still a new concept at Polish universities. Procedures are being established but the academic world still looks down on sci-

Money for the innovative Portfolio funds’ investment by value and volume 6

18.00 16.00 Value of investments (in PLN)

14.00

5

Numbersof investments

12.00

4

10.00 3 8.00 2

6.00 4.00

1 2.00 0

0 Q4 2008

Q1 2009

Q2

Q3 2010

Q4

Q1

Q2

Q3 2011

Q4

Q1

Q2 2012

Source: Krajowy Fundusz Kapita∏owy

COVER STORY

JANUARY 21-27, 2013

www.wbj.pl

13

Sectors most likely to receive funding • software • cloud computing • mobile and wireless health care • biotech • medtech • life sciences

In search of innovation Contrary to what an outsider to the innovation business might believe, a startup is not a vehicle for all sorts of innovation. There are projects, like those in material research for the energy sector, that require costly experiments and large teams of specialists. They cannot be done by a few computer programmers working in a garage.

“Along with a classic model of a hi-tech company that can reach a significant size, there is a newer strategy that consists of quickly selling a company in its early stage to a large corporation,” explained Dr Jerzy CieÊlik, director of the Center for Entrepreneurship at the Kozminski University in Warsaw. An internet portal is also a startup, but probably of no interest whatsoever to a corporation hunting for the next big idea that will conquer the world.

“There is enough money available through various programs that finance startup development. What is needed are innovative ideas with high commercial potential,” professor CieÊlik said.

If the originality of a startup’s idea is its essence, then most Polish startups aren’t particularly outstanding. They mostly copy existing solutions.

But innovation is a relative term, at least to Rafa∏ Pagan, marketing & PR manager at Innovation Nest, a seed and startup fund that has recently launched an accelerator program for internet and other web-based high technology startups with global ambitions.

“There has been a clear shift from product innovation towards business-model innovation around the world. As a limited number of new business models come up every year, most startups are bound

to replicate them. They might adjust them to the local environment or modify them slightly to stand out from the crowd. If that’s our definition of innovation, then Polish startups are as innovative as the rest of the world,” said Mr Pagan.

On steroids A big chunk of Poland’s “modestly innovative” startup activity is generated through European money. A quick look at PARP’s website (the agency manages state and EU funds assigned for entrepreneurship and innovation support) shows 23 business environment institutions, 18 tech incubators and 35 technological parks, all funded from the European Structural Funds for 2007-

“Polish startups are forced to think globally from their very inception.”

2013. It’s hardly an exhaustive list of entities that make use of these funds.

“There has been a wave of beneficiaries of the European funds for startup support,” noted Mr Bogdanowicz. “They have been commercialized and constitute a sector on its own. But you have to keep in mind that it’s artificial support.

It’s like juicing up an athlete with performance-enhancing drugs.”

Such financial injections can have consequences for a project’s flexibility. Much of the funds are granted on nonnegotiable terms, such as those from the National Centre for Research and Development (NCBR), which also provides venture capital. Usually there are strings attached to grants.

“In the case of European funds, it might be a commitment to a given market. But what if there is a whole new market created, say, in Africa,

Global success?

How many startups can appeal to the millions of customers around the world?

The average worldwide ratio of seed and startup success is 1 out of 10.

Polish investment funds are very cautious about investing in startups, expecting a tenfold return in five years. “But as our portfolio shows,” said Andrzej

Ziemiƒski, a member of the management board of BBI Seed Fund, “the success rate can be as high as 40 percent.”

Success rate: Global average: 1 out of 10.

BBI Seed Fund predictions for Poland: 40 percent (based on current portfolio).

NCF’s expected investment return: tenfold

SHUTTERSTOCK

entists who flirt with business.

So taking an entrepreneur’s path equals burning bridges to the academia. “If you fail as an entrepreneur, there is no way back,” said Mr Bogdanowicz.

“The problem is that most teams [of Polish developers] are composed of tech guys with zero knowledge on how to build a business,” according to startup mentor Alex Barrera while you have committed to sell your product in the EU? ” asked Mr Bogdanowicz.

Going global Alex Barrera, founder of Press42.com and a startup mentor, says Polish startups have great tech ideas but know next to nothing about business. “Technically speaking, Polish developers are not only good but above average. They can do amazing stuff. The problem is that most of the teams are composed of tech guys with zero knowledge on how to build a business. This is one of the things that has been preventing great companies from expanding beyond the Polish borders.”

Going global is the only way to go, most startup experts agree. Ideally, starting from Silicon Valley and expanding from there. “Polish startups are forced to think globally from their very inception,” said professor CieÊlik. “The domestic market’s absorption capacity is low.”

It’s very difficult to introduce new products in the Polish market, especially innovative ones. “Consumers are conservative, their purchasing power is weak and demand for innovative products across segments low.

Price is what matters,” said Mr Bogdanowicz.

The hard-to-battle external factors might push ambitious Polish entrepreneurs abroad, but there are also mental attitudes at home that are not exactly conducive to the startup mindset. While in the US a startup is created to quickly sell, earn and finance the next big idea, a small business in Poland is expected to stay in the family. In the US a failure is part of an entrepreneur’s portfolio – in Poland it ruins your reputation. In the US it’s easy to open a business – in Poland bureaucracy can kill it.

And many potential Polish startup founders simply do not believe in themselves.

Perhaps one thing that helps a young Polish entrepreneur most in climbing to the top is what can be both his advantage and its opposite: the ability to wheel and deal.

“Where other people might see a wall, a Polish entrepreneur will find a door,” said Mr Bogdanowicz.

Fresh blood There is some good news for the ambitious Polish startups that are not afraid of global challenges. A recent report by

Ernst & Young expects a “paradigm shift” in the behavior of American venture capital. Currently, the vast majority of VC firms invest in their home markets, the report says, but more will be investing internationally in the next five years – including in the CEE as the new destination for fresh blood.

“Most of our startups are at a very early stage,” said Innovation Nest’s Rafa∏ Pagan.

“But we can already distinguish startups that think and

operate globally. There are several dozen of them and the list is being expanded.”

Startups do not exist in a vacuum. “Developing technologically advanced entrepreneurship is a long process,” professor CieÊlik said. “Companies that are not necessarily innovative but generate dynamic employment and sales should be supported too.

It’s them, not the high-tech startups, that generate most of the employment in today’s economy.” ●

Last chance for entrepreneurs to join the Zacznij.biz competition!

Zacznij.biz – idea – business – success, is a business competition organized by the he e Conf Confedfed hir e hird editio on of eration Lewiatan and Lewiatan Business Angels. On December 1, 2012, the third edition cts t is Jan ts uary ry 31, the Zacznij.biz competition was launched. The deadline for submitting projects January 2013. ave the possibility tto o take Those who enter their ideas into the Zacznij.biz competition will have ionss a and nd w ed by experienced e ex xperts part in several free training sessions workshops conducted experts in ness An ngels. In add addition dition participants ici icipants will have a cha nce to cooperating with Lewiatan Business Angels. addition, chance us usine ess plan n and acquire the kn nowledge o and skills for eff ffective prepare a comprehensive business knowledge effective presentation of their business ideas. Fi Finally, allly, the bes best st ideass will w be presented to attract int interest tterest of potential investors from Lewiatan Business Angels. ness n Ange els.

Zacznij.biz – idea – business – success, is aimed at: a a t t: • micro and small enterprises with big growth potential, operating sector, ro rowth wth th po potential l, ope operat rating ing in the hi-tech se e ector, seeking to raise capital for development and n nd d im implementation of new technologies and d students stu of technical universities, who ow • academics: researchers, graduate students a want to commercialize their innovative ideas ector ecto with wit global growth potential al • entrepreneurs with projects operating in the ICT sector .biz.pl .biz. biz..pll an and d fill fill in the pr prop per for To participate in the competition, just register at www.zacznij.biz.pl proper form anua anuar uary 31, 2013.

2013 3. T he most mo available on the website. Applications are being accepted until January The 2013.

013. sound and promising ideas will be presented at the Final Gala in May, 2013 liń ńska--Kasprzak Members of Jury of Honour of the Zacznij.biz competition are: Bożena Lublińska-Kasprzak, ia arz, P resident o President of the Polish Agency for Enterprise Development; Henryka Bochniarz, President of irecctor of the the Confederation Lewiatan and Professor Krzysztof Jan Kurzydłowski, Director National Centre for Research and Development.

Join Zacznij.biz – idea – business – success at www.zacznij.biz.pl

Bartosz Turek says it will be another tough year for residential developers

The Treasury will sell 25% of Polskie Holding NieruchomoÊci by the end of March 15

17

LOKALE IMMOBILIA

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

Szczecin mall construction to start in spring Construction on Marcredo Center Szczecin will be launched in April and its completion is scheduled for December. Located on ul. Struga in the northwestern Polish city of Szczecin, the mall will offer 11,000 sqm of retail space and 400 parking spaces.

New tenants at Nowy Dom Jab∏kowskich Sud Architects, APAX Consulting Group and the Polish Investment Fund have leased the second and fifth floors of Nowy Dom Jab∏kowskich, located at the corner of ul. Bracka and ul.

Chmielna in Warsaw.

Both leases were signed for five years. Sud Architects will occupy the majority of the fifth floor.

APAX Consulting Group’s and the Polish Investment Fund’s offices will take the half of the second floor. ●

In this issue Ferio Wawer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14 Griffin-City Hall battle . . . . . . . .14 Home Broker interview . . . . . .15 Baltic Molo Park . . . . . . . . . . . . .16 PHN IPO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16

New mall to be built in Wawer The new Ferio Wawer commercial-service center will open in the summer of 2015 Warsaw’s southeastern district of Wawer will get its own mall by 2015. Ferio Wawer, as the scheme is to be called, will offer 12,500 sqm of retail space and several hundred parking spaces. The mall will be built at the intersection of ul. Szpotaƒskiego and ul. ˚agaƒska and have a total area of 22,000 sqm.

Developer Raiffeisen Evolution Project Development will build the new investment within a former manufacturing plant that was originally built in 1918. The APA Kury∏owicz & Associates architectural studio designed the mall in accordance with the factory’s prewar architecture.

The architects, who successfully adapted the Stara Papiernia shopping center on the premises of an old paper

COURTESY OF RAIFFEISEN EVOLUTION PROJECT DEVELOPMENT

The world's largest hotel chain is expanding its Chorzów hospitality facility. Best Western Premier Katowice, currently comprising 170 rooms, will occupy two adjacent buildings that are planned on either side of the scheme. The four-star facility will be the biggest hotel in the region.

Retail

The Ferio Wawer design is in line with the building’s historical architecture mill in Konstancin, near Warsaw, have placed this new building between four existing edifices all entered in the city’s historical monuments registry.

As the scheme is located in Wawer’s administrative center, near the office of the district executive, the architects have planned recreational areas and cycle paths, as well as benches and flower stands.

Ferio Wawer will be one of the smaller shopping centers in Warsaw (its retail space is 6,000 sqm smaller than Wola’s Klif) but will nevertheless be the biggest in the district. The mall will include a supermarket, various boutiques, restaurants and service points among its future tenants.

Raiffeisen Evolution Project Development is an Aus-

tria-based company that develops office and commercial real estate in its home market and in Eastern Europe. To date it has built, among others, Ferio shopping centers in Konin, Legnica, Pu∏awy, Szczecin and Wroc∏aw.

According to Jones Lang LaSalle, 25 shopping centers will open in Poland in 2012 and another nine will be

expanded. Poznaƒ City Center and Auchan Bronowice in Kraków (both comprising 60,000 sqm), Galeria Katowicka in Katowice (53,000 sqm) and CH Wzgórze in Gdynia (45,500 sqm) will be the largest of the planned new malls. Expansion is planned for Warsaw’s Galeria Mokotów and Auchan in ¸omianki, near the capital.

Karolina Kowalska

Skyscrapers

Griffin’s conflict with Warsaw over Emilia continues The company and the city still can’t agree on terms to lease space to Warsaw’s Museum of Modern Art There seems to be no end to controversy over the purchase of furniture retailer Meble Emilia and its property on ul.

Emilii Plater in the center of Warsaw. Though the building has been removed from the city’s historical register, technically making it legal for Griffin to begin construction on a new building, the company and city still can’t agree on terms for leasing space to the city’s Museum of Modern Art. Since May last year the property has been the museum’s temporary home as it waits for the construction of a

COURTESY OF GRIFFIN GROUP

Best Western Katowice to expand

JANUARY 21-27, 2013, LI 18/02

Griffin Group’s planned tower would deliver some 41,000 sqm of GLA on the site new facility. In September of last year, just as Griffin was buying the building, city offi-

cials declared it a “monument of history,” making it illegal to demolish.

The site was eventually removed from the city’s registry of historical buildings, but the conflict didn’t end there.

City Hall and Griffin still cannot come to terms on the conditions of an agreement that guarantees the museum a four-year occupancy. While it negotiated the purchase of Emilia, Griffin said that leasing the space to the museum for four years wouldn’t be an obstacle to a deal. But after the agreement was signed, the city stated that it wanted the museum to be able to use the space for seven years, as it waited for a permanent home to be built.

In response, in October Griffin terminated the agreement, citing city’s breach of contract. Warsaw’s officials claimed that the breach was not significant enough to break the

agreement and refuses to pay Griffin a z∏.500,000 monthly penalty. Griffin took the city to court over the matter.

In December, Griffin offered to lease space to the museum in the new building permanently, at a preferential rate. City officials have turned down the offer.

That Griffin had planned to tear down the Emilia building and build a €130 million office tower on the site, which is wedged between the high-rise InterContinental Hotel and the Warsaw Financial Center, was widely known when the conflict began.

Griffin still plans the development of an office tower on the site, with 41,000 sqm of leasable space.

Karolina Kowalska

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

JANUARY 21-27, 2013

LOKALE IMMOBILIA – REAL ESTATE

Residential

A buyer’s market Lokale Immobilia sits down with Bartosz Turek, a real estate market analyst at Home Broker, to discuss apartment market prospects for the next 12 months

Should we expect any spectacular bankruptcies?

Hopefully not, although the National Bank of Poland revealed that more than 1 in 5 developers had trouble paying off their loans in the third quarter of 2012. Nobody wants developers to collapse, but that is not an impossible scenario. It is most likely some of them will choose to consolidate. The only foreseeable hope may come at the end of the year, when some buyers, especially those who do not have a lot of money, will speed up their deals in fear of

higher down-payment requirements on mortgages in 2014.

And this is the only major change this year, as mortgages in foreign currencies have been practically eliminated by the Polish Financial Supervision Authority. Currently, only three mortgages in 100 are granted in euros, mostly to those who earn in that currency. And as interest rates have already been cut by 75 basis points, and will probably be cut further, in six months it will be cheaper to get a mortgage in z∏oty than in euros.

Will these developments stop the downturn in apartment prices?

Prices have been dropping for the past five years and they are now 28 percent lower than in 2004 or even 40 percent lower, taking into consideration inflation. Prices are now parallel to the creditworthiness of buyers, so the situation on the real estate market depends on the credit market. If the creditworthiness of Polish families grows and credit becomes cheaper, then the market will rebound.

Does that mean that now is the best time to buy an apartment?

Not necessarily, because prices may drop even more. I bought an apartment in August 2012 and that apartment costs 10-15 percent less today.

And if you were to buy a flat today, how would you go about it?

I would already start looking for one because the banks could increase their commission fees soon. If I were to get a mortgage today, I would most certainly pay a lower commission than if I were to get one in six to nine months’ time. I would try to avoid postponing the trans-

15

Housing prices to fall in 2013 According to a forecast made by the Polish Real Estate Federation (PFRN), housing prices will continue to fall in 2013.

The federation points to factors such as the banking sector's continuously strict mortgage policy, as well as the poor economic situation in Poland and in the EU region. The organization said that if these do not change and the z∏oty does not grow stronger, the situation on the housing market will not improve.

Real estate investors buy more land

COURTESY OF HOME BROKER

Karolina Kowalska: Last year was really hard on developers.

Will this one be any easier?

Bartosz Turek: Recent changes in the market definitely favor buyers. Developers are facing another tough year as the “Rodzina na Swoim” (“Family on its Own”) government program [subsidizing apartment purchases for young families] is over and it is unclear whether its successor, “Mieszkanie dla M∏odych” (“Apartments for the Youth”) [subsidizing apartment purchases for young couples and singles] will actually be implemented in July.

The transaction volume should not be bigger than in 2012, since many buyers concluded their deals in the last quarter of 2012, taking advantage of the “Rodzina na Swoim” program before it ended. Also, the potential beneficiaries of “Mieszkanie dla M∏odych” will probably have to wait till July. So for the next six months business will be slower.

On the other hand, there is a threat that “Mieszkanie dla M∏odych” will not take off until 2014, as the state budget is facing cuts. So things could be slow for the whole year.

www.wbj.pl

Home Broker’s Bartosz Turek says residential developers are facing another tough year, which could be good for buyers action till the end of the year in fear of higher down-payment requirements. I would certainly try to get an apartment before 2015, when the restrictions of the S Recommendation will be introduced and we will be paying even as much as z∏.70,000 in administrative fees while buying a property worth z∏.300,000.

But one should not buy an apartment now at any cost. It should be a real deal. If the developer offers something special, then we can close.

According to your analysis, buyers on secondary markets are now more likely to negotiate than before. Why? The difference between the offering and closing price on the secondary market increased to 6 percent last year

from 3 percent in 2010. It shows that developers were more likely to lower the price of a square meter. They cut back on the extras, such as a free parking space or a car, only to be able to put on billboards that they sell at z∏.6,000 per sqm, which makes their flats more desirable. Sellers in secondary markets are less prone to react to changes in the real estate market by lowering asking prices, so they need to be more flexible during negotiations.

Is the secondary market still more popular than the primary market?

Yes, the secondary market still holds an over 50 percent share of the whole transaction volume. That’s mainly because

there are more apartments on the secondary market than new ones and used apartments tend to be a lot cheaper than those recently completed. One can buy a used, two-bedroom apartment in a prefabricated concrete building for as little as z∏.300,000, while a new unfinished apartment costs around 20 to 50 percent more.

Who chooses to buy new apartments today?

Mainly people who can afford to wait for their place to be built and have money to furnish it, as well as the young. There is also a tendency to migrate from cities to the suburbs, which are quieter and cheaper. One can have a 100-meter apartment there for the price of 40 sqm in the city. ●

The total value of land purchase transactions for real estate construction in Poland was z∏.1.5 billion in 2012, compared to z∏.1.21.3 billion a year earlier, Daniel Puchalski, associate director at Colliers International told Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.

One of the major factors influencing the rising number of transactions was the falling price of land throughout Poland, he said.

Hays’ new Lumen lease CBRE has advised Hays Poland in the negotiation process of the lease of 1,265 sqm of office space in the Lumen building in the Z∏ote Tarasy complex in the center of Warsaw.

Lumen is a class-A eightstorey scheme providing approximately 23,500 sqm of modern office space. “We have been able to negotiate favorable lease terms for our client,” said Daniel Bienias, director of CBRE’s tenant representation department. ●

16

LOKALE IMMOBILIA – REAL ESTATE

www.wbj.pl

JANUARY 21-27, 2013

Hotels

Privatization

Baltic Park Molo construction to be launched this spring

Treasury to sell 25% of PHN in IPO

COURTESY OF ZDROJOWA INVEST

Developer Zdrojowa Invest is preparing to launch construction on the first phase of its Baltic Park Molo mixed-use development in ÂwinoujÊcie on the Baltic Sea. The Warsaw-based P∏askowicki & Partnerzy Architekci studio, which designed the hotel-apartment-service complex, is completing the building plans and Zdrojowa Invest will soon announce a tender for construction, which should commence in the spring.

The first building to be developed will be a four-star hotel with 400 condo apartments for sale and for rent, a passage with a spa facility, a water park and conference center, as well as a 150-meter promenade leading to a beach.

Later on, the complex will also get a five-star hotel with approximately 200 rooms, two apartment buildings and a pier. Both buildings will feature a wellness center, retail, recreation and art space, a water park and a cinema.

There will also be parking

The stake in the huge holding firm could be worth as much as z∏.423 million

The first building to be developed will be a four-star hotel spaces for 500-600 vehicles.

Two residential buildings, due to offer between 600 and 700 apartments, are also planned. The residences will be priced from z∏.11,00018,000 per sqm.

“We are currently working on getting a sustainability certificate as we are trying to make the investment as environmentally friendly as possible. We hope that Baltic Park Molo will be absolutely unique,” said Jan Wróblewski, a board member at Zdrojowa Invest.

The whole Baltic Park Molo scheme, which is valued at from

z∏.200 to z∏.250 million, is scheduled to be completed in 2018.

The investment will be one of the largest business hotel centers in the area and one of the largest in Poland, so it attracted the biggest names in architecture. Its concept was selected via a competition in which over 70 studios from Poland and abroad took part. Apart from the investor, the jury of the competition included a representative of ÂwinoujÊcie, as well as representatives of the Association of Polish Architects.

Karolina Kowalska

Poland’s Treasury Ministry has announced that it plans to begin the privatization process of Polski Holding NieruchomoÊci, a huge real estate holding firm, in the first quarter of the year through an IPO of a 25 percent stake. After the IPO, the Treasury wants to sell a majority stake to a strategic investor.

Brokerages have valued PHN at between z∏.1.15 billion and z∏.1.7 billion. That would put the value of the 25 percent stake at z∏.287-423 million.

Grupa Radius, a Polish real estate firm, last year released a statement saying that it was interested in buying a stake in PHN. Mennica Polska, a publicly-traded mint, has also expressed interest.

The IPO of PHN was a key part of Poland’s z∏.10 billion privatization plan for 2012, but was postponed due to negative market conditions.

PHN was created in 2011 by pooling together 180 differ-

ent real estate and land holdings owned by the state. The intention was to increase consolidation in the sector.

PHN manages commercial, office and residential build-

ings, including Warsaw’s wellknown Intraco building and villas in the capital’s Wilanów district.

Kamila Wajszczuk, Karolina Kowalska

COURTESY OF PATRYK KORZENIECKI

The full mixed-use, z∏.250 million investment is due to be complete in 2018

The Intraco building in Warsaw is one of the properties owned by Polski Holding NieruchomoÊci

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18

THE LIST

www.wbj.pl

JANUARY 21-27, 2013

Corporate Services

Business Consulting Companies Ranked by total number of consultants

www.bookoflists.pl

Przewodnik po polskim biznesie i gospodarce

Rank

A guide to Polish business and industry

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

1

PwC(1) Al. Armii Ludowej 14, 00-638 Warsaw 22 523-4000/22 523-4040 pwcpoland@pl.pwc.com www.pwc.com.pl

433 421 12

WND WND WND WND

WND 188.8 146.9 146.7

WND 453.7 389.1 399.7

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

TP; Orlen; PZU; PKO BP; PGNiG

1,765 1990

Olga Grygier-Siddons

2

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

394 WND WND

WND 157.0 110.7 98.8

WND 176.0 133.7 120.8

WND 497.0 406.1 444.0

Business consulting; IT consulting

PGNiG; PGE; Tauron; Orlen; Pekao

1,585 1990

Duleep Aluwihare; Piotr Piela

3

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

305 305 -

80.5 124.9 120.2 180.5

211.0 341.0 335.6 363.7

216.2 344.6 340.3 371.8

Business, tax, financial advice; audits

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

1,119 1990

Marek Metrycki; Dariusz Kraszewski

4

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

265 WND WND

WND WND WND WND

WND WND WND WND

WND 471.5 392.3 333.2

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

WND

4,200 1996

Frank Wagenbauer

5

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

189 184 5

31.5 45.5 57.1 55.8(2)

41.8 66.5 70.7 72.3(2)

230.0 407.0 455.0 440.3(2)

Cost and efficiency management; IT risk management; company efficiency improvement; IT system selection, implementation and maintenance; IT system and process requirement inspection; general business advisory; corporate finance; transaction services; restructuring

WND

1,289 1990

Andrzej Âcis∏owski

6

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

186 186 -

32.7 58.6 72.4 62.1

32.7 58.6 72.4 62.1

46.2 76.7 100.5 68.6

WND

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

231 1999

Andrzej Dziurdzik

7

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

90 90 -

6.0 18.2 19.6 18.9

6.0 18.2 19.6 18.9

6.0 18.2 19.6 18.9

Business consulting; EU projects; human resources development

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

120 1991

Marek Pankowski

8

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

73 70 3

1.0 2.7 3.3 3.6

1.0 2.7 3.3 3.6

9.9 27.6 24.6 24.5

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

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

98 2004

Aleksander Drzewiecki

9

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

60 60 -

WND WND WND WND

64.7 151.2 155.2 165.2

66.1 186.8 209.2 213.7

Consulting services and IT solutions

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

587 1991

Borys Stokalski

52 52 -

WND WND WND WND

WND WND WND WND

5.5 10.0 8.7 8.6

Business consulting; IT consulting; project management

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

63 2005

Pawe∏ Biarda

50 WND WND

WND WND WND WND

WND WND WND WND

WND WND WND WND

Organizational efficiency development; leadership development; employees engagement development

WND

WND 1995

Edward Stanoch

DGA SA ul. Towarowa 35, 61-896 Poznaƒ 12 61 859-5900/61 859-5901 dgasa@dga.com.pl www.dga.pl

40 40 -

1.8 6.5 10.1 7.2

12.8 35.6 49.6 25.2

14.7 36.8 52.3 27.4

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

WND

50 1990

Andrzej G∏owacki

APAX Consulting Sp. z o.o.

Al. Ujazdowskie 41, 00-540 Warsaw 13 22 319-5755/22 319-5758 biuro@apax.pl www.apax.pl

38 28 10

WND WND WND WND

WND WND WND WND

WND WND WND WND

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

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

40 2007

Dariusz Brzeziƒski

Doradca Consultants Ltd. Sp. z o.o. ul. WolnoÊci 18A, 81-327 Gdynia 14 58 621-9186/58 621-9927 office@doradca.com.pl www.doradca.com.pl

32 32 -

4.6 8.0 5.1 5.6

4.6 8.0 5.1 5.6

4.7 8.1 5.6 6.0

Management consultancy

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

45 1985

Jaros∏aw Zysnarski

Hay Group Sp. z o.o. ul. Flisa 4, 02-247 Warsaw 15 22 577-4444/22 577-4445 haygroup@haygroup.pl www.haygroup.pl

30 30 -

WND WND WND WND

13.7 13.1 11.9 15.5

13.7 13.1 11.9 15.5

Transforming business strategies into organizational solutions; strategy decoding and development; broad M&A support; operational reorganization and improvment; organizational Skandia; AkzoNobel; KBC Group; HDI; Lukas; BG˚ climate change; leadership transformation; talent managment; reward strategies and rerward information services

45 1998

Sylwia DeVoge

Mercer (Polska) Sp. z o.o.

Al. Jerozolimskie 94, 00-807 Warsaw 16 22 456-4020/22 456-4021 maciej.glajcher@mercer.com www.mercer.com.pl

20 20 -

WND WND WND WND

1.4 4.6 6.5 2.2

3.4 10.8 20.7 18.0

Advice on human capital management; advice on employees benefits; wages and benefits analysis; advice on mergers and acquisitions; labor market analysis

WND

WND 1999

Krzysztof Nowak

FIRMA 2000 Sp. z o.o. ul. Królowej Marysieƒki 90, Warsaw 02-954 17 22 642-5872/22 642-5873 mail@firma2000.pl www.firma2000.pl

17 17 -

0.9 1.1 0.8 0.3

0.9 1.1 0.8 0.3

4.5 12.5 5.4 1.6

Training; project management and advice; EU funds acquisition; communication campaign design and implementation; monitoring and valuation systems

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

27 1999

Marcin Opas

Carrywater Group SA Al. Jerozolimskie 65/79, 00-697 Warsaw 10 22 630-6655/22 630-6656 biuro@carrywater.com www.carrywater.com Aon Hewitt Sp. z o.o.

Al. Jerozolimskie 96, 00-800 Warsaw 11 22 696-5220/22 696-5221 centrumkonsultingu@aonhewitt.com www.aon.com/poland/

Number of consultants: Total / Polish / Foreign

Revenue from Total revenue management Total revenue from consulting (z∏. mln) consulting (z∏. mln) 1st half of 2011 / 2010 / 2009 / 2008

Main activities

Selected clients

Total number of employees / Year founded in Poland

Top local executive / Title

President

Managing Partners

Managing Partners

Vice President

Senior Partner

President

President

President

President

President

President

Managing Partner

President

President

Board Member

President

THE LIST

Rank

JANUARY 21-27, 2013

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

Number of consultants: Total / Polish / Foreign

Revenue from Total revenue management Total revenue from consulting (z∏. mln) consulting (z∏. mln) 1st half of 2011 / 2010 / 2009 / 2008

www.wbj.pl

Main activities

Selected clients

Total number of employees / Year founded in Poland

Top local executive / Title

19

Grant Thornton Fràckowiak Sp. z o.o., Sp.k. (1) ul. Abpa Antoniego Baraniaka 88E, 61-131 Poznaƒ 17 61 625-1100 info@gtfr.pl www.grantthornton.pl

17 17 -

WND 3.2 2.7 1.0

WND 10.1 9.8 9.0

WND 34.1 32.4 35.7

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

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

225 1993

Cecylia Pol; Tomasz Wróblewski

MDDP Business Consulting (MDDP Sp. z o.o. Finanse i Ksi´gowoÊç Sp.k.) ul. Mokotowska 49, 00-542 Warsaw 17 22 322-6888/22 322-6889 biuro@mddp.pl www.mddp.pl

17 17 -

4.1 6.0 5.7 4.9

5.3 6.0 5.7 4.9

5.3 6.0 5.7 4.9

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

Bumar; Pfizer; TVN; Polpharma; NFI EMF

22 2006

W∏odzimierz Makowski

Polinvest Sp. z o.o. ul. Jana Bro˝ka 3, 30-347 Kraków 17 12 263-7002/12 263-7001 polinvest@polinvest.pl www.polinvest.pl

17 17 -

1.3 4.3 3.9 3.2

1.3 4.3 3.9 3.2

1.3 4.3 3.9 3.2

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

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

20 1989

Wies∏aw Samitowski

REAS Sp. z o.o., Sp.k. ul. Belwederska 9/103, 00-761 Warsaw 18 22 380-2100/22 380-2101 office@reas.pl www.reas.pl

16 15 1

WND WND WND WND

WND WND WND WND

WND WND WND WND

18 1997

Kazimierz Kirejczyk

HRM partners SA ul. Bukowiƒska 26b, 02-703 Warsaw 19 22 244-1550/22 244-1551 hrmpartners@hrmpartners.pl www.hrmpartners.pl

14 14 -

WND WND WND WND

1.2 2.7 2.4 4.1

1.2 2.7 2.4 4.1

Designing and implementing of effective HR solutions based on own benchmarks

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

14 2000

Zbigniew Woêniakowski

PKF Consult Grupa Kapita∏owa ul. Orzycka 6 lok. 1b, 02-695 Warsaw 20 22 560-7650/22 560-7663 pkfconsult@pkfconsult.pl www.pkfconsult.pl

11 11 -

1.6 3.0 2.5 3.1

2.1 3.4 7.2 4.1

13.2 18.8 19.7 17.7

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

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

175 1993

Ewa Jakubczyk-Ca∏y

Holon Consultants Sp. z o.o.

Al. Jana Paw∏a II 23, 00-854 Warsaw 21 22 653-9090/22 653-9099 biuro@holon.pl www.holon.pl

10 9 1

WND WND WND WND

WND WND WND WND

WND WND WND WND

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

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

12 2002

Maciej CieÊlak

8 WND WND

Below 0.5 WND WND WND

Below 0.5 WND WND WND

Below 0.5 WND WND WND

Coaching; motivation; BSC; negotiations

Metro Group; JTI; Sab Miller; L'Oreal

WND 2008

Agnieszka Lupa

Ageron Polska ul. StaroÊciƒska 1B, 02-516 Warsaw 23 22 646-4221/22 646-4223 ageron@ageron.pl www.ageron.pl

7 7 -

WND WND WND WND

WND WND WND WND

WND WND WND WND

Internationalization process support; market research; strategic planning

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

12 2003

Micha∏ Zieliƒski

UBIK Business Consulting Sp. z o.o. ul. Ho˝a 51, 00-681 Warsaw 24 22 423-7060/22 211-1607 info@hardgamma.com www.ubikbc.pl

6 5 1

WND WND WND WND

WND WND WND WND

WND WND WND 0.5

7 2006

Krzysztof Kowalczyk

Consulco Poland Sp. z o.o. ul. Mokotowska 57/5, 00-542 Warsaw 25 22 622-0602/22 628-1746 warsaw@consulco.com www.consulco.com

2 WND WND

WND WND WND WND

WND WND WND WND

WND WND WND WND

WND

WND

WND 2008

Tomasz Ko∏aczyk

Accenture Sp. z o.o. ul. Sienna 39, 00-121 Warsaw 26 22 464-0000/22 464-0001 pl.office@accenture.com www.accenture.pl/com

WND WND WND

94.4 72.0 90.3 107.6

320.1 244.1 306.1 364.8

322.2 245.9 308.9 367.0

WND

WND

WND 1993

WND

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

WND WND WND

WND WND WND WND

WND WND WND WND

WND WND WND WND

WND

Cersanit II; Danone; Grupa Animex; Lafarge Cement; Michelin Polska; Opoczno I; Saint-Gobain Construction Products Polska

WND 2004

Beata Bartkiewicz-Chudak

Bilans Consulting Development ul. Marysiƒska 40, 04-606 Warsaw NR 22 815-6416/22 815-6416 sekretariat@bcdevelopment.com.pl www.bcdevelopment.com.pl

WND WND WND

WND WND WND WND

WND WND WND WND

WND WND WND WND

Full range of HR advice and support

Auchan; Norauto; Simply; Decathlon; Sodexo

WND 2000

˚aneta Poirieux

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

WND 7 WND

0.5 1.0 0.4 0.7

0.5 1.0 0.4 0.7

1.0 2.2 1.1 1.3

Investment banking; strategic advice

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

8 2006

Edyta Skoczyƒska

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

WND WND WND

WND WND WND WND

WND WND WND WND

WND WND WND WND

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

WND

45 2006

Monika Martynkiewicz-Frank; Claus Frank; Roy Heynlein, Ortwin Jentsch

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

WND WND WND

0.4 0.7 0.6 0.3

WND WND WND WND

0.7 1.4 1.4 1.5

31 2005

Ewa Kastory

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

WND WND WND

WND WND WND WND

WND WND WND WND

WND WND WND WND

WND 1997

Franciszek Hutten-Czapski

A & Lupa International ul. Andersa 21/34, 00-159 Warsaw 22 22 831-0271

office@aandlupa.com www.aandlupa.com

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

Footnotes: (1) Financial year July 1 - June 30;

Financial advisory; property valuations; advice on Dom Development; Qualia Development; Robyg; developer activities; market and competition Jonson; Skanska monitoring

Strategy development; business strategies; definition and execution for TMT companies and Microsoft Poland; TVN; Groupon; Loyalty Partners; technology start-ups; innovation management; Allegro internet/social media advisory; VC advisory

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

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

WND

President; Vice President

Partner

President

President

President

President

Managing Partner

Managing Director

President

Country Manager

Managing Director

Managing Director

President

Partners

President

Managing Director; Partner

To the best of WBJ ’s knowledge, the information is accurate as of press time. While every effort is made to ensure accuracy and thoroughness, omissions and typographical errors may occur. Corrections or additions to The List should be sent, on official letterhead, to Warsaw Business Journal, attn. Monika Brysiak, ul. Elblàska 15/17, 01-747 Warsaw, via fax to (+48) 22 639-8569, or via e-mail to wbjbol@wbj.pl. Copyright 2012, Valkea Media SA. The List may not be reprinted or reproduced in whole or in part without prior written permission of the publisher. Reprints are available.

20

MARKETS

www.wbj.pl

JANUARY 21-27, 2013

Stocks report

world stock indices DJIA

NASDAQ

13,596.02 (Jan 17 close)

S&P500

3,136.00 (Jan 17 close)

0.93% (for the week)

FTSE100

1,480.94 (Jan 17 close)

0.46% (for the week)

DAX

6,132.36 (Jan 17 close)

0.60% (for the week)

0.51% (for the week)

WIG20 breaks 2,550

NIKKEI 7,735.46 (Jan 17 close)

10,609.64 (Jan 17 close)

0.35% (for the week)

-0.40% (for the week)

CHANGE: 1.37%

CHANGE: -1.91%

CHANGE: 1.27%

CHANGE: 1.74%

CHANGE: -0.56%

CHANGE: -0.73%

(year to Jan 17)

(year to Jan 17)

(year to Jan 17)

(year to Jan 17)

(year to Jan 17)

(year to Jan 17)

52-week high: 13,661.90

52-week high: 3,196.93

52-week high: 1,485.16

52-week high: 6,135.90

52-week high: 7,789.94

52-week high: 10,952.30

52-week low: 12,035.10

52-week low: 2,689.58

52-week low: 1,266.74

52-week low: 5,229.80

52-week low: 5,914.43

52-week low: 8,238.96

Andrew Nawrocki WBJ market analyst Last week was a busy one, with economic data being released on both sides of the Atlantic. Monday started off slow, though, with industrial production for the euro zone barely moving markets, while Asia’s largest stock exchange in Tokyo was closed. In Warsaw both the main-market WIG and the blue-chip WIG20 indices closed with marginal gains – both up nearly 0.1 percent.

On Tuesday, despite a slew of positive economic data, markets across the board, closed lower. The WIG fell 0.81 percent, while the WIG20 shed slightly over 1 percentage point. Hit hard were shares of KGHM and Tauron, both seeing their stock prices close 3 percent lower.

After a poor start on Wednesday for most Polish blue-

Major indices WIG

47,661.37 (January 17 close)

WIG20

2,567.16 (January 17 close)

17.0

16.0

15.0

14.0

11.0

10.0

09.0

08.0

07.0

04.0

03.0

02.0

28.1

17.0

16.0

15.0

14.0

11.0

10.0

09.0

08.0

07.0

2,500

04.0

46,000

03.0

2,540

02.0

46,600

28.1

2,580

27.1

47,200

21.1

2,620

20.1

47,800

19.1

2,660

18.1

48,400

17.1

2,700

14.1

49,000

27.1

52-week low: 2,035.80

21.1

Change year to January 17: -2.25%

20.1

52-week low: 36,653.28

19.1

52-week high: 2,628.36

Change year to January 17: -0.93%

18.1

Change for the week: -0.25%

17.1

52-week high: 48,222.72

14.1

Change for the week: 0.24%

Top 5 ATLANTAPL BYTOM SFINKS POLAQUA COMPLEX

Closing 5.40 0.32 1.59 4.39 0.95

% change (week) 52-week high 31.71 13.80 28.00 0.81 27.20 2.14 25.43 8.51 21.79 2.14

52-week low 3.00 0.25 0.78 3.20 0.74

Top 5 GTC TVN BRS PKNORLEN PEKAO

Closing 9.88 9.85 0.58 49.90 169.10

% change (week) 5.56 4.23 3.57 2.36 1.50

52-week high 11.47 12.40 0.89 53.70 173.10

52-week low 5.13 5.90 0.48 31.44 128.10

Bottom 5 ONE2ONE REGNON BIOTON REINHOLD MAKARONPL

Closing 0.33 0.03 0.08 0.41 2.37

% change (week) -34.00 -25.00 -20.00 -18.00 -12.22

52-week low 0.14 0.03 0.05 0.24 1.95

Bottom 5 PZU JSW PGE SYNTHOS TPSA

Closing 403.00 91.50 18.92 5.29 12.60

% change (week) -3.82 -3.17 -2.12 -1.86 -1.49

52-week high 442.00 112.50 21.08 6.78 18.08

52-week low 290.10 82.85 16.72 4.64 11.56

52-week high 3.46 0.18 0.13 1.99 4.15

Currency report

Z∏oty slides on weak data

Other indices sWIG80

10,767.29 (January 17 close)

WIG-Banki

6,661.60 (January 17 close)

17.0

16.0

15.0

14.0

11.0

10.0

09.0

08.0

07.0

04.0

03.0

02.0

28.1

17.0

16.0

15.0

14.0

11.0

10.0

09.0

08.0

07.0

04.0

6,400

03.0

32.0

02.0

6,480

28.1

32.4

27.1

6,560

21.1

32.8

20.1

6,640

19.1

33.2

18.1

6,720

17.1

33.6

14.1

6,800

27.1

52-week low: 5,163.30

21.1

Change year to January 17: -0.92%

20.1

52-week low: 32.53

19.1

52-week high: 6,723.16

Change year to January 17: 1.17%

18.1

Change for the week: 1.68%

17.1

52-week high: 43.83

14.1

Change for the week: 0.84%

34.0

Adam Narczewski X-Trade Brokers DM SA

17.0

16.0

15.0

14.0

11.0

10.0

09.0

08.0

07.0

52-week low: 8,893.98

04.0

28.1

27.1

21.1

17.0

16.0

15.0

14.0

11.0

10.0

33.61 (January 17 close)

52-week high: 10,767.29

SOURCE: WSE

NewConnect

09.0

08.0

07.0

04.0

10,100

03.0

2,500

02.0

10,240 28.1

2,540

27.1

10,380

21.1

2,580

20.1

10,520

19.1

10,660

2,620

18.1

2,660

17.1

10,800

14.1

2,700

20.1

Change year to January 17: 2.24%

19.1

52-week low: 2,147.52

18.1

Change year to January 17: 1.93%

17.1

Change for the week: 2.58%

14.1

52-week high: 2,625.96

03.0

2,618.14 (January 17 close)

02.0

mWIG40 Change for the week: 0.99%

chips, the WIG20 broke the important psychological barrier of 2,550 points. Strong financial earnings released on Wednesday by a few leading US investment banks propped up financials stocks.

Aside from Pekao, all financial stocks closed with impressive gains – insurance giant PZU led the way, gaining a 3 percent. The WIG20 finished 1.29 percent higher.

The gains continued on Thursday, with the WIG up 0.29 percent. Helping prop up stocks were improved housing and employment statistics coming out of the US. More modest gains were seen on the WIG20 index, which rose 0.08 percent.

On Friday both the WIG and WIG20 rose, by 0.32 percent and 0.19 percent respectively, despite negative macroeconomic data. ●

Currency markets provided many trading possibilities for investors this past week.

Mixed macroeconoic data caused the EUR/USD to trade in the range of $1.3250-1.3400. It seems that US dollar bulls are taking over, and in the next couple of weeks the EUR/USD could dive much lower.

It was also interesting on the z∏oty market. The macroeconomic data that was published last week confirmed the weakening of the economy. CPI inflation in December dropped to 2.4 percent y/y and I do not believe it will increase any time soon. The big negative surprise came on Friday, with the industrial production report showing a 10.6 percent decline in December.

The z∏oty reacted instantly – while still being traded at

z∏.4.10 against the euro and z∏.3.07 against the dollar on Friday morning, it depreciated dramatically to z∏.4.15 against the euro and z∏.3.12 against the dollar.

The upcoming week will likely answer the question if this z∏oty depreciation is just a corrective movement or a change of trend. It is worth mentioning that the strong positive correlation between the EUR/PLN and EUR/HUF (Hungarian forint) was broken and those currency pairs diverged from their common path.

Forecasting that this divergence will close in the future (as has happened before), we can expect a downward move on the EUR/HUF and an upward move on the EUR/PLN in the upcoming weeks. ●

currency rates PLN-100JPY 3.4610

3.5317

3.4611

3.4396

15.01

16.01

17.01

18.01

SOURCE: NBP

3.4491 14.01

3.0

3.4739

3.5

11.01

0.1022 18.01

0.1019

4.0

17.01

0.1024 16.01

0.1019 15.01

14.01

0.1020 11.01

3.3129

3.3067 18.01

0.10

0.1020

PLN-RUB

0.12

17.01

3.3437 16.01

3.3330 15.01

14.01

3.3693 11.01

4.9410

4.9286 18.01

3.0

3.3674

PLN-CHF

3.5

17.01

4.9822 16.01

4.9478 15.01

4.9724 14.01

4.9783 4.9

11.01

3.0925 18.01

3.0853

PLN-GBP

17.01

3.1097 16.01

3.0750 15.01

14.01

3.0890 11.01

4.1178

4.1294 18.01

3.0

3.0828

PLN-USD

3.5

17.01

4.1280 16.01

4.1151 15.01

14.01

4.0996 11.01

4.0

4.1231

PLN-EUR

4.2

SPORTS

JANUARY 21-27, 2013

www.wbj.pl

American football

21

Winter Olympics

Poland to take on Sweden Komorowski backs bid COURTESY OF MARCIN WARPECHOWSKI/PLFA.PL

The president has thrown his weight behind a PolandSlovakia Winter Olympics

The Warsaw Eagles faced off against the Gdynia Seahawks in last year’s PLFA NAC SuperFinal VII

This will be the Polish national team’s first official match Poland’s newly formed national American football team will take on Sweden at the Atlas Arena in ¸ódê on February 2.

Following the unprecedented success of last summer’s PLFA NAC SuperFinal VII, it was decided that Poland needed a national squad to represent the burgeoning game in the country. The new team will be made up of players from Poland’s 74

teams and Maciej Cetnerowski, head coach of the Topliga champions, the Gdynia Seahawks, will manage them against their neighbors from across the Baltic Sea. The location of the event is significant and fans, players and coaches will be hoping for some good omens as Poland has already seen major international success in both volleyball and handball at the Atlas Arena in recent years. However, as it is an indoor venue, the format of the play will be slightly different

from the traditional form of American football. Arena football is a highly energetic version of the game, with spectacular plays being the norm, and fans treated to thrilling action on practically every play.

“I expect it to be a very inspiring experience for our players, coaches and fans. I am excited for the team to experience the great event that I know the Polish federation is capable of delivering. We expect a full arena and some great football,” said Tommy Wiking, president

of the International Federation of American Football (IFAF) and the Swedish American Football Federation (SAFF).

“We are delighted that Sweden has accepted our invitation.

We are well aware of the strength and the experience of the opponent we will face in our national team’s debut. We will do our very best both on and off the field,” said J´drzej St´szewski, president of the Polish American Football League (PLFA).

Alex Zarganis, David Ingham

Polish President Bronis∏aw Komorowski has backed a joint Polish-Slovakian bid to host the 2022 Winter Olympics. The Polish and Slovakian Olympic committees had already signed a letter of intent regarding an official bid prior to Mr Komorowski’s declaration of support during his visit to Bia∏ka Tatrzanska, in southern Poland, last week. But with the president now on board it seems that the chances of a future Polish Olympics have now come a step closer.

“If we want to co-host such an event in 2022 we have to start working on it today,” Mr Komorowski said, adding that infrastructure improvements need to be completed in order for the bid to have a chance of success.

“We need to build cooperation with our Slovak neighbors. We could not prepare

this bid without them because our Tatra mountains are not as big as those in Slovakia,” he said.

According to the proposed plan, Kraków would host both the opening and closing ceremonies, with the nearby resort of Zakopane hosting snowboarding, cross country skiing and the biathlon. Slovakia would organize other skiing events and ice hockey.

Poland still has time to come to a firm agreement and develop a detailed plan, with the final decision on the 2022 host not set to be made until July 31, 2015, at the 127th IOC Session in Kuala Lumpur. The cities currently in the running are Almaty, Beijing, Munich, Nice, Oslo and Lviv.

Poland’s most successful Winter Olympic athletes of recent years are ski jumper Adam Ma∏ysz and cross-country skier Justyna Kowalczyk. Mr Ma∏ysz won two silver medals at the Vancouver 2010 games, while Ms Kowalczyk won gold, silver and bronze in the three cross-country events.

David Ingham

22

LIFESTYLE

www.wbj.pl

JANUARY 21-27, 2013

Exhibition

Vision of the past 1947 / The Colours of Ruin.

Warsaw and Poland in the photographs of Henry N. Cobb Ongoing until April 30 Dom Spotkaƒ z Historià ul. Karowa 20 Warsaw

SHUTTERSTOCK

This fascinating photo exhibition is made up of images taken

by American architect and then-student at Harvard, Henry N. Cobb, during a visit to Poland in 1947. Taken two years after the end of WWII, the photos detail the true scale

Acrobatics

Acrobatics of China – Happy New Year February 1 Sala Kongresowa, Pl. Defilad 1 Warsaw For the first time ever a troop of Chinese acrobats will perform at the capital’s famed Sala Kongresowa concert hall. The acrobats, who hail from the

Guangxi region of southern China, will perform in Warsaw to commemorate the start of the Chinese New Year, with the year of the Snake beginning on February 10.

The show will feature 16 different performances, which will include amazing stunts, dance, martial arts and traditional music, all of which is sure to entertain the whole family.

Among the standout acts is “Monkey Fun” which will see acrobats jumping and somersaulting through hoops, and a human pyramid with numerous performers balancing on top of each other. Tickets for the event are priced from z∏.65.

David Ingham

For more information, log on to kongresowa.pl

COURTESY OF DOM SPOTKA¡ Z HISTORIÑ

Year of the Snake

of the damage inflicted on the country during the 1940s, containing photographs from major cities including Kraków, Szczecin, Warsaw and Wroc∏aw.

As well as detailing the devastation, the photos also provide an insight into the restoration of the country, with Poland seen at the time as a forwardthinking nation in regard to architecture, before the influence of communist authorities dragged the country backwards.

As fellow American architect Hermann Field, who

accompanied Mr Cobb on the trip wrote, “In my opinion the techniques of planning and the final maturity of the design work is clearly in the lead. The range of planning is completely unique, and the standards used should be of interest to planners and architects in other countries. ... The dedication of these people for the future of Poland made a huge impression on us.”

David Ingham

For more information, log on to dsh.waw.pl

LAST WORD

JANUARY 21-27, 2013

www.wbj.pl

23

Tech Eye

Sadly, this year’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES) suffered a distinct lack of dodginess. There were no firm-yet-flirty robotic school marms, zero advances in techno-latex and, most disappointingly, we didn’t see a single “smart dungeon.”

The “smart home” was everywhere, but nary a dungeon. Sigh.

To make matters worse, the smart-home stuff was hardly revolutionary. Sure, there were smart appliances and smart lighting systems and smart cyborg-kitten home-defense systems that go mew-mew while their built-in lasers go pew-pew. But those things have been available for years.

Most of them, anyway.

One thing was kind of new. Some companies were showing off home

Ascend Mate is a hulking beast of a device with a 6.1inch HD screen. No pricing info available yet, sorry.

Its ginormousness aside, the Ascend Mate is a mostly unexceptional piece of kit. It has a 1.5 GHz quad-core processor, 2GB of RAM and runs Android 4.1. There’s an 8MP camera in the back and a 1MP HD camera in the front. For the “Fifty Shades of Grey”-types out there, the NVIDIA’s Project Shield touchscreen is sensitive enough to use while wearing leather bles an Xbox controller with a flip-up gloves (no word on latex though). screen.

So let the rejoicing begin! If the Project Shield, which packs an Master allows it, of course.

NVIDIA Tegra 4 processor, is Wi-FiSome exciting gaming gadgets enabled and plays both Windows and were present at CES as well. Valve, Android games. There’s a speaker legendary maker of the “Half-Life” system inside; the five-inch display is series, discussed its plans for a new also an HD touchscreen with a console called Steam Box, while respectable 294 dots per inch. also supporting a new gaming comPrice is unknown at this point, but puter called the Piston. Oculus Rift, NVIDIA is entering a fierce market, a virtual reality headset, was named with Nintendo and Sony on one side best-in-show by some visitors. and smartphone makers on the other.

The biggest surprise came from If it doesn’t price Project Shield comNVIDIA, the well-known maker of petitively, it might as well give up and graphics cards. The firm unveiled make something completely different.

Project Shield, an Android-powSmart dungeons, perhaps? Here’s ered handheld device that resem- hoping. ●

Ever yearned for a leather-sensitive touchscreen? Let us know: techeye.wbj@gmail.com

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

Katarzyna Napiórkowska Art Gallery ul. Âwi´tokrzyska 32, ul. Krakowskie PrzedmieÊcie 42/44 and Old Town Square 19/21 www.napiorkowska.pl

Fibak Gallery ul. Krakowskie PrzedmieÊcie 5 www.galeriafibak.pl

Królikarnia National Gallery ul. Pu∏awska 113a www.krolikarnia.mnw.art.

Galeria 022, DAP, Lufcik pl ul. Mazowiecka 11a www.owzpap.pl Le Guern Gallery ul. Widok 8, Galeria 65 www.leguern.pl ul. Bema 65 www.galeria65.com Museum of Galeria Appendix 2 Independence ul. Bia∏ostocka 9 Aleja SolidarnoÊci 62 www.appendix2.com www.muzeumniepodleglo sci.art.pl Galeria Asymetria ul. Nowogrodzka 18a National Museum in www.asymetria.eu Warsaw Al. Jerozolimskie 3 Galeria Foksal ul. Foksal 1-4 www.mnw.art.pl www.galeriafoksal.pl Galeria Milano Rondo Waszyngtona 2A www.milano.arts.pl Galeria Schody ul. Nowy Âwiat 39 www.galeriaschody.pl Galeria XX1 Al. Jana Paw∏a II 36 www.galeriaxx1.pl Galeria Zoya ul. Kopernika 32 m.8 www.zoya.art.pl Green Gallery ul. Krzywe Ko∏o 2/4 www.greengallery.pl

Polish National Opera at Teatr Wielki Pl. Teatralny 1 www.teatrwielki.pl

Simonis Gallery ul. Burakowska 9 www.simonisgallery.com State Archaeological Museum in Warsaw ul. D∏uga 52 www.pma.pl State Ethnographic Museum ul. Kredytowa 1 www.ethnomuseum.we bsite.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

Pracownia Galeria Wilanów Palace ul. Emilii Plater 14 Museum and Wilanów www.pracowniagaleria.pl Poster Museum ul. St Kostki Potockiego Rempex Art and 10/16 Auction House www.milanow-palac.pl ul. Karowa 31 www.postermuseum.pl www.rempex.com.pl Royal Castle Pl. Zamkowy 4 www.zamekkrolewski.com.pl

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

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

COURTESY OF NVIDIA

Samsung’s S9 UHD

There’s no word on international “ecosystems” incorporating a larger-than-ever number of release, but it’s rumored that Samsmart devices. Unfortunate- sung will start selling the S9 UHD in ly, every firm is using propri- limited quantities in South Korea etary technologies – closed soon at the low, low price of $38,000.

Smartphones were also ubiquitous ecosystems – so if you buy appliances from two compa- at CES, though there were few unveilnies and a lighting system ings. One interesting trend was the from a third, they won’t be debut of octo-core processors. Expect these to start succeeding quad-core able to communicate.

That’s really annoying, so processors in phones this year.

The biggest looker among smartwe’re not giving those comphones was Huawei’s Ascend Mate, panies any press.

There were plenty of other, less and we mean that literally. The vexing trends at CES too. Among TVs, 3D was conspicuously – and blessedly – not-hot this year; ultraHD was the big thing instead.

Samsung’s 85-inch S9 UHD unit was the belle of the ball. Oh yes, 85 inches of sleek, ultra high-definition screen. That’s roughly the surface area of a professional basketball player flattened by a road roller.

The S9 UHD is set in an easel to good aesthetic effect, and the easel frame quite usefully incorporates speakers. The zillion-pixel screen will let you count your favorite actor’s pores and send you diving behind the couch any time ugly Huawei’s Ascend Mate people come on-screen.

COURTESY OF HAUWEI

COURTESY OF SAMSUNG

The trends that dominated CES 2013