WBJ #6 2012

Why is Poland’s unemployment rate so stubbornly high?

Two more airlines are reportedly interested in buying Poland’s Lot

Euro 2012 could attract far fewer foreign fans than initially expected

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WWW.WBJ.PL

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VOLUME 18, NUMBER 6 • FEBRUARY 13-19, 2012 . z∏.12.50 (VAT 8% included) . ISSN 1233 7889 INDEX-RUCH-332-127

REAL ESTATE

Lights, camera, Poland

COURTESY OF HINES POLSKA

Lokale Immobilia

• Hines in Kraków • Malls in small cities • W∏odarzewska plans 15-17

An Oscar-nominated Polish-language film has shined the spotlight on a movie industry still trying to live up to its potential

COURTESY OF THE CHINESE EMBASSY

Interview: Ambassador Sun Yuxi

Since 1994 . Poland’s only business weekly in English

China’s ambassador to Poland explains how to strengthen Sino-Polish trade 8-9

12-13

SHUTTERSTOCK

COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

COURTESY OF FLICKR/PRALTFORMA RP

In this issue News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2-4 Business . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5-6 Finance & Economics . . . . . . . . . . .7 Interview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8-9 Opinion & Analysis . . . . . . . . .10-11 Cover Story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12-13 Lokale Immobilia . . . . . . . . . . .15-17 The List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18 Markets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21 Lifestyle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22 Last Word . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23

Syria’s trouble

Backing down

Poland joined other countries in condemning Russia and China’s veto of a UN resolution on Syria

The prime minister has suspended ACTA ratification and called for public “consultation” 4, 11

3

NEWS

www.wbj.pl

IN THE SPOTLIGHT

Numbers in the News

Greece, again

70 million m3 is the record amount of gas that could soon be consumed per day in Poland if the recent freezing temperatures persist.

Poland’s Nobel Prizewinning poet Wis∏awa Szymborska was laid to rest last Thursday in Kraków, where she spent much of her life. The secular ceremony at Kraków’s Rakowicki Cemetery was attended by President Bronis∏aw Komorowski and his wife, as well as Prime Minister Donald Tusk, cabinet members and representatives of the diplomatic corps. Fellow poets, including Julia Hartwig and Adam Zagajewski, also came to bid farewell to Ms Szymborska.

z∏.25 billion was the value of the budget deficit in 2011, z∏.12 billion less than planned. The reduced deficit was a result of higher tax revenue and lower investment spending.

300,000 was the number of mortgages worth more than the homes themselves in Poland at the end of Q3 in 2011, a number three times higher than at the end of 2010.

z∏.3,584.50 was the average Polish salary in Q4 2011. Wages increased only 4.3 percent y/y, meaning they contracted slightly in real terms.

Poles leaning to the left?

A 250-kilo unexploded bomb dating from World War II was found at a building site of Warsaw’s second subway line last week. A section of ul. Marsza∏kowska in downtown Warsaw was closed for several hours and around 400 people were evacuated from nearby buildings as the bomb was removed from the site.

“We will not ratify ACTA unless we are 100 percent sure that the debate will be an open one, and based on open documents and on transparency.”

Greece will remain squarely in the focus of investors and economists until at least Wednesday this week, when the country’s international creditors are due to decide whether to proceed with negotiations for a second bailout that would prevent Greece from defaulting on its debts by March 20.

Last Friday, clashes broke out in Athens as labor unions launched a nationwide strike to protest against the new austerity measures being demanded of their country, including slashing the minimum wage in the private sector by 22 percent, abolishing permanent jobs in state enterprises and cutting 150,000 jobs in the public sector by 2015.

Last Thursday, an agree-

ment was reached by political parties that support the current Greek caretaker government on more than €3 billion in additional cuts to the 2012 budget.

But that same day eurozone finance ministers added extra demands, saying the leaders of the coalition had to, by this Wednesday, sign a written pledge to back the austerity program and identify exactly from where €325 million of the €3 billion in cuts would come before the €130 billion new aid package would be approved.

“In short, no disbursement [of aid] without implementation,” said Jean-Claude Juncker, the Luxembourg prime minister who serves as chairman of the euro-zone finance

Prime Minister Donald Tusk makes an abrupt u-turn on the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement. He had previously indicated the treaty would be promptly ratified. Now, he promises to hold a thorough public debate.

Figures in focus Poverty risk At risk of poverty or social exclusion, % of total population in 2010, selected EU countries 50 40 30 20 10 0

*Highest in EU27 **Lowest in EU27

Source: Eurostat

Remi Adekoya

Company index On WBJ.pl Poland, a regional haven?

Maciej Rapkiewicz, member of the board and expert in the field of public finance at the Sobieski Institute think tank, argues that Polish finances aren’t as great as some others argue.

Log on to WBJ.pl to learn why.

Interest rates unchanged Poland’s rate-setting Monetary Policy Council left the headline interest rate unchanged for the eighth month in a row at its meeting last week. The decision not to ease monetary policy was made because economic growth and inflation were higher than the central bank’s targets. National Bank of Poland head Marek Belka said that interest-rate cuts are unlikely in the near future. ●

ministers’ meetings.

On Friday, Georgios Karatzaferis, the leader of the right-wing LAOS party, a coalition member, announced he would not support the austerity program, thereby further fanning the flames of uncertainty.

Several other lawmakers have also signaled they will vote against the reforms, and it was still not clear as of press time if the government would muster enough votes to push the reforms through.

Greece’s unemployment rate soared in November to 20.9 percent, compared with an 18.2 percent rate just a month earlier, and up sharply from one year ago, ELSTAT, the government statistics agency, reported last Thursday.

UK Es ton Ge ia rm an y Fra Lu n c xe mb e ou rg Cz ec Swe h R de ep n ub lic **

WWII bomb found in Warsaw

Quote of the Week SHUTTERSTOCK

Poland is changing politically, with more citizens now declaring leftist views, according to a new European Social Survey. On a scale from 0 to 10, where 0 indicates extreme leftist views and 10 extreme rightist views, the average score for Poland is currently 5.63, which compares to a European average of 5.21, reported Polska The Times. In 2006, the average score for Poland was the most “right” in Europe, at 5.77.

ri Ro a* ma nia La tvi a Po lan d Gr ee ce Ita ly

Wis∏awa Szymborska buried

FEBRUARY 13-19, 2012

Bu lga

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DATELINE

February 14

SHOPPING CENTER BUSINESS FORUM

16

PRCH MIXER

Event:

Now in its 14th edition, this event is an

Event:

Exchange business experiences and contacts with representatives of 190 companies of the Polish Council of Shopping Centres (retailers, investors, developers, operators, industry consultants, etc.). Registration is required.

Warsaw prch.org.pl

opportunity to meet tenants and developers of commercial real estate. The organizer provides access to web-based business appointments between participants.

Location:

Hilton Warsaw Hotel

Location:

Web:

scbf2012.retailnet.pl

Web:

Ablon Group ..................................16 Air France-KLM ..............................5 Aster ..............................................12 Boryszew ..........................................6 BRE Bank ......................................15 CBRE ..............................................16 China Minmetals..............................9 Concept Development ..................16 COVEC ..............................................8 Cushman & Wakefield ..................15 Enea..................................................5 Energa ..............................................5 EnergSys ..........................................6 Erbud ........................................15, 16 Fred ................................................23 Getin Holding ..................................6 Ghelamco Poland ..........................15 GTC ................................................16 Hines Polska ..................................15 Hog Wild ........................................23 Huta Stalowa Wola ..........................8 IMB Asymetria ..............................15 Ipopema Securities..........................5 Jones Lang LaSalle ......................17 KGHM ..............................................9 Kitchenaid ......................................23 Kraft Foods Polska ..........................5 LC Corp ..........................................16 LiuGong ............................................8

Lot Polish Airlines ..........................5 Lotos ................................................5 Lufthansa ........................................5 Multimedia Polska ........................12 Netia ..............................................12 Orlen ..............................................12 Peter Nielsen & Partners ..............6 PGB ..................................................6 PGE ............................................5, 12 PGNiG ..............................................5 PKN Orlen ........................................5 PKP Intercity ....................................5 Polkomtel ......................................12 Polstar Investment ........................16 PTC ................................................12 Ryanair ............................................5 Savills Polska ................................16 Sedlak & Sedlak ..............................7 Synthos ............................................6 Turkish Airlines................................5 UPC Polska ....................................12 Vantage Development ....................15 Vienna Capital Partners ................17 Warsaw Stock Exchange..............6, 15, 16, 17 Wizz Air ............................................5 W∏odarzewska................................17 X-Trade Brokers Dom Maklerski ..20 Zak∏ad Ecoimpel ............................15

NEWS

FEBRUARY 13-19, 2012

www.wbj.pl

3

Syria

After a UN resolution was vetoed by Russia and China, the West looks for new means to increase pressure on the Assad regime Poland, through its embassy in Damascus, has agreed to serve as the United States’ protecting power in Syria, and will assist US citizens remaining in Syria by providing emergency consular services.

“Poland will spare no effort to ensure the representation and protection of US interests in Syria, as was the case between 1991 and 2003 in Iraq,” the Polish Foreign Ministry said in a statement. The US embassy in Damascus suspended its operations on February 6, and all US diplomatic personnel have withdrawn from Syria.

“I thank our trusted Polish allies and friends for assuming this important responsibility in support of America and its citizens. On behalf of President Obama and Secretary Clinton, I thank President Komorowski, Prime Minister Tusk, Foreign Minister Sikorski, and the people of Poland for this act of friendship and solidarity,” American Ambassador to Poland Lee Feinstein said in a statement.

Meanwhile the US, the EU and their allies in the Arab world are discussing what steps to take after China and Russia vetoed a UN Security Council resolution to back an Arab League plan to resolve on the Syrian crisis on February 4.

“We are continuing to work with allies and partners around the world, particularly in the Arab world and in Europe. Now that the UN Security Council action has been blocked by the double veto we are compelled to work outside the UN system,” US State Department spokesperson Victoria Nulland told journalists last Thursday. As WBJ went to press it was unclear what this cooperation might entail.

An unnamed senior EU official told the Associated Press that the bloc would adopt further sanctions against Syria at the EU foreign ministers meeting scheduled on February 27.

Last Friday marked a week since Syrian forces had begun bombarding the city of Homs, Syria’s third-largest city and the hub of the current uprising. New York-based NGO Human Rights Watch said that on-site observers confirmed Syrian forces were launching long-range indirect fire attacks into densely populated areas, resulting in multiple civilian casualties, while at the same

time preventing civilians from accessing food and medical treatment.

“It is clear the Syrian government has interpreted the Russia-China veto as a carte blanche to launch an all-out assault on cities like Homs without caring who’s killed in the process,” Anna Neistat, associate emergencies director at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement last Thursday.

Polish Foreign Minister Rados∏aw Sikorski said on

Monday that Russia and China would have further bloodshed in the country “on their conscience.”

Syrian President Bashar alAssad’s regime has been accused of cracking down violently on anti-government protests for over 10 months.

Human rights officials from the United Nations estimate that over 5,000 people have been killed since the beginning of the crisis in Syria in March 2011.

Alice Trudelle

COURTESY OF THE UN

Poland joins US, Europe in search for solution to Syria violence

Violence intensified in Syria after the February 4 vote at the UN Security Council

Wzgórze – shopping and leisure on the Baltic coast The Wzgórze shopping mall in Gdynia is already an established and recognized retail destination for the Tri-city metropolitan area’s inhabitants. Nearly 2.5 million people visit the center, which spans 21,000 square meters, every year. The revitalization project currently underway is therefore geared at turning the mall into a dominant shopping centre in the region, unleashing the full potential of its location.

Pedestrian boulevards link Wzgórze to the city center, a mere 300 meters away, as well as neighboring white-collar areas (25,000 sqm business park) and sports facilities (stadium and sports hall, 20,000 seats total.)

The center links main transit corridors (the Tri-City expressway linking Gdańsk, Gdynia and Sopot), with key public transportation nearby.

The adjacent station of the regional SKM railway connects the entire region (38 million passengers a year, a train every 7 minutes).

Also in the area is a terminal hub of 8 trolleybus lines and 34 bus routes. In addition, 4 regular direct bus lines already serve the existing shopping destination.

With a total of 70,000 square meters of GLA once the expansion is complete, Wzgórze will offer a unique 3-in-1 shopping experience on the Baltic coast, where visitors can take care of daily shopping, seek out the latest urban fashion, or enjoy time at the many planned leisure-time facilities. Moreover, the expanded Wzgórze will provide Gdynia with one thing it has always been lacking – a “rynek” or main market. Most Polish cities have centuries-old market squares offering a place for inhabitants to meet and mingle. Gdynia, a modern city developed in the 1930’s mainly around the seaport, did not have this element planned.

Designers of the new and improved Wzgórze are counting on filling this void. Wzgórze will become the core of flow within the area, creating a new urban mixed-use destination for the city.

Work on the expansion and remodeling started in October 2011 and the first effects can already be seen – existing entryways have already been redesigned to fit the new architectural line.

Retailers are indeed jumping on the opportunity to find a place among the 270 available units. New space is already rented out to 70% of its capacity. The list of future tenants has become long and is rather impressive, with supermarket chain Real in its ranks, along with clothing chains Inditex (Zara, Massimo Dutti), Alshaya (The Body Shop, Mothercare), C&A and New Yorker. A Helios cinema will also open its doors at the new Wzgórze, as will an array of recognized convenience, home decoration and bookstore chains like Superpharm, Smyk, Empik, Sephora, Douglas, Drogeria Natura, Rossman, Tally Weijl and Duka, not to mention luxury item shops W.Kruk, Yes and Apart.

Grupa LPP (Reserved , Cropp, House among other brands) just recently signed up for over 4,000 square meters of retail space.

The goal of the new Wzgórze is to become the number-one shopping and leisure destination on the Baltic coast. With the ambitious new design and visible interest by retailers and potential shoppers alike, the target should be easy to reach.

Key facts: Total GLA: 70,000 sqm Total number of units: 270 Main anchor tenants: Al Shaya Group, C&A, Helios, Inditex Group, New Yorker, Real, RTV Euro AGD

Advantages: Ideal location: 300 meters from the center of Gdynia.

Facade along a main Tri-city express road Potential consumer market: €3.5 billion (Gdańsk region) Unique concept: “3 in 1” – grocery shopping + urban style + recreation center

4

NEWS

www.wbj.pl

FEBRUARY 13-19, 2012

Internet freedom

The Polish government publishes a list of “ACTA commitments”

hasty in signing the agreement, saying that a sufficient level of analysis had not been carried out on ACTA. He added that this “was not done out of malice.”

Many in Poland oppose ACTA, saying it will threaten freedom of speech, especially on the internet. Opposition has led to a number of street protests and the hacking of government websites.

Mr Tusk said he will do everything he can to address doubts about the deal.

“We will not ratify ACTA unless we are 100 percent sure that the debate will be an open one, and based on open documents and on transparency,” the PM said.

However, non-governmental organizations including

In the wake of the Polish government’s decision to freeze the ratification of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), Prime Minister Donald Tusk has attempted to make Poland’s approach to the deal more transparent.

Mr Tusk held a questionand-answer session on ACTA last Monday that was attended by around 140 people, many of whom were members of the public. Others were able to ask questions via the Twitter and Facebook pages of the prime minister’s chancellery.

Poland’s PM started the session by again admitting the government may have been too

Members of the Improvised Free Internet Congress, which includes the Helsinki Foundation, issued a statement prior to the Q&A session saying they did not believe the debate would be carried out in conditions of transparency and openness.

One of the participants in the debate said that if ACTA had been in force in the 1960s and 70s, the internet would never have come into existence.

This comment was followed by applause from the audience.

ACTA obligations Following the Q&A session, the Polish government published a list of commitments that Mr Tusk said it needs to meet before the agreement can be ratified.

One of the most important of these is the publishing of documents related to ACTA. The Ministry of Administration and Digitization said in a statement that it will publish “all of the documents regarding ACTA which are in possession of the Polish authorities … it will [also] be looked into whether it is possible to publish the documents of the European Commission which are available in Poland.”

The ministry also promised to publish a commentary in which it explains how ACTA works, and how the details of the agreement would need to be applied so that they are compatible with the Polish legal system.

“Once we look through the legal system, we should then have a public discussion about

COURTESY OF FLIKR SLASH PLATFORMA RP

Poland commits to ‘openness’ over ACTA

Prime Minister Tusk held a question-and-answer session on ACTA last week how to define from scratch the idea of ‘fair use’ of copyrighted work, how to make sure the laws are clear and that they show balance between the

necessities of punishing a crime and guaranteeing freedom,” the ministry explained.

Izabela Depczyk, Gareth Price

Involuntary manslaughter

Homelessness

Baby Magda’s autopsy completed

Deep freeze exposes Poland’s homeless problem

The child’s mother has been charged with involuntary manslaughter

The country lacks a comprehensive approach for tackling homelessness, say NGOs

COURTESY OF THE KATOWICE POLICE

The Katowice prosecutor’s office has completed its autopsy of baby Magda and the body has finally been released to the family. The baby’s mother, Katarzyna W., has been charged with involuntary manslaughter.

In accordance with Polish law, her last name cannot be revealed.

Katarzyna W. first came into the public eye on January 24 when she told police that she had been attacked by an unknown assailant and that her child had subsequently been abducted. However, she later confessed to a private investigator that she had accidentally dropped the baby and buried her outdoors.

Though she told the investigator that she had left baby Magda under a tree in the forest, search teams came up empty

Magda’s body was found on February 3 handed. Later she changed her story, admitting to police that she had left the body in the ruins of an old railway building. It was there, during the evening of February 3, that police found baby Magda’s body.

Authorities said that the preliminary autopsy was consistent with the mother’s version of the story that she dropped the baby and that it died from serious head trauma.

“The results of the autopsy

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of Magda do not give reason to change what the mother has been charged with or to question any of her explanations at this stage,” Marta ZawadaDybek, a spokesperson for the Katowice prosecutor’s office told a press conference.

Private investigator under scrutiny At the same conference, Ms Zawada-Dybek said that the private investigator to whom Katarzyna W. confessed, Krzysztof Rutkowski, would also be taken in for questioning.

Mr Rutkowski has been heavily criticized by the police for obstructing their own investigations through his involvement of the media and his influencing of the mother to reject the help of police investigators.

At a press conference held

by Mr Rutkowski, baby Magda’s father, Bart∏omiej WaÊniewski, and his parents said they would defend the private investigator.

“When Mr Rutkowski came, we became hopeful that he would be able to help. We never [received that kind of help] from the police,” baby Magda’s grandmother said.

Izabela Depczyk

As WBJ went to press, the Polish police had reported 81 deaths due to hypothermia since January 27, when temperatures dropped to as low as -30 degrees Celsius. The death toll makes Poland among the worst-hit nations in a deep freeze that has killed over 400 people across Europe.

Police and NGOs believe most of the victims in Poland have been homeless, often people under the influence of alcohol. With this in mind, Prime Minister Donald Tusk has asked local authorities to temporarily waive the ban on admitting intoxicated people into homeless shelters.

According to Julia Wygnaƒska, a researcher at the European Federation of National Organizations working with the Homeless (FEANTSA), these deaths are proof that Poland’s system for dealing with homelessness is ineffective.

“Currently support for the homeless includes covering basic needs and implementing emergency measures during the winter. Looking at the number of people who have died, this is not enough and it doesn’t work.”

Zofia Popio∏ek, an MP from the Palikot’s Movement party, told Gazeta Wyborcza in January that the z∏.5 million allocated in this year’s budget for

addressing homelessness was laughable. But according to researchers and NGOs, the government’s entire strategy for tackling homelessness, geared principally towards emergency services, is problematic.

“Of course shelters are the first thing needed in winter, and all hostels and community houses are currently full, but we have to change the government policy, because the system is very passive,” said Dagmara Szlandrowicz, representative at the Barka Foundation, an NGO working with homelessness in Poland, but also with Poles sleeping rough in the UK, Ireland and the Netherlands.

“We don’t have a comprehensive support system that allows people to get out of homelessness, we lack prevention, and we lack cooperation between offices in the govern-

ment responsible for welfare and housing policy,” said Ms Wygnaƒska.

Researchers and NGOs agree that a major cause of homelessness in Poland is a lack of affordable housing, which has become an even bigger problem as a result of the economic crisis in Europe.

“People who run the shelters say more and more people are homeless. And the number of people on the verge of homelessness, those who are able to pay their rent but cannot pay for anything else, is also growing,” said Ms Wygnaƒska.

There is no official estimate of the number of homeless people in Poland. The European Social watch report 2010 put the figure at anywhere between 30,000 to 200,000.

Alice Trudelle

Why so cold?

According to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the sudden drop in temperatures observed all over Europe from late January originates in Eastern Russia and Siberia, with the Siberian high pressure system preventing milder temperatures from moving from the Atlantic eastwards over Europe.

This has caused very low temperatures in Eastern, Central and Western Europe, and heavy snow over Southern Europe and North

Africa, as cold air from the north met with moist air from the Mediterranean.

Meanwhile, mild air has moved to the Arctic, causing unusually warm temperatures there and in North America. The WMO calls this a “negative Arctic Oscillation.”

According to the WMO, “the long duration of the cold period [in Europe], its relatively late onset and the extent of the cold area are noteworthy but not exceptional.” ●

INDUSTRY NEWS

FEBRUARY 13-19, 2012

www.wbj.pl

Lot Polish Airlines

Poland’s Treasury wants to privatize the carrier as soon as possible Following Turkish Airlines’ recent announcement that it was interested in buying Lot Polish Airlines, two other foreign carriers – Air FranceKLM and Lufthansa – are now also eying the state-controlled company, Polish daily Dziennik Gazeta Prawna wrote, citing unnamed sources.

WBJ asked the Treasury to confirm whether the companies mentioned by DGP have shown an interest in acquiring Lot, but a representative declined to comment.

The state, via the Treasury

“really complicated [as] this is not a simple market.”

Ms Kobos added that because of the crisis, many firms had not been able to access an adequate level of financing for the Lot takeover.

In addition, in order for the takeover to take place, Polish regulations would have to be modified. Current rules stipulate that the state has to maintain a stake of at least 51-percent in the company.

Turkish Airlines recently won the award of “Best Airliner in Europe” at the 2011 World Airline Awards held by Skytrax, a UK-based consultancy firm specializing in the airline industry. The airline currently ranks as the eighth-

Ministry, currently holds a 93 percent stake in the carrier, with the remaining shares belonging to the company’s employees.

The process of privatizing Lot has been ongoing for the past 11 years now, and the Treasury has said it would like to finalize it as soon as possible – “by the end of 2012 at the latest,” Treasury spokesperson Magdalena Kobos told DGP. So far the Treasury has only confirmed that two investors, one of which is Turkish Airlines, are interested in Lot. The second interested party wishes to remain anonymous.

Ms Kobos told WBJ earlier this year that the carrier’s privatization had proved to be

COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Lufthansa, Air France-KLM are interested in Lot purchase: report

Lot’s privatization process has been ongoing for the past 11 years largest in the world.

German airliner Lufthansa won the award for “Best Transatlantic Airline.”

Air France-KLM is also one of the largest airlines in the world.

Izabela Depczyk

State-owned firms

Lotos likely to be bought by domestic firm Poland’s second-largest refiner, Lotos, could end up being bought by another large, stateowned energy firm, Treasury

COURTESY OF LOTOS

State-owned PKN Orlen and PGNiG are the most probable suitors

The government is looking to sell its 53 percent stake in Lotos

Minister Miko∏aj Budzanowski suggested last week. So far, foreign firms have shown little interest in the government’s 53 percent stake in the Gdaƒskbased company.

“Lotos needs a strategic investor, but given the lack of foreign interest, we are left with a choice of companies from the domestic fuel industry,” Mr Budzanowski told Polish daily Puls Biznesu.

Only two domestic companies would seem to fit the bill – Poland’s largest refiner, PKN Orlen, and gas monopoly PGNiG. Both are majority state-owned.

According to Konrad

Anuszkiewicz, an analyst at Ipopema Securities, a tie-up with Orlen would provide the most synergies. “However, the competition watchdog (UOKIK) would probably not allow it,” he said.

While PGNiG offers fewer synergies, such a merger would “definitely strengthen Lotos’ balance sheet,” he said, adding that some investors are worried about Lotos’ high level of leverage. Lotos’ debt stands at z∏.6.9 billion, while the Treasury’s stake has been valued at around z∏.3 billion.

Treasury spokesperson Magdalena Kobos told WBJ that Lotos being bought by a

domestic investor was only one possibility, and that “all scenarios will be considered and analyzed,” as the Treasury continues to reassess its strategy.

The government’s offer for Lotos opened in October 2010 and closed in December 2011. Mr Anuszkiewicz chalked up the lack of interest among foreign investors to the government’s timing, since in the first half of 2011 investors were jittery about the debt crisis in Europe. He also blamed uncertainty in the lead-up to last October’s parliamentary elections for the lack of interest.

Alice Trudelle

Beverages

Growth brewing for Poland’s coffee market Greater demand for premium coffee is giving a jolt to sales Tea is slowly but surely being pushed out as Poland’s hot beverage of choice, with increasing numbers of Poles opting to drink coffee instead.

The average Pole now drinks one cup of coffee and one cup of tea per day.

As a result, by 2015 the

value of the coffee market in Poland will have reached €1.3 billion, an 8 percent increase on last year, according to a new report from Euromonitor International.

“In 2010, the coffee culture became increasingly widespread and sophisticated in Poland. The aspiring generation of 30- to 40-year-old consumers continued to show an appetite for affordable luxury

items,” Euromonitor wrote in the report.

“This, in turn, stimulated the demand for premium positioned coffees. In particular, fresh coffee beans, coffee pods, and specialist coffee shops benefited from the growing coffee culture in Poland.”

Coffee is expected to become even more of a premium product during the period up to 2015, which will result in

the availability of new varieties and in turn stimulate further growth, the report found.

This desire for fresh premium coffee made from real beans is encouraging businesses from a wide variety of sectors to jump on the coffee bandwagon. In addition to new coffee shops from chains including Starbucks and Coffeeheaven, grocery stores, gas stations and fast-food chains

are also developing facilities which allow clients to enjoy a cup of the beverage. And with more locations this means greater competition and as a result lower prices.

In Poland, Kraft Foods Polska currently leads the way in terms of market share due to sales of its premium Jacobs family brand and its mainstream Maxwell House brand.

David Ingham

5

Low-cost airlines in Modlin race Irish budget airline Ryanair has overtaken rival Wizz Air in the battle to be the first low-cost airline to fly passengers from Warsaw’s Modlin airport. At a press conference last week company CEO Michael O’Leary announced that Ryanair’s first flight from Modlin will take off on July 16, a few days earlier than the date penciled in by Hungarian Wizz Air. “Ryanair’s eight new Warsaw Modlin routes will deliver at least 700,000 passengers annually and sustain 700 local jobs,” said Mr O’Leary.

Intercity expects Euro 2012 profits Polish rail operator PKP Intercity is gearing up for the Euro 2012 championship in June in the expectation that the tournament will provide a major boost to both its image and its bottom line. “We want to take the opportunity and improve our image during Euro 2012, but we are also hoping for profits,” PKP Intercity CEO Janusz Malinowski told Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.

Energa and Enea to merge?

Poland’s Treasury Ministry is considering merging electricity companies Energa and Enea after it failed to gain regulatory approval for PGE’s takeover of the former company. “The merger of Enea and Energa is one of the options [being considered],” Deputy Treasury Minister Pawe∏ Tamborski told reporters last Thursday. He admitted the move would not be an easy solution, since all shareholders in Enea and Energa would have to agree to the merger, and the transaction could again be blocked by regulators. ●

BUSINESS

www.wbj.pl

World Bank tells Poland how to jump-start innovation Poland must become far more innovative than it is today in order for its economy to be able to compete effectively in the future, said experts at a conference on innovation in

Percentage of GDP spent on R&D by selected European countries 3.5

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The Warsaw Stock Exchange plans to replace builder PBG and financial group Getin Holding with car parts producer Boryszew and chemicals group Synthos on its bluechip WIG20 index. PGB and Getin will in turn replace Boryszew and Synthos on the bourse’s mWIG40 index. Changes are due to take place on March 16. ●

Lagging behind

Fin

Newcomers on the WIG20

future commercial innovation,” he said.

But Poland currently spends only about 0.9 percent of its GDP on research and development, lagging behind European countries such as Finland and Sweden, which each spend over 3 percent of their GDP on R&D. Experts at the conference mooted several measures that could help Poland boost its innovativeness.

emerging economies, organized by the World Bank.

The good news is that with its strong economy, as well as its academic and scientific potential, Poland has the fundamentals to be a very innovative country, said Janamitra Devan, vice president of the World Bank. “Poland has a tradition of excellence in learning and basic research which can provide the basis for

Source: R&D Magazine (December 2010)

Contact: Aleksander Kowalski ak@pnplaw.pl

Pursuant to the Supreme Court resolution of January 26, 2012 (case file no. III CZP 87/11), anyone who had purchased an apartment with a discount and then sold it in less than five years is obliged to return the part of the discount in the amount proportional to the amount obtained from the sale and not assigned for purchasing another residential premises.

From February 1, higher disability insurance premiums An amendment to the Act on the Social Insurance System came into effect on February 1, 2012, which raises the disability insurance premiums that employers have to pay by 2 percentage points.

Specifically, the basis for the disability insurance premium has been raised from 6 percent to 8 percent, which is broken down into 1.5 percent financed by the insured person (the employee) and 6.5 percent (previously 4.5 percent) financed by the employer.

New tax on extraction of silver and copper According to the draft Act on Extraction of Certain Minerals, the State Treasury should benefit from the levies imposed on extraction of sliver and copper. The tax intended to be introduced is to be based on the price of the extracted mineral.

According to the authors of the draft, the

matching grants, loans and venture capital.

Make it easier For reforms in innovation to make a difference, the government also needs to improve the ease of doing business in Poland in measurable ways.

The experts said it should put special emphasis on aspects vital for FDI, start-ups and spinoffs, such as making it easier to start a business, giving investors better protection, as well as making it easier to obtain credit and to enforce contracts.

Mr Devan also said there needs to be a different approach to entrepreneurs who have “failed” at innovation. “We should not treat those who have failed with innovative ideas as losers. It is the entrepreneur who has already failed that is most likely to succeed with his next idea, due to the experience he has garnered in the process,” he said.

Remi Adekoya

Environment

Legal News

Selling an apartment with a discount

First, they said, the government should support the collaboration of Polish researchers and foreign inventors, as well as do more to attract foreign R&D investment. Second, to help enhance Polish integration into the global R&D community, the government should support local co-inventors in obtaining international patent protection before they negotiate the ownership of their joint patents with their Western co-inventors.

Third, Polish research and development institutes should be restructured to be more effective in commercializing their ideas. There should be a thorough assessment of the real potential of each organization and the local and global demand for what they produce. Fourth, to promote risktaking and stimulate markets for private risk capital, policymakers should evaluate support instruments and develop new ones based on international best practices, such as

introduction of this method of taxation on extraction is stable and predictable for investors interested in the exploitation of such deposits in Poland.

No more double third-party motor insurance From February 11 the changes to the act on obligatory insurance become binding.

The changes are intended to, among other things, solve the problem of the socalled “double third-party motor insurance.” Up till now, this problem (which had become quite common) occurred whenever car owners changed their insurance company but forgot to submit a termination notice with the previous insurance company before the lapse of the agreement period.

When such a termination notice was not submitted, the agreement was automatically prolonged for another year – there was virtually no possibility of terminating it earlier. Starting February 11, it will be possible to terminate the prolonged agreement if the driver concluded an agreement with another insurance company.

However, drivers will have to submit a termination notice with regard to the automatically prolonged agreement, otherwise they will have to pay for both insurances. The problem of double third-party motor insurance also occurred during the sale of second-hand vehicles. The new provisions are also aimed at improving these issues. ●

BROUGHT TO YOU BY PETER NIELSEN & PARTNERS LAW OFFICE

PCC: EU climate policy to cost Polish industry dearly A new report says tighter EU climate rules would cost Polish industry z∏.22 billion a year from 2030 Higher emissions reduction targets included in the EU’s “Energy Roadmap 2050” would cause a “drastic deterioration” of the competitiveness of many Polish companies and steep financial losses, according to a new report commissioned by the Polish Chamber of Commerce (PCC).

Adopted by the European Commission in December 2011, the new energy road map envisions reducing total EU emissions by 80 to 95 percent from 1990 levels by 2050.

That’s a minimum of four times the current 20 percent reduction target for 2020.

The EC’s vision for 2050 includes low-energy and lowemission housing and workplaces, electric cars, a boost in investment and new jobs in clean technologies and energy, and annual savings of €88 billion on health care and air pollution control.

Boles∏aw Jankowski, head of EnergSys, the consultancy firm that drafted the report for

SHUTTERSTOCK

Poland lags behind in innovation; to improve, it needs to make it easier for businesses to conduct R&D

en

The Port of Gdynia Authority (ZMPG), the entity which manages the city’s port, has announced plans to spend over z∏.451 million between 2012 and 2014 on various repair and modernization projects, reported Puls Biznesu.

Work on infrastructure improvements alone will cost over z∏.324 million, with the waterfront set to be redesigned, a network of access roads developed, and a new loading and logistics area created.

FEBRUARY 13-19, 2012

Innovation

ed

Gdynia port’s z∏.451 million upgrade

Sw

6

Energy-intensive industries would be the hardest hit by more severe EU climate rules PCC, paints a different picture for Poland should the road map be implemented. Mr Jankowski told journalists at a conference last Tuesday that the cost of implementing the new road map for Polish companies would reach z∏.22 billion per year by 2030. This, he added, represents more than half of the total Polish industry profits in 2009, which amounted to z∏.40 billion.

And these are only the costs of climate policy. A planned rise in energy prices also has to be added to the bill, which will be paid in large part

by Poland’s energy-intensive sectors such as metals, cement, chemicals, coke, paper, coal and lignite, and wood products. At stake are the 800,000 jobs in these energy-intensive sectors, argues Mr Jankowski.

In a position paper adopted on the basis of EnergSys’ report, the PCC urges the Polish government to oppose attempts to strengthen current EU climate policy. The “Energy Roadmap 2050” is scheduled to be discussed at the European Council environment committee meeting on Alice Trudelle March 9.

FINANCE & ECONOMICS

FEBRUARY 13-19, 2012

www.wbj.pl

7

Labor market

The Polish success story appears less inspiring when the unemployment rate is taken into account In recent years Poland has received glowing press for its economic performance. The country made waves internationally when it became the only EU member to register positive GDP growth in the crisis year of 2009.

Since then much has been made of Poland’s consistent, dynamic economic growth, which it achieved in the face of less-than-favorable external conditions.

But despite its recent eco-

nomic performance, the country continues to have a stubbornly high unemployment rate that many economists say casts a shadow on the “successful market transformation” narrative.

Worse than two decades ago In January this year, the unemployment rate in Poland was 13.3 percent, according to government statistics, meaning over two million people were out of work. This means the jobless rate today is higher than it was in 1991 (when it was 12.2 percent), two years after the initial mass layoffs that followed the collapse of the communist government.

Stubbornly high Poland's unemployment rate over the past 13 months 15 14 13 12

Unemployment in other post-communist EU countries is significantly lower. For example, unemployment stood at 8 percent in the Czech Republic as of last November and at 7.2 percent in Romania in mid-2011.

Even Hungary, whose economy has taken a battering in recent years, had unemployment of 10.7 percent at the end of 2011.

Eurostat, the EU’s statistics agency, which uses a different methodology (it doesn’t count as unemployed those who have given up looking for work altogether) has Polish unemployment at 9.9 percent, but that figure is still high, compared with its regional EU peers.

The figures paint an especially stark picture when considering that roughly two million people have left Poland’s labor market in search of greener pastures since the country joined the EU in 2004.

Causes regional, generational

11

Jan

.2 0 Feb 11 .2 0 Ma 11 r. 2 01 Ap 1 r. 2 0 Ma 11 y2 01 Jun 1 .2 01 Jul 1 .2 0 Au 11 g.

20 Se 11 p.

20 Oc 11 t. 2 0 No 11 v. 2 0 De 11 c.

20 Jan 11 .2 01 2

10

Source: Central Statistical Office

One major factor behind Poland’s stubbornly high unemployment figures, experts say, is geography. Various parts of Poland show vast-

ly different joblessness rates.

For instance, the Warmiƒsko-Mazurskie voivodship in the northeast has an unemployment rate of greater than 20 percent, while in the western Wielkopolskie voivodship it’s just 9.2 percent.

Jobs are hardest to find in the eastern regions, which are less developed than western areas of Poland and were once heavily reliant on agriculture.

Another important factor is that unemployment is increasingly becoming a generational problem. At the end of last year, 29.4 percent of the country’s unemployed were between the ages of 25 and 34.

Labor laws and high expectations “Jobs are not being created on the scale that they should be.

The crisis, high taxes on work and the existence of the gray economy all contribute to that,” said Dominika Staniewicz, labor market expert at the Business Center Club (BCC).

Regarding high youth unemployment, Ms Staniewicz said, “Many young people want to receive a lot of money, which they don’t deserve, at the start of their careers.”

She also pointed to labor

SHUTTERSTOCK

Poland: strong growth, high unemployment

Over 2 million Poles need a job laws, such as the fact that employees over the age of 56 receive “special government protection” that means it is practically impossible to fire them.

As a result, many firms tend to fire people before they reach that age. Needless to say, out-of-work citizens over the age of 56 have trouble finding new jobs for exactly the same reasons that caused them to lose their previous employment positions.

The solution, Ms Staniewicz says, is “the opposite of what the government is doing … so reduce social contributions for

employers and do something about the laws regarding highrisk workers for employees.”

Poland’s economic achievements over the past two decades have been considerable. But those achievements won’t be sustainable if the country’s labor system remains so inflexible. Indeed, if no reforms are made, economists say, long-term growth prospects could be jeopardized and entrepreneurship discouraged, all of which could result in high levels of structural unemployment in Poland for years to come.

Remi Adekoya

Remuneration

Wage report highlights east-west divide People in Poland’s eastern regions earn far less than their colleagues in western Poland Employees in Warsaw, Wroc∏aw and Poznaƒ are Poland’s top earners, while those in Bia∏ystok, Lublin and Opole bring home the least, according to a recent survey of salaries carried out by consultancy firm Sedlak & Sedlak.

The average monthly wage in Warsaw is z∏.5,500, The next highest-earning cities were Wroc∏aw (z∏.4,300), Poznaƒ (z∏.4,200), Gdaƒsk (z∏.4,100), Katowice (z∏.4,000) and Kraków (z∏.4,000).

Meanwhile, out of the 16 Polish cities surveyed, people in Bia∏ystok earned the least on average at z∏.3,000 per month.

Next lowest were Lublin (z∏.3,020), Opole (z∏.3,250), Rzeszów (z∏.3,300), Olsztyn (z∏.3,300) and Kielce (z∏.3,300).

The ranking reflects Poland’s east-west divide: those living in eastern parts of the country generally earn less than those in western regions.

The biggest exception to this

rule is Warsaw. Though it is geographically located in the eastern half of the country, the capital has the country’s highest average wage.

Most foreign investment in Poland flows into Warsaw and western parts of the country, while the country’s eastern cities have struggled to attract capital.

“In our opinion, the reason for the low number of investments in cities like Bia∏ystok stems from the fact that the

eastern region is under-developed as far as infrastructure and technology is concerned,” said Lucjan Zaborowski from Sedlak & Sedlak.

“To make matters worse, the region’s skilled workers move away to other cities to find better opportunities, thus reducing the attractiveness of the east’s labor market for potential new investors,” he said, lamenting the “vicious cycle” that has been created.

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Remi Adekoya

Capital gains Average monthly wage in 16 selected Polish cities Warsaw

z∏.5,500

Bydgoszcz

z∏.3,400

Wroc∏aw

z∏.4,300

Zielona Góra

z∏.3,375

Poznaƒ

z∏.4,200

Kielce

z∏.3,300

Gdaƒsk

z∏.4,100

Olsztyn

z∏.3,300

Katowice

z∏.4,000

Rzeszów

z∏.3,300

Kraków

z∏.4,000

Opole

z∏.3,250

Szczecin

z∏.3,666

Lublin

z∏.3,020

¸ódê

z∏.3,500

Bia∏ystok

z∏.3,000 Source: Sedlak & Sedlak

S i g n u p f o r a 2 - w e e k f r e e - t r i a l ! w w w. p o l a n d a m . p l G e r m a n v e r s i o n : w w w. p o l e n a m m o r g e n . p l

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INTERVIEW

www.wbj.pl

FEBRUARY 13-19, 2012

Sino-Polish relations

An upgraded partnership Ewa Boniecka: How do you assess the impact of the recently signed agreement for establishing a strategic partnership between China and Poland?

Sun Yuxi: Establishing a strategic partnership between China and Poland is a very good beginning for a new chapter in Sino-Polish relations. While our mutual relations have been very good over the years, the strategic partnership agreement upgrades them to a higher and more comprehensive level. We are now living in a time when all countries in the world are concentrating on their economic development, and on delivering higher standards of living for their people.

This strategic partnership agreement means that we have a common desire to complete this development. While China is the biggest developing country in the world and is an important player in Asia, Poland is the biggest country in

Central and Eastern Europe and an important member of the European Union.

The strategic partnership between our countries has meaning going beyond our mutual relations. Naturally, first of all, we want to upgrade our mutual relations, [but] upgrading them would [also] mean that Poland would have a more active presence in Asia and China in Eastern Europe. Our strategic partnership also means closer cooperation between Poland and China in dealing with major world issues, so it will have a positive impact on the international scene.

China had already signed a strategic partnership with the European Union, yet it also signed the same deal with several individual members of the EU. What are the criteria for concluding strategic partnership agreements?

Poland is the first country among new EU member states

that has signed an individual strategic partnership agreement with China. Such agreements are always signed with countries that have a strong economic position and political influence in their region, such as France, Germany, Italy and now Poland. The aim for establishing strategic partnerships is to raise political contacts to a higher level and obtain government support for developing economic relations under the rules of a market economy.

During President Komorowski’s visit to China at the end of 2011, there were various agreements signed. Which in your view is the most important for the development of Polish-Chinese relations?

The basis for all agreements is the joint statement on strategic partnership, which was signed by the two countries’ presidents. It sets the direction for the development of our relations in every area, be it political, economic, financial, cultural or educational.

In my view, the basis for developing closer relations between China and Poland is to build better understanding between our peoples, because

they – among them managers, businesspeople and state representatives, are the ones who conduct our relations. The more they understand each other and our countries’ aims,

“The strategic partnership agreement upgrades SinoPolish relations to a higher level” customs and historical traditions, the better they will be able to work together.

So I will point to agreements that were signed on a ministerial level, concerning cultural and educational cooperation, and exchange of students and scholars, as well as to the opening of new Polish-language university departments in China and Chinese-language departments in Poland.

One thing that is very helpful for facilitating business contacts and the development of tourism is the agreement to begin operating a direct flight from Warsaw to Beijing. The

COURTESY OF THE CHINESE EMBASSY IN POLAND

Sun Yuxi, the Chinese ambassador to Poland, talks with WBJ about the importance of the newly signed strategic partnership between China and Poland and its impact on the development of relations between the two countries

Ambassador Sun Yuxi says that both Poland and China have drawn lessons from the “unfortunate” COVEC incident first Lot Polish Airlines plane will fly there in June. There are also prospects for establishing additional direct connections from Poland to other Chinese cities, like Shanghai.

So in the future Warsaw could become a center for airline transportation between Eastern Europe and China.

Let’s move now to the fields of economics and business. Chi-

nese machinery group LiuGong has signed a contract to purchase the civilian arm of Polish state-owned construction machinery manufacturer Huta Stalowa Wola.

Will this asset now be Chinese property?

It will be joint Chinese-Polish property, with some shares in that private company belonging to LiuGong, which is listed on the stock market in Shang-

INTERVIEW

FEBRUARY 13-19, 2012

hai, and some by the Polish side. Production will be continuously operated by Polish workers and most managers will be Polish, with some added Chinese specialists.

The negotiations between LiuGong and Polish representatives and trade unions lasted for quite a long time. All of the details have been taken care of, so LiuGong is now wellprepared to fulfill the deal. I think, by the way, that the Chinese and Polish sides have drawn lessons from the unfortunate COVEC experience, when that Chinese firm failed to realize the contract for building part of the A2 motorway in Poland.

In our trade exchange there is great imbalance on the Polish side – Poland imports a lot from China but exports are quite small. How can this be changed?

In the first half of 2011, our bilateral trade volume was $6.01 billion, but $5.08 billion were imports from China and only $0.93 billion were Polish exports to China. During President Komorowski’s visit this issue was discussed and China will open its market for Polish products. There will be an increase in the amount of agricultural products we import from Poland, among them pork, dairy products and vodka. Chinese people have already developed a taste for Polish vodka and they are great consumers of vodka from around the world.

Poland has very advanced technology in the mining sector and good opportunities for obtaining renewable energy, so there are real possibilities for increasing Poland’s export offer. An agreement has already been signed between the chairman of [Polish copper miner] KGHM and our company China Minmetals for the delivery of copper to China.

The value of that contract is $3.5 billion. And I know that there are more ongoing consultations and direct talks between our companies to push trade forward. Both sides are keen to reduce the current imbalance.

China has a similar imbalance in trade with other European countries and also with the US. Our economic policy is now focused on increasing imports to China.

China wants to enter Poland’s banking market. What concrete efforts is it making?

Our Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), which has branches all over the world, is now going to open a branch in Warsaw, probably in May. Another one, Bank of China, is going to open one in March. Also, our China Development Bank is interested in coming to Poland. Those banks will help Chinese companies to invest in Poland and will also offer

some banking services to Polish companies interested in exporting to and investing in China.

The Chinese economy is now the second-largest in the world and you have huge foreign currency reserves. How are you working with Europe when it comes to the current economic crisis?

We want to play a constructive role in handling the crisis and we will continue to make a contribution. We have already bought quite a lot of debt and bank bonds from troubled countries, like Greece. We are trying to make investments in European countries and to

“Chinese people have already developed a taste for Polish vodka” balance our trade with them.

This year we plan to send hundreds of delegations abroad to talk about purchasing European goods.

The solution to the present crisis is to help the global economy to recover, and while China has not so far been affected by that crisis and keeps a high rate of GDP growth, the crisis did still affect our foreign trade in 2009. So in the world of the global market economy, we are linked to each other and we have to make joint efforts to combat the crisis.

China’s current five-year plan focuses on increasing domestic spending and consumption. Would it also open the way to increasing imports to China?

Yes, because one of the results of the plan will be a faster process of urbanization. By the end of 2011, the urban population already exceeded 51 percent of our total population.

That transfer of people requires new houses, roads, schools and other services.

The money for investments would come partially from central and local governments, but mostly from the private sector. This means that we will need to import technologies, services and goods for new urban consumers. China is changing: Western culture is accepted in big cities, European goods and clothing are very popular and we have the greatest number of McDonald’s restaurants in the world.

All this means that there is room for foreign businesses in every sector of life. For instance, W.Kruk, the famous Polish jeweler, wants to open a chain of shops in China, in partnership with a Chinese firm. I believe they will achieve success because amber jewelry will be very popular in China, where amber is regarded as a symbol of health.

And how is Chinese culture promoted abroad?

I think the “cultural offensive” is not a one-way street. Chinese culture is part of global civilization and there is and always was a great interest in our culture and language all over the world. People like Chinese art and celebrate Chinese New Year – we recently celebrated the beginning of the Year of the Dragon. Foreigners study Chinese languages in hundreds of colleges all over the world, and in Poland there are four Confucius Institutes where it’s possible to study Chinese – in Poznaƒ, Kraków, Opole and Wroc∏aw. One more is going to be opened in Gdaƒsk. The Chinese language is becoming the second-most-spoken business language, after English.

China is perceived as being one of the emerging political giants, as part of the group of BRIC countries How do you see the situation?

The BRIC countries share the common characteristic of being fast-developing countries.

Together, we already produce half of the world’s economic output, so our cooperation is good for the world economy as a whole. While the GDPs of rich countries in Europe and North America are shrinking, BRIC countries are maintaining economic growth. It is a new drive in the world’s development. With huge populations and good outlooks for further development, BRIC countries, however internally different, are becoming both an economic and political force to be reckoned with on the international scene.

You have served as Chinese ambassador to Poland for a year and a half already. In that time you have seen our mutual relations raised to the status of strategic partnership. Do you envisage the visit of the Chinese president to Poland during your time as ambassador?

Within the next year we will have a change of government.

The Chinese president, according to the constitution, can only serve for two terms.

So President Hu Jintao will end his term soon and we will have a new president. I hope the new president will visit Poland as soon as possible and in the meantime we will continue to send high-level representatives to visit one another.

I hope that later in my ambassadorship in Poland there will be more meaningful progress in the development of our mutual relations. And maybe I will have a chance to walk through the renovated Chinese Alley in the ¸azienki Park in Warsaw, which was first created during the time of Polish King Stanis∏aw August Poniatowski. The renovation is going to be carried out jointly by Polish and Chinese investors. ●

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OPINION & ANALYSIS

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FEBRUARY 13-19, 2012

The next stage of Russia’s resurgence STRATFOR

S

TRATFOR has long followed and chronicled Russia’s resurgence, which has included bolder foreign policy moves and resuming the role of regional power.

In recent years, Russia has increased its influence in many Estearn European states politically, economically, militarily and in the area of security, with the most obvious sign of its return to power coming in the August 2008 war with Georgia.

Now, Moscow is preparing for the next stage of its resurgence. This new phase will include the institutionalization of Russia’s position as the regional hub, but will also include the use of more subtle levers and influence in areas Moscow wants to bring into its fold – though not all of these efforts will go unchallenged.

The geopolitics of the Russian resurgence In many ways, Russia’s geopolitical strength is derived from its inherent geographic weaknesses. There are few natural barriers protecting Russia’s core, and this has required Russia to expand into and consolidate territories around its core to acquire buffers from external powers. With the Arctic Ocean serving as the only natural bar-

rier for Russia to the north, this expansion historically has required Russia to push to the west toward Europe (consolidating Eastern Europe and the Baltics), to the south toward the Islamic world (consolidating the Caucasus), and to the east toward Asia (consolidating Central Asia and Siberia). As Russia absorbed peoples and resources, it grew from a small Eastern European principality in the 13th century to the Grand Duchy of Moscow, which became the Russian Empire and then grew to become the Soviet Union, one of the largest contiguous states in history.

However, this expansion created two fundamental problems for any Russian state: it brought Moscow into conflict with numerous external powers and gave it the difficult task of ruling over conquered peoples (who were not necessarily happy to be ruled

by Russia). Russia’s geography requires it to expand to stay strong, but paradoxically, the more Russia pushes outward the more difficult and costly it becomes to rule its immense territory. Meanwhile, Russia’s lack of access to the wider oceans has cemented its position as a land power but doomed it economically and weakened its position compared to

other powers that have ready access to the world’s oceans. Such factors have created a cycle in which Russia’s power rises and collapses. When Russia is on the rise, it becomes a major regional if not global player, and when it falls it is only a matter of time before it rises again.

So when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991 at the end of the Cold War and Moscow lost control of its constituent republics and fell into internal chaos, those circumstances did not guarantee that Russia was permanently removed from the international scene and that a unipolar world dominated by the United States would last forever. Certainly by the end of the 1990s, Russia was severely weakened as a geopolitical power; its economy was in chaos and it faced a military defeat in Chechnya, which gained de facto independence and threatened to spur similar movements within Russia proper.

But things began to change with the beginning of the new millennium.

Starting with Vladimir Putin’s presidency in 2000, Russia was able to reverse its losses in another more successful war in Chechnya, and Russia’s position in its former Soviet periphery began to rise steadily. Numerous fac-

tors played into this, including the internal consolidation led by Mr Putin to overcome the chaos of the 1990s, high global energy prices and the US involvement in the Islamic world.

In the past few years, most of the pro-Western color revolutions that swept the former Soviet Union in the early 2000s have been reversed. Russia has increased its military footprint in many of these states and is in the process of creating economic institutions to match (most notably its customs union with Belarus and Kazakhstan that is set to become the Eurasian Union). In short, Russia has returned to its traditional status of legitimate regional power, and its influence is increasing in its historic geographic buffer zones, which are currently made up of more than a dozen independent states.

Looking ahead In the context of its resurgence, Russia’s broad imperative has been to prevent foreign influence while building and ingraining its own. Of course, Russia’s plans for carrying out this imperative differ in each sub-region of the former Soviet Union – Eastern Europe, the Baltics, the Caucasus and Central Asia – and in each state.

Russia’s resurgence has not been seamless. Since gaining independence, each former Soviet state has developed its own imperatives: consolidating power internally and maintaining some sort of sovereignty. Also, different external powers are competing with Russia for influence in each former Soviet country. Therefore, the imperatives of Russia and the other former Soviet states often clash, which sometimes leads to dynamic and occasionally volatile relations, even with some of Moscow’s most loyal allies.

But power is a relative concept, and right now most former Soviet states are too weak to independently stand up to Russia and most external powers cannot match the strength Russia wields in its periphery. And with Mr Putin set to return to the presidency and begin a new chapter for the Russian state, it is important to gauge the progress Moscow has made in its resurgence in the former Soviet Union and what this projection of Russian power will mean in the future. ● “The next stage of Russia’s resurgence” is republished with permission of STRATFOR. STRATFOR.com

The euro zone’s fork in the road Mario I. Blejer, Eduardo L. Yeyati

M

any observers have recently declared that the euro-zone debt crisis is practically resolved, or at least on hold for a few years. The falling yields at the Italian government’s last bond auctions in 2011 suggested a significant reduction in the perceived sovereign-default risk.

The “solution” to the crisis was putatively facilitated by the European Central Bank’s decision to lend unlimited funds to commercial banks for three-year terms at very low rates. But a central bank would normally do even more to fulfill its role as lender of last resort. So why all the renewed optimism?

A fundamental flaw The immediate answer is that national banks will now use the scheme to borrow cheaply from the ECB and invest in short-term sovereign bonds, using the interest-rate spread to create a profitable “sovereign carry trade.” Despite the inefficiencies and distortions arising from such monetary financing, the ECB may indeed

provide some breathing space for governments.

But the real reason why this otherwise standard policy decision seems like such an important step is that, for the first time, the ECB has recognized the need to address a fundamental flaw in the euro zone’s architecture: the ECB itself.

At the core of the problem is currency. In the 1990s, emerging-market crises were first and foremost currency crises: sharp corrections of overvalued currencies that bankrupted public and private sector debtors.

By contrast, the currency issue in the European crisis is difficult to pinpoint. Is Italian euro debt denominated in local or foreign currency?

Whose currency is the euro? And whose central bank is the ECB? These questions are key to the European predicament. Indeed, the possible answers suggest two very different versions of the euro zone.

Two versions One version of the euro zone conceives it as a unity, externally and fis-

cally balanced, and with a fully functioning monetary union. It is also heavily indebted, but in domestic currency. The alternative conception assumes that the euro zone is a group of individual countries within a common currency area. Most of the countries are unbalanced and are indebted in a currency (the euro) that they cannot print on demand. This is equivalent to foreign-currency debt.

In the first version (the euro crisis minus the currency problem), the scenario looks more like the United States than like Latin America in the 1990s (with Italy resembling California rather than Argentina). In the second version, however, the euro-zone saga is comparable to the emerging markets’ story. Like a dysfunctional family, the northern “advanced” countries ponder whether or not to bail out the southern “emerging” economies.

The prognoses for each case are starkly different. In the former version, interest rates converge and the default risk is nil, because, with the ECB backstopping its members’ liabilities, as the Federal Reserve does in

the US, the euro becomes “local currency.”

In the latter version of the euro zone, there is differential credit risk and, ultimately, bank runs, “deeuroization,” and default: the common currency is at odds with the needs of the member states.

Which of these two alternatives should prevail is a question for eurozone members to decide. But two things are clear. First, the euro zone’s future will be determined largely by the ECB’s role. Second, there is little flexibility – European policymakers cannot overcome the crisis if they do not eliminate the currency problem and the resulting default risk.

This helps to explain the misgivings about the International Monetary Fund’s massive aid to the region. Why would the IMF lend Europe special drawing rights (the Fund’s unit of account), rather than euros, thereby creating a currency imbalance? Such an imbalance is at the root of all emerging-market crises; the IMF’s actions therefore suggest that Europe is already giving up on the euro.

The road not taken Today, the euro faces a fork in the road. One route, a currency area without sovereign backstopping, will lead to debt, currency crises, and the euro zone’s dissolution. The other, a monetary union with a proper central bank, internal fiscal transfers, and active, regionally-oriented monetary policy, will lead to a slow but steady recovery without default.

Clearly, to paraphrase Robert Frost, the road taken will make all the difference. For that reason, the euro’s fate lies not in Athens, or in Rome, but at the ECB’s headquarters in Frankfurt. ● Mario I. Blejer is a former governor of the Central Bank of Argentina and former director of the Center for Central Banking Studies at the Bank of England.

Eduardo Levy Yeyati is professor of economics at Universidad Torcuato Di Tella and senior fellow at the Brookings Institution.

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

Editorials are the opinions of WBJ’s editorial board. Other opinions are those of the authors alone. Comments, opinions and letters should be sent to editor@wbj.pl. Please include a name and contact information and clearly indicate if they are to be considered for publication.

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FEBRUARY 13-19, 2012

OPINION & ANALYSIS

Better late than never

We

are not sure whether the ratification of the AntiCounterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) will be good for Polish business or not – that remains to be seen. But we can be sure that it’s a good thing that the government has finally decided to hold a public consultation over the treaty’s ratification, which has so galvanized public anger.

“By all accounts the ACTA debate was a flop: Nothing was made clearer” Let it be a lesson to politicians that the internet has become an indispensable element of everyday life: Consider the lamentations of those who, for one reason or another, have to do without internet service for any period of time. People who only 15 years ago knew nothing of e-mail or websites now feel completely isolated without access to Facebook.

The world changes at an increasingly rapid pace, and that’s in part because of the internet. But it helps us to keep up with those changes as well. And, especially for young peo-

ple but increasingly for just about anyone, the internet is an essential part of both work and leisure.

It is no wonder that attempts to regulate internet use are met with scrutiny and resistance. Changes contained within ACTA – which opponents argue will be sweeping – could have been expected to cause a public outcry.

So Prime Minister Tusk moved relatively deftly, ignoring the protests long enough to have the treaty signed by an ambassador, and putting on the proper face for the international community – and US allies – who would have recoiled if Poland had rejected the treaty outright. Once that was done, Mr Tusk put the ratification process on hold, apologized for not having consulted the public, and promptly held a debate on the issue. (See story, p. 4.)

By all accounts, that debate was a flop – nothing was decided or made clearer. But Mr Tusk can now claim to have consulted the public and wait either for tempers to cool or for another country to reject ACTA’s ratification before he makes a final decision on the legislation.

In the meantime, Mr Tusk has committed to publishing as many government documents related to ACTA as possible. In theory this is a noble gesture, giving people access to important information regarding the treaty. In practice, it will mostly just

add to the mountains of documentation surrounding the issue and contained in ACTA itself, likely only confusing anyone patient enough to wade through it all.

What is really needed is an explanation of how opponents’ concerns will be addressed. To what degree will ACTA limit the uploading of content on the internet? Will websites that don’t post copyrighted

material be affected? What precisely constitutes copyright infringement?

All of these questions and many more need to be answered before the Polish public will accept ratification of ACTA. We can only hope that the government will provide answers to those questions. Mr Tusk has pledged to publish a “commentary” explaining precisely how ACTA would work in

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11

Editorial practice. That sounds like a good idea. If only the government had done that of its own accord prior to signing ACTA, it might have avoided this controversy altogether. ● Warsaw Business Journal’s editorial board comprises editor-in-chief Andrew Kureth, co-managing editors Gareth Price and Alice Trudelle, and politics editor Remi Adekoya.

Poland and Germany: How close is too close?

Micha∏ Baranowski

F

or hundreds of years, Poland suffered from an overbearing Germany that trampled on the rights of the Polish nation, occupied the country, and, at times, worked to extinguish the Polish nation-state entirely. No wonder that there is a residue of skepticism and caution in Poland when it comes to relations with its big neighbor to the west. A healthy distance and dose of hedging have long been the default position of the country’s foreign policy. Poland’s accession to the European Union has changed all that. Nearly eight years on, Poland is rephrasing its German question, and in a baffling way: How close is too close?

Fiscal treaty Poland recently consented to a European agreement that it did not like in the interest of keeping the continent together. European leaders had agreed on a fiscal compact, a treaty aimed at strengthening the fiscal discipline in the EU countries that choose to sign it, and set governing rules for the euro zone. Prime Minister Donald Tusk faced an uncomfortable choice.

On one hand, Poland has declared itself a staunchly pro-European country. In his now-famous Berlin speech last year, Polish Foreign Minister Rados∏aw Sikorski spoke of the need for a strong, united, and even federal

union. On the other hand, the euro zone was potentially moving ahead without Poland. The plan shaping up ahead of the summit called for meetings of the 17 euro-zone countries, excluding Poland from what is seen in Warsaw as a vital decision-making body of a changing EU. Consequently, Mr Tusk threatened that Poland might not sign the treaty if this mechanism was not changed.

In Warsaw, euro-zone summits are not simply seen as a crisis management mechanism for the euro, but as a nucleus of a smaller club in which most of the key decisions for the EU are made, some in areas beyond the single currency. France is the most active proponent of euro zone-only solutions, and a zero-sum game between France and Poland has developed around the question of a two-speed Europe. Warsaw fears that France wants to undo the EU’s eastern enlargement. Seen from Warsaw, inclusion is a core national interest; Poland did not join the European Union only to find itself sidelined.

The other euro-zone members faced a dilemma of their own. No democratic theory stipulates that nonmembers ought to have voting rights in membership organizations.

Since voting rights for nonmembers are out of the question, the group considered the PNV principle – “participate, not vote.” But even speaking

rights would give nonmembers the opportunity to influence, and maybe even undermine, goals that member states deem essential to sustaining their common currency. Nonmembers should not benefit from the currency union while not contributing to it, and nonmembers should have an incentive to join.

Keeping Poland in the cold But strict exclusion of nonmembers is in nobody’s interest. Some nonmembers are really “not-yet-members.”

They are, like Poland, candidate countries working to qualify and waiting for the right moment to join. They have a right to know what’s going on in the club they are aspiring to join.

The more the euro-zone coordinates to save its currency, the more it will make decisions that affect all 27 EU members. They might pertain to competitiveness, social systems, and taxes.

Keeping Poland in the cold is least of all in Germany’s interest. Poland is the most pro-European country outside the euro zone. Why alienate it?

Recently, Germany got a taste of what that might mean when Mr Sikorski warned that Germany should not even try to aspire to be a benevolent hegemon. Poland is Germany’s crucial ally for a more federal Europe and a power to help balance the less ambitious Brits and the more confed-

erate French. Poland is essential in order to lead Central and Eastern Europe towards the euro zone and prevent Europe from splitting in two.

It has rarely had a more central role in Europe and has never been a more pivotal partner of Germany.

In true European fashion, this led to a compromise, albeit an ugly one.

The agreement allows non-euro-zone countries to take part in the eurozone summits at least once a year, and whenever issues of competitiveness or the architecture of the euro zone are discussed.

An unhappy Mr Tusk contends the agreement still establishes a decision-making format in which Poland does not have a vote, and frequently will not even be present at the deliberations. Nonetheless, Poland decided to join the other 24 signatories (the UK and the Czech Republic were the holdouts), marking yet another time that Poland chose “more Europe” when presented with a choice. The Europe Poland is choosing is less and less to its liking, but it is easier to influence the club from the inside than from the outside.

Despite a building relationship with Germany, Warsaw’s support of Berlin’s leadership in Europe is anything but unconditional, “Provided you [Germany] will include us in decision-making, Poland will support

you,” Mr Sikorski emphasized in his Berlin speech. Poland knows that it cannot always count on unwavering support from its western neighbor, especially if Germany had to choose between Poland and France. Prime

“The Europe Poland is choosing is less and less to its liking, but it is easier to influence the club from the inside than from the outside” Minister Tusk’s goal now is to broaden Poland’s alliances within the euro zone, starting with Spain and Italy.

Germany will have to earn Poland’s support. ● Michal Baranowski is the senior program officer for foreign policy and civil society in the German Marshall Fund’s Warsaw office. Thomas Kleine-Brockhoff is a senior fellow and senior director for strategy at the GMF’s Washington, DC office.

Copyright: German Marshall Fund of the United States gmfus.org

COVER STORY

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The current shareholders of Multimedia Polska, one of the largest cable TV operators on the Polish market, have decided to sell the company. This is expected to be the second-largest consolidation transaction ever in the market – after last year’s acquisition of operator Aster by UPC Polska. According to Dziennik Gazeta Prawna, Telekomunikacja Polska, Netia, UPC Polska, PTC, as well as several investment funds, are all interested in buying Multimedia Polska.

PGE to invest z∏.330 billion by 2035 Poland’s top utility PGE wants to invest around z∏.330 billion through 2035, the company said last week. The total amount includes plans to increase and update its capacity from 13.1 gigawatts today to 15.8 GW in 2020 and 21.3 GW in 2035. It also includes launching Poland’s first nuclear power plant and investing in shale gas exploration.

Orlen to diversify In 2012, Poland’s top refiner PKN Orlen plans to intensify drilling for shale gas, continue exploring for crude oil and start construction on its planned z∏.1.5 billion, 450-500 megawatt gasfired power plant project in W∏oc∏awek. Upon releasing its full-year results last week, the firm admitted that 2011 had been a difficult year, with low refining margins, surging oil prices and depreciation of the z∏oty hitting the company’s performance. While the firm pocketed z∏.3.7 billion from the sale of its shares in Polkomtel, its refining segment was barely profitable, and its retail segment’s operating profit dropped nearly by half. ●

FEBRUARY 13-19, 2012

Film industry

A little movie magic

David Ingham

Poland’s film industry has transformed itself in recent years, but is the country really making the most of its movie-making potential?

As Hollywood once again gears up for its biggest night of the year, with the 84th Academy Awards ceremony just two weeks away, Polish director Agnieszka Holland will be hoping to join fellow Poles Andrzej Wajda and Roman Polanski in becoming an Oscar-winning director.

Ms Holland’s latest movie, “In Darkness,” which tells the story of Pole Leopold Socha, a former criminal who risked his own life during World War II to shelter Jewish citizens, is currently tipped as one of the favorites to win this year’s Best Foreign Language Film award.

And if the movie is announced as a winner at the Kodak Theatre come February 26, it won’t only be Tinsel Town celebrating to the sound of popping champagne corks.

In ¸ódê too, where the majority of the film was shot in a production partially paid for by the ¸ódê Film Fund, celebrations would no doubt be raucous.

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Multimedia Polska up for sale

“In Darkness” has been nominated for this year’s Best Foreign Language Film Oscar “If people see that this film was made in Poland, that it was made by Polish filmmakers, then it can have a real impact on the county’s film industry,” Paulina Bez, a spokesperson for the Polish

Agnieszka Holland COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

12

After graduating from film school in Prague in 1971, Warsaw-born director Agnieszka Holland started work as an assistant producer before going on to direct her first fea-

ture film, “Aktorzy Prowincjonalni” (“Provincial Actors”), in 1978. Her major international breakthrough came when she directed the West German film “Angry Harvest,” which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1985. Ms Holland has subsequently directed numerous other German, British and US productions, including 1993’s critically-acclaimed movie “The Secret Garden.” ●

Film Institute (PISF), told WBJ. However, while the Polish film industry may now find itself within reach of a major triumph, it was until recently in a dire state of repair.

Changing times Between 2000 and 2004 there was a significant decline in the number of feature film productions in Poland. During this period only 20 projects, most of which were low-budget indie or made-for-TV movies, were made due to a lack of both state and private funding for domestically made film projects.

But 2005 proved to be a pivotal year for the country’s stagnating film industry, with the passing of the Cinematography Act. This led to the creation of the Polish Film Institute and also helped deter-

mine the amount of state funding that Poland’s underperforming film industry would receive.

Currently, state funding for Polish or Polish and international co-productions can be obtained from 12 regional film funds, with the individual

“It won’t only be Tinsel Town celebrating to the sound of popping champagne corks” regional authority deciding the amount it will allocate each year to support domestic or co-production projects.

In addition, filmmakers and script writers can gain

funds from PISF, a body which was specifically created in order to promote domestic films both at home and abroad, while also offering financial assistance to filmmakers in the form of subsidies and grants.

“Our main goal is to help Polish film production … Polish filmmakers can get grants from us for feature films, documentaries and animations.

We also support film production by giving grants for scripts and the development of film projects” said Ms Bez. In 2012, from a total budget of z∏.127 million, the institute’s planned budget for film projects amounts to some z∏.88.5 million. This is partially funded from a 1.5 percent levy imposed on TV, cinema and film operators. Every time someone goes to see a film in the cinema in Poland, part of

COVER STORY

“Polish-language films still struggle to make waves internationally, which is why Poland’s best option may be to attract foreign producers”

Location, location, location “Internationally, Poland is not known as a film location. It is, however, a low-cost country with highly skilled workers, and today a lot of the uncertainty that existed in terms of infrastructure and services 10 to 15 years ago has disappeared, so the time is now right,” Jacek Levernes, vice president of HP Global Business Services in Europe told WBJ. Mr Levernes feels that Poland has the potential to be a center for European film production, but that a combined effort to promote the country as a great movie location is the only way to take the industry on to the next level. ¸ódê is one obvious example of a great location for film production in Poland. The city, which was once a center for textile production, has a long tradition of movie making, with three of Poland’s most famous directors of all time, Andrzej Wajda, Krzysztof

KieÊlowski and Roman Polanski, all having studied at the famous Leon Schiller National Higher School of Film, Television and Theatre in ¸ódê.

The presence of numerous filmmaking professionals and new production facilities, as well as industrial architecture which is perfect for shooting historical movies, has made ¸ódê into something of a cinema city in Poland, and helped to revive an area that could have slipped into depression following the closure of numerous factories in recent times.

In addition to recent developments in ¸ódê, new facilities specifically dedicated to film production and post-production have also emerged in other parts of Poland since 2005. Alvernia Studios, a modern film studio based in Kraków and The Chimney Pot, a post-production facility in Warsaw that specializes in digital intermediate technology and special effects, are two such examples.

Each region in Poland can also offer assistance to filmmakers by providing funding for projects from regional film funds. In recent years the two funds with the largest annual budgets were The Lower Silesian Film Competition, which had a budget of z∏.1.6 million for film projects in 2011, and the Regional Film Fund Kraków, whose annual budget for film production has stood at z∏.1.35 million.

The main stipulation for gaining funding in a particular region is that the film in question must have some form of connection to the local area or to Poland, either in terms of being shot on location or being made as a co-production

Krzysztof KieÊlowski COURTESY OF FACEBOOK KRZYSTOF KIESLOWSKI

between Polish and foreign filmmakers.

Wasted potential?

Given the facilities and expertise available, the question remains: is enough being done to maximize Poland’s potential?

According to HP’s Jacek Lavernes, more could be done. He believes the best way to promote Poland would be a major collaboration between film and nonfilm organizations, something which he says is not happening at the moment.

“My suggestion would be to create a coalition of companies which are active in the Polish film industry, along with the Polish Information and Foreign Investment Agency and the Economy Ministry, as well as film ambassadors such as directors, actors and other film professionals, to promote Polish film. A little effort can make a huge impact, ” he said.

However, there may be one other stumbling block to attracting foreign producers – taxes.

“Considering the places where you can shoot films, we have excellent locations.

But the problem is that in Poland we have very high taxes on film production, so that doesn’t attract foreign film producers. The only solution would be to reduce the taxes on film production,” Ms Bez said.

Yet since the Polish Film Institute started life in 2005, the amount of foreign coproductions with the participation of Polish filmmakers has risen each year, which suggests that despite the drawbacks, things are moving in the right direction.

But whatever the future holds for the country’s film industry, one thing is certain: success helps breed success, so the more awards and international recognition Polish-made films receive, the greater the chance Poland’s movie industry has of making a big impact in the future. ●

After finally being accepted by the ¸ódê Film School upon his third application, Krzysztof KieÊlowski went on to gain international fame for both his documentary and feature film productions.

Arguably his most famous

body of work was the trilogy of films “Three Colors: Blue,” “Three Colors: White” and “Three Colors: Red,” which explored the ideals of the French Revolution: liberty, equality, and fraternity. The final film in the trilogy saw Mr KieÊlowski nominated for the Best Director Oscar, as well as Best Screenplay in collaboration with Krzysztof Piesiewicz. This was to be his final fully completed project, as he died two years after its 1994 release, at the age of 54. ●

Andrzej Wajda

SHUTTERSTOCK

the money they spend on the ticket goes into future domestic film projects.

In terms of assessing the success of the new system, the change in the number of Poles who watch domestic films may serve as a decent barometer.

“In 2005, 800,000 Poles went to the cinema to see Polish-language films, but in 2011, 11,800,000 Poles saw Polish films,” Ms Bez said.

Last year, the Polish romantic comedy “Listy do M” (“Letters to Santa”), took top spot at the box office, drawing in 2.33 million viewers, followed by “Och Karol II,” which was seen by 1.75 million cinema-goers.

However, due to obvious language barriers that exist, the majority of Polish-language films still struggle to make waves internationally, which is why Poland’s best option may be to attract foreign producers to come and make movies here, through focusing on improving the available facilities and expertise.

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The 85-year-old Oscar-winning filmmaker is revered as a master of his art, both at home and abroad. He began his movie-making career with 1955’s “A generation,” which went on to form part of a trilogy of war films that also

included “Kana∏” in 1956 and “Ashes and Diamonds” two years later. His movie “Man of Iron” won the coveted Palme d’Or award at the 1981 Cannes Film Festival. But despite garnering four Academy Award nominations in total, his only triumph at those awards was an honorary Oscar in 2000. He is currently working on his latest film, “Wa∏´sa,” which tells the story of legendary Solidarity trade union activist and former President of Poland Lech Wa∏´sa. ●

Roman Polaƒski

SHUTTERSTOCK

FEBRUARY 13-19, 2012

Roman Polaƒski is without a doubt the most internationally well-known Polish director of all time. His numerous film credits include “Rosemary’s Baby,” “Chinatown,” “The Ninth Gate” and the “The Pianist,” the latter of which tells the true story of Polish pianist W∏adys∏aw

Szpilman and his survival during World War II. The film won Oscars for Best Director and Best Film as well as the Palme d’Or at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival.

However, Mr Polanski is no stranger to controversy and tragedy. In 1969, while he was away filming, his thenwife, Sharon Tate, was murdered at his Hollywood home along with four other people, by members of the Manson family. Then, in 1977, he was convicted of having sex with a minor, but avoided sentencing by fleeing abroad. ●

13

Two key roads not finished for Euro 2012 Poland’s Transport Minister said last Thursday that two important roads scheduled to be opened in time for the Euro 2012 soccer championship, which kicks off in June, will not be completed according to schedule.

“It gives me no satisfaction to say that we will most likely not be able to drive through the entire A1 and A4 highway for the Euro,” Minister S∏awomir Nowak told journalists.

When completed the A1, which runs north-south, will connect Gdaƒsk on the Baltic Sea to the Polish-Czech border.

Highway A4 is meant to connect Poland with Germany in the west and with Ukraine in the east.

FDI projects up The Polish Information and Foreign Investment Agency (PAIiIZ) is currently running 154 foreign direct investment (FDI) projects jointly worth €5.6 billion. That’s 10 more investments than in the same period last year. The largest number of projects originate in the US (43 projects worth €1.33 billion) followed by the UK (17 projects worth €316 million), Germany, China, Japan, France and South Korea. The largest number of investments (30) concern the BPO sector, closely followed by the automotive sector (29).

However projects in the automotive sector are worth €1.86 billion, while those in the BPO sector are worth €33 million. ●

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Small cities are increasing their share of Poland’s retail investments

Ahead of its IPO, W∏odarzewska is touting its strategy of investment diversity 16

17

LOKALE IMMOBILIA

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

Vantage prepares to enter WSE

The Apartamenty Novum development represents the beginning of the company’s long-term involvement in the city Developer Hines Polska has launched construction on its Apartamenty Novum multifamily residential project in Kraków, the company’s first investment in the southern Polish city. The development, which will be built by Erbud, is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2013.

The Apartamenty Novum investment will sit on 4.8 hectares of land located on Kraków’s ul. Rakowicka. The plot was bought by a Hines subsidiary and the Heitman investment fund in October 2010.

“We made the first attempt to buy land for an investment in Kraków as early as 2005,” Wojciech Rumian, Hines’s manag-

ing director for development projects in Poland, said in a statement.

He added that the company was intent on finding a centrally located plot on which it could construct a sufficiently large building. He pointed out that this is very difficult to achieve in Kraków.

“We view the launch of construction on Apartamenty Novum on ul. Rakowicka not only as the end of the search, but also as the beginning of Hines’s longer involvement in the Kraków market and the willingness to develop more investments [there],” Mr Rumian said.

The Apartamenty Novum project was designed by the IMB Asymetria architectural studio. It will comprise over 400 apartments and parking spaces for 458 cars. The units in the scheme are priced from z∏.7,800 per sqm.

Adam Zdrodowski

COURTESY OF HINES POLSKA

Hines Polska enters Kraków market

BRE Bank in Senator

The project comprises over 400 apartments

Shopping centers

BRE Bank is the latest tenant in the underconstruction Senator office project in Warsaw. The company has taken up 1,665 sqm of space in the scheme.

Located on Warsaw’s ul.

Bielaƒska, the Senator investment will comprise more than 24,500 sqm of office space on six floors. The project, which is being developed by Ghelamco Poland, is scheduled to be completed in the middle of this year. ●

Building work soon to launch on Galeria Neptun The mall is expected to be completed in early 2014

In this issue

Warsaw Business Centre . . . . .16 Warehouse demand . . . . . . . . .16 Property-related stocks . . . . . .16 Włodarzewska IPO . . . . . . . . . .17 Record transactions . . . . . . . . .17

COURTESY OF CUSHMAN & WAKEFIELD

Hines in Kraków . . . . . . . . . . . . .15

Retail investment . . . . . . . . . . .15

FEBRUARY 13-19, 2012, LI 17/06

Residential

Wroc∏aw-based developer Vantage Development has issued its prospectus and expects to debut on the Warsaw Stock Exchange at the turn of March and April this year. The public offering will be targeted at the shareholders of Impel, which, along with the two founders and main shareholders of Grupa Impel, is a shareholder in Vantage Development. In return for the move, Impel will shift its remaining development activity, carried out by Zak∏ad Ecoimpel, to Vantage Development. The operation is expected to strengthen the organizational structure and efficiency of both entities.

Galeria Neptun . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15

•

The shopping center will boast 25,000 sqm of leasable space

Construction on the Galeria Neptun shopping center in Starogard Gdaƒski, in Poland’s northern Pomorskie voivodship, will soon begin now that the development has obtained a building permit.

Construction is due to launch in April, Cushman & Wakefield said in a statement.

The firm is both an advisor to the developer and the exclusive agent responsible for the commercialization of the scheme.

Completion is expected in spring of 2014.

“Galeria Neptun is the first such large-scale development in Starogard Gdaƒski. The building permit now allows us to carry on working on this proj-

ect,” Tomasz Daniecki, head of project management at Cushman & Wakefield, said in a statement.

Galeria Neptun, which is being developed by an eponymous company, will be located at the site of a former footwear factory at the junction of ul.

Pomorska and Al. Jana Paw∏a II in the downtown area of Starogard Gdaƒski.

The two-storey scheme will provide 25,000 sqm of leasable space and an underground parking lot with spaces for 618 vehicles.

Cushman & Wakefield has been charged with preparing an application to have the local zoning plan amended, to develop a concept for the building and its vicinity, and to prepare a comprehensive building permit GP design for the scheme.

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

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GTC renegotiates loan conditions Warsaw Stock Exchangelisted developer Globe Trade Centre (GTC) has renegotiated project finance loans worth a total of €97 million. The loans have been reclassified as long-term liabilities, which is expected to improve the company’s cash-flow profile.

Erbud commissions in Wroc∏aw, Gdaƒsk Construction company Erbud will be the general contractor of a complex of multi-family residential buildings in Wroc∏aw that will be developed by LC Corp. The value of the agreement amounts to z∏.24.2 million, with construction scheduled to launch this month and finish in September 2013.

Erbud has also recently been selected by Alfa Investments as the general contractor of an office project in Gdaƒsk. The value of the deal amounts to z∏.27.6 million. ●

FEBRUARY 13-19, 2012

Shopping centers

Small cities continue to attract retail investments Urban centers with populations below 100,000 will account for over one-third of the 2012 supply

2012, but noted that it is schemes in the small cities that are now setting a trend.

“Until 2007, the eight largest cities in Poland accounted for over 50 percent of the total shopping center supply,” Ms Kreja said, adding that small cities have accounted for onethird of the market for the last two to three years. “This trend is expected to continue this and next year.”

When one takes into consideration all retail space currently under construction in Poland, which totals more than 700,000 sqm, the small cities’ share of the market actually looks even more impressive, and stands at approximately 45 percent, according to Savills data.

Small Polish cities are continuing to attract new retail developments, with urban centers that have populations of below 100,000 expected to account for approximately 36 percent of this year’s total shopping center supply.

Karina Kreja, an associate director at the research and consultancy department of CBRE, said that small, medium-sized and large cities will see a comparable proportion of deliveries to one another in

“In small cities with populations of less than 100,000 the competition is small or even does not exist at all, while the level of the inhabitants’ affluence is often not different from that in large cities,” said Wioleta Wojtczak, a senior consultant at the research and consultancy department of Savills Polska.

She added that in the case of small cities, developers often invest on a “first-come, firstserved” basis and that a single new scheme has the ability to change the dynamics of a local market considerably, making the development of other projects much riskier.

The largest shopping cen-

ters that are scheduled to be completed in Poland’s small cities this year include Krosno Center in Krosno, Alfa Centrum in Grudziàdz, Galeria Olimpia in Be∏chatów, Odrzaƒskie Ogrody in K´dzierzyn Koêle and Galeria Veneda in ¸om˝a.

Adam Zdrodowski

Small but mighty Major shopping centers scheduled for completion in small Polish cities in 2012 City

Project

GLA (sqm)

Developer

Krosno Center

30,000

Karpackie Centrum Obs∏ugi Inwestycji

Grudziàdz

Alfa Centrum

22,000

JWK Invest

Be∏chatów

Galeria Olimpia

21,050

Echo Investment

Krosno

K´dzierzyn-Koêle

Odrzƒskie Ogrody

21,000

PA Nova

¸om˝a

Galeria Veneda

16,200

Echo Investment

S∏upsk

Jantar

15,500

Mayland Real Estate Source: Emmerson

Office investors team up to build integrated business center in Warsaw in the capital’s Wola district.

Concept Development, as well as three other investors involved in the WBC concept – Ablon Group, Polstar Investment and LC Corp, are all currently developing or planning office projects in the area, which has recently become

Developer Concept Development last week announced the launch of Warsaw Business Centre (WBC), an initiative that envisions the creation of an integrated business center in the area of ul. Grzybowska, ul. Karolkowa, ul. Hrubieszowska and ul. Przyokopowa

Property-related stocks Security

Closing price on Feb 9

% change (week)

52-week low

52-week high

% change (year)

Total shares

Market value (z∏. mln)

BUDIMEX

85.20

0.83

62.00

109.70

-12

25,530,098

2,175.16

CELTIC

17.69

2.25

15.35

25.88

-6

34,068,252

602.67

DOMDEV

38.50

13.40

23.50

51.90

-21

24,560,222

945.57

ECHO

3.91

-2.01

3.05

5.60

-9

420,000,000

1,642.20

ELBUDOWA

103.00

3.00

82.25

170.00

-39

4,747,608

489.00

ENERGOPLD

2.30

15.00

1.78

4.15

-39

70,972,001

163.24

ERBUD

22.00

8.64

14.65

50.75

-57

12,644,169

278.17

GANT

9.16

8.66

5.85

16.98

-44

20,499,953

187.78

GTC

10.83

6.91

7.91

21.79

-49

219,372,990

2,375.81

HBPOLSKA

1.18

10.28

0.66

2.79

-55

210,558,445

248.46

JWCONSTR

7.07

-4.85

4.33

15.55

-49

54,073,280

382.30

LCCORP

1.24

7.83

0.81

1.71

-17

447,558,311

554.97

MARVIPOL

9.86

1.34

6.70

10.10

6

36,923,400

364.06

MIRBUD

2.47

3.35

1.87

4.85

-43

75,000,000

185.25

MOSTALWAR

20.55

1.99

15.40

49.00

-58

20,000,000

411.00

MOSTALZAB

1.68

2.44

0.99

3.08

-40

149,130,538

250.54

ORCOGROUP

17.85

-1.05

13.30

42.38

-46

17,053,866

304.41

PBG

79.05

-3.36

53.70

205.00

-60

14,295,000

1,130.02

PLAZACNTR

2.65

9.96

1.71

5.15

-36

297,174,515

787.51

POLAQUA

7.15

3.17

4.37

20.60

-65

27,500,100

196.63

POLIMEXMS

1.96

5.38

1.19

3.78

-46

521,154,076

1,021.46

POLNORD

18.05

5.49

11.00

34.00

-44

23,798,439

429.56

RANKPROGR

13.18

9.92

8.10

14.45

30

37,145,050

489.57

ROBYG

1.33

3.10

1.02

2.14

-28

257,390,000

342.33

RONSON

0.90

0.00

0.77

1.61

-37

272,360,000

245.12

TRAKCJA

1.26

0.80

0.63

4.05

-65

232,105,480

292.45

ULMA

59.60

4.10

53.00

88.00

-24

5,255,632

313.24

UNIBEP

5.78

-5.86

4.00

9.80

-40

33,927,184

196.10

WARIMPEX

4.55

1.34

2.92

10.96

-56

54,000,000

245.70

ZUE

8.50

6.92

5.02

14.20

-39

22,000,000

187.00

one of the hottest locations on Warsaw’s office map.

In spite of their different office space offers, the partners aim to make WBC an integrated business center offering tenants coordinated services and facilities. Boles∏aw Shugol, a representative for Concept Tower, described the scheme as unique in Warsaw and pointed out that it will entail considerable financial benefits for the parties involved.

Cooperation between the investors is already underway as far as the development of

the local road infrastructure is concerned. In the future, the investors’ office buildings are supposed to benefit from, among other things, a joint purchase of utilities (maintenance savings estimated at from 20-30 percent), and centrally managed parking and secuThe development will be located in rity systems.

COURTESY OF CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT

16

AZ

Warsaw’s Wola district

Logistics

Leasing activity grows in Poland’s logistics market Despite forecasts of an economic slowdown, strong demand for warehouse space is expected this year Due to the strength of the Polish economy, demand for modern warehouse space in the country is continuing to grow, according to a report by CBRE. Total leasing activity in 2011 grew by about 30 percent year-on-year, with over 1.86 million sqm of space leased out. Tenants from the logistics and manufacturing sectors were the most active, with these being represented mainly by producers of automotive and construction materials.

Sector III, which comprises logistics parks located in all Polish regions excluding War-

saw, saw over 60 percent of 2011 leasing activity, with 333,000 sqm and 250,000 sqm leased out in the Silesia and Wroc∏aw regions respectively.

Meanwhile, vacancy rates fell last year to stand at 10 percent for the whole of Poland. In Warsaw, the vacancy rate was at 9 percent.

As with leasing activity, total completions of new leasable warehouse space grew by 30 percent y/y to stand at 350,000 sqm, including about 100,000 sqm in Silesia. Roughly 40 percent of logistics projects in 2011 were constructed on a builtto-suit basis. Developers launched construction on around 600,000 sqm of space.

Looking at this year, CBRE expects leasing activity to be at least as high as it

was in 2011, although much depends on the overall health of the economy.

“Although economic forecasts are worse for this year than last, occupiers and developers don’t seem to mind and construction activity is at a higher level than last year,” Joanna Mroczek, director of Research & Consultancy at CBRE in Poland told Lokale Immobilia.

Ms Mroczek said that judging by the level of inquiries she has observed, demand for warehouse space can be expected to be as high or higher than it was last year, although a lot depends on how the retail market performs and on the completion of highways, since these factors are major generators of demand.

Gareth Price

FEBRUARY 13-19, 2012

LOKALE IMMOBILIA – REAL ESTATE

www.wbj.pl

Best Western opens Polish office

Developers

W∏odarzewska plans new commercial investments, IPO

Warsaw-based developer W∏odarzewska, which has mostly built housing projects located in and around the Polish capital, plans to launch several commercial investments in the near future.

The company, which is already developing a retail scheme in Brwinów near Warsaw, is working on several other shopping center projects, as well as a retail park development, whose details have so far not been revealed.

An office building located in Warsaw’s Ursynów district will likely be the first of the planned commercial investments to be launched by W∏odarzewska. The company

plans to commence construction on the 11-floor scheme on the capital’s ul. Jastrz´bowskiego in the second quarter of this year.

“We are developing and diversifying our activity, hence the presence in our portfolio of Galeria Brwinów and the plans related to new shopping centers and a retail park,” said Jerzy Szymaƒski, president of W∏odarzewska’s management board.

He added that the company’s land bank currently comprises 250 hectares of land, most of which is earmarked for the development of commercial space. New residential projects will be built in, among other locations, Warsaw’s Ursynów and Ochota districts.

A mixed-use skyscraper in central Warsaw that is currently at an early design stage is

arguably W∏odarzewska’s most spectacular planned investment. The tower will comprise both residential and office space.

“We are an investor that is mostly active in the Warsaw market and this is why we are interested in the development of very different projects in this area,” Mr Szymaƒski said.

He added that W∏odarzewska’s business model demands that it operate in many sectors of the market.

In Q3 2012, W∏odarzewska, already present on the Catalyst bond market, plans to debut on the Warsaw Stock Exchange. “We are preparing for the process and will make the final decision, taking factors related to the market situation into consideration,” Mr Szymaƒski said.

Adam Zdrodowski

The first Polish office of the Best Western hotel chain has opened in the Skylight Building office project in central Warsaw. This brings the number of Best Western hotels in Poland to 11.

The company plans to open a further nine by the end of 2012. “Last year we doubled the number of Best Western brand facilities. This year, we are also planning an intensive development of our portfolio,” Gheorghe Cristescu, regional sales director at Best Western in Poland, said in a statement.

COURTESY OF WLODARZEWSKA

The company is in the process of diversifying its development activity

Lipiƒski Passage 50% leased out

Company president Jerzy Szymaƒski

Over €2.5 billion in deals last year – the most since 2007 Transactions worth more than €2.5 billion were carried out across all real estate sectors in Poland last year, making 2011 the strongest year for transactions since 2007, according to a recent study by Jones Lang LaSalle. The amount represents an annualized increase

of 28 percent and is over three-and-a-half times the level observed in 2009.

A breakdown of the 2011 figure shows that over €1.15 billion was spent on officemarket transactions (the highest since 2006), over €1.2 billion on retail deals, over €100

million in the industrial sector and around €76 million in the hotel sector.

The four largest office transactions involved North Gate, Focus, Park Post´pu and Miasteczko Orange. Combined, these accounted for over 40 percent of the office

17

transaction volume. Only one office investment transaction – the sale of Green Office in Kraków to Azora – took place outside of Warsaw last year.

Retail investment volumes were at highs unseen since 2007, with the top three transactions accounting for around

Corporate finance advisor and direct investment company Vienna Capital Partners has leased 326 sqm of office space in the Lipiƒski Passage mixeduse project in Warsaw.

The company is expected to move into the property later this month. ●

53 percent of the total volume.

Looking ahead, the total investment volume in 2012 could be at a similar level to last year’s, due to positive investor sentiment and a good economic outlook for Poland, the report says.

Gareth Price

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18

THE LIST

www.wbj.pl

FEBRUARY 13-19, 2012

Travel & Leisure

Travel Management Companies Ranked by plane tickets issued in 2010

Hotel reservations / Car lease intermediation

Visa services / Conference organization / Training

Incentives / Additional insurance / IATA licensed ticketing agents

Online corporate reservation system / Global hotel programs / 24/7 emergency assistance

Other

Number of agency-owned TMC offices in Poland / Number of TMC employees in Poland

Total number of employees in Poland / Year founded in Poland / Year IATA license obtained

www.bookoflists.pl

Ownership: Polish / Foreign

1

Carlson Wagonlit Travel Sp. z o.o. ul. Tamka 38, 00-355 Warsaw 22 556-2200/22 556-2299 cwt@carlsonwagonlit.pl www.carlsonwagonlit.pl

68,326 122,743 109,185 126,628

WND WND WND WND

WND WND WND WND

✓ ✓

✓ ✓ ✓

✓ ✓ ✓

✓ ✓ ✓

Creation and management of business trip programs; expense analysis and optimization; delivery negotiation; rail tickets in Poland and abroad; fair tickets

Carlson Wagonlit Travel

7 131

131 1919 1947

Carlson Wagonlit Polska Compagne Internationale Wagonlit Travel

2

American Express Travel SA ul. Ch∏odna 51, 00-867 Warsaw 22 581-5100/22 654-7040 warsawbtc@aexp.com www.americanexpress.pl

47,074 86,324 66,743 87,000

WND WND WND WND

WND WND WND WND

✓ ✓

✓ ✓ ✓

✓ ✓ ✓

✓ ✓ ✓

According to individual needs of customer; optimization of business travel management

American Express

2 86

86 1992 1992

WND

3

Weco Travel Sp. z o.o. ul. TaÊmowa 7, 02-677 Warsaw 22 520-2800/22 520-2886 info@weco.com.pl www.weco.pl

47,466 78,099 68,954 69,893

WND WND WND WND

WND WND WND WND

✓ ✓

✓ ✓ ✓

✓ ✓ ✓

✓ ✓

Hotel reservations; train tickets; congresses; conferences; incentive trips (MICE); car rentals; visas

Radius - The global travel management

4 WND

87 1992 1992

None Weco - Travel CEE - 80%; JJ Singh - 20%

JJ Singh

4

Fly Away Travel Sp. z o.o. ul. Po∏czyƒska 31A, 01-377 Warsaw 22 478-6333/22 478-6399 flycenter@flyaway.pl www.flyaway.pl

WND 59,287 55,314 71,625

WND WND WND WND

WND WND WND WND

✓ ✓

✓ ✓ ✓

✓ ✓ ✓

✓ ✓ ✓

Comprehensive corporate travel management; the lowest ticket price preference; help desk 24/7; train ticket reservation system in all branches; Rail Europe; free tests

-

5 58

71 1990 1990

WND None

Bart∏omiej Budzyƒski

5

Bankowe Biuro Podró˝y TRAVELBANK Sp. z o.o. ul. Waliców 11, 00-851 Warsaw 22 654-3525/22 654-6650 info@travelbank.com.pl www.travelbank.com.pl

56,500 52,300 39,600 34,200

WND WND WND WND

WND WND WND WND

✓ ✓

✓ ✓ ✓

✓ ✓ ✓

✓ ✓ ✓

Air Cargo; complex business trip service; sale of holiday catalogs; incentive travel; tourist vouchers

Global Market Specialists

1 45

WND 1991 1991

WND None

Wanda Konopka

6

Netmedia Business Travel Sp. z o.o. ul. D∏uga 44/50, 00-241 Warsaw 22 314-7200/22 314-7205 handlowy@nbt.pl www.nbt.pl

26,625 48,233 46,000 43,500

35.0 70.7 63.0 61.0

59.0 113.0 115.0 102.0

✓ ✓

✓ ✓ ✓

✓ ✓ ✓

✓ ✓ ✓

Outbound and inbound tourism

Lufthansa City Center; EGENCIA

3 47

180 1985 1990

Netmedia - 100% None

Marian Szypu∏a

7

Centrum Podró˝y Air Club Stanis∏aw Modliƒski ul. Senatorska 28, 00-095 Warsaw 22 829-9500/22 829-9550 info@airclub.pl www.airclub.pl

25,657 48,205 42,191 53,719

40.8 74.7 65.2 82.1

WND WND WND WND

✓ ✓

✓ ✓ ✓

✓ ✓ ✓

✓ ✓ ✓

Individual tourism; Club Med trips; incentive parties; congresses; train tickets; buses; ferries; cruises

BCD Travel

1 14

91 1990 1990

Stanis∏aw Modliƒski 100% None

Stanis∏aw Modliƒski

8

Blue Sky Travel Sp. z o.o. ul. Roosevelta 2, 60-829 Poznaƒ 61 841-0900/61 842-0343 office@bluesky.pl www.bluesky.pl

27,863 35,209 29,848 26,866

3.8 6.3 2.3 3.9

7.0 13.4 12.4 22.8

✓ ✓

✓ ✓ ✓

✓ ✓ ✓

✓ ✓ ✓

WND

-

3 20

55 1990 1992

Jerzy Ruszkowski 60.1%; Jerzy and Ewa Ruszkowscy - 39.9% None

9

FCm Travel Express Al. Jana Paw∏a II 19, 00-854 Warsaw 22 453-5353/22 453-5301 travel@pl.fcm.travel www.fcmtravel.pl

16,000 27,000 21,000 23,000

WND WND WND WND

35.0 63.0 52.0 60.0

✓ ✓

✓ ✓ ✓

✓ ✓ ✓

✓ ✓ ✓

VIP service; customized travel management reporting and FCm Travel Solutions analysis; cost optimization

1 40

40 1994 1995

WND

Supertour Lufthansa City Center ul. Niemcewicza 26, 02-306 Warsaw 10 22 556-6300/22 556-6310 super@supertour.pl www.supertour.pl

14,100 23,000 22,000 29,500

23.3 35.0 36.0 43.0

35.0 56.0 50.0 61.0

✓ ✓

✓ ✓ ✓

✓ ✓ ✓

✓ ✓ ✓

Business trip management; cost optimization according to Business Plus reports and analysis; internal training sessions; external Luthansa City Center, Luthansa City Center training sessions; seminars; account manager protection

4 30

50 1990 1993

Bogdan Wieczorek; Wojciech Wojdat WND

Mazurkas Travel Biuro Podró˝y Sp. z o.o. ul. Wojska Polskiego 27, 01-515 Warsaw 11 22 536-4600/22 839-2090 mazurkas@mazurkas.com.pl www.mazurkas.com.pl

5,600 4,300 WND 2,800

3.9 3.0 WND 1.9

WND WND WND WND

✓ ✓

✓ ✓

✓ ✓ -

✓

WND

-

WND WND

WND 1990 1993

Andrzej Bartkowski 50%; Andrzej Hulewicz 50% None

Biuro Podró˝ników Flugo Sp. z o.o. ul. Marii Sk∏odowskiej-Curie 10, 85-094 Bydgoszcz 12 52 340-0416/52 341-7505 andreo@flugo.com.pl www.flugo.com.pl

2,372 3,763 3,996 3,974

3.6 5.0 5.1 5.4

7.9 13.5 9.2 12.0

✓ ✓

✓ ✓ ✓

✓ ✓ ✓

✓ ✓ ✓

Ski conferences; productlaunch trips; reference visit; organizing events; tour operator service; ferries; cruises

Alians Polska Sieç Biur Podró˝y

1 11

11 1998 1998

Andreo Grz´bowski 60%; Micha∏ Brzozowski 20%; Cezary Wilemajtys - Andreo Grz´bowski President 20% None

Olimp Air Biuro Podró˝y Sp. z o.o. ul. ¸owicka 23, 02-502 Warsaw NR 22 549-6950/22 549-6956 olimpair@olimpair.com.pl www.olimpair.com.pl

WND WND WND WND

WND WND WND WND

WND WND WND WND

✓ ✓

✓ ✓ ✓

✓ ✓ ✓

✓ ✓ ✓

VIP service; individual luxury trips; product launches; cruises; private and family events

-

1 8

8 1990 1995

Rank

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

from Total revenue Number of Turnoversales tickets issued ticket (z∏. mln) (z∏. mln)

1st half of 2011 / 2010 / 2009 / 2008

Notes: NR = Not Ranked, WND = Would Not Disclose. Research for the List was done in January 2012. Number of employees and ownership structure are as of December 2011. All information pertains to the companies’ activities in Poland.

Global travel management network

WND

Top local executive / Title

Pawe∏ Rek General Director

Westyna Kulczycka General Director

CEO

Director, Board Member

President

President

President

Jerzy Ruszkowski President

Tim Hyland President

Bogdan Wieczorek President

Andrzej Hulewicz Vice President

Andrzej Górski President

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

20

MARKETS

www.wbj.pl

FEBRUARY 13-19, 2012

Stocks report

world stock indices DJIA

NASDAQ

12,890.46 (Feb 9 close)

S&P500

1.46% (for the week)

FTSE100

1,351.95 (Feb 9 close)

2,927.23 (Feb 9 close)

DAX

5,895.50 (Feb 9 close)

1.99% (for the week)

1.71% (for the week)

More room to rally?

NIKKEI225 6,788.80 (Feb 9 close)

9,002.24 (Feb 9 close)

2.00% (for the week)

1.41% (for the week)

CHANGE: 3.98%

2.36% (for the week) CHANGE: 10.51%

CHANGE: 5.86%

CHANGE: 3.43%

CHANGE: 11.74%

CHANGE: 5.17%

(year to Feb 9 close)

(year to Feb 9)

(year to Feb 9)

(year to Feb 9)

(year to Feb 9)

(year to Feb 9 )

52-week high: 12,978.20

52-week high: 2,930.68

52-week high: 1,370.58

52-week high: 6,105.80

52-week high: 7,600.41

52-week high: 10,891.60

52-week low: 10,362.30

52-week low: 2,298.89

52-week low: 1,074.77

52-week low: 4,791.01

52-week low: 4,965.80

52-week low: 8,227.63

Andrew Nawrocki, WBJ market analyst After a few weeks of solid gains from European indices, last week had investors questioning whether it was time to cash in on some of the profits. With little macroeconomic news coming out last week, market participants focused in on Greece. On Monday, investors reacted bearishly to yet another deadline having lapsed in Athens, as political leaders failed to respond to bailout terms from the EU and IMF. Although most indices in Europe closed in the red, Poland’s WIG index managed to close 0.84 percent higher. Shares of developer GTC rose 10 percent, up nearly 20 percent since the beginning of 2012.

On Tuesday, stocks throughout Europe were led lower as a string of poor corporate earnings from many

Major indices WIG

41,792.46 (February 9 close)

WIG20

2,364.29 (February 9 close)

09.02

08.02

07.02

06.02

03.02

02.02

01.02

31.01

30.01

27.01

26.01

25.01

24.01

09.02

08.02

07.02

06.02

03.02

02.02

01.02

31.01

30.01

2,100

27.01

37,000

26.01

2,200

25.01

38,600

24.01

2,300

23.01

40,200

20.01

2,400

19.01

41,800

18.01

2,500

17.01

43,400

16.01

2,600

13.01

45,000

23.01

52-week low: 2,089.84

20.01

Change year to February 9: 7.76%

19.01

52-week low: 36,549.47

18.01

52-week high: 2,932.62

Change year to February 9: 9.07%

17.01

Change for the week: -0.29%

16.01

52-week high: 50,371.74

13.01

Change for the week: 0.46%

Top 5 HERMAN EUROMARK KOMPUTRON INTERSPPL STAPORKOW

Closing 5.95 2.20 10.55 2.97 24.97

% change (week) 52-week high 153.19 5.95 109.52 4.96 49.65 10.95 35.62 4.60 34.32 27.00

52-week low 0.45 1.00 3.66 1.33 10.45

Top 5 GTC POLIMEXMS TVN LOTOS CYFRPOLSAT

Closing 10.83 1.96 11.80 27.55 14.40

% change (week) 6.91 5.38 5.17 5.15 5.11

52-week high 21.79 3.71 18.50 49.42 17.25

52-week low 7.86 1.30 8.96 21.45 12.70

Bottom 5 ONE2ONE MIDAS EUIMPLANT EDINVEST EUROHOLD

Closing 2.70 1.14 0.24 3.62 2.50

% change (week) -17.18 -15.56 -14.29 -13.81 -13.79

52-week low 2.04 1.10 0.19 2.50 2.50

Bottom 5 GETIN PBG PKN ORLEN TPSA PGNIG

Closing 2.39 79.05 37.70 16.78 3.69

% change (week) -4.78 -3.36 -3.03 -2.39 -2.38

52-week high 15.29 204.00 57.90 18.90 4.64

52-week low 2.39 58.90 32.30 15.10 3.60

52-week high 7.29 1.15 0.60 6.93 3.50

Currency report

Greece weighs on the z∏oty

Other indices mWIG40

2,421.55 (February 9 close)

sWIG80

9,874.29 (February 9 close)

Change for the week: 1.45%

52-week high: 2,987.72

Change for the week: 3.27%

Change year to February 9: 10.56%

52-week low: 2,076.52

Change year to February 9: 14.76%

2,600

10,000

2,500

9,500

2,400

52-week high: 12,932.00 52-week low: 8,218.71

Adam Narczewski, X-Trade Brokers DM SA

9,000

2,300

NewConnect

43.01 (February 9 close)

WIG-Banki

09.02

08.02

07.02

06.02

03.02

02.02

01.02

31.01

30.01

27.01

26.01

25.01

24.01

23.01

20.01

19.01

18.01

17.01

13.01

09.02

08.02

07.02

06.02

03.02

02.02

01.02

31.01

30.01

27.01

26.01

25.01

24.01

23.01

20.01

19.01

18.01

17.01

16.01

8,000 13.01

2,100

16.01

8,500

2,200

6,086.84 (February 9 close)

SOURCE: WSE

09.02

08.02

07.02

06.02

03.02

02.02

01.02

31.01

30.01

27.01

26.01

25.01

24.01

09.02

08.02

07.02

06.02

03.02

02.02

01.02

31.01

30.01

5,200

27.01

40

26.01

5,400

25.01

41

24.01

5,600

23.01

42

20.01

5,800

19.01

43

18.01

6,000

17.01

44

16.01

6,200

13.01

45

23.01

52-week low: 4,944.19

20.01

Change year to February 9: 9.81%

19.01

52-week low: 41.49

18.01

52-week high: 7,387.49

Change year to February 9: 3.66%

17.01

Change for the week: -0.11%

16.01

52-week high: 59.56

13.01

Change for the week: 3.31%

of Europe’s leading banks disappointed investors. In particular, weak earnings from Swiss bank UBS hurt investor sentiment. The WIG lost nearly half a percent. On Wednesday, stocks got some relief as news emerged that a deal was being reached to secure €130 billion in rescue funding for Greece. Stocks finished mildly higher, with the WIG gaining 0.31 percent, while the WIG20 gained 0.08 percent.

On Thursday, stocks continued their mild gains as Greece agreed to a tough austerity package. Stocks finished mixed, with most of Western Europe up, while the WIG closed lower. On Friday, stocks throughout Europe fell further as additional austerity conditions were imposed on Greece. ●

The anticipated corrective movement on the z∏oty finally materialized last week.

Markets started off the week continuing the previous weeks’ trend, with the z∏oty reaching weekly lows at z∏.4.15 against the euro and z∏.3.12 against the dollar.

One of the drivers of those moves was the EUR/USD, which climbed to a threemonth high of $1.33 decreasing risk aversion.

Hopes for a further appreciation of the z∏oty arose after the National Bank of Poland’s Monetary Policy Council (RPP) kept interest rates unchanged at 4.5 percent, but at the same time warned that high inflation (which has remained above 4 percent) could result in an interest-rate hike.

However, the situation changed mid-week when

Greece was told to meet additional restrictions in order to receive a second round of financial aid.

The factor that sped up the z∏oty’s depreciation last week was Friday’s statement

by George Karatzaferis, leader of the Greek rightwing party LAOS, who said that he could not vote in favor of the new rescue plan.

The LAOS party has only 15 seats out of the total 300 in the Greek parliament (which means it cannot block the new plan by itself), but the markets reacted nervously, with the EUR/USD declining rapidly to $1.32.

Emerging markets currencies reacted even more strongly – the EUR/PLN climbed all the way to z∏.4.21, the USD/PLN advanced to z∏.3.19 while the CHF/PLN rose to z∏.3.48. ●

currency rates 4.1439

4.0816

4.0792

07.02

08.02

09.02

10.02

4.1831 06.02

SOURCE: NBP

4.1792 03.02

0.1057

0.1060 10.02

4

4.0807

PLN-100JPY

5

09.02

0.1056 08.02

0.1060 07.02

06.02

0.1054 03.02

3.4507

3.4752 10.02

0.10

0.1059

PLN-RUB

0.12

09.02

3.4431 08.02

3.4633 07.02

06.02

3.4784 03.02

4.9879

5.0216 10.02

3.3

3.4695

PLN-CHF

3.5

09.02

5.0060 08.02

5.0338 07.02

5.0469

5.0494 06.02

10.02

09.02

08.02

07.02

06.02

03.02

3.1703

3.1487

3.1461

3.1806

3.1848

PLN-GBP

5.5

4.5

03.02

4.1769

4.2048 10.02

3.0

3.2084

PLN-USD

3.5

09.02

4.1710 08.02

4.1932

4.1818 07.02

06.02

4.00

03.02

4.25

4.1837

PLN-EUR

4.50

SPORTS

FEBRUARY 13-19, 2012

www.wbj.pl

Euro 2012

Gortat not among NBA All-Stars

The number of foreign soccer fans traveling to Poland for Euro 2012 could be much lower than initially forecast, according to a new report from the country’s Ministry of Sport and Tourism. It was previously expected that 470,000-710,000 soccer fans would come to Poland for the

only 5,000 fans predicted to travel for each of their respective countries’ group matches.

It is believed that the high price of travel and accommodation during the tournament, as well as economic difficulties in countries such as Greece and Ireland, may play a role in determining the number of fans that travel to Poland.

Three teams with traditionally the largest traveling support – England, the Netherlands and Germany – will each play all three of their group matches in Ukraine.

David Ingham

SHUTTERSTOCK

2012 European championship, but new research suggests there could be as few as 200,000.

“We have to downgrade the number of soccer fans we expect,” said Dariusz ¸apiƒski from organizing body PL.2012.

According to the most recent calculations, for games involving the Czech Republic, Russia, Croatia and Ireland, between 10,000-12,000 fans from each country are expected to attend.

The lowest number of fans are expected to come from Italy, Spain and Greece, with

COURTESY OF FACEBOOK/MARCIN GORTAT

Fewer fans at Euro 2012 The number of supporters who visit Poland during the Euro 2012 group stage could be as low as 200,000

Base camps

Majority of Euro 2012 teams set to stay in Poland During the group stages of this summer’s Euro 2012 soccer championship, 13 of the final 16 qualifying nations have decided to base their international squads at hotels and training facilities around Poland. This is despite eight teams having to play all three of their group matches in the Ukrainian cities of Kiev, Donetsk, Kharkiv and Lviv.

Only co-hosts Ukraine, and fellow Group D teams France and Sweden, will be based outside Poland.

England, the final team in Group D, has decided to stay at Hotel Stary in the center of Kraków’s old town, which

SHUTTERSTOCK

Only three of the 16 teams have chosen accommodation in Ukraine

Wayne Rooney will be staying with the English team in Kraków means the players will have to travel a distance of 1,323 km for their two games against France and Ukraine in Donetsk. The Football Association decided on the hotel prior to

the final draw and it has since decided to stay in Kraków for the entirety of the tournament, despite potentially not playing a single game on Polish soil.

But it is now unclear who

Ski jumping

will be staying in the hotel’s presidential suite, a room formally allocated to England manager Fabio Capello prior to his shock resignation last week.

Poland’s national team will be hoping to make the most of its home advantage, having decided to stay at the five-star Hotel Hyatt Regency in Warsaw. The team’s training base for pre-match preparations will be Polonia Warsaw’s stadium.

Russia has also decided on a base in the capital, staying at the Le Meridien Bristol hotel, which is located on Warsaw’s historic ul. Krakowskie PrzedmieÊcie. Greece and Croatia will also be staying relatively close to the capital at hotels in Serock and Warka respectively, while Poland’s Group A rivals the Czech Republic will stay in Wroc∏aw.

Germany, three-time European Championship winners, have opted to stay in the Baltic coast city of Gdaƒsk, while the Republic of Ireland, who qualified for the final stages of the tournament for only the second time, will be based just down the road in Sopot. The coastal town of Ko∏obrzeg, close to the German border, will be home to the 1992 European champions Denmark, with current holders Spain situated further east in Gniewino.

Portugal will be based in Opalenica, 40 km west of Poznaƒ. Euro 2000 finalist Italy is set to be based in Wieliczka, while Euro 1988 winner the Netherlands has joined England in choosing Kraków as its Euro 2012 location.

David Ingham

National Stadium

Stoch continues winning form Super Cup called off The game, which was due to take place at the National Stadium, was canceled amid safety fears

Poland’s leading ski jumper, Kamil Stoch, secured another victory in the World Cup after a first-place finish at Val di Fiemme, Italy.

Mr Stoch, who has been in great form since the turn of the year, beat Austria’s Gregor Schlierenzauer, with a finalround jump of 131.5 meters.

Victory for the 24-year-old from Zakopane was enough to ensure he leapfrogged another Austrian, Thomas Morgenstern, in the World Cup standings. The Pole is now in fourth place in the 2012 table, with Andreas Kofler currently at the top of the standings.

Another fine performance has once again drawn compar-

The Polish Super Cup match between Legia Warsaw and Wis∏a Kraków has been called off indefinitely after Warsaw’s new National Stadium failed to obtain the appropriate safety permit in order to host the match.

The annual game, which takes place between the previous year’s Ekstraklasa winners (Wis∏a) and the Polish Cup winners (Legia), was due to be held on February 11.

But following discussions between the city authorities, health and safety officials and the Ministry of Sport and Tourism, it was decided that the game could not take place

COURTESY OF FACEBOOK / KAMIL STOCH

The Polish ski jumper moves up to fourth in the championship after another firstplace finish

Kamil Stoch isons between the youngster and Poland’s former ski-jumping great Adam Ma∏ysz. But Mr Stoch will have to go a long way if he is to equal the 34year-old’s record of finishing

first at the end of a season on four separate occasions.

Mr Ma∏ysz, who retired in 2011, is widely regarded as one of Poland’s greatest athletes of DI all time.

21

at the newly opened National Stadium.

“As the Minister of Sport and Tourism, with all my power I want to emphasize that the Ministry did not and could not affect the direction of this decision,” Poland’s Sports Minister Joanna Mucha wrote in a statement.

“The organizers of such operations must take into account the need to meet stricter safety requirements than those applicable to other mass events,” she added, before stating that the scheduled friendly match between Poland and Portugal on May 15 is also unlikely to take place at the stadium.

Ms Mucha did however seek to assure Polish soccer fans that the venue will definitely be ready to host matches at this summer’s Euro 2012 DI tournament.

Polish basketball star Marcin Gortat has failed to make the Western Conference team for the NBA All-Star game which takes place on February 24 in Orlando.

The “Polish Hammer” has been in sparkling form for the Phoenix Suns this season with an average of 14.7 points per game, but it was not enough to ensure he made it to the meeting of the NBA’s best players.

England manager resigns With less than four months to go until Euro 2012 kicks off in Warsaw, England’s international soccer team is in turmoil following national team coach Fabio Capello’s decision to resign from his post over a disagreement with England’s Football Association (FA). The FA had decided to strip Chelsea defender John Terry of the England captaincy following allegations that he racially abused Queens Park Rangers player Anton Ferdinand. But Mr Capello felt Mr Terry should be given the benefit of the doubt until his trial, which is due to take place after Euro 2012.

Biesiadzka in serious luge accident Natalia Biesiadzka, a 17year-old Polish luger, has suffered a serious leg injury in training. She was preparing for the Junior World Championships in Koenigssee, Germany.

“Biesiadzka suffered an open fracture of the ankle and has broken two bones in her leg. She found a very good clinic, and she already had her first operation, which was a success,” said Pawe∏ Kozak, secretary general of the Polish Association of Sports. The Junior World Championships take place on February 18 and 19. ●

22

LIFESTYLE

www.wbj.pl

FEBRUARY 13-19, 2012

Exhibition

Concert

A window into the past

Material Girl comes to Warsaw

POSTDOCUMENT. Missing Documents.

Photographs of the Polish Transformation After 1989 February 3 – April 15 Centre for Contemporary Art Ujazdowski Castle ul. Jazdów 2 Warsaw “Missing Documents” is an exhibition of photography capturing Poland’s transformation

from communism, as seen through the eyes of both domestic and foreign photographers. The photos on display show a country in economic, social, and cultural turmoil, seeking to find an new identity in a society moving towards a new capitalist era.

The exhibition is the first of a new three-year program entitled “POSTDOCUMENT” which aims to give exposure to

some of the most interesting documentary phenomena in photography, film, and nonfiction literature.

Visitors to the Centre for Contemporary Art can expect to see works that present a unique glimpse at Poland’s past, from renowned photographers including Anna Beata Bohdziewicz, Chris Niedenthal, Tomasz Tomaszewski and Wojciech Wieteska. David Ingham

US superstar Madonna is set to perform at Poland’s new National Stadium on August 1, as part of her latest world tour.

The tour, which begins in Tel Aviv on May 29, is to promote Madonna’s new album “MDNA” which will be out on March 26. The album is the Material Girl’s 12th studio release since her self-titled debut in 1983.

“Madonna’s performance at the National Stadium in Warsaw will be one of the most spectacular music events in 2012 and will surely remain in the memory of all who come to her concert,” said Rafa∏ Kapler, president of the National Sports Centre. “We are happy to see the queen of pop in Poland and this concert simply

SHUTTERSTOCK

COURTESY OF CHRIS NIEDENTHAL

Madonna August 1 National Stadium Warsaw

cannot be missed,” he added.

Tickets for the concert, which are priced from z∏.149 to z∏.1,171, go on sale from

February 17.

Izabela Depczyk

For more information log on to stadionnarodowy.org.pl

Opera

Sensory overload Senso February 26, 6 pm National Theater Pl.Teatralny Warsaw This month the National Theater will play host to the Polish premiere of an opera based on Camillo Boito’s 1883

novella of the same name.

Senso, which is set in Venice during its occupation by the Austro-Hungarian empire, tells the story of the tragedy that unfolds when Countess Livia falls in love with an Austrian lieutenant.

After she discovers he has been unfaithful, she denounces

him as a deserter, thus condemning him to death.

This extraordinary tale of love, desire, betrayal, and humiliation is directed by Argentina’s Hugo de Ana, who also designed the spectacular costumes and set, with Luigi Neri responsible for the DI choreography.

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

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

Simonis Gallery ul. Burakowska 9 www.simonisgallery.com

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

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

State Archaeological Museum in Warsaw ul. D∏uga 52, www.pma.pl

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

LAST WORD

FEBRUARY 13-19, 2012

www.wbj.pl

23

Tech Eye

comes with a “flat beater,” a “dough hook” and a “wire whip,” all of which sound suspiciously lascivious, so perhaps it’s not much better than a hand mixer after all.

Something a little less techy and a lot more Ruskie is the Matryoshka Doll Measuring Cup Set. There are six plastic drymeasure cups nested within each other, made by an outfit which is either called Fred or Fred & Friends. It’s not entirely clear, but it doesn’t really matter – you can find them on Amazon for a little over $9.

There’s not a whole lot more to say about them, except that we’ve always found matryoshka dolls to be a little creepy.

The idea of five or more other people hiding in your stomach, with faces just like yours, ready to pop out at any moment … ugh.

So let’s move on, shall we? Last up is a kitchen gadget that is plainly for lazy people like us. It’s called the “Twirling Spaghetti Fork,” and that pretty much says it all. The fork requires two AAA batteries to work and it boasts a sassy-sounding “dishwasher-safe metal prong end.” It’s sold for $10.45 by its maker, Hog Wild (hogwildtoys.com), which is a couple of bucks cheaper than on Amazon.

By the way, we have our eyes on a number of other kitchen-oriented gadgets from Hog Wild, like the Kabuki Bottle Opener, the Beetle Spork and the Moo Mixer Supreme. Watch out, cheese pantry – with toys like these, the kitchen will soon be our secondfavorite room. ●

has emerged from a gentle ocean froth on a giant seashell, walked to shore on a miraculous catwalk of inexplicably erotic foam and stood naked before you, vibrating with the promise of unearthly, hand-mixed delight … even then, the answer is “No.” Why? Because it never ends well, that’s why. Stick to stand mixers, which are generally superior to hand mixers and much more difficult to get nasty with.

Take the Artisan five-quart tilthead stand mixer from KitchenAid (kitchenaid.com), for example. For $399.99 you get an all-metal machine with a 325-watt motor designed to craft wholesome deliciousness with little or no bodily harm. And the five-quart bowl yields a splendid nine-dozen cookies in one batch.

On the other hand, the Artisan

COURTESY OF HOG WILD

with my new hand mixer?” your answer should be “No.” Even if that person

COURTESY OF KITCHENAID

“The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach,” old Grandmother Techeye used to say.

“Depending on your choice of spices, it can also be the way to his insurance policy,” she always added, a mischievous twinkle in her eye.

Grandma sure knew a lot about men – she must have cooked for seven or eight husbands over the years – and her kitchen was always filled with cookie jars.

So perhaps it’s no surprise t h a t the kitchen is our third-favorite room in the house, following the harem chamber and the cheese pantry.

Kitchens are magical places that Techeye understands in principle but not in practice, places where mundane ingredients like flour, sugar and milk are transmogrified into morsels of divinity. They are temples swathed in mystery and bacon, monuments testifying to the transcendent glory of eupepsia. Most importantly, the kitchen is where you find cookies. And beer.

And so, out of love for the kitchen – and in serendipitous conjunction with Valentine’s Day – this week’s column is devoted to the hot technology of haute cuisine.

Just don’t expect to read about hand mixers, because they’re evil. In fact, here’s some free advice: If anyone ever says “Hey, wanna get nasty

COURTESY OF FRED

Kitchen tech and kitchen kitsch

Ever been propositioned on a beach by a naked person wielding a hand mixer? Let us know: techeye.wbj@gmail.com

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