WBJ #45

WBJ presents a special supplement for this week’s MAPIC retail property fair in Cannes

WWW.WBJ.PL

11-18

EXCLUSIVE: Former Prime Minister Leszek Miller discusses the future of the left in an interview with WBJ 8-9

Since 1994 . Poland’s only business weekly in English

SHUTTERSTOCK

VOLUME 18, NUMBER 45 • NOVEMBER 12-18, 2012 . z∏.12.50 (VAT 8% included) . ISSN 1233 7889 INDEX-RUCH-332-127

Four more years Polish leaders had warm words for the re-elected Barack Obama 4

Center of attention

4.5% In the face of a clearly deteriorating macroeconomic environment, Poland’s Monetary Policy Council finally cut interest rates last week 20

In this issue News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2-4 Business . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6-7 Interview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8-9 Lokale Immobilia . . . . . . . . . .11-18 Finance & Economics . . . . . . . . . .20 Opinion & Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . .21 The List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22-23 Markets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25 Lifestyle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26 Last Word . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27

SHUTTERSTOCK

Blockbuster deals like the one for Manufaktura in ¸ódê are driving Poland’s retail property market 17

Gazprom caves

Banking on an IPO

The Russian gas provider has finally agreed to lower prices for Poland by at least 10 percent

Alior Bank hopes to raise as much as z∏.700 mln in an IPO before the end of the year

3

6

NEWS

www.wbj.pl

Poland not an EU star?

An increasing number of European economies are growing faster than Poland’s. The European Commission expects the economic slowdown to be worse than anticipated, and to last longer. It expects Poland’s 2012 GDP to grow 2.4% (compared to 4.3% in 2011). Next year, Poland’s economy will slow to 1.8%, the EC says.

Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are expected to outshine Poland in 2013, with growth forecast at 3.1%, 3.6% and 3.1% respectively. In 2014, the Commission forecasts a revival, with Polish GDP increasing to 2.6%.

GDP disparities divide Poland Economic inequality is on the rise in Poland, as evidenced by regional disparities in GDP per capita, which vary by as much as 40%, Rzeczpospolita reported.

For example, per capita GDP in the Mazowieckie region is 2.5 times higher than in the Podkarpackie and Lubelskie regions.

That’s according to 2010 data from the Prevision Institute. A year earlier, those differences were smaller.

NOVEMBER 12-18, 2012

IN THE SPOTLIGHT

Numbers in the News

EU budget battle

12.5% was the unemployment rate in Poland in October, according to preliminary data from the Labor Ministry.

€30 billion

is how much the CEE region will receive from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the World Bank and the European Investment Bank, thanks to a program meant to support economic growth during 2013-2014.

COURTESY OF KPRM AND WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

2

2.4% is by how much the European Commission expects Poland’s economy to grow in 2012

Donald Tusk (left) and David Cameron This week will usher in the final phase of the battle over the EU budget for the years 2014-2020.

On November 13, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk will attend a meeting with “friends of the cohesion policy,” 15 EU members who are opposed to a reduction in the amount of funds destined for the poorest regions in Europe, much of which Poland receives.

The next day Mr Tusk will start consultations with the German government in Berlin, before heading off to Brussels for a meeting with the head of the European Council. On November 16, French President Francois Hollande is scheduled to visit Poland, where the upcoming budget will also be discussed.

The Polish prime minister says his government is fighting for z∏.400 billion in total

EU funds.

“It is not just z∏.300 billion which we are trying to get as we declared, but when we count all the possible funds which Poland is trying to get in the next budget, we can responsibly say that the amount is more than z∏.300 billion, rather z∏.400 billion,” said Mr Tusk while addressing parliament on the issue last Friday.

He did, however, admit that not all EU members are interested in a “big, quickly-passed budget with a significant role for cohesion policy.”

He said that in order to pursue its budget interests, Poland would need an alliance with one of the EU’s net payers. “It would be good to have Germany, the biggest net payer, on our side,” Mr Tusk said.

British Prime Minister David Cameron is the most

prominent voice calling for a “freeze or cut” in the 20142020 budget while German Chancellor Angela Merkel says an increase is necessary. The two leaders met to discuss the issue last week but no agreement was announced, only that “talks will continue.”

Earlier in the week, Mr Cameron – under pressure from parliament to reduce the UK’s contribution to the EU budget – termed the EU’s proposed budget increase “ludicrous.”

On November 22 and 23, EU leaders will gather for a summit at which they will try to resolve the budget issue. If no agreement is reached by the end of next year, the 2013 budget will be rolled into 2014 with a 2 percent rise to account for inflation.

Remi Adekoya

300% is the increase in net profit of coal company Bogdanka in Q3 of this year, compared to the same period in 2011

Quote of the Week “They’re proposing a completely ludicrous €100 billion increase in the European budget.”

UK Prime Minister David Cameron commenting on plans to increase the size of the EU budget for 2014-2020.

Figures in focus Green list Share of renewables in final consumption of energy (in percent), selected EU27 countries, 2010 50 40 *Highest in EU27 **Lowest in EU27

30 20 10

Poland to host Winter Olympics?

Buoyed but its successful co-hosting of Euro 2012, Poland is thinking of launching a bid to stage the 2022 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games, Tomasz Zahorski, legal director of Poland 2012, said at a recent conference. The southern mountain resort town of Zakopane would be the proposed location and would compete for the honor with Lviv, in Ukraine. ●

n*

tvi a La

ed e

Sw

nc e Es ton ia Au str ia

27

Fra

EU

ny rm a

nd

a* Ma lt

Ge

WBJ will be launching a blog next week with content from our partner, geopolitical analysis firm Stratfor. It will feature content on Poland, the CEE region, the continent and any geopolitics that might affect Poland. Be sure to check it out.

Stratfor blog

UK

New US Ambassador to Poland Stephen Mull arrived in Warsaw and presented his credentials to President Bronis∏aw Komorowski last week, the US Embassy in Warsaw said in a statement. Mr Mull, who has served on diplomatic missions in Poland twice already, will replace Ambassador Lee Feinstein.

0 Po la

On WBJ.pl

*

New US ambassador

Source: Eurostat

Company index 3Legs Resources ........................................6 Jones Lang LaSalle ................13, 15, 16, 17

DATELINE

Alior Bank....................................................6

November 6-24 BELGIAN DAYS Event:

Location: Web:

This year’s edition of Belgian Days, organized by the Belgian Business Chamber, will be focused on business more than it has been in the past. It will include conferences, forums and a gala dinner.

Warsaw belgium.pl

14-16 MAPIC Event:

Location: Web:

MAPIC provides a unique exhibition area and conference series dedicated to retail real estate.

Cannes, France mipim.com/mapic

Event:

Location: Web:

This 14th edition of the Sailing and Water Sports Trade Show BOATSHOW 2012 will offer business meetings and other events related to the sector.

MT¸ Conference and Exhibition Centre, ¸ódê boatshow.pl

LPP ............................................................13

APA Wojciechowski ..................................18

20

INVESTMENT OF THE YEAR AWARD CELEBRATION

Event:

Warsaw Business Journal will be hosting a celebration where we will award the “Investment of the Year” as part of our Investing in Poland project. The event is held in cooperation with our chamber of commerce partners, PAIiIZ and PwC. Invitation only.

Amber Room restaurant, Warsaw WBJ.pl

Location: Web:

22-23 IBA EUROPEAN REGIONAL FORUM Event:

Location:

16-18 BOATSHOW 2012

Agora..........................................................12 Liebrecht & Wood......................................11

Web:

The aim of the conference is to discuss current economic and legal problems that businesses have to deal with in their own countries and in conducting cross-border investments in the CEE region.

InterContinental Hotel, Warsaw ibanet.org

26-27 NEW EUROPE GRI 2012 Event:

Location: Web:

Join the most senior players in CEE real estate in a selection of over 20 interactive discussions covering the recent trends.

Hyatt Regency Warsaw globalrealestate.org/NewEurope2012

Apple ..........................................................27

Microsoft....................................................27

BBI Development ......................................11 Mitsubishi ..................................................12 Bogdanka ................................................2, 7 Neinver ......................................................12 Braaten + Pedersen ..................................12 Nokia..........................................................27 BZ WBK ....................................................20

Onet Group ..................................................7

Carlo Tassara ............................................6 CBRE..............................................11, 15, 16

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

Colliers International ................................12 PGNiG ....................................................3, 21 Cushman & Wakefield ..................12, 13, 17 PHN ............................................................9 Development Advisory Services................12 Prologis European Holdings ....................16 Echo Investment..................................11, 15

Ringier Axel Springer..................................7

Erbud ........................................................11 Gazprom ................................................3, 21

S+B Gruppe ..............................................11

Ghelamco ..................................................18 SwedeCenter ............................................16 Globe Trade Centre ............................12, 18 TriGranit ....................................................12 Google ........................................................27 TVN ..............................................................7 Hilton Worldwide ......................................11

Tzur Architects ..........................................18

Hines Global REIT ....................................16 Hochtief Polska ........................................16

Warsaw Stock Exchange ..........6, 11, 12, 13

IKEA Group ................................................16 Wizz Air ........................................................6 Irlandzka Grupa Inwestycyjna ..................13 X-Trade Brokers ........................................24

NEWS

NOVEMBER 12-18, 2012

www.wbj.pl

3

Energy

Gazprom lowers gas prices for Poland Russia’s Gazprom has agreed to lower the price of natural gas it delivers to Polish gas monopolist PGNiG, a move the Polish company says will boost its profits.

State-owned PGNiG, which had been arguing before the Arbitration Court in Stockholm that the price it paid for Gazprom’s gas was higher than other European companies, was able to secure a reduction of between 10 and 20 percent, Miko∏aj Budzanowski, Poland’s treasury minister, told journalists.

Gra˝yna Piotrowska-Oliwa, president of PGNiG’s management board, was reported as saying that the cut amounts to

SHUTTERSTOCK

Prices will be cut 10-20 percent

Poland imports around 10 billion of the 14 billion cubic meters of natural gas it uses every year

“The agreement demonstrates that Gazprom and PGNiG are capable of finding, through business negotiations, a win-win solution that satisfies the interests of both parties,” said Ms Piotrowska-Oliwa.

“It is a clear sign that the competitiveness of PGNiG’s long-term gas contracts relative to European markets is being recovered,” she added.

The news caused the Polish firm’s share price to surge by as much as 15 percent on the Warsaw Stock Exchange.

High price just over 10 percent.

However, precise details have not yet been made public, with Gazprom only declaring that the negotiated pricing formula will reflect current market

prices of gas and oil.

Stronger earnings As a result of the price cut, PGNiG expects earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and

amortization for 2012 to grow by z∏.2.5 billion-3 billion. Moreover, the proceedings it initiated against Gazprom before the Arbitration Court in Stockholm can now be closed, it said.

Up until now, according to EU energy commissioner Guenther Oettinger, Poland has paid $550 per 1,000 cubic meters of gas, while Germany has been paying only $452.

Poland imports close to 10 billion cubic meters of the 14 billion cubic meters of natural gas it uses every year, paying z∏.15 billion for the deliveries.

Most of the imports come via Gazprom. With the new price Poland is expected to save over z∏.3 billion a year, depending on the exchange rate.

The contract on Russian gas supplies to Poland is effective until 2022.

Gazprom, which supplies around a quarter of Europe’s gas, has agreed to price discounts with almost all of its European clients out of court. It is seeking to secure its market share at a time when coal deliveries from the US are becoming cheaper and access to liquefied natural gas is expanding.

Gareth Price

‘Explosive’ repercussions follow Rzeczpospolita Smolensk article Daily Rzeczpospolita’s editor-inchief has been fired along with a journalist and two other editors following an erroneous article stating that traces of explosives had been found in the wreckage of the TU-154 plane that crashed in Smolensk, Russia in 2010, killing then-President

Lech Kaczyƒski and 95 others.

The article caused a political uproar with Jaros∏aw Kaczyƒski, twin brother of the late president and leader of opposition party Law and Justice (PiS), talking publicly about “the murder of 96 people” being a “great crime” and called for Prime

Minister Donald Tusk to resign on the basis that he had “lost the moral authority to rule.”

After Polish military prosecutors in charge of the Smolensk investigation denied the accuracy of the newspaper article, Rzeczpospolita’s management board announced that it

would look into the matter of whether Cezary Gmyz, the journalist who wrote the article, did so based on credible evidence.

It would, however, seem that Mr Gmyz was unable or unwilling to reveal his sources and has now lost his job along

with the three others mentioned.

“The journalists involved in the publication did not have a basis for claiming that TNT and nitroglycerin had been found in the wreckage of the TU-154 plane. We consider the article to be inaccurate and poorly

documented,” wrote Rzeczpospolita’s board in a statement after the announcement.

“Mr Gmyz, despite all assurances, did not present any signed statement stating that his informants had refused to document the information,” it Remi Adekoya added.

www.wbj.pl

NEWS

NOVEMBER 12-18, 2012

US presidency

Warm words from Polish politicians after Obama’s victory

AFP / EAST NEWS

4

Barack Obama has said he will visit Poland next year

Poland’s political leaders have expressed their hopes for Barack Obama’s second term as US president Polish President Bronis∏aw Komorowski said he was “happy” that Barack Obama was re-elected and will be president of the US for another four years.

“President Obama is a warm and nice person who quickly erases the distance between himself and other people. That works very well for me,” said Mr Komorowski.

He added that it was “easier working with somebody you already know and with whom you have already agreed on many things.”

The Polish president also said he hoped Mr Obama fulfills his promise to Poland to assure Poles visa-free entry to the US before the end of his presidency. He added that he hopes Barack Obama visits Poland next year.

When the US president arrived in Poland in 2011, he stated that he would attend the opening ceremony of the

Museum Of The History Of Polish Jews, scheduled for 2013. A strong US presence in Europe is good for Poland, President Komorowski said.

Friendship and allegience Prime Minister Donald Tusk meanwhile sent a congratulatory message to Washington.

“We are joined by friend-

“We are joined by friendship and an alliance. Another four years in the White House will be an opportunity for an even more intensive dialog between us” ship and an alliance. Another four years in the White House will be an opportunity for an even more intensive dialog between us,” the telegram read.

Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Rados∏aw Sikorski said that although Mitt Romney would “probably have been

rhetorically more attractive for us, let us remember also what Obama has done for us.

It is thanks to Obama that American soldiers will be permanently based in Poland.”

“It is President Obama who gave the order to write up NATO reaction plans for our region. And it is with President Obama that we signed an annex to the missile shield agreement, an annex that was good for us,” he added.

In recent years the issue of visa-free travel has become, symbolically at least, the litmus test Poles take to gauge the state of affairs between their nation and the world’s only remaining superpower.

President Komorowski admitted as much, saying the issue was “not big, but important for us.”

If the American president is able to convince Congress to enable Poles to travel without visas to the US, ordinary Poles will most likely judge the Obama era to have been positive for Poland. If not, they will likely see the record as more mixed.

Remi Adekoya

6

BUSINESS

www.wbj.pl

Banking

NOVEMBER 12-18, 2012

Shale gas

Alior plans IPO for this year 3Legs Resources records

encouraging shale gas flows

COURTESY OF UNITED PR

Its ¸ebieƒ LE-2H well has started flowing natural gas unassisted

Alior Bank operates 209 standard retail branches

It hopes to raise z∏.700 million through a primary offering Alior Bank has announced plans to conduct an initial public offering and list its shares on the Warsaw Stock Exchange, where it aims to raise up to z∏.700 million through a primary offering.

The bank wrote in a statement that it hopes to strengthen its capital position and continue to grow by “exploiting high credit quality business opportunities that arise in the attractive Polish banking sector.”

Immediately after the offering, Alior Bank’s free float is expected to exceed 50 percent.

The bank writes that the IPO is expected to be completed during the fourth quarter of 2012, subject to market conditions.

The offering will be addressed to institutional investors and retail investors in Poland and to eligible institutional investors outside Poland. It is subject to regulatory approval.

Alior began operating in the Polish market at the end of 2008. The lender operates a network of 209 standard retail branches, 410 agencies, and 65

mini-branches recently opened under the “Alior Bank Express” brand.

The bank is principally owned by the Carlo Tassara capital group.

During the first nine months of 2012, Alior Bank generated a net profit of z∏.222.9 million – an increase of z∏.142 million compared to the same period a year earlier.

It boasts around 1.36 million customers in total, including roughly 1.26 million retail customers and approximately 100,000 business clients.

Gareth Price

> Establishment of companies > Accounting services > Payroll and human resources > Law and notary offices > Payment recovery and debt recovery > Permits for foreigners > Seat for the company

Oil and gas exploration and development company 3Legs Resources has seen output increase significantly at its well in ¸ebieƒ, northern Poland.

The firm launched additional testing of the ¸ebieƒ LE-2H horizontal well on October 27, flowing natural gas initially with the assistance of a nitrogen lift, the company wrote in a statement.

The well has continued to flow natural gas unassisted, since the nitrogen lift was suspended on October 29.

The well flowed continuously and unassisted at a rate of

between 560 and 780 mscf/d (thousand standard cubic feet per day) of natural gas over an eight-day period starting October 29. This represents a significant improvement on the result achieved when the well was first tested in 2011 where the well flowed, with the assistance of a nitrogen lift, at a rate of between 450 and 520 mscf/d over an eight-day period prior to being shut in.

“We have started further testing of the [¸ebieƒ] LE-2H well and we are very pleased that the well is showing a significantly improved performance as compared to 2011, in that the well now flows without the assistance of a nitrogen lift, and it flows at a better rate than it

BILANS Accounting and Consulting Company Ltd., 02-729 Warszawa, 195 Rolna st., tel. (+ 48) 22 212 86 27-29, mobile: (+48) 502 057 107 e-mail: Jacek@bilans.eu

Gareth Price

Chopin Airport sees passenger numbers fall Over 740,000 passengers used Warsaw’s Chopin Airport in October 2012 – 9.5 percent fewer than in October last year.

In addition, the airport noted a 7.9 percent decrease in the number of takeoffs and landings in October 2012.

Michal Marzec, director at Chopin Airport, said the reduced number of passengers, as well as the reduced number of flights operated by the airport is a result of a strategic

decision made by the airport’s management.

“Less traffic at Chopin Airport is a result of a strategic decision that we took several months ago, with regards to the launch of Modlin Airport, where we direct traffic of cheap airlines such as Wizz Air,” Mr Marzec said in a statement.

Modlin Airport, opened earlier this year, is located just outside of Warsaw.

Mr Marzec added that

lower levels of traffic afford passengers a more comfortable experience.

He said that the total number of passengers serviced by both of Warsaw’s airports has increased significantly compared to when it was just Chopin handling commercial flights.

Since the beginning of 2012 Chopin Airport has handled 8.4 million passengers – 4 percent more than in 2011, mainly due to ID Euro 2012.

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

Energy consumption labeling obligations

www.bilans.eu

did in 2011,” Kamlesh Parmar, chief executive of 3Legs Resources, said in a statement.

“We will continue to monitor the encouraging data from this further testing and will issue a further announcement in due course,” he added.

The plan is to continue testing of the well in order to establish a stabilized flow rate and to gather additional data on the well’s performance, the company wrote.

The Polish state is placing high hopes on the development of shale gas, which it hopes will eventually allow Poland to diversify its sources of energy and reduce reliance on Russian supplies.

On October 25, the president signed into law an act on obligations concerning information about energy consumption on products that use energy – such as radios, TVs and microwaves. The act introduces directive no. 2010/30/EU of May 19, 2010 concerning the indication of a product’s energy consumption by labeling.

The act applies to the introduction of an obligation to attach labels and productcards to products which use energy, when such products are introduced in the market or handed over for use. The abovementioned labels and cards have to be in Polish and they should include information on energy class and the appliance’s basic parameters – including energy consumption and noise-emission levels.

Distributors will be obliged to place labels on products that use energy in a visible place and make the products’ cards available to end-users. Non-compliance with the above-mentioned obligations will be punishable with financial penalties.

The act will come into force three months after its publication.

Efficiency of the supervisory system for public offerings On October 30, the government accepted a draft change to an act concerning public offerings and the introduction of financial instruments into an organized trading system. The solutions proposed in the draft aim to simplify disclosure obligations related to some types of public offerings and to enable issuers in Poland to use a form called “cascade offering.”

The most important aspect of cascade offerings is that the issuer sells securities to a given financial institution which resells them to other financial institutions, creating subsequent levels of a “cascade,” where, in the end, the securities are sold to retail investors. The new regulations aim to improve the efficiency of the supervisory system for public offerings and to improve security, transparency and confidence in the capital market. ●

BROUGHT TO YOU BY PETER NIELSEN & PARTNERS LAW OFFICE

BUSINESS

NOVEMBER 12-18, 2012

www.wbj.pl

7

Coal industry

Broadcast media

Bogdanka’s net profit grows four-fold in Q3

TVN swings back to profit

Polish coal giant Bogdanka increased its net profit to z∏.103 million in the third quarter of 2012, from z∏.25 million in the same period of last year, as it extracted more coal.

In the first three quarters of 2012, Bogdanka extracted over six million metric tons of coal – 58 percent more than in the corresponding period of last year. It was the largest

amount ever extracted by the company over a nine-month period.

The coal miner plans to increase extraction to 11.5 million tons in 2014.

“The increased extraction and better financial results are a direct effect of our company’s pursuit of a strategy, the main goal of which is to increase coal extraction to 11.5 million tons per year in 2014, and with that double the company’s market share in Poland,” the company wrote in its Q3 earnings report.

In the coming months, the company plans to extract shallow deposits of coal, and is now undertaking preparatory work to launch new extraction projects.

“At the end of October we finalized the installation of the second plow system to mine thin deposits. We are currently carrying out technological start-ups of the machines that are used to do this,” Zbigniew Stopa, president of the company’s management board, said in a statement.

SHUTTERSTOCK

The coal miner extracted record-high amounts of coal in the third quarter

Despite a positive Q3, TVN expects Poland’s advertising market to continue shrinking

ID

SHUTTERSTOCK

A stronger z∏oty helped slash the company’s foreigndenominated debt

Bogdanka hopes to increase extraction of coal to 11.5 million tons in 2014

Polish broadcaster TVN’s thirdquarter financial results came in well above expectations when they were released last week.

Investors were especially pleased with the firm’s net profit, which it reported at z∏.62 million, compared to the z∏.357.2 million loss recorded a year earlier. In Q3 2012 TVN’s foreign-denominated debt was reduced significantly thanks to a stronger z∏oty, helping to boost its bottom line.

Its share price gained 3.8 percent when the news was released last week, reaching z∏.6.92 at one point.

Operating and net profits were respectively 24 percent and 11 percent higher than analysts’ forecasts. Operating profit rose to z∏.66.7 million.

TVN’s Q3 revenues were 7.4 percent lower than last year, but they still amounted to z∏.311 million and were slightly higher than analysts’ average forecasts of z∏.309.5 million. This fall was due in part to a weakening advertising market.

“We expect conditions on

the advertising market in the fourth quarter to be close to those in the third,” chief executive Markus Tellenbach said in a statement.

TVN expects the advertising market to fall by 6 percent to 9 percent this year as Poland’s economy continues to slow.

The company also wrote that Ringier Axel Springer’s purchase of internet portal Onet Group closed on November 6, with z∏.918 million in proceeds from the sale having already been received by TVN. The remainder (z∏.38 million) is to be paid before the end of GP, RA the year.

8

INTERVIEW

www.wbj.pl

NOVEMBER 12-18, 2012

The Democratic Left Alliance

Left in the cold Leszek Miller, the chairman of the Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) party and leader of its parliamentary caucus, talks to WBJ about the escalating confrontation between Poland’s two biggest parties, the Smolensk catastrophe, and the state of the left in Poland and Europe

There are many who are now calling for a new commission with foreign experts to investigate the causes of the crash.

What is your reaction to this?

I am against establishing such a commission for two reasons.

Firstly, it is not known on what legal basis it could be established and, secondly, we are dealing with a tragic incident,

but still with an airplane catastrophe and many airplane catastrophes happen in the world. The problem is that prominent Poles perished in the Smolensk crash, among them the president, and that it happened near Katyn, which is a symbolic place for Poles.

How will the PiS-PO confrontation continue to play out over the Smolensk catastrophe?

PiS will concentrate on exploiting the Smolensk issue.

Jaros∏aw Kaczyƒski will never accept that his brother, the president, perished in an airplane catastrophe; it would be too banal from his point of view. According to him, Lech Kaczyƒski could only have died as the result of an assassination. And Jaros∏aw Kaczyƒski will do everything, use every method to try to prove this. So as long as he is leader of PiS, his theory of assassination and murder committed by Tusk and Putin will be fundamental to his party’s politics, and the brutal confrontation with PO will go on.

You reacted sharply to Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s recent words aimed at Jaros∏aw Kaczyƒski, while at the same time rejecting the notion that Mr Kaczynski is the leader of the opposition, pointing out that there are other opposition parties in parliament.

Why is this matter important?

The matter is important because it shows Tusk’s efforts at preserving a bipolar division in Polish politics, where, on one side, PO governs, and on

TOMASZ BIDERMANN / SHUTTERSTOCK.COM

Ewa Boniecka: The confrontation between the ruling Civic Platform (PO) and opposition Law and Justice (PiS) has escalated following daily Rzeczpospolita’s erroneous report that explosive materials were found on the aircraft which crashed in Smolensk in 2010.

PiS leader Jaros∏aw Kaczynski then implied that Prime Minister Donald Tusk might have had a hand in the “murder” of his brother, President Lech Kaczynski, who was on the plane along with 95 others.

How do you see the fallout from this?

Leszek Miller: I think it will have two consequences. The first is political; support for Civic Platform will grow and PiS will start polling at lower levels than it has been recently. Secondly, it will have a negative impact on our public life and could increase the number of people who believe that the cause of the catastrophe was an attack in which explosives were used on the plane. This situation is very harmful for our social and political life, because it will lead to the deepening of divisions among Poles and to the fanatics of the “Smolensk religion” being strengthened.

Leszek Miller believes that leftist parties have begun to push social and economic issues to the fore the other, PiS is in opposition, and nothing more counts.

Such a setup is very convenient for Donald Tusk because it conserves the fear of many Poles, who are afraid of PiS returning to power, so he points out that the only way to prevent this is to support PO. In such a situation the Democratic Left Alliance is squeezed between those two bull fighters – PiS and PO and the whole political scene is distorted and burdened by the conflict over Smolensk. So while there are so many important social, economic and other issues to be dealt with, our political scene is ill, dominated by a fight about the Smolensk catastrophe. This is damaging for our country and depressing for Poles. And the character of that confrontation, its essence

and style, the level of hate planted by political leaders in people’s minds, sets us apart from the political standards of Western countries.

And when might this confrontation between PiS and PO come to an end?

Either when Tusk or Kaczyƒski cease to be leaders of their parties, or when the hardships of everyday life will be felt by larger numbers of Polish families. And while I cannot predict changes to the leadership of PO and PiS, I see that we are nearing a crisis situation in our economic and social life. I think that maybe Donald Tusk and his government will be forced to put economic matters first, because the crisis in not only knocking at our door as the leaders of PO say, but is

already present in people’s homes and kitchens. But I doubt that such an economic situation will see the confrontation over the Smolensk catastrophe put to one side, because it will remain the priority for Jaros∏aw Kaczynski.

The Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) has put forward proposals to deal with economic and social matters and some of them, such as the creation of public-private partnerships to carry out development projects, would be run in parallel with certain items in the current government’s program. Would you call SLD a constructive opponent in this field?

In my view such a description is passé. ... However we think that due to the fact that we were in a governing coalition

in the late 1990s, the opposition cannot exceed the limits of common sense. And if we do not support some of the government’s proposals, we usually have alternative, and in our view, better ones. Our activities focus on content and look first at whether a proposal serves the Polish state and, secondly, whether it adequately protects the weakest group of people, whose situation is sometimes unbearable.

Economic and political uncertainty is growing, and Civic Platform is losing support among many people, so why is SLD not profiting?

Poles have mostly conservative views – according to some findings only 15-16 percent of Poles declare they hold leftist views. I am talking about the

INTERVIEW

NOVEMBER 12-18, 2012

“core electorate,” the people who always vote for a leftist party. … [But] now, in some EU countries, the swing vote is moving to the left, and socialist and social democratic parties are increasing their standing and some are winning elections. So after years of trouble and confusion, the European left is recovering.

I think that Poland will also swing to the left, but probably later than in the rest of Europe. This is due to the fact that Poland has certain specifics in its political situation which are not present elsewhere. Firstly, the Roman Catholic Church has a very strong influence in our political life and there is also the issue of the Smolensk catastrophe, which helps both PO and PiS, even though they oppose one another. But I believe that SLD will gain stronger support in the next parliamentary election and so will become an important political player.

Do you think that the swing to the left is due to the economic crisis in Europe?

It is not only the crisis, but the evolution in economic thinking. The financial crisis exposed the shortcomings of liberal economic policy and this resulted in the state making bigger interventions to fight the crisis and impose more controls over financial institutions.

And the leftist parties, which mainly concentrated on ethical issues and a kind of cultural war with the right, have begun to put social and economic issues to the fore. So we are coming to the roots of leftist thinking, responding to the expectations of poorer groups in society. The leftist parties in the European Union point out that while free market rules have to be accepted, financial institutions cannot operate without any limits, enriching the already-rich and impoverishing huge groups of people.

But there are always questions raised about how SLD hopes to finance its social proposals in a situation where discipline needs to be applied to public finances. Do you have any suggestions?

Yes and I will give an example.

Each day in Poland financial transactions of various kinds are performed by banks and individuals valued at around z∏.47 billion. If we tax these transactions, let’s say at 0.5 percent, it would provide some z∏.30 billion to the budget per year.

In the European Union 11 countries, among them France and Germany, have announced that they will introduce such a tax, but Poland is not among them. With amusement I have read that the Vatican has also declared the introduction of such a tax,

pointing out that it is not fair from the point of view of social justice that poor people pay taxes and the currency speculators do not.

A group called Fair Society was established recently in the Sejm, and includes members of SLD and Janusz Palikot’s Palikot’s Movement party among its members. Is this a step towards cooperation with Mr Palikot, whom you have criticized many times and described as being far removed from social democracy?

It is not a matter of cooperation, but a step towards avoiding mutual aggression which is not needed. But SLD and Palikot’s Movement are separate parties and they will stay that way. Social research shows that our electorates are not compatible, so in that case two plus two will not make four.

Some commentators claim that SLD could be ready to form a coalition with Civic Platform, if the present Polish People’s Party (PSL)-PO coalition were to colapse.

What is your reaction to that?

I think that in this parliamentary term nothing will change and any expectations that there could be an earlier election or that the PO-PSL coalition would collapse have no connection with reality. So any

THE BEST SOLUTION TO AUDIT AND ACCOUNTING

Wide experience of professional services include: ■ auditing, ■ accounting , ■ financial management, ■ financial & tax advisory, ■ international tax advisory, ■ law advisory, ■ stock exchange advisory referral, ■ bookkeeping & management accounts, ■ economic analysis of the financial and business activities, ■ other services - investigations to support management decisions; assisting clients in changing the legal set up of their business activities e.g. transformation of branches/partnerships into corporations or vice versa, trusteeships as well as business appraisals, economic and financial analysis, due diligences valuation of business within privatization or restructuring procedures, providing trainings.

Biuro Audytorskie SADREN Sp. z o.o.

00-656 Warszawa, ul Âniadeckich 10, tel: (48 22) 621 72 16-18, mail: biuro@sadren.com.pl, www.sadren.com.pl

speculation that SLD would be willing to enter into a coalition [with PO] is just fairy tales. Our aim is to gain such a result in the next parliamentary election ... that we will become a strong political force, which will influence the direction of Poland’s development.

But no party in Poland obtains an absolute majority in parliamentary elections, so SLD would have to form a coalition in order to be in government. So with what party would you be willing to enter into a coalition?

It is only possible to answer this question in a situation where the winning parties sit down and talk about what compromise they are able to achieve to function together in government. It is also necessary to write down the coalition agreement on paper, with a common program. The POPSL coalition is strange in this respect, since they did not write down a joint program for government.

SLD strongly supports deeper European integration. But the EU is changing, euro-zone members are integrating among themselves and this is dividing the EU as a whole.

What is your attitude to these developments – should Poland sign the fiscal pact and support the establishment of a

www.wbj.pl

banking union, while we are outside the euro zone?

SLD has already been involved in the policy of strengthening EU integration and moving towards federation. But we now face, unfortunately, the disintegration of the EU and Poland is in the EU’s second tier, because we are not in the euro zone. And who now is able to tell when we will enter? Some time ago Donald Tusk was talking about various dates for our entry, now he says nothing and it results in the weakening of our position in the EU. But who will advocate our accession to the euro zone?

Of course nobody will accept our entry at present, because we do not fulfill all the conditions. Poland has a lot to do to prepare itself. Nonetheless we need a road map in which Poland will set out what we are doing to prepare ourselves for entry to the euro zone, giving a specific time frame and stating that in five to 10 years’ time we will be ready. Then we will be treated differently.

But because the government is not able to say anything concrete about this, we are looked upon as a big country which doesn’t have the political ambition and is not seriously preparing itself to enter the first class of the EU, but is sitting in second class. ●

9

Over €30 bln for CEE The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the World Bank and the European Investment Bank have launched a program to support economic growth in Central and Eastern Europe, worth over €30 billion, Parkiet reported.

The goal is to alleviate the effects of the economic crisis in the euro zone on CEE countries that have improved their public finances and current accounts, increased national savings and strengthened bank balances.

PHN privatization details The Polish Treasury confirmed it wants to introduce Polski Holding NieruchomoÊci (Polish Real Estate Holding, PHN) on the stock market and that its final goal is to sell all of its stake in the company. But it won’t happen this year. The Treasury is currently in talks with a few private equity funds interested in purchasing shares in PHN. ●

SPECIAL MAPIC EDITION Revitalization is vital for older shopping centers to keep up with the competition ... 13

Poland’s retail-property acquisitions market is being carried by headline deals ... 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

Opole domExpo contractor Warsaw Stock Exchange-listed builder Erbud has been appointed the general contractor of the planned domExpo exposition center in Opole in southwestern Poland.

The contract is valued at z∏.32 million. The center will be located in a facility that used to serve as a grain silo and which is now going to be adapted to its new function. It will comprise 15,000 sqm of usable space. The value of the investment, which will open at the turn of Q2 and Q3 of next year, is z∏.65 million. ●

In this issue BBI partner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11 S+B deal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11 Echo launch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11 Colliers interview . . . . . . . . . . .12 Mall modernization . . . . . . . . . .13 Specialized centers . . . . . . . . . .15 Hines acquisition . . . . . . . . . . . .16 SwedeCenter completion . . . .16 E-commerce and malls . . . . . . .16 Investment market . . . . . . . . . .17 GTC interview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18

BBI finds partner for Koneser offices and retail in Warsaw Liebrecht & Wood will have a 36.5 percent stake in the investment Developers BBI Development NFI and Liebrecht & Wood have signed heads of terms concerning their potential joint development of the office and retail portion of the Koneser mixed-use revitalization project in Warsaw.

The scheme is located between ul. Zàbkowska, ul.

Niepor´cka, ul. Markowska and ul. Bia∏ostocka in the capital’s Praga Pó∏noc district and involves the delivery of residential, office and retail space in revitalized historic and new buildings on the site of a former vodka distillery.

The commercial part of the development is expected to comprise approximately

The investment involves the revitalization of a former vodka distillery 43,000 sqm of space, or 58 percent of the whole 74,000sqm investment. It will be

New Hampton by Hilton in Warsaw Hospitality company Hilton Worldwide and developer S+B Gruppe have signed a management agreement concerning the delivery of a new Hampton by Hilton hotel in downtown Warsaw. The facility is scheduled to open for business in early 2014.

“Poland is a key development market for Hilton Worldwide and today’s signing of the Hampton by Hilton Warsaw demonstrates the momentum that exists behind our world leading brands,” said Patrick Fitzgibbon, senior vice president of development, Hilton Worldwide Europe and Africa.

Since the first Hilton Worldwide property opened in Poland four years ago, the company’s portfolio in the country has grown to include

developed by a new company that BBI and Liebrecht & Wood will establish after

negotiating an investment agreement.

Liebrecht & Wood’s share

in the new company is preliminarily estimated at 36.5 percent, with the developer expected to provide approximately z∏.51 million for the project. The partners also plan to secure outside financing in the form of a bank loan for the scheme.

The residential component of Koneser will comprise 330 housing units which BBI is going to develop on its own.

The whole investment is scheduled to be completed in 2015 and is valued at more than z∏.400 million.

BBI and Liebrecht & Wood are already jointly developing another large commercial project in Warsaw.

The Plac Unii high-rise building will provide over 55,000 sqm of leasable office and retail space next year.

Adam Zdrodowski

Echo Investment launches Park Rozwoju in Warsaw

15 hotels under four brands.

The first Hampton by Hilton brand in Poland opened in ÂwinoujÊcie earlier this year and further openings are planned.

The Warsaw project will involve the delivery of a building on the city’s ul. Wspólna that will comprise 300 hotel rooms over 17 floors. The facility, construction on which is scheduled to launch later this month, will have a gross floor area of 12,500 sqm.

“After the successful sale of the Zebra Tower last year, we are pleased to have a Hampton by Hilton as a further development at a top location in Warsaw,” said Franz Paul Bauer, member of the board and shareholder of S+B Gruppe.

Adam Zdrodowski

Warsaw Stock Exchange-listed developer Echo Investment has launched construction on its Park Rozwoju office investment in the Polish capital. The development is located on ul.

Konstruktorska in the capital’s Mokotów district and will comprise a total of 32,000 sqm of space.

The complex has been designed by the Warsaw-based JEMS Architekci studio. Echo Investment has recently secured BREEAM certification of energy efficiency and environmental performance for the facility.

Park Rozwoju will comprise two buildings. It will be developed in two phases, with the first one scheduled to be completed in the first quarter of 2014 and the second phase in the second quarter of 2015.

COURTESY OF ECHO INVESTMENT

Warsaw Stock Exchange-listed developer Echo Investment has secured an occupancy permit for and opened its Outlet Park Szczecin retail project in Szczecin in northwestern Poland.

The scheme has delivered 24,000 sqm of leasable space, 95% of which is already leased out, and a parking lot for 1,400 cars. The commercialization of the facility is being carried out in cooperation with CBRE.

Commercial space

COURTESY OF BBI DEVELOPMENT NFI

Outlet Park Szczecin opening

NOVEMBER 12-18, 2012, LI 17/45

The complex will deliver 32,000 sqm of space Also in Warsaw, Echo Investment is now preparing to launch construction on an office tower that will deliver 50,000 sqm of space.

In the Mokotów district, the

company plans offices on ul.

TaÊmowa. Close to the Park Rozwoju complex on ul. Konstruktorska, the developer wants to build a new residential Adam Zdrodowski 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

C&W to manage Agora Bytom Cushman & Wakefield has been appointed property manager of the Agora Bytom shopping center in Bytom, Silesia.

The facility opened in November 2010 and comprises 29,000 sqm of leasable space. It is home to over 100 stores, an entertainment center, a Cinema City multiscreen movie theater, a fitness club and an event hall. The investor and developer of the scheme is the Danish developer Braaten + Pedersen plus Partners which operates in the CEE and Scandinavian retail markets.

GTC signs Nothus extensions Warsaw Stock Exchange-listed developer Globe Trade Centre (GTC) has extended lease agreements for a total of 2,200 sqm of office space at the first building in its Ok´cie Business Park complex in Warsaw. Energy distribution and management systems provider Eaton Power Quality and automotive manufacturer Mitsubishi will stay in the Nothus building where they occupy 1,200 sqm and 1,000 sqm of space respectively.

Completed in 2008, the facility offers 9,600 sqm of leasable office space. ●

LOKALE IMMOBILIA – SPECIAL MAPIC EDITION

NOVEMBER 12-18, 2012

Shopping centers

Talking shop Lokale Immobilia sits down with Marta MachusBurek, director, retail strategies, in the development advisory services group of Colliers International, to talk about some of the latest trends in retail project development in Poland Adam Zdrodowski: Mid-sized and small cities in Poland have seen the development of many new retail projects over the last few years. Is the trend still continuing?

Marta Machus-Burek: Starting in 2007 and 2008, during the first years of the crisis, many developers began to turn their attention to smaller cities, with populations of between 50,000 and 100,000 in which there were retail gaps and where they thus saw room for new investments.

Such retail gaps, however, are now more and more difficult to find and tenants often prefer to pay higher rents and be in larger cities. Over the last year, we have seen retail developers refocus on the largest urban centers, eight to 10 cities with the highest purchasing power in the country.

In Warsaw, is there still room for new centrally located shopping malls or are developers now mostly focusing on growing residential areas outside the city center?

Generally speaking, it is currently difficult to find land for new large-scale projects in city centers. In Warsaw, the existing Z∏ote Tarasy shopping center already dominates in the downtown, making it difficult to develop another large project in the area. However we have all been waiting for years

to see what happens with the Defilad Square.

But there are many schemes which are planned for non-central locations in the capital.

Developers are working on new developments in the Bia∏o∏´ka, Bielany and Wilanów districts and the existing Tesco facility in the Kabaty neighborhood will be expanded.

In some of the largest regional cities, however, we have seen new retail projects that are helping to revitalize those cities’ downtowns.

Indeed, city authorities are intent on having new centrally located retail projects developed and in cities where investors have managed to team up with municipal authorities or Polish State Railways there is potential for interesting multi-function developments including retail components.

In Poznaƒ and Katowice, for instance, TriGranit and Neinver respectively are now building new shopping centers which will be integrated with the cities’ main railway stations. In Gdaƒsk, Multi will develop a project called Forum Radunia that will help revitalize the Hay and Crayfish markets area in the city.

What are some of the most recent trends as far as the design of modern shopping center projects is concerned?

10th

There is more and more emphasis on sustainable solutions and obtaining green certification for retail projects. Also, developers are increasingly focusing on delivering well-designed, functional common spaces in shopping centers.

Architecture can help build the brand of a particular shopping center and developers are making sure their scheme is not nondescript but rather stands out. This is often done through references to the history of the location the mall is being built in.

Which retail formats are popular now and are expected to see further development in Poland in the near future?

Combining the retail function with other functions, be

COURTESY OF COLLIERS INTERNATIONAL

www.wbj.pl

Marta Machus-Burek says retail developers have recently been refocusing on large cities it offices, hotels, transportation or culture, has become a trend, as evidenced by the above-mentioned large-scale projects in Poznaƒ, Katowice and Gdaƒsk.

Retail parks are now also

popular, mostly in smaller cities, and there is a certain fixed group of tenants interested in leasing space in such facilities. More developers are also venturing into the outlet segment of the retail market. ●

Responding to a changing market COURTESY OF COLLIERS INTERNATIONAL

12

John Banka Development Advisory Services (DAS) at Colliers was established to meet the needs of developers, investors and other project stakeholders with respect to evaluating project feasibility and implementing solutions.

John Banka, a Colliers partner and head of the department, said that a “total” advisory approach integrating commercial feasibility, urban planning and design and investment

criteria has been well received by the market.

Ms Machus-Burek pointed out that apart from “greenfield” retail projects, developers and investors are now also increasingly focusing on existing properties that require repositioning in order to meet with current requirements and increase or defend market share.

She said her department is seeing lots of work and inquiries from not only private investors but also public sector officials who need to better understand the dynamics of the development process and the economic development potential of their communities.

Accordingly, DAS has also been active in other property sectors. John Banka said the department is now working on a new office tower in central Warsaw and other office projects in Wroc∏aw and Gdaƒsk. Earlier, DAS advised on a repositioning of a large residential and golf course complex near Warsaw. ●

ANNIVERSARY of th E PRCh MEEt ING Po INt

MEET US AT MAPIC 2012

prch@prch.org.pl www.prch.org.pl tel. +48 22 629 23 81

NOVEMBER 12-18, 2012

LOKALE IMMOBILIA – SPECIAL MAPIC EDITION

Shopping centers

Modernization and maturity Poland’s shopping centers are undergoing a wave of modernization and extension work, according to a recent report by Jones Lang LaSalle.

To date, one-third of all existing shopping centers, comprising around 2.5 million sqm of leasable retail space, has undergone some form of revitalization work, and there are even more revitalization projects in store.

“We estimate that by the end of 2014 at least 20 new shopping centers (in addition to the 74 already modernized) are planned for revitalization,” Jones Lang LaSalle wrote in the report.

These projects – some of them underway – include several Warsaw-based centers such as Klif, Blue City, Promenada and Galeria Mokotów.

Modernizing existing space In recent years it has become increasingly common among investors to acquire older

assets which are already present and established in the market, but whose potential has not yet been fully exploited, or has been, but whose infrastructure is out of date.

Investors now purchase old shopping centers in order to transform them into high quality, modern shopping centers.

Dominika J´drak, director of research and consultancy services at Colliers International, described this trend in Poland. “Modernization of shopping centers is a natural consequence of the development of the Polish retail market. An increasing number of existing shopping centers require fundamental changes, upgrading and even rebuilding,” Ms J´drak said.

She added that this is the result of many of those shopping centers being present in the market for a long time.

“It is associated with the long-term functioning of these shopping centers on the market, these old shopping centers need to be adjusted and upgraded to fit the requirements of tenants and clients today,” she said.

She added that revitalization is crucial, since there is

13

Inpro obtains occupancy permit Warsaw Stock Exchange-listed developer Inpro has obtained an occupancy permit for its Kwarta∏ Kamienic multifamily residential project in Gdaƒsk, in northern Poland, and started turning over to buyers the 46 apartments that it has already sold in the scheme. The whole development has delivered 90 luxury homes. The units are finished in turn-key standard and priced from z∏.9,900 per sqm.

LPP brands in Solaris Center COURTESY OF KLIF

Planned and ongoing revitalization projects include Klif, Blue City, Promenada and Galeria Mokotów

www.wbj.pl

Klif in Warsaw is undergoing modernization increasing competition between shopping centers. This means that older facilities need to be upgraded in order to maintain or improve their market position vis-a-vis newer rivals.

Szymon ¸ukasik, an expert in the retail space market at Cushman & Wakefield, stressed that modernization is a

necessity for older shopping centers.

“I would not call this a trend, but a necessity. Brand new shopping centers which appear on the market cause the old shopping centers to quickly become useless and obsolete,” Mr ¸ukasik said.

“In order to keep customers

happy, and to keep up with the competition, they must refresh their buildings.”

Mr ¸ukasik added that he sees this trend as a positive sign because it keeps customers’ expectations high, forcing investors to innovate and improve.

ID

Real estate investor Irlandzka Grupa Inwestycyjna has signed lease agreements with Grupa LPP concerning a total of more than 3,000 sqm of space in the company’s planned Solaris Center retail project in Toruƒ.

Reserved, Cropp, SinSay, House, Mohito and Home & You will open their stores in the shopping mall. ●

LOKALE IMMOBILIA – SPECIAL MAPIC EDITION

NOVEMBER 12-18, 2012

Retail projects

Developers broaden their horizons Shopping center projects are becoming increasingly specialized Poland’s shopping mall market is witnessing a growing number of specialized projects such as retail parks, which host specialty stores including furniture shops, DIY stores, outlets and entertainment centers, according to a report by CBRE. Poland’s maturing shopping center market is forcing developers and asset managers to broaden the range of their assets. This development is well-illustrated by the evolution of outlet centers, which have become not only discount shopping destinations but also places to dine or to spend time as a family.

This showcases changing consumer habits as well as growing brand awareness among Polish shoppers, say experts.

“A few years ago, the market was dominated by hypermarkets and galleries. Since then there has been a branching out into upper-market

galleries as well as low-tier galleries. There has also been a repositioning of the shopping mall market,” said Karina Kreja, associate director of research at CBRE. Ms Kreja said there is “big” growth in outlets as Poles are now buying more brand clothing. Outlet stores are places where manufacturers sell their stock directly to the public, cutting out the middle man.

The first outlet in Poland was built 10 years ago. Then there was a “quiet” period from 2005 to 2010, she said.

The first outlet, in Ursus, had a 40 percent occupancy rate when it was first opened, proof of market skepticism to the idea at the time. In comparison, the first outlet in the Zachodniopomorskie region, opened in Szczecin on November 7, 2012, had an occupancy rate of 95 percent before its official opening.

Echo Investment, the developer behind the Outlet Park Szczecin project, said it is “in talks” with potential clients for the available space.

There are now nine outlets in

Poland, with a tenth being built in Warsaw’s Bia∏o∏´ka district.

Retail parks Retail parks are also gaining traction. Next year the biggest retail park in the Central and Eastern European region will be opened in Gliwice, said Ms Kreja.

Beatrice Mouton, head of Jones Lang LaSalle’s retail agency in CEE, said though that the trend in outlets is primarily focused on the Polish market.

“While the Czech Republic, Hungary and Romania have one or two factory outlets in their respective markets, there are several spread across the country in Poland.

That is largely due to the fact that the Polish market is simply bigger than others in CEE,” she said.

Ms Mouton also pointed to the the fact that there are many retailers with a network of stores extensive enough to support and justify opening outlet stores in the country.

Remi Adekoya

Property-related stocks Security

Closing price on Nov 8

% change (week)

52-week low

52-week high

% change (year)

Total shares

Market value (z∏. mln)

BUDIMEX

56.95

5.17

45.85

88.35

71.55

25,530,098

1,453.94

CELTIC

4.90

-30.89

4.90

19.38

19.01

34,231,466

167.73

DOMDEV

31.00

6.16

23.51

42.80

25.04

24,715,272

766.17

ECHO

4.78

-0.21

3.05

4.84

3.44

420,000,000

2,007.60

ELBUDOWA

109.90

-3.43

87.00

120.00

100.00

4,747,608

521.76

ENERGOPLD

0.35

-7.89

0.17

2.46

2.45

70,972,001

24.84

ERBUD

14.60

4.29

11.33

23.20

19.60

12,677,956

185.10

GANT

2.68

-21.18

2.68

9.85

7.35

20,120,000

53.92

GTC

7.78

-5.35

5.20

11.40

10.98

319,372,990

2,484.72

HBPOLSKA

0.02

-33.33

0.01

1.43

0.75

210,558,445

4.21

JWCONSTR

3.61

-2.70

3.37

8.40

6.10

54,073,280

195.20

LCCORP

1.05

-8.70

0.85

1.48

0.98

447,558,311

469.94

MARVIPOL

8.99

-3.33

6.20

11.00

7.25

36,923,400

331.94

MIRBUD

1.29

-9.79

0.98

2.68

2.41

75,000,000

96.75

MOSTALWAR

12.53

-4.35

11.30

25.00

21.00

20,000,000

250.60

MOSTALZAB

1.21

1.68

0.81

1.80

1.14

149,130,538

180.45

ORCOGROUP

9.78

-0.20

6.36

19.55

17.90

107,840,962

1,054.68

PBG

4.18

-9.72

3.36

92.00

62.00

14,295,000

59.75

PLAZACNTR

2.08

1.46

1.93

2.94

1.88

297,181,703

618.14

POLAQUA

4.30

-0.23

3.30

8.18

7.50

27,500,100

118.25

POLIMEXMS

0.59

5.36

0.48

2.04

1.60

521,154,076

307.48

POLNORD

11.61

-6.75

10.49

19.85

11.03

23,798,439

276.30

RANKPROGR

10.70

-2.28

7.10

16.97

9.60

37,145,050

397.45

ROBYG

1.37

-1.44

1.08

1.75

1.10

257,935,500

353.37

RONSON

0.77

4.05

0.61

1.15

1.00

272,360,000

209.72

TRAKCJA

0.85

-1.16

0.65

1.64

1.39

232,105,480

197.29

ULMA

40.75

-2.51

37.20

74.80

62.90

5,255,632

214.17

UNIBEP

5.19

-0.19

3.60

6.28

6.08

34,021,684

176.57

WARIMPEX

3.70

0.54

2.64

5.30

5.43

54,000,000

199.80

ZUE

7.13

0.14

5.07

8.50

8.98

22,000,000

156.86

www.wbj.pl

15

16

www.wbj.pl

LOKALE IMMOBILIA – SPECIAL MAPIC EDITION

NOVEMBER 12-18, 2012

SwedeCenter completes Brama Hines Global REIT acquires Portowa offices in Szczecin Prologis Park Sosnowiec in

southern Poland for $26 mln

COURTESY OF SWEDECENTER

Hines Global REIT has acquired the Prologis Park Sosnowiec logistics property in Silesia from Prologis European Holdings. CBRE advised the purchaser in the transaction, whose value amounted to $25.8 million.

Prologis Park Sosnowiec comprises two buildings offering a total of over 47,000 sqm of space. Its purchase follows

One of the two phases of Brama Portowa Real estate developer and investor SwedeCenter has finished construction on its Brama Portowa office project in Szczecin in northwestern Poland. The grand opening of the scheme took place on November 8.

The development, whose general contractor was Hochtief Polska, comprises two independent buildings,

Brama Portowa I and Brama Portowa II, which have delivered a total of approximately 13,000 sqm of office and retail space.

“I am convinced that the existence of modern office projects, including Brama Portowa and other office buildings under construction, will attract companies wishing to start their business in

Szczecin,” Roger Andersson, managing director of SwedeCenter, said in a statement.

Established in 1992, SwedeCenter is part of the Inter IKEA Group. The company is currently involved in commercial projects in Poland including Business Garden parks in Warsaw, Poznaƒ and Wroc∏aw. Adam Zdrodowski

the acquisition by Hines Global REIT earlier this year of a portfolio of four other assets from Prologis, including two facilities in Warsaw, one in Wroc∏aw and one in Silesia.

“Over the course of this year, we have seen increased interest in prime logistics from a range of international investors,” Sean Doyle, associate director at the capital mar-

kets department of CBRE in Poland, said in a statement.

“The completed transactions and other pending deals in the sector, likely to close before year end, mean that 2012 is expected to be a record year in terms of logistics transactions as a share of the total annual investment volume in Poland,” Mr Doyle added.

Adam Zdrodowski

Online and traditional retail to grow ‘hand-in-hand’ The online retail market is continuing to grow in CEE but e-commerce and shopping centers will, for the time being, develop “hand-in-hand” without impinging on each other, according to a recent report by Jones Lang LaSalle.

The Polish online economy has been “booming” over the last few years, recording growth of 32 percent last year and resulting in 3.1 percent of retail sales being generated online, according to the report.

“E-commerce is now changing the retail environment of the region, as it has with the more advanced Western markets,” said Kevin Turpin, head of research, Central and Eastern Europe at Jones Lang LaSalle.

Warehouses dedicated to ecommerce, in-store collection points and collection boxes are among the physical manifestations of the growth in online retail.

However, traditional brick and mortar stores – and espe-

cially malls – are not expected to come under threat just yet.

At present, the share of ecommerce in retail sales is still too small to threaten the performance of modern shopping malls, according to the report.

“Despite high projected growth rates, it must be remembered that the vast portion of items sold online are not necessarily shopping center type goods and therefore, will not decrease traditional sales volumes,” the report Gareth Price reads.

Expert’s opinion

Poland remains attractive destination for investment Agata Seku∏a Head of Retail Investment, Central Europe, Jones Lang LaSalle With its economy outperforming those in the Eurozone and its positive GDP growth, Poland is proving to be an extremely attractive destination for foreign investment. Further incentives to invest in Central & Eastern Europe’s largest economy include buoyant retail sales and the number of high quality assets and prospective projects.

The Polish commercial real estate market ranks alongside Germany, Scandinavia and Great Britain as one of Europe’s most active. To date in 2012 investment transactions exceeding €1.736 billion have been recorded across all commercial real estate sectors in Poland. By adding to this a number of significant transactions in due diligence across Poland along with confidential deals close to completion, it is expected that Q4 2012 will add approximately another €500 to €800 million, thus bringing Poland’s overall 2012 volume to between €2.2 billion to €2.5 billion.

And it is not only Warsaw that is attracting the potential investors’ attention.

Advised by Jones Lang LaSalle, Union Investment’s acquisition of the Manufaktura shopping center in ¸ódê for €390 million was one of 2012’s most impressive and largest transactions in the European retail real estate market. The deal confirms that prime, well-located shopping centers continue to attract international investors’ interest. It is a clear sign that Poland is perceived as a stable market, with strong fundamentals and development prospects and enjoys favorable investor sentiment, even in the times of global economic uncertainty.

Further illustrating the point that investors are casting their eye further afield was Meyer Bergman’s decision to increase its ownership in Galeria Katowicka shopping center to over 70%. Galeria Katowicka is a new €200 million retail-led mixed-use development at Katowice railway station in Poland. The project is due to be completed in 2014.

With its variety of different investment opportunities, Poland provides all types of investors interesting products to satisfy their various investment criteria. ●

BROUGHT TO YOU BY JONES LANG LASALLE

NOVEMBER 12-18, 2012

LOKALE IMMOBILIA – SPECIAL MAPIC EDITION

www.wbj.pl

17

Retail transactions

Blockbuster sales drive the market After a slow middle of the year, activity in Poland’s retailproperty acquisitions market has begun picking up, say industry experts.

The sale of the Manufaktura shopping center in ¸ódê at the end of October is the headline act in this recent upswing, but other acquisitions are also in the pipeline.

“A couple of shopping centers are undergoing due diligence, valued at a couple of hundred million euros,” said Tomasz Trzós∏o, head of capital markets, Central Europe, at Jones Lang LaSalle. He said that confidentiality agreements prevented him from giving further details.

According to Jones Lang LaSalle data, the value of all transactions for 2012 will likely come in at around €1 billion, compared to €1.4 billion last year. However, some deals may be pushed into next year due to lengthy procedural requirements.

“This year could have been better, but it is still looking good,” said Mr Trzós∏o, who pointed out that in 2009, just €300 million was transacted.

Largest deal Given the large size of major shopping-center transactions, single deals can really lift the market – with the sale of Manufaktura being a prime example.

The purchase by Union Investment Real Estate of the Manufaktura mall for the UniImmo: Deutschland openended investment fund was one of the largest retail asset deals recorded in the Polish property market so far this year.

Following the €390 million transaction UniImmo: Deutschland now owns 91,000 sqm of the 112,000 sqm of space in Manufaktura.

The €475 million sale of the iconic Z∏ote Tarasy mall in Warsaw has been the other stand-out shopping-center transaction in 2012.

However, in the absence of blockbuster transactions the market can experience lean periods. Indeed, there were no significant retail investment transactions recorded in the

“Risk aversion drives this interest, since the big centers offer long-term stability” third quarter, following just €8 million transacted in Q2, Cushman & Wakefield wrote in a report.

“The retail market is materially more valuable than most others, with single deals often being very large indeed, so when there is a more cautious period, retail turnover can plummet,” said Mr Trzós∏o.

Big focus Core investors tend to focus on Poland’s big, regionally dominant shopping centers due to their higher footfall and more recognizable brands.

“Risk aversion drives this interest, since the big centers offer long-term stability,” said Mr Trzós∏o.

And while some investors also display an appetite for smaller centers, such transactions are few and far between and generally involve comparatively tiny sums of money.

The purchase by Blackstone’s real estate funds of the Galeria T´cza shopping mall in Kalisz earlier this year shows the appetite for smaller

COURTESY OF MANUFAKTURA.PL

Investor focus on the largest assets makes Poland’s shopping center market vulnerable to lean periods

Manufaktura was sold for €390 million in late October assets, but the value of the transaction – €37 million – is marginal compared to the biggest sales.

Rockspring’s purchase of the Alfa Centrum shopping center in Olsztyn for €84 million does indicate that larger transactions are possible in smaller cities, but the market is still seen as being too shallow.

“There are not enough small projects to allow significant transaction activity, but also the interest of investors tends to focus on bigger and dominant schemes,” said Mr Trzós∏o.

According to Aleksander Loster, associate at the capital markets group, Cushman & Wakefield, funding difficulties are also putting pressure on

prices.

“The extended time needed to find a buyer and complete the transaction indicates that buyers are more cautious and that it is more difficult to obtain financing,” he said. “As a result, price pressures may increase on owners of smaller properties, located in smaller regional cities,” he added.

Gareth Price

18

www.wbj.pl

LOKALE IMMOBILIA – SPECIAL MAPIC EDITION

NOVEMBER 12-18, 2012

Shopping centers

Lokale Immobilia talks to Piotr Kroenke, general director of developer Globe Trade Centre (GTC), about the company’s planned shopping center projects in Warsaw Warsaw retail market is not saturated yet.

The land use plan that is currently in force provides for the development of new shopping centers in just two places in Warsaw – in the Bia∏o∏´ka and Wilanów districts, on the plots that belong to us.

COURTESY OF GTC

Adam Zdrodowski: How do you see demand for new shopping centers in Warsaw and how many new malls could yet be developed in the city?

Piotr Kroenke: According to our assessment, confirmed by property market analysts, the

The architectural design fully respects the presence of the historic palace and park in the neighborhood. We are trying to design the front-view in a way that will reflect the dispersed development that is characteristic for Wilanów. A large part of the facility will be glazed and it will also feature a passage.

How advanced is the Wilanów project and has it already been accepted by the municipal authorities?

We are now in the process of securing an environmental impact assessment. We are also in talks with city officials concerning transportation solutions around the future shopping center. The design is being refined so that we can apply for a building permit. We will be able to submit the application in the first quarter of 2013.

The Galeria Wilanów mall will deliver a total of approximately 80,000 sqm of GLA

When could construction on Galeria Wilanów launch and how much space is it expected to deliver?

It all depends on how long the administrative procedure will take to go through. We will be ready to launch construction on the investment within one month of obtaining a valid building permit for it, and the development of a facility of this size should not take longer than approximately 18-20 months.

The APA Wojciechowski and Tzur Architects studios are responsible for the design. The whole Galeria Wilanów project will comprise approximately 80,000 sqm of leasable retail space. The development of the first phase of the project, with some 60,000 sqm, will cost approximately €150-160 million.

COURTESY OF GTC

GTC sees Warsaw potential

Mr Kroenke said the Warsaw market is unsaturated GTC has recently become the sole owner of Galeria Wilanów.

What was the reason for the change in ownership structure and Polnord’s pull-out from the investment?

I would not like to comment on the sovereign decision of Polnord. We strongly believe in the success of this project and have naturally increased our own involvement in it.

Ghelamco is reportedly also planning a retail project in Wilanów. Are you worried about this potential competition?

GTC has to date developed more than 10 modern shopping and entertainment centers in Europe. This is an experience that helps us in their design and optimal commercialization. In

Wilanów, we are focusing on our own project. We believe that this will be a place that will attract many buyers and will become a fixed element of that part of Warsaw.

GTC is also planning a shopping center project in Bia∏o∏´ka. How is preparatory work on that scheme going?

We will be ready to apply for a building permit as soon as we have finished buying narrow strips of land that currently belong to the city. We want to launch construction right after securing the permit. The mall will feature approximately 60,000 sqm of retail space. It is being designed by the same studios as Galeria Wilanów and will also cost approximately €150-160 million. ●

Custom publishing delivers specially tailored content Professionally honed and targeted to a defined group, whether B2B or end-customers, each message is designed for maximum effectiveness.

Custom publishing is one of the world’s fastest-growing marketing tools, because it pinpoints – and achieves – corporate goals.

Popular custom publishing media: • print: magazines, enhanced catalogs, newspapers • virtual: web services, newsletters, e-zines • interactive: social media If you want to: • build loyalty and long-term customer relations • acquire new clients • implement an integrated professional communication strategy • build strong brand identity Custom publishing is the perfect tool!

Valkea Media SA, ul. Elbląska 15/17, 01-747 Warszawa, tel. 22 639 85 69, e-mail: mlindholm@valkea.com, www.cp.valkea.com, www.facebook.com/valkeacp

20

FINANCE & ECONOMICS

www.wbj.pl

NOVEMBER 12-18, 2012

Interest rates

Monetary Policy Council finally cuts rates erable,” he added.

In the council’s policy statement accompanying the deci-

May, but they still remain a full percentage point higher than during the post-crisis low of 3.5 percent, in place from mid-2009 to early 2011.

It was the first time the council had cut rates since July 2009.

Marek Belka, NBP president and chairman of the council, said the bias remains easing, and indicated that the RPP was ready to act quickly if it saw the need to cut rates again.

“Today’s decision is the beginning of an easing cycle,” Mr Belka said. Chances of a cut in December are “quite consid-

Poland’s Monetary Policy Council (RPP), the interestrate setting arm of the National Bank of Poland, opened a longawaited easing cycle last week when it cut the bank’s reference rate by 25 basis points, to 4.5 percent. The cut brings rates down to where they were prior to a much-questioned hike in

4.5% The National Bank of Poland’s reference interest rate, after the cut last week – the first since 2009 sion, it said that it would act “should the incoming information confirm a protracted economic slowdown, and should the risk of an increase in infla-

On the way back down The National Bank of Poland's main interest rate, Dec. 2010-Nov. 2012 5

4

3

2

1

2

12 t. '

v. ' 1 No

Oc

'12

'12 g.

p.

Se

Au

2

2

2 . '1 Jul

. '1 Jun

Ma

y '1

2

2

r. ' 1 Ap

2

r. ' 1 Ma

2

. '1

. '1

Feb

Jan

1

'11 c.

De

11

v. ' 1 No

'11

t. ' Oc

'11 g.

p.

Se

Au

1

1

1 . '1 Jul

. '1 Jun

1

y '1 Ma

1

r. ' 1 Ap

1

r. ' 1 Ma

1

. '1

. '1

Feb

c.

De

Jan

'10

0

Source: National Bank of Poland

tionary pressure remain limited.”

Analysts from BZ WBK said in an e-mailed statement that such a scenario would “surely” play out.

A worsening environment The decision finally matches calls from economists, who for months have pleaded for the council to lower rates in the face of a clearly deteriorating macroeconomic environment.

Industrial production fell into negative territory for the first time since 2009 in September, while consumer spending has slowed significantly. Despite an influx of spending by tourists who came to Poland for the Euro 2012 tournament, GDP growth in Q2 came in at a disappointing 2.4 percent.

The council was working from a new set of macroeconomic forecasts from central bank researchers this month, which showed GDP and inflation ranges down on all horizons. The inflation projections even showed it coming in below the central bank’s target of 2.5 percent, plus or minus one percentage point, in the medium term.

But at the press conference

COURTESY OF THE INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND

With a slowdown impending and under pressure from economists, the NBP’s rate-setters opted for a 25-bp cut

NBP president Marek Belka said the cut marked the beginning of an easing cycle following the decision, two wellknown hawks joined Mr Belka, and emphasized worries about inflation. They said that the current disinflation trend isn’t particularly sturdy, and that the depth of the slowdown shouldn’t be exaggerated.

Nevertheless, analysts expressed confidence that the council would cut rates by another 25 basis points in December, and more there-

after.

“As we are predicting a further decline of inflation (to or below target in February), while the economic slowdown will continue, we will see further monetary policy easing in 2013,” BZ WBK economists wrote.

Andrew Kureth

Information from PAP Market Insider was used in this report.

SUBSCRIBE FOR 1 YEAR AND SAVE UP TO 50% OFF THE COVER PRICE Choose one option by checking the box

❏ WBJ IS NOW AVAILABLE IN DIGITAL FORMAT. READ WBJ AS A PDF OR E-ZINE.

OPTION 1

WBJ Electronic

Wa Warsaw Business Journal PDF version and a link to view WBJ in e-zine format delivered to your e-mail address each week for 12 months. for Everywhere: zł.424

❏

OPTION 2

WBJ Print

ENQUIRIES A M IC HA L I K @ VA L K EA .C OM, O R C A L L +4 8 ( 2 2 ) 6 7 8-9912

In Europe: €297

OPTION 3

Outside Europe: €374

WBJ Premium

Warsaw Business Journal print edition delivered each week to your address for 12 months, plus WBJ PDF version and a link to view WBJ in e-zine format delivered to your e-mail address each week.

Also receive Investing in Poland 2012 (zł.78 value) and Book of Lists 2012 (zł.100 value).

In Poland: zł.691

Warsaw Business Journal print edition delivered each week to your address for 12 months, plus receive Investing in Poland 2012 (zł.78 value) and Book of Lists 2012 (zł.100 value).

In Poland: zł.550

❏

In Europe: €330

Outside Europe: €407

Please fax this form to: +48 22 639 85 69 or mail it to our office: Subscriptions Warsaw Business Journal Valkea Media S.A. ul. Elblàska 15/17, 01-747 Warsaw, Poland

CLIENT DETAILS

PAYMENT OPTIONS (please check one)

Name ......................................................................................................................

Company ......................................................................................................................

Address ......................................................................................................................

Postal code ......................................................................................................................

City ......................................................................................................................

Country ......................................................................................................................

Telephone/Fax ...................................................................................................................... e-mail ......................................................................................................................

NIP (Poland)/EU VAT number (EU countries) ......................................................................................................................

❏ Pre-payment by bank transfer upon receipt of a pro-forma invoice. The pro-forma invoice will be sent to you immediately upon receipt of your order.

Your subscription will start within one week of payment. ❏ Credit card: ❏ American Express

❏ Visa

❏ Mastercard

Cardholder name ......................................................................................................................

Number ......................................................................................................................

CVV2/CVC2/CID

Expiration date

....................................................... ............................................................

Signature ......................................................................................................................

OPINION & ANALYSIS

NOVEMBER 12-18, 2012

www.wbj.pl

21

The EU shifts Russian natural gas policy Stratfor

R

ussia’s decision to cut natural gas prices for Poland suggests it can no longer rely only on bilateral, exclusive deals with strategic partners to secure its access to the European market. On November 6, Russian state natural gas company Gazprom and its Polish counterpart, PGNiG, reached an agreement that would see the price Russia charges Poland for natural gas drop. This is probably the first of several instances of Russian efforts to normalize natural gas pricing among its EU customers.

A welcome break While the details were not revealed, Poland likely received a discount ranging from 10 to 20 percent of its current rate, the latter figure being Poland’s demand in the arbitration proceedings. Before their price breakthrough, PGNiG and Gazprom had been locked in an arbitration suit for nearly a year. Poland was contesting the increase in natural gas prices Russia had forced on PGNiG in a 2010 contract. At one point, Poland was paying at least 30 percent above the average European natural gas price.

into Gazprom’s monopolistic and anti-competitive practices in the Central European natural gas market in September.

This sent Moscow a clear signal that Russia would have to prove more accommodating to Central European nations if it hopes to retain its position as the major supplier of natural gas to the continent. Poland’s natural-gas discount should be therefore viewed as the first visible sign that EU pressure on Russia to equalize its business practices among all its members is bearing fruit.

The lower prices are a welcome break for Poland, whose economy is beginning to show signs of weaker growth after weathering the economic crisis relatively well so far. The Polish government previously announced that the savings from lower natural gas import prices would be transferred to domestic and industrial end consumers.

Unlike in its negotiations with Germany and Italy, the core pricing structure of natural gas was not placed in question in Russia’s negotiations with Poland. Warsaw will keep its long-term contracts with take-orpay clauses and significant oil indexation, maintaining Russia’s large influence over the Polish energy sphere.

Poland’s discount follows similar deals Russia struck throughout the year with major Western European consumers, particularly Germany and Italy, and as Russia has come under EU pressure to normalize the natural gas prices Moscow charges across the continent. Emboldened by Russia’s weakening position on the Western European market, the European Commission launched a probe

Weaker leverage Poland’s success in resolving its ongoing price dispute with Gazprom is particularly significant, since Poland is neither a major natural gas customer nor involved in negotiations with Moscow over Russian strategic assets. In addition to the major Western European consumers, the countries that previously had made progress in pricing negotiations with Moscow were Balkan and Central European nations participating in the South Stream pipeline project.

With both the large Western European consumers and the Central European and Balkan consumers, Russia has had a direct interest in providing lower prices. For the first group, Moscow sought to maintain market share in its primary revenue generators in the face of the threat of regional diversification and liberalization efforts. For the Balkan and Central European group, Russia used the promise of lower natural gas prices as an incentive for these countries to sign on to the South Stream project as quickly as possible. By contrast, Poland imports about a fourth of the natural gas Germany does and is not part of any significant Russian infrastructure project.

To address the growing pressure from the European Union to normalize natural gas prices and pricing structures across the continent, Moscow previously had given highvalue partners a better deal to assuage their fears while still maintaining a strong grip on the Central European markets fully dependent on Russia for their natural gas supplies. However, over the course of

the next year, Russia’s energy leverage on EU members will continue to weaken. The pressure on it to normalize its pricing practices for all EU members, even those with which Moscow does not have a special relationship, will continue. This will be particularly true for Central European nations, which can expect similar price cuts as Poland’s lead emboldens them to challenge Russia’s pricing practices.

Russia will continue with its current accommodating pricing policy in the European market in exchange for the renovation of long-term contracts from its current customers.

Moscow’s efforts to present itself as a reliable business partner for Europe plus behind-the-scenes cooperation with Germany will most likely mollify the EU legal challenges to the practices of what remains the continent’s largest single supplier of natural gas. ● This edited version of “The EU shifts Russian natural gas policy” is reprinted with permission of Stratfor.

Stratfor.com

A Europe of solidarity, not only discipline George Soros

O

riginally, the European Union was what psychologists call a “fantastic object,” a desirable goal that inspires people’s imaginations.

The euro crisis, however, has turned the EU into something radically different. Member countries are now divided into two classes – creditors and debtors – with the creditors in charge. As the largest and most creditworthy country, Germany occupies a dominant position. Debtor countries pay substantial risk premiums to finance their debt, which is reflected in their high economy-wide borrowing costs. This has pushed them into a deflationary tailspin and put them at a substantial – and potentially permanent – competitive disadvantage vis-a-vis creditor countries.

This outcome does not reflect a deliberate plan, but rather a series of policy mistakes. Germany did not seek to occupy a dominant position in Europe, and it is reluctant to accept the obligations and liabilities that such a position entails. Call this the tragedy of the European Union.

Recent developments seem to offer grounds for optimism. The authorities are taking steps to correct their mistakes, especially with the

decision to form a banking union and the outright monetary transactions program, which would allow unlimited intervention by the European Central Bank in the sovereign-bond market. Financial markets have been reassured that the euro is here to stay. That could be a turning point, provided it is adequately reinforced with additional steps toward greater integration.

Unfortunately, the EU’s unfolding tragedy characteristically feeds on such glimmers of hope. Germany remains willing to do the minimum – and nothing more – to hold the euro together, and the EU’s recent steps have merely reinforced German resistance to further concessions.

This will perpetuate the division between creditor and debtor countries.

Grim necessity A widening gap in economic performance and political dominance is such a dismal prospect for the EU that it must not be allowed to become permanent. There must be a way to prevent it – after all, history is not predetermined. The EU, originally conceived as an instrument of solidarity, is today held together by grim necessi-

ty. That is not conducive to a harmonious partnership. The only way to reverse the trend is to recapture the spirit of solidarity that animated the European project from the start.

To that end, I recently established an Open Society Initiative for Europe (OSIFE). In doing so, I recognized that the best place to start would be where current policies have created the greatest human suffering: Greece. The people who are suffering are not those who abused the system and caused the crisis. The fate of the many migrant and asylum seekers caught in Greece is particularly heart-rending. But their plight cannot be separated from that of the Greeks themselves. An initiative confined to migrants would merely reinforce the growing xenophobia and extremism in Greece.

I could not figure out how to approach this seemingly intractable problem until I recently visited Stockholm to commemorate the centenary of Raoul Wallenberg’s birth. This reawakened my memories of World War II – the calamity that eventually gave birth to the EU. Wallenberg was a hero who saved the lives of many Jews in my home city of Budapest by establishing

Swedish safe houses. That is what gave me the idea.

We could set up solidarity houses in Greece, which would serve as community centers for the local population and also provide food and shelter to migrants. There are already many soup kitchens and civil-society efforts to help the migrants, but these initiatives cannot cope with the scale of the problem. What I have in mind is to reinforce these efforts.

Asylum policy The EU’s asylum policy has broken down. Refugees must register in the member country where they enter, but the Greek government cannot process the cases. Some 60,000 refugees who sought to register have been put into detention facilities where conditions are inhumane. Migrants who do not register and live on the street are attacked by the hooligans of the neofascist Golden Dawn party.

Sweden has made migration and asylum policy a high priority, while Norway is concerned about the fate of migrants in Greece. So both countries would be prime candidates to support solidarity houses. And other betteroff countries could join them. OSIFE is ready to provide support for this ini-

tiative, and I hope other foundations will be eager to do the same.

Currently, Golden Dawn is making political headway by providing social services to Greeks while attacking migrants. The initiative that I propose would offer a positive alternative, based on solidarity – the solidarity of Europeans with Greeks and of Greeks with migrants. It would provide a practical demonstration of the spirit that ought to infuse the entire EU. As soon as possible, I will dispatch an OSIFE needs-assessment team to Greece to contact the authorities – and the people and organizations already helping the needy – to work out a plan for which we can generate public support. My goal is to revive the idea of the EU as an instrument of solidarity, not only of discipline. ● George Soros is chairman of Soros Fund Management and chairman of the Open Society Foundations. A pioneer of the hedge-fund industry, he is the author of many books, including “The Alchemy of Finance” and “The New Paradigm for Financial Markets: The Credit Crisis of 2008 and What it Means.”

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.

PUBLISHER VALKEA MEDIA SA COLUMNISTS

MANAGING EDITOR

GARETH PRICE (GPRICE@WBJ.PL) POLITICS EDITOR

REMI ADEKOYA (RADEKOYA@WBJ.PL) REAL ESTATE EDITOR

ADAM ZDRODOWSKI (AZDRODOWSKI@WBJ.PL)

JOURNALIST

ADAM NARCZEWSKI ANDREW NAWROCKI

E. BLAKE BERRY EWA BONIECKA DAVID INGHAM

MARKETING &SALES

(ABREJWO@WBJ.PL) PRODUCTION MANAGER

MANAGING DIRECTOR MONIKA STAWICKA

EWA BROGOSZ-KORYCKA (EBROGOSZ-KORYCKA@WBJ.PL)

AGNIESZKA BREJWO MARKETING &SALES DIRECTOR

IZABELA DEPCZYK (IDEPCZYK@VALKEA.COM) CONTRIBUTORS

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF ANDREW KURETH (AKURETH@WBJ.PL)

PIOTR WYSKOK

MAGDALENA KARPI¡SKA (MKARPINSKA@WBJ.PL)

GRAPHIC DESIGNER

AGNIESZKA KUCZY¡SKA (AKUCZYNSKA@WBJ.PL)

KRZYSZTOF WILI¡SKI (DYSTRYBUCJA@VALKEA.COM)

PR & MARKETING SPECIALIST

KATARZYNA MAREK (KMAREK@WBJ.PL) SUBSCRIPTIONS MANAGER

¸UKASZ MAZUREK

PRINT & DISTRIBUTION COORDINATOR

AGNIESZKA MICHALIK (AMICHALIK@VALKEA.COM)

BOOK OF LISTS SPECIALIST

MONIKA BRYSIAK (MBRYSIAK@VALKEA.COM)

22

THE LIST

www.wbj.pl

NOVEMBER 12-18, 2012

Construction and Real Estate

Shopping Malls Ranked by gross leaseable area (GLA)

www.bookoflists.pl

Space (sqm) Developer / Leasing agent: contact person

Selected tenants (name: space leased, sqm)

Year completed

Ownership / Managing company

Mall director

28,000 98,000

NA 159,000

3,000 -

Apsys Apsys Polska: Marek B∏´dowski, 22 701-9200

Real; Leroy Merlin; Cinema City; Pure; Saturn;Van Graaf; Rossmann

2006

Union Investment Real Estate GmbH; Leroy Merlin Inwestycje ; I.T. Poland Development Apsys Polska: 22 701-9200

S∏awomir Murawski

110,000 287,000

30,200 80,000

NA 287,000

4,300 4,300

ERE/BEG Group Unibail-Rodamco

Carrefour: 18,400; Leroy Merlin: 11,800; Saturn: 5,627; Cinema City: 4,985; Peek&Cloppenburgh: 3,635; Holmes Place; H&M: 2,787; C&A: 2,221

2004

Unibail-Rodamco Unibail -Rodamco

Anthony Vesin

Port ¸ódê Al. Jana Paw∏a II 82, 93-457, ¸ódê 42 298-1212 portlodz@ikea.com, www.portlodz.pl

103,000 118,935

WND 83,688

NA 118,935

4,500 2,350

Inter IKEA Centre Group Poland INTER IKEA Centre Polska: Justyna Bergman, justyna.bergman@ikea.com

IKEA: 33,000; Leroy Merlin: 11,176; Saturn: 5,082; Zara: 1,790; C&A: 2,477; H&M: 1,812; Reserved: 1,563; Marks&Spencer: 21,118

2010

Inter IKEA Centre Group Poland Andrzej CieÊlik, Andrzej.cieslik@ikea.com

Andrzej CieÊlik

4

Centrum Handlowe ¸acina(1) Poznaƒ 22 701-9200/22 701-9201 office@apsysgroup.pl, www.lacina.pl

98,000 NA

NA NA

142,000 142,000

3,300 2,100

Apsys Apsys Polska: Marek B∏´dowski, 22 701-9200

Carrefour; Leroy Merlin; Multikino; Van Graaff; Reserved; Cropp Town; CCC; Rossmann

2014

Apsys Polska NA

NA

5

Bonarka City Center ul. Kamieƒskiego 11, 30-644, Kraków 12 298-6001/12 298-6002 bonarka@trigranit.pl www.bonarkacitycenter.pl

92,940 234,000

20,621 72,319

NA 234,000

3,200 2,580

TriGranit Development TriGranit Management: Justyna Balawejder, jbalawejder@trigranit.pl, 12298-6020, Micha∏ Dziedzina, mdziedzina@trigranit.pl, 12 298-6012

Leroy Merlin: 10,333; TK Maxx: 3,195; Peek & Cloppenburg: 3,001; C&A: 2,368; H&M: 2,083; Zara: 1,736; Empik: 1,437; Smyk Megastore

2009

Roland Investments TriGranit Management Polska: Andrzej Seliga, aseliga@trigranit.pl

Micha∏ Dziedzina

6

Park Handlowy Targówek ul. Malborska 51-53 , 03-286, Warsaw 22 334-4567 targowek@ikea.com www.targowek.parkhandlowy.pl

90,640 102,746

WND WND

NA 102,746

4,500 -

Inter IKEA Centre Group Poland Dariusz Forysiak, Dariusz.forysiak@ikea.com

IKEA: 23,112; Leroy Merlin: 14,805; Meble Emilia: 2,950; Meble Agata: 1,934; SMYK: 2,382; Piotr i Pawe∏: 2,038; Jula: 6,283

2006

Inter IKEA Centre Group Poland Olivia.skrzynska@ikea.com

Olivia Skrzyƒska

7

Silesia City Center ul. Chorzowska 107, 40-101, Katowice 32 605-0010/32 605-0012 biuro@ehl-pl.com www.silesiacitycenter.com.pl

85,508 159,974

14,905 70,603

NA 159,974

3,373 1,656

IMMOFINANZ AG Tesco: 14,905; Saturn: 5,681; Cinema City: 4,903; Van Graaf: 3,905; Smyk: 2,300; EHL Real Estate Poland, Ilona Szafer, Pure:1,997; C&A: 1,950; H&M: 1,845 i.szafer@ehl-pl.com

2005

Nowe Centrum, 32 605-0010 EHL Real Estate Poland, Ewa Marcinek, e.marcinek@ehl-pl.com

Ewa Marcinek

8

Park Handlowy Bielany Bielany Wroc∏awskie, ul. Czekoladowa 5-22, 55-040, Kobierzyce 71 360-7734/71 360-7738 www.bielany.parkhandlowy.pl

85,000 91,500

16,794 WND

80,000 170,000

4,000 -

Inter IKEA Centre Poland Ewa.teodorczyk@ikea.com

IKEA: 16,568; Tesco: 16,794; Alma: 2,747; RTV Euro AGD: 1,148; OBI: 13,400; H&M: 1,988; McDonald’s: 2,000; CCC

1998

Inter IKEA Centre Poland agnieszka.pyzanowicz@ikea.com

Agnieszka PyzanowiczFrancke

9

Centrum Handlowe Krakowska 61 (CK61) Al. Krakowska 61, 02-183, Warsaw 22 538-9743/22 538-9743 biuro@estatefellows.com, www.ck61.pl

77,950 78,978

68,840 1,750

NA WND

2,100 230

METRO Properies NAI Estate Fellows: Marlena Kozie∏, marlena.koziel@estatefellows.com, 662-009-852

Real: 15,155; Agata Meble: 11,649; Komfort: 1,343; Praktiker: 11,855; Media Markt: 5,984

WND

Ref Sp. z o.o. 18 SKA Jacek Ptasiƒski, jacek.ptasiƒski@estatefellows.com, 601-254-060

WND

10

Park Handlowy Matarnia ul. Z∏ota Karczma 26, 80-298, Gdaƒsk 58 769-9444/58 799-9449 www.matarnia.parkhandlowy.pl

77,351 84,000

WND WND

NA 84,000

2,100 WND

Inter IKEA Centre Poland Ilona Korsak, Ilona.korsak@ikea.com

IKEA, TK Maxx: 2,873; OBI: 13,400; C&A: 2,265; MediaMarkt: 4,047; Meble Agata: 2,785

2005

Inter IKEA Centre Poland Andrzej.hnatiuk@ikea.com

Andrzej Hnatiuk

Centrum Handlowe Janki ul. Mszczonowska 3, 05-090, Janki 11 22 711-3000/22 711-3003 janki@apsysgroup.pl, www.chjanki.pl

73,000 81,500

28,000 45,000

NA 81,500

2,700 -

Apsys GE Real Estate: Artur Kudliƒski; Apsys Polska; Agnieszka WójcichReal, Leroy Merlin, Saturn, Cinema City, Go Schabowicz, Sport, H&M, Reserved aschabowicz@apsysgroup.pl, 510-020-033

1999

GE Capital Real Estate Polish Retail Holdco Sarl.

Asset Manager: GE Real Estate Poland, Leroy Merlin Inwestycje, Cinema City, Taima Investments Apsys Polska: 22 701-9200

Anna Walerych

Rank

Under construction / Total planned

Total number of parking spaces / Number of underground parking spaces

Company name Address Tel./Fax E-mail Website

Gross Leaseable Area / Gross Building Area

SuperHypermarket / Shopping mall

1

Manufaktura ul. Drewnowska 58, 91-002, ¸ódê 42 664-9260/42 664-9290 marketing@manufaktura.com www.manufaktura.com

126,000 159,000

2

Arkadia Al. Jana Paw∏a II 82, 00-175, Warsaw 22 331-3400/22 331-3401 arkadia.recepcja@unibail-rodamco.com www.arkadia.com.pl

3

12

Centrum Handlowe Karolinka ul. Wroc∏awska 152/154, 45-835, Opole 77 462-4800/77 474-3036 biuro@ch-karolinka.pl, www.ch-karolinka.pl

70,000 77,000

32,953 37,057

NA 77,000

2,600 -

Mayland Real Estate Mayland Real Estate: 22 546-9800, contact@mayland.pl

Real: 13,239; RTV Euro AGD: 1,003; Decathlon: 3,606; H&M: 1,650;TK Maxx: 3,312; Leroy Merlin: 10,530; Meble Agata: 9,184; Smyk Megastore: 2,300

2008

MGPA Europe Fund III LP/ Karolinka Investments Mayland Real Estate

Iwona Sitko

13

Z∏ote Tarasy ul. Z∏ota 59 , 00-120, Warsaw 22 222-2200 info@zlotetarasy.pl, www.zlotetarasy.pl

66,212 159,626

WND 61,097

NA 159,626

WND WND

WND DTZ, El˝bieta Powichrowska, elzbieta.powichrowska@dtz.com

Multikino; Saturn; Van Graaf; Carrefour; Marks& Spencer; H&M; Zara

WND

CBRE Global Investors DTZ, info@dtz.pl, 22 222- 3000

Tomasz Hofman

14

Centrum Franowo ul. Szwedzka 6, 61-285, Poznaƒ 61 879-9913/61 879-9913 www.franowo.parkhandlowy.pl

66,000 WND

11,636 WND

14,000 WND

2,000 -

Inter IKEA Centre Group Poland Ilona Korsak; Ilona.korsak@ikea.com

IKEA: 14,564; Carrefour: 11,636; Decathlon; OBI: 11,000; RTV Euro AGD: 1,508; McDonald’s: 2,000; TOPWERT: 1,205; Bank Pekao: 234

1993

Inter IKEA Centre Group Poland Andrzej.hnatiuk@ikea.com

Andrzej Hnatiuk

15

Blue City Al. Jerozolimskie 179, 02-222, Warsaw 22 311-7000/22 311-7001 info@bluecity.pl, www.bluecity.pl

63,000 185,000

4,150 59,000

NA WND

2,200 400

Blue City Ron Melchet: 22 311-7000; ron.melchet@bluecity.pl

Piotr i Pawe∏; Saturn; Zara; TK Maxx; C&A; Royal Collection; Marks&Spencer; Toys”R”Us

2004

Blue City

Yoram Reshef

Globe Trade Centre Unibail-Rodamco

Cinema City: 6,370; Carrefour: 5,273; Peek&Cloppenburg:3,649; Empik: 1,763; Holmes Place Energy: 1,722; Go Sport: 1,360; Zara 1,310

2000

Unibail-Rodamco Unibail-Rodamco

Pawe∏ Klimczak

2006

KNS Krakau Neue Stadtmitte GmbH& Co.KG ECE Projektmanagement Polska

Ryszard Wysokiƒski

Multikino; Zara; Piotr i Pawe∏; Media Expert; H&M; C&A; Pure Health & Fitness; Hilton

2011

Develop Investment DTZ: info@dtz.pl, 22 222-3000

Wojciech Tereszkiewicz

Galeria Mokotów ul. Wo∏oska 12, 02-675, Warsaw 16 22 541-3000/22 606-0756 info@galeriamokotow.pl www.galeriamokotow.pl Galeria Krakowska ul. Pawia 5, 31-154, Kraków 17 12 428-9900/12 428-9920 galeria@galeria-krakowska.pl www.galeria-krakowska.pl Millenium Hall ul. Kopisto 1, 35-315, Rzeszów 18 17 770-0700/17 770-0703 www.milleniumhall.pl

62,317 85,343

5,273 57,044

5,000 90,343

2,200 WND

60,000 130,000

WND 60,000

WND WND

1,400 WND

56,612 108,195

WND 54,617

NA WND

WND WND

Centrum Handlowe Atrium Koszalin ul. Paderewskiego 1, 75-736, Koszalin 19 94 344-6910/94 344-6918 kgumieniak@aere.com www.atriumkoszalin.pl

55,352 WND

9,963 44,108

NA WND

1,600 470

WND Castorama: 8,768; Multikino: 3,097; H&M: 1,800; MediaMarkt: 4,335; C&A: 2,015; Atrium Poland Real Estate Management, Katarzyna Dzieciàtko, New Yorker: 1,493; Reserved: 1,083; Pure: 1,243 kdzieciatko@aere.com, 22 458-2002

2008

Atrium Koszalin Atrium Poland Real Estate Management

Ewa Machowska- Górna

55,051 WND

4,130 38,342

WND WND

1,741 -

WND Cinema city: 6,600; Alma: 4,130; Electro World: 2,745; H&M: 2,342; GO Sport: Atrium Poland Real Estate Management, Magdalena Ma∏ycha, 1,550; Zara: 1,550; Reserved: 1,034; Royal Collection: 885 mmalycha@aere.com, 22 458-2064

1996

MD Poland I Atrium Poland Real Estate Management

Micha∏ Bogaczyƒski

Centrum Handlowe Atrium Promenada ul. Ostrobramska 75C, 04-175, Warsaw 20 22 611-7171/22 611-7272

promenada@aere.com www.warszawa.promenada.com

ECE Carrefour, Saturn, Peek&Cloppenburg, Zara, H&M, C&A ECE: Piotr Kubis, Piotr.kubis@ece.com

WND DTZ: Irena Ustinovic, irena.ustinovic@dtz.com

THE LIST

NOVEMBER 12-18, 2012

Rank

Space (sqm) Company name Address Tel./Fax E-mail Website

Galeria Malta ul. Abpa Baraniaka 8, 61-131, Poznaƒ 21 61 658-1022/61 658-1022 biuro@galeriamalta.pl, www.galeriamalta.pl

www.wbj.pl

Gross Leaseable Area / Gross Building Area

SuperHypermarket / Shopping mall

Under construction / Total planned

Total number of parking spaces / Number of underground parking spaces

Developer / Leasing agent: contact person

Selected tenants (name: space leased, sqm)

Year completed

Ownership / Managing company

Mall director

54,000 162,000

2,700 51,300

NA 162,000

1,900 198

Neiver Witold ˚ak, wzak@neiver.com

Piotr i Pawe∏: 2,700; Multikino: 3,800; Media Expert: 3,022; C&A: 2,,750; Marks & Spencer; H&M: 2,250; Zara: 1,450

2009

Heitman, Galeria Malta Sp z o.o.

Neiver: Tomasz Wojsz, twojsz@neiver.com

Tomasz Wojsz

23

22

Janki Park Handlowy Pl. Szwedzki 3, 05-090, Raszyn 22 711-2436/22 711-2302 najem@ikea.com, www.parkhandlowy.pl

53,600 60,000

16,177

NA 60,000

2,300 -

Inter IKEA Centre Group Poland Dorota Samulska, dorota.samulska@ikea.com

IKEA: 25,000; Praktiker: 7,600; Piotr i Pawe∏: 1,250; RTV Euro AGD: 436; Jula: 4,373; Gravitan: 2,008; Komfort: 1,334; Belbazaar: 681

1995

Inter IKEA Centre Group Poland Olivia.skrzynska@ikea.com

Olivia Skrzyƒska

23

Centrum Handlowe Warszawa Wileƒska ul. Targowa 72, 03-734, Warsaw 22 331-6440/22 331-6001 www.warszawa-wilenska.pl

53,000 11,000

22,000 16,500

NA 11,000

1,250 WND

ERE/BEG Group Unibail-Rodamco

RTV Euro AGD: 1,350; Go Sport: 1,070; Reserved: 960; New Yorker: 956; Smyk: 608; Deichmann:580; Rossmann: 438

2002

Unibail-Rodamco Unibail-Rodamco

Filip Kry∏owicz

52,846 69,805

22,899 29,947

NA WND

WND WND

WND BalmainAm

Decathlon; Cinema City; Intersport; RTV Euro AGD; Abra; Vision Express; Rossmann

WND

Charter Hall DTZ: info@dtz.pl, 22 222-3000

Dorota Szafraƒska-Czubaj

52,468 57,835

24,873 27,595

NA 57,835

1,680 -

METRO Group Mall - METRO Properties: 22 500-0041

Real; Praktiker; Media Markt

1997

Apollo Rida Poland: jkarp@apollorida.com.pl, mtertelis@apollorida.com.pl, 22 528-2222 METRO Properties: 22 500-0000

Krzysztof Kucharski

Centrum Handlowe Atrium Targówek ul. G∏´bocka 15, 03-287, Warsaw 22 675-8000/22 675-8080 targowek@aere.com, www.atrium-targowek.pl

51,901 WND

20,690 31,211

NA WND

1,790 WND

WND Atrium Poland Real Estate: Anita Maksymowicz-Gromadzka, amaksymowicz@aere.com, 22 458-2038

Multikino: 5,845; H&M: 2,086; Zara: 1,437; RTV Euro AGD: 1,061; Smyk: 824; Empik: 662; Reserved: 823; Marks & Spencer: 640

1998

Atrium Targówek Atrium Poland Real Estate Management

Leszek Sybura

Centrum Handlowe Korona ul. Boles∏awa Krzywoustego 126, 27 51-421, Wroc∏aw 71 350-1300/71 350-1301 korona@apsysgroup.pl, www.centrum-korona.pl

50,000 55,000

21,500 28,500

NA 55,000

2,200 850

Apsys GE Real Estate: Artur Kudliƒski, Apsys Polska: Agnieszka Wójcich - Schabowicz, aschabowicz@apsysgroup.pl, 510-020-033

Real; Cinema City; Decathlon; RTV Euro AGD; Fitness Academy, Go SPORT, CCC

1999

GE Capital Real Estate Polish Retail Holdco Sarl, Asset manager: GE Real Estate Poland Apsys Polska: 22 701-9200

Izabela Turkiewicz

49,100 65,900

28,300 20,800

6,000 71,900

3,780 WND

METRO Group M1 Mall - METRO Properties: 22 500-0041; Retail Park: Apollo Rida Poland: Joseph Karp, Maciej Tertelis, 22 528-2222

Real; Praktiker; Media Markt

1999

Apollo Rida Poland: jkarp@apollorida.com.pl, mtertelis@apollorida.com.pl, 22 528-2222 METRO Properties: 32 373-7551, 22 500-0000

WND

Galeria Jurajska Al. Wojska Polskiego 207, 42-202, Cz´stochowa 29 34 399-1030/34 399-1216 galeriajurajska@gtc.com.pl www.galeriajurajska.pl

49,000 102,000

3,375 45,625

NA 102,000

2,000 WND

Globe Trade Centre JLL

LPP group; Inditex group

2009

Globe Trade Centre GTC: Anna Malcharek, amalcharek@gtc.com.pl

Piotr Myszka

M1 Centrum Handlowe Kraków Al. Pokoju 67, 31-580, Kraków 12 299-2753/12 299-2759 m1krakow@metro-mam.pl, www.metro-mam.pl

48,700 63,078

28,500 20,200

NA 63,078

1,358 -

METRO Properties Mall - METRO Group Asset Management: 22 500-0041

Real; Praktiker; Media Markt

2001

Apollo Rida Poland: jkarp@apollorida.com.pl, mtertelis@apollorida.com.pl, 22 528-2222 METRO Properties: 22 500-0000, 12 299-2752

WND

48,700 75000

2,700 46,000

NA 75,000

1,400 -

Echo Investment Jones Lang LaSalle

Inditex; H&M; C&A; Saturn; Empik; LPP; Intersport; Multikino

2007

Echo Investment Echo Investment Property Management: 41 333-3333

Maciej Sanetra

Centrum Handlowe Atrium Reduta Al. Jerozolimskie 148, 02-326, Warsaw 31 22 823-9400/22 823-9030 reduta@aere.com, www.atrium-reduta.pl

45,211 WND

18,130 22,448

NA WND

1640 1,498

WND Atrium Poland Real Estate Mangement, Magdalena Ma∏ycha, mmalycha@aere.com, 22 458-2064

Peek & Cloppenburg: 3,155; H&M: 1,850; KappAhl: 1,133; Reserved: 1,118; Cubus: 421; Rossmann: 382; Sephora: 301; Home&You: 218

1999

Atrium Reduta Property Atrium Poland Real Estate Management

Izabela Stankiewicz

Galeria ¸ódzka 90-307, ¸ódê Al. Pi∏sudskiego 15/23 42 639-1500/42 639-1520 info@galeria.lodzka.pl, www.galeria-lodzka.pl

45,000 110,000

WND 45,000

WND WND

WND WND

ECE ECE: Justyna Kulanty, Justyna.kulanty@ece.com

Media Markt, H&M, Peek&Cloppenburg, KappAhl, Zara, New Look, Reserved, Tesco

2002

Galeria ¸ódzka ¸ódê Shopinvest KG ECE Projektmanagement Polska

Beata Stefaƒska

44,075 53,153

32,083 11,991

1,500 54,658

2,645 -

METRO Group Mall - METRO Properties: 22 500-0041

Real, Praktiker, Media Markt

1999

Apollo Rida Poland: jkarp@apollorida.com.pl; mtertelis@apollorida.com.pl; 22 528-2222 METRO Properties: 22 500-0000; 12 299-2752

Ma∏gorzata Kaliƒska

43,600 62,000

2,890 40,730

NA 62,000

1,000 -

Parkridge Retail Development Alfa Asset Management, Aleksandra Kuczyƒska, akuczynska@alfa-am.pl, 22 635-4500

Alma, Saturn, Empik, Zara, H&M, New Look, Cinema City, Bershka

2008

Aviva Investors Alfa Asset Management, info@alfa-am.pl, 22 635-4500

Katarzyna Puszka- Walenciak

43,000 98,340

6,000 36,000

NA 98,340

1,000 1,000

Braaten & Pedersen Avestus Real Estate

Carrefour: 6,046; Cinema City: 3,927; H&M: 1,798; EURO: 1,504; New Yorker: 1,497; Pure & Health: 1,305; Royal Collection: 982; Reserved/Re-Kids: 812

2007

DEKA Investment Avestus Real Estate

Agnieszka Mielcarz

43,000 110,000

WND 43,000

WND WND

1,000 WND

2011

ECE European Prime Shopping Centre ECE Projektmanagement Polska

Monika Pyszkowska

Gemini Park Tarnów ul. Nowodàbrowska 127, 33-100, Tarnów 36 14 639-5010/14 639-5011 biuro.tarnow@geminipark.pl www.geminipark.pl

42,500 77,000

22,500 20,000

NA 77,000

1,100 1,000

Gemini Holdings GREM: Stanis∏aw Zakrzewski, stanislaw.zakrzewski@geminipark.pl; BOIG: Ewa Sciubidlo, e.sciubidlo@boig.pl; Cushman & Wakefield - Magdalena Gniazdowska, magdalena.gniazdowska@eur.cushwake.com

Tesco:10,900; Castorama:7800; Media Markt: 4,700; Stradivarius: 300; KappAhl: 750; C&A: 2,000; Empik: 570; Smyk: 500

2010

Gemini Jasna Park GREM: Krzysztof Gawe∏, 661-913-193

Krzysztof Bràczek

M1 Centrum Handlowe Poznaƒ ul. Szwajcarska 14, 61-285, Poznaƒ 37 61 874-5772/61 874-5781 m1poznan@metro-mam.pl www.metro-mam.pl

41,325 50,796

28,010 13,315

27,000 68,255

3,336 -

METRO Group M1 Mall - METRO Properties: 22 5000041; Retail Park: Apollo Rida Poland: Joseph Karp, Maciej Tertelis, 22 528-2222

Real; Praktiker; Media Markt

1998

Apollo Rida Poland: jkarp@apollorida.com.pl, mtertelis@apollorida.com.pl, 22 528-2222 METRO Properties: 22 500-0000

Krzysztof Wiburski

40,700 110,000

17,100 40,700

NA 110,000

3,000 -

Bouygues Polska Cushman&Wakefield, Szymon Lukasik, 22 820-2020

Empik, Multikino, Super-Pharm, Rossmann, C&A, Reserved, Mohito, Diverse

2002

Wola Park AEW Europe, 22 531-4650

Magdalena Tadych

Zakopianka ul. Zakopiaƒska 62, 30-418, Kraków 24 12 293-3100/12 293-3101 biuro.zakopianka@dtz.com www.parkhandlowy-zakopianka.pl M1 Centrum Handlowe Czeladê ul. B´dziƒska 80, 41-250, Czeladê 25 32 296-2552/32 296-2559 m1czeladz@metro-mam.pl www.metro-mam.pl

26

M1 Centrum Handlowe Zabrze ul. Plutonowego Ryszarda Szkubacza 1, 28 41-800, Zabrze

32 373-7551/32 373-7559 m1zabrze@metro-mam.pl, www.metro-mam.pl

30

Pasa˝ Grunwaldzki Pl. Grunwaldzki 22, 50-323, Wroc∏aw 30 41 335-8777/41 335-8778

pasazgrunwaldzki@est-on.pl www.pasazgrunwaldzki.pl

32

M1 Centrum Handlowe Marki Al. J.Pi∏sudskiego 1, 05-270, Marki 33 22 761-5514/22 771-2154 m1marki@metro-mam.pl www.metro-mam.pl Focus Mall Bygdoszcz ul. Jagielloƒska 39-47, 85-097, Bydgoszcz 34 52 554-3500 info@focusmall-bydgoszcz.pl www.focusmall-bydgoszcz.pl Centrum Handlowe Forum ul. Lipowa 1, 44-100, Gliwice 35 32 335-7300/32 335-7301 forum@avestusrealestate.com www.forumgliwice.pl Galeria Kaskada 35 Al. Niepodleg∏oÊci 36, 70-404, Szczecin

www.galeria-kaskada.pl

38

Wola Park ul. Górczewska 124, 01-460, Warsaw 22 533-4000/22 533-4004 www.wolapark.pl

Notes: Notes: NA = Not Applicable, WND = Would Not Disclose. Research for The List was conducted in October 2012. All information pertains to the companies activities in Poland.

Companies not responding to our survey are not listed. Footnotes: (1) Under construction The entire list can be found at: www.bookoflists.pl

ECE ECE: Katarzyna S∏odyczka, Alma; Saturn; Van Graaf; C&A; Zara; Katarzyna.slodyczka@ece.com; Szymon Reserved; New Yorker; Intersport Skwierczynski;: Szymon.skwierczynski@ece.com

To the best of WBJ ’s knowledge, the information is accurate as of press time. While every effort is made to ensure accuracy and thoroughness, omissions and typographical errors may occur. Corrections or additions to The List should be sent, on official letterhead, to Warsaw Business Journal, attn. Monika Brysiak, ul. Elblàska 15/17, 01-747 Warsaw, via fax to (+48) 22 639-8569, or via e-mail to wbjbol@wbj.pl. Copyright 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.

24

MARKETS

www.wbj.pl

NOVEMBER 12-18, 2012

Stocks report

world stock indices DJIA

NASDAQ

12,811.32 (Nov 8 close)

S&P500

2,895.58 (Nov 8 close)

-3.18% (for the week)

FTSE100

1,377.51 (Nov 8 close)

-4.12% (for the week)

DAX

5,776 (Nov 8 close)

-3.51% (for the week)

-1.47% (for the week)

Markets see little change

NIKKEI225 7,204.96 (Nov 8 close)

8,837.15 (Nov 8 close)

-1.78% (for the week)

-1.23% (for the week)

CHANGE: 3.34%

CHANGE: 9.32%

CHANGE: 7.87%

CHANGE: 1.33%

CHANGE: 18.59%

CHANGE: 3.24%

(year to Nov 8)

(year to Nov 8)

(year to Nov 8)

(year to Nov 8)

(year to Nov 8)

(year to Nov 8)

52-week high: 13,661.90

52-week high: 3,196.93

52-week high: 1,474.51

52-week high: 5,989.10

52-week high: 7,478.53

52-week high: 10,255.20

52-week low: 11,231.40

52-week low: 2,441.48

52-week low: 1,158.66

52-week low: 5,075.20

52-week low: 5,366.50

52-week low: 8,135.79

Andrew Nawrocki WBJ market analyst Last week was another uneventful period for stocks, despite the United States reelecting President Barack Obama for another fouryear term. The start of the week was unsurprisingly slow, as few investors felt comfortable placing bets before Tuesday’s election.

On Monday, Warsaw’s main indices barely budged.

Stocks saw very mild losses, led lower by anti-austerity protests in Greece. Both the overall WIG and blue-chip WIG20 shed less than 0.1 percent on very light trading.

Tuesday was little different.

With election day taking place across the Atlantic, markets remained close to Monday’s close, with the WIG and WIG20, once again, barely moving 0.1 percent in either direction. The big mover of the day was unquestionably PGNiG, after the company managed

Major indices WIG

43,429.42 (November 8 close)

WIG20

2,338.06 (November 8 close)

08.11

07.11

06.11

05.11

02.11

31.10

30.10

29.10

26.10

25.10

24.10

23.10

22.10

08.11

07.11

06.11

05.11

02.11

31.10

30.10

29.10

26.10

2,300

25.10

43,000

24.10

2,340

23.10

43,400

22.10

2,380

19.10

43,800

18.10

2,420

17.10

44,200

16.10

2,460

15.10

44,600

12.10

2,500

11.10

45,000

19.10

52-week low: 2,035.80

18.10

Change year to November 8: 6.56%

17.10

52-week low: 36,653.28

16.10

52-week high: 2,417.32

Change year to November 8: 13.34%

15.10

Change for the week: 0.88%

12.10

52-week high: 44,550.12

11.10

Change for the week: 0.46%

Top 5 POINTGROUP PROCHNIK WISTIL HYGIENKA EDINVEST

Closing 0.33 0.29 13.85 1.41 4.02

% change (week) 52-week high 83.33 0.77 45.00 0.38 25.91 33.02 22.61 1.47 21.82 5.95

52-week low 0.09 0.16 5.33 0.76 2.32

Top 5 PGNIG PZU SYNTHOS KGHM PGE

Closing 4.28 388.00 5.50 165.50 17.64

% change (week) 8.35 4.02 3.77 2.92 1.97

52-week high 4.56 389.70 6.78 174.20 21.78

52-week low 3.61 290.10 3.78 102.40 16.72

Bottom 5 HBPOLSKA CELTIC GANT REGNON IQP

Closing 0.02 4.90 2.68 0.04 1.24

% change (week) -33.33 -30.89 -21.18 -20.00 -17.88

52-week low 0.01 4.40 2.59 0.04 0.66

Bottom 5 GTC TAURONPE PKNORLEN KERNEL BHW

Closing 7.78 4.20 41.75 64.35 90.00

% change (week) -5.35 -4.76 -4.68 -3.67 -3.17

52-week high 11.47 5.61 46.30 76.00 96.90

52-week low 5.13 4.10 31.44 51.00 64.00

52-week high 1.47 19.38 9.98 0.30 2.39

Currency report

Other indices sWIG80 Change for the week: -1.35%

Change year to November 8: 9.69%

52-week low: 2,076.52

Change year to November 8: 12.57%

NewConnect

34.07 (November 8 close)

52-week high: 10,536.29 52-week low: 8,218.71

WIG-Banki

08.11

07.11

06.11

05.11

02.11

31.10

30.10

29.10

26.10

23.10

22.10

19.10

18.10

17.10

16.10

15.10

12.10

Adam Narczewski X-Trade Brokers DM SA

11.10

08.11

07.11

06.11

05.11

02.11

31.10

30.10

29.10

26.10

9,600

25.10

2,300

24.10

9,700

23.10

2,340

22.10

9,800

19.10

2,380

18.10

9,900

17.10

2,420

16.10

10,000

15.10

2,460

12.10

10,100

11.10

2,500

6,226.25 (November 8 close)

SOURCE: WSE

08.11

07.11

06.11

05.11

02.11

31.10

30.10

29.10

26.10

25.10

24.10

23.10

22.10

08.11

07.11

06.11

05.11

02.11

31.10

30.10

29.10

26.10

25.10

6,100

24.10

34.0

23.10

6,180

22.10

34.4

19.10

6,260

18.10

34.8

17.10

6,340

16.10

35.2

15.10

6,420

12.10

35.6

11.10

6,500

19.10

52-week low: 5,163.30

18.10

Change year to November 8: 12.32%

17.10

52-week low: 33.85

16.10

52-week high: 6,495.06

Change year to November 8: -17.88%

15.10

Change for the week: -0.41%

12.10

52-week high: 43.83

11.10

Change for the week: -3.32%

36.0

Z∏oty down

9,685.57 (November 8 close)

52-week high: 2,561.94

25.10

2,402.47 (November 8 close)

24.10

mWIG40 Change for the week: -0.22%

to negotiate a better-thanexpected gas deal with Russian Gazprom.

On Wednesday, a day after the election, all eyes turned to the looming US “fiscal cliff” debate, with many fearing a growing fiscal deficit under Barack Obama.

Not helping was poor retail sales figures in the euro zone for September, pushing European shares lower.

Ultimately the WIG and WIG20 closed about three quarters of a percent lower.

On Thursday, the WIG and WIG20 largely mirrored Western European indices, falling slightly throughout the day. The last hour saw Polish stocks jump, with the WIG20 closing half a percent up.

On Friday the WIG fell 0.56 percent while the WIG20 shed 0.60 percent, as concerns about the eurozone weighed on stocks. ●

The US presidential election is over and, as expected, markets became more volatile. Barack Obama’s victory practically guarantees the continuation of the current monetary and fiscal policy being carried out by the US. Moreover, traders have not forgotten that the president has to deal with the impending problem of the “fiscal cliff.”

That is why market reaction was abrupt. After a first, positive, reaction, indices and the EUR/USD tumbled. The main currency pair, which has been heading southwards since mid-October, first rebounded to levels above $1.28 but when Mr Obama’s victory was announced, the dollar appreciated and kept doing so, finishing the week just below $1.27. The outlook

for the EUR/USD is negative for the weeks to come unless the euro gets a boost.

As the EUR/USD collapsed, the z∏oty stood no chance. As everybody expected, Poland’s Monetary Policy Council (RPP) lowered interest rates by 25 basis points, probably beginning a cycle of cuts. It is possible that the RPP will cut rates by another 100 bp before the end of Q1 2013.

Taking into account the falling EUR/USD, even increased demand for Polish Treasury bonds did not aid the z∏oty. The EUR/PLN finally broke through the resistance level of z∏.4.12 and reached a weekly high of z∏.4.17. The USD/PLN’s move was even more dynamic – an increase from z∏.3.20 all the way to z∏.3.27. ●

currency rates 4.0155

4.0155

3.9853

4.0852

4.1061

05.11

06.11

07.11

08.11

09.11

3

3.9720

4

02.11

0.1033 09.11

0.1036 08.11

0.1023

0.1023 07.11

06.11

0.1017 05.11

02.11

0.1020

3.4496

3.4418 09.11

0.10

PLN-100JPY

5

SOURCE: NBP

PLN-RUB

0.12

08.11

3.4058 07.11

3.4135 06.11

05.11

3.4240 02.11

5.2076

5.2058 09.11

3.0

3.4158

PLN-CHF

3.5

08.11

5.1274 07.11

5.1478 06.11

5.1462 05.11

5.1341 5

02.11

3.2588 09.11

3.2655 08.11

07.11

06.11

3.2211 05.11

02.11

3.0

PLN-GBP

6

3.2031

3.1851

4.1527 09.11

4.1593

3.2223

PLN-USD

3.5

08.11

4.1122 07.11

4.1211 06.11

05.11

4.1169 02.11

4

4.1213

PLN-EUR

5

SPORTS

NOVEMBER 12-18, 2012

Tennis

www.wbj.pl

25

Soccer

Janowicz becomes Borussia earn valuable Poland’s latest sports star point at Bernabéu The 21-year-old beat Andy Murray on his way to the final of the Paris Masters

Jerzy Janowicz has seen his popularity soar in Poland too far for Mr Janowicz after he overcame the Pole in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3. But after seeing his ranking go to a career high of 26, it looks like the Polish youngster has a bright future ahead of him.

“This has been a great week for me. I can’t believe I was in the final of one of the

best tournaments in the world,” he said following his loss to Mr Ferrer.

“He was too good for me, but I hope to be in a final again … Right now I am still dreaming. I will need a few days to wake up and realize what is going on,” he added.

David Ingham

Bundesliga champions Borussia Dortmund came within a whisker of defeating Real Madrid at the Bernabéu last week after leading 2-1 in the closing stages of their most recent Champions League tie.

But an 89th-minute goal from Real Madrid’s German midfielder Mesit Ozil meant Dortmund had to settle for a draw in a pulsating encounter in the Spanish capital.

Borussia took the lead in the 28th minute when Poland’s Robert Lewandowski headed the ball in to the path of Marco Reus, who fired a shot in to the top corner, past the despairing dive of Madrid keeper Iker Casillas.

Madrid equalized six minutes later through a Pepe header, but then on the stroke of half-time Mr Lewandowski once again nodded the ball on, this time to Kevin Grosskreutz who lifted it over the advancing Casillas before Álvaro

COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

COURTESY OF JERZY-JANOWICZ.COM

Polish tennis player Jerzy Janowicz went from relative obscurity to the final of one of the tennis world’s top tournaments at the start of November.

The 21-year-old from ¸ódê was a qualifier for the tournament after needing to win two matches just to make it to the first round. He then brushed aside world number 19, Philipp Kohlschreiber, and world number 14, Marin Cilic, in straight sets to set up a meeting with current US Open champion Andy Murray. Mr Janowicz shocked the tennis world with a two-sets-to-one victory over the world number 3, to ensure a massive popularity boost back in Poland.

But the Pole wasn’t finished there, as he then went on to rack up two more wins against world number 9 Janko Tipsarevic, and world number 20 Gilles Simon, to book his place in the final.

Spain’s David Ferrer proved to be one opponent

Polish striker Robert Lewandowski was involved in both his side’s goals in a 2-2 draw

Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho said good teams “kill you” when you make mistakes Arbeloa bundled the ball in to his own net.

Speaking after the match Real’s Portuguese manager Jose Mourinho said, “We committed two bad defensive errors. … When you play

against good teams and you make mistakes, they kill you.”

The result leaves Borussia at the top of Group D, one point ahead of Madrid on 8 points from four games.

David Ingham

26

LIFESTYLE

www.wbj.pl

NOVEMBER 12-18, 2012

Concert

Exhibition

Seal of approval

History of art

Seal

Seal November 21 Sala Kongresowa Pl. Defilad 1 Warsaw British soul man Seal has been in the limelight for over 20 years now since his first single “Killer,” a collaboration with Adamski, reached number one in the UK singles charts back in 1990.

The record was featured on his self-titled debut release which went platinum in both the UK and US. His second release, “Seal II,” spawned the worldwide hit “Kiss from a Rose” and increased the singer’s fame to astronomical levels.

Since then his record sales have been on the wane, but due to a high-profile marriage

and then divorce from model Heidi Klum, as well as the enduring popularity of his earlier work, Seal remains a major draw in the live arena.

Now on his eighth studio album “Soul 2” Seal has a major back catalog of work to choose from, which should ensure a varied and entertaining show for his fans in Poland.

David Ingham

A new exhibition housed at both the National Museum and the Royal Castle will provide an opportunity to gain insight on one of the most important periods in medieval Polish history.

The exhibition’s time frame is defined by two major events, the coronation of King W∏adys∏aw II Jagie∏∏o in 1386 and the death of Sigmund II Augustus almost 200 years later in 1572. King Jagie∏∏o was originally the Grand Duke of Lithuania before he married Jadwiga, the second of Poland’s Angevin rulers, and thereby became King of Poland. By the late 15th century the Jagiellonian dynasty ruled Poland, Lithuania and the kingdoms of Bohemia and Hungary.

The work on show aims to highlight various aspects of this important period of Central and Eastern European history, particularly its role in the development of cultural

COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

1386-1572 Arts and Culture in Central Europe under the Jagiellonian Dynasty November 10 - January 27 National Museum Al. Jerozolimskie 3 Warsaw

Queen Jadwiga of Poland. Portrait by Marcello Bacciarelli diversity and common traditions, through the paintings, sculptures, graphic art and coins of the time.

The exhibition is just one of

a number of displays brought together to celebrate this year’s 150th anniversary of the National Museum.

David Ingham

LAST WORD

NOVEMBER 12-18, 2012

www.wbj.pl

27

Tech Eye

Microsoft’s bid to rule the (mobile) world

COURTESY OF HTC

On the downside, the Lumia 920’s battery is non-removable, á la iPhone, and it only supports single-band WiFi. It’s not cheap either: The Lumia 920 €649, off-contract.

Another major Windows Phone 8 device to debut recently is HTC’s under-imaginatively named Windows Phone 8X. You can think of this as a skinnier (130g) step-sibling of the Lumia 920. The two have more in common The Windows Phone 8X than their OS: both employ the same procesis a total porker. It weighs a Rube- era that’s one of the best in-phone sor and a non-removable battery (slightnesque 185g versus the iPhone 5’s cameras on the market ... as long as ly smaller here than in the Lumia).

The Windows Phone 8X is less dainty 112g, and it’s noticeably wider you’re taking pictures at night. The and thicker as well. Expect to see the Lumia 920’s camera shines at low- girthy, has a 4.3-inch display with 1,280 Lumia 920 in assault reports in the light photography, you see, but in day- x 720 resolution (341 ppi) and a decent light the photos are oddly lackluster.

8MP camera. It is dual-WiFi-capable, future, listed under “weapon.”

Even so, the phone has other plus- unlike the Lumia 920, but only has half Why has Nokia embraced “chunky” as a design philosophy? es, like a snappy 4.5-inch HD+ dis- the internal storage (16GB). And at We’re guessing it’s mainly due to the play with 1,280 x 768 resolution (331 €549 (off-contract) it’s cheaper.

Lumia 920’s wireless-charging capa- pixels per inch). There’s also a It’s too soon to say if these (and bility. This is a nice feature, although 1.5GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4 other) devices will help Microsoft processor onboard, offering a gain an imperial share of the mobile it’s slower than cable charging.

Nokia’s Windows 8 phone also respectable amount of raw power, as market. But they represent a good features an 8.7MP “PureView” cam- well as 32 GB of storage. opening gambit. ● COURTESY OF NOKIA

its practically immobile stock (see table).

But let’s get back to Windows Phone 8.

The mobile OS is worthy competition for Android and iOS, boasting fast performance, attractive features and intuitive home/lock screens.

That said, there are still some rough edges and a crippling paucity of apps.

It’s also worth noting that Windows Phone 8 remains largely untested. Like Android (and unlike iOS), it will run on varied hardware from multiple manufacturers, so performance may differ significantly from device to device. And right now Investors' darlings. And Microsoft. there aren’t enough devices to judge it by.

Share prices at close of trade A couple of high-proAug. 19, 2004* Nov. 5, 2012 file handsets have just Apple $15.35 $580.58 entered the market, though, including the Google $100.33 $679.55 Lumia 920 from Nokia.

Microsoft $27.12 $29.42 The first thing you need *Google's IPO date Source: NASDAQ to know is that this phone

So, Windows 8.

It’s out. There are “charms” (Microsoft-speak for “command menu icons”). Some early adopters are enthusiastic. And, as the first Windows OS designed for touchscreens, it’s mildly awkward to navigate with a mouse. That’s about all Techeye is going to say about it for now.

We’re more interested in Windows Phone 8. Microsoft’s second-gen smartphone OS has been spotted in the wild and, unsurprisingly, it doesn’t have any mouse-awkwardness problems.

That’s good news for Microsoft.

Once constituting its very own evil empire, over the past decade the firm has become more of a vaguely menacing empire. Until today it has been almost irrelevant in the fast-growing market for mobile devices and investors have been unimpressed by

Ever experienced a moment of mouse awkwardness? Let us know: techeye.wbj@gmail.com

Museums, galleries and venues in Warsaw Centre for Contemporary Art at Ujazdowski Castle ul. Jazdów 2 www.csw.art.pl Czarna Gallery ul. Marsza∏kowska 4 www.czarnagaleria.art.pl

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

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

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

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

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

Simonis Gallery ul. Burakowska 9 www.simonisgallery.com State Archaeological Museum in Warsaw ul. D∏uga 52 www.pma.pl State Ethnographic Museum ul. Kredytowa 1 www.ethnomuseum.we bsite.pl Historical Museum of Warsaw Old Town Square 28-42 www.mhw.pl History Meeting House of Warsaw ul. Karowa 20 www.dsh.waw.pl Warsaw Philharmonic ul. Jasna 5 www.filharmonia.pl Warsaw Rising Museum ul. Grzybowska 79 www.1944.pl

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

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

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

Benjamin Krasicki, President of City Security S.A.