WBJ #14 2012

Exploration for shale gas in Poland is intensifying

Poland plans to ban a Monsanto maize crop

Is Belvedere going to sell Sobieski Vodka?

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WWW.WBJ.PL

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VOLUME 18, NUMBER 14 • APRIL 9-15, 2012 . z∏.12.50 (VAT 8% included) . ISSN 1233 7889 INDEX-RUCH-332-127

REAL ESTATE

Going Nuclear

COURTESY OF JEMS ARCHITEKCI

Lokale Immobilia

Poland is moving ahead with plans to build its first nuclear power plant, but opposition is strong

• Port Praski scheme • Pasa˝ Grunwaldzki expansion • Prologis sells warehouses 15-17

10, 12-13

COURTESY OF DAVID-TENNANT.ORG

‘The Spies of Warsaw’

Since 1994 . Poland’s only business weekly in English

The BBC and TVP will produce a pre-World War II drama set in Warsaw 4

Interview: Marek Rocki The PO senator discusses controversial legislation 8-9

In this issue

SHUTTERSTOCK

News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2-4 Business . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5-6 Finance & Economics . . . . . . . . . . .7 Interview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8-9 Opinion & Analysis . . . . . . . . .10-11 Cover Story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12-13 Lokale Immobilia . . . . . . . . . . .15-17 The List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18-19 Markets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21 Lifestyle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22 Last Word . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23

Jumping ship

FedEx goes Polish

Janusz Palikot says a number of Civic Platform MPs will defect to his party following Euro 2012 3, 11

The American courier company is set to take over Polish firm Opek for an estimated z∏.100 million 5

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NEWS

www.wbj.pl

APRIL 9-15, 2012

Egg prices soar

IN THE SPOTLIGHT

Numbers in the News

The price of eggs rose sharply across Central and Eastern Europe last week, as demand spiked ahead of the Easter holiday and stricter European Union rules for chicken farmers took effect. EU rules forcing farmers to provide bigger cages for laying hens has led to a drop in the supply of eggs. The average price of eggs in midMarch more than doubled compared to the same period of last year in Bulgaria, the Czech Republic and Poland.

Smolensk crash anniversary

€68-80 billion

PGNiG demands lower gas prices Polish gas monopolist PGNiG has asked German gas supplier Verbundnetz Gas (VNG) to lower gas prices and gas-transit fees, Rzeczpospolita reported.

The demand concerns the import of 0.4 billion cubic meters of gas per year. “I don’t see any reason why we should pay more for gas imported from our western border, than the market costs in Europe,” PGNiG chief executive Gra˝yna PiotrowskaOliwa told the daily. ●

is the average gross monthly salary in Poland, according to data from Eurostat.

13.3% was the unemployment rate in March, initial estimates from the Ministry of Labor found. It was 0.2 percentage points less than in the previous month.

Quote of the Week “The decision [regarding the plane wreck] depends on one person. Vladimir Putin”

Figures in focus Room to fill Net occupancy rates of bed places in hotels and similar establishments in the summer season 2011, selected EU27 countries 100 80

*Highest in EU27 **Lowest in EU27

60 40 20

vak ia Ro ma nia **

Slo

ny Po lan d

27 EU

rm a Ge

UK

ce Fra n

ain

0 Sp

Palace where he will address an expected crowd of several thousand people.

Mr Kaczyƒski is expected to demand that the Russian authorities return the wreckage of the TU-154 plane which crashed fatally near the Russian city of Smolensk.

Meanwhile, the ultra-conservative newspaper Gazeta Polska is organizing a protest march to the Russian Embassy on April 9. “We want to, without pulling our punches, tell the Russians and their lackeys that we do not agree to the Putinization of our country – the Smolensk lie and the limiting of freedom in the media and internet,” the newspaper’s appeal reads.

ece

ister [Rados∏aw Sikorski] know just a few minutes after 9 AM that everybody had died?” the PiS leader asked recently. He also said that there was a “propaganda campaign” surrounding the crash, which had been “planned earlier.”

Mr Kaczyƒski refused President Bronis∏aw Komorowski’s invitation to attend a special mass on April 10 in memory of the crash victims.

Adam Hofman, spokesperson for PiS, told journalists that Mr Kaczyƒski had “already planned that day much earlier.”

The PiS leader is scheduled to attend a separate mass on April 10, before leading a procession to the Presidential

s*

Tuesday of this week marks the second anniversary of the April 10, 2010 Smolensk TU154 airplane crash in which President Lech Kaczyƒski, his wife and 94 other people, among them top Polish military commanders and dignitaries, perished.

The catastrophe, which initially united Poles in mourning, has since become one of the most divisive elements in Polish politics and society in general. Jaros∏aw Kaczyƒski, the twin brother of the late president and leader of the Law and Justice (PiS) party, has suggested that his brother was assassinated and that the Polish government was involved in a cover-up.

“How did the foreign min-

Justice Minister Jaros∏aw Gowin, speaking on radio RMF FM about his scheduled trip to Moscow in May. Mr Gowin plans to repeat Polish requests that the wreckage of the TU-154 plane which crashed in Smolensk in April 2010, killing then-President Lech Kaczyƒski and 95 others, be returned to Poland.

Gre

The collections of the Museum of Art in ¸ódê and the Wilanów Palace Museum can now be viewed by people worldwide as part of the Google Art Project, reported Gazeta Wyborcza. Unveiled last week, the Google Art Project is an initiative set to feature the art collections of 151 partnering museums and galleries from 40 countries.

€800

Cy pru

Google Art Project in Poland

is the percentage of working Poles who believe that if they lost their job they would find a similar one within six months, according to a study by Randstad.

COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA COMMONS / SERGE SEREBRO

The appearance of Marta Kaczyƒska, the daughter of late President Lech Kaczyƒski, at a recent European Parliament hearing on the Smolensk airplane tragedy, has once again given rise to speculation that she may enter Polish politics, reported Polska The Times. If she does, Law and Justice would likely be the party she would choose, since her father helped found it.

70%

Remi Adekoya Source:Eurostat

On WBJ.pl

Company index 3Legs Resources ........5 Futureal......................16 Peter Nielsen &

How to get funding for an e-business startup WBJ.pl sits down with Szymon Gawryszczak, CEO of the NewConnect-listed Agency of Innovation and Development (ARI), to talk about the options available for financing online business startups.

Log on to wbj.pl to read more.

SHUTTERSTOCK

Marta Kaczyƒska to enter politics?

is how much Poland can expect from the EU’s budget for the period 2014-2020, according to Regional Development Minister El˝bieta Bieƒkowska.

Advent International ....5 Gaz-System................12 Partners ......................6 GE Hitachi ..................12 APA Kury∏owicz Petrolinvest ..................4 & Associates ..............16 General Electric ........12 APA Wojciechowski....15 Ghelamco ..................17 PGE ............................12 Areva ..........................12 Globe Trade Centre....17 PGE Energia Jàdrowa12 ARTE France ................4 Google ..........................2 PGNiG ......................2, 5 Hale Banacha ............17 Bank Gospodarstwa PKN Orlen ....................5 Krajowego ..................16 Hines Global REIT Port Praski ................15 Bank Zahodni WBK......7 Poland Logistics BBC ..............................4 Holdings I LCC ..........17 Prologis ................15, 17

DATELINE

April 17

REAL GREEN SYMPOSIUM & FAIR

Event:

Web:

Expert presentations, debate, discussion groups, workshops, exhibition and luncheon examining the business case for green building in emerging Europe.

Warsaw Marriott Hotel ceeqa.com/realgreen

17

9TH CEEQA GALA

Event:

The annual CEEQA Gala is firmly established in the sector calendar as the black-tie gathering of the year for real estate business leaders, and one of Europe’s premium real estate events.

Warsaw Marriott Hotel

Location:

Location:

Web:

ceeqa.com

BBI Development NFI17 Hines Poland..............17 PwC ............................17 Belvedere Group ..........6 Hitachi ........................12 Rank Progress ..........16 Blacklion NFI ............15 HSBC ............................7 Bridgepoint ..................5 Innova Capital ..............5 Saturn ........................16 Brown-Forman ............6 JEMS Architekci ........15 Sobieski Group ............6 Caleum Development 16 Jones Lang

23-25 INTERNATIONAL HR CONGRES & EXPO Event:

The 15th edition of Poland’s HR Congress is under the motto “HR – What’s the game we play?”. The event will explore the strategic role of HR within organizations. Invited guests will present the most interesting examples of the implementation of HR projects, as well as share knowledge from their years of experience in the sector.

Location:

Warsaw

Web:

kongreskadry.pl

Chevron ........................5 LaSalle ................16, 17 Coface Poland..............6 JW Construction ........15

Tauron ....................5, 12 Tieto Poland ..............17

ConocoPhillips ............5 KBC Securities ............5 Toshiba ......................12 Crowley Point Data ......5 KGHM ..........................5 TVP ........................4, 15 Deutsche Bank ..........13 Lane Energy Poland ....5 Verbundnetz Gas..........2 Dom-Bud....................21 Marathon Oil ................5 VeriFone ....................17 McDaniel & Associates Echo Investment......15, 16, 17 Consultants..................4 Warbud ......................16 EDF ............................12 Mercury Engineering 16 Warsaw Stock Eko-Park ....................16 Multikino ....................16 Exchange................3, 16 Eni ................................5 Naftoport ....................12 Westinghouse ............12 Euler Hermes ..............6 Netia ......................5, 17 ExxonMobil ..................5 Nordea Bank Poland ..7 W´glokoks ....................4 FedEx............................5 Opek ............................5 X-Trade Brokers ........20

NEWS

APRIL 9-15, 2012

www.wbj.pl

Vote for Euro 2012 song

Government

Pension deal, but Palikot tempts PO MPs

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk appears to have secured the support of Palikot’s Movement (RP), the thirdlargest party in parliament, for his plan to raise the retirement age to 67 years for men and women. He met with members of RP, including its leader Janusz Palikot, last week, and said after the meeting that the pension reform legislation would be ready in May “with the president’s signature.”

“Our parliamentary caucus is inclined towards supporting the pension reform in parliament or in the worst case abstaining from voting,” Mr Palikot said at a press conference after the meeting.

The Civic Platform (PO)-

COURTESY OF FACEBOOK/RUCH POPARCIA PALIKOTA

Janusz Palikot is willing to support the PM on pension reform, but he is also trying to lure coalition MPs to his own party

Janusz Palikot (right) says he is “trying to keep people from leaving PO” Polish Peoples’ Party (PSL) coalition has a narrow majority in parliament. With main opposition party Law and Justice (PiS) opposed to the pension reform, an abstaining vote from RP would be good news for Mr Tusk.

Defections

place in the second half of April. That would leave the coalition with just one vote above a majority.

This has led to speculation that due to PO’s falling poll numbers and the well-publicized frustrations of many of its

But Mr Palikot also announced last week that two MPs from the ruling PO would be crossing over to his party soon, saying he had a “preliminary agreement” with them. The RP leader said the “transfers” would take

Euro 2012

Fans will have the final say on Poland’s official team song for the Euro 2012 soccer championships, the Polish Football Association (PZPN) said last week. Entries for the competition will be accepted until April 13.

“The contest is open to stars of the Polish music scene and amateurs alike,” PZPN said in a statement. “The only condition is that they record a song with a soccer theme, which will inspire Poland’s team on the pitch and get the fans cheering louder still.”

MPs at being marginalized in their party, more transfers could be in the offing. This could lead to the coalition losing its parliamentary majority.

However, Mr Palikot seemed to backtrack later in the week, saying he wouldn’t accept more than two PO MPs until after the Euro 2012 soccer championships. Otherwise “we would have a crisis and possibly snap elections,” he said.

“I am actually trying to keep people from leaving PO to join us rather than wooing them,” said Mr Palikot.

A late March TNS OBOP voter survey confirmed a recent downward trend in popularity for the ruling party.

PO had 29 percent support, followed by PiS with 25 percent. RP was third with 12 percent. In comparison, PO was backed by 39 percent of Poles during last November’s parliamentary election, while RP got 10 percent of the vote.

WSE a European leader in IPOs In the first quarter of 2012, the Warsaw Stock Exchange saw 25 IPOs. This made the WSE first in Europe in terms of debuts, according to PwC’s latest “IPO Watch Europe” report.

Compared to the same period of last year, however, the WSE saw a significant decline in IPOs. This reflects the situation on all European exchanges, which saw 58 IPOs in Q1 2012, compared to 95 in Q1 2011.

Remi Adekoya

GMOs

Poland to ban Foreign hooligan database missing ahead of tournament Monsanto maize crop

The Polish police maintain they are prepared for hooligan problems at Euro 2012

Two months before the tournament, the absence of such a list has raised security concerns Poland does not have a database of foreign hooligans who have been banned from stadiums in their own countries, according to a new report on security during Euro 2012 by the country’s National Audit Chamber (NIK).

After a series of violent incidents last year, the government adopted a new law to deal with home-grown hooligans, allowing stadium bans and summary trials to deal with them during Euro 2012. But with the championship’s open-

ing game in Warsaw around two months away, the lack of an authoritative list of foreign hooligans has led to fears that Polish authorities are not fully prepared to cope with the potential security threat they pose.

“There’s no functioning list in Poland of individuals hit by stadium bans abroad, because the police have been too slow in setting it up,” Jacek Jezierski, the head of NIK said in a recorded statement on the institution’s website.

“To date, there haven’t been any agreements with foreign partners and there aren’t any legal norms for this,” he said at the launch of a report on security preparations ahead of Euro 2012. “This could hamper

police efforts to ensure security at Euro 2012, both inside the stadiums and out,” he added.

However, national police spokesperson, inspector Mariusz Sokolowski, said the report’s findings do not indicate that the Polish police force is unprepared.

“From the beginning, we’ve said that on this issue we’ll be sharing information with police forces from the countries whose teams are taking part,” Mr Sokolowski told the AFP. Meanwhile, Polish police, anti-terrorist forces and border guards have been conducting security exercises ahead of Euro 2012, such as border controls and mock rescue operations.

David Ingham

Poland plans to ban the cultivation of MON 810, a genetically modified maize crop made by US company Monsanto, Polish Agriculture Minister Marek Sawicki said last Wednesday.

The announcement came a day after environmental organizations protested in front of the Chancellery of the Prime Minister, demanding the ban.

“European law forbids any discrimination against genetically modified crops, but it allows for a national ban, provided the ban is justified,” Mr Sawicki told reporters.

Mr Sawicki’s justification for a total ban of MON 810 is that pollen from the crop could have a harmful effect on bees. It is insect-resistant and the only GMO crop that can be legally cultivated in the EU. Ecologists and environmental experts have said that Mr Sawicki’s proposal is based on legal grounds which could be

rejected by the European Commission, the Polish Press Agency (PAP) reported.

If Poland implements the ban it will follow in the footsteps of Austria, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary and Luxembourg, which have all banned the cultivation of MON 810 at different stages, saying it threatens biodiversity.

The EC said France’s ban was illegal and the country has since overturned it, but Mr Sawicki told journalists that the Polish justification has a greater chance of being accepted.

Polish law forbids the trading of GMO seeds, but the cultivation of the seeds themselves is not banned. Many Polish farmers therefore purchase the seeds in neighboring countries and cultivate them in Poland.

Ecologists estimate that at present there are over 3,000 fields in Poland where MON 810 is cultivated, PAP reported.

This poses a risk of contamination of natural crops, which could in turn threaten Polish ID food exports.

Poland 53rd in World Happiness Report The first-ever World Happiness Report, released in April by the United Nations, indicates that the happiest countries in the world are in northern Europe, with Denmark, Norway, Finland and the Netherlands, respectively, taking the top four spots.

Poland took a mediocre 53rd place in the happiness league.

Poles spend big at Easter

COURTESY OF THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION

SHUTTERSTOCK

Environmentalists fear the EC will reject the proposal

MON 810 is dangerous for bees, says Mr Sawicki

3

Easter, although far behind Christmas when it comes to consumer spending, is still an important period for businesses. This year's Easter expenditures were expected to reach approximately z∏.12 billion in Poland, which is around half the amount spent at Christmas, according to figures from the Polish Organization of Trade and Distribution, cited by Rzeczpospolita. ●

NEWS

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Petrolinvest Kazakh reserves valued at $2.23 billion McDaniel & Associates Consultants, an independent group of experts, has valued prospective oil and gas reserves at Petrolinvest’s Kazakh OTG concession at more than $2.33 billion. The Polish oil and gas exploration company will, however, still have to invest a considerable amount before the exploitation of the reserves becomes profitable, reported Parkiet.

W´glokoks IPO delayed?

The initial public offering of Polish state-owned coal trader W´glokoks may take place in early 2013, rather than late 2012, as was previously expected. This is because market conditions are more likely to be favorable then, Deputy Economy Minister Tomasz Tomczykiewicz told Dziennik Gazeta Prawna. ●

APRIL 9-15, 2012

Television

Remittances

BBC, TVP shoot spy drama Overseas Poles sending less money back home

Filming of “Spies of Warsaw” is set to begin in the capital in May British public television broadcaster the BBC, Poland’s public broadcasting corporation Telewizja Polska (TVP) and cultural network ARTE France have agreed to create a joint production project based in Warsaw.

Filming for the new production, a two-part drama entitled “Spies of Warsaw,” will start in the capital next month, executives from the two broadcasters announced at a press conference last week.

The plot is based on the eponymous 2008 book by US author Alan Furst. Set in Warsaw, Berlin and Paris in the years leading up to World War II, it tells the story of French and German secret agents operating in a Europe living under the threat of war.

“We have big ambitions for Spies of Warsaw and for making it the beginning of a run of adaptations of Alan Furst’s novels … With the story taking place in Poland, France and Germany the adaptation offers some really interesting casting opportunities,” Ben Donald, executive producer for International Drama at

This could be because more Polish citizens are settling permanently in foreign countries COURTESY OF DAVID-TENNANT.ORG

4

Scottish actor David Tennant will play Colonel JeanFrançois Mercier in the drama BBC Worldwide, said in a statement.

He added that the opportunity to work in Warsaw was an honor and a pleasure, and that the British production team had already fallen in love with the Polish capital.

The drama has been adapted by writers Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais, and will star Scottish actor David Tennant as Colonel Jean-Francois Mercier, an attache at the French Embassy in Warsaw.

Mr Tennant is best-known for

his role in the long-running BBC series “Doctor Who.” English film and TV actress Janet Montgomery, who appeared in 2010 thriller “Black Swan,” will co-star as Colonel Mercier’s love interest.

Spies of Warsaw, which will air on BBC 4 in the autumn, will be directed by English director Coky Giedroyc. She is the daughter of Michal Giedroyc, a historian of PolishLithuanian descent who emigrated to the UK in 1947.

David Ingham

Polish citizens living overseas are sending less money back to their home country each year, a development which experts say supports the idea that more of them are settling abroad for good.

In 2011, Poles living and working abroad sent around z∏.17 billion back to Poland, according to figures from the National Bank of Poland.

That’s z∏.0.5 billion less than in 2010, and z∏.3 billion lower than in 2007.

After buying homes, finding jobs and starting families in their adopted countries, the tendency to send money back to Poland is no longer as strong for many Poles, experts say.

Some experts suggest the reduction in money being sent back to Poland may also be the result of the return home of many Poles after short stints

living overseas.

“Some Poles returned home either because they lost their jobs, or because they never planned on settling abroad,” Janusz Czapiƒski, a professor of psychology at the University of Warsaw, told news station TVN24.

In general, the number of people seeking short-term employment abroad has dropped significantly in recent years. This is partly due to the economic crisis, since fewer people are now emigrating for short periods of time, because it is harder to find short-term but well-paid work.

“The crisis made wages in the West lower than they were in previous years,” Henryk Domaƒski, a sociologist at the Polish Academy of Sciences, told TVN24.

Since Poland’s entry into the EU in 2004, emigrants have sent back over z∏.132 billion.

According to Central Statistical Office data, 189,655 Poles moved out of the country permanently between 2004 and 2010.

Izabela Depczyk

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BUSINESS

APRIL 9-15, 2012

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5

Energy

Polish, foreign firms to step up shale gas investments The number of exploratory wells in Poland is expected to more than double in 2012 This year will see 49 new wells drilled around the country in the search for shale gas, according to the Polish Ministry of Environment. That’s more than double the 22 wells drilled in 2011. By 2017, the ministry estimates that the number of exploration wells may soar to 248.

So far, the Ministry of Environment says investments related to shale gas exploration in Poland amount to z∏.2 billion.

From the 49 wells envisioned in 2012, 38 will be drilled by foreign-owned companies, and 11 by state-owned firms.

A number of foreign oil giants hold exploration concessions for shale gas in Poland, including ExxonMobil, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Marathon Oil and Eni. “We have drilled one well (G6) in Horodysko on our Grabowiec concession. We just ended exploratory drilling, we have gathered the shale rock samples and we are testing them now. We recently started another exploratory well in Andrzejów on the Frampol 1 concession. We plan to drill at least three exploratory wells by the end of 2012,” said Gra˝yna Bukowska, policy, government and public affairs manager at Chevron Polska Energy Resources.

Kamlesh Parmar, country manager for Lane Energy

Lubelszczyzna shale gas concession, Mr Krawiec told Rzeczpospolita. The firm also plans to carry out hydraulic fracturing.

Ma∏gorzata Olczyk, a spokesperson for gas monopoly PGNiG, said the firm intends to focus on two licenses in the near future: Wejherowo in northern Poland, where work on the Lubocino-1 well is progressing, and Tomaszów Lubelski, where PGNiG drilled the Lubycza Królewska well in March.

Three large domestic companies – PGE, Tauron, and KGHM – also plan to start shale gas exploration in different capacities. In January 2012, they signed three separate letters of intent with PGNiG regarding cooperation in shale Alice Trudelle gas projects.

Poland, said that 3Legs Resources, Lane Energy’s parent company, will be drilling a further vertical test well this year and is considering options for two horizontal wells that were drilled in 2011.

Meanwhile, Polish statecontrolled companies, which the government has urged to invest and cooperate in the sector, are also planning to step up investments and exploration activities this year.

Polish refiner PKN Orlen’s president Jacek Krawiec said last week that his firm intends to spend “much more than the z∏.700 million [previously] announced for the next five years,” on shale gas exploration. This year alone, Orlen plans to drill six vertical wells and two horizontal wells at its

Drilling away Exploration concessions granted by the Polish Environment Ministry, April 1, 2012 Capital group

Number of concessions

PGNiG

15

Petrolinvest

14

Marathon Oil Company

11

3Legs Resources

9

San Leon Energy and Realm Energy International

9

Grupa Lotos

7

PKN Orlen

7

Basgas Pty

6

BNK Petroleum

6

ExxonMobil Corporation

6

Emfesz

5

Eni

3

Talisman Energy Polska

3

Chevron Corporation

4

Cuadrilla Resources

2

Dart Energy

1

Aurelian Oil and Gas

1

Mac Oil

1 Source: Environment Ministry

Telecommunications

FedEx acquires Opek Equity firms circle Netia

COURTESY OF FEDEX

Three parties are reportedly interested in buying the z∏.2.5 billion telecom company

FedEx has made significant European investments in recent years Polish courier company Opek is set to be taken over by American giant FedEx, for an undisclosed amount. Although the value of the acquisition has not been revealed, analysts estimate it could be worth about z∏.100 million.

An agreement was signed last Thursday, with the transaction expected to be finalized by the end of the summer, after necessary regulatory approval has been secured.

Opek, a family-owned com-

pany, was founded in 1994 and has since built up a well-established network which covers the whole of Poland. In total, the company operates 44 stations throughout Poland, and employs more than 1,200 workers.

FedEx said in a statement that it expects the takeover to provide its FedEx Express subsidiary with approximately $70 million in annual revenues and that it forsees an annual volume of 12.5 million shipments.

The acquisition of Opek is part of the company’s ongoing expansion in Europe.

“In recent years, we have made significant investments throughout Europe. [Our] strategy has steadily advanced our position in the region, and we are well positioned for profitable growth as we increase the number of direct-served locations in Europe,” said Frederick W. Smith, chairman, president and CEO of FedEx Corp.

David Ingham

Ownership of Poland’s second-largest telecoms company, Warsaw Stock Exchangelisted Netia, could soon change hands. Three privateequity firms are interested in acquiring the firm, Reuters reported last week citing unnamed sources. Netia is valued at around z∏.2.5 billion according to its share price.

According to the news agency, the three firms – Warsaw-based Innova Capital and two other funds, Advent International and Bridgepoint – will soon start due diligence on the telecom company.

“Three investment funds will start due diligence in Netia after Easter. One of them is Innova Capital, another is linked to [Polish cellphone

operator] Play,” a source familiar with the situation told Reuters.

The news caused Netia’s share price to grow by 3.3 percent last Tuesday, its strongest intraday rise since November 2001. At close on Friday, the firm’s share price stood at z∏.6.28.

Piotr Janik, an analyst at KBC Securities, said it is not a surprise that due diligence is being carried out on Netia, since a number of potential investors have shown an interest in the company over the course of the last year. The due diligence process should

not take long, said Mr Janik.

More details are expected to come to light towards the end of Q2.

If one of the private equity companies ends up buying Netia, it would likely want to purchase as close to 100 percent of the company as possible, restructure it and sell it on.

“Private equity funds should offer a premium over current prices,” Mr Janik said.

Netia increased its market share last year by buying smaller competitor Dialog from copper miner KGHM and telecoms service provider Crowley Roberto Galea Point Data.

Netia in numbers Financial information for Netia, 2009-2011 (in z∏. billions) Year

Revenues

EBITDA

Investments

2009

1.50

0.31

0.25

2010

1.57

0.58

0.20

2011

1.60

0.61

0.24 Source: Netia

BUSINESS

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Government to sell frequencies The Polish government plans to sell radio frequencies to telecom companies and earn several billion z∏oty from the deals, said Tomasz Arabski, the PM’s chief of staff, Dow Jones Newswires reported. The frequencies, which are in the 800 MHz range, will be vacated by the army and will be used for highspeed mobile-internet.

Spending plans on track Spending plans for EU funds were for the most part fulfilled in the first quarter of this year. In total, z∏.10.2 billion was spent, or about 95.7% of the EU funds allocated for the first quarter. By the end of March, Poland declared that 20.3% of the EU funds allocated to the country for 2012 had been spent.

In this quarter, that number is expected to rise to 23%. ●

APRIL 9-15, 2012

Drinks market

Transport tax

Jack Daniel’s owner to take over Sobieski?

Firms to pay for local public transportation costs

Brown-Forman is reportedly the favorite to acquire the Polish vodka brand US company Brown-Forman, owner of whiskey brand Jack Daniel’s, is reportedly close to winning the race to buy Sobieski Vodka, a Polish vodka brand owned by France’s Belvedere Group. In total, 10 investment funds and nine industry investors are competing to take over Sobieski Vodka, Rzeczpospolita reported, citing sources familiar with the situation.

The brand, which has been advertised in recent years by Hollywood star Bruce Willis, may fetch up to €650 million, analysts say. The sale is likely to be completed in the second half of 2012.

However, when contacted

by WBJ, Marcin Meyer, a spokesperson for Sobieski Group, declined to confirm whether Sobieski is indeed up

for sale.

“I can neither deny nor confirm whether Belvedere Group will be selling Sobieski. What I can say is that Belvedere is definitely selling some of its brands.

I cannot disclose which ones,” said Mr Meyer.

“Belvedere Group is selling some if its brands in order to decrease its debt but I cannot disclose who the potential buyers are,” he added.

According to Polish daily Parkiet, Belvedere Group hopes to pay off debts of €550 million by autumn of this year. Company president Krzysztof Tryliƒski has reportedly said that the group hopes to obtain the money through the sale of various brands, one of which is Sobieski Vodka.

Last year, industry magazine Millionaires ranked Sobieski eighth in a list of the world’s most popular vodkas.

David Ingham, Izabela Depczyk

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

Timeshares

Easier inheritance in the EU

An act passed on September 16, 2011 governing timeshares will become binding on April 28 this year. At the same time, an act protecting the right of the buyer to use buildings or residential premises will cease to be binding. The term “timeshare” means the right to use property, especially real estate (e.g. tourist resorts, hotels, guest houses and apartments), at specific times agreed to in a contract.

The new act will cover not only real estate (as has been the case until now) but also other kinds of accommodation, such as rooms on cruise ships. The act defines new rules and procedures for concluding four types of agreement between an entrepreneur and a consumer. These cover: timeshare contracts, agreements on long-term holiday benefits, agreements concerning agents who offer timeshares and agreements on the exchange of timeshare products.

Among other things, the act imposes on entrepreneurs the duty to deliver detailed and adequate information to consumers concerning agreements regulated by the act. It also regulates the rules concerning consumers who withdraw from such agreements without providing any reasons. Moreover, it defines the scope of entrepreneurs’ duties when it comes to looking after the accommodation and ensuring it is in a fit state for use.

It also defines rules establishing entrepreneurs’ responsibility for replacing defective items.

Rules concerning inheritance in the EU in situations where provisions of different EU member states overlap will soon be simplified. Each year there are about 450,000 such disputable cases. In the middle of March, the European Parliament adopted a related regulation, which was then passed on to the Council of the European Union.

EU regulations are general in nature and are binding entirely and directly for all members.

Nowadays, each member state has separate provisions concerning inheritance.

This often results in complex disputes if the deceased person has lived abroad or if that person’s partner was a citizen of another country. The new provisions stipulate that in disputable cases, the applicable law will be the law of the country where the interested party is domiciled. However, this person will be able to change this so the law is applied in accordance with the provisions binding in the country of his or her birth.

The provisions mean that parties will be able to avoid situations where two different countries issue two different judgments.

The new law will not influence those EU citizens who reside in the country of their birth and who do not own real estate in other countries. The provisions will not be binding for the UK or Ireland. The draft of the new law also stipulates the creation of the European Inheritance Certificate. This will allow the interests of heirs, credit-providers and other relevant authorities to be secured. The use of this certificate is to be voluntary. ●

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Local authorities are struggling to pay for public transport costs

The move has drawn strong criticism from the private sector Poland’s government is preparing a new tax for businesses that will help finance local transport costs.

Local authorities are currently having difficulties balancing their budgets for public transportation costs, with ticket-price increases having already been announced in eight Polish cities so far this year.

But the government is now banking on an alternative solution, based on the French model of public transportation financing. Since the 1970s, all

companies in France hiring more than nine employees have been required to support the local public transport service, via a tax payment, unless they provide their own transport for employees.

In Poland’s new plan, local governments will have the right to choose the amount businesses pay, although the maximum amount will be outlined in a new law.

Polish business leaders have reacted with consternation to the news of the proposed new tax. “This is a terrible idea,” said Maciej Grelowski, chairman of the central council at the Business Centre Club, and an expert on infra-

structure and transport.

“The central authorities should be alleviating costs, not increasing them. This is just another burden put on to entrepreneurs and businesses. This will only increase the financial collapse of small and medium businesses, and will surely have a negative effect on big business too. Central authorities should be privatizing and not communizing,” Mr Grelowski added.

The bill, whose stipulations are recognized by the EU as being best practice for the funding of public transport, will be prepared for parliament by the end of 2012.

David Ingham, Izabela Depczyk

Bankruptcies

Insolvencies on the rise among Polish firms The hardest hit in the first quarter of this year were small and medium businesses Poland might be a relatively safe haven amid the ongoing economic storms afflicting the rest of Europe, but that does not mean Polish companies have it easy.

French credit insurance company Euler Hermes has reported that 227 Polish businesses declared bankruptcy in the first quarter of this year alone. That represents a jump of 18 percent from the 193 bankruptcies recorded in the same period a year earlier.

According to court decisions published for Q1 2011 and 2012, in the first quarter of last year, the number of bankruptcies rose by about 6 per-

cent y/y. This means insolvencies in Q1 2012 grew three times faster than in the same period last year.

Meanwhile, another report by credit insurer Coface Poland indicates that the number of bankruptcies in Q1 was lower (at 181). It showed that most of the entities which went under in the first three months of 2012 were small- and mediumsized companies. Of the companies whose financial data was accessed by Coface, 37 percent were companies with turnovers of up to z∏.5 million, while 54 percent were companies with revenues between z∏.5 million and z∏.50 million. “Large companies with a turnover exceeding z∏.100 million accounted for only four percent of

bankruptcies,” the company wrote in a statement.

In both Coface and Euler Hermes’ analyses, construction companies fared the worst. Coface data indicate that bankruptcies in the construction sector made up 23 percent of the total, whereas just two years ago construction-sector bankruptcies accounted for just 10 percent.

“The infrastructure construction sector has long had a problem with low profitability, and in many cases, the lack of it,” Euler Hermes wrote. But over the coming months production and distribution companies could also start to feel the pressure.

Coface said that the majority of bankruptcies in Q1 were registered in the Mazowieckie voivoidship.

Roberto Galea

FINANCE & ECONOMICS

APRIL 9-15, 2012

Manufacturing

7

www.wbj.pl

Interest rates

Headline rate left unchanged PMI reading rises in March, but only slightly

Poland’s PMI, March 2011– March 2012 57.0

54.5 * Indicates improvement on the previous month

52.0

*

49.5

2011

ry

rch

rua

Ma

Feb

r

ry ua

Jan

r

be

be

cem De

er

vem

No

er

tob Oc

st

mb

Se

pte

y Jul

gu Au

y

e Jun

Ma

Ap

ril

47.0

2012 Source: Markit

The National Bank of Poland’s interest rate-setting Monetary Policy Council (RPP) left the reference rate at 4.5 percent at a meeting last Wednesday, meaning the country’s main interest rate has remained unchanged since June last year. This is despite inflation, which came in at 4.3 percent in February, remaining well above the NBP’s target of 2.5 percent.

The RPP arrived at its decision because “the expected mild economic slowdown in Poland over the monetary policy horizon increases the probability of inflation remaining above the target in the medium term,” the RPP wrote in a statement.

Nevertheless, Poland’s monetary policy makers have indicated that they will consider tightening monetary policy in the near future, unless signs of considerable economic weakening in Poland appear.

In a conference last Wednesday, NBP president Marek Belka said that a hike could come as early as May. “[The

decision] hinges on the whole data package: industrial production, retail sales, the labor market, wages, employment.

All these measures will determine whether we’ll consider a potential interest rate increase next month.”

“A possible rate increase would be a demonstration of our faith in the strength of the Polish economy,” Mr Belka added.

However, upcoming macroeconomic data for March is forecast by many analysts to indicate a slowing economy. According to Bank Zahodni WBK, this makes it likely that the RPP will not

increase borrowing costs any time soon.

“A clear slowdown in production and wage growth in March, predicted by us, [would make] a scenario of rate hikes less likely,” the bank’s analysts wrote.

“That is why we anticipate a flat interest rate until the year-end in our base scenario.

Still, there is a clear rise in the probability of a rate hike, as the elevated inflation is testing the patience of the RPP, which is close to a decision about policy tightening in an effort to protect its anti-inflationary reputation.”

GP, DI

COURTESY OF THE INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND

Gareth Price

Head above water

rch

Poland’s manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index reading came in at 50.1 in March, up only slightly on the 50 recorded in February.

A PMI figure of over 50 indicates manufacturing expansion, while anything below 50 signifies contraction.

“The PMI is marginally disappointing and fits with expectations of slowing growth in 2012,” bank HSBC said in a statement.

Nevertheless, the figure was slightly better than expected, since the market forecast a reading of 49.6 prior to the release of the data. “The upside surprise is not big enough to move the [z∏oty], although the relatively strong reading is a confirmation that the Polish economy remains resilient, which is supportive for the local currency,” Nordea Bank Poland wrote in a statement.

In its analysis of the reading, HSBC wrote that the underlying weakness of busi-

Agata Urbaƒska, economist, Central and Eastern Europe at HSBC, said that “along with weaker than expected industrial production data in February and weak labor market data, PMI data for the last couple of months contrasts with growth resilience in the last quarter of 2011. ”

ness conditions reflected a lack of incoming new work.

“The volume of new business received declined marginally, the fourth contraction registered by the survey since last November. Data signaled that demand in both domestic and export markets was weak, as new export orders were unchanged compared with February.”

Ma

The result suggests economic growth will slow this year

Indications are, however, that next month could see a rate-hike

A rate increase would show the NBP’s “faith in the strength of the Polish economy,” says Marek Belka

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INTERVIEW

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Record NBP profit The National Bank of Poland made a record z∏.8.6 billion profit last year, of which around z∏.8.2 billion will go to the state budget. From the NBP’s 2010 profit, around z∏.6.2 billion was transferred to the state budget, reported Parkiet.

The transfer will reduce Poland’s national debt by around 0.5 percentage points.

EC reexamines allocations A recent audit conducted to examine Poland’s railroad modernization programs has found that Poland will most probably not be able to use all of the EU funds allocated for this purpose. The European Commission is currently evaluating a proposal to transfer €1.2 billion from rail projects to road modernization projects.

The government, which strongly backs the proposal, has already highlighted 63 of the most viable road projects.

Polish salaries below EU average Mismanagement and old technology often prevent Polish companies from exploiting the full potential of their employees, reported Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.

As a result, Polish workers earn much less than the EU average.

The average gross monthly salary in 2011 amounted to €800 in Poland, compared to €2,177 in the EU27. In the case of Poland, this marks an increase of some 33% compared to 2005. ●

APRIL 9-15, 2012

Lawmaking

Behind the scenes: the workings Marek Rocki, the chairman of Civic Platform’s (PO) Senate caucus and the vice chairman of PO’s parliamentary club, talks to WBJ about some of the government’s most controversial legislative proposals Ewa Boniecka: In the past many people have said that there is no need for the Senate in Poland’s political system. Few are saying that now, yet how do you, as a senator serving in his third term, view the legislative and political role of the Senate in Poland?

Marek Rocki: Poland has had a modern democracy in place for just 20 years now … until the political transformation in 1989, there was one chamber of parliament, the Sejm, and it was completely under the supervision of the ruling communist party. Since 1990, we have had to shape a new political system and learn how parliamentary democracy works. The existence of the Senate, the upper chamber of parliament, is totally legitimate and strengthens the democratic system. This is especially the case now, because since 2011 we have a new system for electing senators, involving 100 singlemember constituencies.

So in my opinion, the prestige of the Senate is commonly acknowledged. Of course, senators have their own defined political views and the majority of us are associated with political parties, while there are also a few independent senators supported by their own committees. What is most important, however, is the role the

Senate plays in introducing laws. Legislation approved in the lower house of parliament, the Sejm, is looked at in the Senate and analyzed in the light of the constitution.

When the Senate, via a majority vote, makes amendments to bills sent from the Sejm, that bill then returns to the Sejm, which can accept or reject the Senate’s amendments. When the Senate makes no amendments, the bill goes to the president.

Another important prerogative of the Senate is that since the last parliamentary term, it has been charged with dealing with verdicts of the Constitutional Tribunal.

Overall, the Senate can be seen as a kind of useful sieve in the process of lawmaking.

Yet it is a commonly held perception that the quality of laws made in parliament is low. How do you assess that perception?

I do not share the opinion that the quality of laws made in parliament is low, but it is clear that the system for making laws has to be perfected and adapted to the changing situation. For example, our accession to the European Union meant we had to change many of our laws to ensure their compatibility with EU law. Lawmaking requires an analytical and matter-of-fact approach, but

“In the heat of the political confrontation in the Sejm, MPs do not give enough time and do not pay enough attention to the details of lawmaking”

COURTESY OF SEKTETARIAT OBS¸UGI SENATORÓW

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Marek Rocki believes the government’s pension and prescription-drug reforms are difficult but neccessary measures I think that in the heat of the political confrontation that often takes place in the Sejm, MPs do not give enough time and do not pay enough attention to the details of lawmaking. And so the role of the Senate is very important, since its members have additional time to analyze draft bills that come from the Sejm.

Why did the Senate not present any reservations to the legislative changes made to prescription-drug laws at the start of the year? These amendments deprived many patients of medicine, led to widespread protests by doctors and ensured a rough start to PO’s second term in government.

If the Senate does not pres-

ent reservations towards a bill during the 30 days after its approval by the Sejm, the bill is automatically approved by the Senate. This is what happened in the case of the bill in question.

There are many physicians currently serving in the Senate, and they told me that the bill is appropriate and that it will bring positive

INTERVIEW

APRIL 9-15, 2012

Pension reform to harm ZUS?

of the Polish democracy results. Yet the bill led to confusion and so there were protests by certain groups of medical professionals, such as doctors. I see these protests as a natural expression of feeling by certain groups, but this cannot stop the government from implementing reforms. The opposition often uses protests as a political tool, and this is also natural. But I think that we have to look at changes to laws when a certain amount of time has elapsed, when the true effects are known. Now, for example, the prescription-drug law is considered to function well.

“There has not been any drifting: PO is firmly established as a center-right party and our guiding principles are to be responsible towards citizens and to maintain the Polish economy during this time of crisis” the Polish economy during this time of crisis.

PO sees the state as an entity which is grounded in laws that are respected, as an entity which protects common democratic values, serves all citizens and helps to build our country’s economic strength. We do not treat the state as an overwhelming power, obsessed with pursuing one ideology and hostile towards people of different thinking, such as PiS does.

What is you attitude towards the motion for putting former PM Jaros∏aw Kaczyƒski and former Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro before the State Tribunal? Would the motion generate enough support in PO to be passed?

If the motion is prepared adequately by the Civic Platform caucus and obtains the votes of 117 MPs, it would be forwarded to the Commission of Constitutional Responsibility in the Sejm. This would then seek to confirm whether or not the evidence that Jaros∏aw Kaczyƒski and Zbigniew Ziobro broke the constitution would be strong enough to put them before the State Tribunal.

In my opinion, the motion would gain those 117 votes but the commission could end up analyzing it for many weeks. And if the commission passed it back to the Sejm for another vote, this would have to gain 276 votes to be accepted. So it is difficult to predict how the matter would end.

How do you assess the government’s proposal to open up many of the professions

professional careers much later than their peers in many other countries, or have great difficulties in finding professional work at all. In my view, the matter of deregulating our economy and making our universities adopt methods of teaching that better prepare graduates for their careers is crucial for the future of our country.

Why have so many problems related to the higher education system been pushed aside?

As a former rector of the Warsaw School of Economics, I am very familiar with the situation of our higher education system, which is generally not as good as we would want it to be. But reforms are starting to bring results. Until last year, all university diplomas had to be stamped by the state, since the Minister of Education was formally responsible for the quality of education. Now, however, diplomas are signed by universities, meaning that the universities are solely responsible for the quality of graduates and their level of preparedness for the job market.

This has also served to increase competition among Poland’s institutions of higher education.

It is true that the number of professors is still too small for the two million students in Poland, but there are ways for younger academic staff to be promoted. Nevertheless, increasing the number of academic staff significantly will take time, if it is to be done without lowering standards.

We still need a long-term strategy for developing the

higher education system, and in my opinion for changing the way it is financed.

There is little money coming from the state budget for higher education and many of the costs are passed on to students in different ways.

This is despite the Polish constitution stating that education in public universities must be free. What solution do you envisage?

I think that we should return to the idea of introducing a system of vouchers for students, which will be financed from the state budget. Public funding for the scheme would be limited, with additional expenses paid by students. We are living in a market economy, so let’s not forget that money for education should come not only from the budget, but also from industry sponsors and various corporations, as it is in other countries where financing for higher education is more diversified.

But changing the system for financing public universities would require making changes to the constitution.

Do you think it would be possible?

A number of constitutional lawyers and some politicians have already expressed their opinions about the possibility of changing the constitution, but it is a very serious matter which requires a profound debate. The constitution in its present form is over 10 years old, and I see room for certain changes linked to the system of higher education.

Some hold the view that the Senate could become a chamber of local government. But for the character of the Senate to be altered to such a degree, maybe the term-lengths of both the Sejm and Senate should be differentiated, and separate elections to both chambers of parliament introduced.

Anyway, I don’t think that in this current parliamentary term a serious debate about changes to the constitution will be held, since Poland has more urgent problems due to the crisis in Europe. These include reforming state finances and the retirement system, and also matters of deregulation. Yet discussions about possible changes to the constitution will not go away, in either the Sejm or the Senate. ●

By implementing partial retirements as part of its pension reforms, the government is hanging a noose around its own neck, Dziennik Gazeta Prawna wrote. Instead of waiting for lower payouts, more people will sign up for disability pensions, incurring high costs for Poland’s state-run social security fund, ZUS.

Polish healthcare problems According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the coverage of Poland’s healthcare system is unequal. “To give you just one example, the life expectancy of 30-yearold men is 12 years lower for those with low education than it is for those who completed higher education,” said OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría in a statement. ●

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Ltd nts Eve

Recent opinion polls show that support for Civic Platform has fallen, while some government ministers have been severely criticized in the press. There also appear to be divisions within PO, and criticisms that it is spreading its ideological net and engaging with the left.

How do you see this situation?

Civic Platform is united under the leadership of Donald Tusk. Paradoxically, the most criticized minister of the previous term, Infrastructure Minister Cezary Grabarczyk, made a significant contribution to PO’s victory in the last parliamentary election. This is because he turned Poland into one big construction site, and his successor, S∏awomir Nowak, is continuing this work.

PO’s parliamentary caucus is large, so the spectrum of views is wide. This is an asset, since it galvanizes discussion and results in a com-

that currently require a license?

I consider it to be necessary and important in many aspects – economic, social, educational, and also in terms of how it is linked to reforms of our higher education system. It is a paradox that young people who obtain university degrees in law, history and other subjects that qualify them to enter many academic fields of study, are prevented from entering so many other professions, and so start their

.

Ltd nts Eve

How do you envisage the legislative process for approving reforms presented by Prime Minister Donald Tusk, especially given the recent opposition to raising the retirement age?

I think that Mr Tusk’s government will manage to implement the changes to the retirement system, and as an economist I am convinced that it is necessary to equalize and prolong the working period for Polish men and women to 67.

The provisions currently governing the retirement system were implemented many years ago, when working conditions and life expectancies were very different. From social, demographic and economic points of view, the retirement system has to be changed, possibly over a period of years. I am optimistic that Civic Platform will find the support for this reform in both the Sejm and the Senate.

mon position being reached to deal with problems. Civic Platform has firmly established a center-right identity for itself and our ideas of governing and attitude towards policy and the economy are entirely different from those of our main opponent, Law and Justice (PiS), and from the leftist parties.

There has not been any drifting; our guiding principles are for us to be responsible towards citizens and to maintain the good condition of

9

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10

OPINION & ANALYSIS

www.wbj.pl

APRIL 9-15, 2012

Fukushima, Europe’s nuclear test Ana Palacio

“We Europeans cannot afford the luxury of dismantling a highvalue-added industrial sector in which we still have a real comparative advantage” have a qualified responsibility in the area of security, where we still can promote an international regulatory and institutional framework that would discipline states and bring about greater transparency where global risks like nuclear power are concerned. Europe is equally responsible for advancing research on more secure technologies, particularly a fourth generation of nuclear-reactor

technology. We Europeans cannot afford the luxury of dismantling a high-valueadded industrial sector in which we still have a real comparative advantage.

In Europe, Fukushima prompted a media blitz of gloom and doom over nuclear energy. The German magazine Der Spiegel heralded the “9/11 of the nuclear industry” and “the end of the nuclear era,” while Spain’s leading newspaper El Pais preached that supporting “this energy [was] irrational,” and that “China has put a brake on its nuclear ambitions.” But reality has proven such assessments to be both biased and hopelessly wrong.

SHUTTERSTOCK

S

een from Europe, the irrationality of the political and media discourse over nuclear energy has, if anything, increased and intensified in the year since the meltdown at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi power plant. Yet a dispassionate assessment of nuclear energy’s place in the world remains as necessary as it is challenging.

Europeans should not pontificate on nuclear-energy policy as if our opinion mattered worldwide, but we do. On the other hand, Europe does

Nuclear rising True, a few countries – Belgium, Italy, Germany, and Switzerland, with Peru the only non- European country to join the trend – formally declared their intention to phase out or avoid nuclear energy. These decisions affect a total of 26 reactors, while 61 reactors are under construction around the world, with another 156 projected and 343 under official consideration. If these plans are realized, the number of functioning reactors, currently 437, will double.

But, more interestingly, the

nuclear boom is not global: Brazil is at the forefront in Latin America, while the fastest development is occurring in Asia, mostly in China and India. If we compare this geographical distribution with a global snapshot of nuclear sites prior to the Three Mile Island nuclear meltdown in the United States in 1979, a striking correlation emerges between countries’ nuclear-energy policy and their geopolitical standing and economic vigor.

Whereas the appetite for reactors in the 1970s reflected the international heft of the Soviet Union, and principally that of the geopolitical West – Japan, the US, and Europe – today the center of gravity has shifted irrevocably to the East, where nuclear ener-

gy has become a “gateway to a prosperous future,” in the telling words of a November 2011 commentary in The Hindu.

Indeed, US President Barack Obama, evidently agreeing with that view, has boldly bet that loan guarantees and research into creating small modular reactors will reconfirm America’s global position at the forefront of civilian nuclear technology and its relevance in the new global order.

Energy is, of course, the bloodline of any society, reflected in the correlation between energy demand and income. In this respect, nuclear energy’s advantages, particularly its reliability and predictable costs, stand out.

The International Energy Agency’s 2010 World Energy Outlook foresees a rise in global energy demand of 40 percent by 2030 – an unforgiving reality that is most tangibly felt in developing countries, particularly in Asia.

Act responsibly So expansion of nuclear energy is, and will continue to be, a fact. To act responsibly, Europeans should be working to enhance international

security standards for nuclear power, not opting out of the game. The real lesson of Fukushima is that state controls are necessary but not sufficient to ensure nuclear safety.

Unfortunately, a proposal last year at the International Atomic Energy Agency aimed at launching an effective international control system on safety and security of nuclear power worldwide blatantly failed with the acquiescence of the European Union. Worse still, with European backing, the IAEA’s budget, already a paltry €300 million, has been cut by almost 10 percent.

The rise of nuclear power in Europe paralleled its post-war economic prowess. It coincided with the peak of the West’s belief in its soaring economic strength and perpetual global ascendancy. Today, with Europe increasingly seen as the sick man of the world’s economy, even the whole continent’s renunciation of nuclear energy would have little to no reverberation on the world stage. Dictating the direction of the policy discourse is no longer Europe’s role.

Behaving responsibly is. ● Ana Palacio, a former Spanish foreign minister and a former senior vice president of the World Bank, is a senior fellow and lecturer at Yale University.

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

The post-nuclear transition

T

he Fukushima disaster in March last year reminded the world, 25 years after Chernobyl, that nuclear energy is anything but clean, secure, and affordable.

Unfortunately, another nuclear catastrophe was needed to trigger a fresh debate on the use of nuclear power.

Germany’s decision to phase out nuclear power by 2022 has provoked irritation among its pronuclear neighbors. Other European countries have yet to indicate

“Europe’s economic and ecological future depends upon the rising opposition to this highrisk technology” whether they will follow Germany’s example; a world free from nuclear energy is hard for its supporters to imagine. Europe’s economic and ecological future, however, depends upon the rising opposition to this high-risk technology.

In Germany, the idea of a nuclear phase-out has been gaining support ever since the Chernobyl disaster. Over the past few decades, anti-nuclear activists, together with their political representatives in the Green Party, have succeeded in mobilizing hundreds of thousands

of protesters. In 2000, growing political pressure finally led to a consensus between the German government and energy companies, which agreed to limit the life span of nuclear-power plants to 32 years.

Chancellor Angela Merkel’s coalition government withdrew from this agreement in 2010, but Fukushima forced the authorities to reconsider – and to permanently end the use of nuclear energy. German energy policy now depends once more on the future deployment of renewable energy sources.

The Renewable Energy Sources Act, for instance, introduced in 2000 by a Social Democrat-Green government, has enabled the country to exceed all growth expectations in the alternative-energy sector, which now accounts for 20 percent of Germany’s total electricity consumption.

Security risks But, while Germany is now heading in the right direction, the security risks of nuclear-power plants in neighboring countries, such as France and the Czech Republic, remain. There must be a general shift in both European and global energy policies. The European stress tests of nuclear-power plants are a first step; but, as long as they are voluntary and under the operators’ control, they will be nothing more than political window dressing.

The economic argument for renewable energy is also compelling. Nuclear power is an antiquated technology that requires billions of euros in subsidies; so far, German taxpayers have contributed €196 billion for this purpose. A German government study has estimated that, between 2010 and 2050, Germany could save more than €700 billion by relying on nonnuclear renewable energy instead of nuclear power or imported fossil fuels such as coal, gas, and oil.

The expansion of renewable energy production also holds great potential for boosting economic growth. Over the past decade, 370,000 new jobs have been created in the sector, and exports of renewable-energy technology are rising rapidly, totaling roughly €30 billion from 2006 to 2008.

At the same time, it would be short-sighted to assume that fossil fuels, especially coal, are a profitable and sustainable energy source. First, increased reliance on fossil fuels runs contrary to the 1997 Kyoto Protocol’s targets for reducing carbon emissions, as well as to the EU’s own climate-change objectives. Moreover, fossil-fuel costs fluctuate wildly with oil prices, and the centralized nature of nuclear and coal-fired power stations creates distribution problems.

The last decade has shown that increases in renewable-energy production actually reduce its costs.

Wind energy is now competitive with conventional power plants, while rising gas and coal prices and the steady decline in renewableenergy costs imply that, within a few years, fossil fuels will be even less attractive. Moreover, revenues from “home-grown” energy tend to remain where they are generated, while the import bill for fossil fuels would be eliminated.

Nuclear renaissance myth All of this can be done without having to bear the immense risk (and costs) of a nuclear catastrophe.

Indeed, the idea of a “nuclear renaissance” is a myth. Nuclear accidents, public opposition, and high capital costs have already provoked a drastic drop in nuclear-energy investment; in the United States, no nuclear-power plant has been commissioned since the late 1970s.

In Europe, the number of nuclear plants is declining, as old plants are decommissioned and public opinion in even traditionally pro-nuclear countries like France begins to shift: almost two-thirds of the French now believe that nuclear power stands in the way of an increase in renewable energy. In Italy, more than 90 percent of voters rejected former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s plan for a return to nuclear-power generation, and the Japanese government announced that it plans to phase out nuclear energy in stages.

Jürgen Trittin

More needs to be done to accelerate the post-nuclear transition.

More money from the EU budget now goes to nuclear research than to non-nuclear research and development, and more infrastructure funding goes to carbon capture and storage (CCS) and conventional energy than to renewable energies.

The forthcoming negotiations on the EU’s 2014-2020 European budget are an opportunity to change direction and cut the funding for unpromising mega-projects like the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) effort in southern France.

Shifting to renewable-energy sources will require enormous effort and major infrastructure investment. High-voltage transmission lines across the EU and storage facilities to overcome the problem of meeting basic energy demands will be crucial, as will decentralized distribution grids and higher investment in energy conservation.

Germany has taken the first step, but the transition to a fully renewable-energy-based economy must be a common European effort. ● Jürgen Trittin is Chairman of the Green Parliamentary Group in the German Bundestag and a former federal environment minister.

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

OPINION & ANALYSIS

APRIL 9-15, 2012

www.wbj.pl

11

Tusk’s future resting on Euro 2012 Remi Adekoya coalition can survive beyond the end of this year. Much depends on how PO performs in the polls later this year.

This, in turn, will be heavily influenced by the outcome of the Euro 2012 soccer championships. Polish national pride is riding on the success or failure of the tournament.

Euro 2012 is by far the most prestigious event Poland has ever hosted. The eyes of the world will be on the country (and of course co-host Ukraine) and millions of people will form their opinions of Poland based on what they see this summer.

Poles are very sensitive to how their country is perceived abroad and desperately want to create a good image during the tournament.

COURTESY OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT

J

anusz Palikot, leader of Palikot’s Movement (RP), the third-largest party in the Polish parliament, announced last week that two MPs from the ruling Civic Platform (PO) party will most likely cross over to join RP in the second half of April.

If this were to happen, it would mean the ruling coalition of PO and the Polish Peoples’ Party (PSL) would have 232 votes in the 460member parliament, a slim majority by any standards.

Mr Palikot has also suggested that even more MPs want to dump PO for his party. However, he says he has told them to hang on until after the Euro 2012 soccer championships, which is being held in Poland and Ukraine from June 8.

“I don’t want to create a crisis and the possibility of snap elections during the Euro [championships],” the RP leader said.

In March, ¸ukasz Giba∏a, an MP from Kraków, jumped ship from PO to join Mr Palikot’s party, evidence that the RP leader’s words cannot simply be dismissed offhand.

ish national team does relatively well, for example making it through the group stages to the quarterfinals, then the prime minister and his party will likely experience a significant boost in popularity, a rising wave that could give them serious political momentum.

Poles would be proud of their country and Mr Tusk’s government would be pretty much untouchable.

More than a game End of the coalition?

Mr Palikot has thus prompted speculation about whether the current

If Poland is praised in the international press for its organization during the tournament, and if the Pol-

PO MPs would be far less willing to switch parties and face an uncertain future in the party of the erratic Janusz Palikot.

If, on the other hand, the tournament turns out to be a PR disaster and the Polish team’s performance is embarrassing, then there will be a backlash for the government and Mr Tusk might be unable to stop the current downward trend in the popularity of his party. An exodus of PO MPs would then be quite likely, especially as the PM is not exactly loved by many in his party.

PO MPs routinely complain of being treated as nothing more than “voting machines” in parliament, who have no influence over legislation. In addition, Mr Tusk’s unsentimental and often ruthless attitude towards some members of PO who were once considered his personal friends has won him many enemies in the party he leads.

The only reason these politicians are still sticking with him is because,

“If the tournament is a disaster there will be a backlash for PM Tusk and his government” up until now, he has guaranteed the popularity of the party, which has translated into seats in parliament.

The moment Mr Tusk appears politically weak, his detractors will pounce on him mercilessly.

The political atmosphere in Poland come autumn will undoubtedly be shaped by how Euro 2012 goes. Poland’s ability to perform on the world stage will be tested this summer as will the ability of the Polish national soccer team.

Never before has a Polish prime minister’s fortunes been so dependent on something so trivial as a few soccer games. ● Remi Adekoya is Warsaw Business Journal’s politics editor.

Will Slovakia’s Fico be another Orbán?

Pavol Demes

W

hat is going on in Central Europe? After Viktor Orbán’s consolidation of power in Hungary, another political strongman has returned to the helm, this time in Slovakia. Former Prime Minister Robert Fico has once again assumed the leadership of Slovakia following his Smer-Social Democracy (SMERSD) party’s landslide victory in last month’s elections. Like Mr Orbán in

“The key test of Mr Fico’s leadership will be his handling of chronic and widespread corruption” Hungary, Mr Fico will preside over the first single-party cabinet in Slovakia since the collapse of communism in 1989. His coalition government between 2006 and 2010 had been accused of abuses of power and a lack of respect toward the opposition, media, and NGOs. And, much like his Hungarian counterpart, Mr

Fico could yet use his political mandate to attempt to reinterpret Slovakia’s history, change key laws, or battle with the European Union on nationalistic grounds.

However, despite some of these similarities between Slovakia and Hungary — which along with the Czech Republic and Poland belong to the so-called Visegrad Four (V-4) group — there are at least five reasons to suggest that Bratislava will not follow Budapest’s trajectory.

Five reasons First, the political power of Mr Fico’s center-left SMER-SD is not nearly as overwhelming as that of Mr Orbán’s Fidesz party. SMER-SD won 83 out of 150 seats in Slovakia’s one-chamber parliament, and therefore enjoys a simple, but not a constitutional, majority. Although the five opposition center-right parties are seriously weakened and fragmented, they will comprise a competent and credible opposition. Moreover, none of the nationalist or xenophobic political parties crossed the 5 percent threshold necessary to enter parliament.

While Mr Orbán faced pressure from the radical nationalist Jobbik party, the poor performance of the radical parties in Slovakia means that Mr Fico is not going to be influenced by extreme, anti-EU elements.

Second, Mr Fico won in large part on a pro-social and pro-European platform, and by offering voters stability and predictability following the complex coalition dynamics and eventual collapse of the center-right government lead by Iveta Radičová. He did not use the nationalistic card in his campaign nor did he blame external actors for Slovakia’s current problems. He was even open to accepting some center-right parties in his coalition but in the end did not need them in order to form a government.

Third, Mr Fico’s post-election behavior has been a surprise — the good kind. He has been more open toward the media and rather consensual and generous toward the opposition, offering them important parliamentary posts. Aiming to avoid improvisation and mistakes in several key areas, he invited experienced nonparty personalities to serve as minis-

ters in his new cabinet, namely the ministers of justice, health, economy, and foreign affairs. This suggests a strong commitment to tackle serious domestic and international problems rather than a focus on building his party’s power base. The key test of Mr Fico’s leadership will be his handling of chronic and widespread corruption and the peculiar interplay between political and business circles that has shaped public attitudes toward the state and its system.

Fourth, the nomination as minister of foreign affairs of the well-known and experienced diplomat Miroslav Lajčák, who until recently worked in EU High Representative Catherine Ashton’s team, underpins Fico’s preelection promises that Slovakia’s strategic goal would include remaining strongly anchored to European and transatlantic structures. Slovakia is not only a member of NATO and the EU but is also the only V-4 country that is a euro-zone member. It is therefore expected that Mr Fico will not experiment with unique economic models nor will he ignore economic experts, experienced practitioners,

and standard EU rules.

A new political culture?

Fifth, Mr Fico’s recent meeting with representatives of trade unions, employers, churches, and universities – in which he asked for their ideas for the government manifesto – suggests the beginning of a new political culture. However, he has not revealed his feelings toward vibrant civil society organizations with significant watchdog capabilities.

All in all, Mr Fico is evolving into a mature and predictable politician, which may prove that he has learned from his past mistakes and those of other leaders. That includes Viktor Orbán, with whom Mr Fico will soon be entering into a necessary dialogue over many important bilateral, regional, and European issues. ● Pavol Demes is Senior Transatlantic Fellow with the German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF) in Bratislava.

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

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

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12

COVER STORY

www.wbj.pl

APRIL 9-15, 2012

Energy security

Russia ends Naftoport cooperation

Nuclear ambitions

Gdaƒsk-based Naftoport, a company which manages crude oil shipment and deliveries, was struck from the list of firms dedicated to the export of Russian oil, reported Puls Biznesu.

Russia has launched a new terminal, Ust-Luga, in the Gulf of Finland, which should lower the country’s dependency on land export of oil to Europe. In 2011, Russia exported 3.8 million metric tons of oil to Europe through Naftoport.

Japan’s Fukushima disaster has hardened opposition to nuclear power

Poland’s and Slovakia’s gas network operators have chosen a contractor for a study of a planned gas link joining liquefied gas terminals in Poland and Croatia, reported Reuters. “We want to have the business analysis ready this year and make further decisions on conducting a feasibility study next year,” said Gaz-System spokesperson Ma∏gorzata Polkowska.

The proposed link would have an annual capacity of 2.5 billion to 5 billion cubic meters.

Energy distribution investments Poland’s largest energy companies invested z∏.4.6 billion in distribution infrastructure last year, 32% more than in 2010, reported Parkiet. Tauron, the largest distributor of energy in Poland, spent the most – z∏.1.3 billion.

Tauron spokesperson Magdalena Rusinek estimates that the company’s investments in distribution infrastructure will go up in the future to z∏.1.4-1.5 billion a year. Meanwhile PGE, which controls 25% of the country’s energy distribution market, spent z∏.1.26 billion on infrastructure investments last year. ●

COURTESY OF PETER PAULICK/IAEA

PolishSlovakian gas link

Despite wavering support for nuclear energy in the wake of Japan’s Fukushima disaster, Poland has decided to give nuclear a chance, and is pushing forward with plans to build its first nuclear power plant Poland might not be about to turn its back on coal, which it uses to produce over 90 percent of its electricity, but the country is seeking to accelerate efforts to diversify its energy sources. One option it has chosen is to develop nuclear power, an energy source that has its fair share of detractors.

The meltdown of three nuclear reactors at Japan’s Fukushima plant over one year ago and Germany’s subsequent decision to shutter its nuclear facilities by 2022 have not deterred Poland from its plans to join the global nuclear family. The Polish Nuclear Power Program enjoys support from among many of Poland’s major parties: the Sejm, Poland’s lower house of parliament, voted in favor of building the country’s first nuclear power plants last May.

Unwavering government support In February, Prime Minister Donald Tusk reiterated his government’s commitment to

building two plants by 2035. The first was scheduled to be operational by 2020, but the date has now been pushed to 2025.

The government’s ‘Polish Energy Policy until 2030’ identifies the introduction of nuclear energy as being a key factor in the diversification of the country’s sources of electric energy. State-owned electricity giant Polska Grupa Energetyczna (PGE) was entrusted in January 2009 with the task of developing the nuclear energy program.

According to PGE, construction work on the first block should start at the turn of 2015 and 2016. The project is estimated to cost from z∏.35 billion to z∏.50 billion and is set to provide work for 3,000 to 5,000 people during the construction phase. This first nuclear plant will generate 3,000 megawatts (MW) of electricity and eventually employ 1,500 staff, once the operational phase begins. PGE estimates that the combined operational capacity of the two

plants will be 6,000 MW. But a French-style heavy reliance on nuclear energy (it accounts for 76 percent of that country’s electricity consumption) is certainly not on the cards for Poland. “Nuclear energy is not going to replace Poland’s current means of power production,” Marcin Ciepliƒski, director for strategy and development

and hard coal, with growing use of gas and renewable sources.

“Coal will remain the dominant fuel for electricity production in Poland for at least the next 20 years,” said Grzegorz Wrochna, director of the National Centre for Nuclear Research in Âwierk.

Poland needs to replace its old fleet of coal-fired plants

“Nuclear energy may prove to be politically slippery as Chernobyl is still deeply ingrained in the popular imagination” at PGE Energia Jàdrowa, a subsidiary created to carry out the construction of the two nuclear plants, told WBJ. “The goal is to have nuclear power hold a 20 percent stake in Poland’s energy mix. However, it cannot happen overnight. We expect this to be done in stages.”

PGE’s own revised ‘Strategic Energy plan for 2035’ states that nuclear energy will account for 35 percent of the company’s own energy mix by that date. The bulk of the company’s electricity production will still be generated by lignite

with new, more efficient ones, and there are hopes that large reserves of shale gas might be found beneath the country’s surface, he conceded. But these solutions are, respectively, insufficient and uncertain.

“Therefore, investment in nuclear power is necessary,” said Mr Wrochna.

Foreign expertise Poland does not have the technology to carry out its nuclear project on its own, and will therefore need foreign expertise to implement its plans.

While the tendering process

Liam Nolan

for technological suppliers has not formally opened yet, potential providers have already stated their interest in a contract which Mr Ciepliƒski described as “one of the biggest in the history of modern Poland.”

Among them are French firms Areva and EDF, GE Hitachi (a joint venture of General Electric and Hitachi), and Toshiba’s US-based unit Westinghouse. PGE has already signed memorandums of agreement with the three groups, which will provide feasibility studies for the development of their reactor designs, as well as their construction and operation plans. A tender is expected to be launched within two months.

The stakes are high and few details have emerged on the type of technology that Poland is looking to use. Mr Ciepliƒksi told WBJ that PGE Energia Jàdrowa is not willing to consider any untested technologies that have not been constructed and operated elsewhere in the past. “We want a technology that has gone through the whole process already, or at least is in an advanced stage of realization,” he said.

Mr Ciepliƒski added that while the main players are expected to be foreign, the tender process “should probably include the involvement of Polish industry players within their working groups.”

An aspect on which the government has said it would not compromise on at any cost is safety. On this issue, PGE Energia Jàdrowa is cooperating closely with the National Atomic Energy Agency (PAA).

“We have people with both national and international competences to provide supervision for the Polish Nuclear Power Program,” PAA president Janusz W∏odarski told WBJ. Mr W∏odarski and a number of other senior PAA representatives worked on Poland’s aborted nuclear energy program of the 1980s. The program was shelved when communist leaders exited Warsaw’s halls of power in 1989.

Opposition Nuclear energy being a controversial topic, several groups

COVER STORY

APRIL 9-15, 2012

have voiced doubts about the soundness of the Polish government’s plans.

Tomasz Krukowski, an analyst at Deutsche Bank, said that “current energy prices do not justify the construction of a nuclear power plant.” He pointed out that in recent years, average Polish

In February, 94 percent of voters in the seaside town of Mielno, 10 km from the proposed site in Gàski, cast their ballots against the construction of a nuclear plant in a locally organized plebiscite.

Mr Ciepliƒksi said that support for a nuclear plant is highest in ˚arnowiec, the site of

“We’re starting from scratch, at a time when nuclear energy is going through rough patches in its 70-year history” energy prices have been lower than prices in neighboring Germany by about 10 to 12 percent. While Mr Krukowski did not see financing for the program being an issue, at least according to current plans, he said Poland’s lack of experience in the field of nuclear energy is “a major challenge” and that “the risk is that the cost of construction will be much higher [than currently planned].”

Meanwhile, inhabitants who live near to sites that PGE Energia Jàdrowa has proposed to host Poland’s first nuclear plant have also voiced concerns. Last November, the company announced three potential locations on the Baltic coast: ˚arnowiec, Choczewo and Gàski.

former communist authorities’ unfinished nuclear program, with over 70 percent of residents in favor.

The final decision on the location of the first nuclear plant is scheduled to be made in 2013. But inhabitants of the proposed locations are not alone in having reservations about the program. A survey conducted by the Ministry of Economy last November put support among Poles for building nuclear power plants in Poland at 38 percent. ¸ukasz Cioch, head of the Centre for Energy Studies at the Tischner European University in Kraków, said that social awareness about nuclear energy is very low in Poland. “The country has no meaningful experience of nuclear power plants. In a

sense, we’re starting from scratch, at a time when nuclear energy is going through rough patches in its 70-year history,” he said.

Mr Cioch believes that the issue of nuclear energy may prove to be politically slippery.

Even after two decades, “Chernobyl has become deeply ingrained in the popular imagination,” he said.

Indeed, the explosion at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Station in neighboring Ukraine, which blew radioactive material over Russia and much of Europe for several days in April 1986, is still prominent in the minds of many Poles. An estimated 100,000 people died as a result of the disaster, which contaminated an area of over 160,000 km2 and led to the evacuation of 2,000 villages in Ukraine, Russia and Belarus.

To counter negative sentiment, the Ministry of Economy has launched a two-year, z∏.18 million-communication campaign, promoting the positive aspects of the nuclear project and emphasizing its safety and potential economic benefits.

Potential economic gains of Poland’s nuclear-power program, including major employment opportunities, may also help sway local opinion. Indeed, the property tax alone for a nuclear power plant could amount to z∏.30

million annually, payable to the local government, said Mr Cioch.

German concerns But opposition is also emerging from across the Polish border, with Poland’s nuclear program being criticized in neighboring Germany.

The Munich Environmental Institute, an NGO, launched an online campaign last November against the Polish government’s plans to construct a nuclear plant on Germany’s doorstep. So far, over 50,000 German citizens have completed an online petition in support of the organization’s stance.

“We think that after Fukushima, to phase in nuclear energy is complete nonsense and risky,” said Christina Hacker, a spokesperson for the NGO, who added that the organization has not received a response from the Polish Ministry of Economy.

On a local government level, parliamentarians in Brandenburg, Berlin and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern have filed complaints with the European Commission regarding their opposition to the Polish government’s plans to build a plant next door, in Pomerania.

It is not clear whether this will succeed in forcing the Polish government to change its mind, however, since last November, European Com-

www.wbj.pl

13

capitalize on its existing reserves of conventional natural gas. “Conventional gas is heavily under exploited in Poland. If Poland had the same exploration policies as Germany, Denmark or Italy, we would be producing 21 million cubic meters annually and would not have to import so much gas,” said Mr Pytel.

Despite opposition, the Polish government is presently forging ahead with its plan.

Concrete steps, such as the selection of the technology and contractor for the plants, as well as the building site, are due to be taken in the near future. But much can happen between now and 2025, and both Poles and their neighbors are sure to keep a watchful eye on Poland’s nuclear ambitions. ●

missioner for Energy Günther Oettinger said that each EU member state “has the right to decide whether to produce nuclear power or not.”

Nevertheless, some believe that the Polish nuclear energy program will not get off the ground. Grzegorz Pytel, an energy expert at the Warsawbased Sobieski Institute, said that he would “not put a penny” on the government’s plans.

“I don’t think that the contracts will be signed. There will be a lot of protests because I don’t think that Poles trust nuclear energy,” he said. Mr Pytel also foresees that the nuclear program will come under “huge pressure” from coal lobbying groups.

In his opinion, the Polish government should instead

Nuclear energy around the world Top 10 countries with the highest number of nuclear reactors, 2012 Under construction

In operation 104

China

26

France

58

Russia

10

Japan

50

India

Russia

33

Republic of Korea

5

Republic of Korea

21

Taiwan

2

India

20

Japan

2

Canada

18

Slovakia

2

UK

18

Ukraine

2

China

16

France

1

Ukraine

15

US

1

US

5

Source: IEAE

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Echo Investment will soon start expanding the Pasa˝ Grunwaldzki mall in Wroc∏aw

Prologis has sold 164,000 sqm of industrial space to Hines for $130 million

16

17

LOKALE IMMOBILIA

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

Port Praski steps up preparation work on its eponymous Warsaw scheme A master plan for the huge mixed-use investment is expected to be ready in June Investor Port Praski is stepping up preparation work on its eponymous real estate investment in Warsaw that will involve the complete transformation of a neglected 38hectare area in the city’s Praga Pó∏noc district.

The company, which has owned the Port Praski river port area since the 1990s, hopes its huge mixed-use project will finally enter the development stage in the upcoming weeks once all the necessary administrative permits have been secured.

JW Construction agreement expires

Zoning problems To date, the investment has been hindered by a lack of zoning, but a new zoning plan covering the premises in ques-

tion is now expected to be put into place in June. Also in June, a master plan for the whole Port Praski investment will be ready, said Port Praski CEO Adam Pykel.

Two renowned Warsawbased architectural studios, JEMS Architekci and APA Wojciechowski, have been tasked with coming up with the master plan. “Once the plan is finished, we will announce nine architectural competitions for the particular parts of the project,” Mr Pykel said.

Meanwhile, the investor has started demolishing those parts of the existing structures in Port Praski that are not meant to be preserved. A number of buildings with historical value will be renovated and integrated into the rest of the scheme.

The company is also taking steps to provide new infra-

structure for the neighborhood. Later this year, construction should launch on a sluice that will make the area safe from the effects of waterlevel fluctuations in the nearby Vistula River, and thus make living and working in the planned buildings safe.

Central location The Port Praski river port facility was built in the 1920s and 1930s and has for the last three decades been disused.

The investor hopes the neighborhood will be transformed into a new vibrant area of Warsaw featuring, among other things, office and residential space.

Although dilapidated today, the area is located close to the capital’s downtown and its potential has recently been boosted by the delivery and commencement of major infrastructure projects includ-

An agreement between JW Construction Holding and Blacklion NFI regarding the acquisition of a major plot of land on Warsaw’s ul. Kasprzaka, has expired because of Warsaw City Hall’s failure to enact a zoning plan for the area by March 29. JW Construction had intended to build a large mixed-use complex on the plot.

However, the company’s owner Józef Wojciechowski told Polish media that he is still interested in acquiring the land in the future. ●

In this issue Port Praski scheme . . . . . . . . . .15

Nova Park opens . . . . . . . . . . . .16 Property-related stocks . . . . . .16 Prologis sells warehouses . . . .17 New BBI project . . . . . . . . . . . . .17 Ghelamco-Netia deal . . . . . . . . .17 Regional malls . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17

COURTESY OF JEMS ARCHITEKCI

Pasaż Grunwaldzki

COURTESY OF ARHEAD

Polish public broadcaster TVP intends to sell editorial offices it owns on Warsaw’s Pl. Powstaƒców. The television company plans to move staff working at the location to the company’s main headquarters at ul.

Woronicza 17. TVP spokesperson Joanna Stempieƒ-Rogaliƒska said in a statement that the board had discussed the move at a meeting last week. The company has decided to move out of the offices, which are located at ul. Jasna 14/16 and ul. Moniuszki 2/2A, because they do not meet the necessary requirements.

Rank Progress buys land . . . . .16

APRIL 9-15, 2012, LI 17/14

Revitalization

TVP to sell Pl. Powstaƒców offices

expansion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16

•

The first building to be built within the Port Praski scheme will comprise office and residential space ing the National Stadium, a railway station and a station of the capital’s second subway line.

According to Mr Pykel, up to 500,000 sqm of space will be developed within the investment. Apart from low-rise residential buildings lining the port’s waterfront, the project will also include several commercial towers and an extensive park.

In the first phase of the project, a building housing Port Praski’s future offices and approximately 30 apartments will be built. The investor is now only awaiting a final administrative permit and wants to go ahead with the scheme in the next few weeks.

PBM Po∏udnie has already been selected as the general contractor of the building.

Apartment sales are expected to launch by the end of the year, once the construction of the homes has reached an advanced stage.

Huge interest The whole investment could deliver up to 500,000 sqm of space

The commercialization of the later phases of Port Praski will launch after the investor has

secured building permits for the particular structures, but according to Mr Pykel interest in the planned development is already huge with the company receiving many requests from potential tenants.

He is also confident about interest in the apartments that will be built in Port Praski, claiming that the presence of water should be a factor which will attract buyers. Up to 5,000 homes are expected to be developed within the investment.

If all the administrative hurdles are finally cleared, Mr Pykel said, the whole area will soon become one huge construction site. “Our dream is to deliver the whole investment within the next eight years,” he said.

He did not want to speculate about the total value of the Port Praski project, saying that the cost is virtually impossible to calculate at this stage, before the zoning plan is in place and the total amount of space that Port Praski will be able to build on its land is known.

Adam Zdrodowski

16

LOKALE IMMOBILIA – REAL ESTATE

www.wbj.pl

Preferential mortgages disappearing

APRIL 9-15, 2012

Shopping centers

Echo Investment to expand Pasa˝ Grunwaldzki mall in Wroc∏aw

Buying an apartment in Warsaw that would be eligible for the government’s Family on its Own preferential mortgage program for first-home buyers has become almost impossible after new home-price limits came into force at the beginning of April.

According to the new limits, announced by Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego, which manages the popular scheme, the price of a new housing unit in the capital cannot exceed z∏.5,904 per sqm for it to be eligible.

One of the largest retail projects in Lower Silesia will be enlarged by 10,000 sqm by 2013 Warsaw Stock Exchange-listed developer Echo Investment will

site of an existing parking lot, will accommodate approximately 50 stores, most of which will be occupied by clothing brands. The investor will soon start the commercialization of the project.

The decision to expand Pasa˝ Grunwaldzki results from Echo Investment’s desire to enhance the range of shops and points of service in the mall, stated Krzysztof Giemza, director of the shopping center department at the firm.

He added that the shopping center already has an estab-

expand its Pasa˝ Grunwaldzki mall in Wroc∏aw, Lower Silesia voivodship. One of the largest shopping centers in the region, Pasa˝ Grunwaldzki will get an additional 10,000 sqm of space.

The new section of the mall, which will be built between ul.

Reja and ul. Szczytnicka, on the

lished market position and remains popular with the region’s inhabitants and that the new section will be an example of prime architecture and prime urban public space.

The architectural concept of the expansion project has been prepared by the APA Kury∏owicz & Associates studio. Echo Investment already has a building permit for the scheme and plans to launch construction in Q3 of this year and finish it by the end of 2013.

Pasa˝ Grunwaldzki opened for business in April 2007. The

shopping center comprises 130,000 sqm of space, including 52,000 sqm of retail area. Major tenants include fashion brands, a Saturn electronic goods store and an 11-screen Multikino movie theater.

Echo Investment has so far completed almost 90 projects in Poland comprising a total of more than 800,000 sqm of space and is also present in the Hungarian, Romanian and Ukrainian markets. The company has to date developed 20 shopping centers.

Adam Zdrodowski

Rank Progress buys plot for Olsztyn shopping center

Grazioso Apartamenty topped out

Warsaw Stock Exchange-listed developer Rank Progress has purchased an eight-hectare plot of land in Olsztyn, Warmiƒsko-Mazurskie voivodship, on which it plans to develop a regional shopping center.

The land, for which Rank Progress paid z∏.16.5 million, is located on Olsztyn’s ul. Jarocka. The project which the company plans to build at the location will comprise 30,000 sqm of space and will include a DIY store, a retail park and a

COURTESY OF ECHO INVESTMENT

Developer Eko-Park has topped out its Grazioso Apartamenty luxury residential project in Warsaw. The scheme is the last phase of the Eko Park investment that the company has been building in the capital’s Mokotów district. ●

Construction on the investment will launch in Q3

Property-related stocks Closing price on April 5

% change (week)

52-week low

52-week high

% change (year)

Total shares

Market value (z∏. mln)

BUDIMEX

85.70

0.47

64.00

109.20

99.50

25,530,098

2,187.93

CELTIC

15.12

-2.45

13.82

22.70

20.50

34,068,252

515.11

DOMDEV

35.50

2.42

23.50

50.80

47.00

24,670,397

875.80

ECHO

4.28

-1.61

3.05

5.55

4.87

420,000,000

1,797.60

ELBUDOWA

111.50

-5.03

87.00

168.00

159.50

4,747,608

529.36

ENERGOPLD

1.90

-3.06

1.81

4.01

4.10

70,972,001

134.85

ERBUD

16.93

3.23

14.65

39.68

40.17

12,644,169

214.07

GANT

8.04

1.13

5.85

14.17

14.00

20,499,953

164.82

GTC

6.28

-4.85

6.10

21.45

21.10

219,372,990

1,377.66

HBPOLSKA

0.87

-6.45

0.70

2.40

2.49

210,558,445

183.19

JWCONSTR

5.86

-5.64

4.36

15.50

14.47

54,073,280

316.87

LCCORP

1.42

-1.39

0.85

1.62

1.57

447,558,311

635.53

MARVIPOL

8.69

-2.36

7.22

9.95

9.05

36,923,400

320.86

MIRBUD

1.95

-1.02

1.94

4.39

4.56

75,000,000

146.25

MOSTALWAR

15.11

-3.45

15.11

44.00

44.65

20,000,000

302.20

MOSTALZAB

1.47

-3.29

1.07

2.89

2.74

149,130,538

219.22

ORCOGROUP

14.62

-7.47

14.00

38.28

37.99

17,053,866

249.33

PBG

34.94

-9.13

34.10

175.00

184.30

14,295,000

499.47

PLAZACNTR

2.63

0.00

1.80

5.15

4.20

297,174,515

781.57

POLAQUA

6.16

-3.75

4.53

18.99

17.20

27,500,100

169.40

POLIMEXMS

1.26

-6.67

1.23

3.64

3.50

521,154,076

656.65

POLNORD

14.65

-0.75

11.03

33.30

31.72

23,798,439

348.65

RANKPROGR

14.22

1.94

8.60

16.97

11.20

37,145,050

528.20

ROBYG

1.53

-7.83

1.04

2.13

2.05

257,390,000

393.81

RONSON

1.05

3.96

0.77

1.58

1.41

272,360,000

285.98

TRAKCJA

1.08

-4.42

0.65

3.72

3.51

232,105,480

250.67

ULMA

67.60

-2.94

57.00

88.00

82.30

5,255,632

355.28

UNIBEP

5.69

-2.74

4.47

7.75

7.85

33,927,184

193.05

WARIMPEX

4.05

0.00

2.95

10.89

10.06

54,000,000

218.70

ZUE

7.89

-0.13

5.07

12.92

13.60

22,000,000

173.58

the city to date,” Jan Mroczka, president of Rank Progress’s management board, said in a statement.

The plot in Olsztyn is the second piece of land that Rank Progress has acquired this year. In February, the company bought a plot in Pi∏a where it is planning to build a shopping center. Altogether, the developer’s land bank currently comprises almost 150 hectares across Poland.

Adam Zdrodowski

Nova Park mall in Gorzów Wielkopolski to open in mid-April

COURTESY OF CAELUM DEVELOPMENT

Security

multi-screen movie theater.

Currently, work is underway on the architectural design of the investment, with construction expected to launch by the end of this year.

The development is tentatively scheduled for completion in the last quarter of 2013.

“The land is covered by a zoning plan that allows for the construction of a retail investment of this size. We want to secure for the mall retailers that have not been present in

The 32,400-sqm Nova Park mall will be the largest retail project in the region The Nova Park shopping center in Gorzów Wielkopolski, Lubuskie voivodship, will open for business on April 18. The mall, which will be the largest retail investment in the region, will deliver 32,400 sqm of GLA and house 140 retail units.

The development is being built by Irish investor Caleum Development and Hungarian developer Futureal. A consortium of Warbud and Mercury Engineering is acting as the general contractor for the scheme.

“This official information

puts an end to rumors and speculations. The investor has confirmed that the opening date is not at risk of any potential delay,” Caelum Development said in a statement. The investment previously saw a delay in construction due to reasons including financing issues.

According to Caelum Development, which, along with Jones Lang LaSalle, is conducting the commercialization of Nova Park, the shopping center is already more than 87 percent leased out. Tenants will include fashion brands, as well

as a Piotr i Pawe∏ upmarket grocery store.

Established in 2002, Caelum Development has in its portfolio retail projects including Galeria Askana in Gorzów Wielkopolski, Galeria M∏yƒska in Racibórz, Wratislavia Center in Wroc∏aw and Galeria Wis∏a in P∏ock.

Budapest-based Futureal is active in the Hungarian, Polish and Romanian markets and is currently involved in a major urban revitalization scheme called Corvin Promenade in its home city. Adam Zdrodowski

LOKALE IMMOBILIA – REAL ESTATE

APRIL 9-15, 2012

Industrial space developer Prologis has sold almost 164,000 sqm of logistics assets across Poland to Hines Global REIT Poland Logistics Holdings I LCC. The value of the transaction, which was brokered by Jones Lang LaSalle, amounts to approximately $130 million.

The transacted portfolio comprises 11 properties, including 10 buildings and a plot of land, located in Prologis Park Warsaw, Prologis Park Warsaw III, Prologis Park Wroc∏aw II and Prologis Park B´dzin. The average occupancy rate at the buildings is 92.8 percent.

Hines Poland will act as the asset manager and property manager of the acquired parks.

“The [acquired] industrial

COURTESY OF CONTRUST

Prologis sells a 164,000-sqm industrial portfolio to Hines

The sold properties are located in industrial parks including ProLogis Park Wroc∏aw II parks are an excellent acquisition for Hines Global REIT due to the tenant strength and the quality of the assets,”

Mieczys∏aw Godzisz, managing director of Hines in Poland, said in a statement.

Adam Zdrodowski

www.wbj.pl

BBI Development NFI hopes to build at Hale Banacha site in Warsaw Warsaw Stock Exchange-listed developer BBI Development NFI and the Hale Banacha cooperative have signed an agreement concerning the development of a new mixeduse investment in Warsaw that will comprise office, retail and residential space.

Hale Banacha owns two market halls, each of them sized almost 3,000 sqm, near the intersection of ul. Grójecka and ul. Banacha in the capital’s Ochota district. BBI Development NFI plans to demolish these and build a single structure in their place.

According to the agreement, which has been signed

for a period of four years, market traders operating in Hale Banacha are supposed to move to temporary premises during the period of construction. Once the new investment is completed, the cooperative will be given retail space in the building.

The finalization of the deal between BBI Development NFI and Hale Banacha is contingent on a number of conditions, including the latter entity obtaining either perpetual usufruct rights or ownership rights to the land on which the markets sit. Currently, Hale Banacha does not own the site.

Adam Zdrodowski

Ghelamco secures Retail development boom in land for new office smaller Polish cities: report project in Warsaw Telecom operator Netia has signed a preliminary sales agreement with a subsidiary of developer Ghelamco concerning land in Warsaw’s Ursynów district. The plots in question are sized 23,600 sqm in total and are located on the capital’s ul. Poleczki.

Currently, two buildings are situated on the land, one of which will remain the property of Netia. According to the agreement, the telecom operator will move its offices to one of the new office buildings which Ghelamco plans to build on the acquired plots.

“The sale of the property

on ul. Poleczki in Warsaw results from the company’s policy concerning the optimization of assets. We consistently sell real estate which we do not use,” Miros∏aw Godlewski, president of Netia’s management board, said in a statement.

The value of the NetiaGhelamco deal is estimated at from z∏.25.9 million to z∏.32 million, with the final price depending on how intensive the planned development of the land will be.

The transaction is expected to be finalized by the end of this year.

Adam Zdrodowski

Polish cities with populations of less than 100,000 accounted for 68 percent of new retail space delivered in the first quarter of 2012 and house almost 40 percent of the total retail stock currently under construction, said a recent report by Jones Lang LaSalle.

The largest project opened in Q1 in a small Polish city was Centrum Alfa in Grudziàdz, which delivered 22,000 sqm of GLA. A total of approximately 445,000 sqm of retail space is expected to be delivered in Poland in 2012. Of the 755,000 sqm of space currently under construction, 38 percent is located in small urban centers, according to the report.

“It is with interest that we will be watching the situation in

Be∏chatów and ¸om˝a, each market with approximately 70,000 inhabitants and two new shopping centers likely to open shortly,” Jones Lang LaSalle analysts said in the report.

“Markets sized between

200,000 and 400,000 people are relatively quiet in this respect at the moment but cities such as Lublin and Bydgoszcz are reasonably hot and on developers’ radar screens,” they added.

Adam Zdrodowski

Selected major retail projects scheduled for delivery in 2012 Project

GLA (sqm)

Gliwice

Europa Centralna

67,000

Rzeszów

City Center

47,000

Kielce ¸omianki Gorzów Wielkopolski Wroc∏aw Be∏chatów Be∏chatów K´dzierzyn-Koêle

Galeria Korona

34,000

Auchan

33,500

Nova Park

32,500

Galeria Sky Tower

25,000

Galeria Bawe∏nianka

23,000

Galeria Olimpia

21,000

Odrzaƒskie Ogrody

PwC in Aquarius Business House Consulting company PwC Polska has leased almost 1,000 sqm of office space in Echo Investment’s Aquarius Business House class-A office project in Wroc∏aw. Earlier, Tieto Poland also took up space in the development.“PwC is another demanding client that has appreciated the location of our project and the technical solutions allowing for an efficient management of energy consumption in our building,” Rafa∏ Mazurczak, sales director in the office department of Echo Investment, said in a statement.

VeriFone leases space

Building for retail City

17

21,000 Source: Jones Lang LaSalle

Electronic payment solutions provider VeriFone has leased over 1,100 sqm of office space in the fifth building of Globe Trade Centre’s Platinium Business Park office complex in Warsaw.

Jones Lang LaSalle brokered the lease transaction. Platinium Business Park is located at the intersection of ul.

Domaniewska and ul.

Wo∏oska in the capital’s Mokotów district.

Currently, the complex comprises four buildings, with each of these buildings already practically fully leased out. ●

18

THE LIST

www.wbj.pl

APRIL 9-15, 2012

Construction and Real Estate

General Contractors Ranked by revenue from general contracting in 2010

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

Revenue from general Export revenue Total revenue including contracting (mln (mln z∏): 1st half of export (mln z∏): 1st half z∏): 1st half of 2011/ of 2011/ 2011/ 2010/ 2010/ 2010/ 2009/ 2009/ 2009/ 2008 2008 2008

Construction speciality: General/ Public/ Residential

Construction speciality: Industrial/ Civil engineering

✓ ✓ ✓

✓ ✓

www.bookoflists.pl

Services other than general contracting

Major projects recently Major projects under completed construction

Number of employees/ Year founded

Top local executive/ Title

WND

Communication and Retail Galeria Handlowa Kaskada in centre in Katowice G∏ówny Szczecin; 2nd phase of Strabag railway station; bridge over headquarters in Pruszków; Wis∏a in Toruƒ; Warszawa University Business Park in ¸ódê; Wschodnia railway station A2 highway Nowy TomyÊlextention; A4 highway Âwiecko Brzesko-Wierzchos∏awice

4,575 1985

Alfred Watzl, Pawe∏ Antonik

4,756 1968

Dariusz Blocher

Strabag Sp. z o.o. ul. Parzniewska 10, 05-800 Pruszków 1 22 714-4800/22 714-4900 pl_office.strabag@strabag.com www.strabag.pl

1,900.0 4,019.0 3,143.0 2,192.0

WND WND WND WND

WND WND WND WND

Grupa Budimex SA ul. Stawki 40, 01-040 Warsaw 2 22 623-6000/22 623-6001 info@budimex.pl www.budimex.pl

1,995.0 3,692.0 2,824.0 3,045.0

WND WND WND WND

2,320.0 4,555.0 3,404.0 3,366.0

✓ ✓ ✓

✓ ✓

WND

Design and construction of A1 highway Pyrzowice Wroc∏aw Motorway Bypass; Piekary Âlàskie (including construction of section Z1 and junctions); design and Z2 of “Zachód” Diametral construction of Augustów Highway in Zabrze; Aquamarina Bypass; second passanger residential complex and hotel in terminal of Gdaƒsk Lech Mi´dzyzdroje; show and fair Wa∏´sa Airport; modernization arena on the border of Sopot of no. 9 railway line LCS I∏awa and Gdaƒsk section

Polimex - Mostostal SA ul. Czackiego 15/17, 00-950 Warsaw 3 22 829-7100/22 826-0493 kontakt@polimex.pl www.polimex.pl

1,746.3 3,484.2 4,179.5 3,375.7

WND WND WND WND

2,105.9 4,160.9 4,836.7 4,301.1

✓ ✓ ✓

✓ ✓

Production of steel products; hot dip galvanizing; sound barrier and baffle production

¸ódê Fabryczna Station; the Chopin Centre in Warsaw; Solidarity Centre in Solpark sports and educational European Gdaƒsk; heat power station complex in Kleszczów; A4 unit for Elektrociep∏ownia highway Wielicka junction EC1; Museum of Szarów junction; Legia Stadium Bielsko-Bia∏a the History of Polish Jews in in Warsaw Warsaw

WND 1945

Grupa Kapita∏owa PBG (1) ul. Skórzewska 35, 62-081 Przeêmierowo 4 61 665-1700/61 665-1701 polska@pbg-sa.pl www.pbg-sa.pl

1,457.0 2,740.0 2,577.0 2,091.0

WND WND WND WND

WND WND WND WND

✓ ✓ ✓

✓ ✓

Liquefied natural gas terminal in ÂwinoujÊcie; LubiatówMi´dzychód-Grotów mine; Underground Gas Storage Wierzchowice

3,327 1994

Jerzy WiÊniewski

Grupa Kapita∏owa Mostostal Warszawa SA (2) ul. Konstruktorska 11A, 02-673 Warsaw 5 22 548-5600/22 548-5666 info@mostostal.waw.pl www.mostostal.waw.pl

1,426.0 2,570.0 2,321.0 2,001.0

72.0 192.0 390.0 210.0

1,354.0 2,378.0 2,712.0 2,211.0

✓ ✓ ✓

Subcontracting; equipment leasing; materials sale

S8 high-speed road Konotopabridge over Odra in Prymasa Tysiàclecia Warszawa; R´dziƒski Wroc∏aw; A2 highway technologic modernization of National Central Water Supply Facilities Stryków-Konotopa; Music Forum in Wroc∏aw; in Warsaw; Library of the Silesia terephtalic acid production University; Apartamenty Paƒska plant in W∏oc∏awek in Warsaw

5,923 1945

Jaros∏aw Popio∏ek

Hydrobudowa Polska SA ul. Skórzewska 35, Wysogotowo, 62-081 Przeêmierowo 6 61 664-1950/61 664-1951 polska@hbp-sa.pl www.hbp-sa.pl

742.4 1,576.5 1,673.9 1,225.5

WND WND WND WND

756.2 1,628.9 1,704.7 1,267.3

✓ ✓ WND

WND

PGE Arena Gdaƒsk; municipal The National Stadium in stadium in Poznaƒ; waste Warsaw; A4 highway Tarnów disposal facility in Gdaƒsk - D´bica; transmission Szadó∏ki; transmission collectors collectors for Czajka for Czajka wastewater wastewater treatment plant treatment plant in Warsaw - 1st in Warsaw - 2nd phase; phase sports and fair arena in Toruƒ

1,600 1968

Jerzy Ciechanowski

Warbud SA Al. Jerozolimskie 162A, 02-342 Warsaw 7 22 567-6000/22 567-6001 warbud@warbud.pl www.warbud.pl

662.0 1,315.0 1,525.0 1,608.0

-

670.0 1,330.0 1,538.0 1,621.0

✓ ✓ ✓

WND

“Czajka” wastewater The Copernicus Science Centre; treatment plant in Warsaw; Museum of Modern Art in A2 highway StrykówKraków; S8 high-speed road Konotopa; CAPITOL Music Konotopa-Prymasa Tysiàclecia; Theatre in Wroc∏aw; Prosta Tower in Warsaw Ma∏opolski Technology Park in Kraków

1,114 1992

W∏odzimierz W∏odarczyk

842 1996

Henryk Liszka

✓ ✓

✓ ✓

✓ ✓

WND

Urban Stadium in Poznaƒ; National Stadium in Warsaw; Stadium in Gdaƒsk

Board Memebers

General Director

Konrad Jaskó∏a President; General Director

President

President

President

President

WND 876.0 918.0 1,231.0

WND WND WND WND

WND WND WND WND

✓ ✓ ✓

✓ ✓

Extention of Poznaƒ-¸awica Airport passenger terminal; Cosmopolitan Twarda 2/4 in CH Futura Park in Modlniczka; Warsaw; new building for Organization of the investment Centrum Biurowe Francuska in Physics, Astronomy and process in the delivery of Katowice; Nowy Dom Computer Science residential buildings Jab∏kowskich in Warsaw; Dialog Applied Faculty of Jagiellonian Arena stadium in Lublin University in Kraków; Business Garden Warszawa 1st phase

Bilfinger Berger Budownictwo SA ul. Domaniewska 50A, 02-672 Warsaw 9 22 244-3400/22 244-3541 info@bilfinger.pl www.bilfinger.pl

265.0 716.0 568.0 720.0

WND WND WND WND

WND WND WND WND

✓ -

✓

Go∏dap Bypass; brigde over Odra in K´dzierzyn-Koêle; S8 high-speed road Konotopa Prymasa Tysiàclecia in Warsaw

S2 Southern Warsaw bypass; Southern Gdaƒsk Bypass; reconstruction of S8 high speed road in Rawa Mazowiecka; Zambrów Bypass

1,214 WND

Piotr Kledzik

Mota-Engil Central Europe SA ul. Wadowicka 8W, 30-415 Kraków 10 12 664-8000/12 664-8001 contact@mota-engil-ce.pl www.mota-engil-ce.pl

473.0 688.7 624.7 633.0

WND WND WND WND

WND WND WND WND

✓ ✓ ✓

✓ ✓

S7 high-speed road Skar˝yskoProduction of bituminous Kamienna - Wyst´pa; design mixtures and road aggregates, and construction of the second prefabricated concrete, bridge over Wis∏a in reinforced concrete and Sandomierz; tunnel under the prestressed concrete elements railway track in Kielce

Design and reconstruction of Je˝ewo - Bia∏ystok national road no. 8; S8 high speed road Wroc∏aw - OleÊnica; S3 high speed road Mi´dzyrzec Po∏udnie junction - Sulechów junction; Fajny Dom residential and retail complex in Kraków 3rd phase

2,840 1953

Fiel Barbosa

NDI SA ul. Powstaƒców Warszawy 19, 81-718 Sopot 11 58 771-7700/58 771-7701 ndi@ndi.com.pl www.ndi.com.pl

90.0 486.0 298.0 279.0

WND WND WND WND

146.0 544.0 363.0 287.0

✓ ✓ ✓

✓ ✓

A1 highway Nowe Marzy Toruƒ

107 1991

Jerzy Gajewski

MIRBUD SA ul. Unii Europejskiej 18, 96-100 Skierniewice 12 46 833-9828/46 833-9732 sekretariat@mirbud.com.pl www.mirbud.com.pl

132.0 301.0 266.0 294.0

WND WND WND WND

132.0 302.0 272.0 309.0

✓ ✓ ✓

348 2002

Halina Mirgos

HOCHTIEF Polska SA ul. Elblàska 14, 01-737 Warsaw 8 22 560-0800/22 633-9786 info@hochtief.pl www.hochtief-polska.pl

✓ ✓

WND

Development services; coinvesting; investment consulting; investment supervision

WND

Tourist Centre in Gdaƒsk; Apartamenty Przy Pla˝y residential complex in Gdaƒsk

EWT Truck & Trailer service Double Tree by Hilton Warsaw station and showroom in Center and SPA in Stryków; Central Operating Conference CH Bawe∏nianka in Theatre in University Children’s Warsaw; Be∏chatów; CENT III Hospital in Kraków; residential educational and lab building in building in Rumia; Mszczonów Warsaw; E∏k bypass bypass

President

President

President

President

President

THE LIST

APRIL 9-15, 2012

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

Revenue from Total revenue revenue (mln including general contracting Export export (mln z∏): 1st half of (mln z∏): 1st half of z∏): 1st half of 2011/ 2011/ 2011/ 2010/ 2010/ 2010/ 2009/ 2009/ 2009/ 2008 2008 2008

Construction speciality: General Public/ Residential

www.wbj.pl

Construction speciality: Industrial/ Civil engineering

Services other than general contracting

AWBUD SA ul. Reja 4, Fugasówka, 42-440 13 Ogrodzieniec 32 671-5201/32 672-2280 biuro@awbud.pl www.awbud.pl

157.0 222.0 280.0 311.0

WND WND WND WND

WND WND WND WND

✓ ✓ ✓

✓ ✓

Design; project management; concrete work and installation; production of concrete elements

Henpol Sp. z o.o. ul. Gospodarcza 23, 20-211 Lublin 14 81 745-1051/81 749-6107 biuro@henpol.com.pl www.henpol.com.pl

WND 190.2 188.9 230.2

-

WND 190.2 189.7 230.6

✓ ✓ ✓

✓ ✓

-

Przedsi´biorstwo Budowlane Dombud SA ul. Drzyma∏y 15, 40-059 Katowice 15 32 251-3541/32 251-1088 zarzad@dombud.pl www.dombud.pl

75.0 170.0 150.0 205.0

WND

75.0 170.0 150.0 205.0

✓ ✓ ✓

✓

Allcon Budownictwo Sp. z o.o., Sp.k.-a. ul. ¸u˝ycka 6, 81-537 Gdynia 16 58 660-1900/58 660-1901 allcon@allcon.pl www.allcon.pl

61.6 161.8 165.3 210.5

WND WND WND WND

61.6 161.8 165.3 210.5

✓ ✓ ✓

✓ -

RD bud Sp. z o.o. ul. Ry˝owa 33B, 02-495 Warsaw 17 22 534-9000/22 863-4360 contact@rdbud.com www.rdbud.com

WND 98.6 143.4 210.0

WND WND WND WND

WND WND WND WND

✓ ✓ ✓

✓ ✓

HARTBEX Przedsi´biorstwo Budowlane Sp. z o.o.

Trzebownisko 22, 36-001 18 Trzebownisko 17 771-3600/17 771-3601 hartbex@hartbex.pl www.hartbex.pl

58.3 94.4 90.1 111.0

3.7 0.7 6.5 9.6

62.0 95.1 96.6 121.0

✓ ✓ ✓

✓ ✓

CFE Polska Sp. z o.o.

Al. Jerozolimskie 92, 00-807 Warsaw 19 22 456-1600/22 456-1601 cfe@cfe.com.pl www.cfe.com.pl

47.7 89.5 92.1 266.5

WND WND WND WND

51.9 95.4 97.5 279.9

Prochem SA ul. Powàzkowska 44C, 01-797 Warsaw 20 22 326-0100/22 326-0101 prochem@prochem.com.pl www.prochem.com.pl

36.7 58.3 80.4 282.5

WND WND WND 2.4

58.5 119.0 183.0 378.0

✓ ✓ ✓

✓ ✓ ✓

Mariusz Bia∏ek

WND

Castorama in Warsaw; Ikea B&B Hotel in Warsaw and in Kraków; ECH in Castorama in E∏k; Wa∏brzych; Brico Depot in Wroc∏aw; Rezydencja Eliza in Pu∏awy; Mokotowska Warsaw; Royal Canin in Square in Warsaw; Niepo∏omice; Galeria Piast Faurecia in Gorzów in Boles∏awiec Wielkopolski

96 1997

Eric Agnello

WND

Hamilton Sunstrand Poland in Rzeszów; Meta-Zel in WSPiA facilities in Rzeszów Rogoênica; Zelnar in Taj´cina

337 1992

Pawe∏ Bàcal

WND

Soprema insulating membrane production plant in B∏onie; Husqvarna agricultural machinery and tools production plant in Mielec; OBI in Miejsce Piastowe; Centrum Logistyczne Merida in Wroc∏aw

Cztery Oceany residential complex in Gdaƒsk; Epsilon in Wroc∏aw; extension of Vlassenroot production plant in Gliwice; Huta SaintGobain Sekurit HanGlas in ˚ary

142 1996

Bruno Lambrecht

Design; substitution investing; investment supervision; delivery completion

Coperion storage silo in W∏oc∏awek; Building Research Institute sewage gas installation in Pionki; Scientific and Educational Center and Water Park of Faculty of Engineering and Environmental Sciences for Warsaw University of Life Sciences

Epichlorohydrin installation for ZACHEM in Bydgoszcz; fragrances plant for Pollena Aroma in Nowy Dwór Mazowiecki; passanger airplane components production plant for Goodrich Aerospace Poland in Taj´cin

227 1947

Jaros∏aw St´pniewski

Cosmetics production plant for Avon in Garwolin; extention of P&G production plant in Aleksandrów Design; developer services ¸ódzki; logistics, warehouse and office center for Segro in ¸ódê; extension of SCA Hygiene Products production plant in O∏awa

Extension of Reckitt Benckiser production plant in Nowy Dwór Mazowiecki; Electronic Equipment Factory in Aleksandrów ¸ódzki; reconstruction of Centrum Logistyczne UPS in ¸azy; modernization of P&G production plant in Aleksandrów ¸ódzki

45 1991

Piotr Grabowicz

Matwicka 9 in Warsaw; Regenersis warehouse

5 WND

Andrzej ˚murek

✓ ✓

Steel structures; assembly New Air Compressor for ZA of technology installations, Pu∏awy; boilers assembly in machinery in industrial (Sweden), plants; pipeline construction Norrkoping Riverside (UK) and and assembly; design of Roosendal (the steel construction and Netherlands) technological installation

Brigde over San in PrzemyÊl; boiler assembly in Zespó∏ Elektrowni Dolna Odra in Szczecin; Process Research Center for Plant Resources Supercritical Extraction; assembly of flue gas treatment installation in incineration plant in Helsingborg (Sweden)

867 1963

Tadeusz Rybak

✓ -

Production plant and Production plant and warehouse for warehouse for Alkopack in Energoserwis in Lublin; Gomel; production plant production plant and and warehouse for Sapa Design; delivery and warehouse for Aliplast in Aluminium in ¸ódê; installation of industrial halls Lublin; production plant for warehouse for TME in ¸ódê; Komahold in Kudowa Zdrój; production plant for production plant for Haver Technolux in Siemianowice in Lida Âlàskie

17 1994

Krzysztof Bednarek

✓ ✓

✓ ✓

10.3 21.3 21.5 3.7

✓ ✓ ✓

✓ ✓

-

President

83 1990

-

WND WND WND 63.4

Henryk Polak

Inkubator S∏upsk; Jysk in Gdaƒsk; Awiator Alfa in Gdaƒsk; Department of Economy in Sopot

10.3 21.3 21.5 3.7

WND WND WND WND

779 2004

UG Biologia in Gdaƒsk; Sanipor-Polska in Gdynia; Damen Shipyards in Gdynia; Allcon Park 3 in Gdaƒsk

Mermaid Construction Sp. z o.o. ul. Prosta 69, 00-838 Warsaw 22 22 444-1999/22 444-1998 biuro@mermaid.pl www.mermaidconstruction.pl

WND WND WND 63.4

Derby 2, 3, 9, 20 residential Wilno 2, Ho˝a 55, complex; Dobry Dom, Bia∏a, Red Park Mi∏osna Park residential Rezydencja residential complexes complexes

President

WND

✓ ✓

Ocmer Sp. z o.o.

Al. KoÊciuszki 80/82, 90-437 ¸ódê NR 42 634-8790/42 630-6343 office@ocmer.com.pl www.ocmer.com.pl

Micha∏ Wuczyƒski

Lubomir Rosiek

✓ ✓ ✓

✓ -

800 1989

851 1945

WND WND WND WND

101.2 195.7 246.7 238.0

Asseco Poland headquarters in Warsaw; warehouse and production plant for Konsorcjum Stali in Kraków; convention center for PPF Hasco-Lek in Wroc∏aw; modernization of wastewater treatment plant in Gliwice

Mill line and high storage warehouse for CMC Poland in Zawiercie; production plant for PPF Hasco-Lek in Siechnice; production plant for Yuncheng Polska in Konstantynów ¸ódzki

Developer; TBS; installation

WND WND WND WND

WND WND WND WND

Top local executive/ Title

Modernization of Pa∏ac M∏odzie˝y in Katowice; retail and residential buildings in Gliwice and Chrzanów; sports and entertainment facility in Czerwone Leszczyny

21.9 54.4 105.0 79.0

17.6 20.1 36.6 84.3

Number of employees/ Year founded

Major projects Major projects under recently completed construction

Board of Customs in Katowice; City Guard in Katowice; Monte Casino residential complex in Katowice; Municipal Library in OÊwi´cim

MC Kontrakty Budowlane Sp. z o.o. ul. Rogowska 3, 91-519 ¸ódê 21 42 658-8444/42 658-2202 mckb@mckb.pl www.mckb.pl

Mostostal Pu∏awy SA ul. Budowlanych 5, 24-110 Pu∏awy-Azoty 23 81 473-1240/81 473-1244 info@mostostal-pulawy.com.pl www.mostostal-pulawy.com.pl

19

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

Footnotes: (1) Grupa Kapita∏owa PBG: PBG, HBP, HB9, PBG Energia, Aprivia, Apatia, PRG Metro, KWG, Metorex, AQUA, Dromost, PRID, Betpol, Brokam, Bathinex, PBG Erigo, PBG Dom, PBG Technologia, EXCAN, PBG Mozambik, PBG Bulgaria, PBG Ukraina, Energopol-Ukraina, Wschodni INVEST, Energomonta˝; (2) Grupa Kapita∏owa Mostostal Warszawa: AMK Kraków, Mostostal Kielce, Mostostal P∏ock, Mostostal Pu∏awy, REMAK, WROBIS, Terramost.

Investment supervision; technical consulting

Cross Point ¸ódê; modernization of Pa∏ac M∏odziejowskiego in Warsaw

President

President

General Director

President

General Director

President

President

President

Managing Director

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

20

MARKETS

www.wbj.pl

APRIL 9-15, 2012

Stocks report

world stock indices DJIA

NASDAQ

13,060.14 (April 5 close)

S&P500

3,080.5 (April 5 close)

-0.65% (for the week)

FTSE100

1,398.08 (April 5 close)

-0.48% (for the week)

DAX

5,723.7 (April 5 close)

-0.37% (for the week)

-0.32% (for the week)

Optimism fading?

NIKKEI225 6,775.26 (April 5 close)

9,767.61 (April 5 close)

-1.45% (for the week)

-3.43% (for the week)

CHANGE: 5.35%

CHANGE: 16.30%

CHANGE: 9.48%

CHANGE: 0.42%

CHANGE: 11.52%

CHANGE: 14.11%

(year to April 5)

(year to April 5)

(year to April 5)

(year to April 5)

(year to April 5)

(year to April 5)

52-week high: 13,289.08

52-week high: 3,095.36

52-week high: 1,414.00

52-week high: 6,103.73

52-week high: 7,600.41

52-week high: 10,207.91

52-week low: 10,404.49

52-week low: 2,298.89

52-week low: 1,074.77

52-week low: 4,791.01

52-week low: 4,965.80

52-week low: 8,135.79

Remi Adekoya Last Monday’s session started with gains in share prices for Polish stocks, in part because of the release of Poland’s PMI index reading for March which stood at 50.1 points.

This indicated that activity in the manufacturing sector expanded slightly.

There was also good news from Western European markets which served as an added incentive for investors. Positive ISM manufacturing sentiment data from the US improved moods further, with the blue-chip WIG20 ending the day up 0.63 percent, while the WIG finished up 0.54 percent.

Last Tuesday’s session was relatively uneventful. The day started with gains, with the WIG20 rising 0.6 percent but optimism faded as the day continued. The WIG20 finally ended the day 0.1 percent down. Oil refiner Lotos gained the most, rising 5.6 percent, while Bank Pekao

Major indices WIG

40,802.41 (April 5 close)

WIG20

2,263.35 (April 5 close)

05.04

04.04

03.04

02.04

30.03

29.03

28.03

27.03

26.03

23.03

22.03

21.03

20.03

05.04

04.04

03.04

02.04

30.03

29.03

28.03

27.03

26.03

23.03

2,200

22.03

40,000

21.03

2,240 20.03

40,600

19.03

2,280

16.03

41,200

15.03

2,320

14.03

2,360

41,800

13.03

42,400

12.03

2,400

09.03

43,000

19.03

52-week low: 2,089.84

16.03

Change year to April 5: 3.16%

15.03

52-week low: 36,549.47

14.03

52-week high: 2,932.62

Change year to April 5: 6.48%

13.03

Change for the week: -0.35%

12.03

52-week high: 50,371.74

09.03

Change for the week: -0.55%

Top 5 PWRMEDIA KANIA IFCAPITAL NORTCOAST MISPOL

Closing 1.13 1.99 7.70 0.47 2.59

% change (week) 52-week high 21.51 1.26 17.06 2.73 16.67 8.99 14.63 1.42 14.10 6.74

52-week low 0.62 0.80 0.45 0.35 2.27

Top 5 LOTOS KGHM PGNIG BRE BZWBK

Closing 28.29 144.80 4.11 289.30 233.00

% change (week) 4.78 4.10 3.79 2.41 0.43

52-week high 49.50 200.30 4.65 357.90 238.00

52-week low 21.30 102.40 3.25 203.30 190.10

Bottom 5 RESBUD DSS PBOANIOLA ABMSOLID INTAKUS

Closing 24.81 2.95 3.82 3.00 0.37

% change (week) -25.50 -24.55 -23.60 -23.47 -22.92

52-week low 2.88 2.42 3.10 1.49 0.36

Bottom 5 PBG POLIMEXMS PEKAO GTC CYFRPOLSAT

Closing 34.94 1.26 146.00 6.28 13.36

% change (week) -9.13 -6.67 -5.26 -4.85 -3.19

52-week high 180.90 3.66 180.20 21.76 17.69

52-week low 33.70 1.19 115.10 6.01 11.60

52-week high 70.00 23.75 7.70 15.10 1.50

Currency report

Spotlight on European debt

Other indices sWIG80

10,093.86 (April 5 close)

05.04

04.04

03.04

02.04

30.03

29.03

28.03

27.03

26.03

23.03

WIG-Banki

5,720.81 (April 5 close)

05.04

04.04

03.04

02.04

30.03

29.03

28.03

27.03

26.03

23.03

22.03

21.03

20.03

05.04

04.04

03.04

02.04

30.03

29.03

28.03

27.03

26.03

23.03

5,700

22.03

41.0

21.03

5,800

20.03

41.6

19.03

5,900

16.03

42.2

15.03

6,000

14.03

42.8

13.03

6,100

12.03

43.4

09.03

6,200

19.03

52-week low: 4,944.19

16.03

Change year to April 5: 3.20%

15.03

52-week low: 40.00

14.03

52-week high: 7,387.49

Change year to April 5: 2.12%

13.03

Change for the week: -2.90%

12.03

52-week high: 59.10

09.03

Change for the week: 1.05%

44.0

Bartosz Bia∏kowski, X-Trade Brokers Dom Maklerski SA

52-week low: 8,218.71

22.03

19.03

16.03

05.04

04.04

03.04

02.04

42.37 (April 5 close)

52-week high: 12,932.00

SOURCE: WSE

NewConnect

30.03

29.03

28.03

27.03

26.03

10,000 23.03

2,400

22.03

10,120

21.03

2,440

20.03

10,240

19.03

2,480

16.03

10,360

15.03

2,520

14.03

10,480

13.03

2,560

12.03

10,600

09.03

2,600

15.03

Change year to April 5: 17.31%

14.03

52-week low: 2,076.52

13.03

Change year to April 5: 13.08%

12.03

Change for the week: -1.30%

09.03

52-week high: 2,987.72

21.03

2,476.70 (April 5 close)

20.03

mWIG40 Change for the week: -0.65%

ended the day 3.1 percent down.

Monetary policy was the main focus of attention on Wednesday as investors analyzed signals coming from the National Bank of Poland concerning interest rates. The day started on a pessimistic note since investors’ moods were made worse by the fact that the US Federal Reserve had signaled on Tuesday that it might end its financial “support” for the American economy. The WIG20 eventually ended the day 1.81 percent down, with the German DAX and the French CAC also falling.

Thursday’s session was a bit of a roller coaster. The WIG20 started the day with gains only to lose up to 0.7 percent at one point in the day. But the optimists didn’t give up and the WIG20 ended the day 0.3 percent up. The WSE was closed on Friday. ●

The weakness of the z∏oty in the first week of April can be explained by the movement of the EUR/USD. Last Monday, that currency pair tested its four-week high, close to the level of 1.34. The following days brought with them a decline to near the 1.30 level, eliminating almost three weeks of growth.

It all began with a report from the March meeting of the US Federal Reserve, which implied that there is now a reduced chance of a third round of quantitative easing. However, the major cause of the weakening of the euro against the dollar, worsening sentiment on equity markets and, finally, the weakening of the z∏oty, is growing concern about the sustainability of recent improvements in European debt markets.

As WBJ went to press,

investors were still waiting for a report on the US labor market. However, if figures confirmed positive indications published last Wednesday in ADP’s private survey, a significant market reaction was not expected.

Last Friday at around noon, the EUR/PLN currency pair stood at 4.1520, and the USD/PLN at 3.1760.

In the short term the condition of the Polish currency will depend on new economic data from China and the euro zone.

Locally, the National Bank of Poland (NBP) last week kept the benchmark interest rate at 4.5 percent, meaning it hasn’t been changed since June last year.

Poland’s rate setters are “seriously considering” raising borrowing costs, NBP governor Marek Belka said after the announcement. ●

currency rates 3.8588 06.04

SOURCE: NBP

3.8543 05.04

3.8120 04.04

3.7780 03.04

3.7979

3.7483

30.03

0.1076

0.1078 06.04

3.5

02.04

PLN-100JPY

4.0

05.04

0.1070 04.04

0.1057 03.04

02.04

0.1064 30.03

3.4526

3.4584 06.04

0.10

0.1057

PLN-RUB

0.12

05.04

3.4449 04.04

3.4335 03.04

3.4401

3.4540 3.4

30.03

5.0418 06.04

5.0271 05.04

5.0057 04.04

4.9669 03.04

4.9793 02.04

30.03

4.9908

3.1814 06.04

3.1678

5

4

PLN-CHF

3.6

02.04

PLN-GBP

6

05.04

3.1503 04.04

3.0990 03.04

02.04

3.1191 30.03

4.1544

4.1565 06.04

3.0

3.1017

PLN-USD

3.5

05.04

4.1495 04.04

4.1327 03.04

02.04

4.1616 30.03

4

4.1428

PLN-EUR

5

SPORTS

APRIL 9-15, 2012

www.wbj.pl

21

Soccer

American football

Polonia Warszawa fans tear gassed by police

Eagles remain unbeaten in Topliga

COURTESY OF SKTWITC.PL

Fans of Polish Ekstraklasa team Polonia Warszawa were tear-gassed by police during a home match against Âlàsk Wroc∏aw at the start of April.

The incident occurred after supporters unveiled a banner which read “Down with Communism! Polonia Warszawa.”

Andrzej Szczepaƒski, an official from the Polish Football Association (PZPN) who was at the game, then instructed the stadium announcer to tell the supporters to remove the slogan.

Fans of the Black Shirts, as Polonia are known, ignored the announcement, and as a result around 30 police officers were sent in to take the banner by force. The police met strong resistance from Polonia fans and although the game was halted for a short time and some fans were hospitalized, the banner remained on display.

COURTESY OF FACEBOOK/POLONIA WARSZAWA

Supporters had unveiled a banner with the slogan “Down with Communism”

The Devils and Rebels battle each other and the snow

Polonia fans refused to remove an anti-communist banner “According to PZPN’s status, a stadium is an apolitical place. There is no place for political banners there. If the delegate had not reacted, he would have been held accountable for that,” said Miros∏aw Starczewski, vice president of PZPN’s security department.

The board of Polonia Warszawa responded by publishing a statement on the club’s official website.

“We disagree with the opinion of the delegate of the

Teams faced difficult conditions as snow showers affected play in the second round

PZPN, Andrzej Szczepaƒski … Eight “Black Shirts” were murdered in Katyƒ, and many more were killed fighting the Bolsheviks, and others had to leave the country. These facts clearly show that in the case of Polish opposition against communism, [the club] is of particular importance. We consider it essential that the people who make decisions are aware of the historical factors specific to the clubs,” the statement said.

Warsaw Eagles overcame a tough test in the latest round of Polish American Football League (PLFA) Topliga games, having to battle both adverse weather conditions and resistance from Gdynia Seahawks in order to maintain their unbeaten start to the season.

The field at the National Rugby Stadium in Gdynia was covered with a blanket of snow before kick-off and this may have played a role in the slow start to the match, with both

David Ingham

Handball

sides struggling for rhythm in an interrupted first half. In the end, the Eagles went in at the break 13-8 up.

The third quarter was a topsy-turvy affair, which started with Kyle McMahon hitting Josh DeLuca on a 32-yard scoring pass to give the Seahawks a one-point lead.

Tyrone Landrum erased that advantage on the next play, before Mr DeLuca then caught another touchdown pass to allow Gdynia to go ahead. The lead then changed hands again with two more touchdowns ensuring the quarter ended with Warsaw leading 32-22.

The Seahawks could find no answer in the last quarter, conceding three more touchdowns to the visitors to make the final score look a lot worse than the actual run of play would have suggested.

In the weekend’s other games, Dom-Bud Kraków Tigers beat Koz∏y Poznaƒ to ensure the Goats remained the only side without a win as the teams go in to the Easter break.

In the last match of the weekend, Wroc∏aw Devils recovered from their opening-day loss to crush AZS Silesia Rebels 59-0 in another game played in difficult weather conditions.

Alex Zarganis

Poland lose to Germany in Olympic warmup Poland lost their last warmup game prior to an Olympic qualifying tournament in Alicante, Spain, last week.

Coach Bogdan Wenta’s team went down 26-28 to Germany in front of almost 11,000 fans, a record for a Polish handball game, at the Ergo Arena in Gdaƒsk.

“It was amazing … It hurts me that we were unable to repay our supporters for this unique setting and atmosphere with victory over the Germans, or at least a draw,” Bogdna Wenta said after the game.

The two teams, who have already met once this year when Poland won 33-32, went in at the break all square at 15-15. But with the scores tied at 26-26 going in to the final stages, the Germans broke the home team’s resistance as first Lars Kaufmann and then Dominik Klein scored.

As WBJ went to press, Poland were in Alicante to face Spain, Serbia and Algeria in a bid to qualify for this summer’s London Olympics. The top two

teams from the qualifying competition will book their place

on the plane for the flagship David Ingham event.

DAILY EXECUTIVE DIGEST Poland A.M. gives you the biggest Polish stories of the day.

Have the most valuable news delivered to your inbox each weekday morning.

COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

The game was watched by a record 11,000 fans at the Ergo Arena

Poland coach Bogdan Wenta was disappointed that his players lost to two late goals

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

22

LIFESTYLE

www.wbj.pl

APRIL 9-15, 2012

Festival

Exhibition

Africa on film

Sporting history

For more information log on to afrykamera.pl

Located on the 6th floor of Warsaw’s iconic Palace of Culture and Science, the Great Football Exhibition features memorabilia connected with some of the greatest players of yesteryear.

With over 100 shirts on display from soccer legends including Germany’s Karl-

David Ingham

Heinz Rummenigge, Portugal’s Luis Figo and French Legend Zinedine Zidane, the exhibition is definitely worth a look for soccer fans.

Other exhibits include pennants, trophies, a variety of balls from different stages of soccer history, as well as interactive games for kids.

For more information log on to wystawapilkarska.pl The exhibition features over a COURTESY OF M. ÂMIAROWSKI/STX JAMBOREE

Gdaƒsk, Kraków and Poznaƒ, is awarded the Zebra prize following an audience vote.

David Ingham

100 soccer shirts

Exhibition

Institutional racism uncovered April 13-May 6 “The Faces of Racism Revealed” Wilanów Poster Museum ul. St. Kostki Potockiego 10/16, Warsaw

AfryKamera showcases the best of African film

The main theme of this exhibition of 250 posters is the institutional face of racism. The aim of the project is to encourage visitors to think about the manner in which ideas that encourage racist stereotypes, racial discrimination and racist attitudes are disseminated in the public discourse.

Through their posters, artists have tried to raise awareness about the various forms of racial intolerance in Europe today, as well as promote tolerance and

mutual understanding.

Created in cooperation with Amnesty International and the Brumen Foundation, the posters were exhibited last

autumn at the Poster Festival Ljubljana ‘11.

For more information log on to postermuseum.pl David Ingham

COURTESY OF POSTER FESTIVAL LJUBLIANA ‘11

Originally launched back in 2006, the aim of the AfryKamera festival is to present the best African film releases to audiences in Poland.

This year’s event is split into four categories: Made in Africa; Africa in Diaspora; Africa Kids and Africa Rhythms.

Stand-out films include “Restless City,” a movie which tells the story of Djibril, a young African immigrant trying to make a life for himself on the streets of Harlem, New York, and “Ramata,” a film about a 50-year-old Senegalese woman who begins a relationship with a criminal 25 years her junior.

The opening movie for AfryKamera 2012 is “Asma'a.”

Based on a real-life character, it tells the story of a woman who is HIV positive but hides her health problems from family and friends. The film premiered at the Abu Dhabi International Film Festival,

with director Amr Salama winning the award for Best Arab Director in the New Horizons competition.

Each year, the best film of the festival, which also takes place in cities including

Until October 31, 8am - 6pm The Great Football Exhibition Palace of Culture and Science Pl. Defilad 1 Warsaw

COURTESY OF AFRYKAMERA.PL

April 19-26 AfryKamera 2012 VII African Film Festival Kinoteka, Palace of Culture and Science Pl. Defilad 1 Warsaw

The posters are designed to encourage thinking about racial intolerance in Europe

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

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

Simonis Gallery ul. Burakowska 9 www.simonisgallery.com

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

LAST WORD

APRIL 9-15, 2012

www.wbj.pl

23

Tech Eye

A glimpse into the roiling abyss If you ever take public transport in Warsaw, beware the 17 tram. Madness there abides.

It manifests in overcrowded carriages as scabrous men shouting about the CIA; or pestilent men dripping horrible foreign substances from beneath their fetid coats; or convulsive women who reek mysteriously of barnyard. And those are the benign incarnations of lunacy, the ones which bite not, nor froth.

On the plus side, casualties are rare (discounting emotional trauma), as long as you keep your head down and don’t attract attention.

But woe betide the passenger who, through ill chance or cynical impulse, makes eye contact with one of the crooked pilgrims.

Techeye knows well the truth of this. Just last week as we stood, crushed amidst so many others in the tram, the driver unexpectedly hit the brakes, sending half the passengers surging forward. At that moment, half-flying through the air, we peered into the single eye of a hunched creature which stood glibbering and meeping in a small pocket of open space. Taking the

opportunity, it began to glibber and meep excitedly in our general direction, perhaps in the spirit of friendship or out of craving for human flesh. We never found out, choosing instead to jump from the tram window and hide in a bush for 20 minutes.

On that fateful day, crouched beneath scraggly shrubbery, we swore never to board the 17 tram again without some means of avoiding freaky eye contact. A means such as the Moverio BT-100 wearable display from Epson (epson.com).

There’s something we ought to touch upon before getting into the BT-100 though, and that something is called augmented reality.

If you’re unfamiliar with the concept, it’s basically the addition of virtual elements, visible via a display device, to everyday life.

Like if a shop wanted customers to see penguins dancing on its ceilings.

Augmented reality is still in its infancy. Many devices are being developed, however – you might have seen news last week of Google’s own concept, Project Glass – and someday augmented reality will be an element of daily life. It will be awesome, and here’s an example of why.

Let’s say you have a boss – call him Ebeneezer Tosspot – and he isn’t a very nice fellow. So you (or a skilled friend) write a bit of code tied to a specific geographic coordinate and upload it to the net. As a result, anyone driving past your boss’s house while wearing an aug-

mented reality display will see a giant arrow pointing downward with the message “I snog donkeys.

Won’t you bring me one?” floating in bright pink letters above the roof.

That’s still a ways off, sure, but it’s the future. The Tosspots of the world should take note.

Let’s get back to the BT-100. It’s an Android-based device that can run apps and play both 2D and 3D films. There’s Wi-Fi connectivity, 1GB internal storage, a 4GB microSDCH card slot and Dolby Mobile virtual surround

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sound earphones, with a battery that will last almost six hours on the move. So you can use it to watch films, read on the internet, view augmented reality images and play games.

Bear two things in mind. First, the BT-100 is a freshman effort and neither Epson nor anyone else has an intuitive “Apple-style” design for this kind of device.

We’re nowhere close to critical mass in this market, wearable display-specific apps are only now being written and augmented reality implementation is still rare.

Second, it costs around $699.99, a tidy sum for something that’s going to make you look a bit silly in public (at least until such devices become more common, by which time the BT-100 will probably have long been obsolete anyway). On the other hand, if it prevents unintended eye contact with the 17 tram’s deranged denizens, and blocks out their insane squeals and ululations, it will be worth the cost. ●

Ever communicated with one of the dark dwellers of public transport? Let us know: techeye.wbj@gmail.com

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