The Warsaw Voice, Autumn 2023 No. 1233/1234

Autumn 2023 No. 1233/1234

In the Land of Polish Jazz Page 14

Focus on Poland | Published since 1988

Polish Warehouse Sector Hits the Brakes Page 10

Turning Point for Railway Transportation?

Page 12

From Million Hearts ISSN 0860-7591

to Millions More Votes Democratic Opposition Wins Parliamentary Elections Page 4

This publication is part of The Warsaw Voice Multimedia Platform in Poland

www.warsawvoice.pl

Table of contents POLITICS AND SOCIETY

Citizens Will Be Watching New Government Closely

4-9

REAL ESTATE

Polish Warehouse Sector Hits the Brakes

10-11

ECONOMY

Turning Point for Railway Transportation

12-13

CULTURE

In the Land of Polish Jazz

14-19

BUTIK | 20-23 THE BUZZ | 24-28

The Musical Hit Six Made Way to Poland Tick, Tick…Boom! to premiere at Roma Theater New Exhibition at Andel’s Art Odd Nerdrum – Painter of the North Exhibition You Cannot Miss

MOTO | 29-39

Volkswagen Group Poland Doing Well Bon Voyage! DS4 E-tense Hybrid 225 KM Renault Grows in Poland Porsche 911 Dakar Red 58 Special

IN BRIEF | 40-43

Tender for new trains coming soon Fuel giant invests in bio-fuels Huge loan for Baltic Power’s offshore wind farm Poland’s first hydrogen refueling station opens Pesa will deliver streetcars to Israel The 500,000th car has left the Września plant

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CITIZENS WILL BE WATCHING NEW GOVERNMENT CLOSELY Professor Andrzej Rychard, director of the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology at the Polish Academy of Sciences (IFiS PAN), talks to Witold Żygulski.

T

he parliamentary elections on Oct. 15 most likely brought a change in Poland’s ruling team; after eight years in power, Law and Justice (PiS) may have received the most votes, but it did not win the parliamentary majority, which is now held by three opposition parties. What were the reasons behind this voter turnaround?

The main reason was that the ruling party lost what had previously been its strength, namely its connection to

THE MECHANISM OF THE POLITICAL “THIRD WAY” WORKED IN FAVOR OF THE GROUPING: IT WAS VOTED FOR BY THOSE WHO WERE FED UP WITH THE CONFLICT BETWEEN THE TWO POLITICAL MAINSTREAMS 4

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what people feel and what is important to them. Since 2015 [when PiS came into power], PiS has presented itself as a party that cares about the weak and vulnerable, but in recent months it started sending signals of contempt to the people. This has affected a very large part of Polish society. If PiS politicians are now saying that since the opposition has won, it must remember that PiS supporters are a significant part of society, this can be reversed: PiS should have remembered that there is an important part of society that cannot be addressed with contempt.

It should not have constantly attacked and insulted its political opponents, [Civic Platform (PO) leader] Donald Tusk first and foremost and should not have consistently ignored various signals about its own scandals. In short: PiS ceased to be a party having very good contacts with the public. It was lulled to sleep by power. From this came further sins: violations of the rule of law, attacks on democratic institutions.

PiS also misunderstood society, assuming that it was more conservative than it really was. Meanwhile, a modernization trend has been growing in Poland for many years, with society becoming more secular, more educated, more pro-European and, finally, more affluent. All this has caused PiS to drift further and further away from the people. This contempt coming from the world of politics and this distancing of politicians from society are, in my opin-

ly the unusually large participation of women, especially younger ones, in the Oct. 15 elections.

Was this also the reason for such an unbelievable, 74-percent voter turnout, precedential in Poland since the political breakthrough of 1989?

Yes, of course. What happened was a rare concurrence in Polish society between what was happening in politics and what was important in the individual lives of people, i.e. voters. This was particularly evident in the group of young people, where the turnout increased dramatically.

The same is true for women, which can primarily be linked to the extremely repressive policy on abortion imposed by the authorities. Abortion in Poland has been criminalized, women have seen politics, previously somewhat abstract, invade their private lives. This was already evident in the fall of 2020, when hundreds of thousands of Polish women took to the streets during the Women’s Strike triggered by the tightening of the abortion law [under the Constitutional Tribunal’s ruling, irreversible damage to the fetus ceased to be a legal premise for abortion]. The authorities treated the protesters by sending police after them and mocking them in the pro-government media.

Women saw that PiS not only promises [the flagship family benefit] 500+, but also goes at them with police batons when they protest in defense of rights that are obvious to most. This had easy-to-predict consequences: Jarosław Kaczyński [leader of the United Right] first gained from the connection between politics and everyday life, then suddenly began to lose. The long-term effect was precise-

According to some, the biggest winner on Oct. 15 was the Third Way, the electoral coalition of the opposition agrarian Polish Peoples’ Party (PSL) and political newcomer Poland 2050, created just this spring; what is your opinion on this?

The Third Way indeed performed much better than it looked at the beginning of its political existence. From the beginning of the election campaign, it distinguished itself by consistent action, a clear concept and good organization, even though it had very little time to create efficient structures to run the campaign. It was merit-based and focused on specifics. The mechanism of the political “third way” worked in favor of the grouping: it was voted for by those who were fed up with the conflict between the two political mainstreams, PiS and the Civic Coalition (KO). Thus, the attraction of novelty worked. Finally, a certain portion of voters may have voted for the Third Way at the last minute for “tactical” reasons. The pro-government media speculated that a situation in which the Third Way would not exceed the 8-percent electoral threshold applicable to the coalition and would not enter parliament, would be a blow to the entire democratic opposition and would enable PiS to continue its rule. The politicians of the Third Way themselves bandied about the slogan “Either the Third Way or a third term for PiS!” Therefore, I think that a large part of the “last minute” votes in fact went to the grouping of Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz and Szymon Hołownia.

POLITICS AND SOCIETY

ion, the main reasons for the electoral defeat of the party that has been in power for eight years.

Biggest winners: Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz and Szymon Hołownia

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What was the significance in the fight for votes of events like the protest marches organized in Warsaw by the KO: the June 4 March attended by about half a million people, and the Million Hearts March on Oct. 1, which gathered almost a million participants? And what about the only leaders’ debate in the campaign, organized by the extremely biased public TVP? Let me start with the pseudo-debate. Through its architecture, it belittled the biggest players on the political scene, while helping the smaller ones. Everyone had the same amount of time to speak, and from the beginning it was clear that Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and Donald Tusk were the worst off. On the other hand, [Poland 2050 leader] Hołownia had an excellent appearance, refraining from his characteristic rhetorical fireworks and answering questions in a matter-of-fact manner, keeping to the allotted time. The representatives of the Left and the Confederation also did not do badly.

As for the marches, their role cannot be overestimated; admittedly, it was not very evident in the political support polls after the two protests, but they undoubtedly gave a powerful mobilization boost to the electorate. The first march on June 4 was particularly surprising. Donald Tusk and the other organizers showed how the emotion of patriotism, which until then had been more of a PiS political weapon, could be harnessed effectively. Waves of whiteand-red flags, good slogans, all this had previously been used successfully by those in power, while the PO operated under the label of the [mundane] “hot water in the faucet” and was accused of a lack of clarity by its political rivals. The June 4 March showed that it was capable of mobilizing hundreds of thousands of Poles not only to take to the streets, but also to go further; Tusk appealed during the Million Hearts March for each participant to go further and encourage their relatives or friends: “Go to the polls!”

The result was a voter turnout unseen in Polish history. The KO did its best to attract the undecided, was open to the people, and this paid off.

The leaders of all the democratic parties did not attack one another in the process, they referred to each other with respect. And PiS closed itself off, brutalized the campaign, attacked everyone, accusing them of lacking patriotism,

POLITICS AND SOCIETY

The Million Hearts March, Warsaw, October 1

TUSK APPEALED DURING THE MILLION HEARTS MARCH FOR EACH PARTICIPANT TO GO FURTHER AND ENCOURAGE THEIR RELATIVES OR FRIENDS: “GO TO THE POLLS!” THE RESULT WAS A VOTER TURNOUT UNSEEN IN POLISH HISTORY The Warsaw Voice

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THOSE WHO VOTED FOR THE KO, THE THIRD WAY OR THE LEFT WILL BE KEEPING A WATCHFUL EYE ON THE PEOPLE THEY ELECTED Queues for polling stations lined up from early morning until late evening

and tried to exclude its opponents from the national community. It did not solicit those who had not gone to the polls before; on the contrary, it probably would have preferred them to stay at home, and only to see representatives of the core electorates of the various groups at the ballot box. This is exactly how it lost.

PiS continues to argue that it will manage to draw one of parliamentary groups or part of it to its side, which will give PiS the coveted 231 votes in the Sejm [lower house]; do you think this is realistic, or is a government formed by the recent opposition a foregone conclusion?

In my opinion, the continuation of the United Right government is not possible. While it is true that buying parliamentary votes for positions in state-owned companies, deputy minister positions or other benefits was a com-

A good face to a bad game: PiS headquarters when exit polls are announced

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mon practice of PiS in the last years of its rule, today the Poles would see winkling anyone out from the ranks of the democratic opposition as the ultimate embarrassment. Those who voted for the KO, the Third Way or the Left will be keeping a watchful eye on the people they elected. This will apply not only to the time of the current interregnum, but also to at least the first few months, if not longer, of the new coalition government of the democratic opposition. Any political move that could threaten this government, no matter who in the new coalition might make such a move, will be stigmatized mercilessly by public opinion. All the public energy that was invested by more than 70 percent of Poles able to vote on Oct. 15 will not disappear overnight; they will closely watch the doings of those they decided to trust.

All the newly elected deputies forming the democratic majority in the parliament will feel a crowd of citizens breathing down their necks. This charge of emotion we face today should effectively muffle all the differences of opinion and tactics that divide the KO, the Third Way and the Left today.

But what about the United Right? Won’t the move to the opposition cause an internal crisis?

For many months, the Right has been united in name only.

Now its decomposition may accelerate. The fundamental problem PiS has is the question of succession, of what will happen when Jarosław Kaczyński leaves the political scene.

The behavior of junior coalitionist Sovereign Poland and its leader, current Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro, is a mystery. I also think that the process of this decomposition may also be influenced by possible desertions of MPs fleeing a ship they may believe to be sinking. The crucial question is what will happen to PiS itself, which is also not internally unified, where factions and interest groups are emerging. Perhaps, then, the United Right will not survive the test of losing the elections. Kaczyński is saying today that it is necessary to focus on the next elections – local and

26 seats

18 seats

65 seats

POLITICS AND SOCIETY

Donald Tusk - back in the Prime Minister's chair?

presidential, but it is unclear whether this message from the leader will be strong enough.

Another loser in the elections was the radical-nationalist Confederation, which scored a result of 15-17 percent in polls just a few weeks before the vote but ended up at a meager 7 percent; does this formation still have a political future?

The Confederation received a very clear signal from the public that the momentary charm it presented to voters was no substitute for a program. It became clear that the completely nonsensical recipes for economic policy did not convince anyone serious, and the xenophobic rhetoric, especially anti-EU rhetoric, also failed completely. This also happened for the reason I mentioned earlier: the slow but serious structural transformation of Polish society toward modernization.

194 seats Law and Justice (PiS) - Civic Coalition (KO) Third Way (Poland 2050 - Polish People's Party) New Left

157 seats

The Warsaw Voice

Confederation

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POLISH WAREHOUSE SECTOR HITS THE BRAKES A more challenging economic situation and a ‘wait and see‘ approach adopted by market players have been the key factors affecting the Polish industrial real estate sector in H1 2023.

AXI IMMO presents its new report Polish Warehouse Market H1 2023.

G

ross take-up amounted to 2.24m sq m (-39% y/y) between January and June. A soft patch was also visible on the supply side. Although a relatively large amount of space was added to the market in H1 2023 (2.6m sq m, marking a 9% y/y increase) and total stock increased to 30.6m sq m, there was only 2.13m sq m under construction as at the end of June 2023 – 50% less compared to a year earlier. The vacancy rate climbed to 6.7% at the end of Q2, marking a 3.3 p.p. increase on Q2 2022.

The first half of 2023 brought a significant slowdown in the Polish investment market. The volume of transactions in the warehouse sector stood at EUR 440 million, marking a 30% decline compared to H1 2022. The share of the sector in the

Renata Osiecka, Managing Partner, AXI IMMO

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entire commercial real estate market remained high at 54%.

The largest investment transaction completed in H1 was the acquisition of Campus 39 in Wrocław by P3 from Panattoni (approx. 185,000 sq m), followed by the purchase of 7R Park Poznań East II (approx. 51,500 sq m) by DWS Group from 7R and a takeover of City Logistics Wrocław II (38 000 sq m) by Trigea Nemovitostni from Panattoni.

Grzegorz Chmielak, Capital Markets and Valuations Director, explains: “Increased financing costs, market uncertainty and the ongoing price correction have held investors back.

We expect an improvement in the second half of 2023 as prices should stabilize and capital is likely to return to the sector given its bright long term prospects”.

Gross take-up in the warehouse and production real estate sector fell to 1m sq m between April and June 2023, which was the lowest level since 2020. Weaker demand from e-commerce players, after a peak during the pandemic, is one of the factors behind this slowdown. Deterioration in the overall economic conditions is key as well, with slower economic growth having knock-on effects on the housing market and consumer spending. Subdued demand for furniture, white goods, interior design products and building materials, which have until now been driving the Polish manufacturing sector, translated into limited need to produce and store such goods. The war in Ukraine remains an important factor for the sector too, weighing on overall business confidence and leading to high financing costs and lower margins for occupiers (on the back of higher inflation and elevated interest rates). As a result, gross take-up (excluding lease renewals) fell in the first half

IN THE SHORT-TERM, A MEANINGFUL PICK-UP IN DEMAND IS UNLIKELY

REAL ESTATE

Grzegorz Chmielak, Capital Markets and Valuations Director

Anna Głowacz, Director, Industrial and Logistics

of 2023 by 39% year-on-year. The largest transaction of that period was the decision by MCG EastBridge to lease an entire building within the GLP Kraków III Logistics Centre (56,200 sq m). The second largest deal was a renewal signed by Tyco Electronics Poland at Panattoni Park Szczecin I (56,000 sq m), followed by a new 55,000 sq m lease by Shein at the Panattoni Park Wrocław Logistics South Hub. Anna Głowacz, Director, Industrial and Logistics, says: “The situation in the market varies by region. Some recorded increases in take-up levels in H1, led by Zachodniopomorskie (191%), Świętokrzyskie (140%), Lubelskie (29%) and Pomorskie (16%). Meanwhile all the 5 largest warehouse markets (Mazowieckie, Śląskie, Dolnośląskie, Łódzkie and Wielkopolskie Provinces) recorded declines. In the short-term, a meaningful pick-up in demand is unlikely. However, economic recovery forecasted from next year onwards should translate into a revival in the industrial sector”.

Modern industrial stock reached 30.6 m sq m in Q2 2023, with the largest five markets accounting for over 75% of the total. Developers completed nearly 2.6 m sq m of warehouse and production space during the first six months of 2023, with 75% delivered in Q1 and 25% in Q2. The largest amount of space was added to the market in Mazowieckie (over 499k sq m), Śląskie (over 414k sq m) and Lubuskie (338.5k sq m). As of the end of June 2023, just 2.13 m sq m of space was under construction, of which 61% was built speculatively (vs 48% in June 2022).

The vacancy rate in the Polish warehouse sector increased at the end of Q2 2023 to 6.7% following a completion of a high number of new schemes during the first six months of the year. There are significant differences between regions, with The Warsaw Voice

the highest share of available space in relation to stock recorded in Świętokrzyskie (12.8%), Lubuskie (10.6%) and Lubelskie (9.1%). Availability will continue to vary greatly depending on location, with several regions offering next to no available space. It is worth noting, however, that even in markets with limited vacancies, developers can take on a project for the right client thanks to a large bank of secured land parcels.

Rents appear to be stabilizing, albeit with discrepancies across regions. Average prime big box rents nationwide are in the range of EUR 4-4.50 per sq m, per month. Warsaw City remains the most expensive market, with average asking rents reaching up to EUR 8 per sq m in new developments and approx. EUR 5.50 per sq m in older schemes. In addition, rental levels exceeding EUR 7 per sq m are achievable in selected schemes in Kraków and Katowice.

Renata Osiecka, Managing Partner, AXI IMMO, sums up: “The Polish warehouse sector is currently experiencing a slowdown, with tepid occupier activity due to elevated financing costs, a weak consumer market and challenging conditions in the housing and manufacturing sectors. However, we expect economic recovery to translate into a rebound in the sector from next year onwards, while a return to looser monetary conditions should enable companies to pursue expansion plans which had been put on hold. The Polish industrial sector has very good long-term prospects thanks to ongoing re-configuration of global supply chains and expected further growth in online sales. Supply of warehouse and production space is likely to be limited in the coming quarters due to developers’ reluctance to commence new projects without significant pre-lets”.

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TURNING POINT FOR RAILWAY TRANSPORTATION? Nevomo, a leading European deep-tech company with Polish roots and the developer of the innovative, hyperloop-inspired MagRail technology, unveils a groundbreaking achievement that marks a turning point for the railway industry.

S

uccessfully performed tests have proven that railway vehicles could levitate on conventional railway lines. This world-first accomplishment has the potential to revolutionize rail transport, seamlessly merging the traditional rail systems with the future vision of ultra high-speed solutions like the hyperloop.

MagRail tests confirmed that railway vehicles can operate on existing railway infrastructure without any friction.

During trials on a more than 720-metre-long section of Nevomo test track in Nowa Sarzyna, Poland, MagRail vehicles reached a speed of 135 km/h demonstrating stable levitation and magnetic guidance on rail infrastructure. The 6-metre-long vehicle weighing 2 tons began levitating at just over 70 km/h, and it went from 0 to 100 km/h in 11 seconds. Ultimately, the high-speed passenger MagRail trains are expected to run up to 550 km/h on railway lines, significantly reducing travel times.

THE CONSTRUCTION OF EUROPE’S LONGEST PASSIVE MAGNETIC LEVITATION TEST TRACK, ON WHICH NEVOMO HAS CONDUCTED SUCCESSFUL TESTS, WAS CO-FINANCED

BY THE EUROPEAN UNION’S EUROPEAN REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT FUND UNDER THE INTELLIGENT DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM “Today marks a landmark moment in Nevomo’s development. For the first time in railway history, a rail vehicle moved not on the existing tracks, but over them, without friction.

It shows that our MagRail technology is not just a vision for the future; it is a tangible solution for today. A solution for a greener, more connected Europe. By leveraging existing infrastructure, we offer a cost-effective and environmentally friendly approach to modernizing rail transport, in line with the European Green Deal’s objectives,” says Przemek Ben Pączek, CEO and Co-Founder of Nevomo.

After 3.5 years of research and testing, Nevomo has thus demonstrated that it is possible to retrofit existing rail infrastructure with linear motor and magnetic levitation devices,

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ECONOMY

hence combining the reliability of traditional rail systems with the potential of transformative technologies like Maglev and hyperloop.

“The successful tests are the result of the knowledge and hard work of dozens of our engineers and experts. And this is just the beginning. We already collaborate with industry giants, including Rete Ferroviaria Italiana, SNCF, Duisport, and GATX to define various applications for MagRail, and these successful tests are paving the way for pre-commercial operational pilots,” says Sebastian Kałuża, Product Development Director at Nevomo.

MagRail changes the way in which we think about the rail travel experience. Instead of running on fixed timetables, MagRail trains will be available to passengers in variable capacity, constantly adapting to current demand in stations, similarly to metro systems – but for inter-city trips. Using Nevomo’s technology, wagons would be able to move on their own and simply adjust the number of carriages per train “on the fly”. For that, upgrading selected sections or entire railway lines would be sufficient, eliminating the need to build entirely new transport infrastructure.

The construction of Europe’s longest passive magnetic levitation test track, on which Nevomo has conducted successful tests, was co-financed by the European Union’s European Regional Development Fund under the Intelligent Development Program. The project is being implemented as part of the “Fast Track” program of the National Centre for Research and Development.

Nevomo will continue the research and the development of MagRail not only for levitation, but also for further exploration of different applications of the technology to improve efficiency and capacity for rail transportation and finally to start commercializing the first version of MagRail for freight transport in 2024.

To date, for the development of the MagRail technology and its testing, Nevomo has raised EUR 11 mln of funding (comprising EUR 5.5 mln equity and EUR 5.5 mln non-diThe Warsaw Voice

lutive EU grants). Additionally, last year the company was awarded EUR 17.5 mln from the European Commission (EIC Accelerator: EUR 2.5 mln grant and EUR 15 mln equity).

Funds are also being raised for a Pre-Series A round of EUR 7 mln. Nevomo’s key investors include EIT InnoEnergy and Hütter Private Equity.

Nevomo is a European deep-tech company and the developer of the next generation of high-speed rails. As a leading player in the area of innovation in the sustainable and intelligent mobility industry, the company has developed the globally unique MagRail technology, allowing significant improvements of the efficiency of existing rail transportation systems.

Nevomo proposes a phased implementation of transportation systems, inspired by the hyperloop concept, by upgrading railway lines. By equipping existing infrastructure with magnetic levitation and linear motor, the company intends to take railway transport to a whole new dimension of travel with speeds of up to 550 kph.

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IN THE LAND OF POLISH JAZZ Text and photos by Julis Simo (www.julissimo.com)

T

here is a joke that jazz fans in Poland sometimes tell each other. Jazzmen probably do, too. It goes like this: A jazzman meets a fellow jazzman.

“How are things?” he asks his friend. “Good, quite good! I recently released an album,” comes the answer.

“Yeah, I know,” replies the asker. The dialogue continues even more briskly. “Really?” “Yeah, I’ve listened to it.” “You’ve listened to it?” “Well, I bought it.” “Oh, so it was you!”

The author of this anecdote definitely has a sharp tongue.

One might say he exaggerates reality. Very much so in fact.

Because, judging by the number of jazz festivals alone, jazz is an extremely popular and sought-after dish in Poland.

Some sources say that before the pandemic, about 150 such festivals were held in Poland every year. One would expect that now there might be far fewer of them, not all of them having survived the long period of isolation.

Nothing could be further from the truth! Adam Baruch, one of the most attentive observers of Polish as well as 14

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Adam Makowicz

Aga Zaryan

his quintet. The festival concluded with a concert by a star of the Polish pop scene, singer Justyna Steczkowska, who sang jazz arrangements this time.

The galaxy of stars was supplemented daily by younger talented musicians. On the first day it was the local TM Brass Orchestra conducted by Kamil Wrona. The orchestra’s lineup included students from schools in Tomaszów Mazowiecki. On the following day, young-generation jazz flamenco guitarist Maciej Smoluch delighted the audi-

CULTURE

world jazz, a music critic and creator of many respected jazz projects, estimates that Polish jazz events with the term “festival” in their names would add up to more than 300 annually. That gives, more or less, an average of six per week! And even if one were to assume that the actual number is closer to 120, as advocated by Krzysztof Balkiewicz, creator and artistic director of the Love Polish Jazz Festival, 10 jazz festivals a month still make for quite a crowd.

The Love Polish Jazz Festival, or LPJF for short, which annually attracts many jazz fans to the small town of Tomaszów Mazowiecki, is a perfect example of the “jazz in Poland” phenomenon. After all, the success enjoyed by jazz festivals and concerts in Warsaw, Wrocław, Kraków, the Tri-City and several other large cities is easily explained. Meanwhile, a large part of the events in question, perhaps even most of them, take place in much smaller towns.

This year, the jazz festival in Tomaszów Mazowiecki, a town with a population of about 60,000, lasted three days, between September 15 and 17. Three concerts were held each day. Jazz musicians of such class as the world-famous pianist Adam Makowicz, Aga Zaryan who is considered one of the best Polish jazz vocalists, pianist Włodek Pawlik’s trio, and another excellent Polish pianist, Maciej Tubis, came to town. The audience, which responded enthusiastically at the concerts, could also admire performances by the extremely talented violinist Adam Bałdych, already well-known internationally. He performed with

JAZZ MUSICIANS OF SUCH CLASS AS THE WORLD-FAMOUS PIANIST ADAM MAKOWICZ, AGA ZARYAN WHO IS CONSIDERED ONE OF THE BEST POLISH JAZZ VOCALISTS, PIANIST WŁODEK PAWLIK’S TRIO, AND ANOTHER EXCELLENT POLISH PIANIST, MACIEJ TUBIS, CAME TO TOWN

Adam Makowicz

The Warsaw Voice

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Maciej Smoluch

Maciej Tubis

Włodek Pawlik Trio

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CULTURE

Cezary Konrad from Włodek Pawlik Trio

ence with his virtuosity on the brilliantly lit stage of the Ice Arena in Tomaszów. He is, in a sense, the discovery of last year’s festival. At the LPJF 2022, his excellent playing was pointed out in backstairs comments by Richard Bona, the star of last year’s edition of this excellent jazz project.

He asked the young guitarist to submit a musical demo.

This year, Smoluch’s excellent playing and compositions were spoken of in the highest terms by maestro Adam Makowicz, who believes that the young musician has an incredible sense of the spirit of Argentine guitar music and presents an extraordinary quality of playing.

ON THE FOLLOWING DAY, YOUNG-GENERATION JAZZ FLAMENCO GUITARIST MACIEJ SMOLUCH DELIGHTED THE AUDIENCE WITH HIS VIRTUOSITY ON THE BRILLIANTLY LIT STAGE OF THE ICE ARENA IN TOMASZÓW The Warsaw Voice

The third day of this year’s LPJF was embellished by a trio of musicians who are very young but already play a great standard of music: the Funky Bomba Trio Collective Project. They wowed the audience!

According to Baruch, the quality of musical preparation and incredible concentration of talent distinguishes jazz in Poland from other countries in a very positive way. When I asked him about the reason for the extraordinary popularity of jazz in Poland, which I truly consider a phenomenon, he told me first about his young years, the 1950s and 1960s. Back then, he lived in Poland with his parents. It turns out that hundreds of intellectuals, artists and musicians passed through their apartment at the time. In those days in Poland, a country ruled by the Moscow-controlled Polish communists, jazz was a kind of safety valve. The communist authorities tolerated it at small venues, in artistic basements in Kraków or Warsaw.

Young intellectuals and artists, thirsty for free access to the highest culture, looking westward rather than eastward, eagerly took advantage of this bit of tolerance. So they played wherever they could, including private homes.

Big events, however, were out of the question, at least as long as Joseph Stalin, the terror of the entire Communist bloc of Central and Eastern Europe, was alive. When the bloody dictator finally departed this world in 1953, the first jazz festival appeared in Poland seemingly “out of nowhere.” It was the autumn of 1954. The only day off on which Polish jazzmen could play together in the gym of a school in Kraków was the traditional holiday of the dead, celebrated on November 1. Its name, “Zaduszki,” Autumn 2023

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also became the name of a jazz tradition that is still cultivated in Poland today. Jazz Zaduszki is held every year in November in many Polish cities.

Subsequent jazz projects gathered a rapidly growing audience the following year and beyond. The monthly magazine Jazz was born, as well as subsequent festivals to which musicians from outside Poland began to come.

Okay, but that was 70 years ago. So I asked Baruch what this had to do with the popularity and prestige that jazz enjoys in Poland today. And why there is such a high standard of so many musicians. Also, where does the ambition of many cities to have their own festival and their own brand of jazz come from?

From his answers I drew the conclusion that the history of jazz in Poland can be compared to a train that is accelerating slowly but steadily. New carriages are gradually added, the weight and speed grow, and it would be increasingly difficult to stop this train. The carriages in question are successive successful jazz projects, festivals, including international ones. They also include schools of jazz music, which first emerged with the permission of the communist authorities. They still operate today, developing in many Polish cities. They educate hundreds of musicians annually and at the highest level, including many brilliant ones. The biggest and most numerous carriages are, of course, filled by successive generations of audiences who want to listen to jazz and, last but not least, consider it an important Polish contribution to the development of high Western culture.

TM_Brass Orchestra

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Something that people can and should be proud of. And something that connected those generations with the world from which the Poles of the time were separated by the Iron Curtain.

THERE IS NO DOUBT THAT A FESTIVAL OF THIS QUALITY IS AN INVALUABLE TREASURE FOR THE CITY, AN ATTRACTION AND GREAT PRESTIGE. IT ENCOURAGES NOT ONLY TOURISTS, BUT PROBABLY ALSO POTENTIAL INVESTORS, BUSINESS, TO TAKE AN INTEREST IN THIS TOWN TO WHICH JAZZ STARS COME EVERY YEAR

Well, yes. That would explain the Polish enthusiasm for jazz festivals, and for jazz in general. Also as a brand, which, after all, has been built in Poland for a long time.

Here, surely, Poles should not have any complexes. As Krzysztof Balkiewicz reminds me, the first jazz festival in the United States, the one in Newport, the oldest one, dates back to the spring of 1954. The first Polish one, the November one, also from 1954, born in Kraków, is only half a year younger.

CULTURE

Damian Kostka from Włodek Pawlik Trio

I know, include the town’s mayor, Marcin Witko, a politician but also a musician, a graduate of the Academy of Music in Łódź.

There is no doubt that a festival of this quality is an invaluable treasure for the city, an attraction and great prestige. It encourages not only tourists, but probably also potential investors, business, to take an interest in this town to which jazz stars come every year. And thanks to the jazz projects initiated here and the recordings made, special showpieces are created: great new jazz albums, such as, for example, the concert version of My Sweet European Homeland, a composition by the titan of Polish and European jazz, Krzysztof Komeda, recorded during the Love Polish Jazz Festival in 2016 by the sextet led by Jan Ptaszyn Wróblewski, also an icon of Polish jazz. It was released in the prestigious Polish Jazz series, as vol. 80.

The Polskie Nagranie Muza publishing house continues the tradition of this series dating back to 1965. The catalog of another, much younger and smaller record publisher active in the Polish jazz market, ForTune, includes two CDs of music recorded during the Love Polish Jazz Festival concerts, namely Ulf Johansson Werre Trio: Two Hearts and Bernard Maseli Septet: Good Vibes of Milian.

And this is just some of the proof that Tomaszów Mazowiecki lies not only in Łódzkie Province, but also in the land of Polish jazz.

Włodek Pawlik

TOMASZÓW MAZOWIECKI LIES NOT ONLY IN ŁÓDZKIE PROVINCE, BUT ALSO IN THE LAND OF POLISH JAZZ Balkiewicz is not only the originator, but also the creator of the Love Polish Jazz Festival from start to finish.

He has previously organized other jazz projects, including in Łódź. But he comes from Tomaszów Mazowiecki, one of the county towns in the province of which Łódź is the capital. He had a dream and the courage to undertake its fulfillment. The dream was well received by Tomaszów, both its authorities and residents, with everyone accepting the project. Today it is certainly endorsed by both audiences and officials. This is the impression I got from this year’s seventh edition of the event, to which audiences from Tomaszów come in large numbers and celebrate jazz evenings so enjoyably. And the listeners always, as far as The Warsaw Voice

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BUTIK

Compiled by Marzena Robinson

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1 1/ Smells like happiness

The Parisian niche brand Maison Francis Kurkdjian has added another entry to his Cologne forte collection: Aqua Media Cologne forte which comes in Eau de Parfum concentration. Inspired by the French perfumer Francis Kurkdjian’s vision of pure happiness, the new fragrance is an invigorating blend of fresh cologne-like notes, balanced with a modern twist.

Aqua Media draws from nature’s simplicity, the feeling of sunlight on the face, the contemplation of the sky’s ever-changing colors, or the caress of a cooling breeze on the skin. This aromatic citrus fragrance embodies the effervescence of nature, the interplay between water and light with the green color in the center, like the one that appears on the rainbow prism.

The idea behind Kurkdjian’s new olfactory creation is “a healthy mind in a healthy body” with the sense of smell being the key 20

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to wellbeing through harmony with oneself, one’s mind, one’s body, and nature.

In the top notes, Essence of Italian Bergamot, the signature ingredient for the whole Cologne forte collection, is combined with Verbena Accord to lend a citrusy and aromatic opening. The heart notes reveal the grassy tones of Sweet Fennel, balanced by the airy, floral touch of Hedione. The base includes Matcha Tea and a Woody Musk accord accentuated by a hint of Patchouli and Green Moss.

2/ Pure Perfect

An Italian niche perfume house Xerjoff, dedicated to luxury fragrance in its art form, has added Kemi to its portfolio, a collection of perfumes created from natural raw elements with the use of innovative distillation techniques. Sergio Momo, the creator of Kemi fragrances, says he was inspired by the ancient philosophical tra-

dition of alchemy which sought the conversion of raw matter to perfect purified form. The highlights of the new collection include Aqua Regia, Hayat, Aurum, Layla and Tempest.

Aqua Regia evokes all that is noble in the alchemic world. Dignified and masterful, this unique scent blends distinctive Eucalyptus with fresh Bergamot, Vetiver and Rose.

Hayat gathers different layers of scents with zesty Bitter Orange and aromatic Lavender at the top, enhanced by an intoxicating spell of rare and precious Saffron.

The olfactory experience is complete with the heart notes of Cardamon and Cinnamon settling comfortably on the earthy base of cedar wood, oud and patchouli.

Aurum is a captivating fragrance which combines the delicious scents of Roses, Chocolate and Strawberries and brings out their very sensual notes. As it warms

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on the skin, the perfume unfolds its opulent character over time, seducing like the precious gold it is named after.

In Layla, the warm spices of Clove and Nutmeg blend with the rich and sweet aroma of Ylang-Ylang and Patchouli.

Warm, oriental finish comes from scents of Amber, Vanilla, and Musk, along with sweet aromas.

Tempest disperses the lightest notes of zesty Citrus and Ginger, leading the nose towards bright Elemi Resin for an unexpected twist. With a classic base of Patchouli, Vetiver, Sandalwood and balsamic Oud, it is a truly intoxicating scent.

3/ Sun protection with environmental awareness

Natura Bissé, Barcelona-founded luxury skincare brand, has developed two sun protection products in the C+C Vitamin collection that will let you enjoy the beneThe Warsaw Voice

fits of the sun without worrying about premature skin aging and free radicals.

C+C SPF 30 Dry Touch Sunscreen Fluid has everything your skin needs boasting a formula which is respectful with marine ecosystem and coral reefs.

A combination of highly effective sun filters provides broad-spectrum UVA/UVB protection complemented by a blend of antioxidants, including Vitamin C, Vitamin E and Artemisia extract, to help reduce signs of aging. Carnosine boosts collagen production and skin firmness. A hydrating cocktail with a fusion of emollients intensely moisturizes. Bisabolol helps soothe and promotes skin comfort and suppleness.

C+C SPF 30 Dry Touch Sunscreen Fluid is not only skin-friendly but also reef-friendly. The product has been designed to achieve optimal biodegradability and minimize sea life impact. Its formula was

subjected to ecotoxicity tests as regards phytoplankton and zooplankton (microalgae and microorganisms essential to marine life.)

The other must-have from Natura Bissé whenever you enjoy outdoor activities on a sunny day is C+C SPF 30 Sunscreen Dry Oil, made to protect face and body against the damaging effects of ultraviolet radiation but also to optimally nourish skin.

Its lightweight and delightful formula is loaded with powerful antioxidants and vitamins to help fight photo-aging caused by sun exposure. Unlike other sunscreens that limit your skin’s Vitamin D absorption this one makes up for it with the addition of Provitamin D, essential for fighting signs of premature aging. Betacarotene-rich Carrot Oil, Grape Seed Oil and Vitamins E and F protect the skin’s barrier and maintain a level of constant hydration.

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4/ Fragrances that pay tribute to nature

Nissaba is a new Swiss-based artistic and niche perfume brand with a “give back to earth” mission. Its perfumers compose fragrances with the best natural extracts sourced from one particular region of the world. Their creations are the authentic incarnations of various lands connecting the consumers to the soils, plants and forest they come from. But Nissaba also wants “to honor nature’s harvesters who keep these lands alive.” So, 5 percent of the brand’s overall sales go back to the farmers as a direct investment in their land, training, tools, and natural ingredients. Nissaba strives to reduce the environmental impact to the minimum by 22

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using only “clean” natural and organic ingredients with no additives. All their perfumes are vegan and cruelty free. The packaging materials are recyclable, reusable, biobased, or upcycled. The perfume flacons are of the lowest possible weight versus capacity ratio, in order to minimize the carbon footprint of the final product. The cap is made of certified wood instead of plastic.

The brand’s mission is perfectly reflected through two fragrances in the current collection: Sulawesi and Grande-Île, each named after a specific location from which raw materials have been harvested.

A spicy and woody Sulawesi has been inspired by the aromas of Indonesia. The

fragrance includes iconic ingredients from Sulawesi Island such as Patchouli essential oils, Nutmeg, Clove, Benzoin and Vetiver extracts.

Grande-Île a spicy amber from Madagascar features natural extracts of Black and Pink Pepper at the core with an infusion of Vanilla Planifolia Concrete combined with a bouquet of Guaiacwood, Cedarwood and Patchouli essential oils.

5/ Guerlain for connoisseurs

One of the greatest contemporary perfumers Jean-Paul Guerlain has joined a niche brand My Exclusive Collection to recreate the heritage of French Haute Parfumerie

All products available on perfumeriaquality.pl

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drawing from the most precious and natural raw materials for elegant, unique, and sumptuous creations. The result of a fiveyear collaboration is a gallery of three works of olfactory art intended for connoisseurs in search of beau ideal.

This extraordinary collection includes Renata 1226, an oriental bouquet inspired by artist’s muse Renata Litvinova, a Russian actress. In an ode opening on the warm and spicy tones of pink pepper, Ylang-Ylang exhales its aphrodisiac nectar, mingling with the formidable magic of black Datura. The delicious Vanilla in balance with the softness of the Balsam of Peru and the woody strength of Vetiver come to punctuate the magic effect.

The Warsaw Voice

Swingfollies is another masterful creation in an intense woody trail, refreshed with flowers and citrus. It is an invitation to discover the power of Patchouli, the rare and spicy accents of the Black Pepper of Madagascar, and the freshness of Mandarin and Orange Blossom, before languishing in the silkiness of Vanilla and White Musk.

Murmure d’Alcòve unveils a floral universe with opulent and mysterious notes. This sensual perfume highlights the mystical character of Tuberose, a white flower also called “Accomplice of Love”, mixed with Hyacinth and Rose of May to reveal a decadent and intoxicating scent.

6/ A shot of aromatic vivacity

The French perfume brand Parfums M. Micallef has just launched a chic fragrance for summer - GnTonic. The new scent which borrows initials from its nose Geoffrey Nejman, is inspired by one of the most famous cocktails of all time. It is fresh and mouth-watering like ice-cold gin and tonic with a swirl of Bitter Orange, Lime, Ginger and Mint. The top notes lead to a heart of Cedar, Nutmeg and Orange Blossom enhanced by a base of Vetiver, Amber, White Musk and Sandalwood.

This seductive elixir is contained in a beautiful transparent flacon adorned with opaline glass which reveals a potion with a minty color.

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THE

The musical hit Six

made way to Poland W

arsaw’s Musical Theater Syrena stages the first Polish production of Six, one of the greatest hits of the West End and Broadway musical stages. It tells the story of the six wives of King Henry VIII. The Six Queens take to the microphone to tell the audience which one had the worst experience at the hands of their common husband. Their tales are presented in a pop concert formula.

“Six the Musical is a firecracker, a sensation, a hit of the musical world,” says Jacek Mikołajczyk, Syrena’s artistic director.

“One of the songs ‘Don’t Lose Ur Head,’ has been played on Spotify almost 80 million times. This proves the scale of popularity of this production,” he adds.

“Six is a textbook example of turning “history” into “herstory”, that is giving a voice to women who have been unheard so far.

For years, history has been written by men about men. It’s also

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time to listen to women,” says Syrena’s director Monika Walecka.

Therefore, the Syrena Theatre has decided to entrust the direction of the Polish production also to a woman Ewelina Adamska-Porczyk, a choreographer and dancer. Six is her debut as a musical director.

“It is a female spectacle about women and only with women on stage, the music band is also all female,” says Adamska-Porczyk. ‘But we’re making a show for everyone, not just women.

We will not shout “Girl power!” from the stage, we will just go on stage and show this power.”

The wives of Henry VIII will be played by popular Polish actresses who were selected in an audition from about 450 candidates: Olga Szomańska/ Agnieszka Rose (Catherine of Aragon), Izabela Pawletko/ Aleksandra Gotowicka (Anne Boleyn ), Marta Burdynowicz/ Agnieszka Rose (Jane Seymour), Małgorzata Chruściel/ Marta Skrzypczyńska (Anne of Cleves), Anna Terpiłowska/ Aleksandra Gotowicka (Catherine Howard), Natalia Kujawa/ Marta Skrzypczyńska (Catherine Parr).

Six the Musical premiered at Syrena on September 9, opening the 2023/24 theater season.

BUZZ

Tick, Tick... Boom! to premiere at Roma Theater

T

ick, Tick... Boom! an autobiographical musical by Jonathan Larson, the Pulitzer Prizeand Tony Award-winning composer best known for writing the musical sensation Rent, will open on the Nova Stage of Warsaw’s Roma Musical Theater on November 18.

Set in 1990, Tick, Tick... Boom! follows a young theater composer who’s on the brink of turning 30 and wrestling with his decision to pursue a career in the arts. It is the story of the sacrifices he made to achieve his big break in theatre. Filled with bitter, but at the same time witty observations about show business, everyday life in New York in the 1990s, the corporate world and interpersonal relationships, this compelling story of personal discovery is presented as a rock musical.

Containing fourteen instantly appealing songs, a unique blend of musical theatre styles, three actors and a band, Tick, Tick... Boom! takes you on the playwright-composer’s journey that led to a Broadway blockbuster.

The Polish version of the show, staged under an agreement with the Music Theater International agency, is directed by Wojciech Kępczyński, Roma’s Theater artistic director, known for many other spectacular musical productions.

The musical was translated into Polish by Michał Wojnarowski, choreographed by Agnieszka Brańska. Sets and lights were designed by Mariusz Napierala, costumes by Anna Was. Cast: Marcin Franc/Maciej Pawlak as Jon, Maciej Dybowski/Piotr Janusz as Michael, and Anastazja Siminska/ Maria Tyszkiewicz as Susan.

Nova stage of the Roma Musical Theater in Warsaw, entrance from Św. Barbary St. no. 12.

The Warsaw Voice

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New exhibition at Andel’s Art S

tarting September 28, the hotel-gallery Vienna House

by Wyndham Andel’s Lodz features the works of Jull Dziamski. The paintings, prints and sculptures will be displayed in the lobby space until October 25.

Vienna House by Wyndham Andel’s Lodz regularly organizes temporary exhibitions of the most prominent contemporary art artists from Poland and abroad. This time, it features the works of multi-talented and diverse professional artist Jull Dziamski. It will be an opportunity to delve into the world of the artist, interact with him and his art. On display are a selection of paintings, prints and sculptures that represent a cross-section of his work.

The exhibition is part of Andel’s Art project of the Vienna House by Wyndham Andel’s Lodz hotel, aimed at promoting contemporary art.

Dziamski is a Poznan-based painter, sculptor, designer, muralist, and architect, famous for his non-standard creative projects. His most notable projects include the interior and facade design of the bodega Marques de Carrión in Rioja, the design and execution of a mural at the Jaume Serra vineyard in Barcelona, and the artistic interior decoration of the Hommage a Magritte hotel in Berlin, making the hotel one of the best designed in Europe. He developed his skills at the 26

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Academy of Fine Arts in Poznan, which is the foundation of his work. Dziamski currently runs three unique art galleries: the Art Society in Ibiza, the Museo de las Ilusiones in Labastida, Rioja Alavese, Spain, and the Julla Art Gallery in Człuchów.

THE BUZZ

Odd Nerdrum - Painter of the North

T

he Ujazdowski Castle Centre for Contemporary Art is showing works by Odd Nerdrum, one of Norway’s most accomplished Norwegian painters since Edvard Munch.

Primary influences by classical painters like Rembrandt and Caravaggio opposition with the understanding of art among his contemporaries, and with the abstraction and conceptual art considered acceptable in much of Norway. Other influences on his work are Masaccio, Titian, Pieter Bruegel, Millet, as well as the less apparent Henry Fuseli and Lars Hertervig.

“To make a long story short, I would paint myself into isolation,” Nerdrum once said.

Nerdrum’s painting is an attempt to rebuild the relationship with the tradition of old painting, broken in the second half of the 19th century, when the term modernity began to be used in its contemporary sense as praising novelty and the search for the new. By breaking with The Warsaw Voice

the avant-garde, Nerdrum opposes such thinking and “repairs” the avant-garde rupture.

Nerdrum creates six to eight works a year. They include still life paintings of small, everyday objects (like bricks), portraits and self-portraits, and large paintings allegorical and apocalyptic in nature.

“In Nerdrum’s paintings, Mankind is situated in an abysmal, mythological world beyond what we usually associate with ‘history’, time, and space. We are apparently presented to a completely new world and a language of signs and symbols, somehow imitating that of myths and tales,” says Jon Eirik Lundberg, the curator of the exhibition.

Nerdrum’s works can be found in some of the most important collections in the world. Among them, the National Gallery in Oslo, the Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art in Oslo, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C., the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the New Orleans Museum of Art in New Orleans, the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego in San Diego, and the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis.

On view through December 10

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THE BUZZ

Exhibition you

cannot miss F

rom October 12 the National Museum in Warsaw will exhibit works by one of the most important artists of the 20th century Pablo Picasso, brought from Spain to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the painter’s death.

The exhibition will feature engravings, book illustrations and ceramics created over several decades, on loan from the Museo Casa Natal Picasso (Picasso’s Birthplace Museum) in Malaga. Dazzling with their

diversity of style, color and emotion, the selected works tell the story of Picasso’s artistic evolution.

The works will be displayed in four sections. The first one will outline Picasso’s reflections on beauty. The second one will focus on the artist’s fascination with mythological creatures, especially the figures of fauns and centaurs (which can be treated as his alter egos). The third will present a wide selection of ceramic works which attest to Picasso’s ingenuity and passion. The final section will be dedicated to the Polonica found in the artist’s oeuvre and will primarily include pieces from the National Museum’s own Picasso collection, many of which were given to the museum by the artist himself.

On view through January 14, 2024 28

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MOTO

VOLKSWAGEN GROUP POLAND DOING WELL More than one in four new passenger cars registered in Poland in the first half of the year came from Volkswagen, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, Skoda, SEAT, Cupra, Audi and Porsche brand dealerships.

A

ccording to data from the SAMAR institute, 238,673 new passenger cars were registered in Poland in the first half of 2023 (an increase of 12.4% compared to the same period in 2022), of which 64,818 (an increase of 33.7%) were cars of the seven brands represented by Volkswagen Group Polska.

“The first half of 2023 was very good for the Volkswagen Group. As expected, the production situation and thus the availability of cars have clearly improved. This can be seen well in the registration results of our brands in Poland.

I hope that this trend, despite the challenging economic situation, can be maintained in the following months as well,” commented Volkswagen Group Polska CEO Pavel Šolc.

The VW Group brand with the highest number of registrations on the Polish market is Škoda, which delivered 25,910 cars to customers in the first half of 2023 (an increase of 41.3%). Volkswagen also recorded good results with 17,675 registered passenger models (up 16%). Also noteworthy is the excellent performance of the Cupra brand, which scored another successful six months in a row. The number of registrations rose to 4044 - an increase of 134.4%. Porsche (49.3%; 1996 registered cars) and Audi (36.3%; 12,778 registrations) also achieved very high increases. The good performance of the Ingolstadt brand allowed it to take the first place in the list of premium brands.

Great growth dynamics can be observed in the electric car market - in six months 8497 cars with such a drive were registered in Poland. This is 76.7% more than in the same period a year ago. Brands belonging to Volkswagen Group Poland achieved a much better result - 1,879 new registrations represent an increase of 108.8% year-on-year.

Within the Group, the brand with the highest number of registered electric cars is Volkswagen, with 791 cars regisThe Warsaw Voice

tered - up 302% year-on-year from 2022, followed by Audi (594 registered cars) and Skoda (269 units). Both brands recorded increases compared to 2022, up 70% and 24%, respectively.

GREAT GROWTH DYNAMICS CAN BE OBSERVED IN THE ELECTRIC CAR MARKET

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BON

VOYAGE! DS4 E-Tense Hybrid 225 KM Spectacular exterior and interior design, extensive comfort and safety equipment, and a modern hybrid drive. Is this enough to enter the luxury car class?

Story and photos by Bartosz Grzybiński

M

ore than twenty years ago, I had the opportunity to attend the world press launch of the Volkswagen Phaeton.

The presentation of the model and test drives took place in Germany. The Phaeton was intended by the designers, as well as by the then Volkswagen chief Ferdinand Piech himself, to be the brand’s answer to the market presence of such models as the Audi A8, BMW 7 Series and Mercedes S-Class, and a kind of demonstration of Volkswagen’s technical capabilities. While no one questioned the level of technological sophistication of the car, already during its presentation at the press conference questions were raised about the sense of expanding the portfolio of the Volkswagen brand - which is rather associated with popular cars - with a luxury model. There were even suggestions to establish a separate sub-brand for this model, like Toyota, which launched the Lexus luxury brand.

In response, we heard that the brand is proud 30

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The Warsaw Voice

technical solutions) - became the inspiration for the Citroen brand to establish the DS model line in 2009. The first models in the DS series, (still with the Citroen logo) were the three-door hatchback DS3 and the first generation of the compact DS4 described in this text. Encouraged by the interest in the models of the DS line, Citroen chose a differ-

MOTO

of its achievements, and the Phaeton with a large Volkswagen logo on the grill is an emanation of that pride. How did the story end? Unfortunately, the luxury Volkswagen did not enjoy enough interest from European customers. Even the relocation of production and sales to China did not save it from ultimate disaster and discontinuation of production, which occurred in 2016. Despite its many assets, the model was unable to compete with luxury limousines, because among wealthy customers the brand’s image proved more important than even the most innovative air-conditioning solutions the Phaeton had.

Why am I writing so much about it? Because the history of the presented DS 4 model, although it had a similar beginning to the Volkswagen Phaeton, takes a very different path.

Many claim that the brand name: “DS” derives from the famous Citroen DS produced between 1955 and 1975.

Whether this is true or not, this iconic car today, and very innovative once, (especially in terms of appearance and

THE COMPACT BODY WITH A LENGTH OF 4.4 METERS IS VERY DYNAMIC THANKS TO SHARP DETAILS AND VISIBLE BODY RIBBING

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ent path than Volkswagen and at the end of 2014 officially announced the creation of a new, completely independent brand DS Automobilies, with its own logo, its own dealerships independent of Citroen, its own service network, marketing policy, etc. During this time, in addition to the DS 4 model, which has already appeared under its own logo since 2015, the new brand unveiled several cars belonging to different automotive segments such as the DS 7 Crossback SUV (2017), later joined by the smaller DS 3 Crossback crossover (2018), and 2 years later the DS 9 mid-upper-class limousine.

The second generation of the DS 4 hatchback was officially shown in 2021, with exterior and interior styling that

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is very attractive. This is a great asset of this model, as few people will pass by the car indifferently. The compact body with a length of 4.4 meters is very dynamic thanks to sharp details and visible body ribbing. The main styling elements are the sharp lines of triangles and rhombuses. You can even say that the whole car is made of these figures. This car, even as it stands, looks as if it is in motion. Although the DS4 is a five-door compact hatchback, it looks more like a crossover thanks to various styling treatments. The body cut between the axles makes the body appear taller than it really is. Even more so because the body is set on 205/55 tires and attractive 19-inch aluminum wheels. Few hatchbacks on the market can boast nearly 19 centimeters of body

clearance. There are more such stylistic tricks and flavors.

The grill, obviously made of rhomboids, the front - sharply shaped headlights, LED - zigzag daytime running lights, the exterior mirror housings, the DS logo placed on the rear pillar, the shimmering small triangles of the narrow tail lamps, or the twin exhaust tips - all this is impressive, even if these tips turn out to be just dummies. However, the biggest surprise is when we open the car with an elegant key, then the zigzagging LED daytime running lights light up twice from the bottom to the top at the same time, and the retractable body door handles extend.

The Warsaw Voice

Autumn 2023

MOTO

HE INTERIOR IS STYLISTICALLY LIKE THE EXTERIOR. HERE, TOO, THERE IS SUBLIME ELEGANCE, COMBINED WITH MINIMALISM. HERE, TOO, IN MANY STYLISTIC DETAILS WE FIND ELEMENTS USING TRIANGLES AND RHOMBUSES

The interior is stylistically like the exterior. Here, too, there is sublime elegance, combined with minimalism.

Here, too, in many stylistic details we find elements using triangles and rhombuses. Although the clock display screen is not very legible, and some of the buttons on the multifunction steering wheel, ventilation control or electric windows in use turn out to be not very intuitively laid out, we must congratulate consistency and admit that the interior gives the impression of being stylistically homogeneous with the body. Finishing materials are of the highest, unprecedented level in this segment. Soft plastics, natural velour carpets, metallic inlays of the dashboard and the ubiquitous light leather - on the cockpit, steering wheel rim, door sides or seats - give the impression of dealing with luxury. Even the interior of the side door pockets, or glove box is lined with soft fleece. The fit of the individual components is also unobjectionable. The equipment is very rich and includes such elements as a trackpad supporting the multimedia system located in the center tunnel, full-size thanks to four cameras, 360-degree view of the car on the main screen, four-zone air conditioning, high-end audio system, thermal imaging camera allowing to see objects at night from a distance of 200 meters, or such a trivial thing as an inductive smartphone charger in the glove compartment of the center tunnel.

The car can comfortably accommodate five adult passengers. At their disposal is a large trunk with a volume of 390 liters. When the rear bench seat backrests are folded down (split 60:40), the trunk capacity increases to 1190 liters. Unfortunately, using it is a bit difficult due to the high loading threshold (76 cm) While the front ventilated seats with massage function are very adjustable and comfortable even for tall people, the rear bench seat does not spoil with comfort

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and head and legroom. However, one should keep in mind all the time that this is a compact car, especially since the space under the trunk floor is taken up by the battery.

The powertrain uses a plug-in hybrid setup, that is, a combination of a 180 hp 1.6 Turbo internal combustion engine with an electric motor (generating 110 hp) with the possibility of charging from a socket. The electric motor not only supports the operation of the combustion engine, but also allows driving in electric-only mode for about 55 kilometers with a top speed of up to 135 km/h. Charging the battery (12.4 kWh) to full of the standard 7.4 kW onboard charger takes about 2 hours. The total output of the hybrid drive is 225 hp. The electrically assisted gasoline engine has a high torque (360 Nm) which, according to the specifications, allows acceleration to 100 in 7.7 seconds and a top speed of 233 km/h. When the car runs out of

CHARGING THE BATTERY (12.4 KWH) TO FULL OF THE STANDARD 7.4 KW ON-BOARD CHARGER TAKES ABOUT 2 HOURS. THE TOTAL OUTPUT OF THE HYBRID DRIVE IS 225 HP electricity, it drives the internal combustion engine, and the driver has a fuel tank with a small capacity of 40 liters.

Driving without electric assistance, the fuel burn is comparable to traditional combustion compacts, averaging around 8 l/100km. Drive to the front axle is transmitted by an eight-speed automatic transmission, and the driver can select the driving mode with a switch (a diamond-shaped one, by the way) located in the center tunnel. The transmission works smoothly. Accelerations, but also gear reductions take place without any jerks and are at least satisfactory, and driving pleasure is enhanced by very good soundproofing. At a speed of 100km/h the noise level is

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MOTO

AFTER THE MERGER OF FIAT CHRYSLER AUTOMOBILES WITH PSA AND THE CREATION OF THE STELLANTIS AUTOMOTIVE CONGLOMERATE IN 2021, DS HAS BEEN PLAYING THE ROLE OF A PRESTIGE BRAND WITHIN IT AND FROM THE BEGINNING, HAS BEEN CONSISTENTLY BUILDING ITS IMAGE The Warsaw Voice

only 61.3 dB. The softly tuned suspension deserves praise, which, combined with exceptional soundproofing, further enhances driving comfort.

You must pay accordingly for all this. DS 4 E-Tense in the rich Rivoli equipment version costs about PLN 240,000 - is it a lot? As usual, it depends on whom. A car so configured with this equipment in competitors from BMW, Audi or Mercedes costs similarly. However, if someone wants to be noticed and stand out on the road - he should be interested in this model. After the merger of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles with PSA and the creation of the Stellantis automotive conglomerate in 2021, DS has been playing the role of a prestige brand within it and from the beginning, has been consistently building its image. So far, all DS models fit into this role by offering customers exceptionally intriguing styling combined with outstanding attention to quality and driving comfort. Whether it will succeed in making DS recognized as a luxury brand - time will tell.

It should be remembered that some have worked for more than a century for such an opinion. DS is still at the beginning of this road...

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RENAULT GROWS IN POLAND After eight months of the year, Renault has increased its market share and is ranked fifth among automotive brands in Poland.

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assenger car sales are on the rise (by 26%), and in the commercial vehicle market Renault continues to occupy first place, with an impressive 8,666 of registered vehicles.

Renault boasts excellent overall performance, ranking fifth in sales of new passenger cars and vans in Poland with 19,797 registered cars from January to August 2023, giving Renault a 5.6% market share.

Renault Megane E-Tech 100% electric ranks in the TOP3 in the EV hatchback segment in Poland, with 251 cars reg-

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istered between January and August. Sales of this model to companies and institutions are increasing, with a contract signed this year for the delivery of 46 cars to the Municipality of Kraków and 24 cars ordered by GLS. Captur is the most popular in Renault’s passenger car range, finding favour with individual customers, who account for more than half of the model’s buyers. Customers opt most often for the techno TCe 100 LPG version. Renault Captur reached a figure of 2,516 registered cars in the small SUV segment from the beginning of the year to the end of August. Sales of the hybrid version of Renault Captur also increased by 8% between July and August.

Renault Austral recorded a 9% increase in registered cars in August, compared to July. In the first eight months of this year, Austral achieved sales of 875 cars.

Renault Clio was in the TOP4 in the B segment, with 2,361 cars registered. This is the result from even before the New Clio went on sale.

Renault Trafic Passenger confirms its first place in the minibus segment, with 2,015 newly registered vehicles in the first eight months of this year. This is not the first time the model has triumphed, as it achieved the highest sales result for all last year, with a share of 32% in 2022.

Renault is constantly improving test-drive facilities so that customers can experience its cutting-edge technology firsthand. The company encourages all interested customers to discover hybrids and take a hybrid car for a 24-hour individual test. The cars are available from authorised Renault dealers throughout Poland. The online 24-hour test drive booking tool is proving very popular. Current version of the campaign: Your 24 hours with a Renault hybrid is a unique opportunity to test Arkana E-Tech full hybrid – on

your own, around the clock, on your own routes and with your loved ones.

Post-test drive surveys highlighted the main benefit of the campaign – the opportunity to get to know the car individually, according to you own tastes, at your own pace, without stress. Respondents also liked the fact that the campaign provides an insight into new technology.

Almost half of the participants had never driven a hybrid car before, a drive they found interesting mainly due to its lower costs.

Renault retains first place in the LCV (light commercial vehicle) segment, with the highest number of registered models – Renault Master dominates, while second place in the minivan segment went to the Renault Trafic.

Master maintains the confidence of light commercial vehicle customers, finding 6,771 buyers between January and August and well ahead of the competition. But the enormous popularity of Renault Master can be counted not in

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MOTO

RENAULT IS CONSTANTLY IMPROVING TEST-DRIVE FACILITIES SO THAT CUSTOMERS CAN EXPERIENCE ITS CUTTING-EDGE TECHNOLOGY FIRSTHAND months, but in years, as the model climbed to the top of the ranking of vans up to 3.5 t in 2018 and has established itself here for good.

Renault Trafic again ranked second in the medium van segment, with 846 vehicles registered in the first eight months of this year. Trafic also ended 2022 in second place, but there is an upward trend for this model, which only confirms its established position.

In the small van segment, sales growth in August was recorded by Renault Express Van, up 45% on July this year, taking an excellent second place in its segment. Between January and August this year, the model has already found 883 buyers. With the attractive new price range introduced for this model (from PLN 69,900 net), Renault hopes to be in an even better position on the market by the end of the year.

Renault has also confirmed its strong position in the vehicle conversion market, unthreatened for the last 14 years, selling 5,804 cars in the first eight months of this year, with Renault Master chassis-cab (3,855) and Renault Trafic (1,851) accounting for the most. The brand’s share in the sub-segment between January and August was 43%. Among the types of bodywork, the most popular with customers has traditionally been the international, i.e. a body with a tarpaulin (36%). Other body types favoured by buyers include the adaptation to transport people with disabilities (29%), container-type bodies (14%) and open body, crew, and workshop variants.

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PORSCHE 911 DAKAR RED58 SPECIAL Porsche Poland has unveiled a unique Porsche 911 Dakar model, which with its specification refers to the rally of 55 years ago. The factory Porsche crew with Sobieslaw Zasada as driver and Marek Wachowski as pilot won the stage through the wilderness of Australia.

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onfigured as part of the factory’s Sonderwunsch (special request) program, the car accompanies the 75th anniversary celebration of Porsche sports cars.

This year is marked by numerous anniversaries at Porsche. In 1948, the first Porsche 356 developed by Ferdinand Porsche hit the roads. In turn, 60 years ago, the most iconic model in the history of the brand - the Porsche 911 - was presented at the Frankfurt Motor Show.

20 years ago, the Porsche Club Poland was officially registered. And 55 years ago, Poles went down in gold in the history of the brand, taking a high fourth place in the murderous London-Sydney rally marathon at the wheel of a first-generation Porsche 911.

These beautiful pages of Porsche history are now being referred to by a red Porsche 911 Dakar with the number 58 on the door, created by Porsche Poland in cooperation with the Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen factory as part of the Sonderwunsch program.

“The idea of creating a special edition of the 911 associated with Sobieslaw Zasada dates back to 2014, when the Porsche 911 Carrera S Martini Racing Edition was introduced to the Polish range. This is how our dream of designing a unique ‘Polish’ edition was born,” says Wojciech Grzegorski, Porsche brand director in Poland.

“When the 911 Dakar announcements came out, there was no longer any doubt on which variant the 911 Dakar RED58 Special Edition would be built, referring to the red and orange car with which Sobieslaw Zasada and Marek Wachowski drove the rally route leading from Great Britain to Australia,” he adds.

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Configuration of the car began at the end of 2022. Representatives of Porsche Poland visited the Porsche manufactory in Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen and, together with experts of the Sonderwunsch program, thought about the finer elements of the future car. The idea was to create a model that, on the one hand, was inspired by the historic Principle and Wachowski vehicle, and on the other - completely unique and inimitable.

One of the biggest challenges was the choice of paint color.

The original 1968 rally car was painted Blood Orange. It could be reproduced under Paint to Sample Plus, but in this case, due to time constraints, it was decided to use hand-painting of the car. The starting number 58 on the doors and the “Poland” lettering above the rear lid grill are not stickers but were created through a hand-painting process.

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THE IDEA OF CREATING A SPECIAL EDITION OF THE 911 ASSOCIATED WITH SOBIESLAW ZASADA DATES BACK TO 2014 The car’s unique character includes LED projectors in the doors with individual graphics depicting the London-Sydney marathon logo. Reminders of the rally’s past include towing eyes in yellow, a safety cage and fully bucket sports seats with pepitas and headrests with special embroidery.

Also harkening back to the old days are the lacquered model and brand markings in gold, as well as the headlights with a fully chrome finish. The wheels and door handles are painted Brilliant Silver. The icing on the cake is a personalized chrome RED58 badge on the B-pillars autographed by the Principle. The legendary Polish rally driver’s signature is also embossed on the center console’s glove box lid.

The Porsche 911 Dakar RED58 Special has more than half a hundred individual options - including personalized floor mats with a custom graphic on the leather insert London-Sydney Marathon, cross-stitched black leather upholstery, and even tire valve plugs with the number 58.

The Porsche 911 Dakar RED58 Special has also been generously equipped with accessories from the Porsche Tequipment range. These range from the 911 Dakar embossed splash pads to the fuel canister and drinking water canister, a folding shovel and traction pads. The accessories can be placed on a specially designed roof basket, which is The Warsaw Voice

equipped with additional lighting. All these items are designed to encourage the driver to explore new roads off the beaten track. A roof tent, which can also be installed on the roof of an off-road 911, is great for overnight stays.

In addition, a unique Porsche Design Chronograph 911 Dakar watch has been created, limited to one piece with the designation 058. The entire chronograph series for the 911 Dakar features the world’s first chronograph envelope made of titanium carbide. This revolutionary material is even lighter than titanium, and its resilience would make many Dakar Rally drivers jealous. Two high quality watches inspired by specific models of sports cars and in many details referring to their originals. The limited series of 2,500 pieces is reserved exclusively for owners of the Porsche 911 Dakar and Porsche 911 Dakar Rallye Design.

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TENDER FOR NEW TRAINS COMING SOON PKP Intercity will soon announce a tender for 23 trains adapted to speeds of 250 km/h. Domestic manufacturers want to fight for the order.

This will be one of the carrier’s most expensive orders. The 23 trains, which will be able to accelerate to 250 km/h, are to complement the highspeed fleet of 20 Pendolino train sets.

According to the latest assumptions of the company PKP PLK on the Central Railway Line running from Mazovia to Upper Silesia, such speed will be introduced at the end of 2025.

“We want as many companies as possible to take part in the tender for the new trains. We will choose the best product from among the submitted bids. We assume that the time for delivery will be 48 to 54 months,” PKP Intercity’s vice president Jarosław Oniszczuk, responsible for rolling stock at the company, told Dziennik Gazeta Prawna daily. He added that the vehicles should be approved to run not only in Poland, but also in Germany, the Czech Republic and Austria. It is therefore possible that they will also be directed to international routes.

The purchase of the new train sets is to be financed from the company’s own funds and loans.

Unlike the Pendolino train sets delivered almost a decade ago, which were built in Italy, the new vehicles may be produced in large part by Polish

manufacturers. This is what our largest players in the market are counting on.

“We are interested in the PKP Intercity tender. We are currently working on a high-speed vehicle. We are at the stage of design work and various tests on simulators,” the president of Bydgoszcz-based Pesa Krzysztof Zdziarski told the daily.

Newag is also interested in producing high-speed trains. However, the company from Nowy Sącz assumes that it will produce them in a consortium with a large foreign entity that has experience in such contracts. At the Trako rail fair underway in Gdansk, Newag

signed a letter of intent to this effect with Korea’s Hyundai. Józef Michalik, the company’s vice president, does not rule out that the two entities will succeed in jointly entering the tender now announced by PKP Intercity. According to the assumptions, Hyundai would provide its technology, and Newag would take care of assembling the vehicles in Poland. The cooperation would resemble the one the company undertook in the production of Inspiro subway trains for Warsaw. Back then, the manufacturer entered a consortium with Siemens and produced a vehicle developed by the German company at its factory.

Compiled by Bartosz Grzybiński

FUEL GIANT INVESTS IN BIO-FUELS

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Orlen South, a company owned by Orlen, has signed a contract with Polimex-Mostostal (consortium leader) and AB Industry (consortium partner) for the construction of an oil pressing plant in Kętrzyn (Warmińsko-Mazurskie Province).

The resulting plant is to be the largest in Poland with a processing capacity of 500,000 tons of rapeseed per year. In the first instance, this raw material is to be obtained from Polish farmers. Their realized rapeseed harvest amounted to 3.6 million tons last year.

The new crushing plant will produce 200,000 tons of rapeseed oil. The contract will also include the construction of rapeseed, oil, and meal storage facilities, along with associated facilities and the necessary rail and road infrastructure.

The investment should be completed in 33 months from the effective date. The consortium’s remuneration has been set

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at PLN 547.2 million net and EUR 32.3 million net, of which Polimex-Mostostal will receive PLN 386.2 million net and EUR 32.3 million net.

Orlen said the cost of the entire investment project planned in Kętrzyn will be about PLN 850 million. Construction of the plant will begin in the first half of 2024 and be completed by mid-2026. The resulting rapeseed oil will mainly go to Orlen South’s Trzebinia refinery, where it will be processed into bio-components and biofuels. However, this may change in the future. Orlen CEO Daniel Obajtek reported that a bio-diesel plant, a small bio-refinery that would process the rapeseed oil produced there, could also be built in Kętrzyn.

“We have an ambitious strategy to develop biofuel production, which will ensure Orlen Group’s position as a regional leader in this segment. To this end, we are investing

food raw materials, mainly straw. This will create a demand for 150,000 tons of this raw material.

The corporation’s strategy envisages that in 2030 its demand for biodiesel will be around 3 million tons. The value of investments until then was more than PLN 15 billion.

IN BRIEF

in refineries in Trzebinia, Jedlicz, Płock and Gdańsk, and our latest venture is the construction of our own rapeseed oil crushing plant in Kętrzyn,” Obajtek said, adding that in pursuing its business goals, Orlen is creating conditions for long-term cooperation with Polish farmers that will guarantee them continued receipt of the products they produce.

In the area of biofuels and bio-components added to fuels, the Orlen group is, among other things, making investments in the Jedlicz refinery, where a second-generation bio-ethanol plant is under construction, the first in Poland and the second of its kind in Europe. Its annual capacity will be 25,000 tons of bioethanol, which will be made from non-

HUGE LOAN FOR BALTIC POWER’S OFFSHORE WIND FARM Baltic Power will receive a EUR 3.6 billion investment loan for 23 years. The company, with a 51.1% stake from fuel giant Orlen and a 48.9% stake from Amsterdam-based NP Baltic Wind, has signed loan agreements to finance a project to build an offshore wind farm in the Polish economic zone of the Baltic Sea. They were concluded with a consortium comprising 25 Polish and foreign financial institutions. They include commercial banks, expert credit agencies and multilateral institutions, including the EIB, EBRD, Euler Hermes, Export and Investment Fund of Denmark and Export Development Canada.

In addition to the huge loan, the company will have the option of using additional and reserve credit lines of

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PLN 1 billion and PLN 2.8 billion, respectively. Repayment of the loan is to be based on future financial surpluses generated by the wind project. Before the loan can be drawn down, the company must meet the conditions precedent specified in the agreements.

Baltic Power assumes that the maximum capacity of the offshore wind farm in the Baltic Sea will be up to 1.2 GW. The project’s total budget is estimated at around EUR 4.73 billion. It includes capital expenditures with insurance of about EUR 4.05 billion, as well as financing costs and an additional reserve.

Orlen estimates that once the project is completed, Baltic Power could generate an additional free cash flow

of EUR 140 million on average per year during its first five years of operation. Operating profit plus depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) could reach about EUR 400 million on average per year. These amounts would accrue to Orlen and NP Baltic Wind in proportion to their shares.

The construction of the Baltic Power offshore wind farm is one of the key projects of the Płock company that is part of the implementation of the strategic goal of achieving 9 GW of installed renewable energy capacity by 2030. The Baltic Power farm will be built about 23 km from the shore, at the level of Łeba and Choczew. It will consist of 76 modern wind turbines with a unit capacity of 15 MW.

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IN BRIEF

POLAND’S FIRST HYDROGEN REFUELING STATION OPENS

The first hydrogen refueling station for cars and buses has opened on Tango Street in Warsaw. The investor is the Polsat Plus Group and the ZE PAK Group, owned by Zygmunt Solorz.

“To drive a car 100 kilometers on hydrogen costs the same or less than on gasoline. In the future, obtaining hydrogen will be three times cheaper,” Jacek Pawlak, president of Toyota Central Europe, told the news portal dziennik.pl.

The Warsaw station welcomes drivers of cars such as the Toyota Mirai and Hyundai Nexo. The station is fully self-service. A dispenser with a pressure of 700 bar is designed for refueling cars. The second one with a pressure of 350 bar is used to fill larger tanks mounted on buses and trucks. Hydrogen is delivered to the station using hydrogen trucks, which carry up to 1,000 kg of H2 at a time.

“Using a hydrogen car is not much different from using a combustion car.

We don’t change the user experience.

We refuel the hydrogen car in just a few minutes and have a range of more than 600 kilometers,” said Maciej Stec, vice president for strategic affairs at Polsat Plus Group and member of the supervisory board of ZE PAK Group.

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“Hydrogen cars are equipped with an electric motor just like battery electric cars, but precisely the difference is the way energy is delivered. Cars that are commonly understood to be electric are powered by large batteries, while a hydrogen car has its own “small” power plant and does not need them. In a fuel cell, hydrogen combines with oxygen from the air and energy is produced on the fly. The hydrogen car has only a small battery, dozens of times smaller than battery electric cars, which only recovers energy from braking. The electric motor in a hydrogen car is powered by electricity that is generated while driving. A hydrogen car running on green hydrogen not only emits no emissions, but also cleans the air,” Stec added.

A kilogram of hydrogen at the NESO station costs PLN 69. For example, a Toyota Mirai (182 hp and 300 Nm) on 5.5 kg of hydrogen provides about 650 km. This means that it needs 0.84 kg per 100 km. At the current price of hydrogen, the cost of driving 100 km is about PLN 58.

A gasoline car of similar power needs about 8-9 liters of 95-octane gasoline to travel 100 km. With the price per liter at PLN 6.60, such a trip will cost about PLN 59.

The Warsaw station will be followed by the construction of five more developments. PAK-PCE Stacje H2 will receive a PLN 20 million grant from the National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management for the construction of a network of publicly accessible hydrogen refueling stations located in Wrocław, Rybnik, Lublin, Gdańsk and Gdynia. The total cost of the project is PLN 57.4 million. The stations are to be built by June 30, 2024.

Ultimately, the network of NESO stations is to consist of 30 facilities scattered in the largest Polish cities.

The distribution of the stations on the map is to allow free use of the range of fuel cell electric cars.

The expansion of the hydrogen stations of Polsat Plus Group and ZE PAK is linked to Toyota’s plans. The Japanese manufacturer, along with cutting the ribbon on the first publicly available hydrogen refueling station, will begin loudly promoting the Mirai II, a hydrogen-cell electric car. The nearly 5-meter-long coupe-style limousine is expected to provide a range of up to 650 kilometers. The car will be available for test drives in more cities where hydrogen stations will be opened.

The Polish rail vehicle manufacturer is participating in the largest expansion of Tel Aviv’s transportation system.

Bydgoszcz-based Pesa will deliver 132 streetcars worth EUR 400 million to Israel. The ordering party may increase the order by 30 units. These are three-unit vehicles, with the possibility of joining two units together to create a 66-meter-long vehicle. The base for the proposed streetcars is the Twist constructed for Częstochowa.

Pesa competed for the tender in a consortium of Danya Cebus, Dan and Comsa, called J-Train. The contract provides for deliveries 3 years after the signing of the contract, and traffic is to be let loose in 2027 on three lines with a total length of more than 31 km. Pesa has given a 2-year warranty, after which time maintenance will be taken over by a local company, one of the three in the consortium. The vehicles are to be built in Poland.

The entire investment is worth EUR 4 billion.

Pesa offers 4 types of streetcars (Jazz, Twist, Swing, Foxtrot), and has

produced a total of 872 units for the domestic and export markets, where it is just completing deliveries of 17 Twists to Romania’s Craiowa. The new generation will be Tram.eu, equipped with online diagnostics and autonomous driving systems.

Tel Aviv is in the process of expanding its transportation system, which includes streetcars and a sub-

IN BRIEF

PESA WILL DELIVER STREETCARS TO ISRAEL way. The project is behind schedule, with construction of the Metro’s Red Line delayed by 10 years and cost overruns of 14 billion shekels.

Polish giant Solaris has been supplying buses to Israel since 2012. In 2020, the Bolechów-based manufacturer sold 120 articulated Urbino buses to Jerusalem. In total, it has delivered more than 600 buses to Israel.

THE 500,000TH CAR HAS LEFT THE WRZEŚNIA PLANT The Volkswagen Poznań plant in Września began operations in October 2016. Now, the half-millionth car has rolled off the production line of this modern automotive plant.

The half-millionth anniversary car from Września is a Volkswagen Crafter 2.0 TDI in Indium gray color, equipped with an eight-speed automatic transmission, aluminum wheels and a Trendline chrome package,

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among other features. It will go to a customer in Belgium.

“Built between 2014 and 2016 at a cost of one billion euros, the Volkswagen Poznań plant in Września is one of the largest foreign investments in Poland in the last decade. It is a plant that has opened new development opportunities for Września,” stressed Thomas Kreuzinger - Janik, director of the plant. “We are proud that today a car with the number 500,000 has left our gates, and this is the best opportunity to thank our employees - for their great commitment and professionalism at every stage of production, as well as the residents and local authorities for their excellent cooperation,” he added.

The factory’s production capacity is up to 450 vehicles a day. The cars then go to markets around the world. Among the customers are the largest European markets - Germany, France, the UK and Poland, but also such distant, exotic countries as Panama, Surinam, Peru and the Canary Islands.

In addition to delivery and built-in versions, a comfortable camper based on the Volkswagen Crafter model, the Volkswagen Grand California, is also produced in Września.

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GREAT Compiled by Bartosz Grzybiński

2

1 1/ FSO M20 Norka watch

All lovers of old cars in Poland are well aware of the car found not so long ago, which is one of the extraordinary Polish old-timers - the Warsaw FSO M20 model - Norka. Recently Norka also reigns in the watch world - a long-announced watch

by Xicorr - FSO M20 Norka - has just appeared on the market. It is a limited-edition product - produced in the number of 100 pieces and definitely stands out among the watches of the FSO M20 line, other Xicorr watch models, but also among any of the products of any of the watch brands.

The Xicorr FSO M20 model line was created as a compilation of the Warsaw car’s installed clock and speedometer odometer. The Norka watch features a two-tier dial on which rust is applied by hand, and the color refers to the current body color of the found car. The steel envelope has a coating that imitates brass. The hour markers of the dial have been painted on the sapphire glass of the envelope.

2/ ZTE Blade V40 Design

ZTE Blade V40 Design is a smartphone that triumphantly returns to the Polish market, offering a beautiful device that will surely satisfy users seeking an elegant and impressive smartphone with full An44

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droid functionality, excellent specifications, and features.

ZTE Blade V40 Design measures just 7.98 mm thick and features a matte finish with a distinctive smooth strip that doesn’t attract fingerprints. It boasts a 6.6” FHD+ display with a waterdrop notch housing an 8MP selfie camera. Notably, the rear of the phone showcases two circular camera islands. It houses a large 50MP HD main camera lens, along with two smaller 2MP lenses. The first lens enables depth-offield photography, allowing for a blurred background effect, while the second lens is designed for macro photography, capturing close-up shots. The camera module is complemented by an LED flash.

Inside, the device packs a large 5000 mAh battery. When running low on power, it offers fast charging capabilities of up to 22.5W. ZTE Blade V40 Design also features ample storage with 128GB of UFS 2.2 memory, expandable by an additional 1TB via a memory card. It ensures smooth performance with 4GB of fast RAM. The model supports dual SIM cards, is powered by an octa-core processor, and benefits from the support of four GPS navigation systems. Advanced features include Wi-Fi ac (supporting both 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands).

3/ Baseus Bowie WM02

Baseus Bowie WM02 earphones are wireless earbuds enclosed in an elegant case with a transparent lid. The case is available in four colors and can easily be stored in a pocket or bag. The case not only serves as a storage solution but also as a charging dock. After charging the case using the included USB cable, the earbuds can be recharged every time they are placed back into the case. The earbuds automatically pair with each other within a few seconds after being taken out of the case.

With the built-in battery, the earphones can be used for up to 5 hours of continuous active usage. Considering the ability to recharge them in the case, the total usage time can reach up to 25 hours. The Baseus Rapid Charge technology enables the earbuds to play music for an additional 2 hours after just 10 minutes of charging. The total charging time is 1.5 hours. The earphones turn on automatically when taken out of the charging station and turn off when placed back into the case. The entire set weighs only 60g.

Baseus Bowie WM02 earphones connect to smartphones via Bluetooth 5.3, ensuring faster connection, lower energy consumption, and stable, fast audio transmission. Music can be streamed from smartphones and tablets within a radius of up to 10 meters.

GEAR 4

3 Baseus Bowie WM02 earphones offer high-quality sound thanks to the composite diaphragm, delivering rich tones, clear vocals, and deep bass. The earbuds themselves are barely noticeable in the ears.

They have an ergonomic shape and come with additional ear tips in three different sizes (S, M, L) for a perfect fit, ensuring comfort even during extended use. The earbuds feature built-in buttons for convenient control of music and calls without needing to reach for the phone. It’s also worth noting that each earphone can be used as a standalone unit.

The entire set is made of touch-friendly ABS material, ensuring durability. Baseus Bowie WM02 earphones are available in four colors: black, white, blue, and purple.

4/ MioVue 955WD

The front camera of Mio MiVue 955WD offers recordings in 4K 2160P Ultra HD resolution. It also features an HDR mode, which facilitates recording images in low light and nighttime conditions, providing recordings in 2.5K 1440P resolution at 30 frames per second. The MiVue 955WD also has a large 1/1.8” sensor and Mio’s proprietary Night Vision Ultra solution, allowing the camera to capture every detail on the road, even in very poor lighting conditions.

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The MiVue 955WD model features fast integrated Wi-Fi, allowing for instant pairing with a smartphone using a QR code and fast data transmission through the MiVue Pro App. Downloading video materials now takes significantly less time.

Regarding data storage on a micro SD card, it is worth noting that the manufacturer recommends using a U3 V30 or higher micro SD card with a capacity of up to 256 GB. MiVue 955WD camera is equipped with a system that warns about section speed measurement. The camera shows the distance and time in seconds to the approaching speed camera. It also indicates the speed limit and provides information about the average speed on the measured section. Thanks to the built-in GPS, the Mio MiVue 955WD provides warnings about upcoming speed cameras.

This is possible thanks to the patented Mio Smart Alert feature. By warning at a predetermined distance and using the Smart Alert function for early warning of high speeds, the driver will always know at what speed they should be driving.

The front camera has a 2.7-inch high-resolution LC IPS display. It’s worth noting that it contains a supercapacitor, which ensures longer operation time. Thanks to the active parking

mode supported by the Smartbox III power supply, the dashcam will automatically start recording when it detects vibrations or movement. This means that the car is fully protected even during parking. The rear camera in the set is the MiVue E60 model. It features the STARVIS & RCW System optical sensor, which alerts the driver to a rear collision when another car gets too close behind.

This camera uses Sony’s STARVIS for recording videos with very high detail thanks to Night Vision technology in 2.5K 1440P resolution at 30 frames per second, as well as HDR. The Mio MiVue 955WD camera is designed to integrate seamlessly with the car’s interior. Its small and ergonomic shape allows it to be placed in a way that doesn’t distract the driver’s attention, for example, behind the rearview mirror. But that’s not all. As the first camera in Mio’s portfolio, the MiVue 955WD is equipped with a voice command function! This allows the driver to use it without taking their hands off the steering wheel, significantly enhancing safety while driving.

Alongside the Mio MiVue 955WD set, the market also offers a sister model without a rear camera – it is the Mio MiVue 955W front camera.

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