WBJ #44 2012
-
Upload
valkea-media-pro -
Category
Documents
-
view
240 -
download
2
description
Transcript of WBJ #44 2012
VOLUME 18, NUMBER 44 • NOVEMBER 5-11, 2012 . z∏.12.50 (VAT 8% included) . ISSN 1233 7889 INDEX-RUCH-332-127 Since 1994 . Poland’s only business weekly in English
WW
W.W
BJ.P
L
7
The latest manufacturing PMIreading offers more bad newsabout the outlook for the Polisheconomy
23
Google hits backTech Eye looks at the giant’sanswer to Apple’s new releases
Wanted: leadersWhy are Polish politicians such poor leaders? Could they learn
anything from business chiefs? 12-13
SH
UT
TE
RS
TO
CK
News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2-4
Business . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5-6
Finance & Economics . . . . . . . . . . .7
Politics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8-9
Investing in Poland Project . . . . .10
Opinion & Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . .11
Cover Story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12-13
International . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14-15
Lokale Immobilia . . . . . . . . . . .16-18
The List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19
Markets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20
Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21
Lifestyle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22
Last Word . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23
In this issue
• Manufaktura sale
• GTC offices sold
• InterContinental, too
16-18
CO
UR
TE
SY O
F J
ON
ES
LA
NG
LA
SA
LL
E
LLOOKKAALLEEIIMMMMOOBBIILLIIAARREEAALL EESSTTAATTEE
EExxpplloossiivvee eerrrroorrAn erroneous report thrusts the 2010 Smolensk
catastrophe back into the spotlight 3, 11
RRaaffaa∏∏ GGrruuppiiƒƒsskkii WBJ exclusive: The leader of Civic Platform’s
parliamentary caucus talks Polish politics 8-9
Plus• US elections
• Goodbye, Panda
• EU abortion case
• Activists targeted?
• Warren Buffet’s deal
• New Polish soccer boss
47.3
0
1,000
2,000
3,000
4,000
5,000
6,000
7,000
8,000
Luxem
bourg
**
Franc
e
German
yUK*
Latvia
Italy*
Slova
kia
Lithua
nia
Poland*
Roman
ia***
*2010 data**Highest in the EU27***Lowest in the EU27
NOVEMBER 5-11, 2012NNEEWWSS2 www.wbj.pl
Nuclear
go-aheadTreasury Minister Miko∏aj
Budzanowski has
announced that the
nuclear power plant
planned by PGE will
likely be built, Dziennik
Gazeta Prawna reported.
He hinted recently that
Poland will choose to
focus on hydrocarbons, at
the expense of nuclear.
However, he said last
week that “It is not
impossible that
Inwestycje Polskie [an
as-yet nonexistent state-
created venture capital
fund] will support the
project.” This could
represent a financial
guarantee for PGE, which
is responsible for
Poland’s nuclear plans.
‘Blasphemy’
case
Poland’s prosecution of
rock group Behemoth for
“blasphemy” puts it out
of sync with European
values, the European
Commission said. It told
the EUobserver that EU
countries must respect
the European Convention
on Human Rights. The
“right [of freedom of
expression] protects not
only information or ideas
that are favorably
received ... but also those
that offend,” it said.
Behemoth’s lead singer
ripped up a Bible and
called the Roman
Catholic Church a
“murderous cult” while
on stage. Poland’s
Supreme Court said last
week that he can be
prosecuted for “offending
religious sensibilities.”
Poland 32nd in
prosperity
indexPoland ranks 32nd in the
Legatum Institute’s
prosperity index, the
fourth of its kind by the
British institute. This
year, it ranked 142
countries – 32 more than
in the previous edition.
According to the authors,
the study includes 96% of
the world’s population
and takes into account
99% of the world’s GDP.
ANR boosts
budget
The state-owned
Agricultural Property
Agency (ANR)
contributed z∏.470
million to the Polish
national budget last
Tuesday, Puls Biznesu
reported, citing the
agency’s press office. ●
Adaptorinvest Limited ........5
Allianz Real
Estate Group ....................16
Apple ................................23
Apsys ................................16
AstraZeneca......................10
Berkshire Hathaway ..........5
BRE Bank ..........................9
Buro Happold....................16
CalEnergy............................5
Cinema City ......................16
DekaBank ........................17
Dom Maklerski BOÂ ..........5
Echo Investment ..............18
Erste Securities ..................6
Euris/Rallye Group ..........16
Fiat Auto Poland ................6
Globe Trade Centre ..........16
Google ..............................23
Grupa 5 Architekci ......16, 18
HB Reavis ........................17
Hill International ..............16
HSBC ..................................7
Ipopema Securities ............5
JEMS Architekci................18
Jones Lang LaSalle..........16
KPMG ..................................6
Leroy Merlin......................16
Lotos ..................................5
Lotos Petrobaltic ................5
Microsoft ..........................23
Okam Capital ....................18
Orco Property Group ........16
PBG ....................................5
PGE ................................2, 4
PKP ............................13, 17
Rafako ................................5
UBM ..................................17
Unibep ..............................18
UniImmo: Deutschland ....16
Union Investment
Real Estate ......................16
Warbud..............................16
Warimpex ..........................17
Warsaw Stock Exchange ....5
WestInvest InterSelect ....17
X-Trade Brokers DM ........20
ZE PAK ................................5
This week, the whole worldwill be watching what isarguably the most importantelection on the planet, namelythat for president of the Unit-ed States of America. As WBJwent to press, polls indicated atight race, with current Presi-dent Barack Obama havingthe tightest of leads in the all-important swing states andtherefore being the slightfavorite to win the election.
During the campaign,Poland was unexpectedlythrust into the discussion whenRepublican candidate MittRomney accused Mr Obamaof “abandoning” Poland in hisbid to foster better relationswith Russia.
Mitt Romney made a pointof trying to show how hewould treat Poland differently
when he visited the country ina foreign tour he embarked onthis summer, which also tookhim to the UK and Israel.
In Poland, Mitt Romneylavished praise on the countryas a model of economic free-dom and was received by Soli-darity legend Lech Wa∏´sa,who endorsed the Republicancandidate.
A German Marshall Fundsurvey taken this year (beforeMr Romney’s visit) showedthat the Republican had someof his highest support levels inEurope right here in Poland.This is likely due to the fact thatmany Poles feel Mr Obamadoes not really care that muchabout this part of the world.
And gaffes the US presi-dent has made such as callingNazi concentration camps in
Poland, “Polish death camps”haven’t helped either.
The question though iswhether US policy towardsPoland would change in theevent of a Romney presidency.That seems unlikely. Duringthe final presidential debate inthe US, which focused on for-eign policy, Mitt Romneylargely echoed BarackObama’s take regarding mostissues on that front.
The decision of MrObama’s administration toshift the US’s foreign policyfocus towards the Pacific isone that would likely be con-tinued by a President Romney,who would after all have toface exactly the same econom-ic and geo-political realtiesthat Mr Obama does.
RReemmii AAddeekkooyyaa
z∏.1.037 billionis how much foreign soccer fans spent in Poland
during the Euro 2012 championships, according to thePolish Institute of Tourism.
€30 billionis how much Gazprom will invest in the development
of a new gas deposit in Siberia and the construction ofa gas pipe.
2.4%is how much Poland’s GDP will increase in 2012,
according to the latest estimate by the European Bankof Reconstruction and Development.
500is how many garbage disposal companies could be left
after local governments take charge, down from thecurrent 4,000.
“The murder of 96 people is a huge crime.”Jaros∏aw Kaczyƒski, twin brother of the late President Lech Kaczyƒski who per-ished in the 2010 Smolensk plane catastrophe along with 95 others. MrKaczyƒski is also leader of Poland’s largest opposition party, Law and Justice.
Quote of the Week
Obama or Romney?Make sure and head to WBJ.pl this week for thePolish view on the results of the US presidentialelections.
On WBJ.pl
Numbers in the News
Company index
CO
UR
TE
SY O
F T
HE
WH
ITE
HO
US
E A
ND
GA
GE
SK
IDM
OR
E/W
IKIM
ED
IA C
OM
MO
NS
6-24 BELGIAN DAYS
Event: This year’s edition of Belgian Days, organ-ized by the Belgian Business Chamber, willbe focused on business more than it hasbeen in the past. It will include conferences,forums and a gala dinner.
Location: Warsaw
Web: belgium.pl
8-9 FUTURE 4 BUILD
Event: Future 4 Build is a green-building conferenceand exhibition, providing access to informa-tion from international and local experts. It isa forum for finding innovative solutions,ideas, meeting new market players andadvancing your own business.
Location: Warsaw International Expocentre EXPO XXI
Web: future4build.com
14- 16 MAPICEvent: MAPIC provides a unique exhibition area and
conference series dedicated to retail realestate.
Location: Cannes, FranceWeb: mipim.com/mapic
16-18 BOATSHOW 2012Event: This 14th edition of the Sailing and Water
Sports Trade Show BOATSHOW 2012 willoffer business meetings and other eventsrelated to the sector.
Location: MT¸ Conference and Exhibition Centre, ¸ódêWeb: boatshow.pl
26-27 NEW EUROPE GRI 2012Event: Join the most senior players in CEE real
estate in a selection of over 20 interactivediscussions covering the recent trends.
Location: Hyatt Regency WarsawWeb: globalrealestate.org/NewEurope2012
November
Calendar
The US presidential electionIN THE SPOTLIGHT
Figures in focusHoliday spendingAverage expenditure (in €) of EU27 residents aged 15 and overfor holiday trips of at least four nights, 2011, selected countries
Source: Eurostat
NOVEMBER 5-11, 2012 NNEEWWSS www.wbj.pl 3
Smolensk disaster
NNeewwssppaappeerr rreeppoorrtt ccrreeaatteess ppoolliittiiccaall ffiirreessttoorrmm
Last Tuesday Rzeczpospolita, arespected daily, reported thatPolish investigators had foundtraces of explosive materials,including TNT and nitroglyc-erin, on the wreckage of theTU-154 plane which crashedin Smolensk, Russia in 2010,killing President LechKaczyƒski and 95 others.
The article, understand-ably, caused a furor in Poland.
The Military Prosecutor’sOffice in Warsaw, which is incharge of the Smolensk inves-tigations, responded by sayingit would hold a press confer-ence later in the day to addressthe claims.
Tusk must goBut before the prosecutorsspoke, Jaros∏aw Kaczyƒski,twin brother of the late presi-dent, and leader of oppositionparty Law and Justice (PiS),called a press conference of hisown where he said the “mur-der of 96 people is a horriblecrime.”
Mr Kaczyƒski called onPrime Minister Donald Tuskto resign, saying he has “lost
the moral authority to rule.”The PiS leader also suggestedthat the head of the Polishgovernment was activelyblocking the investigation intothe Smolensk catastrophe.
“We cannot have a situa-tion whereby people who havebeen obstructing the investiga-tion into this terrible crime forthe past 30 months are rulingthe country.”
‘No traces’ foundBut during his press confer-ence, Ireneusz Szelàg, head ofthe Warsaw Military Prosecu-tor’s Office, denied the news-paper reports, stating that upuntil now “no traces” of explo-sive materials have been foundin the plane wreckage.
However, he did say thatPolish investigators had dis-covered “materials with achemical structure similar tothat of the kind in high-energymaterials, such as, for exam-ple, explosive materials.” Butonly a “layman” would imme-diately jump to the conclusionthat the materials were defi-nitely from explosive materi-als, Mr Szelàg said.
The prosecutor stated thathe could not “rule out” thattests would indeed show thatexplosives traces were present
in the recovered materials.However, it could take up tosix months before the resultsof those tests are ready, headded.
‘One big lie’Mr Kaczyƒski described theprosecutor’s statements as“one big lie” and said hebelieved the newspaper’sreport. His party claims it has“its own sources who confirmthe Rzeczpospolita reports.”But by then the newspaperitself had started to backtrackfrom its statements saying it
should not have been so “cate-gorical” in its claims andadmitted to having made a“mistake.”
The prime minister alsospoke on the matter later inthe day.
Donald Tusk said it was“unacceptable for the leaderof the opposition to be levyingsuch charges, charges thatcould devastate the Polishstate, based on an inaccuratenewspaper report.”
“Today, we heard fromJaros∏aw Kaczyƒski categori-cal statements about a crime,
murder and the involvementof the [Polish] government atleast in obstructing an investi-gation, all on the basis of anewspaper article, which theprosecutor in charge of theinvestigation has alreadydenied,” said the prime minis-ter.
Mr Tusk then went on toutter a sentence for which hewas widely criticized himself.“It is impossible to live in onecountry with people formulat-ing those kinds of conclu-sions.” To this Mr Kaczyƒskiinquired whether Mr Tusk
wanted him “dead” or “simplybanished.”
“Those words showed hownervous he is, how much heknows that the truth will sooncome out,” is how the PiSleader responded to the primeminister’s words.
A Millward Brown/SMGpoll taken after the statementsshowed that while 67 percentof Poles didn’t agree with MrKaczyƒski’s words about “themurder of 96 people,” 50 per-cent also said they didn’t likeMr Tusk’s words about livingin one country with people for-mulating such conclusions. MrKaczyƒski has now said hewants to change the prosecu-tor in charge of the Smolenskinvestigation.
“We have our own sourcesof information. It wasn’t aboutanything other than explosivematerials … I know one thing,equipment which is very, veryrarely wrong discovered explo-sive materials,” claimed MrKaczyƒski.
Thirty-six percent of Polesbelieve Lech Kaczyƒski wasmurdered in Smoleƒsk,according to the MillwardBrown/SMG poll. Only 56 per-cent rule out the possibility ofan assassination.
RReemmii AAddeekkooyyaa
An errorneous reportbrings the Smolenskdisaster to thepolitical fore, again
CO
UR
TE
SY O
F W
IKIM
ED
IA C
OM
MO
NS
President Lech Kaczyƒski and 95 others perished in the forest near Smolensk
NOVEMBER 5-11, 2012NNEEWWSS4 www.wbj.pl
JHM
Development’s
results worsen
Financial results are
worsening for JHM
Development. In Q3 it
had z∏.13.2 million in
consolidated revenues
compared to z∏.14
million for the same
period last year.
Operational profits and
net profits are z∏.2.5
million and z∏.1.2 million
respectively, compared
to z∏.3.5 million and
z∏.1.5 million last year.
The company admitted
that it has been facing
more competition,
Parkiet reported.
PGNiG eyes
new collection
point Gas monopolist PGNiG is
planning to implement a
new natural gas
collection point on the
Yamal-Europe pipeline in
the area of Zambrów, in
addition to its two
existing points in Poland
in Lwówek and
W∏oc∏awek, Parkiet
reported. From there, the
group plans to extend a
connection to Ostro∏´ka
in a move to facilitate the
supply of the fuel to
northeastern regions of
the country.
Proama gains
200,000
customers Nine months since the
debut of Proama on the
Polish market, the
insurance provider has
seen no little growth,
Puls Biznesu reported.
The company, which
belongs to Generali PPF
Holding, managed to sell
a total of 200,000
insurance policies,
muchmore than the
50,000 that were initially
expected.
Mostostal
Export
resolves
dispute
After years of dispute,
Mostostal Export has
reached an agreement
with Warsaw concerning
a penalty for delays in
the construction of a
sports hall in Ursynów.
The company faced a fine
of almost z∏.74 million,
plus interest, which
added up to more than
z∏.120 million. An
agreement with the city
brought the amount it has
to pay down to z∏.5.5
million. ●
Activism
PPoolliisshh eennvviirroonnmmeennttaalliissttss ttaarrggeetteeddbbyy sseeccrreett sseerrvviicceess:: rreeppoorrttssThey have also comeunder verbal pressurefrom the treasuryminister
Polish environmentalists saythey are being monitored andvisited by secret services forcampaigning against coal-firedpower plants and shale gasexploration, the EurActivEuropean news websitereported last week.
“We have information thatwe are being watched by thesecret services,” an officer forone environmental NGO, whoasked to remain anonymous,told the website. “Their agentsmet environmental activistsand asked many questionsconnected to the energy area.”
“Some of the experts work-ing for us were [also] visited bysecret service agents, askingabout their international rela-tions with foreign organiza-tions or movements,” the so-urce told EurActiv.
‘Unprecedented attack’Meanwhile, more than 20environmental groups recentlysent a joint letter to PolishPrime Minister Donald Tusk,complaining of an “unprece-dented attack” on civil societyorganizations.
The letter was written inresponse to an October inter-
view by Minister of Treasury,Miko∏aj Budzanowski, inwhich he seemed to put verbalpressure on environmentalNGOs, and in particular onClientEarth.
“There is a limit of respon-sibility on the part of thesekinds of organizations, and inmy opinion this was exceed-ed,” said Mr Budzanowski, thePolish Press Agency (PAP)reported.
In their letter to the primeminister, the environmental-ists quote Mr Budzanowski’s
words as follows: “This kind oforganization should acceptthat there are limits to itsactivities. In my opinion theyhave passed their limit. If Iwere ClientEarth … I wouldreconsider doing any furtherwork against PGE.”
The Treasury could not bereached for clarification.
The minister was comment-ing on the efforts of Client-Earth to block the constructionof a 1,800-megawatt coal-firedplant in Opole, southernPoland, by a consortium of Pol-
ish firms. State-owned utilityPGE, which is leading the proj-ect, had a permit for the proj-ect revoked by the VoivodshipAdministrative Court becauseof protests from ClientEarth.However, The SupremeAdministrative Court over-turned the cancellation of thepermit in early October.
“It is good that the [Su-preme Administrative Court]quashed the decision by the[Voivodship AdministrativeCourt] in connection withbuilding the power plant in
Opole,” said Mr Budzanows-ki. “The sum of events overthe last two years … showsthat, de facto, this organiza-tion is working against thepublic interest of the state …in two areas, both in terms ofenergy supplies for Poles andfor the detriment of the entireconstruction industry,” headded.
The environmentalists’ let-ter reads, “By equating theinterests of private companieswith those of the public, Minis-ter Budzanowski’s commentsgo to the heart of the role ofcivil society in Poland.”
The letter calls on PrimeMinister Tusk to “defend atransparent dialogue with rep-resentatives of non-govern-mental organizations.”
The state energy programis aimed at decreasingPoland’s reliance on Russiangas, while the country is alsounder pressure to reduce itsCO2 emissions.
Poland, which has blockedthe EU’s carbon reductionroad map several times, relieson coal for 90 percent of itselectrical supply. Companiesare also searching for shale gasin Poland, the extraction ofwhich requires the use of thecontroversial method ofhydraulic fracturing.
GGaarreetthh PPrriiccee
Human rights
PPoollaanndd ccoonnddeemmnneedd,, ffiinneedd iinn aabboorrttiioonn rraappee ccaassee The Polish state hasbeen punished by theECHR for notproviding a rapevictim with“unhindered” accessto abortion
The European Court ofHuman Rights (ECHR) lastweek condemned Poland’streatment of a 14-year-oldrape victim who sought tohave an abortion. The ECHRordered the Polish state to paythe victim €61,000 in compen-sation for failing to provide thegirl with “unhindered” accessto an abortion, the court saidin its ruling.
Once she reported to thepolice that she had beenraped, the prosecutor initiallycharged her with “unlawfulsexual intercourse.”
After hospitals in Lublin,where the victim is from, and
hospitals in Warsaw refused togive her an abortion, the vic-tim finally managed to goahead with the termination inGdaƒsk, 500 kilometers awayfrom her home, after the Min-istry of Health intervened inthe case.
Mounting pressure“The Lublin hospital issued apress release to the effect thatit would not perform an abor-tion in [the victim’s] case ... inthe meantime, a doctor told[the victim] that the hospitalwas facing pressure by variouspeople not to perform theabortion and that it hasreceived numerous e-mailscriticizing the [victim’s] deci-sion,” the ECHR wrote in itsstatement.
In addition, the victimreceived text messages from apriest, and from anonymoussenders, trying to convince herto change her mind about ter-
minating the pregnancy.In the meantime a Polish
court ordered the victim to beplaced in a juvenile detentioncenter as an interim measure inproceedings against her moth-er, who was accused of trying toconvince her daughter to havean abortion against the daugh-ter’s will.
In their ruling, which is sub-ject to appeal, a panel ofjudges at the ECHR foundthat there had been numerousbreaches of the girl’s rights.
These included, accordingto the court: The violation ofArticle 8 of the EuropeanConvention on Human Rights– the right to respect for pri-vate and family life – asregards the determination ofaccess to lawful abortion andas regards the disclosure of theapplicant’s personal data, aswell as violation of article 5 –the right to liberty and security– and article 3 – the prohibi-
tion of inhuman and degrad-ing treatment.
The court ruled that thevictim should have had unhin-dered access to a lawful abor-tion and that the details of hercase should not have beenmade public by the hospital in
Lublin. Poland’s abortion laws are
among the strictest in Europe;terminations are only permit-ted in the cases of rape, incestor when the life of the motheris endangered.
IIzzaabbeellaa DDeeppcczzyykk
SH
UT
TE
RS
TO
CK
Polish pro-life protesters
SH
UT
TE
RS
TO
CK
Some 90 percent of Poland’s electrical energy comes from coal
The electricityproducer’s share pricestayed flat after thefirst day of trading
Poland’s second biggest ener-gy-from-coal producer, Zespó∏Elektrowni Pàtnów-Adamów-Konin (ZE PAK), saw a luke-warm debut on the WarsawStock Exchange last Tuesday.The firm’s share price ended itsopening day at z∏.26.20, exactlywhere it had begun, anddecreased towards the end ofthe week, finishing at z∏.25.30.
The IPO consisted of over26 million state-owned shares,comprising some 50 percent ofthe company’s capital. Theoffer came to some z∏.680 mil-lion.
Analysts had been skepticalabout the IPO, and the shareprice’s struggle to rise abovethe subscritpion price seemedto validate their doubts.
“This is not the best timefor energy companies on thestock market,” ¸ukasz Bugaj,an analyst at brokerage houseDom Maklerski BOÂ, saidprior to ZE PAK’s debut.
He added that ZE PAK isnot a particularly well-knownor attractive company for
investors. Additionally, thecompany’s outlook for thecoming years is not terriblyimpressive, he said.
Individual investors boughtup more than three millionshares, while institutionalinvestors purchased over 22million shares.
After the IPO the compa-ny’s biggest shareholder, bil-lionaire Zygmunt Solorz-˚ak,now indirectly holds over 50percent of the company’sshares.
Mr Solorz-Zak announcedthat the company would likelychange its development strate-gy in order to increase itsinvolvement in the gas-energysector. The new strategy wouldentail that only two out of ZEPAK’s four electricity plants ofwill be producing electricityfrom coal.
ZE PAK is the 16th compa-ny to debut on the WSE thisyear. Its market capitalizationamounts to z∏.1.36 billion.
IIzzaabbeellaa DDeeppcczzyykk
Privatizations
ZE PAK seeslukewarm debut on WSE
NOVEMBER 5-11, 2012 BBUUSSIINNEESSSS www.wbj.pl 5
Investors took thenews badly, with thecompany’s sharesdropping more than25 percent on theWSE
Wies∏aw Ró˝acki, the now-for-mer CEO of Polish construc-tion firm PBG, resigned fromthe position last Monday. Hetold reporters that he hadmade the decision becausePBG had lost control over itskey subsidiary, Rafako, after aseries of transactions wereconcluded that he did notauthorize.
Mr Ró˝acki also criticizedan agreement made between
PBG and Cyprus-registeredAdaptorinvest Limited, which,according to him, was not justi-fied from a business perspec-tive. He said it could be destruc-tive to PBG and its creditors.
“I must emphasize that theexistence of the contract forthe provision of financial advi-sory services with [the] compa-ny ... [Adaptorinvest Limited]is in my opinion completelyunjustified economically interms of the PBG SA group,its shareholders as well ascreditors,” he said.
After Mr Ró˝acki’s resig-nation, PBG announced thatPawe∏ Mortas had filled thevacated position.
Investors took the newsnegatively. After Mr Ró˝ackiannounced his decision, thegroup’s shares plummeted bymore than 25 percent on theWarsaw Stock Exchange. Thestock price rebounded onlyslightly later on Monday, butstill closed down 23.64 percent.
PBG had over 6,000employees in the first half of2012. In June, the companyfiled for bankruptcy afteroverextending itself due to itsinvolvement in constructionprojects for the Euro 2012 soc-cer tournament. At the time, itwas indebted to 12 differentbanks to the tune of some z∏.1.7billion. IIzzaabbeellaa DDeeppcczzyykk
Construction
PBG CEO resigns
The stock price of Polish state-owned oil refiner Grupa Lotossoared last week as USinvestor Warren Buffettannounced that CalEnergywould explore gas depositsalong with Lotos Petrobaltic inthe Baltic Sea.
CalEnergy belongs toBerkshire Hathaway, Mr Buf-fet’s company, while LotosPetrobaltic is a subsidiary of
Grupa Lotos.“We will start drilling next
year. This will allow us tomake a decision about defini-tive plans concerning theextraction from this deposit,”said Pawe∏ Olechnowicz,Lotos’s president.
Analysts are positive aboutCalEnergy’s involvement withLotos.
“Deposits in Lotos’s port-
folio are significant, so itsworth exploring them,” Kon-rad Anuszkiewicz, fromIpopema Securities, told PulsBiznesu.
Warren Buffett has an esti-mated fortune of $44 billion,according to Forbes, whichranked the 82-year-old as thethird-richest person in theworld in its 2012 World Bil-lionaires list. AAKK,, GGPP
Lotos stocks soar as Warren
Buffett announces deal
CO
UR
TE
SY O
F T
HE
WA
RS
AW
ST
OC
K E
XC
HA
NG
E
Over 26 million ZE PAK shares were sold
NOVEMBER 5-11, 2012BBUUSSIINNEESSSS6 www.wbj.pl
Fiat to cease productionof Panda Classic in PolandFiat Auto Poland hasannounced that it will ceaseproducing the Fiat Panda Clas-sic at its plant in Tychy, inPoland’s Silesia voivodship,before the end of the year.Panda Classic is one of Fiat’smost popular car models.
In its official statement, Fiatexplained its decision, saying“the reason for shutting downPanda production in Tychy is aresult of the fact that in 2013car approval laws will be chang-
ing, and the Panda Classic doesnot meet the specified require-ments.”
Experts, however, haveexpressed skepticism as to thereason given by the company.
“Most likely this is a politi-cal decision,” Samar, an auto-motive market research com-pany, wrote in a statement.
Samar explained that forthe past several monthsmedia outlets have beenreporting that the success of
the Panda Classics made inPoland has undermined thepopularity of Fiats producedin Italy, causing the sale ofItalian-made, more expensivePandas to drop.
“Small demand for the newPanda produced in Italy andthe continuously high demandfor the old version [produced inPoland] lead to the company’sdecision to cease the produc-tion” Wojciech Drzewiecki,chairman of Samar, told daily
Polska The Times.Fiat denied these claims in
its statement. Although Fiat’s decision has
not come as a surprise, what isworrying, Samar added, is thatthe company still hasn’t decid-ed what will be produced inTychy in its place.
Samar said there is a riskthat the company could beplanning to exit Poland alto-gether.
IIzzaabbeellaa DDeeppcczzyykk
Fashion
Louis Vuitton to debut on Polish
market: reportsIt is reportedlypreparing to locate inthe capital’s vitkAcshopping mall
Louis Vuitton is getting readyto open its first store in Poland,Rzeczpospolita reported lastweek.
Although representatives ofthe well-known French luxurybrand have declined to com-ment, unnamed sourcesapproached by the daily con-firmed that a two-floor Louis
Vuitton boutique is being pre-pared in Warsaw’s vitkAc shop-ping mall.
The reported launch of thebrand on the Polish marketcomes on the heels of a generalgrowth trend in the popularityof luxury goods in Poland.
In the years 2005-2010, thePolish market for luxury con-sumer goods rose by 50 percentin real terms.
KPMG defines around606,000 Poles as “wealthy,”meaning they earn more than
z∏.15,500 a month. That numberhas nearly tripled in the past 10years.
Louis Vuitton is one theworld’s leading fashion houses,offering goods such as luxurytrunks and leather goods, shoes,watches, jewelry, accessories,sunglasses, and books.
The vitkAc shopping mall,located in the Wolf Brackabuilding on ul. Bracka in War-saw, houses fashion boutiquesas well as restaurants and a del-icatessen. RRAA,, GGPP
Pharmaceutical market
Pharmaceutical market to shrink
at least 5 percent: reportThe ReimbursementAct is behind the fall,say experts
Sales of medicine and otherpharmaceutical products inPoland will total aroundz∏.26.6 billion for the year2012, according to data col-lected by Pharma Expert,Parkiet reported.
This translates into a 5-6percent fall compared to theprevious year.
Piotr Kula, head of Pharma
Expert, believes that the maincause is the new prescriptiondrug-refund legislation, whichhas been in force since thebeginning of the year. The newrefund regulations haveenforced fixed margins based onthe cheapest medicine availablein a given classification group.
This means that pharma-cists have no interest in sellingmore expensive pharmaceuti-cals. In addition, a new list ofrefunded medication is pub-lished every month, forcing a
change of price and revalua-tion of existing stock, Mr Kulaexplained.
The negative dynamicshould balance out in 2013,said Marek Czachor, analyst atErste Securities. The fallingprices of refunded medicationwill be compensated by higherprices for over-the-counterproducts. For that reason, upto 3 percent growth can beanticipated in the market nextyear, Mr Czachor concluded.
RRAA
CO
UR
TE
SY O
F F
IAT
Experts worry that the Italian car-maker could be
planning to end production in Poland altogether
Warsaw Business Journal PDF version and a link to view WBJ in e-zine format delivered to your e-mail address each week for 12 months.
Choose one option by checking the box
OPTION 1
Warsaw Business Journal print edition delivered each week to your address for 12 months, plus receive Investing in Poland 2012 (zł.78 value) and Book of Lists 2012 (zł.100 value).
Warsaw Business Journal print edition delivered each week to your address for 12 months, plus WBJ PDF version and a link to view WBJ in e-zine format delivered to your e-mail address each week. Also receive Investing in Poland 2012 (zł.78 value) and Book of Lists 2012 (zł.100 value).
CLIENT DETAILS
Name......................................................................................................................Company......................................................................................................................Address......................................................................................................................Postal code......................................................................................................................City......................................................................................................................Country......................................................................................................................Telephone/Fax......................................................................................................................e-mail......................................................................................................................NIP (Poland)/EU VAT number (EU countries)......................................................................................................................
Please fax this form to: +48 22 639 85 69 or mail it to our office: Subscriptions Warsaw Business Journal Valkea Media S.A. ul. Elblàska 15/17, 01-747 Warsaw, Poland
PAYMENT OPTIONS (please check one)
❏ Pre-payment by bank transfer upon receipt of a pro-forma invoice. The pro-forma invoice will be sent to you immediately upon receipt of your order. Your subscription will start within one week of payment.
❏ Credit card: ❏ American Express ❏ Visa ❏ Mastercard
Cardholder name
......................................................................................................................Number
......................................................................................................................
CVV2/CVC2/CID Expiration date
....................................................... ............................................................
Signature
......................................................................................................................
SUBSCRIBE FOR 1 YEAR AND SAVE UP TO 50% OFF THE COVER PRICE
Wafor
[email protected], OR CALL +48 (22) 678-9912
Everywhere: zł.424
In Poland: zł.550 In Europe: €297 Outside Europe: €374
In Poland: zł.691 In Europe: €330 Outside Europe: €407
WBJ IS NOW AVAILABLE IN DIGITAL FORMAT.READ WBJ AS A PDF OR E-ZINE.
❏
OPTION 2❏ WBJ Print
OPTION 3❏ WBJ PremiumWBJ Electronic
Professionally honed and targeted to a defined group, whether B2B or end-customers, each message is designed for maximum effectiveness.
Custom publishing is one of the world’s fastest-growing marketing tools, because it pinpoints – and achieves – corporate goals.
Popular custom publishing media: • print: magazines, enhanced catalogs, newspapers
• virtual: web services, newsletters, e-zines • interactive: social media
If you want to:• build loyalty and long-term customer relations
• acquire new clients• implement an integrated professional communication strategy
• build strong brand identity
Custom publishing is the perfect tool!
Custom publishing delivers specially tailored content
Valkea Media SA, ul. Elbląska 15/17, 01-747 Warszawa, tel. 22 639 85 69, e-mail: [email protected], www.cp.valkea.com, www.facebook.com/valkeacp
NOVEMBER 5-11, 2012 FFIINNAANNCCEE && EECCOONNOOMMIICCSS www.wbj.pl 7
Manufacturing
Poland’s manufacturingPMI beats expectations,but still negative
EBRD cuts growth forecastfor Poland
Cyprus calls for €50 billioncut to EU budget
Output, new ordersand purchasing activityall continued to fall inOctober
Poland’s manufacturing PMI, ameasure of sentiment in theindustry, rose 0.3 points inOctober from the previousmonth to 47.3. However, thereading was still the second-lowest in Poland’s seven-monthsequence of readings below 50.Readings above 50 indicateexpansion, while those below 50indicate contraction.
The market consensus fore-cast had been for a reading of46.7 points, so the figures weresomewhat heartening in thatlight.
Nevertheless, in its reportaccompanying the figures,HSBC, which produces the sur-vey in cooperation with Markit,had little positive to say.
“Output, new orders andpurchasing activity all continuedto fall in October, albeit at slowerrates than in September,” thereport read. “Manufacturerscontinued to erode their back-logs, and cut workforces at the
fastest rate in three years. Mean-while, inflationary pressures inthe sector remained weak asboth output and input pricesdeclined over the month.”
The report also said that themain reason for the deteriora-tion in the business climate wasa contraction in the volume ofnew business received – theninth consecutive month such acontraction had occurred.
Agata Urbanska, an econo-mist for Central & EasternEurope at HSBC said that the
reading portends more negativenumbers to come for theremainder of the year, andadded that interest rate cutsfrom the National Bank ofPoland are likely.
“We expect that the increas-ingly more pronounced eco-nomic slowdown will be metwith a response from monetarypolicy. We expect the centralbank to start an interest ratecutting cycle in November,” shesaid in a statement.
AAnnddrreeww KKuurreetthh
The European Bank for Recon-struction and Development(EBRD) says Poland’s econo-my will grow by 2.5 percent in2012, as opposed to the 2.9 per-cent it had predicted in July –making it only the latest in aslew of organizations (including
the IMF and the World Bank)that have cut their growth fore-casts for the country.
For 2013, it cut its forecast to2.2 percent growth, rather thanthe 2.4 percent it had predictedin July.
According to the EBRD, all
the economies within the Cen-tral and Eastern Europe regionwill grow slower than it had fore-cast earlier this year. However,Poland and Bulgaria will standout as countries who won’t suf-fer from difficulties on the creditmarket, the bank said. AAKK
Cyprus, which currently holdsthe rotating EU presidency, hasproposed cuts of some €50 bil-lion from the European Com-mission’s proposed 2014-2020budget.
Cyprus reportedly wants tolower the available funding to2.35 percent of an EU member
state’s GDP, from the 2.5 per-cent proposed by the EuropeanCommission. The cuts wouldreduce the amount Poland isexpected to receive from theEC’s proposal – which theEuropean Parliament hasalready said should beincreased, rather than cut.
The EU budget proposalput forward by the EC in 2011assumes spending for the nextseven years at more than €1 tril-lion.
According to the EC,Poland would be the largestbeneficiary of this plan, receiv-ing €75 billion. AAKK
Cameron under pressure on EU budgetUK Prime Minister DavidCameron faced oppositionfrom the Labour Party and arebellion from his own back-benchers in the House ofCommons last week, over pro-posals to maintain 2014-2020EU expenditures at the samelevel as the 2007-2013 budget.
Mr Cameron’s proposal tofreeze expenditures wasdefeated in the Commons,with MPs calling for a real-terms cut in EU spending.
The result is not binding onthe government, and Britain –a net contributor to the budg-et – will only be forced to
make a final decision on thebudget in around a year’stime.
A lot rides on the EUbudget for Poland, which hasbeen the biggest recipient ofEU largess during the currentbudget period.
GGPP
40
50
60
Oct. '12
Sep. '1
2Aug
. '12
Jul. '12
Jun. '1
2May
'12Apr
. '12
Mar. '12
Feb. '1
2Jan
. '12
Dec. '11
Nov. '11
Oct. '11
Sep. '1
1Aug
. '11
Jul. '11
Jun. '1
1May
'11Apr
. '11
Mar. '11
Feb. '1
1Jan
. '11
Dec. '10
Nov. '10
Oct. '10
An uptick in a downward trendPoland's manufacturing PMI reading, October 2010-October 2012
Source: HSBC, Markit
NOVEMBER 5-11, 20128 www.wbj.pl PPOOLLIITTIICCSS
Politics
AA vviieeww ffrroomm tthhee rruulliinngg ppaarrttyy
Remi Adekoya: There hasbeen some confusion on thematter recently, so could youplease explain what kind ofparty Civic Platform (PO) isexactly? Rafa∏ Grupiƒski: PO is a cen-trist party with conservative,Christian roots, while at thesame time it is decidedly liber-al in economic matters. It is aparty that has its distinct fac-tions on social issues, one con-servative, the other liberal.Our party dominates thewhole of the political center inPoland.
A few weeks ago, 40 conserva-tive PO MPs voted to supporta much-criticized legislativeproposal aimed at makingPoland’s abortion laws morerestrictive. But in a morerecent vote on the same legis-lation, just 14 PO MPs sup-
ported it. Why the change ofheart? Were they scared intosubmission by party bosses?It was enough that weexplained to them the politicalplan of the Solidarity Polandparty, which proposed thatabortion legislation. After thatfirst vote you mentioned, thehead of the party’s parliamen-tary caucus came out publiclyand said he was happy that hehad succeeded in dividing PO.
That showed the instru-mental approach to the legis-lation by its proponents. Butsome of our MPs are not soexperienced when it comes topolitical games carried outwith the help of ideology.
So you think those MPs weresimply being naive?The truth is also that in suchmatters, MPs who want to voteaccording to their moral
instincts sometimes do sothinking “hmm … this will be apolitical problem but hopeful-ly the bill still won’t pass evenif I support it.”
And then it turns out afaulty bill passes and there arepolitical problems. Politics is ateam sport and MPs must real-ize that in parliament, every-thing is political. The onlything in parliament is politics.Poland needs PO united, notdivided.
What plans does your partyhave for this parliamentaryterm?The first is to counter the crisisand the accompanying eco-nomic slowdown. We needactions that will create oppor-tunities for entrepreneurs andliquidate the barriers theyface.
We need actions to enableexports to the east, such assolving the issue of insurancefor such transactions.
The second priority isstrengthening Poland’s posi-tion abroad. The third priorityis improving the quality of theeducation system in Polandand strengthening cooperationbetween institutions of highereducation and business. Wewant to build an innovativeeconomy by improving thequality of our education sys-tem.
Why is the prime ministernow talking about spendinghundreds of billions of z∏otyon public investment pro-grams, whereas not so longago he was talking about theneed for belt-tightening?This is indeed a change in tac-
tics when it comes to tacklingthe crisis. You see, 2013 andparts of 2014 will be transitionyears between two EU budg-ets. It will be a period whenpublic investment slows downand when new tenders will bein the preparatory phases.
At the same time, thenational government and localgovernments will still have topay off the loans they took outin order for Poland to co-finance ongoing EU projects.
And so we need a to takethe offensive to plug thatinvestment gap and keep the
economy going in that toughperiod.
What should Poland’s role inEurope be, and shouldEurope become a federation,as suggested by Foreign Min-ister Rados∏aw Sikorski?Today, what is more importantis for divisions not to be creat-ed within the EU, such as thatbetween euro zone countriesand the rest.
These are negative tenden-cies because the EU’s strengthstems from internal solidarity.We must fight to keep solidar-ity in Europe and to keep itunified at every level.
We can’t have a situationwhere politicians say: “moreEurope in Europe but, you
know, we have to divide intotwo speeds because we haveour own separate problems tosolve.”
Before we start envisioningwhat Europe should be in thefuture, we have to take care ofwhat it is today.
Do other non-euro zone EUmembers share Poland’s viewin this matter?Probably, yes, although theUK is playing its own game, asit has been doing since the EUwas created. However, I hopethat on crucial issues like the
2014-2020 budget, decisionswill be made unanimously.
If Poland does not receive thez∏.300 billion in EU funds thatyour government has prom-ised, do you think that will beregarded as a failure?Regarding EU funds, it is mostlikely we will not be able toachieve all our aims, althoughI am not worried about notachieving that figure you men-tioned. But I do think it isimportant to stress that Polandis a country which is not onlyinterested in taking from theEU.
I do not think there is any-body in Poland who thinks it isa bad thing that Poland is inthe EU and in NATO. And I
WBJ sat down with Rafa∏ Grupiƒski, head ofthe Civic Platform party’s parliamentarycaucus, to talk about its strategy for handlingthe economic crisis, divisions within the party,Poland’s foreign policy stance and why he wantsJaros∏aw Kaczyƒski to stand before the StateTribunal
CO
UR
TE
SY O
F R
AF
A¸
GR
UP
I¡S
KI
Mr Grupiƒski describes Civic Platform as dominating the whole of the political cen-
ter in Poland
BILANS Accounting and Consulting Company Ltd.,02-729 Warszawa, 195 Rolna st., tel. (+ 48) 22 212 86 27-29, mobile: (+48) 502 057 107 e-mail: [email protected]
www.bilans.eu www.bilans.eu
> Establishment of companies> Accounting services> Payroll and human resources> Law and notary offices> Payment recovery and debt recovery> Permits for foreigners> Seat for the company
Many grads
unemployedOne in eight Poles with a
university degree is
unemployed. In large
cities, this proportion
reaches one in four. At the
end of September,
employment offices
registered 235,400
unemployed university
graduates, according to
the Ministry of Labor’s
latest statistics. That’s
almost 20,000 more than
in June. Never has there
been as many unemployed
university graduates at
the end of a third quarter,
Dziennik Gazeta Prawna
reported.
Polish police-
man dies
during SandyArtur Kasprzak, a New
York policeman of Polish
origin, died while saving
his family while Sandy
stormed through the city,
Wyborcza.pl reported.
When his house started
flooding, the 28-year-old
policeman decided to take
his family to the attic.
When everyone was safely
upstairs, he went to check
the basement. He never
came back. Mr Kasprzak’s
body was found in the
morning. ●
“Politics is a team sport and MPs must realize that in parliament,
everything is political”
NOVEMBER 5-11, 2012 PPOOLLIITTIICCSS www.wbj.pl 9
tion issuing an executiveorder that gave then-JusticeMinister Zbigniew Ziobropower over other ministers.That is an obvious and unjus-tifiable breach of Poland’sconstitution and he shouldstand before the State Tri-bunal for that.
I believe that from thepoint of view of our country’sdevelopment as a state, it is
very important that we do notleave some actions unques-tioned, so that nobodydecides to do that, or evenworse, in the future.
So when will the petition beready?It is ready. Right now, we andthe opposition parties thatsupport it are collecting signa-tures on the issue. ●
don’t think anybody will startto think so if we get a little lessthan we said at the beginning.
Of course, though, if we getless than the z∏.300 billion, wecan expect many negativecomments from the opposi-tion. But the ordinary citizen ismore interested in issues thataffect him directly, like howmuch gas costs at the stationand not whether Polandreceives z∏.300 or z∏.330 billionfrom the EU.
The opposition is very criticalof the government’s foreignpolicy, describing it as weakand ineffective. Does it evercross your mind that they maybe right?No, it doesn’t. I remember Lawand Justice’s (PiS) foreign poli-cy [when they ruled in the years2005-07]. Most of the opposi-tion shares our stance on for-eign policy. In fact, only PiS is aeuroskeptic party, and increas-ingly so. This is of course aproblem because the leader ofthat party plays on anti-Ger-man and anti-Russian senti-ment in Poland. That does nothelp in building an atmosphereof agreement and it does notsupport the government in itsforeign policy.
Polish-German relationstoday are good but are yousatisfied with Polish-Russianrelations?I think that thanks to ouractions, there has been a sig-nificant improvement in thoserelations.
Relations were terriblewhen we took over in 2007.Today, we have returned tostate visits. There is moretrade between our countries.Institutions are being createdto improve bilateral relations.Vladimir Putin paid hisrespects to the victims of theKatyƒ massacre.
But from the point of viewof energy policy, there is ongo-ing disagreement about condi-tions for us. And there is alsothe case of the Smolenskcatastrophe which in the eyesof some discredits relationsbetween our two countries.And the absolutely unjustifiedand crazy theories about Rus-sia having murdered the Polishpresident definitely don’t helpin building relations.
So you are saying Polish-Russian relations are betterthan most Poles think theyare?They are much better thanthey used to be. When DonaldTusk became prime minister in2007, opinion polls showedthat 80 percent of Poles want-ed an improvement in Polish-Russian relations. And that’snot because of some sentimen-tality towards Russia, but sim-ply because Poles wanted tofeel safer here in Poland. Wehave definitely improved thoserelations in the past five years.
In the immediate days follow-ing the catastrophe when
there was a solemn atmos-phere of unity in Poland, didyou believe then that some-thing would change in Polishpolitics?I am a keen observer of thepolitical scene and I didn’t, fora minute, believe that some-thing would change. I know[PiS leader] Jaros∏awKaczyƒski too well and theway he sees politics. I haveobserved him for many yearsand I was absolutely certainthat he would use the catas-trophe as a political weapononce he recovered from theshock of the death of his twinbrother.
What do you think will shapethe political situation inPoland in the near future?The possible rise in popularityof PiS is a very serious prob-
lem. I hope nobody in Polandwill have to go through thetrauma of a PiS-led govern-ment again like they had tofrom 2005 to 2007. MrKaczyƒski will not give uppower so easily a second time.
But he said once that hewouldn’t give up power andthen he did ...When he made that statementthat he would not give uppower that had been captured,he was over-confident of win-ning the next parliamentaryelection. He won’t make thatmistake a second time.
What are the threats to Pol-ish politics you see comingfrom the outside?
If the crisis spreads further, itcould help radicals here inPoland, like for example radi-cal labor unions. A lotdepends on how the govern-ment tackles the negative ten-dencies in Europe but in thisglobalized world, sometimes asingle entity is unable todefend its borders.
Do you think there has beenan irreversible change in theway your party is perceivedby voters and by the media?Everybody seems to be criti-cizing PO of late.I think that even those of ourvoters who are now critical ofus and have joined the ranksof the undecided, will comeback if we work hard and thedanger of radicals comingback to power is real. In sucha situation, I don’t think our
party would be ineffective inpreventing the radicals fromPiS from coming back topower. The question iswhether the left will be able torebuild. Today, it is weak butif it were to rebuild, it wouldbe a real alternative for peo-ple who want a calm govern-ment.
You have said you want PiSleader and former PM,Jaros∏aw Kaczyƒski, to standbefore the State Tribunal.Why?Here in Poland, we rememberJaros∏aw Kaczyƒski’s rule alltoo well. I think the State Tri-bunal should hear the case ofthe former prime ministerwho breached the constitu-
CO
UR
TE
SY O
F R
AF
A¸
GR
UP
I¡S
KI
The possible rise in popularity of PiS is a very serious problem, says Mr Grupiƒski
THE BEST SOLUTIONTO AUDIT AND ACCOUNTING
Wide experience of professional services include:■ auditing,■ accounting ,■ financial management,■ financial & tax advisory,■ international tax advisory,■ law advisory,■ stock exchange advisory referral,■ bookkeeping & management accounts,■ economic analysis of the financial and business activities,■ other services - investigations to support management
decisions; assisting clients in changing the legal set up of their business activities e.g. transformation of branches/partnerships into corporations or vice versa, trusteeships as well as business appraisals, economic and financial analysis, due diligences valuation of business within privatization or restructuring procedures, providing trainings.
Biuro Audytorskie SADREN Sp. z o.o.00-656 Warszawa, ul Âniadeckich 10,tel: (48 22) 621 72 16-18,mail: [email protected], www.sadren.com.pl
Vladimir Putin
ill?Although there is no
official confirmation, it
appears that Russian
President Vladimir Putin
is experiencing serious
health problems, Gazeta
Wyborcza reported. The
president’s spokesman,
Dmitry Peskov, gave
reassurances that there
is no reason for worry.
But the Russian daily
Vedomosti reported that
since October 7, when Mr
Putin celebrated his 60th
birthday, he has left his
residence only once.
Poland not
immune from
recessionDespite diminishing fears
about a collapse of the
euro zone, Poland is not
immune from recession.
Economists from BRE
Bank say they don’t expect
a “technical recession” of
two quarters of negative
growth each, but they do
expect Poland’s year-on-
year GDP to fall in the first
half of 2013, Rp.pl
reported. This will be
accompanied by an
economic slowdown, a
decrease in job creation,
and an increase in
unemployment. ●
“In this globalized world, sometimes a single entity is
unable to defend its borders”
NOVEMBER 5-11, 201210 www.wbj.pl IINNVVEESSTTIINNGG IINN PPOOLLAANNDD PPRROOJJEECCTT
Publication partners:
Strategic partner for Spanish & Chinese editions:
Conference partners:
w w w . b i l a n s . e u
Media patronage:
As part of its mission to support foreign investment in Poland, Warsaw Business Journal aims to recognizecompanies that have made a large, positive contribution with their investments in Poland. To accomplish
this goal, WBJ is organizing a competition for “Investment of the Year,” to be presented at the Investing inPoland Gala ceremony in November 2012.
Nominees for the awards have been chosen by selected chambers of commerce partners. Below we pres-ent the profile of an investment by AstraZeneca, nominated by the British Polish Chamber of Commerce. ●
Biopharmaceutics
AstraZeneca invests in Polish R&D centerThe company expectsto createapproximately 140jobs through the z∏.39million investment
British and Swedish biophar-maceutical company Astra-Zeneca has invested z∏.39 mil-lion to create an R&D center,called the Research & Devel-
opment Head unit (HUB), inPoland. The center is one offive R&D centers run byAstraZeneca and the firm’sonly such facility in the Centraland Eastern European region.
The HUB is to providespace for the planning andexecution of clinical trialsacross all the major therapyareas and phases of the drugdevelopment process. The unit
is also the main center for thecompany’s Clinical Operationsservices.
The R&D center is expect-ed to provide 120 new jobs bythe end of 2012, and an addi-tional 20 jobs are planned for2013.
Global reachThe company says the invest-ment is innovative because it isthe first unit in this industry inthe region which coordinatesprojects that are delivered allover the world. The majority ofemployees are leaders, expertsand specialists in their fieldand have the opportunity todevelop their careers throughworking at the new facility.
The investment is also con-sidered sustainable by thecompany, which touts its long-term impact on Poland.
“[The] Organization is con-tinuously extending [its] range
of activities and central servic-es ... as both part of organiza-tional development and pro-ductivity improvement proj-ects,” Patryk Mikucki, thedirector at the HUB, wrote ina statement.
The expected beneficialimpact is mainly related to theopportunity for employees atthe company to develop theircompetencies, and especiallytheir global project manage-
ment skills. The center pro-vides multitasking work in aninternational environment,with exposure to different cul-tures and collaborationbeyond borders with differentpartners and vendors.
The project is the first of itskind in the biopharmaceuticalindustry in Poland, accordingto AstraZeneca. Moreover thewhole process of developingand supervising the invest-
ment was handled by Polishmanagers.
“We strongly believe thatwe set an example for othercompanies, not only pharma-ceutical ones, that Poland is agreat place for investment andnot only because of the costadvantage but also due to thehigh level of managerial andleadership competencies avail-able here,” said Mr Mikucki.
IIzzaabbeellaa DDeeppcczzyykk
About AstraZenecaAstraZeneca is a global, integrated biopharmaceutical com-pany. It discovers, develops, manufactures and markets pre-scription medicines for six important areas of health care,which include some of the world’s most serious illnesses: can-cer, cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, infection, neuroscience,and respiratory and inflammation. The company employsaround 57,200 people (46 percent in Europe, 31 percent inthe Americas and 23 percent in Asia-Pacific) and is active inover 100 countries with a growing presence in emerging mar-kets including China, Brazil, Mexico and Russia. It investsover $4 billion in R&D each year. ●
CO
UR
TE
SY O
F A
ST
RA
ZE
NE
CA
The research and development center HUB is AstraZeneca’s only such facility in the
CEE region
AA ssiillllyy ooppppoossiittiioonn
NOVEMBER 5-11, 2012 OOPPIINNIIOONN && AANNAALLYYSSIISS www.wbj.pl 11
Remi Adekoya
A ll hell broke loose last Tuesdayafter one of Poland’s mostrespected newspapers, Rzecz-
pospolita, reported that Polish inves-tigators had found traces of explosivematerials on the wreckage of theTU-154 plane which crashed in 2010,killing President Lech Kaczyƒski and95 others.
For those who have alwaysbelieved that the late president wasmurdered on the orders of theKremlin, the fact that a mainstreamnewspaper now seemed to be echo-ing their sentiments must have comeas no small satisfaction.
Over a third (36 percent) of Polesbelieve the Smolensk catastrophewas in fact an assassination, accord-ing to a Millward Brown SMG/KRCpoll released last week. A further 8percent say “they don’t know” if itwas an assassination or not.
This means some 44 percent ofPoles either already believe or couldbe persuaded to believe that
Vladimir Putin and his henchmenordered their president killed.
After the news broke, the MilitaryProsecutor’s Office, which is incharge of the Smolensk investiga-tions, said it would hold a press con-ference later in the day to addressRzeczpospolita’s claims.
Shooting from the hipBut Jaros∏aw Kaczyƒski, twin brotherof the late president, and leader ofopposition party Law and Justice(PiS), wasn’t able to wait that long.He promptly called a press confer-ence of his own where he spoke ofthe “murder of 96 people” and saidthat Prime Minister Donald Tusk has“lost the moral authority to rule.”
The PiS leader went as far as toimply that the PM was actively“obstructing the investigation” intothe Smolensk catastrophe. For goodmeasure, the implication was left inthe air that Mr Tusk might have evenbeen involved in the death of
Jaros∏aw Kaczyƒski’s brother.Then came the Military Prosecu-
tor’s press conference, during whichhe essentially denied the newspaperreport although, in all fairness, hesaid it could not be “ruled out” thattests would indeed show that explo-sives traces were present in the mate-rials Polish investigators had recov-ered. It was however, categoricallystated that up till now “no traces” ofsuch materials had been found.
Looking sillyMr Kaczyƒski described these state-ments as “one big lie” and said hebelieved the Rzeczpospolita reports.But by now the newspaper itself hadstarted to backtrack from its state-ments saying it should not havebeen so “categorical” in its claims.
And then, finally, the prime min-ister spoke.
As usual in such situations, Don-ald Tusk played the role of the calmbut decided statesman, saying quiet-
ly that it was “unacceptable for theleader of the opposition to be levy-ing such charges, charges that coulddevastate the Polish state, based onan inaccurate newspaper report.”
Bang! Enemy down.After that Mr Kaczyƒski and his
party could only look silly. But PiS seems to take pride in its
silliness and, hours later, partyspokesperson, Adam Hofman, wassaying publicly that PiS has “its ownsources who confirm the Rzecz-pospolita reports.” The originalreports that is, not the retraction thenewspaper made. So that means PiSnow believes a newspaper reportthat the newspaper itself is disavow-ing.
Major mistakesWhen it emerged a couple of weeksago that Mr Kaczyƒski’s party hadovertaken the ruling Civic Platform(PO) in the polls, a pro-PiS politicalcommentator wrote on Twitter, par-
aphrasing Dr. House: “Ok, now justtell me how you are going to f**kthis up.”
For the past month, PiS has beentrying to shed its image of a rabble-rousing, radical party that is onlyinterested in Smolensk and not indull, earthly matters such as unem-ployment or the economy.
As polls showed, the party hadachieved some success in thisendeavor.
That was a good thing for Polandbecause the ruling party needsstrong competition snapping at itsheels so it stays sharp. However,once again Jaros∏aw Kaczyƒski hasproved that he has a short fuse. Andthat’s not the kind of person voterstend to trust with power. Jaros∏awKaczyƒski has managed to f**k itup-again. ●
Remi Adekoya is Warsaw BusinessJournal’s politics editor. Read his blog,
“The business of politics” on WBJ.pl
T he debate about improvingeconomic governance withinthe euro zone is shedding new
light on the system’s weaknesses. Itwas already evident when the Maas-tricht Treaty was signed in 1992 that amonetary union without somethingsimilar in the fiscal domain would beunsustainable in the long run. Then,for the common currency’s firstdecade, that fundamental flaw waspapered over.
Now the euro zone – with a cen-tralized monetary policy, run by theEuropean Central Bank, alongside 27national fiscal policies – has come tolook like a mockery of economiccommon sense. Early on, importantstates like France and Germanystopped taking seriously the Euro-pean Union’s Stability and GrowthPact (SGP), which was supposed toguarantee fiscal discipline and coor-dination among the member states.
Obligations ignoredWith the euro’s introduction boostingintra-European trade and loweringinflation in many member states, fis-cal obligations were simply ignored.The euro quickly became the world’ssecond-most important currency, andit proved to be a shield against exter-nal financial turbulence. Optimismsoared and prudence fled – reflectedin premature euro zone membershipfor countries like Greece, as well as inthe gap between the pace of EU
enlargement and that of institutionalintegration.
In other words, Europe’s decision-makers ultimately overlooked thebasic requirements of a monetaryunion in a heterogeneous economicarea:• A sizable common budget for the
provision of public goods.• Fiscal transfers from more prosper-
ous areas to lagging or distressedregions.
• Some form of mutualization ofpublic debt, carried out under strin-gent rules.
• Above all, a central bank with all ofthe prerogatives and instrumentsneeded to serve as lender of lastresort.Satisfying these conditions would,
of course, lead to fully-fledged politi-cal union, but the process could begradual, starting with a bankingunion, a fiscal union, or a central bankwith lender-of-last-resort status – afunctionalist approach that might bemore politically viable. Some willoppose greater solidarity nonetheless,disregarding the elementary fact thatenhanced interdependence in a mon-etary union requires it, and ignoringthe Lisbon Treaty’s affirmation ofEurope’s “social market” model.
Stop-and-go processA monetary union that does not bene-fit all of its participants will not survivefor long. After the euro zone’s sover-
eign-debt crisis erupted, defaults wereavoided by establishing the EuropeanFinancial Stabilization Mechanism(since replaced by the European Sta-bility Mechanism), and by crafting amore pragmatic and reinforced rolefor the ECB (acting with the Euro-pean Commission and the Interna-tional Monetary Fund). And a new“fiscal compact” foresees enshriningmember states’ commitment to budg-et balance – and to reducing publicdebt to within 60 percent of GDP in 20years – in their constitutions.
But any assessment of Europeaneconomic governance must acknowl-edge the slow, contradictory natureof intergovernmental decision-mak-ing, in which a misconceived notionof national interest, together withupsurges in popular anti-EU senti-ment and electoral pressure, has ledto a stop-and-go process, punctuatedby financial-market swoons. Viewedin these terms, the European politicalclass has clearly failed to exerciseleadership.
The challenge now is twofold: howto cope with the financial crisis whilecreating a safer economic futurethrough better governance. Excessiveemphasis on fiscal rigor, unaccompa-nied by measures to stimulategrowth, has reinforced recessionarytrends, placing additional strain onnational budgets and debt/GDPratios. That drives up affected gov-ernments’ borrowing costs further,
fueling a downward spiral.
A lasting solutionAny lasting solution requires Euro-peans to acknowledge that they nowface a common problem that can beresolved only by greater cohesion andfinancial solidarity. The ECB mustbecome a genuine central bank forEurope. The European banking sys-tem must be turned into a bankingunion with the ECB responsible forprudential supervision. The fiscalcompact must be implemented quick-ly, and progress on harmonizing fiscalpolicies should continue.
But fiscal discipline must beaccompanied by policies that pro-mote growth, without which balancedbudgets and debt reduction cannotbe achieved. The Europe 2020 strate-gy, approved two years ago in part toimprove economic governance, is agood starting point, offering the basisfor the “growth compact” that someEU governments have sought.
The path to improved Europeaneconomic governance leads throughthe EU’s political institutions, with“more Europe” presupposing furtherstrengthening of the European Par-liament and the European Commis-sion, and the abolition of veto powersin the European Council. The argu-ment that strengthening Europe’scommon institutions would reducenational sovereignty appears veryweak, for the simple reason that in
today’s globalized economy sover-eignty is more apparent than real.
Courage neededParallel with these changes, Euro-pean leaders must publicly acknowl-edge that if the euro collapses,Europe will quickly revert to compet-itive devaluations, intra-EU protec-tion, and “beggar-thy-neighbor” poli-cies, all of which were evident in the1970s and 1980s. European publicopinion must be made aware thatincreasing interdependence meansthat the exchange-rate stability andgradual completion of the single mar-ket implied by the euro really do ben-efit all participants.
Europe’s political class needs tofind the courage to take the nextsteps toward a closer union. Thesmall price that nation-states willhave to pay is negligible compared tothe likely consequences of inaction.
Carlo Secchi, a former member ofthe European Parliament, is professorof European economic policy at Boc-
coni University in Milan, vice presi-dent of the Institute of International
Political Studies (ISPI) in Milan, andchairman of the Italian Group of the
Trilateral Commission.
Copyright: ProjectSyndicate/Europe’s World, 2012.
project-syndicate.orgeuropesworld.org
MMoorree lleeaaddeerrsshhiipp ffoorr mmoorree EEuurrooppeeCarlo Secchi
MANAGING EDITORGARETH PRICE([email protected])
POLITICS EDITORREMI ADEKOYA([email protected])
REAL ESTATE EDITORADAM ZDRODOWSKI([email protected])
SPORTS & LIFESTYLE EDITORDAVID INGHAM([email protected])
JOURNALISTIZABELA DEPCZYK([email protected])
CONTRIBUTORSE. BLAKE BERRYEWA BONIECKA¸UKASZ CIOCH
COLUMNISTSADAM NARCZEWSKIANDREW NAWROCKI
PRODUCTION MANAGERPIOTR WYSKOK
GRAPHIC DESIGNER¸UKASZ MAZUREK
MARKETING &SALES
AGNIESZKA BREJWO MARKETING &SALES DIRECTOR([email protected])
MAGDALENA KARPI¡SKA([email protected])
AGNIESZKA KUCZY¡SKA([email protected])
EWA BROGOSZ-KORYCKA([email protected])
PR & MARKETING SPECIALIST KATARZYNA MAREK([email protected])
SUBSCRIPTIONS MANAGERAGNIESZKA MICHALIK([email protected])
PRINT & DISTRIBUTION COORDINATORKRZYSZTOF WILI¡SKI([email protected])
BOOK OF LISTS SPECIALISTMONIKA BRYSIAK([email protected])
PUBLISHER VALKEA MEDIA SA EDITOR-IN-CHIEF ANDREW KURETH ([email protected]) MANAGING DIRECTOR MONIKA STAWICKA
Editorials are the opinions of WBJ’s editorial board. Other opinions are those of the authors alone. Comments, opinions and letters should be sent to [email protected]. Please include a name and contact information and clearly indicate if they are to be considered for publication.
Government strategy is oftencomplex and difficult tounderstand. In politics espe-cially, focus and simplicity areoften lacking – the very oppo-site of the biggest success sto-ries in global business innova-tion. Does it have to be thatway?
It would be understandablefor a voter to feel confused, ifnot dejected, in today’sPoland. Endless debates andpolitical spectacles, with nomeaningful purpose, objectiveor plan (except political) havedominated the political arenafor years now, with few ques-tions asked.
Is this what voters had inmind? Even before theSmolensk catastrophe, Po-land’s far-right parties foundrefuge in confining their elec-toral mandate to counter-pro-ductive fights with increasinglydubious tactics. In a post-Smolensk world, Poland’spolitical stage is flooded withmarches, demonstrations andfar-right religiosity exploitedfor political purposes.
Politics has always beenmore comfortable in a “react
to” than “anticipate, plan andprevent” mode – again, instark opposition to business.Petty scandal-mongering overissues like the Amber Goldcollapse and travel-agencybankruptcies, as well as yearsof parliamentary deadlockover issues such as the in vitrofertilization procedure, at atime of global economic crisisno less, can leave voters exas-perated. Fortunately forPoland, EU funds have blunt-ed the impact of the crisis sofar.
Politics and the mediaPandering to the media, key toany political process, hasreached the stage where anaverage Polish citizen wouldbe justified in believing thatpoliticians have long aban-doned their allegiance to pub-lic service. In some cases, evenparliamentary premises seemto have lost their status as aworkplace, hosting insteadendless political soap-operasand Sunday-morning talkshows.
Coupled with constantpower struggles and chronicattention-seeking at both anindividual and party level, thesituation is sadly evocative ofanything but a mature politics.It is hardly unusual that issueswhich are irrelevant from aneconomic standpoint domi-nate the media landscape formonths. However, for politi-cians, such issues are oftenexploited to divert voters’attention away from mattersthat require real work, com-mitment and collaborativethinking – matters which oftencome with significant politicalrisks in an environment thatdoes not encourage risk-tak-ing.
Focus vs. egoIn a competence-based com-parison between business andpolitics, the latter is inevitablydisadvantaged, and, mostimportantly perhaps, far fromaware of it. As much as busi-ness relies on meritocracy,complete dedication and com-mitment, politics is a complexinterplay of ego, tactics, plot-ting and team-building. Itfavors sharp political instinctsover hands-on experience inmanagement or field-specificcompetence. For this reasonalone, bilateral negotiationsbetween politicians and busi-nesses usually end up with thebusiness side of the table notonly achieving more focusedresults but feeling better moti-vated, better trained for therole, and incentivized on a per-formance basis.
Occasionally, this compe-tence-motivation gap results inspectacular miscalculationsand failures to understandeven the most basic equationof business and politics, letalone act wisely on sound cost-benefit premises. To take oneof the biggest, yet under-appreciated examples, over 70percent of the steel industry inPoland was privatized in a sin-gle transaction in 2003. Fromthe seller’s perspective, thisprivatization was concluded atthe worst possible moment,months ahead of one of thebiggest booms in the steel mar-ket in decades. Signs of prom-ising market sentiment werealready being reported acrossthe global media landscape.
This single privatization isan excellent example of whatdifferentiates a mature econo-my from an emerging one andpolitical thinking from a busi-ness approach.
Leaders or followers?Andrzej Jacaszek, the manag-ing director at the ICAN Insti-tute and a former deputyfinance minister, combinesboth long-standing experiencein public-sector managementand an impressive record inprivate entrepreneurship andvarious leadership roles.
Discussing the fundamen-tals of leadership, he stressesthe fact that Poland’s free-market economy is relativelyyoung and does not have thebenefits enjoyed by a muchlonger free-market tradition ofcountries such as Germany,Switzerland or the UK. Thesame applies to innovation,business leadership and know-how.
“The very notion of leader-ship has undergone a dynamicevolution over the last 50years. Earlier, leadership waslargely about personality andindividual charisma. Today,business leadership requires afar more complex set of quali-ties,” he said.
“In business, every decisionhas to be considered followinga cost-benefit analysis. Unlikein politics, ideology is far lessimportant. The key questions– who is the beneficiary of mystrategy, what kind of serviceam I contributing, and how amI going to deliver it? – arenever absent from this analy-sis.”
Strategy the keyAccording to strategy expertRichard Rumelt, politics andbusiness both notoriously con-fuse “what one thinks of asstrategy” and what “passes forstrategy in many companies,
NOVEMBER 5-11, 2012CCOOVVEERR SSTTOORRYY12 www.wbj.pl
Politics
The business of leadership¸ukasz Cioch
SH
UT
TE
RS
TO
CK
Should politicalleaders in Polanddraw lessons fromglobal-businessstrategy andleadership philosophy,or are these twodifferent worlds withopposite objectives?
Polish politicians tend to get caught up in the media circus
politicians’ mouths, govern-ment agencies, school sys-tems.”
His yardstick for definingstrategy? People are surprisedwhen they see one. That’sbecause, particularly in poli-tics, people almost subcon-sciously expect leaders to setopaque goals and promise toachieve everything at once:better education, the besthealth care, cheap energy.Voters have grown accus-tomed to expect leaders towant to have it all and indulgein vacuous promises. Howthese goals are to be achievedbecomes the real question,before any focused action istaken.
Against this background,Polish politics is a beauty pag-eant defined by camera-addic-tion and a plethora of increas-ingly speculative opinion polls,not to mention the twin assis-tance of deliberate populismand a chronic lack of strategicthinking beyond purely politi-cal goals, let alone goodwill.The notions of public serviceand a collaborative, prioritizedapproach are increasinglyabsent from the debate.
The lesser evilUnlike what is consideredstandard practice in the worldof private business, politicians’fundamental comfort zonecontinues to drift further andfurther from focused, priori-tized problem-solving towardsspin-doctoring, propagandaand below-the-belt powergames, especially in vital areasthat will define the country’slong-term future: education,economy, entrepreneurshipand energy, to mention just afew.
In two decades, Poles haveseen waves of mediocrity andincompetence sweep throughthe country’s key administra-tive posts. The result? Polandis a country with huge reservesof talent and determination,but with little in the way of fun-damental ability to innovateand re-define itself in a post-
1989 reality. Poland mostlyattempts to replicate whatother countries have done well,but under completely differentcircumstances.
The instinct to followrather than lead, to subduerather than inspire, to bullyrather than instill confidence,has been very successful atimpeding entrepreneurshipand innovation in their embry-onic stages. The result is thatthose who should believe inthemselves do not, and thosewho should not, do – a factperhaps best reflected in
today’s politics. Poland is a country with a
history of unswerving dedica-tion to independence andautonomy, against all odds. Andyet the fact that it does not boasta single leading internationalbusiness brand is nowhere to befound on Polish political lead-ers’ strategic agenda.
A broken recordLiving in a comparativelyyoung free-market democracy,Poles may be too busy bread-winning to demand betterfrom their politicians. Overthe years of being stuck in thesame hypnotic pattern, Polesseem to have grown sadlyaccustomed to the peculiarrepetitiveness of the politicalmenu – like boarding the sameshabby, overcrowded PKPtrain again and again, for lackof a better option.
Back in the 1980s, Polesdemonstrated – with greatbravery – their far-reachingdiscontent with the system.Today’s politics requires simi-lar determination in re-estab-lishing the core standards of
what public service should beabout. Even though in-fight-ing and hypocrisy are as muchpart of politics as bluffing ispart of poker, the caliber ofissues Poland faces today callsfor a revolution at the verygrassroots of Polish politics.Those who wish to see thishappen could do worse thanapply the concept of a strate-gic business plan to achievethis end.
And yes, business and pol-itics are incompatible. A situ-ation where a company’s topexecutives fill their days at
work plotting, openlyspreading negativity andundermining the very fun-damentals of corporateleadership, let aloneindulging in criminal allega-tions and weakening thevery pillars of the corporatestructure, is plainly incon-ceivable. This is not whatthey are hired and paid for –not what their “voters” (in
this case decision-makers)agreed to. In business, suchsituations are dealt with at amuch earlier stage, longbefore they mature into achronic, repetitive pathology.Criticism is allowed but not asempty rhetoric but a crediblecounter-proposal with, mostimportantly, clear proof ofgood intentions and compli-ance with job description.
Poland has every reason todemand far less negativeenergy from its politicians andfar more good will and collab-orative thinking, reflected,among other things, in thequality of simple person-to-person communication. Per-haps in the future, casting a“none of them live up to thestandards of the job” vote,should be given more atten-tion. Asking voters in all post-1989 elections to choosebetween black and white, in areality where grays is all thereis, is not a solution, nor a fairdemand. Far more accounta-bility, good faith, collabora-tive confidence and positiveenergy, is. ●
NOVEMBER 5-11, 2012 CCOOVVEERR SSTTOORRYY www.wbj.pl 13
The language of strategy
Waiters, tour guides, taxi drivers, like hun-dreds of other professions, have found twodecades of Polish free-market democracy asufficient stimulus to learn enough Englishfor their immediate job purposes. Ironically,the same cannot be said for the country’s topstatesmen, even those whose political self-placement skills have been otherwise impec-cable. Like the remaining State Treasuryassets awaiting privatization, they remainmagically immune to performance evaluationand accountability, in this and many otherrespects. Instead, they are masters at adapta-tion and political survival.
At a time when English is barely a foreignlanguage across the EU, it is hardly a far-fetched hope that people whose top publicjobs to a large extent consist of daily commu-nication across multiple settings, shouldindulge voters by addressing a simple, intu-itive expectation that the country’s leaders
should at least be capable of communicatingindependently – particularly when Poland’simage abroad is at stake.
Of course, a fluent command of English isby no means synonymous with the skillsrequired to run a country’s administration.However, the lack of it, especially after 20years of political mingling at the internationallevel, is no doubt a telling symbol of a declinein the quality of leadership
Forget members of Poland’s national par-liament. If all of Poland’s members of theEuropean Parliament started speaking Eng-lish overnight, it might be considered Poland’ssingle best political innovation since Solidari-ty. Its impact on the country’s image wouldlikely surpass the millions poured into adver-tising and promotion, especially if those cam-paigns reflect the “language problem” as elo-quently as the official slogan of Euro 2012:“Feel like at home.” ●
“An average Polish citizenwould be justified in
believing that politicianshave long abandoned
their allegiance to publicservice”
NOVEMBER 5-11, 201214 www.wbj.pl IINNTTEERRNNAATTIIOONNAALL
Ewa Boniecka: Politicalchanges are taking place inEastern Europe, followingparliamentary elections inLithuania and Georgia therehas been great interest in theparliamentary election inUkraine. What impact couldthese elections have on theEastern policy of the EU andPoland?Olaf Osica: I object to puttingall those countries into onepolitical basket, since they aredifferent countries, with differ-ent circumstances surroundingtheir respective elections, sothey have different meaningsfrom a European perspective.In Lithuania, which is a mem-ber of the EU, the election justbrought about a change to thegovernment and not to its posi-tion in the European Union.
The outcome of the elec-tions in Georgia, with its loca-
tion in the Southern Caucasusand territorial problems thatremain unresolved followingthe 2008 war with Russia, leadsto questions about broaderaspects of its future policy.
At the same time Georgiaand Ukraine are participantsin the Eastern Partnership pro-gram, which offers cooperationwith the European Union andsupport for those countries’European aspirations. But wehave to wait and see how thesituations in Georgia andUkraine develop as a result oftheir elections. Thus we do notknow now what impact thoseelections could have on theEastern policy of Poland andthe EU.
Could the outcome of the elec-tion in Lithuania – where analliance comprising the SocialDemocratic Party, the Labor
Party and the party of animpeached former president,has taken power – bring aboutchanges to Polish-Lithuanianrelations? While talking about possibleimprovements to Polish-Lithuanian relations, I will notmix hope with politics. We willsee whether the new govern-ment is interested in changingthe country’s approach to therights of the Polish minority ineducation, in the matter ofallowing the writing of theirnames in original Polish char-acters, and also in some otherareas.
And if that does not hap-pen, we will be in the same sit-uation as before. And it is alsoa question of whether theElectoral Action of Poles inLithuania (AWPL) caucus inparliament will be involved indealing with the general prob-lems of the country, not con-centrating solely on the prob-lems of the Polish minority,and so will have an influenceon shaping Lithuanian policy.But to treat the Polish partici-pation in the Lithuanian par-liament as a vehicle forimproving Poland’s relationswith Lithuania is, in my opin-ion, a narrow attitude. We haveto develop good relations withthe whole country, the wholesociety, and build a close Pol-ish-Lithuanian partnership inthe European Union, where[they] have many commoninterests.
Media speculation suggestsGeorgia’s new leadershipcould turn to the East, to Rus-sia, and less to Poland and theEuropean Union. How do youreact to this?First of all, Georgia is an inde-pendent country and the lastelections were fully democrat-ic, as was the change of govern-ment. So Georgia will decidewhat policy to choose for itself.Relations between Georgiaand Poland are based on cer-tain perspectives, on Georgiajoining the European commu-nity in the future. The questionis, what is Russia trying toachieve in its policy towardsGeorgia? Georgia expects tobe treated as a partner, not a
satellite. We will see if the out-come of the election changesthe situation.
Now it seems to me thatRussia is happy with the out-come of the Georgian elections.But the question is whether andhow Russia is inclined to devel-op serious relations with Geor-gia, when a significant part of
Georgia’s territory was taken byRussia in the 2008 war. That isinfluencing EU policy towardsGeorgia. Nevertheless, we wantto encourage and support theEuropean aspirations of Geor-gia, so it is not a change ofEuropean policy towards Geor-gia, it is Russia who mightchange its policy towards Geor-gia.
How do you see the capacity ofthe Eastern Partnership toinfluence developments incountries located to the Eastof the EU, in light of the diver-gent views of EU membersconcerning relations with Rus-sia?First of all, Russia is very muchwelcome to participate in theEastern Partnership, but it isMoscow’s decision. The pointis that the Eastern Partnershipis not anti-Russian. On thecontrary, we have involvedRussia in some small part ofthat program – establishing thefree movement of people inthe region of Kaliningrad.
It is a decision made by theEuropean Union and Russia inthe framework of the EasternPartnership. I want to pointout that, initiated by Polandand Sweden and launched asan official plank of the EU’spolicy four years ago, theEastern Partnership is now awell-recognized vehicle whichaims to build the EU’s engage-ment with Eastern Europe andthe Southern Caucasus. Wewant to achieve, step by step,cooperation in a variety of
fields such as ... visa regimes,developing economic coopera-tion, social dialogue, businesscontacts and getting easterncountries to move closer to theEU.
But I think that we need tolook at this program in thebroader perspectives of theEuropean Union’s activity. We
have developed an Easternpolicy aimed at spreading sta-bility and democracy in theEastern part of the Europeancontinent, and this policy isbringing about some positiveresults. If we look at the impactwe have on Eastern Europeand compare it with the situa-tion in other parts of the world,we see that we have achievedmore than the EU hasachieved in other areas. Yes,we do have problems in theeast, we may disagree withthose countries, be dissatisfiedwith their performance, butthey are our as partners.
In the framework of theEastern Partnership we con-cluded an Association Agree-ment between the EU andUkraine together with anagreement concerning theDeep and ComprehensiveFree Trade Area. It is initial-ized, not yet signed and rati-fied, but it is there. We haveseveral processes going onconcerning an associationbetween the EU and Moldova,Georgia and Armenia. Thisshows that EU integrationwith Eastern Europe is pro-gressing, not against Russia,but I would say beyond Russia,as cooperation between theEU and Russia has its ownframework. So I would notconfuse the Eastern Partner-ship process, which has its ownpath and procedures, with EUrelations with Russia.
It is a common observationthat the EU is now so focusedon the financial crisis and onchanges to its political archi-tecture that it is averse to dis-cussing enlargement in theeast. How do you assess thisfrom a Polish point of view? We now face economic prob-lems in the EU and we do nothave enough time, energy andfinancial resources to push for-ward all the elements of east-ern policy. But even while wedo not always speak with onevoice here, and the idea that 27
Eastern European politics
Looking eastOlaf Osica, director of the Centre For EasternStudies, talks to WBJ about the politicallandscape after elections in Lithuania, Ukraineand Georgia, the role of the EasternPartnership and the dilemmas facing theEastern policy
Hollande
implies debate
on EU deficit
targetsLast Monday French
President Francois
Hollande suggested that
a debate on the European
Union’s deficit targets
could be in store in the
near future, while at the
same time insisting that
his country was on track
to meet current goals. Mr
Hollande said that his
government would meet
the EU target of 3%
deficit-to-GDP next year,
even though many
experts are skeptical.
Treasury to
sell non-core
assetsAfter a review of Poland’s
largest state-owned
firms, the Treasury
Ministry has decided to
sell the companies’ non-
core assets, Dziennik
Gazeta Prawna reported.
The decision comes after
audits of Poland’s 19
largest state-owned
firms were conducted.
The newspaper reported
that the ministry has
created an initial list of
firms that will be put up
for sale soon. ●
“We cannot simply insist that we wantUkraine to become a member of the
European Union, because the country isnot ready yet.”
The Eastern PartnershipThe Eastern Partnership is a European Union project,launched by Poland and Sweden, that provides an institution-al forum for discussing issues such as free trade deals, strate-gic partnership agreements and visa agreements, with theEU’s eastern neighbors. It aims to improve political and eco-nomic relations between the EU and post-Soviet states con-sidered to be of “strategic importance,” with a particular focusapplied to the promotion of human rights and the rule of law.The Partnership comprises Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus,Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine and the European Union. ●
NOVEMBER 5-11, 2012 IINNTTEERRNNAATTIIOONNAALL www.wbj.pl 15
Euro 2012:
over z∏.1 bln
spent
Poland’s Institute of
Tourism says that
foreigners spent over
z∏.1 billion in Poland
during the Euro 2012
soccer championships
that took place in Poland
and Ukraine this past
summer. The institute’s
deputy chairman,
Krzysztof ¸opaciƒski,
said that in June, some
650,000 foreigners
visited Poland to watch
the games. Those who
stayed for just one day
spent on average z∏.354,
while those who stayed
overnight spent z∏.1,541,
on average. In June, the
institute had forecast
that foreigners would
spend z∏.980 million in
Poland during the
tournament.
Spain won’t
seek EU aid –
yetSpanish Prime Minister
Mariano Rajoy has said
that his government
“understands that it is
not essential at this time”
to seek aid from the
European Union to
protect “the general
interests of the Spanish
people.” Mr Rajoy added
that it was a “good thing”
that the possibility of
approaching the
European aid mechanism
is there, but at the
moment Spain will not do
so. “It’s an instrument
that is there and the fact
that it’s there is very
important, it sends a
message about the
irreversibility of the
euro,” he said. ●
members agree on everythingis not possible to implement,the EU has an active easternpolicy, and this is the mostimportant thing.
How do you see the role ofPoland in pushing forwardeastern policy in the presentcircumstances – could Polandfulfill all of its expectationsand ambitions in this domain? We are expecting somethingwhich is not possible, but weare exercising all mechanismsto push the Eastern Partner-ship forward and the Euro-pean Commission hasacknowledged and valued ourrole. But we can only do asmuch as our eastern partnersare ready to accept.
Look at Ukraine and itsdomestic agenda, where wecan only do what they areready to accept. The EasternPartnership is not a colonialpolicy and the countriesinvolved in it are our partners.We offer them concrete reformproposals and cooperation inmany fields: judicial, humanrights protection, economicperformance, education andhuman exchanges, and so on,but they are partners whorespond to those overtures asthey like and are thereforeinterested in some and unin-terested in others.
Some would say that it is aminimalist policy ...It is not minimalist, it is a real-istic policy. We are waiting forour eastern partners torespond to our concrete pro-posals and for their policytowards the European Union.
You stressed some time agothat Poland and the EUshould conduct a “carrot andstick” policy towards easterncountries, and you also saidthat regardless of which politi-cal party has been in power inPoland during the last 20years, the basic policy towards
the East has remained thesame. Do you still hold suchviews?Yes, I believe that the policy ofcarrot and stick has some uses,and I think that Poland’s poli-cy towards the east may have adifferent melody under differ-ent governments, but basicallyit has been, and will be, thesame. This is so because theaim is the same: spreadingdemocracy and free marketeconomics there and movingthese countries closer toWestern standards in all fieldsand ways of life. Differentgovernments try to achievethese aims in different ways,but there is no point in pre-tending that they do not takeinto account whether ourpartners respond to our basicpolicy. We do what we can inthe given circumstances, so,for instance, we cannot simplyinsist that we want Ukraine to
become a member of theEuropean Union, because thecountry is not ready yet.
Do you think that the EU’sattitude towards EasternEurope could be affected bythe strategic and geopoliticalambitions of Russia?Russia can only gain when itspartners become richer, morestable and predictable. It is notus who are forcing Ukraine,Georgia and Moldova to inte-grate with the EU against Rus-sia. We all know that Ukraine,Georgia and Moldova needclose relations with both theEuropean Union and Russia.What we say, however, is thatEurope has more to offer insuch areas as growth, socialsecurity and freedom.
Do you think it is possible forthem to have good relationswith Russia and aspire to
membership of the EU?Again, the problem iswhether Russia will see it thatway. I don’t see any contradic-tion in integration withEurope and close, beneficialcooperation with Russia. TheEU’s eastern partners have tomake only one choice: that ofreforming their states andeconomies, or not makingthat effort. Here lies the maindifference and a source oftension for the partners. Rus-sia does not expect them toreform but offers credit andfinancial support. The EUmakes financial supportdependent on reforms. Theytherefore have to choosebetween short-term policygains and long-term nationalinterests.
What is your assessment ofthe Centre for Eastern Stud-ies’ influence on Poland’s pol-
itics and public debates. Areyour reports taken intoaccount by the governmentand opposition parties? The Centre for Eastern Stud-ies (OSW) is an independentpublic institution that pro-vides analysis and predictionsfor the state’s institutions, butalso for the wider public. Inthe beginning, the OSWfocused exclusively onEastern Europe. Today wefollow the whole of Poland’sneighborhood from Germanyand the Baltic to the BlackSea, plus the Caucasus,Turkey and Central Asia. Asfar as our impact is con-cerned, it is hard to measure.We are a consultancy, so weprovide answers to questionsasked by those who makedecisions. And we’ve beendoing this for over 20 years,which means that we have arole to play. ●
CO
UR
TE
SY O
F T
HE
CE
NT
RE
FO
R E
AS
TE
RN
ST
UD
IES
The Eastern Partnership “is not a colonial policy and the countries involved in it are our partners,” stresses Olaf Osica
LLOOKKAALLEE IIMMMMOOBBIILLIIAAW a r s a w B u s i n e s s J o u r n a l ’s w e e k l y s u p p l e m e n t o n r e a l e s t a t e , c o n s t r u c t i o n a n d d e v e l o p m e n t NOVEMBER 5-11, 2012, LI 17/44
Z∏ota 44 EU’s
tallest resi-
dential tower
Builders have finished
installing a steel peak
that has allowed the
under-construction Z∏ota
44 skyscraper in
downtown Warsaw to
reach its final height of
192 meters, making it
the tallest purely
residential tower in the
European Union. The
skyscraper was
designed by the
renowned Polish-
American architect
Daniel Libeskind and is
being built by real estate
developer and investor
Orco Property Group. It
will comprise 266
apartments which are
scheduled to be
delivered in mid-2013.
Robyg buys
more land in
WarsawWarsaw Stock Exchange-
listed developer Robyg
has signed preliminary
purchase agreements
concerning a number of
plots in the capital’s
Wilanów district that will
allow the company to
build approximately 600
apartments. The plots are
located on Warsaw’s Al.
Rzeczpospolitej and total
approximately four
hectares. Together they
are valued at z∏.29.9
million, with the
transaction expected to
be finalized by the end of
the year. Robyg is now
involved in two residential
projects in Wilanów. ●
Manufaktura sale . . . . . . .16
Platinium Business Park .16
InterContinental sold . . . .17
HB Reavis buys land . . . . .17
Park Rozwoju in Warsaw 18
InCity apartments . . . . . . .18
Property-related stocks . .18
In this issue
1817
Warimpex and UBM have concluded talks with the buyerof Warsaw’s InterContinental
Echo Investment has BREEAM-certified its planned Park Rozwoju offices in the capital
Shopping centers
UUnniioonn IInnvveessttmmeenntt ffiinnaalliizzeess aaccqquuiissiittiioonnooff MMaannuuffaakkttuurraa mmaallll iinn ¸̧óóddêêThe largest retailtransaction in Polandthis year is valued at€390 million
Union Investment RealEstate completed the acquisi-tion of the Manufakturashopping center in ¸ódê forthe UniImmo: Deutschlandopen-ended investment onOctober 31. The sellers wereEuris/Rallye Group andApsys, the latter of which willcontinue to manage the mall.
The deal was announcedthis summer and is now final-ized. The transaction, valuedat €390 million, covers over91,000 sqm of the 112,000sqm of space in Manufaktura,with the DIY store and thecinema having remained theproperty of Leroy Merlin andCinema City, respectively.
The agreement is thelargest single retail asset dealthat has been recorded in thePolish property market so farthis year. Maurice Bansay,
president and founder ofApsys, called it a “demonstra-tion of long-term interest byinvestors in regional shoppingcenters in Polish cities.”
Union Investment’s acqui-sition of Manufaktura is alsoone of the most impressiveand largest deals in the Euro-pean retail real estate marketin 2012, stated Agata Seku∏a,head of retail investment forCentral Europe at JonesLang LaSalle, which advisedthe buyer in the transaction.
“[The transaction] is aclear sign that Poland is per-ceived as a stable market withstrong fundamentals anddevelopment prospects andenjoys favorable investor sen-timent, even in these times ofglobal economic uncertainty,”Ms Seku∏a said in a state-ment.
Developed at the site of aformer textile factory, theManufaktura mall opened forbusiness in May 2006. Theinvestment houses 307 retail
and entertainment units andfeatures “very good”
BREEAM certification ofenergy efficiency and environ-
mental performance.AAddaamm ZZddrrooddoowwsskkii
CO
UR
TE
SY O
F E
FF
EC
TIV
E P
UB
LIC
RE
LA
TIO
NS
The deal covers 91,000 sqm of space
Office
GTC completes sale of four office buildings in WarsawThe sale of the fifthbuilding in thePlatinium BusinessPark complex shouldbe finalized in Q12013
Subsidiaries of Warsaw StockExchange-listed developerGlobe Trade Centre (GTC)and Allianz Real EstateGroup have signed a finalagreement concerning thesale of four office buildingsin the Platinium BusinessPark complex in the Polishcapital.
The value of the transac-tion, which was finalized onOctober 31, amounts to €139million and reflects an invest-
ment yield of 6.7 percent. Itis expected to bring GTC €44million of free cash, the com-pany said in a statement.
The developer andAllianz signed a preliminaryagreement covering fivebuildings in the PlatiniumBusiness Park complex inJune, with the sale of thefifth facility expected to befinalized in the first quarterof next year, generating anadditional €16 million of freecash.
The Platinium BusinessPark investment is located atthe intersection of ul. Wo∏oskaand ul. Domaniewska in War-saw’s Mokotów district andcomprises five completedbuildings that offer a total of
approximately 56,000 sqm ofleasable space.
The development is cur-rently almost fully leased out.Regardless of the sale transac-tion with Allianz, GTC maydevelop a sixth building withinthe complex which woulddeliver approximately 13,000sqm of space.
GTC has recentlyannounced it has secured aLEED Gold Gold certificateof energy efficiency and envi-ronmental performance forthe fifth Platinium BusinessPark phase. The building is thesecond office facility, afterCorius in Warsaw, developedby GTC to have obtained thecertification.
Completed in June this
year, Platinium V was designedby the Grupa 5 Architekci stu-dio and comprises approxi-mately 11,000 sqm of space.Warbud was the general con-
tractor of the building, whileBuro Happold and Hill Inter-national were involved in theLEED certification process.
AAddaamm ZZddrrooddoowwsskkii
CO
UR
TE
SY O
F A
DVA
NC
ED
PU
BL
IC R
EL
AT
ION
S
The value of the transaction was €139 million
NOVEMBER 5-11, 2012 LLOOKKAALLEE IIMMMMOOBBIILLIIAA –– RREEAALL EESSTTAATTEE www.wbj.pl 17
Hotels
Warsaw’s InterContinentalhotel changes handsWarimpex and UBMhave concludednegotiations with afund of the DekaBankgroupReal estate companies War-impex and UBM have con-cluded their negotiations withWestInvest InterSelect, a realestate fund belonging to theDekaBank group, concerningthe sale of the InterContinen-tal hotel in downtown Warsaw.
The transaction is expectedto be closed towards the end ofthe year. The value of theagreement, which could yetrise, depending on the perform-ance of the facility, amounts tomore than €100 million.
“The successful conclusionof this deal is a positive signalfrom the transaction marketsand again affirms our commit-ment to the Polish market.This investment is now havinga positive effect on our earn-ings and liquidity position in2012,” stated Warimpex CEOFranz Jurkowitsch.
The sellers will be leasing thehotel back under a fixed agree-ment and will run it under theInterContinental brand until2027. “By retaining ownership
of the operating company until2027, we have secured futureprofit potential,” UBM CEOKarl Bier said in a statement.
The lease structure hasalready proven its value inmany hotel transactions. Itbrings the seller liquidity fornew investments and providesthe new owner with a fixedreturn that is independent of
market risk and the operationof the hotel, Mr Bier added.
The InterContinental hotelin Warsaw opened for businessin 2003 and is one of the mosticonic elements of the capital’sskyline. The skyscraper com-prises 414 rooms, suites andapartments and its 43rd and 44th
floors house a wellness center.AAddaamm ZZddrrooddoowwsskkii
CO
UR
TE
SY O
F W
AR
IMP
EX
Warsaw’s InterContinental opened in 2003
HB Reavis completesacquisition of PKP land in the center of WarsawCommercial space developerHB Reavis and Polish StateRailways (PKP) have finalizedan agreement for the sale of1.71 hectares of land in down-town Warsaw on which thedeveloper plans to build anoffice complex with 100,000sqm of leasable space.
The value of the transactionamounted to z∏.171 million.HB Reavis is planning tolaunch construction on itsdevelopment on the plots onthe capital’s ul. Chmielna,which will also include approx-
imately 6,000 sqm of retail andservice space, towards the endof 2014.
“The investment on ul.Chmielna will be a uniquefacility, meeting the higheststandards,” Stanislav Frňka,CEO of HB Reavis Poland,said in a statement. Theplanned project will provideclass-A space and is expectedto be BREEAM certified.
“A project in an exquisitelocation, at the intersection oftwo important roads, Al. JanaPaw∏a II and Al. Jerozolimskie,
will certainly be an attractiveoffer for potential tenants,” MrFrňka said. The scheme will belocated close to Warsaw’s mainrailway station and the Z∏oteTarasy shopping mall.
Over the last two years, HBReavis acquired five plots witha total area of nine hectares,Mr Frňka said. He added thatthe company plans to build acombined 330,000 sqm ofoffice space valued at €1.1 bil-lion on the land it has pur-chased.
AAddaamm ZZddrrooddoowwsskkii
CO
UR
TE
SY O
F P
Z S
TU
DIO
HB Reavis wants to build a 100,000-sqm office complex on the plot
NOVEMBER 5-11, 2012LLOOKKAALLEE IIMMMMOOBBIILLIIAA –– RREEAALL EESSTTAATTEE18 www.wbj.pl
Security Closing % change 52-week 52-week % change Total Marketprice (week) low high (year) shares value
on Oct 31 (z∏. mln)
BUDIMEX 54.15 3.93 45.85 88.35 71.55 25,530,098 1,382.45
CELTIC 7.09 12.90 6.28 19.38 19.01 34,231,466 242.70
DOMDEV 29.20 -4.04 23.51 42.80 25.04 24,715,272 721.69
ECHO 4.79 1.27 3.05 4.81 3.44 420,000,000 2,011.80
ELBUDOWA 113.80 2.80 87.00 120.00 100.00 4,747,608 540.28
ENERGOPLD 0.38 -2.56 0.17 2.52 2.45 70,972,001 26.97
ERBUD 14.00 -1.75 11.33 23.20 19.60 12,677,956 177.49
GANT 3.40 -3.13 3.35 9.85 7.35 20,120,000 68.41
GTC 8.22 3.40 5.20 11.40 10.98 319,372,990 2,625.25
HBPOLSKA 0.03 0.00 0.01 1.43 0.75 210,558,445 6.32
JWCONSTR 3.71 0.27 3.37 8.40 6.10 54,073,280 200.61
LCCORP 1.15 -2.54 0.85 1.48 0.98 447,558,311 514.69
MARVIPOL 9.30 -1.90 6.20 11.00 7.25 36,923,400 343.39
MIRBUD 1.43 17.21 0.98 2.68 2.41 75,000,000 107.25
MOSTALWAR 13.10 -3.11 11.30 25.00 21.00 20,000,000 262.00
MOSTALZAB 1.19 -0.83 0.81 1.80 1.14 149,130,538 177.47
ORCOGROUP 9.80 -15.88 6.36 19.55 17.90 107,840,962 1,056.84
PBG 4.63 -15.82 3.36 92.00 62.00 14,295,000 66.19
PLAZACNTR 2.05 -8.48 1.93 2.94 1.88 297,181,703 609.22
POLAQUA 4.31 -10.21 3.30 8.18 7.50 27,500,100 118.53
POLIMEXMS 0.56 -12.50 0.48 2.04 1.60 521,154,076 291.85
POLNORD 12.45 -2.05 10.49 19.85 11.03 23,798,439 296.29
RANKPROGR 10.95 6.41 7.10 16.97 9.60 37,145,050 406.74
ROBYG 1.39 9.45 1.08 1.75 1.10 257,935,500 358.53
RONSON 0.74 0.00 0.61 1.15 1.00 272,360,000 201.55
TRAKCJA 0.86 2.38 0.65 1.72 1.39 232,105,480 199.61
ULMA 41.80 4.42 37.20 74.80 62.90 5,255,632 219.69
UNIBEP 5.20 2.36 3.60 6.28 6.08 34,021,684 176.91
WARIMPEX 3.68 13.58 2.64 5.30 5.43 54,000,000 198.72
ZUE 7.12 1.86 5.07 8.50 8.98 22,000,000 156.64
Property-related stocks
DAILY EXECUTIVE DIGEST
S i g n u p f o r a 2 - w e e k f r e e - t r i a l ! w w w. p o l a n d a m . p lG e r m a n v e r s i o n : w w w. p o l e n a mm o r g e n . p l
Poland A.M. gives you the biggest Polish stories of the day.
Have the most valuable news delivered to your inbox each weekday morning.
Office
BREEAM certificate for new EchoInvestment project in WarsawConstruction on thefirst phase of the ParkRozwoju scheme is setto launch this month
Warsaw Stock Exchange-listeddeveloper Echo Investmenthas secured a “very good”BREEAM certificate of ener-gy efficiency and environmen-tal performance for itsplanned Park Rozwoju officeproject in the Polish capital.
“Certifying projects at
Echo Investment is a naturalconsequence of the evolutionof office buildings and ourefforts to create really goodprojects,” Igor Grabiwoda,director of the team of archi-tects at the company’s officeand hotel department, said ina statement.
The planned Park Rozwo-ju scheme will be located onul. Konstruktorska in War-saw’s Mokotów district. Thedevelopment will comprise
two office buildings offering atotal of 32,000 sqm of officespace.
The buildings will featuregreen courts and will be con-nected by a canteen. Theinvestment will include under-ground and above-groundparking spaces for a total of740 cars, numerous greenareas and an outdoor gym.
Echo Investment is nowpreparing to launch construc-tion on the Park Rozwoju proj-
ect, whose design has beenprepared by the Warsaw-basedJEMS Architekci studio andwhich will be built in two phas-es.
Construction on the first ofthem is expected to commencethis month and finish in thesecond quarter of 2014, whilework on phase two couldlaunch in the second or thirdquarter of 2013 and finish inQ2 2015.
AAddaamm ZZddrrooddoowwsskkii
Okam to launch phase two ofInCity apartments in WarsawDeveloper Okam Capital is setto launch construction on thesecond phase of its InCity mul-tifamily residential project inWarsaw in January next year.It will deliver an additional 97apartments in the third quar-ter of 2014, said Arie Koren,managing director of the com-pany.
The InCity scheme is locat-ed on ul. Siedmiogrodzka inthe capital’s Wola district. Oncompletion, the developmentwill comprise a total of 483
homes built in four phases,with the whole investmentscheduled to be ready by theend of 2017.
The estate has beendesigned by the Grupa 5 archi-tectural studio and Unibep isthe general contractor of thefirst three phases of the com-plex. The first housing units inthe project will be delivered atthe end of 2013.
According to Mr Koren,the decision to launch the sec-ond phase of InCity results
from good sales in the firstphase of the scheme, in whichmore than 60 percent of the164 apartments have alreadybeen offloaded.
Apart from InCity, Okamis now also developing Dom wDolinie Trzech Stawów, a lux-ury residential investmentlocated in the Silesian capitalof Katowice. In the pipelineare developments includingprojects in downtown ¸ódêand Kraków, Mr Koren said.
AAddaamm ZZddrrooddoowwsskkii
CO
UR
TE
SY O
F O
KA
M C
AP
ITA
L
The whole investment will comprise 483 apartments
CO
UR
TE
SY O
F E
CH
O I
NV
ES
TM
EN
T
The scheme will deliver 32,000 sqm of space
NOVEMBER 5-11, 2012 TTHHEE LLIISSTT www.wbj.pl 19
Financial Services
Debt Collection CompaniesRanked by revenue from debt collection in 2011 www.bookoflists.pl
Notes: WND = Would Not Disclose. Research for the List was conducted in October 2012.Number of employees and ovnership structure are as of October 2012. All information pertains tothe companies’ activities in Poland. Companies not responding to our survey are not listed.NR = Not Ranked, information provided in 2011
To the best of WBJ ’s knowledge, the information is accurate as of press time. While every effort is made to ensure accuracy and thoroughness, omissions and typo-graphical errors may occur. Corrections or additions to The List should be sent, on official letterhead, to Warsaw Business Journal, attn. Monika Brysiak, ul. Elblàska15/17, 01-747 Warsaw, via fax to (+48) 22 639-8569, or via e-mail to [email protected]. Copyright 2012, Valkea Media SA. The List may not be reprinted or reproducedin whole or in part without prior written permission of the publisher. Reprints are available.
Rank
Company nameAddressTel./FaxE-mail
Website
Revenuefrom debtcollection(z∏. mln)
Totalrevenue(z∏. mln)
Main activities
Phone c
alls
/O
ut
of
court
Pre
-enfo
rcem
ent
/Le
tters
Court
/Enfo
rcem
ent
pro
ceedin
gs
OtherName of partner
law firmSelected clients
Num
ber
of br
anch
off
ices
/To
tal n
umbe
r of em
ploye
es /
Year
foun
ded
in P
ola
nd
Ownership: Polish /Foreign
Top localexecutive /
Title
1
Kruk SAul. Legnicka 56, 54-204 Wroc∏aw71 790-2800/71 [email protected]
271.3162.1126.5101.2
274.0164.3128.6103.9
Consumer and business debtcollection; debt monitoring;
active debt buying; debtsecuritization; businessinformation exchange
✓✓
✓✓
✓✓
Text and voicemailreminders; field
negotiators visits
RAVEN Krupa & StaƒkoLaw Firm
WND
89161998
Piotr Krupa - 15.7%; Generali OFE - 5.1%;ING OFE - 5.1%
Polish Entreprise Fund IV - 24.8%
Piotr KrupaPresident
2
Pragma Inkaso SAul. Czarnohucka 3, 42-600 Tarnowskie Góry32 450-0100/32 [email protected]
42.523.423.914.8
120.1123.188.153.7
Debt collection; active debtbuying; factoring; funding for
supplies/production; foreign debtcollection
✓✓
✓✓
✓✓
WND Own law firm WND
264
2002
Pragma Finanse - 42.1%; Dom MaklerskiBDM S.A. - 0,01%; Dom Inwestycyjny
Magnus - 29,44%; IPOPEMA TowarzystwoFunduszy Inwestycyjnych SA - 5,86%; TFIPZU - 9,63%; employees and associates-
0,97%; other shareholders - 11,58%None
Tomasz BoduszekPresident
3
P.R.E.S.C.O. GROUP SAAl. Jana Paw∏a II 15, 00-828 Warsaw22 697-6455/22 [email protected]
41.145.132.322.0
41.1WND26.931.0
Active debt buying ✓✓
✓✓
✓✓
WND Several
PKO BP S.A., BNP Paribas BankPolska S.A., Credit Agricole Bank
Polska S.A., Polkomtel S.A.,Compensa TU S.A.
21331998
Krzysztof Piwoƒski - 40.6%; WojciechAndrzejewski - 40.7%
None
Krzysztof PiwoƒskiPresident
4
EGB Investments SAul. Kraszewskiego 1, 85-240 Bydgoszcz52 376-7676/52 [email protected]
23.715.514.013.4
28.818.716.818.3
Contracted debt collection;preventive actions and payment
monitoring; securitized debtservices; active debt buying;
skip traicing; claims submitionsto InfoMonitor BIG
✓✓
✓✓
✓✓
Personal meetingsNiewiarowska &
Polaƒski Legal Advisors
Allianz Polska; HDI Asekuracja;AEGON; Benefia; PocztoweTowarzystwo Ubezpieczeƒ
Wzajemnych
11791995
Krzysztof Matela - 25.77%; JolantaMa∏gorzata Niewiarowska - 25.04%;
Mezzo Capital - 8.71%; other shareholders- 16.2%
Donovan Worlwide - 23.56%
Krzysztof MatelaPresident
5
Kancelaria Prawna Lexus Sp.k.ul. Opatowicka 130, 52-028 Wroc∏aw71 374-7400/71 [email protected]
20.619.712.56.7
20.919.912.66.7
Debt collection; paymentmonitoring; legal services; legal
advisory; mediations withcreditors; consulting
✓✓
✓✓
✓✓
Text and e-mail reminders;direct debt collection;
vehicles collection;property assesment; EPU
“Lexus” Law Office WND
1WND2002
Mariusz Bobolewski - 4%; Rafa∏ Jarych -32%; Piotr Rabiega - 32%; Krzysztof
Soko∏owski - 32%None
MariuszBobolewski; Rafa∏
Jarych; PiotrRabiega; Krzysztof
Soko∏owski
6
EOS KSI Polska Sp. z o.o.Al. Jerozolimskie 123A, 02-017 Warsaw22 318-5600/22 [email protected], www.eos-ksi.pl
19.514.010.011.6
19.514.211.812.4
Debt support; active debtbuying; securitization; economic
reports
✓✓
✓✓
✓✓
Verification of financialstatus
EOS & M.Witoƒ LawFirm sp. k.
WND
2WND1998
NoneEOS International BVG mbH - 100%
Anna PaczuskaPresident
7
Koksztys Kancelaria Prawa Gospodarczego Sp.k.Al.Armii Krajowej 61, 50-541 Wroc∏aw713351450/71 [email protected], www.koksztys.pl
9.38.47.5
WND
10.810.39.4
WND
Legal services; conciliatory debtcollection; in-court debt
collection; debt collectionenforcement; field operations;
business reports
✓✓
✓✓
✓✓
Field collection; placementof debtors in InfoMonitorBIG; business reports andbusiness valuation; legalaudit; legal advice and
opinions; tax law;procurement
Own law firmMillennium Bank; Getin Bank;
Netia; BNP Paribas Bank; Agora
102301999
Gra˝yna Koksztys; Amadeusz KrawczykNone
AmadeuszKrawczyk
Director
8
Kaczmarski Inkasso Ma∏gorzata Kaczmarski, Przedsi´biorcaul. Armii Ludowej 21, 51-214 Wroc∏aw71 785-0001/[email protected], www.kaczmarski.pl
6.44.3
WNDWND
56.841.6WNDWND
Conciliatory debt collection; in-court debt collection; debt
collection enforcement; businessinformation exchange; debt
monitoring; preventive services;training
✓✓
✓✓
✓✓
Co-operation with KRDBIG; claims exchange
Joanna Smalewska-Kirsch
Legal AdvisorWND
1WND1992
Ma∏gorzata Kaczmarski - 100%None
WaldemarSoko∏owski
Director
9
Alektum Inkasso Sp. z o.o. ul. Kiliƒskiego 30, 50-264 Wroc∏aw71 722-6880/71 [email protected]
5.12.82.31.3
5.13.3
WNDWND
WND✓✓
✓✓
✓✓
EPUG. Bobrowski &
Partners Law FirmWND
135
2006
NoneAlektum Inkasso AB - 100%
Grzegorz BobrowskiBoard Member
10
Kancelaria Prawna - Inkaso WEC SAul. Piotrkowska 270, 90-457 ¸ódê42 681-7474/42 [email protected]
1.81.20.80.6
2.11.30.80.6
Debt management; debtcollection; payment monitoring;legal advice; training; factoring
✓✓
✓✓
✓✓
Claims exchange -Centroodlew; Makromed; Antracyt;
Polnag; Alfa Trans
840
1995
Remigiusz Brzeziƒski - 46%; SylwiaPatusiak-Brzeziƒska - 20%
None
RemigiuszBrzeziƒski
President
11
Cash Flow SAul. Perla 14, 41-300 Dàbrowa Górnicza32 763-2000/32 [email protected]
1.56.37.034.0
3.57.317.964.0
WND✓✓
✓✓
✓✓
WND WND WND
224
1997
WNDLune Capital Limited 32,85%, Tarisso
Investments Limited 38%
Grzegorz GniadyPresident
12
Grupa Kapita∏owa Po∏udnie-Zachód Sp. z o.o.ul. Hubska 96, 50-502 Wroc∏aw71 334-5415/71 [email protected], www.pz.com.pl
1.21.11.21.1
1.21.11.21.1
Contracted debt collecton;redemption of debt; redemptionof notes of interest; mass debt
collection
✓✓
✓✓
✓✓
WND WND WND
117
1998
Piotr Filosek - 90%; Marcin Gacek - 10%;¸ukasz Fil - 10%
None
Piotr Filosek President
NR
SAF SAul. Lenartowicza 188, 41-216 Sosnowiec32 368-3000/32 [email protected]
WND13.012.810.7
WND15.615.612.3
B2B debt collection; B2C debtcollection; credit and leasingdebt collection; active debtbuying; scoring; preventive
actions
✓✓
✓✓
✓✓
Field operations WND WND
278
1999WND
Marcin GàszczakPresident
NR
Coface Poland Credit Management Services Sp. z o.o.Al. Jerozolimskie 136, 02-305 Warsaw22 465-0000/22 [email protected]
WNDWNDWNDWND
WNDWNDWNDWND
Domestic and export debtinsurance; domestic and exportfactoring; debt collection B2B;
business intelligence
✓✓
✓✓
✓✓
Payment monitoring; fielddebt collection; debtcollection mediation;property ageements
Stefaniuk & Partners WND
72221992
WNDCoface Central Europe Holding
Jaros∏aw JaworskiPresident
NR
Euler Hermes Collection Sp. z o.o.ul. Domaniewska 50B, 02-672 Warsaw22 385-4655/22 [email protected]
WNDWNDWNDWND
WNDWNDWNDWND
Debt collection; debt monitoring;claims exchange; businessreports; detective reports;
branch analysis
✓✓
✓✓
✓✓
WNDEuler HermesMierzejewska
WND
51881999
WNDEuler Hermes Kreditversicherungs
Maciej Harczuk
NR
Jatex Finanse Sp. z o.o.ul. Dworcowa 12, 41-902 Bytom32 281-0761/32 [email protected]
WNDWND5.33.5
WNDWND12.08.5
Payment monitoring; factoring;debt collection; debt
managment; legal services;business department training
✓✓
✓✓
✓✓
WND -LOT; PKN Orlen; Samsung
Electronics Polska; WhirlpoolPolska; Electrolux Poland
1WND1994
Jerzy Korcz - 41.3%; Krzysztof Korcz -41.3%; Maciej Stachowicz - 17.4%
None
Jerzy KorczPresident
Debt collection methods
2011 / 2010 / 2009 / 2008
NOVEMBER 5-11, 2012MMAARRKKEETTSS20 www.wbj.pl
SO
UR
CE
: W
SE
PLN-EUR
4
.143
0
4.1
543
4
.147
2
4
.145
0
4.13
50
4.11
69
25.1
0
26.1
0
29.1
0
30.1
0
31.1
0
02.1
14.1
4.2 PLN-USD
25.1
0
26.1
0
29.1
0
30.1
0
31.1
0
02.1
1
3.18
51
3
.211
9
3
.214
5
3.2
036
3.1
806
3
.196
5
3.1
3.3 PLN-GBP
25.1
0
26.1
0
29.1
0
30.1
0
31.1
0
02.1
1
5.1
341
5
.175
1
5.16
05
5.1
433
5.1
265
5.
1455
5.1
5.2 PLN-CHF
3.42
40
3.4
336
3.43
10
3.
4279
3.42
49
3.
4109
25.1
0
26.1
0
29.1
0
30.1
0
31.1
0
02.1
13.40
3.44 PLN-RUB
25.1
0
26.1
0
29.1
0
30.1
0
31.1
0
02.1
1
0.10
20
0.1
021
0.1
021
0.10
18
0
.101
7
0.10
20
0.101
0.103 PLN-100JPY
25.1
0
26.1
0
29.1
0
30.1
0
31.1
0
02.1
1
3.
9720
4.0
158
4
.036
2
4.
0337
3
.987
8
3.
9821
3.9
4.0
4.1
currency rates
Election
gain?
Currency report
Currencies did not experi-ence big movements andvolatility was fairly low lastweek. Much of this could beattributed to HurricaneSandy, which hit the US EastCoast. US markets wereclosed for Monday and Tues-day, the first time in 124years, because of the weath-er. It also seems that, at thispoint, a strong impulse willbe needed to move markets.
The US Federal Reserveintroduced QE3 while theEuropean Central Bank isready to intervene on thebond market – with theupcoming US election per-haps about to provide thenecessary boost.
Macroeconomic data isstill not showing signs of arecovery. Moreover, the sell-out signal was given by therelease of rather mediocrequarterly earnings reports.
So far markets have resistedthe temptation of a biggercorrective movement. TheEUR/USD rebounded fromlevels below $1.29, reaching aweekly high of $1.3020 butthe closer to the weekend,the more power the dollarregained. The outlook for thedollar is positive, since, statis-tically, US elections (no mat-ter who wins) trigger appreci-ation of the greenback.
Little happened on thez∏oty market. Traders expectan interest-rate cut inNovember, the only questionis by how many basis points.All this, and the expecteddollar appreciation, couldtrigger a depreciation of thez∏oty in the weeks to come.This past week the z∏otyregained some value with theEUR/PLN declining toz∏.4.11 and the USD/PLN toz∏.3.19. ●
Adam NarczewskiX-Trade Brokers DM SA
SO
UR
CE
: N
BP
Major indices
Top 5 Closing % change (week) 52-week high 52-week low
ZASTAL 1.97 89.42 2.05 0.69B3SYSTEM 0.83 36.07 1.86 0.46ENERGOPOL 8.20 33.55 8.69 4.41REGNON 0.05 25.00 0.38 0.04KBDOM 0.16 23.08 0.27 0.10
WIG 43,232.44 (October 31 close)
Change for the week: 0.17% 52-week high: 44,550.12
Change year to October 31: 12.82% 52-week low: 36,653.28
Top 5 Closing % change (week) 52-week high 52-week low
LOTOS 33.65 11.24 33.98 21.30PKNORLEN 43.80 4.06 46.30 31.44TVN 7.00 3.70 12.85 5.90GTC 8.22 3.40 11.77 5.13BHW 92.95 3.16 96.90 64.00
Bottom 5 Closing % change (week) 52-week high 52-week low
ELKOP 0.18 -37.93 0.42 0.16EUROMARK 0.19 -17.39 2.39 0.18IDMSA 0.20 -16.67 2.21 0.19MEDIATEL 1.48 -16.38 2.56 1.08ORCOGROUP 9.80 -15.88 19.85 5.90
Bottom 5 Closing % change (week) 52-week high 52-week low
TPSA 12.06 -7.26 18.56 11.90BRE 301.20 -3.21 329.20 233.00TAURONPE 4.41 -2.65 5.61 4.10BOGDANKA 120.00 -2.60 130.60 103.80BRS 0.53 -1.85 0.95 0.48
WIG20 2,317.56 (October 31 close)
Change for the week: 0.17% 52-week high: 2,417.32
Change year to October 31: 5.63% 52-week low: 2,035.80
mWIG40 2,407.77 (October 31 close)
Change for the week: 0.18% 52-week high: 2,561.94
Change year to October 31: 9.93% 52-week low: 2,076.52
sWIG80 9,818.53 (October 31 close)
Change for the week: 0.67% 52-week high: 10,536.29
Change year to October 31: 14.11% 52-week low: 8,218.71
NewConnect 35.24 (October 31 close)
Change for the week: -1.53% 52-week high: 43.83
Change year to October 31: -15.06% 52-week low: 33.85
WIG-Banki 6,252.07 (October 31 close)
Change for the week: 0.15% 52-week high: 6,495.06
Change year to October 31: 12.79% 52-week low: 5,163.30
DJIA13,232.62 (Nov 1 close)
-0.97% (for the week)
CHANGE: 6.74%
(year to Nov 1)
52-week high: 13,661.90
52-week low: 11,231.40
NASDAQ3,020.06 (Nov 1 close)
-1.12% (for the week)
CHANGE: 14.02%
(year to Nov 1)
52-week high: 3,196.93
52-week low: 2,441.48
S&P5001,427.59 (Nov 1 close)
-1.02% (for the week)
CHANGE: 11.79%
(year to Nov 1)
52-week high: 1,474.51
52-week low: 1,158.66
FTSE1005,861.90 (Nov 1 close)
-0.97% (for the week)
CHANGE: 2.84%
(year to Nov 1)
52-week high: 5,989.10
52-week low: 5,075.20
DAX7,335.67 (Nov 1 close)
-1.85% (for the week)
CHANGE: 20.74%
(year to Nov 1)
52-week high: 7,478.53
52-week low: 5,366.50
NIKKEI2258,946.87 (Nov 1 close)
1.21% (for the week)
CHANGE: 4.52%
(year to Nov 1)
52-week high: 10,255.20
52-week low: 8,135.79
world stock indices
04.1
0
05.1
0
08.1
0
09.1
0
10.1
0
11.1
0
12.1
0
15.1
0
16.1
0
17.1
0
18.1
0
19.1
0
22.1
0
23.1
0
24.1
0
25.1
0
26.1
0
29.1
0
30.1
0
31.1
043,000
43,400
43,800
44,200
44,600
45,00004
.10
05.1
0
08.1
0
09.1
0
10.1
0
11.1
0
12.1
0
15.1
0
16.1
0
17.1
0
18.1
0
19.1
0
22.1
0
23.1
0
24.1
0
25.1
0
26.1
0
29.1
0
30.1
0
31.1
02,300
2,340
2,380
2,420
2,460
2,500
04.1
0
05.1
0
08.1
0
09.1
0
10.1
0
11.1
0
12.1
0
15.1
0
16.1
0
17.1
0
18.1
0
19.1
0
22.1
0
23.1
0
24.1
0
25.1
0
26.1
0
29.1
0
30.1
0
31.1
02,300
2,340
2,380
2,420
2,460
2,500
04.1
0
05.1
0
08.1
0
09.1
0
10.1
0
11.1
0
12.1
0
15.1
0
16.1
0
17.1
0
18.1
0
19.1
0
22.1
0
23.1
0
24.1
0
25.1
0
26.1
0
29.1
0
30.1
0
31.1
09,700
9,800
9,900
10,000
10,100
10,200
04.1
0
05.1
0
08.1
0
09.1
0
10.1
0
11.1
0
12.1
0
15.1
0
16.1
0
17.1
0
18.1
0
19.1
0
22.1
0
23.1
0
24.1
0
25.1
0
26.1
0
29.1
0
30.1
0
31.1
034.0
34.4
34.8
35.2
35.6
36.0
04.1
0
05.1
0
08.1
0
09.1
0
10.1
0
11.1
0
12.1
0
15.1
0
16.1
0
17.1
0
18.1
0
19.1
0
22.1
0
23.1
0
24.1
0
25.1
0
26.1
0
29.1
0
30.1
0
31.1
06,200
6,260
6,320
6,380
6,440
6,500
Other indices
An unusual
week
Stocks report
It was an unusually low-vol-ume period last week, withHurricane Sandy causing USstock markets to close fortwo-straight days – Mondayand Tuesday – the first timesince 1888. Europe, too, hada shortened week due to AllSaints’ Day on Thursday,causing volumes to be mini-mal throughout the week.
Monday set the tone, withvolumes barely reachingz∏.300 million on Poland’smost important index, theblue-chip WIG20. Europefound itself in the red formost of the day, with theDAX closing nearly half apercent down, while Londonand Paris closed roughlythree quarters of a percentlower. Both the WIG andWIG20 managed to fair bet-ter, closing about 0.2 percentlower. Worst hit were sharesof TPSA.
Tuesday proved no moreexciting, with markets essen-tially regaining losses fromthe day before, uncertainwhere to move due to theUS being closed. The bigmover of the day wasunquestionably Lotos, withshares surging over 5 per-cent due to the companyposting better-than-expect-ed Q3 results.
Wednesday – Halloweenin some countries – did littleto rattle markets. Equitieswere once again littlechanged, despite – on thewhole – negative macroeco-nomic news being releasedboth in Germany and over-seas. Shares of GTC rosenearly 1 percent.
On Friday, the WIG rose0.81 percent while theWIG20 jumped 1.23 percent,partly due to a healthy USjobs report. ●
Andrew Nawrocki WBJ market analyst
NOVEMBER 5-11, 2012 SSPPOORRTTSS www.wbj.pl 21
Soccer
BBoonniieekk oouuttlliinneessPPZZPPNN ppllaannssThe new president ofthe Polish FootballAssociation hasalready reduced ticketprices
The newly elected president ofthe Polish Football Association,Zbigniew Boniek, last week setout his initial plans for changesto the way the country’s leadingsoccer body will operate.
The former Juventus andRoma midfielder’s first movewill likely prove a popular onewith fans. He has decided toreduce ticket prices for thecountry’s upcoming matchagainst 2010 World Cup semi-finalists Uruguay.
Tickets for the friendlymatch, which takes place at thePGE Arena in Gdaƒsk onNovember 14, will now cost aslittle as z∏.60, while members ofthe national team supportersclub will also receive a furtherdiscount of 10 percent. Ticketswere previously priced at z∏.120,a figure which Mr Boniekdescribed as, “not a smallamount, if a father wants to goto a match with two sons.”
“We made the decision toreduce the amount, because Iwant 40,000 people at ourgames, not 20,000 as againstMoldova … watching the teamcan not be more expensive thangoing to watch James Bond atthe cinema,” he said in an inter-view for TV network nSport.
The former Poland interna-tional also said his other keyobjectives are to improve thestate of the country’s youth setup, whilst also uniting the
organization that governs it.But speaking about his own
motives for taking the job, MrBoniek, who has been based inRome since the 1980s, said, “Idid not come to get rich. I havemy own business and I makemoney. For me, being presidentis a mission, a very difficult task,which is not only up to me, but Iknow that I have the ideas andexperience to lead Polish soc-cer.”
DDaavviidd IInngghhaamm
The Polish goalkeeperis alleged to havethrown a bottle at hisown supporters
Controversial former Polishinternational goalkeeper ArturBoruc found himself in troubleonce again last week when hewas accused of swearing andthrowing a water bottle at fansof his new club, Southampton.
The 32-year-old, who previ-ously played for Celtic andFiorentina, was making only hissecond appearance for thePremier League new boys whenthe incident occurred.
His new club lost 2-1 to Tot-tenham Hotspur with Boruc atfault for the second goal. Fol-lowing alleged criticism fromthe home fans behind the goalhe is said to have reacted angri-ly, with one fan claiming in theBritish press that the Pole had a“tantrum” before throwing thebottle. However, following aninternal investigation by theclub the Pole was not chargedwith any offense by Southamp-ton.
This is not the first time thekeeper has been in trouble withauthorities, as he previouslyfound himself at the center of areligious argument during histime at Celtic. During an Old
Firm derby the goalkeeperalmost caused a riot when heblessed himself with the sign ofthe cross directly in front ofProtestant Rangers fans, a ges-
ture which was seen at the timeas an act of sectarianism. How-ever, following an investigation,the Pole was cleared by Scottishpolice. DDaavviidd IInngghhaamm
SH
UT
TE
RS
TO
CK
Artur Boruc, playing for Poland
EA
ST
NE
WS
PZPN’s new boss, Zbigniew Boniek
Soccer
BBoorruucc iinn hhoott wwaatteerr
NOVEMBER 5-11, 2012LLIIFFEESSTTYYLLEE22 www.wbj.pl
CO
UR
TE
SY O
F W
IKIM
ED
IA C
OM
MO
NS
Concert
Georgian soul
Katie Melua
Katie MeluaNovember 12Sala KongresowaPl. Defilad 1Warsaw
Georgian-born singer KatieMelua is famed for her soul-ful voice and easy listeningcompositions, which havehelped her sell millions ofrecords and gain a legion offans worldwide.
Ms Melua, whose sound
and career have been influ-enced by a childhood whichsaw her leave her war-tornhomeland to live near theFalls Road in Belfast, firstcame to public attention in2003 with her debut release“Call Off the Search.”
The singer then foundgreater success when her nextalbum, “Piece by Piece,”which contained the hit“Nine Million Bicycles,” went
multi-platinum in both theUK and US. Her new release“Secret Symphony” sees thesinger tackling a differentsound with her vocals andguitar accompanied by a clas-sical orchestra.
Tickets for the event areavailable now, priced atz∏.150.
DDaavviidd IInngghhaammFor more information,
log on to kongresowa.pl
Art beyond time. Stefan Norblin (1892-1952) Until January 31, 2013Wilanów Poster MuseumStanis∏awa Kostki Potockiego10/16 Warsaw
The Wilanów Poster Museumis currently hosting an exhibi-tion of the work of the late Pol-ish art deco artist Stefan Nor-blin. It includes the first large-
scale presentation in the capitalof the artist’s work from theinter-war period.
Among the work on displaywill be posters, portraits of emi-nent personalities of the time,and examples of the artist’sgraphic design and interior cre-ations.
Of particular importance inhis life was the period duringWorld War II when Mr Norblin
was based in India and becomethe court painter for UmaidSingh, the Maharaja of Jodh-pur. Part of the current exhibi-tion will focus on Mr Norblin’swork during this period whichincluded giving the Maharaja’spalace its distinct art deco feelwhile also incorporating ele-ments of Indian mythology inthe design.
DDaavviidd IInngghhaamm
Exhibition
Indian art deco
CO
UR
TE
SY O
F T
HE
WIL
AN
ÓW
PO
ST
ER
MU
SE
UM
Well that was quick. Following itsOctober 16 announcement of theiPad mini and the 4th-gen iPad(among other things), Apple had thelimelight to itself for less than aweek. And then stuff happened.
Windows 8 was released, forexample, along with a slew ofnew Windows 8-luvin’ mobiledevices like Microsoft’s Sur-face tablet and Nokia’sLumia 920 smartphone.Google quickly followedsuit, introducing two newdevices – a Nexus 4smartphone and a Nexus10 tablet – as well asadjusting the Nexus 7tablet and unveiling Android 4.2, arelatively prosaic update to the OS.
And finally Hurricane Sandycame along and completely ker-snozzled the east coast of the Unit-ed States, stealing media attentionfrom both Microsoft and Google,and probably providing Apple’s PRteam with schadenfreude-y satisfac-tion.
Anyway, there are enough newgadgets entering the market to fill awhole issue of WBJ. But the stingyeditor-in-chief is unwilling to giveTecheye more space (he mutteredabout covering “real news” ... pffft),
so this week we’re sticking withGoogle.
To quickly address the Nexus 7,not much has changed. Google andco-developer Asus have retired the8GB version, dropping the 16GBmodel to the $199 price point.There’s now a 32GB Nexus 7 ($249)and a 32GB, 3G-enabled version ison the way ($299).
For its part, the Nexus 7’s new bigbrother – the Nexus 10 – is a lithe,powerful 10.1-inch device thatGoogle has developed with Samsung.Expect it to take a bite out of Apple’sdominance of the 10-inch market.
Why is that? Well, the device iswell-designed, for one thing, andboasts features that rival or trumpeven the latest model iPad. There’san attractive 2,560 x 1,600 resolu-tion display with 300 pixels-per-inch (compared to the iPad’s 264PPI). And it’s powered by a dual-core 1.7GHz processor (the iPad’sA6X clocks in at around 1.3GHz).The Nexus 10 is also thinner andlighter.
Price is probably the characteristicmost in the Nexus 10’s favor. The16GB model costs $399, while the32GB version is $499; both are $100
cheaper than comparably kitted 4th-gen iPads.
Still, Apple needn’t worry aboutlosing its crown to the Nexus 10, atleast not yet. Google’s tablet is WiFi-only for now and it’s limited to 16and 32GB storage options. There’salso the whole “world’s most valu-able brand” thing, as well as theiPad’s sales momentum. We proba-bly shouldn’t disregard that.
Let’s move on to the Nexus 4,though. This 4.7-inch smartphone isthe lovechild of LG and the techno-logically promiscuous Google. It’s lessof a threat to Apple, for two reasons:
first, the smartphone marketis far more fragmented thanthe tablet market; and sec-ond, the iPhone 5 has bet-ter hardware.
Here’s whatGoogle’s new smart-phone has going for it:• Larger size (this
may not be a plusfor some con-sumers, and theiPhone 5 has acrisper display inany case). • A quad-core1.5GHz Snapdragonprocessor (it
remains to be seen whether thistrumps Apple’s A6 chip). • 2GB of RAM (double what the
iPhone 5 offers). That’s about it. The iPhone 5,
meanwhile, is smaller and lighter,with plenty of power, a gorgeous dis-play and 4G capability (versus 3G forthe Nexus 4).
So Apple’s flagship smartphoneremains the best-in-class productfor now, but the American innova-tor is undoubtedly feeling squeezedin all its markets. After all, it’s beena while since it’s lost the limelight soquickly. ●
NOVEMBER 5-11, 2012 LLAASSTT WWOORRDD www.wbj.pl 23
Google throws down the gauntlet (and some new gadgets)Tech Eye
Ever wanted to nibble on the world’s most valuable brand? Let us know: [email protected]
Centre forContemporary Art atUjazdowski Castle ul. Jazdów 2www.csw.art.pl
Czarna Gallery ul. Marsza∏kowska 4www.czarnagaleria.art.pl
Fibak Galleryul. KrakowskiePrzedmieÊcie 5www.galeriafibak.pl
Galeria 022, DAP, Lufcik ul. Mazowiecka 11awww.owzpap.pl
Galeria 65 ul. Bema 65www.galeria65.com
Galeria Appendix 2ul. Bia∏ostocka 9www.appendix2.com
Galeria Asymetria ul. Nowogrodzka 18awww.asymetria.eu
Galeria Foksal ul. Foksal 1-4www.galeriafoksal.pl
Galeria Milano Rondo Waszyngtona 2Awww.milano.arts.pl
Galeria Schody ul. Nowy Âwiat 39www.galeriaschody.pl
Galeria XX1 Al. Jana Paw∏a II 36www.galeriaxx1.pl
Galeria Zoya ul. Kopernika 32 m.8www.zoya.art.pl
Green Gallery ul. Krzywe Ko∏o 2/4www.greengallery.pl
KatarzynaNapiórkowska Art Galleryul. Âwi´tokrzyska 32, ul. KrakowskiePrzedmieÊcie 42/44and Old Town Square19/21www.napiorkowska.pl
Królikarnia NationalGalleryul. Pu∏awska 113awww.krolikarnia.mnw.art.pl
Le Guern Galleryul. Widok 8, www.leguern.pl
Museum ofIndependenceAleja SolidarnoÊci 62www.muzeumniepodleglosci.art.pl
National Museum inWarsaw Al. Jerozolimskie 3www.mnw.art.pl
Polish National Operaat Teatr WielkiPl. Teatralny 1www.teatrwielki.pl
Pracownia Galeriaul. Emilii Plater 14www.pracowniagaleria.pl
Rempex Art and Auction Houseul. Karowa 31www.rempex.com.pl
Royal CastlePl. Zamkowy 4www.zamek-krolewski.com.pl
Simonis Galleryul. Burakowska 9www.simonisgallery.com
State ArchaeologicalMuseum in Warsawul. D∏uga 52www.pma.pl
State EthnographicMuseumul. Kredytowa 1www.ethnomuseum.website.pl
Historical Museum of Warsaw Old Town Square 28-42www.mhw.pl
History Meeting House of Warsaw ul. Karowa 20www.dsh.waw.pl
Warsaw Philharmonic ul. Jasna 5www.filharmonia.pl
Warsaw RisingMuseum ul. Grzybowska 79www.1944.pl
Wilanów PalaceMuseum and WilanówPoster Museumul. St Kostki Potockiego10/16www.milanow-palac.plwww.postermuseum.pl
Zachęta National ArtGalleryPl. Ma∏achowskiego 3www.zacheta.art.pl
Museums, galleries and venues in Warsaw
The Nexus 10 The Nexus 4
CO
UR
TE
SY O
F G
OO
GL
E
To advertise in WBJ’s classifieds section, contactMs Agnieszka Brejwo, at
(+48) 222-577-526 or [email protected]