February 2014vol. 7 no. 2(40)

Price: 20 zł

CEE Outsourcing & Shared Services Awards Gala distinguishes 22 companies

Advisory:The Czech tunnel – what goes in never comes out

Energy:Polish wind power firms rush to beat subsidy cut deadline

Industry:Polish business at European lingerie and boating fairs

Hays team celebrates “Best Recruitment Firm” award!

www.PFEX.pl

PolandFoodBeveragesExpo&— 11 June 2014, Royal Castle, Arkady Kubickiego, Warsaw —

Concept:The Poland Food and Beverages Expo (PFEX) aims to connect buyers with sellers – both Polish food exporters with western European food buyers, but also European food producers with buyers and retailers in Poland.

Poland’s food export sector is growing solidly, as Polish foods are increasingly attractive to western European consumers. At the same time, the Polish market for western European food producers is more and more interesting as an export destination.

Organized by media group BiznesPolska, which also publishes the annual directory Food

Exports Poland, the Expo will be accompanied by an evening networking business mixer on 11 June – to further build contacts between buyers and producers.

Exhibitors:We expect more than 100 exhibitors from:

• Food producers and major exporters from Poland, and

• Foreign food and beverages producers seeking to expand in Poland Exhibitors from Poland include:

• Producesrs of: meat, fish, dairy, sweets, fruits and vegetables (fresh and processed)

• Private Label• Beverages and the drinks sector

will be also represented by wine and beer producers, specialty drinks, and fortified drinks.

Attendees: • International buyers and retailers

from western Europe• Polish food buyers and retail

networks• International Food and beverages

producers seeking to expand in Poland

• Polish Food and beverages producers seeking to export to western Europe

Cover Story4 CEE Outsourcing and Shared Services Awards Gala

distinguishes 22 companies

6 CEE Outsourcing and Shared Services Awards – Winners – Highlights from their Nominations

Advisory12 The Czech tunnel—what goes in never comes out

FDI News13 Polish wind power firms rush to beat subsidy cut deadline

14 PGE seeks partners for Poland’s first nuclear power plant construction

14 Syzygy acquires majority shareholding in Warsaw-based Ars Thanea

15 Polish Year in Turkey has started

15 Polish business at European lingerie and boating fairs

14–17 FDI News in brief

Chambers of Commerce News (18) Belgium ; Canada (20) France; Switzerland (21) The

Baltics; Ireland; United States (22) Portugal; United Kingdom

Table of Contents

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February 2014vol. 7 no. 2(40)

Published by: BiznesPolska sp.z o.o.ul. Długa 44/50, bud. D, lok 704, 00-241 Warszawatel.: 022 831 7062General Manager and Editor:Thom Barnhardt (tb@bizpoland.pl)Publisher: Craig Smith (cs@bizpoland.pl)Editorial staff and writers:Leon Paczyński, Monika TutakResearch team coordinator:Magda AdamczykAdvertising Sales: Wiktor Gliński (wglinski@biznespolska.pl)tel.: 022 831 7062Graphic Design: Sławek Parfianowiczsparfianowicz.wordpress.com

Subscribe to BizPoland MagazineAnnual subscribers to BizPoland Magazine receive our monthly magazine, as well as five business directories for free: Outsourcing in Poland, CityInvestPoland, Top Offices, Top Shopping Centres, and Wind Power in Poland. 500pln for one year.

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At the Awards Gala on 6

February in Warsaw at the

Hotel Intercontinental, 22

companies, cities and indi-

viduals were distinguished

for their exceptional per-

formance. More than 260

guests – including 3 Mayors

and Vice-Mayors – attended

the Awards Gala and Forum,

which singled out as Winners

from 140 nominations.

The Awards Gala recognized the full eco-System of this sector: Office Development, Recruitment, Professional Advisory, CSR/Benefits for society at large - and Cities, which are successfully expanding their tax Base and intelli-gent employment opportunities in their region.

CEE is attracting many of the largest global corporations, who see the grow-ing appeal of setting up Shared Services or BPO operations in this region. They are drawn by huge cost savings and by stream-lining their global operations. In turn, their investments represent huge opportunities for the region’s workforce to develop world-class skills.

The sector is strong and growing fast – in Poland alone, the sector is growing at about 20% per annum and expected to employ more than 250,000 people by

2017. (Up from just 20,000 back in 2007). And the growth is spreading out to many of Poland’s medium-sized cities - as well as other cities throughout the CEE re-gion, each of whom has a slightly differ-ent strategy to attract investment.

CEE - ranging from the Baltic Sea down to the Black Sea – now rivals India in this sector globally. Across CEE, em-ployment in the SSC/BPO sector will be ½ million in just a few years.

A recent report released by research and advisory firm Tholons showed that Poland continues to move up the rank-ings, with three Polish cities ranked among the best places for outsourcing services. Moreover, the Polish leader - Kraków - has climbed to 9th place, over-taking Dublin.

In Tholon’s top ten there are six Indian cities, two from the Philippines and two

BPO/Shared Services

CEE Outsourcing and Shared Services Awards Gala distinguishes 22 companies

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from Europe - Kraków and Dublin. The capital of Małopolska thus opens the list of the top European destinations for outsourcing services.

The ranking also included Warsaw and Wrocław. In comparison to the last year, the Polish capital moved up for four po-sitions taking 32th place and overtaking St. Petersburg, Toronto, Rio de Janeiro and Bucharest. Wrocław saw the biggest jump in the ranking - up 10 positions to 65th place.

PAIZ notes that a rising number of outsourcing projects are coming to Poland. Last year 29 projects - represent-ing more than half of all foreign direct investments completed with PAIZ’s sup-port - were BPO or Shared Services cen-tres. These projects are likely to result in the creation of over 7,400 new jobs in 2014.

In the CEE Outsourcing and Shared Services Awards - a tough competition among world-class firms - the following firms took first place. We have added highlights from their Nominations, which were key factors the Jury consid-ered before the final vote. n

BPO/Shared Services

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CSR: Poland Business Run

A joint initiative of UBS, MAN Accounting, CapGemini, and Jasiek Mela Beyond Horizons Foundation. The Poland Business Run idea is to integrate business and the community for a chari-table cause while promoting a healthy life style. The business charity run in the form of a relay was organized for the first time in September 2012 - on Krakow’s market square. It was initiated, co-organized and co-sponsored by UBS Krakow. The goa l was to collect funds for prosthesis for the beneficiaries of Jasiek Melas Beyond Horizons Foundation. Others supporting the concept include City of Krakow, Radisson Blu hotel, and Luxoft.

Best University: Post-grad studies – Radom

An initiative led by Łukasz Fijałkowski/PwC Academy, Rafał Grzeszczyk/The City of Radom, Magdalena Jelonkiewicz-Bałdys/AIG Lincoln, and Jadwiga Naduk/Hays. The post-graduate studies program in Modern Business Services is a joint venture of the public sector: University of Technology and Humanities; The City of Radom; and the private sector: AIG Lincoln; PwC; Hays, and ASPIRE.

The project’s goal is twofold: 1) To estab-lish a pipeline of fully trained profession-als to fulfill leadership positions within Radom’s growing BPO industry. 2) To at-tract potential investors to Radom. 80 stu-dents currently enrolled in the program.

Public Sector: SSC design

In the first quarter of 2013 the Ministry of Administration and Digitization and PwC started a project to validate the concept of establishing Shared Service Centres on a regional level, which would provide support to government authorities. The main goal was to create and analyse the SSC concept for central administration on the regional level, present its benefits, analyse risks and build a high-level transition roadmap. The scope of the SSC would include: F&A; HR; Procurement; Real Estate and asset manage-ment; Registry and archive related services; IT services; Health, safety and fire regula-tions; Legal services. Implementation of the project would impact 1,380 jobs countrywide and is expected to reduce operating costs by

BPO/Shared Services

CEE Outsourcing and Shared Services Awards – Winners – Highlights from their Nominations

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32 million PLN. The result of this work was evaluating the most important opportuni-ties and risks of establishing 16 SSCentres serving Poland’s public administration.

Office Develop: Green Day (Wroclaw)

Skanska’s new office development is of ap-proximately 16 000 sqm, and the office space is fully leased to Credit Suisse (Center of Excellence). Thanks to an extensive floor plate (2300 sqm), it can be easily arranged ac-cording to the tenants’ preferences and cur-rent needs. According to Skanska research, one of the crucial factors for business ser-vice centers are flexible office space and an attractive location, close to public transport stops. Green Day fulfills both of the require-ments. The building has also solutions in-creasing the comfort of bike riders, like lock rooms and showers, which is especially ap-preciated by young employees. The building was adapted to the specific needs of Credit

Suisse regarding uninterrupted business ac-tivity. Two independent power feeds and two power generators ensure business continuity in case of power outrage. Green Day is LEED Gold pre-certified.

Best Employer - BPO: HP Global

Benefits include: • Medical package for Employees and their closest family • Multisport card • Life insurance package • Happy Parenting program including child-care support • Employee Assistance program – help in a difficult life situation • Employee Purchase Program – possibility to buy HP product at preferred prices • Free coffee, tea, sandwiches and fruit • Modern offices in the city center • Trainings, opportunity for per-sonal development and advancement within

the company • Wellness Program • Tickets to cinema and theatre. Also, portfolio Wellness – a series of initiatives for employees focused on financial matters, stress management and physical fitness. Typical events include: of-fice massage, cooking days, health awareness days, sport events and tournaments, healthy snacks at preferred prices and many others.

Best Employer- Shared Services-Poland: State Street

Employees projected at December 2014: 2100. State Street Poland is now the 2nd largest office in Europe employing almost 2000 employees and providing the full range of investment servicing products including Investment Fund Accounting, Derivatives, Performance & Analytics and Hedge Fund Administration. The Krakow office administers more than USD 1.2 tril-lion in assets for 7500 investment funds and 200 clients. In addition to all the usual benefits offered in the local market, State

BPO/Shared Services

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Street has an extensive program of ad-ditional benefits including anniversary awards to recognise loyalty, additional va-cation days with seniority, time off to par-ticipate in volunteering activities (CSR – re-lated) and monthly team building lunches. The organisation promotes healthy living including fresh fruit supplies and an of-fer of Flex work arrangements including part time, work from home and sabbatical leave. Additionally: • Sponsored language courses •Financial support for further edu-cation •Full technical skills training cur-riculum •A wide range of soft skills train-ings •Manager Development Programmes •Mentoring & coaching programmes •Job rotation programme.

Best Employer- Shared Services-Rest of CEE: Western Union

Employees at December 2013: 996, includ-ing 34 different nationalities supporting

28 foreign languages. Western Union established a European Regional Operations Center (EUROC) in Vilnius in July 2010. It is one of four global op-erations centers located around the world. The facility, which also serves as a Centre of Excellence, hosts Anti Money Laundering Compliance, Accounting, IT, HR, Marketing and various other func-tions. Loyalty and engagement: EUROC is extremely proud of having signifi-cantly high recommendation and loyalty rates of employees (compared with glob-al benchmark). 89% would recommend Western Union as a great place to work. 73% of EUROC employees would stay at Western Union if they there were offered a comparable position with similar pay and benefits elsewhere.

Business Centre Manager BPO: CPL, John Paul McGonigle, Site Manager.

Provides service desk and end user sup-port to HP’s multinational customers. John Paul demonstrates a track record of business improvement in areas such as SLA delivery, recruitment efficiency and cost saving. John Paul’s major achieve-ments include the following: the SLA compliance figures increased by 10% from 2011 to 2013: • SLA compliancy 97% based on the last quarter’s result • 260 SLA targets to de-liver upon across the business • 2011 SLA compliancy result was 86.94%, the current performance means a 10% in-crease. CPL IS took over the service from HP in Hungary. During the transi-tion the Centre manager faced the fol-lowing challenges: • The legal succession of 145 HP Employees • The transition of approx. 420 agency contractors from 3 separate agencies into CPL Integrated Services permanent employees with the loss of just one contractor during the mobilisation phase • Seamless transi-tion into the new model • Ensure sup-ply of necessary resources can be main-tained by a single partner and reduce the time to hire • Bring stability to an operations which had multiple Client Escalations ongoing and unstable SLA delivery • Ensure no spike in attrition during transition and a positive trend going forward.

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Business Centre Manager Shared Services: CBRE Barbara Huss-Kaniewska

Barbara Huss-Kaniewska has worked with GCS for many years leading and building Warsaw’s Shared Service Centre into what it is today: a highly efficient platform that has supported growth of the Portfolio Services and Facilities Management businesses. Barbara was the first employee in Warsaw Shared Service Center and her strong leadership ultimately helped grow the team to 254 highly-motivated professionals with a reputation for high-quality work and cli-ent satisfaction.

This year Barbara Huss-Kaniewska has been appointed Senior Managing Director, Global Leader of GCS Real Estate Accounting Services.

CBRE Corporate Outsourcing is a Shared Service Centre based in Warsaw and part of the CBRE Global Corporation. The Company provides outsourced financial and data management services to corpora-tions, for which property is not their core business. CBRE Corporate Outsourcing services include: 1. Portfolio Services Data Management Department - lease docu-ments data management and lease ab-straction i.e. extracting key lease terms for proactive management of lease events through reporting and general commu-nications. 2. Portfolio Services Client Accounting Department – consists of four teams: Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, Service Charge Analysts and Client Accountants.

Best Recruitment: Hays Poland and Hays Hungary

Professional Advisory: PWC

Team is led by Romek Lubaczewski, SSC/BPO leader for Central and Eastern Europe. Companies that PWC has worked with: Multinationals, including: Amway (Russia), Kemira (various European coun-tries), Metsa Group (various European countries), UPM (various European countries), Metinvest (Ukraine), Becton Dickinson (Poland), Akzo Nobel (BPO), Voxpro (Ireland) and BBH (Poland). PWC have also led the projects to design and build solution for PwC’s CEE internal Shared Service Centers. During 2012 – 2013 PWC extended client base with over 15 SSC/BPO-related projects with new clients. Testimonial: “I feel that without PwC team playing the key role the proj-ect would not have been a success it is. If we elect to build another SSC (even out-side Eastern Europe) I would not hesitate to engage PwC again, and I can recom-mend the team of Aleksandra Stelmach-Gryszka, Anna Wojt and Szymon Kogut to any other organization that is looking to build a Shared Services organization” - Ireneusz Truszkowski, SSC Director, Metsa Group.

Real Estate: JonesLangLasalle.

With a nearly 40% market share for the BPO/SSC sector nationwide, JLL’s key assignments in 2013 included Deutsche Bank, IBM, and Credit Suisse. From June 2012 Jones Lang LaSalle has ad-vised BPO/SSC companies in real estate projects totalling ca. 178,000 sq m across CEE. Currently it is assisting companies from modern business services sector totaling further 180,000 sq m (includ-ing projects at preliminary stage with selected CEE countries on the short-list). In period June 2012 – December 2013 Jones Lang LaSalle in CEE provided strategic advisory to key global compa-nies from the BPO/SSC sector, includ-ing: Bayer, BNY Mellon, Cisco, Credit Suisse, Euroclear, IBM, ING, Samsung, UBS, WNS, and Itella Information in Toruń.

Unique: MULTIPOSTING.

With offices in San Francisco and Paris, the Poland office is run by Jerome Lafuite. Clients include PWC, Accenture, and Michael Page. Multiposting in Poland gives the possibility to cross-post jobs and internships on 30 job boards and 100 universities. With one click, the companies using Multiposting can cross-post their jobs to more than 500 websites, 1,800 school job boards and the major social networks. It en-ables them to save precious time and widen their candidate sourcing perime-ter (in Poland and abroad). Multiposting also brought innovation in the sourc-ing by giving its clients the possibility to source candidates with specific skills (IT skills for instance) on forums or Facebook communities (French speak-ing, for instance).

BPO/Shared Services

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Unique - Rest of CEE: MANN+HUMMEL

Richard Auer is Country Director for MANN+HUMMEL Service located in Nová Ves, Czech Republic, which provides shared services for MANN+HUMMEL Group s entities worldwide for more than six years. M+H provides not just typical shared services in administra-tion but also very special ones such as: Research&Development (R&D) - hav-ing own Research Center and Testing Laboratory, as well as Project Management in OEM development projects for the car and truck industry. We just opened our new test laboratory for fuel and air fil-tration and intake manifold testing. Over 180 qualified people in Accounting, Finance, IT, R&D, HR, Material Data Management, Project Management, Corporate Purchasing, Quality serving our internal customers in 27 entities in 20 countries in 11 different languages.

Top Newcomer City: Lublin.

New companies in Lublin during 2013: •Sii – expected 105 new jobs •Proama– 50 new jobs in 2013 •Alior Bank – 170 new jobs •Sollers Consulting – 35 new jobs •Soft System- 50 new jobs. New airport opened in early 2013 already having a major impact

on inward investment, with direct connec-tions to London and Frankfurt.

Best City of Year: Krakow.

About 5,000 new jobs created in the sec-tor in 2013. New investors: RWE, Zycko, XTRF, Samsung, Accenture, Deutsche Telekom, Anachron Technology, Amada Group, Lundbeck. Major expansions: ACC Lufthansa, Capita, Heineken, State Street, HSBC, and Motorola. Krakow is actively cooperating with universities, being a kind of intermediary between investors and the academic and scientific units. Krakow Advisory Board, the Agreement with Universities, Science-Business-Residents-Local Government Krakow Forum are examples of the opening of Krakow to initiatives related to the knowledge and technology transfer. It is also worth high-lighting the Krakow Scientific Center, which seeks to identify skills demanded by companies operating in the BPO and IT in-dustry and its secondary priority for such branches as energy, passive and energy-ef-ficient buildings, life sciences, the pharma-ceutical industry, and creative industries.

Best City - CEE: Vilnius.

New Investors in 2013: Swedbank and Cowi. Major expansions by: Western Union and NFQ Solutions. All procedures are simpli-fied for new investors; Tax system privileg-es; High qualification specialists, especial-ly in the IT sector. Vilnius claims to have the most multilingual people in the EU.

Best IT firm – Poland: Atos

Clients include the International Olympic Committee and Renault. Atos is an inter-national IT services company with 76000 employees in 47 countries. In Poland Atos employs nearly 2000 people in four cities Bydgoszcz, Warszawa, Wrocław, Gdańsk. It provides services for managing networks, servers, applications, projects and ITIL processes. Projected employee numbers at December 2014: 2150 - recruiting about 100 new candidates every month. Due to ex-cellent performance and quality of servic-es, the Atos Bydgoszcz branch was awarded as the most effective division within the world-wide Atos Group.

Best IT- Rest of CEE: NFQ

Based in Kauna, Lithuania, NFQ Solutions provides E-business and software devel-opment with major focus on large scale e-commerce platforms, the travel market and meta search solutions. While NFQ receives around 75% of its revenue from services to foreign customers, the company is con-sidered to be the godfather of Lithuanian e-commerce with more than 300 different projects launched in and around the coun-try in the past 10 years. NFQ Academy, our free three month long series of lectures and workshops for students interested in software development, held its fourth se-mester last year. It was record breaking - more than 400 students applied for some 50 places at the Academy. A Java class was launched in addition to two PHP groups in Vilnius and Kaunas.

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Best BPO of year-Poland: HP

HP BPO Poland provides wide services from F&A, CRM and HRO areas. Employee ro-tation program; Talent program; Training program focused on accounting and soft skills; ACCA approved employer status; HP University CIMA courses (open to all HP); Training platform for management; Finance Ambassador program.

Best BPO - Rest of CEE: Conectys

Conectys has a strong Romanian pres-ence. From its Bucharest contact centre, it delivers multicultural business process outsourcing and customer service sup-port in more than 35 languages to more than 45 different global organisations. Conectys expects to employ 450 people by December 2014. The company offers spe-cialist resources and services 24/7, servic-ing customers in every continent around the world. Conectys has delivery centers in Romania, Belgium and the Philippines. Conectys organises an annual collec-tion amongst its employees, friends and relatives for a local orphanage. Arnold Cobbaert is the founder and CEO.

Best Shared Services: Citi.

In Poland, Citi Services is focused on: monitoring anti-money laundering, han-dling banking, securities and investment funds, settlement of claims and pay-ments, processing control function and service infrastructure. CSC works with other Citi players from around the world, providing services to over 60 countries in Europe, Asia, Africa, both Americas and Australia. Employees use more than 24 languages every day. CSC Poland operates in three locations: Warsaw, Łódź and Olsztyn. In Poland over 400 technology profes-sionals provide critical technology in-frastructure support, development and deployment of strategic software appli-cations to Citi entities across the world. Employees projected at December 2014: 3250. Various productivity initiatives during the year which brought over 100 head-count saves. Another worth mentioning initiative is CitiWomen Network Poland which is one of our strongest diversity initiatives. During this year they organized over 20 different events, trainings, workshops and meeting with senior managers to create a pipeline of female talent. n

BPO/Shared Services

CEE Shared Services and Outsourcing Awards

Gala 2015

5 February 2015 Hotel Intercontinental, Warsaw

Advisory www.bizpoland.pl

February 201412

Preston Smith

Picture the scene: The femme fatale enters the room, slyly eyes the corporate detec-tive and then lays it on him.

“I believe my business partner is up to no good.”

Now imagine this is a daily occurrence—only (unfortunately) without the alluring femme fatale. In fact, most of the time we are looking at a wide-eyed private equity consultant or a nerve-wracked entrepreneur bor-dering heart attack mode.

No, it’s not a pretty picture, but yes, it indeed is a daily occurrence in the world of risk consulting. Sadly, by definition both of the above have arrived too late—i.e. after their money is gone—but let’s assume that such criticism is a moot point. The money is gone, nobody conducted any checks, so no need to rub it in.

So I won’t. Instead, beginning in this series I will outline a few common scams and the trouble you will run into should you be-come a victim. And in order not to induce instant heart attacks, I will proceed from more histori-cal somewhat (emphasis on that word) antiquated scams that will serve as a basis of more compli-cated “endeavors” that are com-monly seen in the CEE region today.

The Czech tunnel…Perhaps it is indeed best to begin in the beginning, which for many expatriates would mean “tunneling” in Prague. The basic premise was and is quite simple: in-sert an employee (preferably with ficti-tious identity) into a company for the sole purpose of draining accounts. The monies would then be bounced from account to ac-count around the world in order to not only confuse authorities but to simply make it impossible for them to conduct a true investigation.

This was first popularized, as you might guess, in the early 1990s, so let’s jump to a real incident from 1991. A new secre-tary was hired at a small company. Three months into the job, she suddenly did not

report for work—a strange incident as she was always the first person in the door.

Unfortunately, it turned out that both her outstanding work ethic and punctu-ality were quite nefarious in nature—as was her sudden absence. The company soon learned that CZK 1.2 mln had been transferred abroad the evening prior to her disappearance. Private enquiries

proved that the money bounced from one jurisdiction to another at least eight times.

And that, my friends, was the end of it—I mean the end of the company it-self. A privately-funded start up, the firm simply could not take the hit. Neither could it pay employees or fulfill orders. Paradoxically, the owner only narrowly avoided spending time in jail. Apparently, what he did not avoid was returning to the U.S. to work as a bartender, but that is another story.

So what happened? What happened is what commonly hap-pens even today, only on a much broader level. The police were skilled, but the po-lice budget was all but non-existent. This

meant that liaising between just one offshore jurisdiction (think translation and travel costs) was patently out of the question. Moreover, the Czech was likely at least half-Russian and never properly identified. Whether she was seriously investigated remains a question to this day.

True, in 2014 such a scenario would be much more difficult to pull off.

Records are now computerized so the employee “insertion” phase of a scam is no simple thing. But to this I say: details, details. The ever-present moral is that police have budgets and limited staff.

As late as 2004 a UK Serious Fraud Office investigator la-mented that he had only six staff for the whole country qualified to investigate money launder-ing. Now imagine investigator staffing in Central Europe. Then imagine that first you must find the qualified cop, then you have to come up with a budget. In the big picture, CZK 1.2 mln might be big money for you, but it’s nothing compared to what went out the door at a crooked state company.

Then the final reality: a private consultancy was hired. This costs money. But what costs real money were the lawyers needed to deal with various offshore cops and fi-

nancial fraud commissions. In short, ugly, ugly stuff. What I am un-

sure about is how far the victim went in contacting U.S. authorities, but I suspect not very far (for reasons that I will ad-dress next issue). At any rate, I personally thought tracking the cash through seven jurisdictions was quite a feat. I’m sure the once-and-future bartender whole-hearted-ly disagrees. n

(Next issue: The morphing of inser-tion—i.e tunneling will never die)

Preston Smith is the managing director of CEE Consulting Group, a regional risk

consultancy and licensed detective agency specializing in pre- and post-transaction due diligence, multi-jurisdictional asset trace in-

vestigations, FCPA checks and on-the-ground investigation and surveillance.

The Czech tunnel – what goes in never comes out

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Wind power capacity has almost doubled in Poland over the last two years as developers look to get their investments off the ground before the Polish government cuts subsidies – probably next year.

EKO Energia Polska Sp. z o.o. clinched a deal with the grid operator to link Poland’s largest wind farm (225 MW) to the trans-

mission network last month and is one of the lucky projects to survive before the government starts auctions for fixed-price contracts to drive down prices for renew-able energy.

Prime Minister Donald Tusk has pledged to stem increases in consumer power bills while meeting a European

Union mandate to clean up emissions from electricity generation. Lukasz Dziekonski, management-board member at energy investor the Marguerite Fund told Bloomberg: “We see much anxiety to-ward the new regulations. We expect de-velopers will be trying to sell, or at least to connect projects to the grid until mid-2015. The wind-farm market is becoming a buyers’ market.”

By connecting projects before the cut-off date, developers can choose to receive the existing subsidies or wait for the new system. Some currently opt for tradable green certificates, which utili-

ties buy to meet clean-energy targets. Certificates for new projects with no grid deal will be superseded by auctions next year, forcing developers to com-pete on price.

Helped by subsidies, the country’s in-stalled wind capacity grew 34 per cent last year after jumping 41 per cent in 2012 and

now totals 3462 MW, according to grid operator PSE SA. Capacity is set to rise to 4040 MW this year, amounting to more than a tenth of total generation.

The Economy Ministry expects to cut subsidies by more than 2.4 billion zloty in 2015, reducing power prices for con-sumers by 26 per cent to 20 zloty a mega-watt-hour. The plans are laid out in draft regulations due for a cabinet vote in the coming weeks.

Germany, France, Spain, Britain and Italy have all trimmed clean-energy subsi-dies after a boom in installations drove up power costs for consumers. Investments

in renewables in Europe fell 41 per cent to $57.8bn last year, according to data com-piled by Bloomberg.

Investors in Polish renewables that fail to get projects off the ground before the new rules come into force may also face de-lays to the start of auctioning, according to the Marguerite Fund. n

FDI News

Polish wind power firms rush to beat subsidy cut deadline

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Poland’s state-owned power company PGE is seeking technology and financial part-ners for a long-term project involving con-struction of the first nuclear power plant.

PGE chief executive and Poland’s former energy market regulator Marek Woszczyk was quoted as saying during a news confer-ence that, “we now have the period of search-ing for a partner to provide the technology and a partner to participate financially.”

Constructed with an investment of PLN 60 billion, the 3GW nuclear power plant’s first block is expected to to be finished by the end of 2024, while the whole project will be finalized by 2030.

The project’s coordinator, PGE has to se-lect a site and find a technological partner by the end of 2016.

Meanwhile, the company has expressed its interest to control the special invest-ment company established to manage the nuclear plant’s construction, Reuters reports.

Woszczyk said, “PGE wants to have a controlling stake in the company, at least 70 percent. We do not rule our the scenario of adding partners - financial or strategic.”

Potential partners include Polish state-controlled utility Tauron, Enea, and KGHM, even though the deal is yet to be signed. n

Digital communications agency Syzygy has acquired a 70 per cent shareholding in Warsaw-based agency Ars Thanea, as the agency looks to provide interactive design to its global clients.

Ars Thanea, which focuses on digital il-lustration, animation and interactive de-sign, has clients such as Chanel, Discovery Channel, General Electric, Nike, Nutricia, Nvidia, Ubisoft and Visa.

Bartlomiej Rozbicki, CEO of Ars Thanea commented: “We have been co-operating closely with Syzygy for over four years now during which time we have learned of the common values we share, not only as com-panies but as people. Being part of the Group will stabilise our position in foreign markets, particularly in Europe and the US, but what’s even more significant is the opportunity that

our joining of forces presents. In a competitive market, we were looking for an independent and flexible partner, Syzygy Group fits the bill perfectly at this stage in our development. Without doubt everyone will benefit from the strengthening of this relationship.”

Syzygy Group expects its revenues to in-crease by 20 per cent to £35m in 2014, fol-lowing the acquisition.

Andy Stevens, Chief Operating Officer at Syzygy Group said: “The results of our col-laboration (Ars Thanea and other SYZYGY Group entities) have been amazing with high profile clients such as Chanel and Paramount already benefitting from their combined skills. We are delighted that Ars Thanea is now a full member of the family and look for-ward to delivering more outstanding work for our clients globally.” n

FDI News

FDI News

Irish ABP Food’s second investmentOne of Europe’s leading red meat processors - ABP Food - has just bought a production hall in the Wielkopolska region. It is the com-pany’s second investment in Poland. The company is already present in Pniewice in Wielkopolska, where it owns a plant and employs 100 staff. Owing to the acquisition of new fa-cility, acquired from Italian food group Ferrarini, ABP will increase its production capacity in Poland to over 100,000 animals per year. The new plant is located 30 kilometres from the Pniewy site.

PSE signs deal with ChinesePolskie Sieci Energetyczne SA has signed an agreement with Chinese Pinggao Group for the construc-tion of a 220kV interconnection line in Szczecin area. Pinggao has agreed to build overhead 220kV lines between 2014-2017. The lat-est investment will improve the safety and transmission capacity of electricity supply for the Szczecin agglomeration.

Furniture investments in 2014 in SEZSchilsner Industry Group, a com-pany with Polish origin, is the first this year to receive a permit to conduct business in the Wałbrzych SEZ. The company plans to spend PLN 20m and create over 70 new jobs. The company will produce ABS edging for furniture panels made of environmentally-friendly mate-rials which can be fully recycled. Together, all companies doing busi-nesses there employ over 3,500 peo-ple. The total sum of invested in the Zone is around PLN 1 billion.

Bahlsen Poland will invest in SkawinaThe German confectionery manu-facturer plans to expand its plant in Skawina, in the Krakow Special Economic Zone. This is the sec-ond permit issued by the Katowice Special Economic Zone to Bahlsen. The PLN 32m production line invest-ment will result in the creation of 30 new jobs.

PGE seeks partners for Poland’s first nuclear power plant construction

Syzygy acquires majority shareholding in Warsaw-based Ars Thanea

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In 2014, Poland and Turkey celebrate the Polish Year in Turkey. Two famous Turkish chefs - Savas Ertunç and Tarik Bayazit vis-ited Warsaw and Kraków as part of the cel-ebrations. They were looking for inspira-tion to create a menu that will be presented from 6 March to 12 June 2014 in Istanbul’s Sakip Sabanci Museum.

The theme of the exhibition is “Poland-Turkey 1414-2014 - 600 Years of Political

and Cultural Relations”. The Turkish chefs began their adventure with Polish cuisine with a workshop entitled “Polish pantry”. They were amazed by “Żubrówka” (bi-son grass), pine-shoot syrup and “suska sechlońska” - a smoked and dried plum of Małopolska. This year, both countries celebrate the 600th anniversary of the es-tablishment of Polish-Turkish diplomatic relations. n

Nearly 40 entrepreneurs from Eastern Poland participated in key European trade fair events in January - Boot Dusseldorf, Interiors UK and the Salon International de la Lingerie in Paris. PAIiIZ trade missions have been organised under the Eastern Poland Economic Promotion Programme.

With the support of the Agency, between 18 and 26 January, 16 Polish leaders in the yachting and water sports sector present-ed their products at the industry’s biggest event, Boot Dusseldorf in Germany. The event tattracts nearly 1,600 exhibitors from around the world. This is the third time that representatives of businesses from Eastern Poland have the opportunity to take part in the fair under the Eastern Poland Economic Promotion Programme.

At the same time in Birmingham, fur-niture Polish manufacturers are looking at the latest global trends in design and furniture during the Interiors UK exhi-bition. The fair attracts nearly 30,000 visitors every year and is considered as a strategic event for Polish companies, due to constantly growing demand for Polish

furniture in the UK. In 2011, exports of furniture and upholstery products from Poland to the UK reached over £180m. Since then has been constantly growing. During Interiors Design 2014, 19 leading companies form Eastern Poland selected by PAIiIZ have the chance to present their offer and start new business relations.

Between 24 and 28 January, 12 represen-tatives of the Polish lingerie sector from Eastern Poland took part in the 50th annu-al Salon International de la Lingerie trade fair in Paris. Every year, the event is visited by nearly 20,000 visitors from all over the world. n

FDI News

Invest in Pomerania - trade mission to GermanyThe Pomeranian Development Agency announces a competition for small and medium-sized companies from the region. The winners will take part in a trade mission to Germany on 8 - 11 April 2014.

New 30 million pln investment in RadomAplisens has opened a production plant in Radom. The PLN 30m investment means another 100 jobs will be created. Aplisens specialises in the production and supply of measurement and con-trol equipment. At the Radom site, part of the Tarnobrzeg SEZ, the investor has built a production hall with a social fa-cilities and an office building. The new investment will double Aplisens’ pro-duction capacity. The company already has production facilities in Warsaw, Kraków, Ostrów Wielkopolski and also in Belarus.

Targban takes over Del Monte Poland’s banana ripening facilityTargban has agreed to acquire the ba-nana ripening facility from Del Monte Poland - a subsidiary of Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc., a global manu-facturer and distributor of fresh fruits and vegetables. The facility will let Targban increase the operational ca-pabilities of one of its flagship prod-ucts - bananas. The acquisition will also help the company to strengthen the position of a leading supplier of fresh fruits and vegetables from around the world (South America, Africa, US, New Zeland) in Central Europe.

Ronal opens €100 million factorySwitzerland company Ronal opened a plant in the Wałbrzych Special Economic Zone on 10 January. The project was supported by PAIiIZ. Ronal, a global player in the alloy wheel business, is present in Italy, Germany, Spain and Portugal. The company’s plant in Wałbrzych Special Economic Zone has been designed to produce two million wheels per year for such brands as Fiat, Mercedes, BMW and Opel. The investment is worth over €100m. Ronal is to hire 350 employees.

Polish Year in Turkey has started

Polish business at European lingerie and boating fairs

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Tarnobrzeska SEZ getting biggerAccording to the governmental decision, Tarnobrzeg SEZ will be increased nearly by 45 hectares. The new area of the TSEZ will include public land in Radom, Ożarów Mazowiecki and Wośniki, Stalowa Wola, Opatów Gorzyce and Nisko municipalities. Additionally, some private land in Radom was added to the zone for two invest-ments implemented by Global Cosmed and Precision Machine Parts Poland.

Global Cosmed will invest there nearly PLN 20m and hire at least 30 new employ-ees. The investor plans to implement inno-vative technology for mixing liquid prod-ucts. The second new investor, Precision Machine Parts Poland, will implement in-novative solutions of machining and sheet metal forming. The company will also in-vest PLN 20m and create 30 new jobs.

According to the Ministry of Economy, through the increase of the zone and deliv-ery of new investments to this area, 1,680 new jobs will be created in the whole zone and an extra 340 in the plants located in the new plots.

New investments in Euro-Park Mielec SEZPolimarky and Meta-Zel will invest in Głogów Małopolski. The total declared value of investments has been estimated at over PLN 24m. At least 22 new jobs will be created under those projects. Polimarky will spend PLN 8.4m for launching the production of modified plastic granules. Implementation of the new project will be combined with the employment of at least 12 new members of staff. META-ZEL Sp. z o.o. will launch project worth PLN 16m. The company plans to implement patented technology of aluminium microstructure and geometric surface forming for automo-tive sector. META-ZEL Sp. z o.o will create at least 10 new job.

Four new investments in Legnica SEZFour companies: Viessmann Technika Grzewcza, Uzin, C+P Meble and S&L, re-ceived permits to conduct business in Legnica SEZ. Between them, the compa-nies will invest nearly PLN 13m.

Viessmann Technika Grzewcza is plan-ning to launch production of cables for condensing wall-mounted boilers. The company will increase its workforce by 10 new employees. German company Uzin will invest PLN 1m to develop the product range and increase the volume of sales.

The new investment of C+P Meble has been estimated at PLN 8m. The company plans to expand the production hall and

increase employment to 123 workers. The Legnica plant produces sheet steel furni-ture to be delivered to the Tropical Island aqua park in Germany as well as to foreign factories.

S&L will spend PLN 4m and employ five new people to offer supply services, includ-ing road freight transport, selected land support services, storage, as well as finan-cial audit and accounting services.

New investors in Łódź SEZTwelve companies have received a permit to do business in the Łódź SEZ. Together, they plan to invest over PLN 184m and cre-ate 241 new jobs. Permits has been received by Elfa Pharm, BSH Sprzęt Gospodarstwa Domowego, Wirthwein Polska, Quick-Mix, Poprawa Producent Opakowań Tekturowych, Thermica, Sponcel, Weidenhammer Polska, VPK Packaging, Star Fitness, Huta Szkła Anewal, Hapam Poland. For some companies this is the next permit in Łódź SEZ.

In a newly purchased plant in Chociw, Elfa Pharm will produce cosmetics and sanitary- hygienic. Cost of the investment is PLN 8 m. The company will employ at least 30 new employees. Thermica will spend of PLN 2.1m to build a plant to pro-duce styrofoam boards and chemistry for real estate market. The company will hire at least 15 new employees. Sponcel will run a plant producing cellulose sponge for household products making.

In Kutno subzone, Weidenhammer Polska will build a plant producing paste-board packaging. The company will spend at least PLN 25m and employ more than 31 new employees. Cardboard packaging is also the specialty of VPK Packaging. The company will invest PLN 58.8m and em-ploy 30 new members of staff.

Star Fitness, specialising in fitness fa-cilities’ production, will invest at least PLN 8m in this are of production and hire over 20 employees. Huta Szkła Anewal will produce jars, candles and decorative glassware. Hapam Poland, a manufacturer of high voltage disconnections, intends to expand its factory as well as purchase new technological lines and equipment. For that purpose, the investor will pay at least PLN 5m and employ 6 new people.

New investments in the Kraków SEZFour companies, including three with the Polish capital received permit to conduct business in Kraków Special Economic Zone. Those are: BTH Import Stal, Becker Industrial Paints, Separator and VoiceFinder. The total value of newest investments is

FDI News

BWK Logistic invests in call centreBWK Logistic is going to invest PLN 4m and employ up to 65 new em-ployees in the Lubusz Industrial and Technological Park. The project con-sist of a construction of a warehouse with a production hall and a call cen-tre. BWK will provide there a complex logistics services including innovative solutions for managing the process of commissioning. The company plans to open the logistic centre at the begin-ning of 2015.

Suwałki SEZ with new jobsPLN 53 m will be invested in Suwałki SEZ by Padma 3.0, a company with Polish capital. Padma Art and Padma 3.0, companies related by capital links, have already invested PLN 60m and have employed 700 people in the SSEZ.

The newest project will be divided into two stages. In the first, Padma 3.0 will build a production and warehouse hall, with a production line for man-ufacturing articles made by wood, wood panels and plastic. Next, Padma is going to build a logistics centre with a production line designed to produce mirrors, shelves, furniture fronts, chairs and armchairs for IKEA.

The company plans to start the newest investment in the spring and complete it by the end of next year. The investor will hire 300 new em-ployees at the outset and eventually expand the number of employees to 1,000 people.

New jobs in Kutno and RadomskoWeidenhammer and VPK - two pack-aging companies received a permit to operate in the Łódź Special Economic Zone. Together they will create 61 new jobs.

Weidenhammer Kutno Poland will build a food packaging plant in Łódź SEZ. Until the end of 2015 company plans to invest at least PLN 25 m and hire 31 new employees.

The second packaging company will operate in Radomsk Sub Zone. VPK Packaging will provide produc-tion of cardboard packaging there. The expenditures for this investment will reach PLN 58.8 m. The company plans to employ at least 30 new em-ployees. n

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estimated at PLN 77m. Together companies will create 43 new jobs.

BTH Import Stal declared the will to spend the biggest amount of capital reach-ing PLN 47m. Moreover, the steel producer plans to hire 20 new employees.

The second biggest investment in KSE, with a value of PLN 22m, will be delivered by Becker Industrial Paints - a part of The Beckers Group. Beckers is going to create 10 new jobs.

Separator’s, that produces and distrib-utes spare parts for oil separators, heat ex-changers and auxiliary devices, will invest PLN 7m and hire 10 new employees.

In addition, PLN 1m will be invested by the IT company VoiceFinder that provides services related to the use of modern tech-nologies in the process of biometric search-ing and indexing of audiovisual resources.

Porsche and VW components made in ŚwidnicaThe Japanese company Nifico will double the number of staff and develop its plant in the Wałbrzych Special Economic Zone in Świdnica. This is the fourth permit issued by WSEZ to this Japanese company. The com-pany will invest PLN 60m and create 180 new jobs. Nifico has implemented the “50+” HR

programme which promotes employment of people aged over 50. Nifico will build a new production hall and will to implement new production lines for car plastic components mainly for Porsche and Volkswagen. The in-vestment will be completed by 2016.

Porsche and VW components made in ŚwidnicaThe Japanese company Nifico will double the number of staff and develop its plant in the Wałbrzych Special Economic Zone in Świdnica. This is the fourth permit issued by WSEZ to this Japanese company. The com-pany will invest PLN 60m and create 180 new jobs. Nifico has implemented the “50+” HR programme which promotes employment of people aged over 50. Nifico will build a new production hall and will to implement new production lines for car plastic components mainly for Porsche and Volkswagen. The in-vestment will be completed by 2016.

Invest in Pomerania - trade mission to GermanyThe Pomeranian Development Agency an-nounces a competition for small and medi-um-sized companies from the region. The winners will take part in a trade mission to Germany on 8 - 11 April 2014.

The mission is part of the “Invest in Pomerania II - Promotion of investment at-tractiveness of the region of Pomerania in the Nordic countries and Germany” project.

The mission’s programme includes par-ticipation in the Hannover Messe 2014, B2B meetings with local companies from the Renewable Energy Sources sector, study visits to local companies, specialised science and technology parks as well as R&D centres. The application closes on 26 February.

Fire-resistant glass production in Słupsk Special Economic ZoneQ4Glass ABJ Investors received a sec-ond permit to operate a business in the Słupsk Special Economic Zone. The inves-tor plans to expand its services through the introduction of a new product, a fire-resistant glass. The production hall for advances machinery will be build as a new investment. At the beginning, the company will employ 10 new members of staff. The final number of new jobs is ex-pected to rise to 30 in the nearest future. The total value of Q4Glass ABJ invest-ment is PLN 9 m. The company special-ises in the production of glass mainly for construction sectors. n

FDI News

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BelgiumNew membersIn 2013/14 the Belgian Business Chamber welcomed new and affiliated companies as its members, such as E&C Central Europe which provides a high service-level energy procurement consultancy, Batipont Immobilier S.A. branch in Poland - real estate developer, VALIANS INTERNATIONAL which specializes in supporting firms and companies in their development in Central and Eastern Europe as well as AIR FRANCE.

On 28th January 2014 BBC organized its first in the New Year Belgian Business Mixer which was held in Hotel Bristol in Warsaw. The participants had an opportunity to broaden their business and professional net-works as well as share their ideas and experi-ence. During the event we welcomed our new members and presented plans for 2014.

BBC welcomed a new employee Olga Baran�ska, Project Specialist who joined our team at the beginning of January 2014. Olga worked already in the BBC as a trainee and was responsible for managing

small projects. Interested in project man-agement, she created, developed and since then has been coordinating the university project: SGH TV - the first student tele-vision station at the Warsaw School of Economics.

Upcoming Events:Belgian Business Mixer5 March 2014; Hotel Bristol WarsawThe Belgian Business Mixer will be held on 5 March at Warsaw’s Hotel Bristol. During the event, which is organized a few times a year and has already become a tradi-tion, members as well as non-members of Belgian Business Chamber will have a great opportunity to broaden their profes-sional network and share their ideas. It will also be a chance to meet new members of the Chamber, professionals and investors who have been expanding their activity on Polish market.Speed Business Meeting26 February 2014/ 27 March 2014Poznan (26.02), Krakow (27.03)The Speed Business Meeting is a monthly event organized by bilateral Chambers in different cities in Poland, during which thanks to the specific and attractive

formula of short, direct meeting sessions participants have the opportunity to pres-ent briefly their companies, talk about services they offer and look for, gain new contacts, find customers, partners or inves-tors. The first meeting in 2014 will be held in Poznan� on 26 February and the second will take place a month later in Krakow. Both are organized by Belgian, French, Swiss and Scandinavian Chambers.BUDMA International Trade Fair for Construction11 - 14 March 2014, Poznan The Construction Fair BUDMA is the big-gest Construction Fair of Central Europe. Under this year’��s motto Inspiration, Construction, Repair, the organizers would like to emphasize the most impor-tant phases of creating surrounding us architecture. The ways of implementation of new technologies as well as processes which aim to rise standards constitute one of the main points of the program. For years, Belgian entrepreneurs and profes-sionals have been very active and in 2013 Belgium had one of the biggest national stands. This year FIT (Flanders Investment & Trade) will exhibit on the BUDMA on the collective stand.

Canada Historical Canada-EU Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement (CETA) to expand markets Mr. Steve Verheul, Canada’s Chief Negotiator to CETA, spoke on Monday 27th January at IGCC’s Business Breakfast on the highlights of the agreement. The nego-tiations represent Canada’s most ambitious trade agreement to date. An agreement-in-principle was announced last October by both Prime Minister Stephen Harper and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso. Final round discussions are now taking place and are anticipated to complete in the upcoming weeks which will end nearly five years of negotiations. Also in attendance was HE Alexandra Bugailiskis, Ambassador of Canada to Poland. From the Canadian perspective, CETA aims to open new markets and cre-ate opportunities for all Canadians. The EU is currently Canada’s second largest integrated trade partner and the world’s largest economy. The goals of the nego-tiations is to bring transparency and clear access across the EU economies. Some of

the key provisions include: - elimination of tariffs on goods and agricultural products; from the day CETA is active, 98% of tariffs will be removed. - fair treatment of for-eign direct investment and access to stra-tegic sectors including telecoms, energy,

aerospace. - increased labour mobility to support business development. - access to government procurement contracts. - in-tellectual property rights will continue to be recognized and enforced. - mutual rec-ognition of professional qualifications.

Chambers of Commerce News

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Winter ReceptionThe PCCC together with the Embassy of Canada hosted their annual Winter Reception on 4th February at the Embassy. The evening was opened by Ambassador Alexandra Bugailiskis followed by guest of honour Associate Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Canada’s G8 Sherpa Mr. Peter Boehm. Mr. Boehm’s greet-ing pointed out the strong historical ties between Poland and Canada including the Canada EU Free Trade Agreement CETA, where negotiations are in its fi-nal stage. The formal part of the recep-tion was concluded by Tomasz Lisiecki, PCCC President with a welcome to new members who joined in 2013 - Citibank, Dentons, E&Y, Mielżyński Wines, Spirits & Specialities, Redknee, Sandoz and SNC Lavalin.

In anticipation of the Sochi Olympics, the theme of the reception was Winter Olympics with highlights of the Calgary 1988 and Vancouver 2010 Olympics shown throughout the evening. The event was rounded out with a prize draw that gave away Canadian ice wine and sparkling ice cider, official Olympic scarf and hockey jersey, and a dinner for two at Mielżyński.

SNC-Lavalin Polska in deal with GE and PKN OrlenOn December 4, 2012 SNC-Lavalin Polska in consortium with General Electric International Inc. signed a turnkey contract with PKN Orlen, one of Central Europe’s largest crude oil refiners and fuel retailers, for construction of a combined cycle power/cogeneration plant in Wloclawek. Works on the construction Site in Wloclawek proceed in accordance with the approved project ex-ecution schedule, and in some of the proj-ect areas they are completed even ahead of schedule. SNC-Lavalin Polska received the construction permit earlier than expected.

Since the past two years, SNC-Lavalin has decided to make Europe the pilot region of its strategic plan. Europe represents the diversity of the Group’s businesses in thirty countries and includes more than 3,000 employees.

Also, in January 2013 SNC-Lavalin Polska signed EPCM contract with Cleveren, a joint venture of Dalkia Polska. For the purpose of construction of a power plant for Dalkia, SNC-Lavalin are now pre-paring documentation required for obtain-ing a set of administrative permits, and working on the general arrangement.

SNC-Lavalin is one of the leading en-gineering and construction groups in the

world and a major player in the ownership of infrastructure and in the provision of operations and maintenance servic-es. The group focuses on three sectors: Resources, Energy and Infrastructures. SNC-Lavalin develops its expertise in four different and complementary areas: engi-neering, construction, maintenance and concession.

Apart from the power generation busi-ness, SNC-Lavalin also aspires to be an ac-tive player in other sectors of the industry. Currently, SNC-Lavalin Polska is preparing for participation in a tender for modern-ization of a fertilizer production line for leading Polish chemical works.

A very strong area of SNC-Lavalin opera-tion constitutes oil and gas projects as well as the mining and processing of all mineral deposits. Some of Canadian companies which would like to invest in exploration of new deposits have been active in Poland recently. It refers for example to zinc and lead mines.

SNC-Lavalin Polska employs about 140 employees currently and the company’s portfolio amounts to more than 500 mil-lion zlotys. (contact: Monika Kom-Njilo, tel. 22 208 2524, monika.kom-njilo@sncla-valin.com) n

Chambers of Commerce News

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FranceFrench Chamber of Commerce cel-ebrates its 20th anniversary Throughout the year, a series of events will be held for the promotion of the French busi-ness in Poland and the activity of the French Chamber, which tends to strengthen the French and Polish economic cooperation.

The French business appeared in Poland at the beginning of the 90’s. The French companies were often the first ones to con-duct activities in different branches and the first foreign investors to introduce in Poland capital, technological innovations and modern solutions in respect of man-agement and business. Through coopera-tion with French companies, numerous of Polish partners learnt how to function in the changed economic reality and estab-lished lasting partnerships.

During its 20th anniversary, the French Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Poland will present the history of the de-velopment of the French investments in Poland and promote French solutions in various areas. France is the third largest foreign investor in Poland, which has cre-ated more than 200,000 direct jobs and the number of companies with a French capital continues to increase and amounts to ap-proximately 1,200 entities.

In the first half of the year, the CCIFP together with KPMG will publish the re-sults of the survey carried out among French investors in Poland. This will be the first study of this kind, which will first col-lect information on the existing develop-ment of companies and their plans for the future. As a result, we will be able to learn which areas work the best and which ones require changes.

For the purpose of the celebration of the 20th anniversary, periodical events will be

held by the CCIFP. On July 13, on the oc-casion of the French national holiday, a French village will be established in the Saska Kępa district – it will promote the French companies, culture and history. On July 12, a French Ball, integrating Polish and French business community, will be organized by the CCIFP. In the autumn, the CCIFP will organize the second edition of the Warsaw Debates – an International Conference at the Royal Palace in Warsaw, which will reunite intellectuals, business-men, politicians and people of Polish and French culture. The successful result of the previous edition relies on the unique atmosphere enabling openness and a free exchange of points of views during the de-bates and backstage discussions.

Throughout the year 2014, a series of smaller events, promoting the French business in Poland, will take place and the whole agenda for the 2014 year will be available at: www.ccifp.pl. n

SwitzerlandNew Year’s Meeting of the Polish-Swiss Chamber of CommerceOn 23 January 2014 the traditional New Year’s Meeting of the Polish-Swiss Chamber of Commerce took place. This year it was held at a unique place – the National Stadium.

The meeting started with welcome speeches of Swiss Ambassador to Poland, Mr Lukas Beglinger and President of the Chamber, Mr Marek Kondrat. Next, Board

Members of the company SwissLife, main partner of the event, presented activity of the company in Poland, which has been present in the country for 9 months.

Special emphasis was put on the contri-bution of Swiss companies in the building of the Stadium– Forbo (20000 m2 of carpet material in Conference Centre), Sika (30000 m2 parking resin flooring on levels -1 and -2 , 35000 m draught proofing of stands, prom-enade, etc.) and Zehnder (1300 convector heaters Zehnder Radiavektor).

After the official part of the event the guests were invited to take part in guided tours of the Stadium, during which they

had a chance to visit the stadium plate, see changing rooms of players, walk along the stadium promenade.

President of Switzerland visits PolandOn the occasion of the official visit of the Swiss president Didier Burkhalter to Poland, a Polish-Swiss Economic Forum has been arranged at the National Stadium.

While opening the Forum, PAIiIZ presi-dent Sławomir Majman mentioned the fact that the first factory opened in Poland in 2014 was the Swiss alloy-wheel manufactur-er, Ronal, which has set up in the Wałbrzych Special Economic Zone. “The project, sup-ported by PAIiIZ, is a great example of Polish-Swiss cooperation”, said Mr Majman.

Polish president, Bronisław Komorowski, said that Switzerland - a country of wealthy citizens - can be an inspiration for such ambi-tious states as Poland. “The unemployment rate among the youth in Switzerland is esti-mated at only 3%. The country should be an exemplar for Poland”, said Mr Komorowski.

Mr Burkhalter said that the economy is a key element of our bilateral relations. He added that the Swiss praise Poland for out-standing economic performance in recent years, and for its well-educated employees.

After the official speeches, panel dis-cussions provided an opportunity to al-low knowledge and experience sharing on vocational training, technology transfer from science to enterprises and Polish-Swiss research collaboration. n

Chambers of Commerce News

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BalticsLatvia joins EuroAs of January 1st, 2014 Latvia joined Eurozone. To facilitate an honest and trans-parent implementation of the euro by busi-nesses, as of 9 July 2014 Latvia has imple-mented a Fair Euro Introducer nitiative and information campaign. The initiative is being implemented in close partnership with lead-ing Latvian business organizations, the state Consumer Rights Protection Centre, media, and active segments of the civil society. The Fair Euro Introducer initiative aims to protect the population against unjustified price hikes as a result of the introduction of the euro. All businesses in Latvia are invited to join this initiative voluntarily in order to assure their clients and partners that they engage in fair and responsible business practices.

Latvia’s GDP growth rates in the last two years were remarkably stable despite finan-cial problems in other countries. Latvia is the fastest growing economy in the European Union with more than 5% growth two years in a row, earning praise from leading inter-national economists and top government officials. Christine Lagarde, IMF Managing Director, commented on Latvian success:

Latvia’s economic achievement is a tour de force. Achievements were highly praised also by American political scene - “Latvia’s suc-cess is an inspiration”, said Hillary Clinton, former U.S. Secretary of State.

This economic achievement has come ab out thanks to a rapid rise in industrial output and diversification of export markets, as well as products, which now make up 61% of GDP, and solid inflows of foreign direct invest-ment, which amounted to 11,3 billion euros in Q3 of 2013.

One of key sectors where Latvia has unique selling propositions for foreign direct investors based on competitive advantages is IT, including Global Business Services, and transportation and logistics - 1st in Europe for the largest share of value added in GDP and a critical player servicing cargo flow be-tween the EU and CIS countries. n

IrelandTrinity Corporate Services opens new office in Bratislava, SlovakiaThe office will be headed by Tomas Vinkler who also holds the post of Managing Director, Czech Republic. The establishment of the Slovakian office supports the vision of Trinity

being the leading provider of outsourced management and administrative services in CEE and enhances Trinity’s network of advi-sors by con necting local professionals across the region. The opening of our Slovakian of-fice in Bratislava reflects the growing demand for our services in the CEE region from inter-national investors. Bratislava is strategically located, with close proximity to Vienna and Budapest, which increases its attraction to in-vestors, said Tom Ravensdale, CEO. n

USAAmCham is now chairing the International Group of Chambers of Commerce in PolandThe American Chamber of Commerce in Poland has assumed Presidency of the IGCC (International Group of Chambers of Commerce in Poland) for the next six months. AmCham is representing 16 countries and 2000 companies, which employ hundreds of thousands of people, making up close to 90% of foreign investments in Poland. One of AmCham’s main objectives in its role is to pro-mote the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP ) within businesses in Poland. n

Chambers of Commerce News

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www.bizpoland.pl

PortugalOfficial Launching of the PPCC Regional representation in LodzThe Polish-Portuguese Chamber of Commerce (PPCC) organized a special event to launch the PPCC Regional repre-sentation in Lodz - Mrs. Izabella Paszak (President of Browary Lodzkie and

Board Member of PPCC). The event took place on the 30th of January in Andel’s Hotel in Lodz and counted the pres-ence of Mrs. Graźyna Henclewska, Vice-Minister of Economy; Mr. Mieczyslaw Luczak, Sejm Deputy; Mr. Paweł Bejda, Vice-Voivode of Lodzkie voivodeship; Mr. Artur Bagieński, Vice-Marshal of Lodzkie voivodeship; Mrs. Ewa Goczek, Honorary Consul of the Federal Republic of Germany; Mr. Szczepan

Milosz, Honorary Consul of Austria; His Magnificence Rector of Lodz’s University of Technology, Professor Stanisław Bielecki Ph.D., D. Sc.; His Magnificence Rector of Academy of Music in Lodz, Professor Cezary Sanecki ; Prof. dr hab. Krzysztof Stefański, University of Ĺodz; Prof. dr hab Tomasz Domański, University of Łodz; Prof. Sławomir Kaczorowski, Academy of Music in Lodz, and PPCC Members. n

United KingdomNew British-Polish Business Centre ‘showcasing the best of British in the heart of Poland’s capital’As the result of a unique n ew partnership between the British-Polish Chamber of Commerce, UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) and HSBC, the British-Polish Business Centre was opened in late 2013. A unique space of 500 square metres of a Grade A of-fice space fitted out to a very high standard whilst remaining competitively priced, the centre is meant to suit all business needs.

Konceptia’s Interpretation of GREAT Emerging Europe Campaign Takes Silver

Konceptia’s creative visual interpretation of the GREAT campaign in Emerging Europe has won a major award at a packed inter-national ceremony to celebrate innovative

visual communications in business. The company took the Silver Award in the highly competitive International Campaign cat-egory with its innovative DigiFilm Rapid fea-tures of the world’s leading country promo-tion campaign GREAT.

Featuring the Emerging Europe GREAT Mini Tour and a journey round Hungary, Poland and Austria in a GREAT New Bus for London Konceptia’s huge talent and vi-sual mastery managed to capture commer-cial opportunity and promote this exciting region to a global audience. The short, yet incisive films featured UK and regional leaders for the first time ever to promote one of the highest potential growth regions outside the traditional Emerging markets.

‘I am thrilled that Konceptia has won this major award. We teamed up for the summer to promote the very best of the UK in Poland and the best of Poland in the UK. Over 50 high quality film clips highlighting the out-standing opportunity which exists for both our countries in this region. I remember every stop on the GREAT Bus tour which

was one of the best ever bilateral promotion campaigns in this region. A huge thank you to all our partners along the route,’ enthused Martin Oxley at the awards ceremony.

Konceptia developed its DigiFilm Rapid especially for the campaign which has been immensely successful in bringing people together with GREAT opportunity in the region.

‘It is a huge honour and privilege for Konceptia to win this great award. GREAT is the biggest campaign our agency has worked on so far and our visual interpretation of this GREAT growth journey in Emerging Europe confirms the ambition and commit-ment of those involved with it. It is the big-gest promotion campaign of the region ever undertaken and our agency is proud to be associated with it. I would like to thank all our contacts and friends especially our 3,000 Facebook followers for all their support. Now we are continuing with the campaign which is a superb icon of bilateral opportunity in this exciting region’, said Andrzej Wrobel, Konceptia’s Managing Director. n

Chambers of Commerce News

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May

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July

August

September

October

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December

Special Edition for:Krynica EconomicForum

Special Edition for:Wrocław GlobalForum

Special Edition for:Wielka Gala Liderów Polskiego Biznesu

Directory providing key listings data for international buyers of Polish food, targeted at international food fairs and expos.

This directory is for companies seeking o�ce space, with complete listings of modern o�ce buildings in Polnad’s largest 25 cities.

An excellent directory of wind developers and investors, as well as strategies of wind farm developers, maps of all wind farms in Poland, and relevant articles.

Guide to Warsaw Stock Exchange-listed companies. Targets foreign institutional investors, as well as large private investors.

Guide focusing on Poland’s aerospace and aviation industries, including lists of key manufacturers and suppliers.

The most-complete directory of all BPO/ Outsourcing and Shared Services companies in Poland. Information includes services provided, target sectors, top management, list of client companies, and strategic plans.

For foreign direct investors, particularly in the BPO/ outsourcing, greenfield manufacturing, and real estsectors. Provid es essential data and key contacts in ate Poland’s major cities/regions, and special economic zones.

This directory provides retailers and developers with listings of the top 200 modern shopping centres in Poland’s largest 25 cities.

Wielka Gala Liderów Polskiego Biznesu Jan 2014 Warsaw

Wrocław Global Forum Jun 2014

Krynica Economic ForumSep 2014

IPO Summitt Warsaw, June 2014

ILA Berlin Air Show May 2014

Farnborough Int’l Airshow Jul 2014

Międzynarodowy Salon Przemysłu ObronnegoKielce, Sep 2014

GulFood Feb 2014, Dubai

EuroSeafood Expo May 2014,Brussels

FancyFood, Jun–Jul 2014,New York

MIPIM Cannes Mar 2014

EXPOReal Munich Oct 2014

other real estate and general business conferences in 2014 in Poland and abroad

PSEW Polish Wind Energy Association’s annual Conference and Expo, May 2014

Green Power Expo Poznań, May 2014

Annual ASPIRE ConferenceMay 2014Annual ABSL Conference 2014

ExpoReal Munich, Oct 2014

MIPIM Cannes, Mar 2015

Business Conferences in Warsaw(Q4 2014–2015)

MAPIC Nov 2014, Cannes

CEE Retail Awards Feb 2015, Warsaw

Shopping Centre forums during 2015

SIAL Paris, Oct 2014

Publishing Calendar 2014

Contact:Thom Barnhardttel. kom.: (0-508) 143 963barnhardt@biznespolska.plWiktor Glińskitel. kom.: 694 492 067wglinski@biznespolska.pl

Distribution at:

CEE ENERGY AWARDS 2014CEE ENERGY AWARDS

May 29th 2014, Warsaw, Poland, Hotel InterContinentalwww.ceeEnergyAwards.com