VOLUME 17, NUMBER 16-17 • APRIL 26 – MAY 8, 2011 . z∏.12.50 (VAT 8% included) . ISSN 1233 7889 INDEX-RUCH-332-127

CCooaall sshhoouullddeerrAs unions threaten to block coal deliveries,

the economy minister says JSW’s

privatization could be delayed 5

Since 1994 . Poland’s only business weekly in English

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Germany’s labor market is

finally opening up to Poles.

Will it lead to the exodus

some are predicting?

12-13

LLooookkiinngg eeaassttPrime Minister Donald Tusk wants to focus

attention on eastern neighbors in the run-up to

Poland’s EU presidency 3

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Poland’s private TV stations

are far more efficient than

public broadcaster TVP

Poland’s most important

work of art is going on

a European tour

Techeye gets

childish about

dieting

News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2-4

Industry News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5-6

Listed Firms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7

Interview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8-9

Opinion & Analysis . . . . . . . . .10-11

Cover Story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12-13

Business Environment . . . . . . . . .14

Lokale Immobilia . . . . . . . . . . .15-18

Markets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19

The List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21

Arts & Culture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22

Last Word . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23

In this issue

REAL ESTATELokale Immobilia

• Morski Park opens

• PBM in Praga

• Poland’s office

market leads

15-18

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A guide to Polish business and industry Przewodnik po polskim biznesie i gospodarce

Office furniture

suppliers

21

A GUIDE TOPOLISH EXPORT

i s A V A I L A B L E N O W !To order:Please contact us at +48 22 639 85 68 or kwilinski@valkea.com

Germany opens its gates

%

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

Hungary

Romani

a

Lithuan

iaPoland

Germany

Czech R

epublicEU27*

France

Estoni

aUK

*EU27 excludes intra-EU trade.1.8

0.7 0.6 0.6 0.5 0.50.4

0.30.1 0.1

APRIL 26 - MAY 8, 2011NNEEWWSS2 www.wbj.pl

More jobs, but

no raises

Analysts say the second

quarter of this year will

be characterized by high

demand for Polish

products on international

markets as a result of a

weak z∏oty. The National

Bank of Poland’s growth

indicator forecasts for

industry productivity in

mid-April stood at

almost 35 points, nearing

the 40-point maximum.

Polish firms are

expected to increase

hiring in the coming

months to meet the

expected demand.

However, this won’t be

coupled with raises for

existing employees,

since firms are unsure

how long the good times

will last.

Steep crude

prices hurt

economy Polish entrepreneurs and

business owners are

increasingly feeling the

harsh effects of

expensive energy prices.

Companies’ production

costs are rising, but they

can’t adjust prices for

fear of losing customers.

According to a study by

the National Bank of

Poland, high supply costs

are currently the main

obstacle to business

development.

More firms

shutting than

opening Poland saw more

businesses closing than

new ones opening in the

first two months of

2011. Some 54,200

companies de-

registered and only

39,000 new ones

opened, according to

data complied by market

research firm HBI for

Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.

Retail sales businesses,

especially small ones,

saw the highest level of

attrition, with only 7,000

new companies opening

and 14,000 closing their

doors.

Larger EU

budget

Poland is set to receive

nearly €11 billion (z∏.44

billion) in European Union

funding for 2012,

according to EU

Commissioner Janusz

Lewandowski. “This is a

decent budget, given the

crisis in Europe,” Mr

Lewandowski told

reporters after the details

were announced. ●

Anti ....................................19

Asseco ..............................16

Atlas Estates ....................16

Banco Santander. ..............5

Bank Zachodni WBK ..........5

Bankruptcy Management

Solutions ..........................15

Best Western ....................17

BNP Paribas ....................13

Boryszew ..........................19

Bruegger ............................6

Budimex............................16

Caelum Development ......16

CEZ....................................19

Credit Suisse ......................7

Cushman & Wakefield..15, 18

Dalkia ..................................6

DM BZ WBK........................7

Elektra Plus ......................18

Enea ....................................6

ERG ..................................19

Futureal ............................16

Globe Trade Centre ..........15

Grupa K´ty ..........................5

Grupa Lotos ......................19

Grupa Marketingowa TAI..16

GTC....................................19

Guillaume Sadoux ............17

Infosys BPO Poland..........15

Investment Property

Databank ..........................16

Ipopema Securities ............5

Jastrz´bska Spó∏ka

W´glowa..............................5

Jones Lang LaSalle..........16

KGHM............................5, 19

Knight Frank Poland ........18

Le Duff Group ....................6

Liebrecht & Wood ............15

Lot Polish Airlines ............13

Optimus ............................19

PBG ..................................19

PBM Po∏udnie

Development ....................18

Penta Investments ............6

Pepees ..............................19

Petrolinvest ......................19

PGNiG........................6, 7, 19

Pharmena ........................15

PKN Orlen ..........................7

PKO BP ........................5, 19

Polimex-Mostostal ..........19

PZ Cussons ........................5

Relpol................................19

Ronson Development ......15

Skanska Property Poland..15

Société Générale ..............13

SPEC ..................................6

Strabag Budowa

Infrastruktury ..................16

Tax Care ............................15

TP ....................................5, 7

TP Group ..........................16

TPSA..................................19

TVN....................................19

United PR............................6

Valivala Holdings B.V........16

W.P.H. AGRAHURT

Export-Import ..................17

Wilbo ................................19

Zastal ................................19

ZenithOptimedia Group ......5

Hundreds of thousands of pil-grims are expected to descendupon the Italian capital city ofRome on May 1 to take part inthe Vatican’s celebrationsmarking the beatification ofthe late Pope John Paul II.The predecessor of the currentPope Benedict XVI will offi-cially be declared “blessed” onthat day, a recognition which isthe penultimate step in thecanonization process.

Calls for a swift declarationof John Paul II’s sainthoodwere voiced by many Catholicsas early as during the pope’sfuneral on April 8, 2005. Theimminent launch of the beati-fication procedure wasannounced by Pope BenedictXVI soon afterwards, with thepontiff accepting a fast-track

proceedure that excluded theusual five-year waiting periodwhich separates the start ofthe procedure from the deathof the candidate.

In January this year theconclusion of the beatificationprocedure was made possibleafter the recognition by PopeBenedict XVI of a miracleattributed to John Paul II,namely the inexplicable cureof a nun said to have sufferedfrom Parkinson’s Disease.Another miracle will now haveto be approved before the latepontiff is declared a saint.

The May 1 celebrations inthe Vatican City will include aspecial beatification mass heldby Pope Benedict XVI and thelying in state of John Paul II’scoffin in St. Peter’s Basilica.

More than 50 heads of stateare expected to attend theevents, among them PolishPresident Bronis∏aw Komo-rowski. Special masses andother events marking the beat-ification will also take place innumerous Polish cities.

Born Karol Wojty∏a in 1920in Wadowice, Poland, andreigning as pope from October16, 1978 until his death onApril 2, 2005, John Paul II wasthe first non-Italian pope sincethe early 16th century and oneof the longest-serving heads ofthe Catholic Church in history.He is widely regarded as one ofthe most influential leaders ofthe 20th century, credited withcontributing significantly to theend of communism in Europe.

AAddaamm ZZddrrooddoowwsskkii

27% The percentage of Poles who, in a recent survey by

Ramstad, stated that they have changed jobs in the

last six months

4.8 billion m3

is the amount of natural gas sold by Poland’s

monopolist PGNiG in Q1 2011

45,000 is the number of new apartments currently available

in the Polish market, according to Rzeczpospolita

z∏.1,500 will be the new minimum monthly wage, starting in

2012, after the government agreed to a proposal by

Labor Minister Jolanta Fedak. Currently, Poland’s

minimum wage is z∏.1,386

“We owe Pope [John Paul II] a lot, but let’s notexaggerate”

Lech Wa∏´sa, in an interview for the Italian newspaper La Repubblica, on the

Polish Pope’s contribution to the battle against communism

Quote of the Week

Chernobyl, 25 years later

On April 26, 1986, Reactor 4 of the Chernobyl NuclearPower Plant in Ukraine exploded, releasing largequantities of radioactive material into the atmos-phere. WBJ.pl takes a look back in pictures andvideos at what is to this day considered the worstnuclear disaster in history.

On WBJ.pl

Numbers in the News

Company index

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8-11 HR CONGRESSEvent: The 40th IFTDO World Conference & Exhibi-

tion international HR Congress & Expo. Location: Hotel Marriott, Warsaw.www.iftdo2011.com

10-13 TRANSPORT LOGISTIC EXHIBITIONEvent: International Exhibition for Logistics, Mobili-

ty, IT and Supply Chain Management. Location: Messe Munchen International.www.transportlogistic.de

10-13 AUTOSTRADA-POLSKAEvent: 17th International Fair of Road Construction

Industry. Location: Kielce Trade Fairs.www.targikielce.pl

10-13 TRAFFIC-EXPO – TILEvent: 7th International Fair of Infrastructure, Airport

Technologies and Infrastructure Exhibition.Location: Kielce Trade Fairs.www.targikielce.pl

10 -13 MASZBUDEvent: 13th International Construction Equipment

and Special Vehicles Fair. Location: Kielce Trade Fairs.www.targikielce.pl

11-13 GENERAEvent: Energy and Environment International Trade

Fair. Location: Madrid, Spain. www.ifema.es

16-18 EUROPEAN ECONOMIC CONGRESSEvent: Debates and panel discussions on issues

facing Central Europe’s economies Location: Katowice. www.eec2011.eu

20-22 INTERNATIONAL MBA ALUMNI CONGRESSEvent: Aimed at the integration of MBA students

and alumni from all over the world. Location: Kraków. ksb.uek.krakow.pl

24-25 REAL VIENNAEvent: Real Estate and Investment Fair focused on

Central & Eastern Europe. Location: Vienna. www.realvienna.at

May

DATELINE

Pope John Paul IIIN THE SPOTLIGHT

Figures in focus

Cultural exchange

Exports of cultural goods, selected EU countries,

% of total external trade, 2010

Source: Eurostat

APRIL 26 - MAY 8, 2011 NNEEWWSS www.wbj.pl 3

Support for PO

drops as prices

rise

Although the ruling Civic

Platform (PO) still has

the most support among

all of Poland’s political

parties, at 40%, its

numbers have declined

by 14% since January,

according to the latest

TNS OBOP poll.

Meanwhile, support for

the largest opposition

party, Law and Justice

(PiS), remains stable at

26%. Many observers say

rising living costs are one

of the main reasons

support for the ruling

party is eroding.

Poland raises

minimum wage

The Polish government

has agreed to raise the

minimum wage starting

from January 2012. The

current minimum wage is

z∏.1,386, but the

government plans to

increase it to z∏.1,500,

Parkiet reported.

According to the

Government Information

Centre, this increase will

reflect the forecast

national average monthly

salary for the coming

years. ●

May your business bloom this spring!

Warsaw Business Journal Group wishes you a happy holidayseason and a bright, colorful and successful spring

Bureaucracy

President signs deregulation billThe new law couldsave Polishentrepreneurs asmuch as z∏.6 billion

Just prior to the Easter holi-day President Bronis∏awKomorowski signed a deregu-latory bill aimed at limitingthe administrative barriersand costs of doing business.The bill is designed to curbbureaucracy by reducing thenumber of licenses and per-mits required to conduct vari-ous types of business. The newrules are also meant to makeit easier for licensed profes-sionals to start their own, indi-vidual practices.

The changes mean that busi-ness owners will be able to drawup about 200 different officialdocuments on their own,instead of having them issuedby various administrative bod-ies as is currently required.

“This bill is a very impor-tant and decisive step in agood direction,” said PresidentKomorowski. “[It] means thattax offices and other stateinstitutions will be able to issueeight million fewer certifi-cates,” he added.

The president’s officeestimates that the changeswill allow one million entre-preneurs and five million

self-employed citizens tosave more than z∏.6 billion intotal.

“That is the amount thatcitizens will not have to spendon certificates which will, inmany cases, be replaced byself-attestations,” said thepresident, who in a symbolicmove signed the bill at a taxoffice in the Warsaw district ofMokotów.

Privately-owned compa-nies, including self-employedindividuals, will be able totransform their businesses intoother entities, such as limitedliability companies. The bill

will also reduce the maximumpossible fine, from 10 percentto three percent of a firm’srevenue, which can be leviedon companies as a result ofillegal actions perpetrated bysomeone acting on the compa-ny’s behalf.

In addition, the deregulato-ry bill also marks the return ofsales of alcoholic beverages ontrains running domestic routesin Poland. Currently, onlyinternational routes are per-mitted to sell alcohol.

The bill comes into forceon July 1 of this year.

RReemmii AAddeekkooyyaa

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The bill should make the lives of entrepreneurs easier

International relations

Tusk highlights eastern policyThe Prime Ministerhas taken his recenttravels to emphasizethe importance of theEastern Partnershipinitiative

After a meeting with his Britishcounterpart in London lastweek, Polish Prime MinisterDonald Tusk said that he andMr Cameron shared “a similarperspective about the need forgreater competition, greaterderegulation and a real push tomake Europe a high-growth,rather than a slow-growth, areaof the world.”

The two leaders discussedNATO’s involvement in Af-ghanistan, as well as Poland andBritain’s bilateral relationshipin general.

But Mr Tusk won an impor-tant endorsement when MrCameron said that although heand the Polish PM agreed that“Europe should make a strongand welcoming response to theArab Spring,” they bothbelieved the response “should-n’t reduce in any way the impor-tant work Europe does with itsEastern neighbors and partnersto encourage democracy anddevelopment.”

Mr Cameron was referring

to the Eastern Partnership, aPolish-Swedish diplomatic ini-tiative to draw some of theEuropean Union’s easternneighbors closer. The projectlooks to reach out to Armenia,Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia,

Moldova and Ukraine, and isone of Poland’s top priorities.

“Indeed, many Polish politi-cians are worried that the mainfocus today is on the Mediter-ranean because of the events inNorth Africa and that as a

result of this, interest in theEastern Partnership will dimin-ish, meaning less money andless political attention,” said¸ukasz Adamski, an expert atthe Polish Institute of Interna-tional Affairs (PISM).

Eastern worriesIn the run-up to Poland’s EUpresidency, which starts on July1, Mr Tusk has also been mak-ing the rounds in Eastern Part-nership countries to reassurehis counterparts that Polandwould be a vocal advocate ofthe project in the EU.

In the last few weeks, MrTusk was in Moldova and inUkraine. But in Ukraine atleast, closer integration with theEU faces competition fromRussia. The day before Mr Tuskarrived in Kiev, Russian PrimeMinister Vladimir Putin hadcome to advise Ukraine to jointhe economic union currentlycomprising his country,Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyr-gyzstan.

For the moment, Ukraini-ans have declined the Russianoffer and seem keen on advanc-ing talks with the EU on themainly economic AssociationAgreement (AA). RegardingEU accession however, pro-spects remain distant.

“Although the stated aim ofUkrainian foreign policyremains EU accession, thereare huge powers within thecountry which are afraid of sucha move because they know itwill mean an increased democ-ratization of the country, therule of law and better businesspractices,” said Mr Adamski.

Don’t spend on laggardsMeanwhile, in London, PMTusk admitted in an interviewwith The Economist that Polandand the UK had “differingopinions” as to how the nextEU budget should be shaped.

The British governmentwants to see cuts in EU cohe-sion funds. Poland, as thebiggest beneficiary of thesefunds in the current (2007-2013) budget, is against anychanges that would adverselyaffect it.

Citing Eastern Europe asthe most dynamic part of theunion, Mr Tusk stressed thatinvesting EU funds thereinstead of in the “poorerregions” made sense. He alsosaid he agreed with MrCameron that there was a needfor greater budget discipline inthe EU, especially on moneyspent “ridiculously.”

RReemmii AAddeekkooyyaa

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Mr Cameron (left) agreed that the “Arab Spring” should

not overshadow the EU’s work with Eastern neighbors

APRIL 26 - MAY 8, 2011NNEEWWSS4 www.wbj.pl

Warsaw Ghetto

Uprising

remembered

Tributes were paid in

Poland’s capital on April

19 to those who took part

in the Warsaw Ghetto

Uprising against the

Nazis 68 years ago.

Wreaths were laid at

Warsaw’s Monument to

the Ghetto Heroes by a

number of top state

officials. The Warsaw

Ghetto Uprising broke out

on April 19, 1943 and

lasted through May 16 of

that year, by which time

superior German forces

had suppressed the

insurgents.

More pre-

schoolers in

PolandAccording to a new EU

report on education, all

four-year-olds in France,

Belgium, and the

Netherlands currently

attend preschool.

However, in Poland, only

67.5% of children in the

same age group attend

preschool. Still, compared

to attendance four years

ago, the number of

preschoolers in Poland

has increased by 20% and

is steadily on the rise. ●

Currency management

FM to sell euro tostrengthen z∏otyFinance Minister JacekRostowski’s unexpectedmove has helped torally the z∏oty

After a meeting betweenFinance Minister Jacek Ros-towski and National Bank ofPoland head Marek Belka, itwas announced that part of thefunds Poland receives from theEU would be sold regularly onthe market to limit excess liquid-ity and relieve pressure on theNBP to increase interest rates.

“The maximum amount ofEuropean funds that could besold on the market this yearwould be €13-14 billion, but weare only talking about a part of[these funds],” said Mr Rostows-ki at a joint press conferencewith Mr Belka.

Mr Belka said the excess liq-uidity of the banking sectormade it difficult to conduct aneffective monetary policy. TheNBP head denied, however, thatthis decision meant the bank wasleaving inflationary aim policiesfor currency rate policies.

“This operation will be con-ducted by the Ministry ofFinance. We are not fixing anytarget exchange rate,” said MrBelka, adding that “currencyinterventions are still possible,

but only if there is a worryingdynamic in the currency mar-ket.”

Analysts predict that theactual amount the governmentcould sell will be much smallerthan the €13-14 billion men-tioned.

“Last year gross inflows ofEU funds to Poland were equalto €11.2 billion, but the Ministryalso had to make payments ofover €5 billion,” said Piotr Kal-isz, Citi Handlowy’s chief econo-mist, in a communique. “If weassume similar payments thisyear, the Finance Ministry willhave only €8 billion for forexinterventions.”

“Moreover, we expect atleast half of this will be kept forQ4, as the ministry will focus oninterventions in December inorder to keep the end-of-yearpublic debt level below 55 per-cent of GDP,” the statementread.

All in all, the Finance Min-istry will likely be able to sell nomore than €3-4 billion over thenext six months.

After the announcement, thez∏oty rose against the euro anddollar. The z∏oty closed the weekof April 18 at z∏.3.95 to the euro,ending the week flat.

RReemmii AAddeekkooyyaa

It took a royal requestto get Poland’s CultureMinistry to agree,though

Poland’s most important workof art will embark on a tour ofthree European capitals fol-lowing a year of intense debateon whether it should beallowed to leave the country.

Leonardo da Vinci’s Ladywith an Ermine, a masterpieceof the Renaissance era, willnow go on display in Madrid,London and Berlin.

Poland’s Ministry of Cul-ture and National Heritageand a number of Polish artcurators have for the past yearopposed the idea of allowingthe painting to leave the coun-try, fearing it could be dam-aged in transit. The 15th-cen-tury masterpiece is painted onwood and is thereforeextremely vulnerable.

Nevertheless, an appeal bySpain’s King Juan Carlos forthe painting to be transportedto Spain helped convince theministry to change its mind.The king made the request toPolish aristocrat Prince AdamKarol Czartoryski, the paint-ing’s owner, who then made a

personal ap-peal to theministry.

“It’s diffi-cult to refusethe King ofSpain, espe-cially sincehe’s mycousin,” MrCzartoryskitold the PAPnews agency.

His fami-ly’s founda-tion, thePrinces Czar-toryski Foun-dation, hasbeen lobby-ing to havethe paintingput on tem-porary display outside ofPoland.

After allowing the paintingto travel to Spain, Poland alsoagreed to British and Germanrequests that they too shouldbe able to display the paintingin their capitals.

The masterpiece itselfdepicts a young woman in ared and blue dress holding awhite ermine (or short-tailedweasel). It is one of only four

works, including the MonaLisa, that Leonardo da Vincipainted of women.

The painting is part of apermanent collection of theCzartoryski Museum inKraków, to where it will returnin 2012 and remain for 10years. The tour will reportedlyearn the museum thousands ofeuro which will be spent onupkeep.

GGaarreetthh PPrriiccee

Art

Da Vinci masterpiece getsgreen light to go on tour

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That’s the EconomyMinistry’s position;the Treasury seesthings differently

Poland’s Economy Ministerhas said the initial public offer-ing of Jastrz´bska Spó∏kaW´glowa (JSW), Europe’slargest coking coal miner,could be postponed because ofongoing protests by its workersover privatization.

Trade union members helda 24-hour strike at each ofJSW’s six coal mines in mid-April and announced theirintention to block the transportof coal from the company’smines on April 26.

Referring to the conflictwith the unions, Economy Min-ister Waldemar Pawlak toldreporters that “the date of Jas-trz´bska Spó∏ka W´glowa’sdebut does not have to be rigid,it is possible to shift it.”

“The situation at the compa-ny is difficult and complicated,while the lack of agreement

[between workers and manage-ment] makes taking businessdecisions difficult,” he added.

Nevertheless, Poland’s Trea-sury, which holds a 100 percentstake in the company, said in astatement that it was “sur-prised” by the Economy Min-

istry’s position on JSW’s debut. The Economy Ministry has

overall responsibility for JSW,but the Treasury has taken astrong stance on the issue ofIPO plans for the company.

“You cannot be subject topressure from trade unions who

are not interested [in whether]JSW is a transparent, publiclylisted company,” it wrote.“According to Polish law, tradeunions cannot decide if a com-pany is to be traded on thebourse or not.”

The miners’ protest is a

response to the government’sdecision to float up to 49 per-cent of its 100 percent stake inJSW on the Warsaw StockExchange at the end of June.The government could poten-tially raise up to z∏.5 billion,which it would use to helpreduce the country’s borrowingneeds.

Some analysts have specu-lated that the Economy Min-istry fears the actions of thestriking workers have drivendown the potential value ofJSW’s shares, hence its decisionto consider delaying the IPOdate.

The state has said it willretain a majority stake in thefirm and guarantee jobs, buttrade unions have questionedthese assurances, claiming thegovernment hasn’t providedformal documents detailing itspromises. The striking workerswant their salaries increasedand their jobs secured for afurther 10 years.

GGaarreetthh PPrriiccee

Coal

SSttrriikkiinngg wwoorrkkeerrss ccoouulldd ddeellaayy JJSSWW’’ss IIPPOO

APRIL 26 - MAY 8, 2011 IINNDDUUSSTTRRYY NNEEWWSS www.wbj.pl 5

KGHM rejects

union demands

for raises

There’s no chance that

KGHM will raise the

base wage of its

workers, said company

president Herbert

Wirth, as reported by

Parkiet. Labor unrest

has long troubled the

copper giant, whose

workers are now

threatening manage-

ment with strike action

if their demands are not

met. Union leaders have

announced that pickets

will go up outside

company headquarters

on May 5, exactly two

years after previous

pickets were successful

in securing a z∏.5,000

premium for workers.

TP invesments

could reach

z∏.8 billionPoland’s incumbent

telecom operator TP is

reportedly close to

agreeing on a massive

new broadband network

expansion plan. “We’re

negotiating a new market

arrangement with TP. We

expect that, in the next

six years, TP could bring

online at least five

million new fiber-optic

cables with a speed

exceeding 100 Mb/s,”

Aneta Stre˝yƒska,

president of the telecoms

regulator UKE, told daily

Parkiet. TP has refused

to confirm any numbers,

but analysts say the six-

year program of

broadband network

expansion could cost TP

up to z∏.8 billion.

Grupa K´ty

beats

expectationsFor Q1 2011, Poland’s

largest aluminum

products producer Grupa

K´ty saw its net income

and sales rise by more

than it had forecast.

Grupa K´ty announced in

its quarterly report that

net income for the first

three months of the year

came in at z∏.18.8

million. At the same

time, the group’s sales

stood at z∏.322.6

million. ●

Poland’s largest bank, state-owned PKO BP, has given upon its plans to issue z∏.5 billionin bonds. The bank had statedit was going to use the moneyto finance potential takeoversin the banking sector.

Last year PKO alsoannounced it would issuebonds for up to z∏.5 billion. Thelender had intended to use themoney to finance the takeoverof its smaller rival BZ WBK.PKO was, however, beaten tothe prize by Spanish lenderBanco Santander. In October2010, the bank still maintainedit could issue bonds to financeother takeovers.

When asked why it hadnow decided to drop the ideaof the bond issue, PKO BP’spress office wrote in an e-mail that “PKO BP has astrong capital base whichenables it to achieve its cur-rent business goals. There-fore, at present it is not nec-essary for PKO BP to aggran-dize its funds for the moneyfrom the bond issue.”

According to Tomasz Bur-sa, an analyst at Ipopema Se-curities, after Santander’s take-over of BZ WBK, the list ofpotential takeover targets forPKO BP on the Polish markethas been depleted. KKPP

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Advertising

Polish advertising market growth

forecast revised downwardsGlobal estimates havealso been slashed aftercrises in Japan andNorth Africa

Shockwaves from recent glob-al events have led one influen-tial market researcher torevise downward its 2011growth forecasts for the Polishadvertising market.

According to preliminaryestimates from ZenithOptime-dia Group, the Polish ad mar-ket is set to grow by 5.5 percentthis year, compared to an orig-inal forecast of 6.8 percent.

The difference is due to“The conservative advertisingpolicy of marketers,” Ze-nithOptimedia Group PolandCEO Jakub Potrzebowskisaid, adding that “the correc-tion in the domestic market isconsistent with the trend ofglobal advertising markets.”

ZenithOptimedia hasreduced its global ad-spendforecasts from 4.6 percent to4.2 percent following thepolitical turmoil in NorthAfrica and the devastatingearthquake in Japan. Accord-

ing to its initial estimates,ZenithOptimedia reckonsthat without these events,about $2.4 billion more wouldhave been spent on ad expen-diture globally this year.

One Polish company, how-ever, has not let the dramaticevents of recent months get inthe way of its internationalinvestment plans.

Independent Polish agen-cy Change Integrated is coop-erating with global power-house PZ Cussons and is nowin the process of setting up anoffice in Nigeria’s largest city,Lagos.

“Nigeria might sound exotic,but it is the biggest market forour client PZ Cussons,”Change Integrated chief execu-tive Marek ̊ o∏edziowski said.

“Opening an office in Lagosis a logical move. It will help usto service the client better andallow us to effectively tap into a150-million-customer market,”he added.

Change Integrated won two“Cannes Lions” at the CannesLions International AdvertisingFestival last year. It was the only

Polish agency to participate inthe event.

Like many countries in theWest, Polish advertisers arenow shifting their focus awayfrom print media advertisingand towards the web.

“There is no doubt that theinternet ad market will still begrowing rapidly. In the next fewyears it will become bigger thanthe press ad market,” Mr˚o∏edziowski said.

According to ZenithOpti-media’s predictions, internetadvertising in Poland is set toshow the biggest increase thisyear. Newspaper advertising,however, is expected to fall by3.4 percent over the same peri-od.

The Central and EasternEuropean ad market in generalis set to see a significantincrease in expenditure onadvertising over the next fewyears. From a low of -18.1 per-cent y/y in 2009, CEE is forecastby ZenithOptimedia to see adexpenditure grow by 10 percenty/y in 2011 and by 13.8 percentin 2013.

GGaarreetthh PPrriiccee

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The lender seems to have pulled back from plans

to snap up another banking asset

APRIL 26 - MAY 8, 2011IINNDDUUSSTTRRYY NNEEWWSS6 www.wbj.pl

Tesco contin-

ues Poland

expansion

British supermarket

giant Tesco, which

already operates 369

stores in Poland, plans to

open 87 new stores in the

country in 2011, Dziennik

Gazeta Prawna reported.

That’s more than twice as

many as last year, and

many more than in 2009

when Tesco added just 24

stores. This year’s annual

investment is set to total

z∏.1 billion. The majority

of the stores planned will

be small and located in

towns with populations

under 1,000 residents.

Metsa Tissue

to invest

€55 millionFinland-based Metsa

Tissue, a producer of

kitchen and bathroom

tissue, is planning the

largest investment

program in its history.

The firm is looking to

spend some €55 million

in Poland over the next

three years, Puls Biznesu

reports. This includes

bringing online two new

paper production

machines and modernize

an existing facility,

among other projects. ●

Contact: Lech Gniady

lg@pnplaw.pl

Legal News

BROUGHT TO YOU BY PETER NIELSEN & PARTNERS LAW OFFICE

Debt collectors get easieraccess to debtors’ accountsCooperation starting April 11 between theNational Bailiff Chamber and the NationalSettlement Chamber has made it possiblefor debt collectors to gain access to theelectronic system of informationexchange (OGNIVO), an instrument whichmakes it possible to obtain information ondebtors’ bank accounts.

Until now a debt collector had onlybeen able to access a debtor’s bankaccount at the request of the creditor, whofirst had to indicate to the debt collector aspecific bank or banks in which the debtorholds an account.

Now, if a debtor has a bank account inany bank, a debt collector is able to effec-tively access the account in the course ofan enforcement procedure.

Housing communities subjectto VAT in certain cases In its judgment of March 10, 2011 (casefile no. I FSK 423/10) the Supreme Admin-istrative Court decided that in some spe-cific cases housing communities must actas VAT payers. These cases include situa-tions in which a housing community pro-vides services such as heating and waterfor separate premises (when the servicesare performed outside, usually for the

benefit of tenants). A housing community,as an organizational unit representing theowner, is in such a case also the taxpayer.It is therefore under an obligation to regis-ter as a VAT payer and to issue VAT invoic-es.

In other cases, such as when it comesto traditional obligations connected withmanagement of a common real property,the community is not a VAT payer, butrather an ordinary customer.

Changes in commercial proceedings Until recently the time limit for reopeningproceedings in commercial cases stood attwo years, except in those situations inwhich a party was deprived of the possi-bility to act or if it was not properly repre-sented.

The Constitutional Tribunal, however,challenged the two-year time period forreopening proceedings in commercialcases. As a result, on April 14, 2011,President Komorowski signed an amend-ment to the Civil Procedure Code. Thishas prolonged the time period duringwhich proceedings in those commercialcases that ended with valid judgmentscan be reopened to five years. This issimilar to the time frame which appliesto civil law cases. ●

Firms shortlisted for

SPEC sale – reports

Warsaw City Hall has report-edly chosen a number of firmsfor the second stage of the pri-vatization of SPEC, operatorof Warsaw’s heating network.

No names have been offi-cially mentioned, but Polishmedia sources say utility PGE,gas monopolist PGNiG, CzechPenta Investments and Frenchutility Dalkia are among thosewhich made it through.

“We will not reveal anyinformation about potentialbidders at the moment,” saidAgnieszka K∏àb from WarsawCity Hall’s press office.

“In June we will commencediscussions with potentialinvestors. Then we willannounce who they are,” sheadded.

Polish utility Enea did notappear in media reports as apotential second-rounder, de-spite the interest it had previ-ously shown in acquiring SPEC.

Grzegorz Adamski, Enea’sspokesperson, confirmed thatthe company would not bemaking a bid for SPEC,explaining that such a movewould not be consistent withEnea’s strategy for the forth-coming period.

Warsaw wants to earn atleast z∏.750 million from thesale of an 85 percent stake inSPEC. Its sale would completethe largest privatizationprocess ever conducted by alocal government authority inPoland.

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Polish scientists hope to patent

graphene mass-production

technology, obtain EU fundsIt’s stronger than steel, light-weight, flexible and it is a bet-ter conductor than silicon. It’scalled graphene, and Poland isnow the first country in theworld capable of producing iton an industrial scale.

Polish scientists from theInstitute of Electronic Materi-als Technology are now work-

ing on obtaining an interna-tional patent for their massproduction technology, GazetaWyborcza reported.

They will likely receivefinancial support from Polishand European Union authori-ties for their patenting efforts,the daily said.

Since its discovery in 2004,

graphene’s properties haveamazed scientists. It is 100times stronger than steel, andcan be stretched by 20 percentwithout breaking.

Graphene is transparentand made of componentsavailable in abundance, mak-ing it an ideal material forelectronics. GGPP

Le Duff Group bringing Brioche

Dorée cafés to Poland this yearFrance’s Le Duff Group plansto open 50 of its flagship Bri-oche Dorée cafés in Poland by2012. Details about the investmentare still scarce, but spokesper-son Severine Randjelovic con-firmed that the group hasalready bought several loca-tions, including one in down-town Warsaw, and plans itsfirst opening this year.

The company is currentlyseeking partners and fran-chisees in Poland. Potentialinvestors can also choose to

participate in a joint ventureagreement. Ms Randjelovicconfirmed that the cost ofopening one Brioche Dorée inPoland was €30,000. Startupcosts for the group’s plans inPoland could therefore amountto as much as €1.5 billion.

“Ideally the group wouldlike to locate its BriocheDorées in all major cities inPoland,” said Tomasz Zapalskifrom United PR in Warsaw.

The cafés vary between 70to 200 sqm in size and will belocated in city centers, shop-

ping centers, railway stationsand airports, he added.

Le Duff Group already hasstores in neighboring Ger-many and the Czech Republic,but this will be the company’sfirst foray into Poland. Open-ings in Poland are part of alarger expansion program inthe region, which also com-prises Germany and Austria.

After purchasing Americangiant Bruegger’s in 2011, LeDuff describes itself as the“second largest café bakerygroup in the world.” AATT

Broadcasting

Poland’s private televisionbroadcasters outshine TVP

Private TV stationsare crushing publicTVP when it comes toefficiency

Times are changing for Polishbroadcasting. Private broad-casters are now able to achievetheir ratings with far feweremployees than nationalbroadcaster TVP.

Last year’s earnings figuresare in and private broadcaster

Polsat has emerged as the mosteffective broadcaster in themarket. The company’s per-worker net profit clocked in atz∏.234,600 last year, while pri-vate broadcaster TVN record-ed z∏.186,700 per employee,daily Rzeczpospolita reported.

TVP’s per-worker net prof-it, meanwhile, totaled justz∏.5,200 – and that onlybecause the station gets somegovernment tax breaks.

Furthermore, the paperreports, Polsat and TVNbrought in some z∏.1.1 millionin combined profits from salesper employee, while rival TVPsaw just shy of z∏.400,000 (salesand service contracts) perworker.

Private firms are also moreefficient at attracting audi-ences. Last year, Polsat need-ed an average of 14 workers toattract one percent of marketshare. According to NielsenAudience Measurement, rivalTVN needed 70 workers toaccomplish the same feat andTVP needed 102 people.

In terms of efficiency, Pol-sat is head and shouldersabove the competition, andanalysts expect the company toretain its lead this year, thanksin part to its growing engage-ment in specialty channels anddigital distribution platformssuch as Cyfra+, Multimediaand Vectra.

Analysts say it’s interestingthat it’s no longer just a clashof the titans in Polish broad-casting, as smaller, morefocused firms are stealingniche portions of the marketas they cater to special interestgroups of viewers.

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APRIL 26 - MAY 8, 2011 LLIISSTTEEDD FFIIRRMMSS www.wbj.pl 7

Natural gas

Gov’t overrules PGNiG on dividendThe gas behemoth willnow pay out doublethe amount originallyproposed by itsmanagement board

State-controlled gas monopo-list PGNiG will pay out a div-idend of z∏.708 million follow-ing the Treasury Ministry’sdecision to overrule the man-agement board’s much small-er payout proposal.

The gas giant will pay outz∏.0.12 per share on its 2010earnings, or double theamount suggested by the man-agement board.

The Polish state will receivez∏.513.2 million, z∏.30 millionof which will be in non-cashassets.

PGNiG had previouslyagreed to pay the Treasury’s cut

of the dividend in cash only, butchanged its mind at the generalshareholders meeting.

Ever since its debut on theWarsaw Stock Exchange in2005, PGNiG has paid outnon-cash dividends to thestate. These have come in theform of assets which the gov-ernment used to build a sepa-rate gas pipeline operator –Gaz System – in order tocomply with the EuropeanUnion’s competition rules.

PGNiG’s chief financialofficer S∏awomir Hinc toldreporters the latest dividendwill be the last which includesnon-cash items.

Also in mid-April, PGNiGannounced it had sold 4.8 bil-lion cubic meters of naturalgas in the first quarter of thisyear, approximately 3.1 bil-

lion cubic meters of whichwere first imported. The firmplans to ramp up domesticnatural gas production fromthe current 4.1-4.2 billioncubic meters per year to 4.4-4.5 billion cubic meters in

2015, the company wrote in astatement.

The firm also earned z∏.148million from the sale of its 10percent stake in chemicalsmaker Azoty Tarnów in mid-April. GGaarreetthh PPrriiccee

Telecommunications

TTPP’’ss ffiirrsstt--qquuaarrtteerr nneett pprrooffiitt pplluummmmeettssIts fixed-line revenuesfell once again

Poland’s largest telecommuni-cations firm TP said net profitfor the first quarter of 2011 fellby more than expected, as itsfixed-line business continuedto contract.

Lower-than-expected earn-ings in the mobile-phone seg-ment and accelerated amorti-zation also hurt the company’sbottom line.

TP’s Q1 net income drop-ped 34 percent year-on-year toz∏.189 million, the France Tele-com-owned firm said in a state-ment. A year earlier the tele-coms operator earned z∏.285million.

Analysts had expected TPto book net income of aroundz∏.270 million for Q1 2011.

Poles are increasingly usingtheir mobile phones to make

calls, which has led to a sharpdrop in fixed-line use. TP’sfirst-quarter revenues from thefixed-line segment dropped by7.8 percent y/y.

But it seems TP hasn’t yetbeen able to expand its ownmobile business sufficientlyto offset fixed-line losses. Thecompany recorded below-forecast revenues of z∏.1.69billion from its mobile busi-ness over Q1.

During that time TP feltthe effects of the regulator’sdecision to slash SMS termina-tion rates, while minutes ofmobile phone use also fellover the period.

“A slowdown in mobilephone base growth was par-tially to blame,” Pawe∏Puchalski, an analyst at DMBZ WBK said, adding thatrival Polkomtel’s aggressiveadvertising campaign through

the quarter was largely re-sponsible for this.

The company’s total Q1revenues dropped by 3.7 per-cent to stand at z∏.3.73 billion.Company CEO Maciej Wituc-ki told reporters he expectsTP’s full-year sales to declineby between 2.0 percent to 4.5

percent in 2011.“The potential effect of

[rival] Era’s re-branding andregulated price cuts due inJuly means TP is probablyheading towards the lower endof [Mr Witucki’s] top-linerange,” Mr Puchalski said.

GGaarreetthh PPrriiccee

Oil

Orlen profits from high oil prices The refiner expects az∏.1.3 billion operatingprofit in Q1

According to estimates ofselected financial and operat-ing data for the first quarter,Poland’s leading refiner, PKNOrlen, made a z∏.1.3 billionoperating profit in the firstthree months of 2011.

This translates into analmost threefold surge fromthe z∏.464 million in operatingprofit it achieved a year earli-er. According to a statementfrom the company, growingcrude oil prices accounted formost of the figure, or z∏.900million.

But even the EBIT LIFO(operating results disregardingthe crude oil price) was signifi-cantly higher than expected byPiotr Dzi´cio∏owski, an analystat Credit Suisse.

EBIT LIFO, which accord-ing to Mr Dzi´cio∏owski ismore relevant, since it showsthe health of the business with-out one-off effects, was z∏.400million, compared to hisexpectations of z∏.200 million.However, “overall if I extrapo-late to an annual basis I don’tsee a big improvement on myfull-year expectations ofroughly z∏.2 billion EBITLIFO,” said Mr Dzi´cio∏owski.

Consolidated financial

results for the first quarter aredue to be released on April 29.Orlen expects a 10 percentincrease in refining sales fromits Baltic and Czech refineries,with stable volumes in the Pol-ish market. The refiner alsoforecasts a four percentincrease in retail sales, butexpects this to be offset bylower retail margins in Polandand the Czech Republic.

Looking forward, three ele-ments should influence Orlen’sperformance in 2011. The saleof mobile operator Polkomtel,from which Orlen could gain asmuch as z∏.4 billion, is one ofthem. The second is a decisionon the sale of the refiner’s loss-

making Mažeikiai refinery inLithuania.

According to CreditSuisse’s Piotr Dzi´cio∏owski, athird element that could be abig driver for Orlen’s stock isthe pending approval of a lawon mandatory reserves. If it ispassed, the government wouldbuy back the mandatoryreserves that Orlen is requiredto keep.

“This means that Orlen willextract the cash value of itsreserves, which now constitutea highly non-performing asset,and this would be very positivefor its shareholders,” said MrDzi´cio∏owski.

AAlliiccee TTrruuddeellllee

zł.bln

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.0

1.2*Due to be paid

2007

1.003

2008

1.121

2009

0.531

2010

0.472

2011*

0.708

Gaseous largess

PGNiG's annual dividend payouts for the last five years

(z∏. billions)

Source: PGNiG

zł.bln

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0MobileFixed-line

Q1 2011Q4 2010Q3 2010Q2 2010Q1 2010

Talking money

TP's revenues from fixed-line and mobile telephony over the

last five quarters (in z∏. billions)

Source: Telekomunikacja Polska

APRIL 26 - MAY 8, 20118 www.wbj.pl IINNTTEERRVVIIEEWW

Ewa Boniecka: It seems thatthe majority of Polish politi-cians never mention the wordculture in their public speech-es. Is this because Polish cul-ture is perceived by them asnot important enough to talkabout within the framework ofthe country’s development?Monika Smoleƒ: You areprobably right. For a long timeculture was perceived as arather luxurious area, a kind ofa financial burden for the state,and not an integral part of oursocial and economic progress.Nevertheless, in my view thisattitude has changed signifi-cantly in recent years and cul-ture has begun to play a moreimportant role in strategic doc-uments, both on a national andregional level.

Culture is beginning to beperceived not only as of valueby itself, but also as an impor-tant factor in our country’sdevelopment, by fueling GDPand creating jobs, especially increative industries and in pro-motion. The influence culturehas both in constructingnational and regional identi-ties, as well as in developing anopen, creative and innovativesociety, is being appreciatedmore.

A good example of how theperception of culture haschanged recently is the factthat among nine strategic doc-uments prepared by the gov-ernment to define Poland’sroadmap until 2020, the strate-

gy of developing social capital,in which culture plays a vitalrole, is included. We are con-vinced that the developmentof Poland is not possible with-out investment in social capi-tal, as well as in culture.

This was also one of theconclusions of the Polska 2030report, which was prepared byMinister without portfolioMicha∏ Boni. The examplethat comes to mind of changesin the way we perceive cultureon a regional level is the pas-sion shared by the many cities(16 in total) who have enteredthe 2016 European Capital ofCulture competition. Althoughthe financial reward is relative-ly small – only €1.5 million –each one of these cities hastreated the competition as anopportunity to promote itseconomic potential, culturalachievements, heritage, vitali-ty, and its ambitions in allareas related to cultural devel-opment.

After the first selection,five cities were chosen for thefinal competition: Gdaƒsk,Katowice, Lublin, Warsaw andWroc∏aw, with the verdict tobe announced in June. All thisproves that culture is finallybeing understood as an impor-tant asset and that we arelearning to use our culturalpotential more efficiently.

And how do you see the role ofthe government in supportingculture?

The mechanisms for support-ing culture in Poland aredecentralized. The Ministry ofCulture directly finances 40national cultural institutions,and over 10,000 cultural insti-tutions are supervised andfinanced by local govern-ments.

In fact, 75 percent of thebudget provided for culture isat the disposal of local govern-ments and only 25 percent isadministered by the Ministryof Culture, which now has overz∏.2.4 billion at its disposal.

But I don’t want to talk onlyabout money, Minister of Cul-ture Bogdan Zdrojewski isresponsible for designing thegeneral direction of culturalpolicy and cultural legislation,supporting local initiatives, pri-vate ventures and subsidizingindividual artists through a sys-tem of grants distributed in acompetitive manner.

The Ministry has prepareda few special programs, amongthem Culture Plus, a programwhich aims to improve accessto culture in rural areas andsmall cities by strengtheningthe activities of institutionssuch as public libraries andlocal cultural centers. Anagreement between Teleko-munikacja Polska and theMinistry of Culture that allowsfor free internet access in pub-lic libraries has been signed,and there are many more suchexamples.

These are the plans, but whatabout the financial means forfulfilling them?These are not only plans –many things are actually inthe process of implementa-tion right now. For example,

the Culture Plus program isfully in progress, since thegovernment has alreadyapproved its budget. Due toan agreement between theMinister of Culture and theMinister of Education, musicand arts lessons are comingback to primary schools, afteryears of absence.

A special cultural websitefor children has beenlaunched, and the ChopinYear was a model project forpromoting Poland. The Min-istry of Culture is, among allministries, a leader in theabsorption of EU funds andthanks to these funds we have

experienced a kind of invest-ment boom in culture, with themap of cultural infrastructurenow rapidly changing.

I would especially like topoint out European funds forculture, because we usuallyonly talk about funds for roadconstruction and the environ-ment. In the current budgetfor the years 2007-2013, €1.1billion was reserved forPoland, for the developmentof cultural infrastructure andthe entire sum was used effi-ciently.

How do you see the role ofprivate sponsorship of cul-

ture, which is so apparent inother countries? In Poland private sponsorshipof culture is unfortunately stillnot very popular. If it exists itis directed rather towards thelargest and most prestigiousinstitutions and events. Allothers mostly depend on gov-ernment and municipal finan-cial support. In my opinionthere are many reasons for thissituation. Certainly privatesponsorship is related to thelevel of social prosperity,which is still relatively low inPoland. In addition, businessesand individual donors preferto support projects that might

Interview

Poland’s cultural offensiveDr Monika Smoleƒ, under-secretary of state inthe Ministry of Culture and National Heritage,talks to WBJ about the state of Polish cultureand the cultural offensive as part of Poland’spresidency of the European Union.

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APRIL 26 - MAY 8, 2011 IINNTTEERRVVIIEEWW www.wbj.pl 9

be profitable in the future.But, most importantly, our taxsystem does not encouragepeople to sponsor culture.Nevertheless, hopefully pri-vate sponsorship of culturewill gradually grow.

Do you think that the ambi-tious plans for the promotionof Polish culture duringPoland’s presidency of theEuropean Union will encour-age private sponsors to con-tribute?Certainly the cultural programprepared by the Ministry ofCulture for the six months ofour European presidency isthe most ambitious programever for promoting Polish cul-ture. The presidency is ofcourse a big political anddiplomatic task, but we see italso as an unprecedentedopportunity to expose Polishculture and its links with Euro-pean culture.

A cultural offensive is avital and integral part of ourpresidency, strengthening Po-land’s position in the EU andenriching such an importantsubject of our presidency aspart of the Eastern Partner-ship.

We are planning to organ-ize over 1,000 cultural eventsin Poland and over 400abroad. Polish artists, Polishfilms and Polish musicians ina variety of cultural eventswill provoke discussion withour European partners aboutthe role of culture in theworld today.

Our program is based onfour foundations: first, Po-land’s cultural heritage andyoung, talented artists; second,the role of non-governmentalorganizations in promotingculture, since 2011 is pro-claimed as the European yearof voluntary activities; third,the strength of the EasternPartnership’s program and therole of culture in developingbetter understanding betweenthe six countries participatingin it and other EU members;and last but not least, cultureas an important factor in socialdevelopment, since the mottoof the Polish cultural programis “I, culture,” which empha-sizes culture for social change.

What cultural projects will bepresented within the frame-work of promoting theEastern Partnership? We start on June 30 with the“Three Agoras” conferenceon cultural diversity inEurope, which is inspired byCzes∏aw Mi∏osz’s famous book“Native Realm” [“RodzinnaEuropa”]. The conference willtake place At Mi∏osz’s former

home in Krasnogruda, in thedistrict of Suwa∏ki, on the100th anniversary of his birth.Another project is related tomusic. An international sym-phony orchestra called “I, cul-ture,” comprising young musi-

cians from Eastern Partner-ship countries, will performthe music of Polish composerssuch as Karol Szymanowskiand Henryk Wieniawski, incities throughout Poland andin some of the most presti-gious concert halls in Europe.

It would be difficult tomention all of the projectsrelated to the Eastern Partner-ship, as there are so many ofthem, particularly in Bia∏ystokand Lublin, and I would notwant to limit myself only tothese projects because therewill also be many more.

During [the Polish] presi-dency we will host quite a fewimportant political meetings inWarsaw, Sopot, Poznaƒ,Kraków and Wroc∏aw, and ineach one of these cities spec-tacular cultural programs willfollow the political discussions.Every city has been chosen fora different cultural discipline.For example Poznaƒ will bethe city of dance and classicalmusic. Kraków will host the-ater and contemporary musicand Katowice, modern design.

How will the Polish culturaloffensive abroad look?In European capitals – Brus-sels, London, Berlin, Paris,Madrid, Athens, Kiev,Moscow and Minsk and also insuch cities as Beijing andTokyo, we will organize cultur-al events promoting variousforms of achievement by thethree Polish artists who are atthe center of our offensive.These are the composer KarolSzymanowski and the writersCzes∏aw Mi∏osz and Stanis∏awLem.

In all these cities we willalso present exhibitions by Pol-ish artists, designers, perform-ing artists, as well as screen-ings of Polish films. We haveambitious plans to be presentat the most important Euro-pean Festivals. The word “cul-tural offensive” is, in this con-text, fully adequate.

The main point for the for-eign cultural program and Pol-ish program will be the Euro-pean Culture Congress, to beheld in Wroc∏aw on Septem-ber 8-11, with the participationof ministers of culture fromthe 27 member countries ofthe European Union. Thecongress will be divided intothree sections.

First there will be discus-sions between Europeanartists, scientists and politi-

cians about the role of tempo-rary culture, its problems andchallenges in an era of newtechnology of communicationwill take place.

Under the motto “Art forSocial Change” we would alsolike to initiate a discussionabout the role of culture in cre-ating social and economicdevelopment in Europe. Thesedebates will be linked to abook written especially for thecongress by the famous Polishphilosopher, Zygmunt Bau-man, who will also be the hon-orary guest of the congress.

Second, during the fourdays of the congress an inter-disciplinary cultural festivalwill launch many culturalevents, exhibitions and con-certs. The events include a bigsymphony concert conductedjointly by famous Polish com-poser Krzysztof Pendereckiand Radiohead star JonnyGreenwood. The young avant-garde Polish writer DorotaMas∏owska and famous exper-imental theater director Kryst-ian Lupa will also present aspecial performance in thePolish Theater in Wroc∏aw.

Third, an important partof the congress will be organ-ized by the non-governmen-tal European organization“A Soul of Europe,” whereEuropean politicians andartists will exchange viewsabout freedom in culture, itslinks with the economy andvarious models for support-ing and financing culture.

It is worth mentioningthat one of the founders ofthe organization was the latePolish intellectual, historian,and former minister of for-eign affairs, Professor Bro-nis∏aw Geremek, whosedream was to hold a meetingof “A Soul of Europe” inWroc∏aw. It will finally hap-pen, although unfortunatelyhe will not be able to see it.

The Polish presidency of theEU will begin on July 1 inWarsaw. What will be thecultural program for theinauguration?Compatriots and guests fromother countries will find a lotof opportunities to partici-pate in cultural events inWarsaw, as we want to offerculture for everyone. In PlacDefilad, we propose a con-cert of Polish film and jazzmusic, performed by well-known international artists.

In PowiÊle we will stagean experimental musicscene, at Mariensztat, whichwill be a big cultural eventfor children. Ethnic and folkmusic will be played in theOld Town Market Place. TheNational Theater will pre-pare a premiere of the opera“King Roger” by Karol Szy-manowski.

We would like July 1 toboast a veritable culturalfiesta in Warsaw, a city whichfor the next six months willserve as the capital ofEurope. ●

“In the current EU budget ...€1.1 billion was reserved for Polandfor the development of culturalinfrastructure”

APRIL 26 - MAY 8, 201110 www.wbj.pl OOPPIINNIIOONN && AANNAALLYYIISSIISS

vol.2

The next edition of Trendbook Poland – a guide to business trends from Warsaw Business Journal

Circulation: 12,500. Distributed to business leaders, diplomats and investors interested in doing business in Poland

To order a copy of Trendbook Poland contact:Krzysztof Wiliński (kwilinski@valkea.com)

Part of Warsaw Business Journal’s series of business guides

– a guide to ess Journal

Circulation: 12,500.Distributed to business leaders, diplomats and investors interested in doing business in Poland

To order a copy of Trendbook Poland contact:Krzysztof Wiliński (kwilinski@valkea.com)

iness guidesinesss guides

Instability in the euro zoneQuestions about whether a

euroskeptic government in Fin-land will stymie the upcoming Portuguese bailout and

whether Greece will default on itsdebts are contributing to markets’concerns over the eurozone. Howev-er, both risks are overstated.

Finnish elections and the Portuguese bailoutResults from Finland’s April 18 elec-tions indicate Helsinki will take adecided turn toward euroskepticism.The right-wing True Finns won 39seats in the 200-seat parliament, gain-ing an impressive 34 seats over their2007 performance. Most of theseseats were won at the expense of themajor center-right conservative par-ties, such as the Center Party.

This comes at a particularly piv-otal juncture, as the Portuguesebailout is set for approval by the eurozone finance ministers at their May16 meeting, with the Finnish parlia-ment expected to be constituted onlya few days later. True Finns leaderTimo Soini reiterated on April 20that his party would not accept a Por-tuguese bailout in the form in whichit was being negotiated. A Finnishveto on the issue would likely scuttlethe entire bailout and resurrectdoubts about the efficacy of the eurozone support mechanisms painfullynegotiated over the past 12 months.

Both the True Finns and the cen-

ter-left Social Democratic Party – theother party now entering coalitiontalks with the winner of the mostseats, the center-right National Coali-tion Party – want Portugal to restruc-ture its debts at the expense ofinvestors. This would mean partiallydefaulting on the debts, a conditionthat is not provided for by the €440billion ($640 billion) EuropeanFinancial Stability Facility (EFSF)bailout mechanism. Jyrki Katainen,the leader of the National CoalitionParty and now likely prime minister,has nevertheless set support for thePortuguese bailout as a necessarycondition for the formation of a coali-tion government.

Katainen, whose party is stronglypro-EU and who, in his capacity asfinance minister, negotiated theEFSF package, will compromise onancillary electoral issues important tothe Social Democrats and True Finns– retirement age and immigration,respectively – to get cooperation onthe Portuguese bailout. He ultimatelyneeds only one of the two parties tojoin the government, so satisfyingboth parties is not necessary. In fact,Katainen can play the two euroskep-tic parties off one another, using theirrole in the future government as areward with which to extract conces-sions on the Portuguese bailout.

Therefore a Finnish veto of thePortuguese bailout is unlikely. None-theless, the election in Finland does

illustrate that an election platform ofeuroskepticism is proving popular,especially in countries expected tosupport the peripheral economieswith bailouts. Euroskeptic partiesthroughout Europe will likely use thisnew popularity to force concessionson their core issues, such as theirfavored social or economic policies,from pro-EU parties by holding themhostage on European matters, whichoften require unanimity.

Ultimately, Finland is a relativelysmall EU member state. While it isone of the last six AAA-rated eurozone members, Finland onlyaccounts for two percent of eurozone gross domestic product (GDP)– even less than Greece. It has a his-torically independent foreign policystreak, but in the post-Cold War era,it tends to depend on its links tomainland Europe as a strategic coun-terbalance to perceived Russianthreats. As such, it will be difficult forHelsinki to stand by itself, especiallyif the other countries that controlEU spending, such as Germany,approve the bailout.

The threat of Greek debtrestructuringRenewed talk of Greek debt restruc-turing also has raised concerns abouteuro zone stability. The issue wassparked by a report by German dailyDer Spiegel at the beginning of Aprilthat cited high-ranking InternationalMonetary Fund officials as saying thefund was recommending Athensrestructure its debt – in other words,default on part of its financial obliga-tions. After the report was published,a number of high-ranking Germanpoliticians stated their agreement,while EU and Greek politicians – andeven U.S. Treasury SecretaryTimothy Geithner – denied that suchmeasures were necessary.

A Greek debt restructuring isinevitable but not necessarily immi-nent. Athens is beginning the secondyear of its three-year, €110 billionbailout. This package was specificallydesigned to fully fund Greecethrough the length of the programand thus remove the need for Athensto tap the debt markets through mid-2013.

Even if Athens completes itsbailout program successfully, it mustthen return to markets and thus maybecome the first country to tap thepost-2013 ESM. However, at thatpoint some sort of investor “partici-pation” – default on some debt – willbe inevitable. The problem forAthens is that even with severe aus-

terity measures, the interest pay-ments on its debt will increase from€14.7 billion in 2010 to about €21 bil-lion in 2015, accounting for morethan eight percent of GDP.

Even if we are to take Athens’(optimistic) growth estimate ofbetween two and three percent andassume that all revenue-generatingreforms succeed and that austeritymeasures are fully implemented,Athens will not be able to shake offits mounting debt problem. In 2012,gross debt as a percent of GDP isexpected to reach 158 percent.

This is nothing new. The Greekbailout was intended to buy Ger-many and the rest of the euro zonethree years to clean the balancesheets of their banks and major sov-ereigns so that when the eventualGreek – and potentially Irish andPortuguese – defaults do come, theywill be peripheral events in a verylarge currency union rather than sys-temic problems.

The continued uncertainty theGreek default poses is in fact an indi-cation of how much further the eurozone needs to go to settle these fears,especially with banking sector prob-lems still largely unresolved, ratherthan of how Greece actually still mat-ters. ●

This edited version of “Instability inthe euro zone” is reprinted with per-mission of STRATFOR

“A Finnish veto wouldlikely scuttle the entire

bailout”

APRIL 26 - MAY 8, 2011 OOPPIINNIIOONN && AANNAALLYYIISSIISS www.wbj.pl 11

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INTERN

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Poland, if you believe the hype,is the biggest proponent of acommon European Union

defense policy. It has made defenseone of its top policy goals for when ittakes over the rotating EU presiden-cy in July, and in recent years hasplayed up its participation in NATO

missions, especially in Afghanistan,as well as its partnership with theAmericans in Iraq.

So it came with some surprise thatPoland’s government took such astrong and immediate stand againstgetting involved in NATO’s militaryoperation in Libya. Poland would, thegovernment said, aid in terms oflogistics, but would not fire any of therounds.

The reasons behind this positionwere, rather obviously, political.Prime Minister Donald Tusk, alwaysadroit at reading public opinion,knew that Polish military activity in

Libya would not go down well with apopulace who saw no benefit toPoland getting involved.

The lukewarm stance of theUnited States was an important fac-tor as well. If the US wasn’t going tobe leading this fight (it eventuallygave up leadership of the operationto France) and if it wasn’t going tobe in it for the long-haul (that wasclear when President BarackObama said no US boots would be

put on the ground), then Polandwasn’t going to get involved. Whenit comes to defense, Poland’s part-nership with the US is paramount.Abstention from military action inLibya was not going to jeopardizethat friendship.

Those are all correct assessmentson Mr Tusk’s part, and that’s not tomention the simple fact that Polanddoesn’t have the money for a mili-tary adventure right now. Anything

that could add to the country’sspending on such a scale wouldalmost surely push the debt-to-GDPratio above the 55 percent thresh-old, triggering tough, legally man-dated spending cuts in next year’sbudget.

Yet Mr Tusk also knows that Col.Gaddafi’s reign in Libya is unsustain-able. During his trip to the UK in lateApril, the Prime Minister told BBCin an interview that allowing Mr

Gaddafi to remain in power was “notan option.”

But by choosing not to take part inmilitary action in Libya Poland is inno position to dictate options. As WBJwent to press, it was far from clearthat Libya’s rebel forces would holdthe territory they had gained, muchless push Mr Gaddafi from power.Admittedly, Polish planes in the airwouldn’t have necessarily tipped thebalance in the rebels’ favor, but ifPoland is going to support theremoval of Mr Gaddafi it ought to putits money – and indeed its militarymight – where its mouth is.

Poland has chosen to makedefense a priority because of its visi-ble and admirable roles in recentconflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan –roles that, Poland hopes at least, haveadded to the international prestigethat the country so desperatelycraves.

But Poland’s government can’thave it both ways. If it wants tobecome a leader on Europeandefense policy, then it must take aleadership role – and not just whenit’s politically expedient.

Otherwise, when it comes time topress Europe to build a more robustdefense policy and infrastructure,there’s little chance that anyone willtake it seriously. ●

Nowy Âwiat – Warsaw’s mostexpensive street. The middle ofa fine spring day. A young man

is walking along it and is trying to givepassersby a leaflet-like small picturewith the image of the Polish PopeJohn Paul II. “The Pope for you,madam, the Pope for you, sir, free ofcharge,” he says encouragingly.

Passersby look at him as though heis crazy, look at the picture and …walk on by. On a 100-meter-longstretch of street no one wanted to takea free picture of the soon to be beati-fied John Paul II. In broad daylight, inthe heart of his Polish homeland.

Incomprehensible.

A national saintThis year the long May weekend sobeloved by Poles will have a specificcharacter. On May 1, Labor Day, thebeatification ceremony for the PolishPope John Paul II will take place inRome. On May 2, National Flag Day

will be celebrated, and a day later theanniversary of the ratification of thePolish Constitution of 1791. This wasthe first modern codified constitutionin Europe and the second in the world– after that of the United States.

Just a few months ago it seemedthat the beatification of John Paul IIwould be transformed into yet anoth-er over-commercialized event. Thesouvenir and trinket business was setto have a field day.

Instead however, a few days beforethe beatification, one would have hadto search quite intently to find a sou-venir shop with a clay bust of thesoon-to-be beatified Pope, let alonemugs, pens, posters or publications.

Nor was there any sign that Poleswere ready to besiege Rome. Theprices in Roman hotels fell after itbecame clear that travel agencieswere having problems filling up pil-grimage trips. In the best case sce-nario, no more than 32,000 Poles will

travel to Rome – 10 times less thanthe number who gathered at the masswhich the late Pope held in Warsaw in1979 during his first trip to Poland asPope.

The Primate of Poland, Archbish-op Józef Kowalczyk, unexpectedlysaid a few days before the ceremonyin Rome that “John Paul II does notneed any more monuments. Let ourtangible actions be his monuments.”

The martyr Lech KaczyƒskiSociologists note that many ultra-Catholics in Poland have changed thefocus of their adoration. Instead offlaunting images of John Paul II, theyspend their cash on baubles with thepicture of President Lech Kaczyƒski,who perished in the Smolensk disas-ter just over a year ago. This stratumof Polish society has its new martyr, inwhose name it fights, accuses, singsand prays.

A week before the beatification,

Lech Kaczyƒski’s brother, Jaros∏aw,head of the Law and Justice (PiS)opposition party, intensified the lan-guage of the debate surrounding theSmolensk disaster. He proclaimedthat finding its “explanation” was amatter of national concern. Fromthere it is but a short step to call theplane crash “a new Polish viaDolorosa” and his twin brother anational martyr.

Rallies by Kaczyƒski’s supportersnear the Presidential Palace duringwhich they sang hymns and held burn-ing torches have seized the followersof conservative ultra-Catholicism.And now, it must be admitted thatthey have become the target for theproducers of “sacred” knickknacks.

For example, near the palace onKrakowskie PrzedmieÊcie, t-shirtswith the picture of Lech Kaczyƒskiand the Virgin Mary are on sale forz∏.30. An extra z∏.5 is the price of thesame t-shirt, which, the salesman

assures, has been blessed in Toruƒ byFather Rydzyk, founder of the con-servative Catholic radio stationRadio Maryja.

Polish ultra-Catholicism has lostits interest in John Paul II. It has anew figure of adoration: former Pres-ident Lech Kaczyƒski. ●

Joanna Wóycicka is the former headof the foreign sections of the ˚ycieWarszawy and ˚ycie newspapersand the former head of the foreigndepartment at the Polish PressAgency (PAP). j.woycicka@hotmail.com

“Polish ultra-Catholicism has lost its

interest in John Paul II”

“If Poland wants tobecome a leader onEuropean defensepolicy, it must take aleadership role”

A weekend in national colorsJoanna Wóycicka

On European defense policy,

Poland can’t have it both ways

APRIL 26 - MAY 8, 2011CCOOVVEERR SSTTOORRYY12 www.wbj.pl

Labor

A flood across the Oder?

On May 1, Germany, Austriaand Switzerland will open uptheir labor markets for Polesand citizens of the seven otherCentral and Eastern Euro-pean countries that joined theEuropean Union in 2004. Atthe time Germany and Aus-tria were the only two EUmember states to make use of

the maximum seven-yeartransition period beforegranting CEE workers fullaccess to their labor market.Switzerland, although not aEU member, also decided toopen its market on May 1.

As the date draws nearer,discussions on exactly howthis new reality might affect

the Polish economy hasintensified. Estimates vary asto how many Poles will even-tually leave the country insearch of greener pastures.

One thing everybodyseems to agree on however,is that Poles will make up thelargest number of CEE eco-nomic migrants. But the con-sequences that this will haveon Poland’s economy dependto a large extent on exactlyhow many Poles do make thechoice to leave.

Pluses and minusesAccording to estimates bythe European Commission,around 100,000 people a yearwill emigrate to Germanyfrom the eight CEE coun-tries.

“We expect about half ofthem to be Poles,” said theEU Commissioner forEmployment László Andor,at a press conference. MrAndor said workers fromCEE countries would helpreduce labor shortages in

important sectors of Germanindustry, as well as in thatcountry’s service sector.

“This will lead toincreased prosperity and willincrease GDP growth in Ger-many by 0.3 percent yearly,”said Mr Andor, pointing tothe experience of other EUcountries who had earlieropened up their markets tonew member states.

However, Mr Andor alsopointed to the possible nega-tive consequences for the

CEE countries themselves asa result of the expectedincreases in emigration.

“The reality in many Cen-tral and Eastern Europeancountries is that when for-eign labor markets areopened for their citizens,they lose skilled labor insome sectors, such as themedical sector,” Mr Andorsaid.

That prospect is worryingfor both the government andemployers in Poland, espe-

Germany and Austria open their labor marketsto Poles on May 1. Will the change herald anexodus that cripples Poland’s economy?

Expecting an exodus

Estimated maximum number of Poles per year who will leave for Germany after May 1, 2011

Sources: EC, BNP Paribas, Polish Ministry of Labor

Remi Adekoya

¸U

KA

SZ

MA

ZU

RE

K/W

BJ/S

HU

TT

ER

ST

OC

K

APRIL 26 - MAY 8, 2011 CCOOVVEERR SSTTOORRYY www.wbj.pl 13

Paul Fogo is a senior attorney with Miller CanfieldW. Babicki A. Chelchowski & Partners. fogo@millercanfield.com

Bye-bye

work permits

Legal Eye

Seven years to the day afterPoland joined the EuropeanUnion, the last remainingrestrictions imposed on Pol-ish workers within the EUwill be lifted when both Ger-many and Austria drop allwork permit requirementson Poles on May 1. At thetime of Poland’s accession tothe European Union in 2004,both Germany and Austriaconditioned their acceptanceof the 10 new member stateson their right to restrict thenumber of workers fromthese new member states forup to seven years. Now,these restrictions will expire.Germany and Austria willcontinue to impose restric-tions, though, on the workersfrom the newest membercountries, Bulgaria andRomania, presumably until2014.

Justification for limitsBy virtue of Article 39 of theEU Treaty, each memberstate is required to allowworkers from another mem-ber state access to its labormarket without restriction.As is often the case with theEU Treaty, however, excep-tions (otherwise known asderogation periods) abound.As a condition of its acces-sion to the EU, Polandagreed that other memberstates could continue toimpose restrictions on Polishworkers for a limited time.

Specifically, Annex XII tothe Treaty of Accession, bywhich Poland joined the EU,permits a member state to“regulate access to its labourmarket by Polish nationalsfor a period of two years fol-lowing accession.” Germany,along with most EU memberstates at the time, tookadvantage of this derogationperiod and imposed restric-tions on Polish workers.

Moreover, each memberstate retained the right toextend such restrictions forup to seven years in order toaddress serious disturbancesin their respective labourmarkets. In justifying itsdecision to extend therestrictions to seven years,the German governmentcited its 11 percent unem-ployment rate near the endof the initial two-year term.

In the end only Germanyand Austria actually imposedrestrictions on workers fromthe new member states forthe full seven-year deroga-

tion period. In contrast,Poland dropped all restric-tions on German and Austri-an workers in 2007.

Exceptions to theexceptionsGermany, despite requiringPolish workers to obtain awork permit during the pastseven years, did in manycases extend preferentialtreatment to Polish nation-als. For instance, Polish serv-ice providers have been ableto conduct economic activityin Germany without limita-tion, with the notable excep-tion of those serviceproviders engaged in theconstruction, industrialcleaning and interior deco-rating sectors.

Moreover, the Germangovernment, facing a short-age of health care serviceproviders, has readily accept-ed the professional qualifica-tions of licensed Polish med-ical personnel. A Polishphysician has been able topractice in Germany fromthe date of Poland’s acces-sion to the EU without hav-ing to satisfy any additionallicensing requirements.

Other professionals, suchas lawyers, teachers andengineers, have also beenable to practice their profes-sion in Germany uponapproval by the respectivenational authority, providedthat the duration and con-tent of their training didnot differ significantly fromthe corresponding Germanrequirements.

Going forwardAs of May 1, a Polish workermay work in Germany orAustria on the same termsand conditions as a Germanor Austrian national. A Pol-ish national employed inGermany, for instance, maywork on the basis of a full orpart-time employment con-tract, a temporary contract orbased upon a delegation con-tract with a Polish employer.Regardless of the type ofemployment contract, a Pol-ish national working in Ger-many will be subject to Ger-man labor regulations.

With respect to the dele-gation of Polish workers toGermany by Polish compa-nies, German law imposesminimum wage requirementsto ensure that Polish andGerman workers are treatedsimilarly. ●

cially when they considerreports that far more Poleswill leave than predicted byMr Andor.

Mega brain-drain?One such report was pre-pared by Micha∏ Dybu∏a,chief economist for BNPParibas. It estimates that upto 450,000 Poles could leavefor Germany and Austriawithin the next four years.

“Although this is purely a[subjective] assessment, Ithink the European Commis-sion’s estimates are too low.Based on what we know, any-where from one to two mil-lion Poles went to the UnitedKingdom and Ireland whenthose labor markets wereopened,” said Mr Dybu∏a.

“Quite a lot of Polesspeak German, the country ismuch closer than the UnitedKingdom and culturally, it iseasier for Poles to integratein Germany than in the UK,”said Mr Dybu∏a, adding thatGerman politician and for-mer banker, Thilo Sarrazin,author of “Germany abolish-es itself,” a controversialbook on immigration, statedthat people from the CEEregion easily integrate withGerman society.

Mr Dybu∏a also said thatout of all the major Euro-pean economies, only Ger-many is currently in goodfinancial shape, whichincreases its attractiveness.

Voice of skepticismHowever Sebastian Mikosz,president of Lot Polish Air-lines and a senior advisor toSociété Générale in Poland,was less worried about hugenumbers of Poles floodingacross the Oder River.

“I personally would leantowards the 50,000-a-yearfigure and I think even thatis high,” he said.

“Germany has alreadyconducted some recruitmentinitiatives in Poland and theyweren’t very successful. For

example, authorities fromone of the German statescame to Poland recently,offering about 400 jobs to ITspecialists. A two-year con-tract, good conditions and noprerequisite for knowingGerman. They were onlyable to recruit about 30 peo-ple,” he added.

Mr Mikosz said that thoseinterested in going to Ger-many would be more inter-ested in working there on ashort-term basis, pointingout that a one-year stay inGermany for work wouldlook good on a CV. But hewas more skeptical aboutPoles going to Germany for along-term stay.

“I don’t think many[Poles] will decide to gothere on a long-term basis.Of course you can earn moremoney in Germany than inPoland, but the cost of livingis also higher and so your liv-ing standards might be simi-lar to what you have inPoland, and you won’t beable to save much money,”he said.

The government’s viewThe Polish government itselfseems to lean towards MrDybu∏a’s figures. The Min-istry of Labor estimates thatwithin the next three yearsup to 400,000 workers couldleave Poland, mostly fromvoivodships in the westernpart of the country. TheLabor Ministry believes Ger-many is mostly interested innurses, engineers, IT special-ists, doctors and laborers.

German Minister ofLabor Ursula von der Leyenconfirmed that Germanfirms were keen to take onforeign workers, and said theopening up of her country’slabor market would be goodfor German companies.Those would be able to trainyoung Polish and Czechworkers for jobs, since therewere too few in Germansinterested in this type of

training.“We really need workers.

We don’t lack jobs, but labor,and in the next few years thistrend will be even stronger,”said the minister.

Half-full or half-empty?If as many as half a millionPoles do indeed leave, it willhave a significant impact onPoland’s economy. The ques-tion is then not if, but how itwill change Poland’s eco-nomic situation. Mr Dybu∏apointed to higher wages andinflation.

“Losing workers, espe-cially skilled workers, wouldhave a negative effect on theeconomy. The resultinglabor shortages in Polandwould lead to rising laborcosts, which would in turnfurther fuel inflation,” hesaid.

“The effects would not befelt immediately, but in2012-2013 and the centralbank would then be forced toreact if it is serious aboutkeeping inflation low,”added Mr Dybu∏a, sayingthat all this could lead to a0.3 percent reduction inGDP growth.

In contrast, Mr Mikoszsaw the situation more posi-tively.

“This could be a signifi-cant opportunity for Polishfirms that can provide high-quality services in the areasof IT or health care, as theirprices could be attractive forGermans. I always seeopportunities in the liberal-ization of economies,” saidMr Mikosz.

“We should not be con-centrating on rivalries witheach other in Europe but onEurope competing with Asia,which is catching up fast. Ifwe do not do this very soon,Europe might be a nice vaca-tion spot but have problemscompeting economically,” hesaid.

Mr Mikosz also pointedout that the naysayers hadpredicted downsides toPoland joining the EU in thefirst place.

“I remember all that talkof rich Germans coming tobuy all the Polish land andkicking out poor Poles. Thatseems laughable today. Tellme, where are all those Ger-mans now?” he asked.

“Let’s concentrate onopportunities, improvingtrade and the Polish econo-my so that maybe one day,Germans will come to workin Poland simply becausethey can earn more moneyhere,” said Mr Mikosz. ●

%

1

2

3

4

5

6

SwitzerlandGermanyPolandAustria

20122011

Economic growth: Poland leads the pack

Expected GDP growth (%)

Source: IMF

$ ‘000 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

Switzerland

Poland

Germany

Austria

Earnings: Poland lags

GDP per capita (in $ thousands)

Source: IMF

%

2

4

6

8

10

SwitzerlandPolandGermanyAustria

Jobs available?

Unemployment rates 2010 (%)

Source: Eurostat

Against

In favor

No opinion64%

22%

14%

Un-open to immgration

German opinion on the opening of the country's labor market to

the eight CEE countries that entered the European Union

on May 1, 2004 (%)

Source: IMF

“Germany doesn’t lack jobs, butlabor, and in the next few yearsthis trend will be even stronger”

APRIL 26 – MAY 8, 2011BBUUSSIINNEESSSS EENNVVIIRROONNMMEENNTT14 www.wbj.pl

Industrial out-

put disappoints

Poland’s industrial output

growth eased to 7% year-

on-year in March. That

compared to 10.7% y/y

growth in February.

Construction output grew

24.2% y/y, well above

market predictions. There

was also a sharp increase

in producer price inflation

in March. The Producer

Price Index rose to an

annual rate of 9.3% last

month from 7.5% in

February. Surging global

commodities prices and a

weaker Polish currency

accounted for the

increase.

Average

retirement age

jumps Last year, the average

Polish male retiree was

60.2 years old, while the

average female retiree

was 59, according to data

from social insurer ZUS.

The average retirement

age for both genders was

59.6. In 2006, the average

retirement age was much

lower (56.6 years). The

situation began to change

two years ago, after the

government implemented

new retirement

regulations. ●

Economic growth

CEE catching up with PolandBy 2012, the gapbetween Poland’s GDPgrowth rates and thoseof its peers will startto close, but that’s notnecessarily bad news

According to the World Bank,in 2011, Poland and Slovakiawill still be the clear leaders inGDP growth among the 10post-communist nations of theEuropean Union, with 4.0 and4.1 percent growth respectively.But by 2012, the region’s aver-age annual GDP growth willstand at 3.8 percent and Roma-nia will lead with 4.4 percentGDP growth, according to theorganization’s last EU10 eco-nomic outlook report.

Does this signal the end of

Poland’s shining moment asone of the region’s, and indeedone of Europe’s most resilienteconomies following the cri-sis? Perhaps not.

According to KasparRichter, World Bank senioreconomist and main author ofthe EU10 economic outlookreport, this “closing gap”reflects the fact that Poland isalready growing at its potentialrate while the other countries,which were hit much harderduring the crisis, are gettingcloser to their potential rates.

“This shouldn’t reflectbadly at all on Poland, quitethe contrary,” said Mr Richter.“Poland should stick more orless to its potential growthrate, because we learned fromthe crisis that it is very impor-

tant to prevent overheatingthe economy,” he added.

And, according to MrRichter, the country is on theright track to make suregrowth continues at a sustain-able rate, with the governmenttightening fiscal policy in the2011 budget and the NationalBank of Poland recently rais-ing interest rates.

Another encouraging ele-ment regarding the region’seconomic climate is theincreased distinction that in-vestors are making betweeninternational and euro zonetroubles on the one hand, andthe EU10 economies on theother.

Despite an unstable inter-national environment in 2010and at the beginning of 2011,

growth in central Europe hascontinued. Momentum in therecovery has been strongenough to overcome concernsrelated to international oil andcommodities prices, volatility infinancial markets, politicalcrises in North Africa and theMiddle East and a natural dis-aster in Japan.

And while in 2010 sover-

eign debt crises in the euroarea tended to have an impacton the EU10 in terms of riskassessment, “we haven’t quiteseen that in the latest case ofPortugal, and I think one rea-son is that markets are appre-ciating that the recovery in theEU10, including Poland, isholding up very well,” said MrRichter. AAlliiccee TTrruuddeellllee

Sustained growth

EU10 GDP growth rate for 2010, 2011 and 2012

Country 2010 2011 2012

EU10 2.1 3.0 3.8

Bulgaria 0.2 2.5 3.4

Czech Republic 2.5 2.2 2.7

Estonia 3.1 3.7 3.9

Latvia -0.3 3.3 4.0

Lithuania 1.3 3.3 4.0

Hungary 1.1 1.8 3.0

Poland 3.8 4.0 4.2

Romania -1.3 1.5 4.4

Slovenia 1.2 2.4 3.0

Slovakia 4.0 4.1 4.3

World Bank: Polish GDP strong this year and nextThe World Bank has predict-ed that Polish GDP will growby 4.0 percent this year andby 4.2 percent next year,making it one of Europe’sgrowth engines. In its EU10economic outlook report, theWorld Bank also predictsSlovakia to see strong growthat 4.3 percent in 2012.

“The performance of Slo-vakia and Poland is set toremain solid thanks to lowpre-crisis imbalances, deepintegration into Europeanproduction networks, EUfunds, and, in the case ofPoland, solid consumption,”the World Bank says.

The Czech Republic and

Slovenia are expected to seemore modest growth in thenext two years. The Czecheconomy is expected to growby 2.2 percent this year and2.7 percent in 2012 whileSlovenia is predicted to growby 2.2 percent this year and2.5 percent next year.

The report also states

that two and a half yearsafter the global financial cri-sis began, economic outputin the EU10 had returned tothe pre-crisis level.

The job market is perhapsthe sector which is taking thelongest to recover, withunemployment still close toits crisis peak across the

region. However the openingof the German and Austrianlabor markets to countriesthat joined the EU in 2004(including the Czech Repub-lic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia,Lithuania, Poland, Slovakiaand Slovenia) should helpdrive unemployment down(see cover story pp.12-13). ●

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 • APRIL 26 - MAY 8, 2011, LI 16/16-17

Ronson

launches

Szczecin sales

Ronson Development has

launched sales of

apartments in its

Panoramika residential

project in Szczecin,

Zachodniopomorskie

voivodship. The first

phase of the scheme,

which is located in the

Warszewo district, will

comprise two buildings

with a total of 82 units.

Construction started in

December last year and

is scheduled to finish in

Q2 2012. “We wanted to

prove our credibility to

potential clients; this is

why we decided only to

launch sales three

months after the start of

construction,” Andrzej

Gutowski, Ronson’s sales

and marketing director,

said in a statement.

New tenants

at University

Business ParkDeveloper Globe Trade

Centre has leased a total

of 850 sqm of office space

at its University Business

Park complex in ¸ódê to

Bankruptcy Management

Solutions, Tax Care and

Pharmena. The new

tenants, representing the

IT, finance and

pharmaceutical

industries, respectively,

will move into the

property in June.

University Business Park

is located between ¸ódê’s

Al. KoÊciuszki and

ul. Wólczaƒska. ●

Shopping centers

MMoorrsskkii PPaarrkk HHaannddlloowwyy ooppeennssA second phase of themall is already in theplanning stages

On April 15 developerLiebrecht & Wood openedits Morski Park Handlowyretail project in Gdaƒsk. Theinvestment, whose value isestimated at approximately€60 million, combines anoutlet center with a tradi-tional retail park, and is thecompany’s first such projectin Poland. Previously thefirm developed a similarscheme in the Romaniancapital of Bucharest.

The newly delivereddevelopment comprises an11,047-sqm OBI store and a8,412-sqm Carrefour hyper-market with a shoppinggallery and 1,633 sqm ofoffice space. Fashion HouseOutlet Centre, which com-prises over 120 stores andwhich has existed at the loca-

tion since 2005, is also partof the complex.

Liebrecht & Wood isalready planning a secondphase of Morski Park Hand-lowy, which will include big-box space as well a gas sta-tion, a car wash and a drive-through restaurant. AgataMeble will be one of theanchor tenants in the proj-ect. Construction on thescheme is expected to launchin the spring of 2012 and fin-ish by the end of that year.

Liebrecht & Wood hasbeen active in the Polishmarket since 1993, with thecompany’s portfolio in thecountry comprising office,retail and warehouse proj-ects. The firm is one of theinvestors behind Plac Unii, az∏.550 million office andretail project currently underconstruction in central War-saw.

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Office leases

Infosys BPO Poland signs record Green Horizon lease dealThe deal is the“largest lease in¸ódê’s office marketin three years”

Business Process Outsourcingcompany Infosys BPO Polandhas leased 11,500 sqm inSkanska Property Poland’sGreen Horizon office projectin ¸ódê. The company, whichis planning to expand its rangeof services and increase itsstaffing level in the region inthe next two years, will moveits headquarters to the prop-erty in October 2012.

“It’s the largest lease in theoffice space market in ¸ódê inthree years. ¸ódê is currentlyseen as an excellent location forinvestments by companies fromthe modern business servicessector,” said Krzysztof Misiak,senior negotiator, office space,

at Cushman & Wakefield,which represented the tenantin the lease transaction.

Located on ¸ódê’s RondoSolidarnoÊci, Green Horizonwill be a seven-storey, class-A,LEED-certified developmentcomprising a total of 33,000sqm of space and a dual-levelunderground parking lot for395 cars. The first phase of theinvestment, which will offer19,000 sqm, is scheduled forcompletion in Q4 next year.

Skanska Property Polandhas been present in the Polishoffice market since the early1990s. Apart from ¸ódê, thedeveloper is present in citiessuch as Warsaw, Wroc∏aw andKatowice, in which it is current-ly involved in the GreenCorner, Green Towers and Si-lesia Business Park projects,respectively.

Morski Park Handlowy . . . . . . 15

Infosys in Green Horizon . . . . 15

Poland top office market . . . . 16

Investment performance . . . . 16

Road tender winners . . . . . . . .16

Property-related stocks . . . . . .16

Karawela moves forward . . . .17

Mazury tourism . . . . . . . . . . . . .17

New Best Western . . . . . . . . . . .17

Zielona Przystań construction 18

PBM builds in Praga . . . . . . . . .18

In this issue

1816

Poland is one of the world’s

premiere emerging office hot

spots

PBM Po∏udnie Development

will renovate a structure

that dates back to 1873

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Infosys BPO Poland will move its headquarters to the property in 2012

To subscribe: e-mail subscribe@wbj.pl or call +48 22 639 85 68, ext. 201 and sign up for free two-week no-obligation trial subscription

Warsaw Business Journal presents Real Estate weekly newsletter

• Know about the newest projects before they’re on the market• Keep up to date on the latest tenders and auctions• Learn the latest trends in Poland’s dynamic office, residential and retail sectors • Find out who’s who in Polish real estate

or

APRIL 26 - MAY 8, 2011LLOOKKAALLEE IIMMMMOOBBIILLIIAA –– RREEAALL EESSTTAATTEE16 www.wbj.pl

Millennium

Plaza leases

Atlas Estates has

recently signed six

lease agreements for a

total of 11,000 sqm at

its Millenium Plaza

high-rise building in

Warsaw. Asseco

prolonged its lease

agreement for 8,500

sqm and new tenants,

including Wipro and

Golden Floor, have

entered the property,

leasing 1,500 sqm and

700 sqm, respectively.

New Gorzów

Wielkopolski

shopping mallIrish investment group

Caelum Development

and Hungarian

developer Futureal

have concluded a joint

venture agreement on

the Nova Park project

in Gorzów

Wielkopolski. The

shopping center is

scheduled to open in Q1

2012. Construction

commenced at the end

of 2010. Nova Park will

be the biggest shopping

center in Lubuskie

voivodship. It will offer

32,400 sqm of GLA and

will house 150 retail

and service units. ●

Security Closing % change 52-week 52-week % change Total Marketprice (week) low high (year) shares value

on April 21 (z∏.mln)

BUDIMEX 107.50 -1.29 84.55 109.10 9.14 25,530,098 2,744.49

CELTIC 19.21 -3.95 17.43 60.55 N/A 34,068,252 654.45

DOMDEV 45.20 -3.81 38.52 61.00 -16.91 24,560,222 1,110.12

ECHO 5.16 1.78 3.95 5.40 17.27 420,000,000 2,167.20

ELBUDOWA 158.70 3.39 150.00 188.40 -11.34 4,747,608 753.45

ENERGOPLD 3.95 -0.25 3.57 4.33 -7.93 70,972,001 280.34

ERBUD 38.50 -0.16 38.07 61.00 -24.51 12,602,711 485.20

GANT 13.93 1.09 12.98 26.00 -44.72 20,499,953 285.56

GTC 21.00 -1.50 19.58 24.98 -11.58 219,372,990 4,606.83

HBPOLSKA 2.14 -2.73 2.14 3.90 -39.38 210,558,445 450.60

JWCONSTR 15.27 4.02 13.50 18.69 -8.84 54,073,280 825.70

LCCORP 1.60 0.63 1.41 1.72 0.63 447,558,311 716.09

MARVIPOL 8.40 -1.18 8.36 17.92 -53.85 36,923,400 310.16

MIRBUD 3.97 -6.59 2.79 4.75 41.79 75,000,000 297.75

MOSTALWAR 41.23 -3.94 42.92 74.80 -44.88 20,000,000 824.60

MOSTALZAB 2.77 -1.42 2.63 4.75 -39.91 149,130,538 413.09

ORCOGROUP 35.00 -2.78 19.00 40.00 18.24 14,053,866 491.89

PBG 159.90 -8.21 159.90 252.00 -26.82 14,295,000 2,285.77

PLAZACNTR 4.75 10.47 3.70 6.20 -19.35 292,647,720 1,390.08

POLAQUA 18.70 -1.06 16.00 22.50 -8.29 27,500,100 514.25

POLIMEXMS 3.49 -1.41 3.33 4.99 -29.49 521,154,076 1,818.83

POLNORD 33.28 3.16 30.50 44.00 -21.97 22,340,189 743.48

RANKPROGR 12.80 -1.99 9.59 13.60 N/A 37,145,050 475.46

ROBYG 2.06 0.00 1.70 2.13 N/A 257,390,000 530.22

RONSON 1.54 5.48 1.36 2.03 -26.67 272,360,000 419.43

TRAKCJA 3.50 -5.41 3.32 4.97 -21.70 160,105,480 560.37

ULMA 88.00 1.15 70.00 88.00 8.64 5,255,632 462.50

UNIBEP 7.65 0.00 7.30 10.30 -4.61 33,927,184 259.54

WARIMPEX 10.50 1.35 7.64 10.85 10.41 54,000,000 567.00

ZUE 12.15 -5.08 12.15 15.14 N/A 22,000,000 267.30

Property-related stocks

It is the highest-ratedEuropean country in anew report

According to a new report byJones Lang LaSalle (JLL),Poland is one of the emerginghot spots in the global officemarket. No other Europeanmarket was evaluated as high-ly by the consultancy.

According to JLL, the Pol-ish office market, like otheroffice hot spots, owed itsexcellent position mainly tohigh economic growthprospects, an upswing in leas-ing activity and renewed cor-porate confidence.

“Lately, we have seenincreased interest in the Pol-ish real estate market fromglobal investors,” said Tomasz

Trzós∏o, head of capital mar-kets in CEE at Jones LangLaSalle. “An example of thistrend can be capital originat-ing from the Middle East.These funds are seeking alter-native and safe investmentopportunities. Not endan-gered by any natural disasters,and with good macroeconom-ic prospects, Poland offerssuch opportunities to globalinvestors.”

The remaining marketsdefined by JLL as high-growth regions include Brazil,India, China, Russia, Indone-sia, Mexico, Turkey, HongKong and Singapore.

This improvement in thePolish office market is reflect-ed by the record leasing activ-ity noted in Warsaw in Q1

2011.According to the Warsaw

Research Forum (WRF), thecapital’s market saw dealssigned for 198,000 sqm in theperiod.

Pre-lease agreementsaccounted for 31 percent(61,000 sqm) of the market,while 24 percent (48,000 sqm)of the deals comprised ten-ants renegotiating contracts.Companies looking to extend

existing office premises took9,300 sqm of space (five per-cent).

The largest pre-let deal inthe quarter was concluded byTP Group. The telecomsoperator leased 43,700 sqm inoffice complex MiasteczkoTP.

The level of vacant spacein Warsaw at the end of Q12011 was 6.6 percent, animprovement on the end of

2010, when vacancy came to7.2 percent.

Other Polish cities’ mar-kets also noted higher interestin office leases in the firstquarter of 2011. Apart fromWroc∏aw, which had the low-est office vacancy rate (2.1percent) in the country,Kraków, Tri-city and Poznaƒwere the top Polish office des-tinations in the period.

KKaattaarrzzyynnaa PPiiaasseecckkaa

Report: Strabag and Budimexleaders in road tendersConstruction company Stra-bag Budowa Infrastrukturywon the largest number ofpublic tenders for road con-struction in the first quarter of2011, according to a recentreport by pressinfo.pl andGrupa Marketingowa TAI.

Warsaw-based constructionfirm Budimex was the leaderin terms of the total value oftenders won.

Strabag won 48 tendersworth a total of about z∏.262million in Q1 this year, whileBudimex concluded contractsfor a total of almost z∏.753 mil-lion.

Next on the list of leaderswas the Polish subsidiary ofinternational construction gro-

up Skanska, followed by thePolish subsidiary of globalroad-builder Eurovia Group.In the first three months of2011, Skanska won 39 tendersfor about z∏.157 million.Eurovia Polska’s won 35 ten-ders for about z∏.297 million.

In terms of the regions ofPoland that saw the most activ-ity, Mazowieckie voivodship(where Warsaw is located)boasted the greatest numberof tenders concluded in Q1.The region, which saw 328 ten-ders concluded, accounted forsome 14 percent of all suchdeals signed in Poland in thefirst three months of 2011.

The Wielkopolskie (Poznaƒ)and Âlàskie (Katowice) voivod-

ships are next on the list, with263 and 203 tenders concludedin the period, respectively.

Lubuskie voivodship, whereonly 80 tenders were conclud-ed, saw the least activity.

Mazowieckie voivodshipalso led in the value of tenderswon, at z∏.1.7 billion.

Strabag is one of Europe’sleading construction groups.Its Polish subsidiary has beenactive in the domestic marketsince 1985.

Polish contractor Budimexwas created in 1968. The com-pany is 59.06 percent owned byDutch Valivala Holdings BV, acompany from the Spanish Fer-rovial Group.

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Polish retailers seen asbest performers in regionEven though the Polish proper-ty market continued to see capi-tal depreciation in 2010, incomereturn indicated a rebound,according to real estate analysisfirm Investment Property Data-bank (IPD) in its CEE AnnualProperty Index report.

According to the firm’sresearch, the Polish retail mar-ket constituted the best-per-forming sector in the entireCEE property market. In 2010it recorded capital growth at4.3 percent.

Industrial properties, incontrast, recorded the steepestcapital depreciation in Poland,at -4.0 percent. Nevertheless,this still constitutes animprovement in comparisonto 2009, when capital depreci-ation in industrial propertieswas -15.5 percent.

Although capital deprecia-tion continued in Polandthrough 2010, at -1.8 percent,the country’s market per-formed better than its CEEneighbors. The Czech Repub-lic, for instance, noted capitaldecline at -4.3 percent. In2010, total income return rosein Poland to 5.3 percent, animprovement on the -4.7 per-cent recorded in 2009. Rental

values were flat for the year,implying a stabilization afterthe heavy write-downs of 2009,the firm said.

“[The year] 2010 was [one]of mixed fortunes for Poland,the largest country in our CEEindex,” said Dr. Nassos Mangi-nas, Director for CEE at IPDin a statement.

“Capital decline was mini-mal, and a robust incomereturn pushed total returnsinto positive territory. Thoughreturns have been varied in thelast three years, I think theseresults hint at a bottoming outfor the market, and a possible

recovery in 2011 at an all prop-erty level.”

According to specialistsfrom IPD, two predominanttrends for the entire CEEproperty market in 2010were: continued capitaldepreciation and a consider-able rise in commercial prop-erty market returns. The firmreported that although theCEE market saw capital de-preciation of -3.8 percent atthe all property level in 2010,its commercial property mar-ket delivered a total return of3.1 percent.

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0

50

100

150

200

December 2010December 2009

IndustrialOfficeRetail

Retail rules

Total income return index for Polish property market

(December 2004 = 100)

Source: IPD CEE Annual Property Index

0

5

10

15

20

25

Q1 2011Q4 2010

Wroc∏awTri-cityPoznanKrakówKatowiceŁódź

Tight squeeze in Wroc∏aw

Percentage of vacant office space in regional Polish cities

Source: Warsaw Research Forum

Office

Poland one of world’s top office markets

APRIL 26 - MAY 8, 2011 LLOOKKAALLEE IIMMMMOOBBIILLIIAA –– RREEAALL EESSTTAATTEE www.wbj.pl 17

Blackstone

gets Rank

Progress

centersSubsidiaries of

investment fund

Blackstone Real Estate

have concluded

preliminary sales

agreements for Galeria

Twierdza in ZamoÊç and

Galeria T´cza in Kalisz,

two shopping centers

owned by developer Rank

Progress. The total value

of the transaction is

estimated at about €352

million. The deal for

Galeria Twierdza will be

made between Rank

Progress’ daughter

company, Progress III,

and Blackstone’s Rumex.

The sale agreement for

Galeria T´cza is due to be

concluded on December

30, 2011.

S&T Daewoo in

Tulipan Park

GliwiceIndustrial space

provider Segro has

leased 3,092 sqm of

warehouse and 278 sqm

of office space at its

Tulipan Park Gliwice

project in Silesia to

car-parts manufacturer

S&T Daewoo. ●

Warsaw-based real estatecompany Karawela has ap-plied for a building permit foran eponymous retail projectin Toruƒ, in northern Poland. The scheme will be developedon 21 hectares of land and isexpected to become thelargest investment of its kindin the region. It will comprisea shopping center and a retailpark which will offer a total of60,000 sqm of GLA.

The planned shoppingcenter, at an estimated valueof some €50 million, willinclude a hypermarket and amulti-screen movie theater.

The retail park project,worth approximately €15 mil-lion, is expected to houseinterior decoration, sports-wear and electronic goodsretailers.

The investor and the To-

ruƒ authorities recently sig-ned an agreement concerningco-financing of an investmentto extend an existing tram lineso that it can reach theplanned mall. Karawela willalso build new road infra-structure that will make thedevelopment of the new retailscheme possible.

The Karawela project hasbeen designed by the SudArchitectes studio and therenowned French architect,Guillaume Sadoux, who pre-viously worked on the interi-or designs of Warsaw’s Arka-dia and Warszawa Wileƒskamalls.

The development is sched-uled for completion by theend of 2013. It is being com-mercialized by DTZ andRetail Spirit Poland.

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Daily executive digest

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Eighth Best Western hotel in PolandGlobal hotel chain BestWestern has added the three-star Symfonia hotel to its fran-chise network in Poland.

The hotel, located inOsjaków, near ¸ódê in thecenter of Poland, lies close toNational Road no. 8, which

links Warsaw and Wroc∏aw.Eight hotels in Poland nowoperate under the BestWestern brand. The facility isowned by W.P.H.AGRAHURT Export-ImportS∏awomir Olak.

Symfonia hotel offers 35

rooms and two suites. Thehotel also boasts a restaurantand a conference area. Thehotel constitutes part of Port 8,a rest area comprising a BPgas station and a Carrefoursupermarket, as well as a carwash and parking lot for pas-senger cars and semi-trucks.

“Our hotel has been builtmainly for professionals whouse road no. 8 on businesstrips and who are looking for arest area adapted to their busi-ness activities,” said MarzenaUram, manager of BestWestern Symfonia.

Aside from the Symfoniafacility, Best Western hotelsin Poland are located inBia∏owie˝a, Bia∏ystok, Kato-wice, Kraków, Rzeszów, War-saw and Wroc∏aw. HotelFelix in Warsaw joined thechain in the first half of Aprilthis year.

The Best Western chainwas created in 1946. At pres-ent, it includes about 4,000facilities across 80 countries.

KKaattaarrzzyynnaa PPiiaasseecckkaa

Poland’s lake district, theMazury region, is set to see aboom in tourism in upcomingyears that will be accompaniedby new hotel investments, anew report from Cushman &Wakefield has found.

The region has beenattracting an increasing num-ber of tourists over recentyears, and has gained some sig-nificant tourism and confer-ence infrastructure. It is esti-mated that the region will see adozen or so new three- andfour-star hotels between 2011and 2013.

According to data from theCentral Statistical Office, thereare currently 154 full-yeartourism facilities in the region,offering a total of 15,520rooms. Hotels constitute 68percent of these facilities.

The biggest investmentplanned in the region so far is ahotel in Ta∏ty near Miko∏ajki,by real estate investor Europe-jski Fundusz Hipoteczny. Thehotel will operate under the

Sheraton brand.Two other hotel projects –

Inpro Hotel in Miko∏ajki andGrand Tiffi in I∏awa are cur-rently under construction.

One of the most significantrecreation infrastructure proj-ects planned in Mazury in thenear future is the constructionof a chain of mini-harbors. Theproject, supported by regionaldevelopment organizations, isestimated to cost some €8 mil-lion.

Although it is difficult toestimate the exact total valueof the hotel investmentsplanned in the region in thenext few years, Polish mediasources have put the sum atapproximately z∏.700 million.

The region’s conferenceinfrastructure is also expectedto develop with considerablespeed.

“Increasing demand forconference infrastructure inhotels shown by businesstourists is a result of theupswing in the economic situa-

tion in the Polish market andthe increased number ofdomestic tourists using Polishhotels,” said Micha∏ Kuliƒskifrom Cushman & Wakefield.

“In the near future, thisshould translate into a consid-erable improvement in occu-pancy rates in the region’shotels,” he added.

The Mazury regionremains one of the most pop-ular vacation destinations inPoland. Development of theregion’s hotel infrastructure isadditionally enhanced by thepromotion of Mazury in theframework of the global“New7Wonders of Nature”initiative, which has created anew list of the seven naturalwonders of the world forwhich Mazury is one of thecandidates.

Renovation of several bitsof road infrastructure, includ-ing the construction of thenew S7 express road, add tothe region’s attractiveness.

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Karawela appliesfor building permit

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Western Symfonia joins the firm’s seven other hotels

in Poland, including Hotel Cristal in Bia∏ystok

Developer Elektra Plus wasset to launch construction onits Zielona Przystaƒ shoppingcenter project in GorzówWielkopolski, Lubuskievoivodship in late April. Thecompany has recently selectedEnergoinstal group’s Inter-bud-West as the general con-tractor for the project.

Located on ul. Kombatan-tów in Gorzów Wielkopolski’sGórczyn district, ZielonaPrzystaƒ will comprise a three-floor scheme offering 10,500sqm of retail space. The devel-opment will house 65 retail

units and points of servicesand will include a parking lotfor 300 cars.

The value of the invest-ment is estimated at approxi-mately z∏.60 million. Apartfrom that, Elektra Plus willspend an additional z∏.5 mil-lion on publicly accessibleinfrastructure including a newstretch of the nearby ul.Okulickiego as well as new busstops, walkways and bicyclepaths.

Zielona Przystaƒ has beendesigned by the Pi∏a-basedStudio Architektury Kontur

architectural firm. The devel-opment, which is being com-mercialized by Multi Serwisdla Inwestycji and KingSturge, is scheduled to open inspring next year.

Active in the construction,development and energy sec-tors in Europe and the MiddleEast, Elektra Plus has beenpresent in Poland for 15 years.The company’s recent projectsin the country include theGaleria Kasztanowa shoppingcenter in Pi∏a, Wielkopolskievoivodship.

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APRIL 26 - MAY 8, 2011LLOOKKAALLEE IIMMMMOOBBIILLIIAA –– RREEAALL EESSTTAATTEE18 www.wbj.pl

Auto Partner

leases from

MLP Group

Car-parts importer and

distributor Auto Partner

has leased over 3,000

sqm of warehouse space

at MLP Group’s

Millennium Logistic Park

Tychy project in Silesia.

Cushman & Wakefield

represented the latter

company in the

transaction.

Knight Frank

Poland RICS-

regulatedKnight Frank Poland has

become the first Polish

real estate advisor to be

regulated by the UK’s

Royal Institution of

Chartered Surveyors, a

validation which is meant

to confirm the company’s

high standards and quality

of service. The

designation is valid for

one year. “Being

‘regulated by RICS’

enables our firm to

benefit from the validation

of a well-recognized

regulatory body,” Monika

D´bska-Pastakia, partner,

chairman of Knight Frank

Poland’s management

board, said in a

statement. ●

Warsaw Business Journal Group, in cooperation with KPMG and the Polish Chamber of Commerce, presents Made in Poland – a guide for importers of Polish products.

Sectors analyzed:• Automotive products• Clothes• Cosmetics• Defense• Food & Agriculture• Furniture• Pharmaceutical market• Yachts

For advertisingand promotion opportunities contact:

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cooperation with mmerce, presents

Polish products.

For advertising opportunities contact:

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PBM Po∏udnie

Development builds

in Warsaw’s PragaDeveloper PBM Po∏udnie De-velopment is erecting an office-residential complex in Warsaw’sPraga Pó∏noc district. Locatedbetween the capital’s ul. Kijows-ka, ul. Wieczorkiewicza, ul.Brzeska and ul. Markowska,the project will comprise a ren-ovated historical tenementhouse and two accompanyingmodern buildings.

PBM Po∏udnie Develop-ment will carry out the invest-ment in two phases. Within thefirst phase of the project, con-struction on which is alreadyunderway and is scheduled tofinish in September, the compa-ny will refurbish a 3,000 sqmstructure dating back to 1873and build an adjacent 5,000 sqmoffice building with six above-ground and two underground

floors.In the pipeline is a second

phase of the scheme which willcomprise a new building with adual-level underground parkinglot for which residential andservice space have beenplanned. However, PBMPo∏udnie Development says itmay yet change the function ofthat structure and go with officeor hotel space instead.

Established in 2002, PBMPo∏udnie Development is partof the construction, develop-ment, tourism and real estatemanagement group GrupaPBM Po∏udnie. The company isknown for the ZieloneMieszkanko and InwestycjaLazurowa residential projectslocated in Warsaw’s Bemowodistrict. AAddaamm ZZddrrooddoowwsskkii

Construction on ZielonaPrzystaƒ launches

CO

UR

TE

SY O

F E

LE

KT

RA

PL

US

The Zielona Przystaƒ mall will provide 10,500 sqm of retail space

CO

UR

TE

SY O

F P

RE

ST

IGE

PU

BL

IC R

EL

AT

ION

S

The project combines historical and modern architecture

APRIL 26 - MAY 8, 2011 www.wbj.pl 19MMAARRKKEETTSS

SO

UR

CE

: W

SE

PLN-EUR

3.94

79

3.9

559

3.98

15

3

.962

9

3

.978

7

3.9

536

15.0

4

18.0

4

19.0

4

20.0

4

21.0

4

22.0

43.9

4.0 PLN-USD

15.0

4

18.0

4

19.0

4

20.0

4

21.0

4

22.0

4

2.7

293

2.

7608

2.79

22

2.7

358

2.71

83

2.71

35

2.5

3.0 PLN-GBP

15.0

4

18.0

4

19.0

4

20.0

4

21.0

4

22.0

4

4.4

584

4.4

872

4

.540

4

4.4

715

4.4

990

4.4

838

4

5 PLN-CHF

3.05

96

3.0

848

3

.111

2

3.06

22

3.0

803

3.06

36

15.0

4

18.0

4

19.0

4

20.0

4

21.0

4

22.0

43.0

3.5 PLN-RUB

15.0

4

18.0

4

19.0

4

20.0

4

21.0

4

22.0

4

0.09

67

0.0

979

0.0

984

0.0

972

0.0

975

0.09

68

0.08

0.10 PLN-100JPY

15.0

4

18.0

4

19.0

4

20.0

4

21.0

4

22.0

4

3.27

84

3

.339

0

3.

3859

3.

3042

3.

3143

3.

3118

3.0

3.5

currency rates

Indices up before

the Easter holiday

Stocks report

Despite its four, instead of theusual five, trading days andlowered activity as a result ofthe general anticipation of along weekend, the weekbefore Easter saw some highemotions on the WarsawStock Exchange. The Mondaysession started calmly on thebourse only to be negativelyimpacted by disquieting newsfrom abroad.

After initial slight increas-es, the main indices foundthemselves under the pres-sure of pessimistic sentimentin Europe generated byrumors concerning the needto restructure Greece’s debtand S&P’s lowering of thelong-term rating for the Unit-ed States. The WIG and theWIG20 indices decreased by1.36 and 1.53 percent on theday, respectively.

On the following days, the

market made up for the loss-es, with good news from theUS and Asian bourses givingbuyers the upper hand. Therewas, however, not enoughdetermination on the part ofinvestors for the indices toreach new highs, and the lastsession of the week wasmarked by drops caused inlarge measure by a consider-able depreciation of Teleko-munikacja Polska shares.

In the end, the WIG andthe WIG20 closed at 49,966and 2,908 on Thursday, April21, 0.24 percent and 0.04 per-cent up on the week, respec-tively. Analysts were predict-ing that bulls would try toresume their fight for newrecords after the Easterbreak, unless some unexpect-ed events occured in themeantime.

AAddaamm ZZddrrooddoowwsskkii

The euro continues

to strengthen

Currency report

From the beginning ofFebruary the euro has beengaining against the dollar.There are several reasonswhy the upward momentumhas been so strong. For one,the problems with thePIIGS countries havealmost disappeared, whilethe ECB has raised interestrates and has not ruled outfurther monetary move-ments. At the same time,the Federal Reserve in theUS is far from raising rates.And last week, Standard &Poor’s changed its US long-term debt outlook from“stable” to ”negative.” Allin all, those are the mainreasons for the euro’sstrengthening.

We can see a similartrend in the gold and silvermarkets. The prices ofthese two precious metalshave continued to increasebecause of the growing fearof inflation worldwide and

the depreciation of the dol-lar against the main curren-cies.

The price of gold reachednew highs of more than$1,500 per ounce, while theprice of silver rose to above$46 per ounce (its highestprice since January 1980).

The z∏oty – thanks tohigher interest rates, thegrowing fear of inflation andthe verbal intervention of theFinance Minister and thepresident of the central bank– is also gaining in strength.The euro currently costsabout z∏.3.95 and the dollarcosts z∏.2.70. Further mone-tary tightening will strength-en the Polish currency in thelong term.

The near future belongsto Ben Bernanke and hiswords after the Fed meetingon April 26. If his statementis hawkish, the trend in theEUR/USD market couldcome to an end. ●

Pawel Kordala, X-Trade Brokers Dom Maklerski SA

SO

UR

CE

: N

BP

Major indices

Top 5 Closing % change (week) 52-week high 52-week lowPEPEES 1.31 39.36 1.31 0.44ANTI 2.30 30.68 4.45 1.41ERG 1.42 30.28 1.51 0.72PETROLINV 10.67 18.42 17.80 5.03OPTIMUS 9.70 15.61 9.70 1.15

WIG 49,966.31 (April 21 closure)

Change for the week: 0.24% 52-week high: 50,371.74

Change year to April 21: 4.86% 52-week low: 39,109.37

Top 5 Closing % change (week) 52-week high 52-week lowCEZ 149.50 4.18 149.50 118.70LOTOS 49.42 3.17 49.42 28.05KGHM 196.00 3.05 200.30 88.20TVN 17.78 2.83 19.31 15.95PGNIG 3.83 1.59 3.94 3.16

Bottom 5 Closing % change (week) 52-week high 52-week lowBORYSZEW 1.00 -13.04 4.89 1.00YAWAL 9.59 -11.94 21.09 9.40ZASTAL 3.12 -11.86 5.35 1.99WILBO 1.44 -11.66 2.77 1.44RELPOL 4.40 -10.02 6.29 3.76

Bottom 5 Closing % change (week) 52-week high 52-week lowPBG 159.90 -8.21 252.00 159.90TPSA 17.24 -2.71 18.65 14.10PKOBP 45.35 -1.73 46.81 36.15GTC 21.00 -1.50 24.98 19.58POLIMEXMS 3.49 -1.41 4.99 3.33

WIG20 2,908.02 (April 21 closure)

Change for the week: 0.04% 52-week high: 2,928.95

Change year to April 21: 5.57% 52-week low: 2,270.13

mWIG40 2,954.97 (April 21 closure)

Change for the week: 0.34% 52-week high: 2,987.72

Change year to April 21: 5.25% 52-week low: 2,361.69

sWIG80 12,800.81 (April 21 closure)

Change for the week: 0.77% 52-week high: 12,907.99

Change year to April 21: 4.50% 52-week low: 10,980.45

NewConnect 58.89 (April 21 closure)

Change for the week: 1.01% 52-week high: 64.09

Change year to April 21: -7.13% 52-week low: 54.64

WIG-Banki 7,258.73 (April 21 closure)

Change for the week: -1.09% 52-week high: 7,387.49

Change year to March 21: 4.26% 52-week low: 5,751.39

DJIA12,494.83 (Apr. 21 close)

1.66% (for the week)

CHANGE: 7.92%

(year to Apr. 21)

52-week high: 12,563.90

52-week low: 9,596.04

NASDAQ2,819.16 (Apr. 21 close)

2.14% (for the week)

CHANGE: 5.32%

(year to Apr. 21)

52-week high: 2,840.51

52-week low: 2,061.14

S&P5001,337.17 (Apr. 21 close)

1.69% (for the week)

CHANGE: 6.33%

(year to Apr. 21)

52-week high: 1,344.07

52-week low: 1,010.91

FTSE1006,012.22 (Apr. 21 close)

0.65% (for the week)

CHANGE: 1.90%

(year to Apr. 21)

52-week high: 6,105.80

52-week low: 4,790.00

DAX7,291.66 (Apr. 21 close)

1.96% (for the week)

CHANGE: 4.56%

(year to Apr. 21)

52-week high: 7,441.82

52-week low: 5,607.68

NIKKEI2259,685.54 (Apr. 21 close)

0.33% (for the week)

CHANGE: -6.44%

(year to Apr. 21)

52-week high: 11,213.50

52-week low: 8,227.63

world stock indices

25.0

3

28.0

3

29.0

3

30.0

3

31.0

3

01.0

4

04.0

4

05.0

4

06.0

4

07.0

4

08.0

4

11.0

4

12.0

4

13.0

4

14.0

4

15.0

4

18.0

4

19.0

4

20.0

4

21.0

448,000

48,600

49,200

49,800

50,400

51,000

25.0

3

28.0

3

29.0

3

30.0

3

31.0

3

01.0

4

04.0

4

05.0

4

06.0

4

07.0

4

08.0

4

11.0

4

12.0

4

13.0

4

14.0

4

15.0

4

18.0

4

19.0

4

20.0

4

21.0

42,800

2,840

2,880

2,920

2,960

3,000

25.0

3

28.0

3

29.0

3

30.0

3

31.0

3

01.0

4

04.0

4

05.0

4

06.0

4

07.0

4

08.0

4

11.0

4

12.0

4

13.0

4

14.0

4

15.0

4

18.0

4

19.0

4

20.0

4

21.0

42,800

2,840

2,880

2,920

2,960

3,000

25.0

3

28.0

3

29.0

3

30.0

3

31.0

3

01.0

4

04.0

4

05.0

4

06.0

4

07.0

4

08.0

4

11.0

4

12.0

4

13.0

4

14.0

4

15.0

4

18.0

4

19.0

4

20.0

4

21.0

4

12,600

12,680

12,760

12,840

12,920

13,000

25.0

3

28.0

3

29.0

3

30.0

3

31.0

3

01.0

4

04.0

4

05.0

4

06.0

4

07.0

4

08.0

4

11.0

4

12.0

4

13.0

4

14.0

4

15.0

4

18.0

4

19.0

4

20.0

4

21.0

4

57.0

57.6

58.2

58.8

59.4

60.0

25.0

3

28.0

3

29.0

3

30.0

3

31.0

3

01.0

4

04.0

4

05.0

4

06.0

4

07.0

4

08.0

4

11.0

4

12.0

4

13.0

4

14.0

4

15.0

4

18.0

4

19.0

4

20.0

4

21.0

4

7,000

7,080

7,160

7,240

7,320

7,400

Other indices

A guide to Polish business and industry Przewodnik po polskim biznesie i gospodarce

To order:Please contact us at +48 22 639 85 68 or kwilinski@valkea.com

• Find key information about the dominant players in the market • Expand your portfolio of contacts• See who’s on top of your sector

The 2011 edition of Bookof Lists is now available!

APRIL 26 - MAY 8, 2011 TTHHEE LLIISSTT www.wbj.pl 21

Corporate Services

Office Furniture SuppliersRanked by revenue from office furniture sold in 2009 www.bookoflists.pl

Notes: NR = Not Ranked, WND = Would Not Disclose. Research for The List was done inDecember 2010. Number of employees and ownership structure are as of November 2010. All information pertains to the companies’ activities in Poland. Companies not responding to oursurvey are not listed.

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 andtypographical errors may occur. Corrections or additions to The List should be sent, on official letterhead, to Warsaw Business Journal, attn. Joanna Raszka,ul. Elblàska 15/17, 01-747 Warsaw, via fax to (48-22) 639-8569, or via e-mail to wbjbol@wbj.pl. Copyright 2011, Valkea Media SA. The List may not be reprintedor reproduced in whole or in part without prior written permission of the publisher. Reprints are available.

Rank

Company nameAddressTel./FaxE-mailWeb page

Revenuefrom officefurniture

sold (z∏. mln)

Totalrevenue(z∏. mln)

Totalnumber of

clientsserved

Number of storesin Poland /Location

Num

ber o

f sho

wro

oms

/ Lo

catio

n

Bran

ds o

f offi

ce fu

rnitu

re s

old

Desk

s /

Conf

eren

ce ta

bles

/ Fi

ling

cabi

nets

Parti

tions

/Ch

airs

/Ar

mch

airs

Sofa

s /

Cabi

net f

urni

ture

/Ac

ceso

ries

Other

Desi

gn /

Deliv

ery

/As

sem

bly

Rent

/Se

rvic

e /

Cust

om fu

rnitu

re

Selected clientsNumber of

employees /Year founded

Ownership:Polish /Foreign

Top localexecutive /

Title

1

Martela Sp. z o.o.ul. Redutowa 25, 01-106 Warsaw801-080-045/22 836-7623martela@martela.plwww.martela.pl

WND41.044.541.0

WNDWNDWNDWND

WNDWND850

WND

7Gdaƒsk; Katowice;

Kraków; ¸ódê; Poznaƒ;Warsaw; Wroc∏aw

WND WND

✓✓✓

✓✓✓

✓✓✓

WND

✓✓✓

✓✓✓

WND90

1995

NoneMartela Oyj -

100%

Piotr FicPresident

2

Everest - Lublin, Anna Tatohirul. Wy˝ynna 16, 20-560 Lublin81 527-0220/81 527-0221everest@everestmeble.plwww.everestmeble.pl

WND3.42.92.3

WNDWNDWNDWND

WNDWNDWNDWND

1Lublin WND Own production

✓✓✓

✓✓✓

✓✓-

-

✓✓✓

-✓✓

Auchan; Euro Team5

2002

Anna Tatomir -100%None

Anna TatomirWND

3

Formart Piotr W. Michalskiul. Che∏mska 19/21 lok. 120, 00-724 Warsaw22 851-1118/22 851-1118sekretariat@mebledlabiura.plwww.mebledlabiura.pl

0.40.70.91.1

0.50.80.91.1

WNDWNDWNDWND

2Warsaw; Kielce

2Warsaw;

Kielce

KJK; NowyStyl;

Drewsystem;CP

✓✓✓

-✓✓

✓✓✓

Kitchenettes;unusualfurniture

✓✓✓

-✓✓

Medicine Cabinet W.Grzybowski; Maxto;Dachster; Adrenalina

Consulting A.S∏omczyƒska; Promic

22000

Piotr Michalski -100%None

Piotr MichalskiWND

NR

Arc Interiors Sp. z o.o.ul. ˚ytnia 15 lok.8, 01-014 Warsaw22 862-4840/22 862-4841office@arcinteriors.plwww.arcinteriors.pl

WNDWNDWNDWND

WNDWNDWNDWND

600WNDWNDWND

--

1Warsaw

Steelcase; Vitra

✓✓✓

✓✓✓

✓✓✓

InterfaceFLOR -floor covering

✓✓✓

✓✓✓

Accenture; Abbott;Boston Consulting;

Promed;PricewaterHouseCoopers

131997

Dariusz Szymczak;Maciej Helman

None

DariuszSzymczak;

Maciej HelmanWND

NR

Pokker Office Sp.j.ul. Krasiƒskiego 24, 40-019 Katowice32 256-1853/32 209-1189katowice@pokker.plwww.pokker.pl

WNDWND

4.74.2

WNDWND5.25.0

400350267243

WNDWND

2Katowice

WND

✓✓✓

✓✓✓

✓✓✓

WND

✓✓✓

✓✓✓

WND30

1988WND

MarcinStawiarski

Director

NR

Poliday Sp. z o.o.ul. Roso∏a 42, 02-792 Warsaw22 648-1833/22 648-1829biuro@poliday.plwww.poliday.pl

WNDWND

5.85.0

WNDWND6.05.4

WNDWND

6458

1Warsaw

1Warsaw

Haworth;Koenig Neurath;

Walter Knoll

✓✓✓

✓✓✓

✓✓✓

WND

✓✓✓

✓✓✓

WND11

1989

Andrzej ˚ycki -56%; Edyta ˚ycka -

44%None

Andrzej ˚yckiPresident

NR

Vertexul. Zagadki 21, 02-227 Warsaw22 817-3596/22 817-3597vertex@vertex.waw.plwww.vertex.waw.pl

WNDWNDWNDWND

WNDWNDWNDWND

WNDWNDWNDWND

1WND WND

Mebelux;Mikomax;

MDD; Profim;Nowy Styl;

Levira

✓✓✓

✓✓✓

✓✓-

WND

✓✓✓

-✓✓

WND7

1997

Edyta Bro˝ko -100%None

Edyta Bro˝koOwner

1st half of 2010 / 2009 / 2008 / 2007

Products Sevices

APRIL 26 - MAY 8, 2011AARRTTSS && CCUULLTTUURREE22 www.wbj.pl

The beatification ofJohn Paul IIMay 1Pl. Pi∏sudskiego, and the National Temple ofDivine Providence,ul. Ksi´dza PrymasaAugusta Hlonda 1.

May 1 marks the beatificationof the late Pope John Paul II.While the official ceremonywill take place in Rome, War-saw will come alive withevents to celebrate this day.From 10 am there will be alive transmission from Romebeamed to Pl. Pi∏sudskiego.At 12:30 pm the “Popemo-bile” used during Pope JohnPaul II’s first visit to Polandin 1979 will begin a drivethrough Warsaw followingthe capital’s Royal Route, allthe way to the National Tem-

ple of Divine Providence inWilanów. It’s here you’ll findvarious events taking place

throughout the day, includingfilms, concerts, and exhibi-tions. ●

Blue Cafe in concertApril 27, 8 pmClub Capitol, Warsaw

One of the most popular Pol-ish bands of the last decade isback with its new album“DaDa,” in which the band’spop style is given a Latin fla-vor. The single “Buena” gueststars Cuban musicians andvocal artists Reinaldo Ceballoand Renell Valdes Cepero, aswell as the up-and-coming rapartist Drao Dee. ●

For tickets see www.ebilet.pl,Empik or Club Capitol

Celebrating John Paul II

Blue Cafe with Latin flavor

FotofestiwalThe 10th Festival of Photograpy in ¸ódêMay 5-15various locations in ¸ódê

“Out of Mind & Out of Life &Out of Space” is the theme forthis year’s International Festi-val of Photograpy in ¸ódê.Exhibitions, workshops andevents are scheduled to cele-brate the fact that the festivalis in its 10th year. Guestsinclude Celina Lunsford, NinaKassianou and KrzysztofCandrowicz. Erwin Olaf, Levivan Veluw and AlexeyTitarenko are just some of thefeatured photographers. ●

For more information, log onto www.fotofestiwal.com

Photo festival in ¸ódê

Running for the constitution21st Run of the 3rd of MayConstitution May 3

On May 3, Varsovians will runfive km in honor of Poland’s 3rd

of May Constitution, widelyregarded as Europe’s first, andthe world’s second, modern co-

dified constitution. This year’srun is titled “You Have a Rightto Run.” The event begins at 11am at ul. MyÊliwiecka, followingul. Agrykola, Al. Ujazdowskie,ul. Pi´kna, ul. GórnoÊlàska, ul.MyÊliwiecka, ul. ¸azienkowska,ul. Czerniakowska, and ul.Szwole˝erów until the finish

line at Agrykola Park, where apicnic will be held. ●

Registration is open until April28. To register, log on towww.wosir.waw.pl or visit theoffice of Warsaw’s Centre forSport and Recreation at ul.Rozbrat 26

Eclectic soundsSufjan Stevens in concertMay 5Polish Theatre in Warsaw, ul. Karasia 28 pm

From the accordion to pianoand saxophone, the music styleof Sufjan Stevens varies fromindie rock and folk to symphon-ic and electronic sounds. His2005 album “Illinois” reachednumber one on the BillboardTop Heatseekers Chart. ●

Tickets cost z∏.120-150 and areavailable at www.eventim.pl

Majówka with De Mono 11th Wola Majówka FestivalMay 3Sowiƒski Park, ul. Elekcyjna 175:30 pm

The 11th edition of this annualspring celebration sees theperformance of De Mono, oneof Poland’s eminent pop-rockbands. Formed in the 1980sand famous for hits such as“Kochaç Innaczej,” De Monowill perform at 6:45 pm. ●

Entry is free of charge. Formore information call 22 8362856, or log on towww.amfiteatr.okwola.pl

SH

UT

TE

RS

TO

CK

CO

UR

TE

SY O

F D

E M

ON

O

CO

UR

TE

SY O

F W

IKIM

ED

IA C

OM

MO

NS

CO

UR

TE

SY O

F B

LU

E C

AF

EC

OU

RT

ES

Y O

F L

EV

I VA

N V

EL

UW

Centre for ContemporaryArt at Ujazdowski Castle ul. Jazdów 2www.csw.art.pl

Czarna Gallery ul. Marsza∏kowska 4www.czarnagaleria.art.pl

Galeria 022, DAP, Lufcik ul. Mazowiecka 11awww.owzpap.pl

Galeria 65 ul. Bema 65www.galeria65.com

Galeria Appendix 2 (Praga)ul. Bia∏ostocka 9www.appendix2.com

Galeria Asymetria ul. Nowogrodzka 18awww.asymetria.eu

Galeria Foksal ul. Foksal 1-4www.galeriafoksal.pl

Galeria Milano Rondo Waszyngtona 2A (Praga)www.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

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

Królikarnia National Galleryul. Pu∏awska 113awww.krolikarnia.mnw.art.pl

Le Guern Galleryul. Widok 8, www.leguern.pl

Museum of IndependenceAleja SolidarnoÊci 62www.muzeumniepodleglosci.art.pl

National Museum in Warsaw Al. Jerozolimskie 3www.mnw.art.pl

Polish National Opera atTeatr 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 52 (Arsena∏) www.pma.pl

State Ethnographic Museumul. 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 Rising Museum ul. Grzybowska 79www.1944.pl

Wilanów Palace Museumand Wilanów PosterMuseumul. St Kostki Potockiego 10/16www.milanow-palac.plwww.postermuseum.pl

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

Museums, galleries and venues in Warsaw

APRIL 26 - MAY 8, 2011 LLAASSTT WWOORRDD www.wbj.pl 23

A bacon of hope in the darkness

Tech Eye

As we wrote last week, the doctorhas given Techeye an ultimatum –improve our diet or die. His exactwords were “you’d better eat better,or you’ll swell up like a milzwurst-addicted Bavarian hausfrau andwear man-dresses fashioned fromcurtain material for a few monthsbefore dying a gruesome, ham-relat-ed death.”

That got us thinking.There’s a certain allure tothe idea of leading ashort, fat life, andthere areworse wa-ys to gothan deathby tender-loin. In ad-dition, Tech-eye enjoys swe-ating on the fur-niture of our enemies.But obesity makes it dif-ficult to choose whosefurniture you do or don’tsweat on, and ourbeloved harpy wouldharangue us in the afterlife ifwe choked on her chorizo.

Thus we’re trying to improve ourdiet. Last week we discussed the lat-est in beverage-bettering technolo-gy, so this week the focus is on gadg-ets to improve our eating habits,although in truth the first item we’relooking into isn’t exactly a gadget,but rather a lifestyle fulfillmentproduct.

We’re talking about Fargginay’sBacōn Classic, a fragrance designedfor men and women who respect the

power of pork (www.farggi-n a y . c o m ) .

A n dsinceTech-

eye hasb e e n

orderedto eat healthy, thisseems like a great

way to have ourbacon and sniff it too.

Does Bacōn Classic actuallysmell like bacon? Well, the fragranceis apparently a mix of oils like berg-amot, orange, lime, grapefruit andguaiac wood, along with “two pinch-es of bacon salty goodness.” Sothere’s a hint of it in there, but it’snot as though you walk aroundsmelling like Sunday brunch all day,every day.

Fargginay’s eau de redoutable

cochon costs $36. Pick it up toremind yourself of your favorite saltysnack or make it a present for thatsweet Miss Piggy in your life.

Then there’s the Chew ChewTrain from UrbanTrend(www.urbantrendhk.com). It’s aThomas the Tank Engine clonewhich breaks down into a cup, twoplates, eating utensils and a littlebowl and it’s available on Amazonfor a little over $20.

Yes, it’s meant for kids, but thetrain works for a dieting adultbecause its plates hold kid-sizedportions, making it harder to

overeat. And, let’s face it, there’ssomething pretty cool about chewchew chewing your way out ofDeath’s clutches.

The final item we’re showcasingthis week brings together two ofAmerica’s greatest loves –condiments and firearms.The Condiment Gun(www.firebox.com) proba-bly won’t lower ourcholesterol levels,but a pull of thetrigger will liven upwhatever nutritiousmush the doctor pre-scribes.

The gun comes with cartridgeswhich are color-coded for ketchupand mustard, although you can cer-tainly substitute other condiments ifyou’re feeling especially saucy. Andits maker notes that the CondimentGun delivers its contents “in anaccurate stream, so you won’t haveto worry about inadvertently drown-ing your beautifully cooked nosh.”

Like the Chew Chew Train, thisis most easily obtained throughAmazon, where it retails for $20(Firebox has it for £14.99). And, likethe Train, it’s more than a littlechildish. But hey, if playing with ourfood keeps the doctor away, we’reall for it. ●

Ever sweat on the furniture of your enemies? Let us know: techeye@wbj.pl

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

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