VOLUME 17, NUMBER 14 • APRIL 11-17, 2011 . z∏.12.50 (VAT 8% included) . ISSN 1233 7889 INDEX-RUCH-332-127

OOppeenn ttoo aaccqquuiissiittiioonnssFollowing its successful IPO, Open Finance

is looking to expand through M&A deals 7

Since 1994 . Poland’s only business weekly in English

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The cost of livingFood prices are on the rise

and the opposition says the

government is to blame

FFuueelliinngg ssppeeccuullaattiioonnA whopping 5.3 trillion cubic meters of

shale gas could lie beneath Poland 3

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WBJ launched its

latest publication,

Made in Poland

Games-maker CD Projekt

makes an ambitous return to

the world of “The Witcher”

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

Industry News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5

Markets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6

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

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

Business Environment . . . . . . . . .10

Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11

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

Made in Poland Conference . . . . .14

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

The List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20

Company Focus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21

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

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

In this issue

REAL ESTATELokale Immobilia

• JWC’s Nowa Dana

• K´pa Mieszczaƒska

• Platinium’s permit

15-18

The dragon andthe eagleChina's ambassador to

Poland, Sun Yuxi,

weighs in on bilateral

trade and political ties

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

Security companies

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A GUIDE TOPOLISH EXPORT

For advertising and promotion opportunities contact:Agnieszka Brejwo: abrejwo@wbj.pl; (+48) 639-85-68, ext. 226

w i l l h i t s h e l v e s i n A p r i l 2 0 1 1 !

Polish? Silesian? “Camouflaged”

German? There’s a hot debate

on national identity

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APRIL 11-17, 2011NNEEWWSS2 www.wbj.pl

Portugal

requests

bailout

Months of fears have now

become reality: Portugal

has asked the EU for a

bailout to salvage its

financial system.

European finance

ministers met last Friday

and said that an

estimated €80 rescue

package negotiated with

the IMF, the European

Central Bank and

Portugal’s main political

parties should be ready

by mid-May. The bailout

will be contingent on

“ambitious” reforms and

austerity measures.

Polls point to

heated race

Only eight percentage

points separate the two

largest parties in

Poland’s parliament,

according to the latest

SMG/KRC poll. The ruling

Civic Platform (PO) party

had the support of 37% of

those polled, and its main

rival, Law and Justice,

had 29%. The Democratic

Left Alliance, meanwhile,

came in third with 11%

support. PO’s junior

coalition partner, the

Polish People’s Party,

polled at just four

percent. Five percent is

the threshold needed to

enter parliament.

Record

remittances in

2011?Money sent home by Poles

working abroad may hit a

new record this year as an

additional 500,000 are

expected to look for jobs in

Germany after the country

opens its job market on

May 1. Those already

working in that country

wire €100 million a month

to their home country.

Some experts predict that

more than €5.2 billion (the

previous record, from

2007) will be transferred

to Poland this year.

President inks

pension reform

President Bronis∏aw

Komorowski has signed

the pension reform bill

which the government has

been working on for

months. The reform will

see private pension funds

(OFEs) receive 2.3% of

workers’ salaries as

opposed to the 7.3% which

is currently paid into its

accounts. This amount will

rise to 3.5% by 2017. The

reform will take effect on

May 1. ●

Agencja “Komandos” ..............20

Agencja

Ochrony Mienia “Matpol” ........20

Agencja Ochrony Osób i Mienia

Zubrzycki ..................................20

Agencja Ochrony Osób i Mienia

Guard-Service ..........................20

AIG/Lincoln Polska ..................17

Atari............................................21

Atelier 3 Girtler & Girtler ........17

AVD ............................................23

Best Western ............................16

Blackstone Group ....................18

Blackstone Real Estate ..........18

British Polish

Chamber of Commerce ..........12

C&A............................................17

Carrefour ..................................18

CD Projekt ................................21

China Overseas

Engineering Group ....................8

City Security Group ..................20

CMP Group................................16

Colliers International ..............17

Cropp ........................................16

Dekra

Construction Management ....16

Develop Investment..................16

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

DM BZ WBK SA ........................6

Dolcan........................................18

Echo Investment ......................16

Ericpol Telecom........................14

Ericsson ....................................14

Europejski Fundusz

Hipoteczny ................................17

G4S ............................................20

Getin Noble Bank ......................7

Goodman Group ......................16

Grupa 5 Architekci....................15

Grupa EKOTRADE ....................20

Grupa HUNTERS......................20

Grupa Solid................................20

Gustaw Securitas System........20

H&M ..........................................17

Hines..........................................15

Honda ........................................23

House ........................................16

Impel Security Polska..............20

Jastrz´bska

Spó∏ka W´glowa ........................5

Justice Holdings ........................7

JW Construction ......................15

Jysk ............................................18

K2 Internet ................................15

KGHM ..........................................6

Koga ..........................................23

Konsalnet SA ............................20

LandesBank Berlin ..................15

Leroy Merlin ..............................18

Lot ................................................5

LPP ............................................16

MarcPol ....................................17

Marks & Spencer ....................18

MARMA Group ..........................16

McDonald’s................................18

Media Expert ............................18

Mermaid Properties ................15

Metropolis..................................21

Military Property Agency..........16

Miller, Canfield, W. Babicki, A.

Chelchowski & Partners ........13

MOFO Architekci ......................16

Mohito ........................................16

Multikino....................................17

Open Finance ..............................7

Optimus ....................................21

P. Dussmann ............................20

PKO BP..................................7, 10

PKO TFI......................................21

Police ..........................................6

Polish

Chamber of Commerce ..........14

Polkomtel ....................................5

Prestige Hotels & Resorts ........5

PricewaterhouseCoopers..........7

Progress II ................................18

Progress III ................................18

ProLogis ....................................17

PUHIT ........................................16

Rank Progress ..........................18

Reserved..............................16, 17

Rhenus Contract Logistics......17

Robyg ........................................17

RTV Euro AGD ..........................17

Securitas Group........................20

SMG/KRC ....................................2

Starcom ....................................15

Tate & Lyle PLC ........................15

TMS Brokers ..............................7

UniCredit Group..........................5

Warsaw Stock

Exchange ........................7, 17, 21

Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN 15

X-Trade Brokers Dom Maklerski

SA ................................................6

Zara............................................17

Zizia ............................................18

European Parliament Presi-dent Jerzy Buzek last weekcriticized a number of PolishMEPs who, it had beenrevealed, were signing atten-dance lists at the meetings ofthe Sejm’s European UnionAffairs Committee and thendisappearing immediately orremaining for just a shortwhile.

The European Parliamentis paying the MEPs €304 perday of work at the committee.TV broadcaster TVN24 pub-lished news that Polish MEPsof various party affiliationswere collecting payment eventhough they do not dischargetheir duties properly.

In an interview with the sta-tion, Mr Buzek described suchbehavior as reprehensible butrare. He stressed that theMEPs’ ability to participate inthe committee meetings was

crucial for the exchange of dif-ferent views. “The majority ofMEPs make use of it and workvery hard and honestly,” MrBuzek said.

The European Parliamentpresident added that he want-ed the European Parliament toadopt a code of best practiceswhich would specify the dutiesof MEPs and state how, in anhonest and transparent man-ner, they should fulfill them.

It is not the first time inrecent weeks that Mr Buzekhas had to deal with ethicalstandards in the EuropeanParliament. In March, Britishnewspaper The Sunday Timesalleged that a number ofMEPs from countries such asAustria, Romania, Sloveniaand Spain had agreed to pro-pose amendments in returnfor money. They were ex-posed when approached by

journalists posing as lobbyists.The controversy, which is

now being investigated by EUofficials, doubtlessly poses amajor challenge for Mr Buzek.The Sunday Times’ sting mayprove one of the biggest cor-ruption scandals in the historyof the European Parliamentand has already resulted in theresignation of two of theMEPs involved.

Born in 1940 in Smilovice(which is today in the CzechRepublic), Mr Buzek hasbeen president of the Euro-pean Parliament since July2009. A professor of technicalsciences, he started his politi-cal career in the anti-commu-nist movement in the 1980s.In 1997, Mr Buzek was elect-ed to the Sejm and served asprime minister of Polandfrom 1997-2001.

AAddaamm ZZddrrooddoowwsskkii

5.3 trillion m3

of shale gas may lie beneath Poland, according to the

US Energy Information Administration

2014-2015 is the earliest a serious discussion could start on

Poland joining the euro zone, according to

Prime Minister Donald Tusk

z∏.6.5 billion was the National Bank of Poland’s net profit in 2010

z∏.1 billion is how much Poles spend on dance lessons each year,

according to Dziennik – Gazeta Prawna

“I told [her] that Leszek had gone to SouthAmerica”

Jaros∏aw Kaczyƒski tells Wirtualna Polska how he avoided telling his sick

mother about the death of his twin, President Lech Kaczyƒski

Quote of the Week

A nation within the nation?

Are Silesian and Polish identities incompatible? Lawand Justice leader Jaros∏aw Kaczyƒski seems tothink so. WBJ.pl takes a look at this complicateddebate on national identity. Log on to learn moreabout the history of southwestern Poland and why itsinhabitants might describe themselves as Silesian.

On WBJ.pl

Numbers in the News

Company index

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11-12 SALES CONGRESSEvent: Kongres Sprzeda˝ – the conference will look

to find solutions for the biggest issues thatsales executives are facing. Location: HotelSheraton, Warsaw. kongressprzedaz.pl

13 PRCH BUSINESS MIXEREvent: An opportunity to exchange business experi-

ences and contacts among 150 companiesbrought together through the Polish Councilof Shopping Centres. Location:Villa Foksal,Warsaw. prch.org.pl

13 INFLATION Event: Central Statistical Office releases inflation

data for March

13 CURRENT ACCOUNTEvent: National Bank of Poland releases current

account data for February

18 WAGESEvent: Central Statistical Office releases corporate

wages and employment data for March

19 INDUSTRIAL OUTPUTEvent: Central Statistical Office releases industrial

output and producer prices data for March

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

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

April/May

DATELINE

Jerzy BuzekIN THE SPOTLIGHT

Figures in focus

IP improvement

Intellectual property crimes in Poland (number of initial

proceedings launched) by type, 2006-2010

Source: Polish National Police

APRIL 11-17, 2011 NNEEWWSS www.wbj.pl 3

Politics

Kaczyƒski takes on ‘Silesianness’The leader of Poland’slargest oppositionparty is concernedabout “camouflagedGermanness”Law and Justice (PiS) leaderJaros∏aw Kaczyƒski hasjumped headfirst into a debateon national identity centeredaround Silesia.

The Silesia region, whichlies mostly in the southwesternpart of the country, has a com-plicated history. Most of its his-torical area is now located inPoland, with smaller parts in theCzech Republic and Germany,but at various points in time itfell under the dominion of Ger-manic kingdoms.

Many in the region wereangered by PiS’s recentlyreleased “Report on the Stateof the Republic,” which statedthat declaring “Silesianness”in this year’s census “is simplya way of cutting off your iden-tity from [‘Polishness’]” and isprobably “a camouflaged Ger-man option.”

Asked about the passage bythe press, Mr Kaczyƒski didn’tback down. He said that thosewho would claim to be part ofa “Silesian nation” were, in hisopinion, making a “camou-flaged” declaration of Ger-manness.

PiS’s leader singled out theSilesian Autonomy Movement

(RAS) and its leader, JerzyGorzelik, as examples.

Speaking to Tok FM, MrGorzelik later countered thatPiS should consider changingits name to NPD, alluding to afar-right German party. Headded, “Kaczyƒski’s party hasreached the same level as thatnationalist, German faction.”

Mr Gorzelik also claimednot to be offended by accusa-tions of Germanness, because“Germanness is nothing bad.”However, he did take offenseto Mr Kaczyƒski’s accusationsthat those who identifiedthemselves as Silesian are de-facto identifying as German.

There have since been callsfor Mr Kaczyƒski to apologizeto Silesians, but he has refusedto do so.

RAS was created in 1990and its stated aim is greaterautonomy for the Silesianregion. It also says on its web-site that Silesians have theright to declare Silesiannationality. To support itsargument, it notes that in theUnited Kingdom’s census it ispossible to declare a “Sile-sian” nationality.

In the last Polish nationalcensus held in 2002, over173,000 people declared them-selves to be Silesian nationals.From April 1 to June 30 thisyear, Poland will hold its firstcensus since joining the Euro-pean Union and there arereports that some Poles willdeclare themselves Silesianjust to spite Mr Kaczyƒski.

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Camouflaged Germans?

Debt and deficit

National Bank of Poland nets

z∏.6.5 billion profit in 2010Some 95 percent ofthat will be spent onrepairing the state’sbattered finances

The National Bank of Polandbooked a 2010 net profit ofz∏.6.5 billion, most of whichwill go towards reducing thedeficit and public debt.

According to Polish law, 95percent of the NBP’s profit ispaid into the state’s coffers.The remaining five percent issiphoned off to a reserve fund.

“Income from the NBP willonly be used to lower publicdebt and reduce the deficit,”Finance Minister Jacek Ros-towski told the press soon afterthe NBP revealed its 2010 tak-ings.

In its budget for 2011, thegovernment had predicted azl.1.7 billion payment fromthe NBP’s 2010 profits. Itturns out, however, that thestate will instead receive awindfall sum of around z∏.6.2billion.

Asked by reporters why themoney is not being puttowards investments, as anumber of opposition partiessay it should be, Mr Rostowskireplied that the country isalready investing heavily inroad infrastructure and that itwill invest a significant amount

of money in science and highereducation in 2012.

“But it will not be with[NBP] money,” he said. “Thebest way to achieve the rapiddevelopment of Poland is torepair the public finances assoon as possible.”

Indeed, some are con-cerned that Poland’s debt-to-GDP ratio could cross the 55percent threshold. Once thatlevel is breached, legallymandated austerity measurescome into play. Poland’spublic debt stood at z∏.748.5billion last year according to

government statistics, whichput it at 53 percent of eco-nomic output.

Mr Rostowski also reiterat-ed earlier comments that thisyear and next Poland would bethe leader in Europe when itcomes to repairing publicfinances, adding that moneyfrom the NBP would provide a“useful boost” to help achievethis aim.

The NBP will transfer themoney once the governmenthas approved the bank’s finan-cial statements.

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Money from the NBP will provide a helpful z∏.6.2 billion

boost to public finances

Shale gas

PPoollaanndd ssiittttiinngg oonn mmaassssiivvee ggaass rreesseerrvveess??A new estimatesuggests the nationmay have nearly twiceas much shale gas aspreviously thought

It was already common knowl-edge that Poland’s potentialshale gas reserves could be agame-changer for the country,but a new estimate from theUnited States’ Energy Infor-mation Administration (EIA)has raised the bar again.

Unconventional resourcesconsultancy Advanced Re-sources International had pre-viously put Poland’s maximumshale gas reserves at three tril-lion cubic meters, but theEIA’s most recent analysis sug-gests 5.3 trillion cubic metersof shale gas could be presentbeneath the country.

Poland’s annual gas con-sumption amounts to 14 billioncubic meters at present, mean-ing the reserves could supplythe country’s needs for 300years.

But Henryk Jacek Jeziers-ki, Poland’s chief nationalgeologist, has warned againstover-optimism. He empha-sized that the American study

was still prelimi-nary.

“The next stepin determining thesize of Polish[reserves] are theresults of the USGeological Surveyand the Polish Geo-logical Institute,which will probablybe published inSeptember,” MrBudzanowski saidin a statement pub-lished on the PolishEnvironment Min-istry’s website. Andeven those figureswill be an approxi-mation, he added.Reliable data canonly be gathered onthe basis of explo-ration, a broad pic-ture of which willnot be clear for afew more years.

Positive projectionsNonetheless, the EIA’s reportplaces Poland as a clear leaderwhen it comes to shale gasreserves in Europe, with onlyFrance estimated to possess

similar levels. And given Poland’s con-

cerns regarding energy securi-ty (it is currently dependent onRussian gas) and public opin-ion’s generally positive view of

mining, the country has amuch friendlier social andpolitical environment for thedevelopment of the shale gasindustry, noted ErnestWyciszkiewicz, an economic

relations andenergy securityexpert at the Pol-ish Institute ofI n t e r n a t i o n a lAffairs (PISM).

“Undertakingsrelative to shalegas in Europe arestill quite risky,and any kind ofnews that thepotential shalereserves are big-ger than expectedis great news forinvestors, as wellas for the Polishadministrat ionand policymak-ers,” said MrWyciszkiewicz.

On the onehand, reports ofpotentially largerreserves are likelyto influence theinvestment strate-gies of companiesinterested in the

Polish market. On the otherhand, it might provide anincentive for the governmentto accelerate the building of aproper regulatory and legalframework for this potential

new sector, Mr Wyciszkiewiczsuggested.

Other steps needed toencourage investment includethe improvement of access toexploration equipment such asdrilling rigs, the establishmentof interconnectors to othernational gas pipeline systemsand, eventually, deregulationof the energy market so thatnew players can get directaccess to end consumers.

“For now we are still in theexploration phase, but it isimportant that companiesinterested in investing be surethat the market will be acces-sible for them,” commentedthe PISM expert.

The EIA report singles outthree regions in Poland thatappear favorable for shale gasexploration: the Baltic regionin the north, Lublin in thesouth, and Podlasie in theeast.

The Environment Ministryhas so far granted 85 conces-sions for shale gas explo-ration. Polish gas monopolistPGNiG and US firm LaneEnergy have recently madepromising progress in thePomorze region in the north.

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Enthusiasm for shale gas could make drilling rigs a common sight in Poland

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APRIL 11-17, 2011NNEEWWSS4 www.wbj.pl

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Poland to grow by 365 hectares?The Czech Republic is dis-cussing a plan to hand back365 hectares of land to Poland,but the question of exactlywhich land is controversial.

The land debt dates fromthe late 1950s, when Polandand Czechoslovakia shiftedtheir borders. At the time, thelatter received more land thanit gave up – 368.44 ha more, tobe precise.

The border between thetwo countries stretches 796km, touching five regions onthe Czech side and three

voivodships on the Polish side.According to information fromthe Polish Press Agency (PAP),the Czech Ministry of the Inte-rior has suggested handingover land located in theLiberec region between Âwier-adów and Bogatynia in theWestern Sudetes mountains.The area borders Poland’sLower Silesia voivodship.

However, PAP cited localCzech officials upset with thenational government’s plan.They complained, for exam-ple, that it would be unjust to

take land from what is alreadythe Czech Republic’s smallestregion.

Polish officials, for theirpart, note that the proposal isstill in the initial stages.

A Polish-Czech BorderCommission has been dealingwith the matter since the early1990s, but despite severalattempts, no resolution hasbeen achieved to date. Thelast attempt, in 2008, wouldhave seen the transfer of 370hectares.

EEBBBB

Support for euro at record lowSupport for the euro in Polandhas hit a record low of 32 per-cent, a poll published byCBOS last week indicated.Conversely, opposition to theeuro has reached 60 percent,up 11 percentage points sincelast year.

There are three main rea-sons for this drop, according toMiros∏awa Grabowska, headof CBOS.

“Firstly in 2009 and 2010,society heard a lot of bad newsabout the economic conditionsin the euro zone, so peoplehave started wonderingwhether it is beneficial forPoland to adopt the euro ornot,” she said.

“Secondly, society hasalways feared higher pricesafter the adoption of theeuro. And with prices risingrapidly in z∏oty now, that fearhas multiplied,” Ms Gra-bowska said. The third rea-son, she concluded, is thatthe government hasn’t main-tained a coherent stance onthe euro or a clear calendarfor joining the euro zone,and this further served toconfuse people.

Back in 2008, Prime Min-ister Donald Tusk’s govern-ment had set 2011-2012 as itstarget date for joining theeuro. Not long after, theglobal financial crisis hit and

the government quicklydropped its adoption plan. Ithas since been coy on thematter.

Speaking last week toOnet.pl, the prime ministernoted that Poland doesn’tmeet the Maastricht criteria atthe moment and that 2014 or2015 would be the soonestpoint at which the countrycould “seriously discuss”entering the euro zone.

Mr Tusk has previously alsosaid that the euro zone needsto sort out its current mem-bers’ financial woes beforePoland will consider adoptingthe common currency.

RRAA

Anniversary of the Smolensk tragedy

CCoonnttiinnuuiinngg aaccrriimmoonnyyOne year after thedeath of PresidentKaczyƒski, his brotherstill blames the gov’tfor the tragedy

Law and Justice (PiS) leaderJaros∏aw Kaczyƒski did therounds in the media last weekin the run up to the firstanniversary of the Smolenskcatastrophe.

In an interview for weeklyWprost, Mr Kaczyƒski said hewould be in mourning for therest of his life and that hewould never accept the loss ofhis brother. He even appearedon TVN24, a TV station whichhe and his party colleaguesharshly criticize for its “viciousattacks” on Law and Justice.

Asked what kind of atmos-phere he wanted surroundingthe anniversary of the tragedy,Mr Kaczyƒski said he wantedeverything to go “calmly.”However, he also refused torule out the possibility hisbrother had been assassinatedand reiterated previous claimsthat Prime Minister DonaldTusk, President Bronis∏awKomorowski and other mem-bers of government bear a“moral responsibility” for thecatastrophe.

“Yes, I still say that themoral responsibility for thecatastrophe lies with thosepoliticians, among others,” MrKaczyƒski said. “Rememberthat the campaign against mybrother led to the separate vis-its [to Smolensk by the PMand the president] and to thelowering of security standardsregarding my brother’s visit,”said Jaros∏aw Kaczyƒski, allud-ing to his belief that the gov-ernment worked to marginal-ize the former president.

President Kaczyƒski wasnot officially invited by the

Russians last year to mark theanniversary of the infamousKatyƒ massacre, which led tohis tragic flight a few days afterPM Tusk, who had received aninvitation, attended a com-memoration and service.

As WBJ went to press,Jaros∏aw Kaczyƒski wasexpected to play a central rolein commemoration eventsover the weekend. Fourdemonstrations had been reg-istered for Sunday by commit-tees aligned with the Law andJustice party.

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Jaros∏aw Kaczyƒski believes the government bears a

“moral responsibility” for the Smolensk crash

APRIL 11-17, 2011 IINNDDUUSSTTRRYY NNEEWWSS www.wbj.pl 5

The Plus operator’snet profit was up, butits number ofsubscribers stagnated

Poland’s number-two mobileoperator Polkomtel hasreported a net profit of z∏.1.1billion for 2010, up 13 percenton the previous year. Thegroup, which operates mobilenetwork Plus, has said thatprofits would be redistributedentirely to shareholders beforethe sale of the company.

However, its subscribernumbers were less positive,with an annual gain of only 0.1percent. At the end of 2010,the operator had 14.056 mil-lion subscribers, compared to14.038 million in 2009.

According to Przemys∏awSawala-Uryasz, an analyst forUniCredit Group, the growthin net profit could boost thefirm’s value in the run-up tothe sale. But the stagnation insubscribers reflects the factthat the three major networks(Era, Plus and Orange) are inthe process of losing marketshare to smaller players (suchas Play).

“As the company is coming

up for sale, obviously it is cru-cial to provide valuation basedon the best figures that theycan possibly pull … but themost significant figures forstrategic investors are thenumber of subscribers,” hesaid.

Polkomtel’s sale, describedas Europe’s largest telecomsdeal in years, has been valuedat between z∏.16 billion andz∏.18 billion.

Whoever acquires Polkom-tel will get with it a third ofPoland’s large and highly satu-rated mobile market – a rareopportunity – and thereforethe lack of substantial growthin the number of subscribers

might be seen as less impor-tant by some buyers, MrSawala-Uryasz said.

Meanwhile the number ofbidders for a 100 percent stakein Polkomtel dropped fromseven to five last week,Polkomtel deputy CEOKrzysztof Kilian was reportedby Reuters as saying.

“Of all the companies thathave entered the shortlist, Iwould say that [Nordic opera-tor] TeliaSonera is one of themost important rivals to localinvestor Zygmunt Solorz-˚ak,” said Mr Sawala-Uryasz.

Investors have until May 6to file their biding offers.

AAlliiccee TTrruuddeellllee

Telecoms

Polkomtel posts mixedresults in run-up to sale

Turbulence in NorthAfrica and the MiddleEast, combined withthe Polish presidencyof the EU may prove aboon for the tourismindustry

Poland should see a moderateincrease in the number oftourists this year, according tonew figures from the PolishInstitute of Tourism. Almost13 million people are expectedto visit Poland, compared to12.5 million in 2010.

This is still a far cry fromthe 16 million recorded in2007, but represents animprovement on the figure of12 million seen in 2009, aneight-year low.

Inbound tourism is forecastto generate $11.3 billion forthe Polish economy this year,up $1.1 billion on 2010.

As in previous years, Ger-mans are expected to form thebulk of foreign tourists, fol-lowed by Russians, Belaru-sians and Ukrainians. Around2.5 million Western Euro-peans (excluding Germans)are estimated to visit Polandthis year.

Recent events in NorthAfrica and the Middle Eastwill affect Poles’ travel habits

this year, but are unlikely tocause a major shift in inboundtourism to Poland.

“I don’t expect a very sub-stantial growth in the numberof visits from internationaltourists, because people whotravel to countries like Egyptor Tunisia are not the samegroup as those who choosePoland,” said Witold Bar-toszewicz, an expert from theInstitute of Tourism.

However, he expects morePoles to remain in the countrydue to international events.The Polish seaside is likely tosee a surge in activity, in hisopinion.

Krzysztof J´drocha, amember of the board at thePolish Prestige Hotels &Resorts group, which compris-es 37 high-end facilities acrossthe country, confirmed thatinterest in Polish summer

vacations was much greaterthan last year.

“We hope, like the wholehotel sector, that the situa-tion in the Mediterraneancan help Poland this year,”he said. “But I expect theincrease in activity to comefrom the business travel sec-tor rather than the leisuretravel.”

In his opinion, the Polishpresidency of the EU Coun-cil, which starts in July, willbring a lot of conferencesand business travel, poten-tially leading to a four to fivepercent increase in activity.But “normal” leisure travel-ers from Western Europe,where social and economicprospects are still uncertain,might not be ready to spendon international travel, MrJ´drocha concluded.

AAlliiccee TTrruuddeellllee

Inbound tourism

Tourism to pick up in 2011?

The combined net profits ofPolish coal mining companiesfor the January-February 2011period stood at z∏.412.4 mil-lion, according to preliminarydata from Poland’s IndustrialDevelopment Agency. The fig-ure is nearly seven times high-er than it was during the sameperiod of last year.

Coal production declinedby 4.7 percent y/y to 11.1 mil-lion metric tons, while salesrose by eight percent to 11.7

million tons. The strong fig-ures were in large part due tothe rising price of coal, whichgrew in value by over 18 per-cent over the period.

According to Deputy Econ-omy Minister Joanna Strzelec-¸obodziƒska, the current mar-ket situation offers a highlyfavorable moment for the IPOof state-owned Jastrz´bskaSpó∏ka W´glowa (JSW), theEU’s largest producer of cok-ing coal.

“Business cycles oftenchange in the coking coalindustry,” she was quoted bythe Polish Press Agency as say-ing. “If you’re going to priva-tize, it should be done when[the market] is peaking,” sheadded.

JSW’s IPO is scheduled forJune 30. Jaros∏aw Zagórowski,the coal miner’s president, hasestimated that the company isworth z∏.3-5 billion.

AAlliiccee TTrruuddeellllee

Coal miners see bumper profits

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The rising price of coal could boost revenues from JSW’s privatization

Lot suspends routes to Middle East

Poland’s flagship airline, Lot,has decided to suspend allflights to Egypt, Syria andLebanon in May and June.The airline cited unstablepolitical conditions as themain reason. Lot celebratedits inaugural flight to Beirut

last June, and flights to Cairoand Damascus began lastSeptember, but recent politi-cal instability has scared offmany travelers. Difficultieshave also arisen at Cairo’sairport because of limitednight flights. ●

2009 2010 Change (%)

Revenues 7.77 billion 7.67 billion -1.3%

EBITDA 2.67 billion 2.83 billion 6%

Net profit 980 million 1.11 billion 13.2%

Number of customers 14.03 million 14.05 million 0.1%

Source: Polkomtel

Sound (financial) signals

Polkomtel’s results for 2009 and 2010

Contact: Miros∏aw Stefanik

ms@pnplaw.pl

Legal News

BROUGHT TO YOU BY PETER NIELSEN & PARTNERS LAW OFFICE

Withdrawal of alcohol licensefound to be constitutionalOn April 5, the Constitutional Tribunalexamined a question raised by the Voivod-ship Administrative Court in Gdaƒsk relat-ed to alcohol licenses. The Tribunal decid-ed that it was constitutionally acceptableto void an entrepreneur’s alcohol license ifhis employee has sold alcohol to a minor,even if the entrepreneur has fulfilled allrequirements to ensure that employeesobserve the statutory prohibition of thesale of alcohol to minors.

The Tribunal decided that the principleof freedom of economic activity is notabsolute and may be restricted when itcomes to other values protected by theconstitution. In the opinion of the Tribunal,although license cancellation is a severemeasure against an entrepreneur, it is nec-essary to ensure that minors are not soldalcohol.

New consumer credit rulesOn April 1, the Sejm approved changes tothe Act on Consumer Credit. Among otherthings, the changes provide for an exten-sion of the period in which it is possible towithdraw from an agreement. Currently theperiod is 10 days; it will be increased to 14.

The Act will be applicable for all finan-cial institutions, including co-operativesavings and credit unions (SKOKs), andalso with respect to the evaluation of con-

sumers’ creditworthiness. The draft Actalso introduces a unified credit formwhich will include basic information oncredit and its costs. This in turn shouldmake it easier for consumers to comparedifferent banks’ offers.

The legislation has now been sent tothe Senate.

European Commission on CO2emissionsOn March 29, the European Commissionadopted the so-called “derogation pack-age,” the Commission’s decision on howto allocate free greenhouse gas emissionallowances to eligible installations.

Ten member states, including Poland,will be able to allocate a limited number ofemissions credits to their power plantsinstead of selling them (this is the so-called derogation). The Commission hasestablished the rules which must beobserved by member states if they decideto allocate emissions credits to eligiblepower plants.

Recent attempts to soften the rulesgoverning allocation of greenhouse gasemission allowances for Polish entrepre-neurs, which are highly dependent on coaland emissions, have been to no avail. Themost disputed points were: the notion ofphysical initiation of an investment projectand the falling trajectory of freeallowances over the 2013-2020 period. ●

APRIL 11-17, 2011MMAARRKKEETTSS6 www.wbj.pl

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currency rates

The rally

goes on

Stocks report

Polish stocks last weekextended a recent rally andmajor WSE indices set newmulti-month highs. On Fri-day, some profit taking wasvisible after a strong openingand few hours of sidewaysmovement, but the overallWIG index still rose by nearlyone percent on the week andthe blue-chip WIG20 inchedup 0.9 percent.

The Polish Monetary Poli-cy Council decided to raisethe key interest rate by 25 bpslast week, to four percent.This was good news for thez∏oty, which appreciatedsharply in the second half ofthe week. A stronger z∏oty isusually positive for other Pol-ish assets and it probablyhelped to lift stocks.

Market breadth may be aconcern for some investors asmost of listed companiesunder-performed the indices,

which is a sign of a weak bullmarket. Chemicals, minersand oil companies were thebig winners last week.

Police was the top pickamong chemicals, althoughit’s hard to see why. I thinkchemicals are generally con-sidered a safe bet in Polandand many investors werelooking for opportunitiesamong those shares. Policesoared by 13 percent, whilePu∏awy, Azoty and Synthos allrose by eight percent.

KGHM was the best per-former among miners as wellas WIG20 constituents. Thefirm rose by nearly five per-cent on dividend expectationsand copper futures gains.Food firms and media stockswere the biggest laggards.

It was a good week forinvestors, but it looks likesome slides are likely in theupcoming days. ●

RPP hikes

interest rates

Currency report

The Polish Monetary PolicyCouncil (RPP) last weekhiked interest rates for thesecond time this year byanother 25 bps, bringing themain rate to four percent.

The z∏oty appreciated allweek, with the EUR/PLNdropping from z∏.4.02 toz∏.3.95, its monthly low. Dueto the weakness of the dollar,the USD/PLN reachedz∏.2.75 by Friday, the lowestlevel we’ve seen sinceNovember of 2010.

The z∏oty’s gains werealso due to a rally on stockmarkets, which continuedthroughout last week. Cor-rective movements on thestock market are currentlythe main danger, in terms ofdepreciation of the z∏oty inthe short term, as increasedrisk aversion might negative-ly affect the currency.

The EUR/USD also kept

climbing last week, breakingthe resistance level of$1.4280 and reaching $1.44,its highest level since January2010. The euro appreciateddespite unclear statementsfrom ECB head Jean-ClaudeTrichet during a press confer-ence after the central bankhiked interest rates.

As expected, the new ratein the euro zone is 1.25 per-cent, but there was no clearsignal from the ECB as towhether this is the beginningof a longer-term process.

The dollar failed to regainground as no statementsabout any monetary policytightening came from the USFed. We will have to wait fora series of good labor marketdata for the Fed to startthinking about rate hikes. Inthe meantime, the USD willneed good macro news fromthe economy to rebound. ●

Tomasz Jerzyk, technical analyst DM BZ WBK SA

Adam Narczewski, X-TradeBrokers Dom Maklerski SA

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Major indices

Top 5 Closing % change (week) 52-week high 52-week lowERG 1.35 42.11 1.56 0.72BIPROM 7.86 26.77 7.97 5.30PETROLINV 10.49 24.29 18.54 5.05PEPEES 0.85 23.19 0.88 0.44AVIASG 67.50 22.73 71.00 54.35

WIG 50,371.74 (April 7 closure)

Change for the week: 3.37% 52-week high: 50,371.74

Change year to April 7: 5.71% 52-week low: 39,109.37

Top 5 Closing % change (week) 52-week high 52-week lowLOTOS 47.95 8.61 48.50 28.05KGHM 194.10 7.71 194.10 88.50GETIN 15.29 7.68 15.29 9.35PKNORLEN 56.50 7.31 57.50 35.48CYFRPOLSAT 16.72 5.62 17.30 13.36

Bottom 5 Closing % change (week) 52-week high 52-week lowIGROUP 0.24 -14.29 1.33 0.22SIMPLE 14.87 -11.49 17.57 7.51WILBO 1.70 -10.53 2.85 1.70DROP 30.60 -10.00 43.00 24.00PEMUG 1.25 -9.42 1.90 1.02

Bottom 5 Closing % change (week) 52-week high 52-week lowPBG 176.00 -6.38 252.00 175.00CEZ 142.00 -2.47 148.80 118.70BZWBK 225.90 -0.35 227.00 179.00ASSECOPO 53.90 0.00 59.65 49.02TVN 18.17 0.17 19.31 15.95

WIG20 2,928.95 (April 7 closure)

Change for the week: 3.98% 52-week high: 2,928.95

Change year to April 7: 6.33% 52-week low: 2,270.13

mWIG40 2,987.72 (April 7 closure)

Change for the week: 2.58% 52-week high: 2,987.72

Change year to April 7: 6.41% 52-week low: 2,361.69

sWIG80 12,907.99 (April 7 closure)

Change for the week: 1.42% 52-week high: 12,907.99

Change year to April 7: 5.38% 52-week low: 10,980.45

NewConnect 57.97 (April 7 closure)

Change for the week: -0.51% 52-week high: 64.39

Change year to April 7: -8.58% 52-week low: 54.52

WIG-Banki 7,387.49 (April 7 closure)

Change for the week: 4.17% 52-week high: 7,387.49

Change year to April 7: 6.11% 52-week low: 5,751.39

DJIA12,409.49 (April 7 close)

0.55% (for the week)

CHANGE: 7.19%

(year to April 7)

52-week high: 12,423.00

52-week low: 9,596.04

NASDAQ2,796.14 (April 7 close)

0.45% (for the week)

CHANGE: 4.46%

(year to April 7)

52-week high: 2,840.51

52-week low: 2,061.14

S&P5001,333.51 (April 7 close)

0.47% (for the week)

CHANGE: 6.03%

(year to April 7)

52-week high: 1,344.07

52-week low: 1,010.91

FTSE1006,007.37 (April 7 close)

1.67% (for the week)

CHANGE: 1.82%

(year to April 7)

52-week high: 6,105.80

52-week low: 4,790.00

DAX7,178.78 (April 7 close)

1.64% (for the week)

CHANGE: 2.95%

(year to April 7)

52-week high: 7,441.82

52-week low: 5,607.68

NIKKEI2259,590.93 (April 7 close)

-1.68% (for the week)

CHANGE: -7.35%

(year to April 7)

52-week high: 11,408.20

52-week low: 8,227.63

world stock indices

11.0

3

14.0

3

15.0

3

16.0

3

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3

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3

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3

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29.0

3

30.0

3

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447,000

47,800

48,600

49,400

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51,00011

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14.0

3

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3

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3

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42,700

2,760

2,820

2,880

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11.0

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3

15.0

3

16.0

3

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3

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3

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3

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3

29.0

3

30.0

3

31.0

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01.0

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4

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42,800

2,840

2,880

2,920

2,960

3,000

11.0

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12,400

12,520

12,640

12,760

12,880

13,000

11.0

3

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28.0

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31.0

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4

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4

06.0

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07.0

457.0

57.4

57.8

58.2

58.6

59.0

11.0

3

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3

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3

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3

17.0

3

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3

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04.0

4

05.0

4

06.0

4

07.0

46,800

6,920

7,040

7,160

7,280

7,400

Other indices

APRIL 11-17, 2011 LLIISSTTEEDD FFIIRRMMSS www.wbj.pl 7

Banks

PKO BP looks to start fresh Its new logo and adcampaign areapparently bringing innew clients

Poland’s largest bank, PKOBP, is getting a makeover.With a new marketing cam-paign and newish logo, ithopes to revitalize its imageand draw in new clients.

According to its strategy,the bank will replace externaladvertising materials for its1,200 branches and around1,900 smaller outlets, as well asadjust its marketing materials.It has updated its iconic coin-bank logo, designed in 1967,although the changes arelargely cosmetic. And it hashired television personalitySzymon Majewski to serve asthe face of its new advertise-ment campaign.

All of this, PKO BP says,

was spurred by opinion sur-veys which indicated that itsimage “did not correspond toits market position or verygood financial results.” Thebank has something of a repu-tation as an “older person’sbank,” and is making a seriouseffort to woo younger clients,with special offers for studentsand under-30s.

The total cost of the revital-ization strategy hasn’t beenrevealed, but various mediasources have suggested Majew-ski’s two-year contract is worthz∏.3.3 million and that updatingthe décor of its branches andoutlets alone will cost the bankup to z∏.600 million. The firststage of the campaign isexpected to be completed bythe end of the year.

PKO BP is already claimingsuccess with its new ads.According to the bank’s data,

in the first three weeks of MrMajewski’s campaign, newsavings accounts grew byaround 25 percent y/y.

According to MaciejBaraƒski, an analyst from DomMaklerski BZ WBK, withinthe context of the Polish bank-ing market, PKO BP’s newdirection is a defensive moverather than the first volley of aprice war. He believes it will beeffective and expects it to helpthe bank attract new clients.

The news out of PKO BPwasn’t all sunny last week,however. Speaking at a pressevent concerning its newimage, bank president Zbig-niew Jagie∏∏o admitted thatthe cost/income ratio will beup to 45 percent this year.

A representative of PKOBP confirmed that figure, butrefused to discuss it further.

KKaattaarrzzyynnaa PPiiaasseecckkaa

The Warsaw Stock Exchangesaw the highest number of ini-tial public offerings of anyEuropean bourse during thefirst quarter of this year – 45.

“Despite an unfavorablesituation on European capitalmarkets, the first quarter wassuccessful for the Warsawexchange. The large numberof debuts was a positive sur-prise, especially since the firstquarter is historically the leastactive period for IPOs,”Tomasz Konieczny, a partnerin PricewaterhouseCoopers’capital markets team, com-mented in his firm’s latest“IPO Watch Europe” report.

The WSE’s Q1 success wasdue to a whopping 38 listingson its alternative market,

NewConnect. The LondonStock Exchange’s AIM marketsaw the next highest numberof IPOs among secondarymarkets, with just nine.

In terms of main floordebuts, the WSE was secondin Europe with seven, com-pared to the LSE’s 13.

Poland’s exchange account-ed for 47 percent of all Euro-pean listings in Q1, accordingto PwC’s research. But interms of value, it accountedfor just four percent of thetotal, while the LSE’s debutswere responsible for a robust61 percent.

United Kingdom-based in-vestment vehicle Justice Hold-ings was the largest debut ofQ1. Its €1.06 billion IPO was

held on the LSE. Meanwhile,TMS Brokers’ €21.4 milliondebut on NewConnect was thebiggest seen in Warsaw lastquarter.

The growth of the WarsawStock Exchange is expected tocontinue this year.

“We’re expecting a few bigIPOs on the WSE’s mainmarket in 2011 – and Jas-trz´bska Spó∏ka W´glowa’spublic offer is one of thoseplanned for the second quar-ter. Thanks to such offers,Warsaw should strengthen itsleading position in the Cen-tral and Eastern Europeanregion,” Jacek Socha, vicepresident for PwC in Poland,said in the report.

EEBBBB

The old ...

Euronext

Others

Luxembourg

Warsaw

Borsa Italiana

Deutsche Börse

Oslo

London

Value Number

8%4%

4%

6%

8%

23%

47%

2%4%4%

5%

8%

16%61%

The Q1 breakdown

Structure of the European IPO market by value and number of debuts, Q1 2011

Source: PricewaterhouseCoopers

Debuts

Open Finance IPO ‘successful’

The financialintermediary wants touse its takings forM&A deals

Open Finance, the largestfinancial intermediary inPoland, made its debut on theWarsaw Stock Exchange lastTuesday, earning some z∏.480million.

The company’s share pricewas set at z∏.18, but it saw a 6.1

percent increase, to z∏.19.1,after the start of trading. Itclosed the first day at z∏.18.41.

Around 24.7 millionshares were listed, over 80percent of which belonged toGetin Noble Bank, a lendercontrolled by one of Poland’srichest men, Leszek Czar-necki.

“The IPO was quite suc-cessful. I wouldn’t be toobothered about the share

price at the end of the firstday of trading,” said JanRekowski, director of IPOdepartment at brokerage firmDM BZ WBK.

“It’s normal that retailinvestors buy shares on the firstday only to sell them that sameday,” said Mr Rekowski, addingthat Open Finance had raised alot of cash from the debut.

The firm plans to use thefunds to diversify its revenuestreams, acquiring insurancefirms and investment funds. Italso plans to either take overor create a brokerage. OpenFinance is currently awaitingapproval from the FinancialSupervision Authority to allowit to complete a takeover ofinsurer Link4.

“We have decided to fol-low the lead of successfulmodels in Western Europeand expand our activities intonew business sectors,”Krzysztof Spyra, president ofOpen Finance, said in a state-ment.

Last year Open Financeearned a net profit of z∏.72.3million on revenues of z∏.320million, up from z∏.65.1 millionand z∏.267 million in 2009,respectively. Its stock closedlast Friday at z∏.18.90, up 2.66percent on the week.

RReemmii AAddeekkooyyaa

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Open Finance president Krzysztof Spyra at the WSE

... and the new

WSE top for IPOs in first quarter

APRIL 11-17, 20118 www.wbj.pl IINNTTEERRVVIIEEWW

Polish-Chinese relations

GGeettttiinngg oorriieenntteedd wwiitthh PPoollaannddSun Yuxi, Ambassadorto Poland for thePeople’s Republic ofChina, talks trade andpolitics with WarsawBusiness Journal

Ewa Boniecka: One of China’sbiggest construction compa-nies, COVEC, is building partof the A2 highway in Poland,the first project to be carriedout by a Chinese consortiumin an EU country. What’s yourtake on the venture?Sun Yuxi: Covec (ChinaOverseas Engineering Group)has engaged in a lot of bigprojects in developing coun-tries, yet this is the first time itis doing so in Europe. It is ahighly experienced consortiumincluding some other Chinesecompanies and it won the con-struction contract to build arelatively small 50 km of theA2 highway in Poland.

Covec is a company and myembassy is not involved in thecontract, but is obviously sup-porting them policy-wise. Butbusiness is business and Covecitself is overcoming some ear-lier difficulties in conductingwork. ... It took some time to

learn how to cooperate, due tocertain differences in manage-ment styles, language prob-lems and cultural differencesbetween Chinese and Polishworkers.

Yet Covec is now coveringits earlier losses and coopera-tion is developing very well. SoI think that this Chinese com-pany’s direct involvement indeveloping Poland’s infra-structure will be successful andcould open the way to othersuch ventures in the future.

How do you view the overalldevelopment of Polish-Chi-nese economic relations ?Polish-Chinese economic rela-tions are developing very welland offer promising prospects.In 2010, the volume of mutualtrade was $11 billion. Chineseimports from Poland increasedby 13 percent and Chineseexports to Poland grew by 26percent. So there is a big gap,and we are still trying to narrowit. Now the most important taskahead of us is to make ourmutual trade more balanced infavor of the Polish side.

I consider this an urgentgoal, so I organize Polish busi-ness trips to China to show the

potential of our huge market.We are already buying copperproducts from Poland, wemight buy more agriculturalproducts. But I think that Pol-ish exports to China shouldinclude something moresophisticated. For example,Poland produces very goodhelicopters, and these could besold to China.

We want to expand Chi-nese investment in Poland,

which in 2010 reached over$200 million. The Polish gov-ernment has privatizationplans, and we are interested inthose projects and our busi-nesspeople do research insome of these areas.

Secondly, Chinese compa-nies are interested in directcooperation in building Polishexpressways, railways, power

stations and in ventures deal-ing with the development ofrenewable energy.

China is now the world’s sec-ond-largest economy after theUnited States and beforeJapan. How do you see itsimpact on the global econo-my?China’s economy is developingvery quickly: in 2010 GDPgrowth reached 10 percent; in

2009 it was 9.7 percent. YetChinese GDP has grownsteadily over the last 30 yearsat around nine percent, so theroad to our present economicposition was not achievedovernight.

Now, due to the current,fast rate of its economicgrowth, China is making avalid contribution to the global

economy. Especially whenthere are international finan-cial crises, our high economicperformance helps to generatesome growth in various areasof the global economy.

It is time for us to thinkabout how to speed up theprocess of integrating the Chi-nese economy into the worldeconomy, and we are ready toparticipate in all efforts to helpthe global economy performbetter. China is active in suchgatherings as the G20 and G8,we are discussing globalfinance with the World Bank,the International MonetaryFund and other global finan-cial institutions.

Yet we believe that thepresent global economic orderis not ideal. It was created 50-60 years ago and is not respon-sive to the emerging chal-lenges. The global economicsituation has changed and wethink that we need somereconstruction, at least somereforms, in the world econom-ic order. And China is talkingabout this with some otherglobal economic players.

The huge trade imbalancethat you have with many

countries around the world,and the exacerbation of thisdue to your government’sdecision to keep the yuan arti-ficially low, has raised muchconcern in the US and amongother large economies. Howdo you view this issue?Well, competition in businessoccurs all over the world, andwe are discussing some issuesyou have mentioned with USand other countries. We areconcerned about the situationwhen we export more andimport less, but nowadays lotsof the sectors of Chinese manu-facturing are joint ventureswith foreign firms and theirexports increase these statistics.Yet we see our lack of tradebalance with other countries asa problem and during the twoor three years of the financialcrisis we have sent many tradedelegations to the US andEurope to make arrangementsto buy more and sell less.

So the figures of those lastyears show that while ourexport has increased by 31.3percent, import to China hasincreased by much more, by38.7 percent. The new trend isclear. We now have a fully openmarket economy, so there are

“We now have a fully open marketeconomy, so there are goodconditions to invest in our

country”

Warsaw Business Journal Group and the Polish Chamber of Com-merce, under the patronage of the Economy Ministry, have under-taken a new initiative called the Polish Export Promotion Program, aimed at promoting Polish exporters and their products abroad. Through this project we will shine a spotlight on Poland's export market, as well as the companies and products that it com-prises, and draw attention to their achievements.

The project will include:• Made in Poland – A guide to Polish export• Mister and Junior of Exports, a competition to award Poland’s

best exporting companies and export products – those which distinguish themselves by a high level of quality and innovation

• A gala, on June 14th 2011, at which the awards will be given out

To get more information about the project, please contactSales Director Agnieszka Brejwo at abrejwo@wbj.pl

APRIL 11-17, 2011 IINNTTEERRVVIIEEWW www.wbj.pl 9

good conditions to invest in ourcountry and to export moreproducts to China.

And how are you attractinginvestments and exporters?We are encouraging suchdevelopments by talking withgovernments, business organi-zations and exporters in vari-ous countries. In our internaleconomic policy, we are nowconcentrating on two maingoals. First, we are making amajor effort to reduce thegreat developmental dispari-ties between various parts ofthe country and to attractmore business to poorer areas.Second, over the next fiveyears we want to developcleaner energy, reduce thepresent level of energy con-sumption and make our wholeeconomic development moreenvironmental friendly.

So we need to import newtechnologies and to buy moresophisticated products fromabroad. This situation offersexcellent an opportunity forour economic partners toincrease their export to Chinaand reduce the trade deficitswhich they have in their rela-tions with us.

How are China’s relationswith the European Union?China and the EuropeanUnion established a compre-hensive strategic partnershipin 2003 and since then we havebuilt close political and eco-nomic relations with the EU.We invest a lot in the EU andwe want to invest more. Wehave investments in all areas,and we are now investing also

in some EU debt obligations,state bonds and treasury bondsin Greece, Spain and Ireland.This is a purely economic, apo-litical activity.

Yet economic might has politi-cal consequences, so how isyour economic might influenc-ing your foreign policy? Thereare some opinions in the Westthat China is deliberately play-ing down its political role inthe world – what is your view?Our political purpose is toimprove the lives our morethan one billion people. So weneed to maintain peace andstability inside and outsideChina. Therefore our foreignpolicy and our political activi-ties in the world are mainlyconcerned with maintainingpeace and stability.

So when questions ariseabout the situation in Iran, theKorean Peninsula,Afghanistan and some of theworld’s other hot spots, wewant to have the politicalmeans to deal with those prob-lems. ... We are willing tocooperate with the US, Russiaand other countries to findpolitical measures to resolvedifficult global problems.

And contrary to theWestern opinions you havementioned, we are not playingdown China’s political role inthe world. We are not usingour “economic might,” as youcall it, to play our role. We arefully aware that we are still adeveloping country in which –according to UN statistics –150 million people live inpoverty. That means that 12percent of our population is

still living in poverty and thatChinese economic develop-ment is very much unbalanced.

So others may have all kindsof opinions about our role, butI strongly advise anyone whowants to know and understandChina to go there and see howthe people live and how theylook at the world.

And what’s your take on thecurrent state of Chinese-Pol-ish political and cultural rela-tions?China and Poland have closepolitical relations and in 2004during the visit of our presi-dent in Poland an agreementon friendly and cooperativepartnership was signed. Cul-tural ties are also strong: manyChinese troupes perform inPoland and during the 200th

anniversary of Chopin’s birththere were a lot of Polish cul-tural events in China.

We have opened four Con-fucius Institutes in Polish uni-versities where the Chineselanguage and culture arethought and in China two uni-versities have Polish languagedepartments. One of them isin my home town of Harbin.

What I regret is that thereis such a small touristexchange between our coun-tries. While 60 million Chinesevisit other countries aroundthe world every year, only20,000 come to Poland. I havethe ambition to increase thelevel of our mutual tourism, Iencourage cooperation be-tween our travels offices and Ibelieve that our mutualtourism will grow in the nextfew years. ●

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Ambassador Sun Yuxi wants to increase Chinese tourism to Poland

APRIL 11-17, 201110 www.wbj.pl BBUUSSIINNEESSSS EENNVVIIRROONNMMEENNTT

Continued fears aboutrising inflation helpedprompt the decision

Poland’s rate-setting MonetaryPolicy Council (RPP) decidedto raise the country’s maininterest rate for the secondtime this year to help combatrising inflation. The decision,made last week, was in linewith market expectations.

The RPP hiked the head-line interest rate by 0.25 per-centage points to four percent.

In explaining its decision,the body cited the relativelyrobust expansion of the econo-my and recent above-targetinflation rate figures. It addedthat by raising rates it was con-tinuing the monetary policytightening cycle.

“Data on the Polish econo-my signal that in the first quar-ter of 2011 the annual growthrate of GDP could be close tothe [4.4 percent figure whichwas] observed in the previousquarter,” the report reads.

The RPP also pointed outthat February CPI inflation,which stood at 3.6 percent, wasabove the National Bank ofPoland’s inflation target of 2.5percent. Rising food and fuelprices have caused inflation torise in economies around theworld, giving rate-setting bod-

ies like the RPP plenty of foodfor thought.

“To reduce the risk of infla-tion running above the infla-tion target in the medium termthe Council decided to raisethe NBP interest rates,” theRPP explained. “Core infla-tion increased further, whileinflation expectations rosemarkedly,” it added.

Although many analystsexpect the RPP to continueraising rates this year and next,Marek Belka, the head of theNBP, has said that markets arepricing in too much tighteningfor this year compared with hisown expectations.

Nevertheless, Nordea Bank

still expects three more hikesthis year and more in 2012.

“Interest rates are still toolow given the economic recov-ery and the normal growthrates of around four percentexpected in both 2011 and2012. Also core inflation,which has started to trendupwards and will most likelycontinue rising in the comingmonths, justifies higher rates,”the bank’s researchers wrote.

In addition to the referencerate hike, the RPP hiked thelombard rate to 5.50 percenton an annual basis, the depositrate to 2.5 percent and the re-discount rate to 4.25 percent.

GGaarreetthh PPrriiccee

Interest rates

RPP hikes rates again Quoting anonymous sources,Reuters reported last weekthat estimates made by thePolish Central StatisticalOffice (GUS) suggest thatPoland’s GDP grew by aboutfour percent in Q1.

That figure is in line withmost expectations, thoughbank BZ WBK noted that itsforecast was slightly higher, at4.2 percent. GUS is expectedto publish the official data onMay 31.

Last week Q4 2010 GDPgrowth for the euro zone waspublished and was in line withexpectations at 2 percent year-on-year and 0.3 percent quar-ter-on-quarter.

AAKK

Poland’s Q1 GDP growth at 4%

The Consumer ConfidenceIndex (CCI), which shows thedegree of optimism that con-sumers feel about the overallstate of the economy,dropped by 10 points to 76.2in March, marking the largestdecline in the CCI in twoyears.

Observers attributed thedrop to the turmoil in NorthAfrica and the Middle East,

the earthquake in Japan andto fears concerning the gov-ernment’s plan to transfersome OFE (private pension)funds to the state-owned socialsecurity institution, ZUS.

The latter point has report-edly upset retirees, and, at thesame time, has made con-sumers more aware of thepoor condition of the state’sfinances. GGPP

Polish consumer

confidence drops

The government approved itsmain guidelines for the 2012budget. It expects the econo-my to expand by four percent,annual inflation to reach 2.8percent and unemployment tohit 10 percent by year-end.

Analysts from bank PKO

BP described the guidelines asrealistic. According to thebank’s base scenario, GDPgrowth will pass the four per-cent y/y mark, with a strongerincrease in employment in thenational economy and a lowerlevel of unemployment. AAKK

Government approves

2012 budget guidelines

1.00

1.75

2.50

3.25

4.00

Feb 20

11

Jan 20

11

Dec 20

10

Nov 20

10

Oct 2010

Sept 2

010

Aug 20

10

July 20

10

June 2

010

May 20

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Feb 20

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Rising tide

Consumer price inflation for 2010 and 2011, in y/y percentage

change

Source: National Bank of Poland

Privatizationrevenuescould topz∏.10 billionin 2012The Polish government couldearn more than z∏.10 billionfrom privatization revenuesin 2012, Treasury MinisterAleksander Grad said lastweek.

“Preliminarily, we areexpecting some z∏.10 billion ...After more careful analysis, thevalue could rise,” he told RadioPiN. Poland aims to make z∏.15billion from the sale of state-held assets this year. The sale ofminer Jastrz´bska Spó∏kaW´glowa is expected to providea seizable portion of this.

According to Mr Grad, theTreasury expects to earnbetween z∏.3.3 billion and“more than z∏.4 billion” in divi-dends paid out from state-owned firms’ 2010 net profits.

GGPP

APRIL 11-17, 2011 OOPPIINNIIOONN www.wbj.pl 11

Joanna Wóycicka

I ’m probably going to take someheat for this article, so let me startwith this statement: I have never

used narcotics and have never evensmoked a joint. I have no emotionalor historical attachment to marijua-na, yet I feel strongly that Polandshould legalize it and use the oppor-tunity to reduce VAT.

Why discuss this now? Well, twoweeks ago Poland’s parliamentpassed an amendment to the law oncombating drug addiction. It miti-gates the absurd provision that crimi-nalizes the possession of even smallquantities of narcotics for personaluse.

Parenting from parliamentOpposition party Law and Justice(PiS) railed against this change, claim-ing that it would lead to the legaliza-tion of marijuana, one of the standarddemands of the left and liberals.

“Speaking as a moth-er, I ask you to withdrawthis law which is harmfulfor our children,” saidan impassioned BeataKempa, a PiS MP.

I too am a mother,but I would not make asimilar appeal. It’s nosecret that if somebodyis looking for marijuanain Poland, they won’thave too much troublefinding it.

If Ms Kempa wereto simply ask her chil-dren, then she wouldprobably find out whosells grass in the neigh-borhood. This is gener-ally an open secretamong young people. For some kidsit is easier to buy pot than alcohol orcigarettes. In a shop, you have toprove that you are over 18.

Ms Kempa should also realizethat if a kid wants to try it, he or shewill do so and no prohibitions passedin the Sejm will make a difference.On the other hand, if a kid is notinterested, even a package of jointssold in the local supermarket won’tchange his or her mind.

Raising smart kids involves talkingto them about drugs and teachingthem about the dangers. Good par-

enting starts in the home, not in par-liament.

Cure for the crisis?If we approach the matter rationally,rather than emotionally, it’s clear thatthe state would benefit from thelegalization of marijuana.

First of all, it could, as is the casein the Netherlands, hold a monopolyon the cultivation of cannabis plantsand earn strong profits from its sale.And this needn’t be a marijuana-dependent endeavor – experts notethat hemp can be used to produce

high quality oiland ecologicalpaper.

Advocatesfor the legal-ization of pothave calculat-ed that themoney gener-ated from itscultivation andsale – moneyflowing intothe state’s cof-fers – wouldallow VAT tobe reduced byat least onep e r c e n t a g epoint. At thesame time the

budget would be strengthened bytaxes from those dealing marijuana,an enterprise which is currently con-signed to the black market.

Marijuana advocates add that it isconsidered healthier than alcohol orcigarettes, has fewer side effects anddoes not lead to physical dependency.They also argue that decriminalizing itwould help to curb the trade in harddrugs which truly threaten society.

These points are frequently debat-ed, with no small degree of vitriol, butan open debate on the matter inPoland would be better than nothing.

An election matterRational, economics-based argumentsfor the legalization of pot are all welland good, but let’s be honest – thegovernment will never entertain thenotion in an election year. At the sametime, however, parties on both ends ofthe ideological spectrum are ready tomake the issue an election topic.

The left is not building its electioncampaign on slogans of social solidari-ty, but rather on “moral matters” – thelegalization of abortion, gay marriageand soft drugs. And it will attack theruling Civic Platform (PO) for not tak-ing any real stance on these matters.

For its part, the Catholic ultra rightwill propagate diametrically opposedslogans and will also attack the PO forits lack of a stance in “issues funda-mental to the future of the nation.”

And where does that leave PO? Itspoliticians will perform impressiveacts of intellectual acrobatics in orderto remain aloof from ideological argu-ments and to run a safe, centrist cam-paign. In other words, expect to seethe party blowing plenty of smoke thisyear. ●

Joanna Wóycicka is the former headof the foreign sections of the ˚ycieWarszawy and ˚ycie newspapers andthe former head of the foreign depart-ment at the Polish Press Agency(PAP). j.woycicka@hotmail.com

At halftime you can usuallylean back, take a sip of beerand watch the experts ana-

lyze the action from the first half. It isworth summing up what has alreadyhappened and what can you expectafter the break.

The calendar shows that threemonths have already passed in 2011,a year of Central European EU pres-idencies – halftime for Budapest as itplays on Europe’s most importantpitch. Let us have a look at the scoreso far.

A rough startHungary took the field during anexceptionally challenging period forthe European Union. Having justsurvived the financial crisis, the EUhas come to understand that therestill are some deeply rooted econom-ic concerns and macroeconomicanomalies, and that an increasingnumber of member states are teeter-ing on the brink of bankruptcy.

The Hungarian presidency’s prepa-

rations to tackle these challenges in theEuropean Council were finalized byJanuary 1, 2011, but no one expectedthat the first weeks would be overshad-owed by a full-scale attack by Europe’spolitical left wing regarding a non-EUmatter, an amendment to Hungary’smedia law. Discussion of the topic wasubiquitous, keeping everyone from theHungarian government to the Euro-pean Commission occupied, therebyactually jeopardizing the functioning ofthe presidency.

It took a bit of time for even the ana-lysts to be able to distinguish betweenthe quality of the presidency and inter-nal political debates, but as the Finan-cial Times put it, “The Hungarians havemade quite a bit of progress on some ofthe thorniest EU issues … it’s worthconsidering that they may be provingmore quietly competent than many mayhad [sic] expected.”

Scoring pointsThe results speak for themselves. Thelist is long even if we only want to

highlight the economic issues.The creation of a Common Ener-

gy Policy has started and the Cohe-sion Policy has been strengthened,and then there’s work on the firstEuropean Semester and the creationof the Unitary European Patent.Most importantly, the presidencyhas negotiated the adoption of areform package for better economicgovernance. Also known as the “SixPack,” this set of reforms has beenlabeled “a silent revolution” byEuropean Commission PresidentJosé Manuel Barroso.

János Martonyi, Hungary’s min-ister for foreign affairs, hasclaimed that the presidency willonly be successful if it makesEurope stronger. And this is exact-ly what the aforementioned ele-ments do.

Into the second halfUnlike in sports, halftime for thepresidency of the EU Council doesnot actually involve a break for the

team. The machinery of Europeaninstitutions keeps on workingnon-stop, and so does the presidency.

The next three months will bringinteresting battles over interestingissues, and it is certainly worth follow-ing (with one eye at least), as, startingJuly 1, Warsaw will be taking overfrom Budapest. Anything happeningnow on the European level will havean effect on Poland’s circumstancesand aspirations.

The cooperation of the two presi-dencies has been outstanding. The twoprime ministers, Donald Tusk andViktor Orbán, have agreed that it isessential to put on a well-coordinated,convincing show in 2011. If CentralEurope can prove this year that it is aworthy flag-bearer for the EU, then itsvoice will also be taken more seriouslyin the coming years.

For Warsaw, the most intenseweeks and months of preparations arestill to come. In contrast, the currentpresidency can play with confidencenow, knowing that the toughest battles

have been fought and won, and that asolid performance will strengthenBudapest’s status in Brussels.

So far we have seen little selfishindividualism and a great deal of teamplay from the Hungarian side. You canexpect a similar picture over the next

few months, but remember that therealities of European politics havetaught us that a hard tackle can comeat any time, from any direction. Let’sjust hope the second half is as satisfy-ing as the first. ●

Dr David Görömbölyi is a foreign poli-cy analyst, lecturer and the HungarianMinistry for Foreign Affairs’ EU Presi-dency liaison in Warsaw

Marijuana makes a comeback

“The toughest battleshave been fought and

won”

“If somebody islooking for marijuanain Poland, they won’thave too much troublefinding it”

Hungary’s presidency of the EU Council –

a halftime report

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APRIL 11-17, 2011CCOOVVEERR SSTTOORRYY12 www.wbj.pl

Food prices

Hard to swallowThe cost of eating ison the rise in Poland,but for how long?

When former Prime MinisterJaros∏aw Kaczyƒski exited acorner shop in Warsaw lastmonth and complained tohandily placed journalists thatfood prices were much higherthan when he was in govern-ment, it was clearly a PR stunt.This is an election year, after all,and Mr Kaczyƒski wants hisLaw and Justice (PiS) to turfout the ruling Civic Platform(PO) party this coming autumn.But his issue was well-chosen –rising food prices affect everyvoter in the country.

Nationally, the big issue hasbeen sugar, which has risen by40 percent over the last year.Regionally, there are a num-ber of more specific com-plaints. In Kraków, for exam-ple, producers of obwarzanek –bagel-like bread rings whichenjoy protected status in theEU – have raised per-unitprices from around z∏.1 toz∏.1.5 over the last 12 months.They blame the increase onthe rising cost of wheat.

It’s not just Poland’s prob-lem, of course. The Food andAgriculture Organization ofthe United Nations PriceIndex averaged 237 points inFebruary, its highest levelsince the index launched in1990. March saw a little relief,as the index slipped to 229.8,but the threat of furthergrowth remains.

A big issueFood prices are certainly goingto be a big issue for Poland’sgovernment in the run up tothe autumn elections, accord-ing to Sergiusz Trzeciak, apublic affairs expert and for-mer chairman of the SobieskiInstitute. “The question iswhether they are going to bethe big issue,” he said.

Mr Trzeciak accepted thatPiS was trying to earn politicalcapital on the rising cost of liv-ing in Poland, but said that thiswas only to be expected. “Therole of the opposition is some-times to overexaggerate theissues; they are using this as a

political tool, but that’s under-standable.”

Bohdan Wy˝nikiewicz, vicepresident of the Gdaƒsk Insti-tute of Market Economics,agreed to a point, but said thatthe opposition’s case had beendominated by “populist andinsubstantive” arguments.

“This is undoubtedly aproblem for the governmentand [Prime Minister] Tusk.Kaczyƒski’s PiS will benefitpolitically from the situation,but not enough to win theelection,” Mr Wy˝nikiewiczcommented.

Nevertheless, Mr Trzeciakpointed out, it is not the gov-ernment’s role to regulatefood prices. It could mitigateprice hikes by increasing bene-fits and implementing tax cuts,he conceded. In fact PiS has

already called for a one-offpayment to those on benefits,to help ease the burden. ButPO MP Jaros∏aw Gowin hasruled this out.

“Bearing in mind the [eco-nomic] situation, I don’t thinkthat they are going to do that.In terms of compensating forthe rise in food prices, it wouldbe a huge expense to raisepensions, and the governmentis doing everything it can toavoid additional expendi-tures,” said Mr Trzeciak.

As Poland is a free marketeconomy, politicians can dolittle else to bring down the

price of food. And neithershould they, said MichaelDembinski, head of policy atthe British Polish Chamber ofCommerce. He argued thatthe market should be allowedto find its own equilibrium,and that hasty fixes oftenprove counterproductive.

Mr Dembinski added, “Ican’t see the current situationbeing any different under anyother government.”

Dr Andrzej Jarzynowski ofthe Centre for Social andEconomic Research (CASE)went further, saying the foodmarket in Poland was an

example of “perfect competi-tion.”

“Intervention will worsenthe final results,” he statedflatly. “Payments to farmerswill support the least effectiveproducers, payments to low-income people will increaseinflation.”

The BPCC is establishing aFood Policy Group, which willallow growers, producers,retailers, distributors andother businesses from thefood sector to meet regularlyand discuss such issues. How-ever, Mr Wy˝nikiewicz at theGdaƒsk Institute noted that,like the government, entre-preneurs had “limited oppor-tunities” to influence foodprices. The price of bread andsugar is reliant on wider glob-al issues, he noted.

Fuel for price hikes?Carmel Cahill, a trade andagriculture expert with theOECD, commented that thesituation can ultimately bereduced to the most basic ofall economic drivers – supplyand demand. On the demandside, one of the factors MsCahill cited was fuel.

“In the past few years wehave seen a significant propor-tion of sugar cane and oilseeds going to the productionof biofuel. That has created abig increase in demand, butsupply is not quite keepingup,” she noted.

Pawe∏ Ro˝yƒski, an editori-alist for Dziennik – GazetaPrawna, wrote last week thatprices for commodities such asrapeseed oil and sugar havealmost doubled in the pastyear. He also noted that theproduction of biofuel produc-tion has contributed to this rise.

Moreover, in Mr Ro˝yƒs-ki’s opinion, policies regardingbiofuels are just the “tip of theiceberg of ecological absurdi-ty.” He cites the effect of theEU’s alternative energyrequirements on the price ofwood, which in turn affects thecosts of furniture, paper andpackaging. And the latter inparticular has an impact onprices of packaged foods.

Supply situationOn the supply side, CarmenCahill of the OECD noted thatweather conditions and naturaldisasters have had a huge effecton food production. Fires inRussia last year made a seriousdent in the wheat harvest. TheRussian government reacted bylimiting wheat exports,investors panicked, and theprice of bread went up. Stormsaffecting farms in Canada exac-erbated the problem.

Ms Cahill compared thischain reaction to the suddenincrease in the price of rice in2007-2008, when poor harvestsalso prompted a panic on themarket, at a time when foodprices overall were reachingunprecedented highs.

But, she added, althoughrice is a staple food for much ofthe world’s population, the

Anthony Casey

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Sugar prices have risen by 40 percent in Poland over the past year

“I can’t see the current situation being anydifferent under any other government”

Investing in Poland 2011 is available now!

To order a print copy or CD-ROM version of the publication, e-mail kwilinski@valkea.com or call +48 (22) 639 85 67 ext. 208

We have also launched a new website for investors!For investment news and analysis, visit: www.investinginpoland.wbj.plpresents

APRIL 11-17, 2011 CCOOVVEERR SSTTOORRYY www.wbj.pl 13

Paul Fogo is a senior attorney with Miller, Canfield, W. Babicki, A. Chelchowski & Partners.fogo@pl.millercanfield.com

Price

controls?

Legal Eye

Consumer price inflation offood items rose in Poland by5.3 percent y/y in February,according to the OECD.That was the eighth-highestfigure in the 34-memberorganization.

And we can feel it inPoland. With each passingmonth, my family’s grocerybill seems to grow, despitethe fact that our eatinghabits have not changed andwe do the majority of ourshopping at the same hyper-market.

Apparently we are notalone. Last month Law andJustice party leader Jaros∏awKaczyƒski held a press con-ference at a local store tocomplain about rising foodprices. According to MrKaczyƒski, the governmentshould take action to coun-teract the rise in food prices.

Great! I’m all for lower-ing the grocery bill. But how,legally speaking, does heexpect to do this?

Control over prices Contrary to what somemedia outlets reported, for-mer Prime Minister Ka-czyƒski did not actually callfor the imposition of govern-ment price controls. Andgood that he did not. Foodprices are set by the market.The Polish government doesnot possess the legal meansto impose price controls onconsumer goods, at least notdirectly.

Indirectly, the Polish gov-ernment could reduce theamount of VAT charged onfood items in an effort toreduce the price of food, aswell as reduce the amount ofVAT charged on fuel used inthe manufacturing and deliv-ery process. But so far thegovernment has notannounced any plan toreduce taxes.

EU actionAt the EU level it is possi-ble to influence the price ofcertain food staples byincreasing import or pro-

duction quotas. Forinstance, the EU couldincrease the amount ofsugar imported into thebloc, thereby increasingsupply. Similarly, the EUcould increase the quotasallotted to dairy farmers toincrease the supply of milk.

But this is different fromdictating the price of sugaror milk. And moreover, suchaction can only be taken atthe EU level. To date, how-ever, the EU has not takensuch action.

Price warsWhat if a retailer decides totake advantage of the recentuptick in food prices andadvertises a particular fooditem, such as sugar for exam-ple, below cost in an effort togain market share? Is thislegal?

The answer is, of course,no. But this doesn’t meanretailers don’t try. Every nowand then my wife comeshome proud that she pur-chased a bag of sugar at halfprice. Either the originalprice included a huge profitmargin or the retailer is infact selling at below the costof production.

If in fact the sugar weresold at below cost, such asale would be in contraven-tion of Poland’s Act onUnfair Competition. If itwere to occur, a competinggrocery market would beentitled to seek an injunctionagainst the continued sale ofsugar at below cost by a com-petitor, as well as to seekcompensation for lost profitsthat the retailer could evi-dence as a result of such salebelow cost. Please note, how-ever, that the governmentitself is not empowered toimpose a monetary fine onthe offending retailer.

The restriction againstselling a product below thecost of production, however,does not apply in the case ofa store’s liquidation, lapse ofa product’s expiration dateor production. ●

effect was not felt as strongly inthe developed world. This timearound price rises are morenoticeable because they arespread more evenly across theboard – with key “Western”consumables such as meat,sugar, cereal, oil seed and dairyproduce all becoming moreexpensive.

The added burden is beingfelt most by the poorest, saidMs Cahill, because the propor-tion of their household incomethat they spend on food goesup. According to the OECD,the average household inPoland spends 24 percent oftotal income on food. But forthose living on pensions or ben-efits, this proportion can be ashigh as 70 percent.

According to BohdanWy˝nikiewicz of the GdaƒskInstitute, the situation inPoland isn’t yet dire as currentprice increases “fall within therange of social tolerance.”

“The decrease in the stan-dard of living of the poorest willnot be significant, though cer-tainly it will be noticed. It willlead to a reduction in foodwaste and a shift in demand forcheaper food,” he suggested.

No relief in sightAlternative uses for traditionalfood commodities, EU policy,weather and natural disasters… those are just a few of thefactors affecting prices insupermarkets. The big questionis, how long will prices continueto rise?

Mr Dembinski of the BPCCwas frank in his response: “Wejust don’t know. Food pricesare, like all commodities, sub-ject to the vagaries of the mar-ket. Speculators speculate onsugar, grain, rice and cocoa justas they do on the dollar or thez∏oty.”

He said it was quite likelythat the pace of rises would

slow, but that the general trendwould be upward.

Carmel Cahill was reluctantto make a hard and fast predic-tion, but, she said, “Pricesshould come down from thepeak they are at now if thisyear’s harvests are normal andwe don’t get any weathershocks or other surprises. Butthey are likely to remain higherin the coming years than theyhave been, compared to theprevious decade.”

Judging by past experience,Bohdan Wy˝nikiewicz said,food price rises will slow, stabi-lize and then decline beforeseeing a smaller increase in thesecond half of 2011, punctuat-ed by seasonal declines.

In other words, there won’tbe much relief for consumers,at least in the short term. But,according to Mr Dembinski,the fragmented food retail sec-tor is keeping some of the pres-sure off of households by cut-

ting margins in order to staycompetitive.

It’s perhaps a tougher situa-tion for small and medium-sized enterprises in the foodproduction sector, as they’rebeing squeezed from bothsides. The BPCC’s British Pol-ish Food Forum in Marchheard complaints from someSMEs that they’re being forcedto focus on volume or find aniche in order to stay in busi-ness.

And although one high-pro-file consumer has squarely laidthe blame on the government,experts agree that a top-downapproach would yield littleresult. High food prices willcontinue to provide ammuni-tion for political squabbles, butthe matter is not one of gover-nance, whether for good or ill.

Will Polish consumers feelthat way come autumn? That,like so much else, may dependon the weather. ●

0

50

100

150

200

250

Mar 20

11

Feb 20

11

Jan 20

1120

1020

0920

082007

2006

2005

2004

2003

200220

0120

00

A growing problem?

FAO Food Price Index readings, 2000 to March 2011

Source: the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

-6

-3

0

3

6

9

12

15

OECD avg. 3.0

SwitzerlandFranceSpainGermanyPolandUKHungaryEstonia

Food for thought

OECD Food Consumer Price Index in February, y/y change

Source: OECD

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shot up after last

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wiped out crops

APRIL 11-17, 2011MMAADDEE IINN PPOOLLAANNDD LLAAUUNNCCHH14 www.wbj.pl

Exports

PPoollaanndd wwoorrkkss ttoo bbuuiilldd iittss bbrraanndd

Products and services “madein Poland” are increasinglyassociated with quality, atleast among those who knowthem. Therein lies the rub,though – spreading the wordis one of the main difficul-ties facing Polish exporters.

This was the conclusionreached by government offi-cials, Polish exporters andforeign importers at a con-ference entitled “How tohelp Poland’s exportersreach their full potential”last week. Organized by theWarsaw Business Journal andthe Polish Chamber of Com-merce, the conference coin-cided with the launch ofWBJ’s new annual guide toPolish exports titled appro-priately, “Made in Poland.”

“Polish export and itspotential is really a fantasticstory, both in sectors thatone might expect, like foodproduction and agriculture,but also in less obviousareas, like arms, pharmaceu-ticals and even luxuryyachts,” said AndrewKureth, editor-in-chief ofWarsaw Business Journal andMade in Poland.

According to MarekK∏oczko, secretary generalof the Polish Chamber ofCommerce, exports havereached satisfactory levels interms of their participationin the overall economy, but

in terms of exports per capi-ta, Poland is still among thelowest in the EU.

Improving the situationrequires a lot of work, par-ticipants agreed.

Ewa Sw´drowska-Dziankowska, deputy direc-tor of the Economy Min-istry’s Department of AidInstruments, assured thatsimplifying entrepreneur-ship was one of the biggestpriorities of her ministry.

And, in response to theabsence of a strong “Polishbrand,” the Economy Min-istry has decided to promote15 industries, includingamber, yachts and militaryequipment. Panelists at theconference were dividedover the idea, with somearguing that Poland shouldfocus solely on one sector,and others saying that nospecific industry should besingled out, but that thefocus should rather be onthe fact that Poles are worthdoing business with.

Support on the diplomat-ic front, especially for diffi-cult markets like Russia andfor sensitive sectors likedefense, is also crucial forPolish exporters, admittedGrzegorz Gawin, head of theDepartment of EconomicDiplomacy at the ForeignMinistry.

Despite acknowledgingthat activity to promotePoland had picked uprecently, exporters gavemixed reviews of the govern-ment’s performance so far.

“We were the happiestwhen the government didnot interfere,” said MarekGajowniczek, vice presidentof Ericpol Telecom. “Polandhas a tendency to over-regu-late, and we are confronted

with rules that don’t existanywhere else,” he added.

Hubert Kubik, from thePolish Spirits Industry, saidthat the fact that Swedishvodka was now better knownthan Polish vodka, despitePoland having a muchlonger tradition of produc-ing the spirit, was a failureon Poland’s part.

Commenting on the factthat PM Donald Tusk did notbring a business delegationalong for his last official visitto India, S∏awomir Smoliƒs-ki, director of the bureau ofexport for Asia-Pacific atmilitary equipment producerBumar, said that industrieslike defense could not com-pete without governmentsupport at the highest level.

“We are wasting anopportunity created byPoland’s reputation for hav-ing weathered the globalfinancial crisis remarkablywell,” he added.

One point on which bothofficials and exportersagreed was the need for aunified promotional strategyof the country and its indus-tries.

But the best publicity forPoland might not lie withgovernment action or inac-tion. Katarzyna Pàk, chief ofcommunications in Polandfor Swedish telecoms firmEricsson, said that in hercompany, Poles were viewedas effective, responsible andcapable of thinking outsideof the box.

“Ultimately, our bestambassadors are ourselves,”she concluded. ●

Warsaw Business Journalwould like to thank our part-ners in organizing the “Made inPoland” conference, includingthe Polish Chamber of Com-merce, KPMG, Skrivanek, theFocus building, Event Roomand Food Zone

The country has excellent products and servicesto offer, but still needs to get the word out

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Grzegorz Gawin, head of the Department of Economic

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Ewa Sw´drowska-Dziankowska, deputy director of the

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Katarzyna Pàk, chief of communications for

Ericsson in Poland

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Marek K∏oczko, secretary general of the Polish

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Guests packed the conference center in Warsaw’s Focus building

Alice Trudelle

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 11-17, 2011, LI 16/14

Palace renova-

tion finished

Mermaid Properties has

finished renovation work

on the Pa∏ac

M∏odziejowskiego

historical property in

central Warsaw. The

company has turned the

palace, which is located

on Warsaw’s ul. Miodowa,

into an office building

offering 6,850 sqm of

modern office space.

Two-thirds of that area

has already been leased

by the Ministry of Foreign

Affairs. Mermaid bought

Pa∏ac M∏odziejowskiego in

2006 from Wydawnictwo

Naukowe PWN. Originally,

the company planned to

furnish luxury

apartments at the location

but changed its mind due

to the global financial

crisis.

New Sterlinga

tenant

Real estate company Hin

es has signed a lease

agreement for 2,630 sqm

of office space at its

Sterlinga Business

Center (SBC) office

project in ¸ódê with the

Polish subsidiary of Tate

& Lyle PLC, a global

provider of ingredients

and solutions for the

food, beverage and other

industries. The deal has

been signed for seven

years. Tate & Lyle has

become the largest

tenant in SBC, almost

40% of whose office

space has now been

leased. SBC offers 13,400

sqm of office space

across nine floors. ●

Office development

PPllaattiinniiuumm BBuussiinneessss PPaarrkk VV ggeettss uunnddeerrwwaayyGTC is getting to workon building five in thecomplex, eyeingbuilding six

Warsaw Stock Exchange-listeddeveloper Globe Trade Centre(GTC) has obtained a buildingpermit for the fifth building in itsPlatinium Business Park officecomplex in Warsaw. Construc-tion on the 11-storey facility,which will provide 11,000 sqm ofGLA, is scheduled to launch thismonth and finish in Q2 2012.

“For years Platinium Busi-ness Park has gained recognitionfrom tenants and industryexperts. The three existing build-ings, as well as a fourth oneunder construction, have allbeen nearly 100 percent leasedout, which for us is the best proofof its success,” Piotr Kroenke,general manager of GTC, said ina statement.

Platinium Business Park V isalready 50 percent leased out,with major tenants including K2

Internet and Starcom. “Success-ful leasing of the fifth building

gives us confidence to start, afterobtaining a building permit, con-

struction of the sixth and lastbuilding of the complex,” MrKroenke said.

Platinium Business Park islocated at the intersection of ul.Domaniewska and ul. Wo∏oskain Warsaw’s Mokotów district.The latest phase of the complex,for which GTC hopes to obtainLEED certification, has beendesigned by the Grupa 5Architekci studio. Warbud is act-ing as general contractor andLandesBank Berlin providedfinancing for the project.

GTC has developed projectstotaling approximately 800,000sqm of space to date. In War-saw, apart from its Platiniuminvestment, the company is nowalso constructing a third build-ing in the Ok´cie Business Parkcomplex. The structure, whichwill comprise over 9,100 sqm ofGLA, is scheduled for deliveryby the end of this year.

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Mixed-use development

JWC bringing retail-officecenter to SzczecinThe investment is partof JWC’s strategy todiversify into othersectors

One of Poland’s largest residen-tial developers, JW Construc-tion (JWC), has obtained a per-mit to build Nowa Dana, aretail-office project, in Szczecin.The developer plans to startconstruction of the facilitybefore the end of H1.

The 22-storey facility in thecity center of Szczecin will offeraround 34,000 sqm of usablespace. The majority will beclass-A office space, witharound 4,000 sqm of shoppingspace. Nowa Dana’s top floorwill host a restaurant with apanoramic view.

The investment is beingbuilt at the site of the formerDana textile factory.

“We currently are in the

middle of demolition work onthe plot where the investmentwill be constructed,” saidRobert Wójcik, member of themanagement at JWC. “We arealso looking for a potential con-tractor,” he added.

JWC is listed on the WarsawStock Exchange and is active inthe Warsaw, ̧ ódê, Szczecin andTri-city markets. Its portfolio ofdelivered and pipeline projectsincludes around 25,000 apart-ments and 350 single-familyhouses.

JW Construction is alsoworking to diversify its revenuestreams. Apart from NowaDana, it is working on Jero-zolimskie Point, an officeinvestment located in Warsaw.The building is scheduled fordelivery later this year.

KKaattaarrzzyynnaa PPiiaasseecckkaa

Platinium’s permit . . . . . . . . . . .15

Nowa Dana in Szczecin . . . . . .15

Goodman’s land bank . . . . . . . .16

Kępa Mieszczańska sale . . . . .16

Property-related stocks . . . . . .16

Osiedle Zdrowa expansion . . .17

Galeria Słoneczna opens . . . . .17

Dolcan’s Rudy Rydz . . . . . . . . . .18

Twierdza Kłodzko sale . . . . . . .18

In this issue

1816

A second attempt to sell K´pa

Mieszczaƒska is underway

Dolcan is getting to work on

its first ‘rent-free’ project

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Construction on the building is scheduled to launch this month

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

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Nowa Dana will offer approximately 34,000 sqm of

usable space14.00

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April 7April 6April 5April 4April 1March 31

Rebuilding momentum?

JWC share price at close of trading day, March 31-April 7

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APRIL 11-17, 2011LLOOKKAALLEE IIMMMMOOBBIILLIIAA –– RREEAALL EESSTTAATTEE16

Olimpia work

starts

Developer Echo

Investment has started

construction on its

Galeria Olimpia shopping

and entertainment center

in Be∏chatów, ¸ódzkie

voivodship. Located on ul.

Kolejowa and ul. Armii

Krajowej, the expansion

project is scheduled for

opening in August 2012.

Designed by the MOFO

Architekci studio, Galeria

Olimpia will comprise a

total of 30,500 sqm of

GLA housing

approximately 100

stores.

LPP in

Millenium Hall

Four brands of the LPP

group will open stores in

the Millenium Hall

shopping and

entertainment center in

Rzeszów, Podkarpackie

voivodship. Reserved,

Cropp, Mohito and House

will take up 1,200 sqm,

300 sqm, 220 sqm and

300 sqm of retail space in

the mall, respectively.

Millenium Hall is

being built by CMP Group

and Dekra Construction

Management on behalf of

MARMA Group subsidiary

Develop Investment. ●

www.wbj.pl

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

on April 7 (z∏.mln)

BUDIMEX 109.10 6.44 84.55 109.10 13.06 25,530,098 2,785.33

CELTIC 20.81 3.79 17.43 60.55 N/A 34,068,252 708.96

DOMDEV 48.24 1.56 38.52 61.00 -7.94 24,560,222 1,191.17

ECHO 5.20 6.12 3.95 5.40 9.70 420,000,000 2,184.00

ELBUDOWA 153.90 -0.06 152.00 188.40 -13.54 4,747,608 730.66

ENERGOPLD 4.10 0.24 3.57 4.33 -5.31 70,972,001 288.86

ERBUD 38.80 -2.07 38.07 61.00 -23.85 12,602,711 488.99

GANT 14.19 0.78 12.98 26.00 -43.69 20,499,953 290.69

GTC 21.50 1.03 19.58 24.98 -12.49 219,372,990 4,716.52

HBPOLSKA 2.40 1.69 2.36 3.90 -31.03 210,558,445 505.34

JWCONSTR 14.50 -2.03 13.50 18.69 -4.61 54,073,280 784.06

LCCORP 1.62 4.52 1.41 1.73 -1.82 447,558,311 725.04

MARVIPOL 8.40 -6.67 8.40 19.90 -55.44 36,923,400 310.16

MIRBUD 4.45 -2.20 2.71 4.75 58.36 75,000,000 333.75

MOSTALWAR 43.00 -5.89 43.00 76.30 -44.01 20,000,000 860.80

MOSTALZAB 2.82 3.68 2.63 4.84 -37.75 149,130,538 420.55

ORCOGROUP 38.40 1.59 19.00 40.00 32.69 14,053,866 541.21

PBG 176.00 -6.38 175.00 252.00 -18.52 14,295,000 2,515.92

PLAZACNTR 4.37 9.25 3.70 6.38 -31.61 292,647,720 1,278.87

POLAQUA 18.22 4.11 16.00 22.50 -3.24 27,500,100 501.05

POLIMEXMS 3.62 2.84 3.33 5.10 -28.17 521,154,076 1,870.94

POLNORD 33.55 8.23 30.50 44.00 -11.64 22,246,431 747.26

RANKPROGR 13.20 10.74 9.59 13.60 N/A 37,145,050 490.31

ROBYG 2.05 -0.49 1.70 2.08 N/A 257,390,000 525.08

RONSON 1.41 -1.40 1.36 2.10 -22.53 272,360,000 384.03

TRAKCJA 3.62 4.02 3.32 4.97 -21.30 160,105,480 581.18

ULMA 88.00 6.67 70.00 88.00 15.11 5,255,632 462.50

UNIBEP 7.40 -4.88 7.30 10.30 -17.13 33,927,184 251.06

WARIMPEX 10.51 4.06 7.64 10.85 27.70 54,000,000 554.04

ZUE 12.79 -3.47 12.79 15.14 N/A 22,000,000 281.38

Property-related stocks

First Best Western in WarsawBest Western, one of theworld’s largest hotel chains,has acquired its first hotel inWarsaw. The three-star Felixfacility is located on ul.Omulewska in the capital’sPraga Po∏udnie district, fivekilometers from the newNational Stadium. The hotel isowned by real estate companyPUHIT.

In addition to its 227rooms, equipped in accor-dance with Best Western’sinternational standards, thefacility offers conferencespace, a restaurant and an

After Five club. Over the pastfew years, the owner hasinvested over z∏.12 million inrenovating and modernizingFelix in order to adapt it toBest Western’s requirements.Prices per night currently startat z∏.179.

“The opening of the hotelin Warsaw was one of the mostimportant phases of BestWestern’s expansion in theBaltic region,” stated SaijaKekkonen, Best Western’smanaging director for Finland,the Baltics and Poland. “Espe-cially given the upcoming

Euro 2012 and the increasingimportance of Warsaw as thebusiness center of CentralEurope,” she underlined.

The Best Western chainwas created in 1946. At pres-ent, it includes about 4,000facilities located in 80 coun-tries. The Best Western HotelFelix in Warsaw is the chain’seighth facility in Poland. Theother seven are located inBia∏ystok, Bia∏owie˝a, Kato-wice, Kraków, Osjaków (near¸ódê), Wroc∏aw andRzeszów.

KKaattaarrzzyynnaa PPiiaasseecckkaa

Island investment

AMW tries again with K´pa MieszczaƒskaThis time around, it’ssplitting the land up

The Military Property Agency(AMW) plans to call a tenderfor land in the northern part ofK´pa Mieszczaƒska, an islandon the Oder River in centralWroc∏aw. The agency expectsto invite initial bids this June.

This will be the AMW’ssecond attempt to sell the landin recent years. Previously ittried to sell the whole 125,000sqm plot to a single buyer.The initial bid price was set atabout z∏.370 million, but theagency was forced to lower thelevel over time. When the lastcall for bids took place in May2010, the price was down toz∏.281 million.

Having changed its ap-proach, the AMW has nowdivided the land into 24 plotsranging from 0.2 to 1.5 ha.Some of the plots will be soldtogether.

Crucially, a zoning plan forthe area is being worked onand, according to the agency, itshould be adopted by June. Thecity authorities haven’t yetdecided what kind of develop-ment it will allow on the island,but a representative of Wroc∏awCity Hall confirmed that alloptions are being considered.

For its part, the AMW has

suggested the possibility ofoffice, service, residential oreven academic developmenton the island. It has even pro-posed that Wroc∏aw zone thearea for high-rise construction.

According to Jakub Ro-sowski of Wroc∏aw’s RegionalUrban Development Office,the fact that the land is beingsplit into separate plots willnot result in urban entangle-ment and incoherent urbanplanning.

“Quite the contrary, it mayresult in something interest-ing, breaking the monotony,”he said. KKaattaarrzzyynnaa PPiiaasseecckkaa

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The AMW has proposed that the island be zoned for high-rises

Goodman increases land bank

Goodman Group has secureda total of 39 hectares of devel-opment land in Poland, uponwhich it plans to build newlogistics projects in the coun-try. The plots, which are locat-ed near Poznaƒ and Wroc∏aw,total 21 ha and 18 ha and havethe potential to host up to100,000 sqm and 93,000 sqmof warehouse space, respec-tively.

Goodman has developedand manages over 100,000sqm of logistics space in

Poland to date, with propertiesunder construction totaling42,000 sqm.

“We currently hold landsites in Poland with a totalarea of 212.3 ha on which wecan build a minimum of950,000 sqm of additionalwarehouse space. Our sitescover all of the key logisticshubs throughout Poland,which positions us very well tomeet the needs of all potentialcustomers,” B∏a˝ej Ciesiel-czak, country manager Good-

man Poland, said in a state-ment.

Goodman was recentlyawarded a tender to invest inand develop the 500,000 sqmPomeranian Logistics Centreproject, which is located nearthe newly completed Deepwa-ter Container Terminal inGdaƒsk. Another major proj-ect is the Kraków AirportLogistics Centre, which has atarget lease area of 160,000sqm.

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Kraków Airport Logistics Centre has a target lease area of 160,000 sqm

APRIL 11-17, 2011 LLOOKKAALLEE IIMMMMOOBBIILLIIAA –– RREEAALL EESSTTAATTEE www.wbj.pl 17

New ProLogis

tenant

Industrial space

developer ProLogis has

signed a lease agreement

for 17,200 sqm of

warehouse space at

ProLogis Park B∏onie

with Rhenus Contract

Logistics, a European

provider of logistics

services. Colliers

International mediated

the transaction. ProLogis

Park B∏onie is located

along the E30, around 25

km from Warsaw. The

facility comprises eight

warehouses totaling

more than 152,000 sqm.

Arabic

investors eye

hotelsReal estate company

Europejski Fundusz

Hipoteczny (EFH) is

eyeing partnerships with

Middle Eastern

companies for Polish

hotel projects before

Euro 2012. “Euro 2012 is

a draw for foreign

investors. They are now

looking for partners in

our country because they

need a key to the

domestic market,” said

Izabela Ga∏àzka, vice

president of EFH. These

companies are interested

in already existing hotels

as well as projects which

encountered difficulties

during the financial crisis

and could be realized

quickly, Ms Ga∏àzka

said. ●

Residential

RRoobbyygg’’ss OOssiieeddllee ZZddrroowwaa sscchheemmee ggrroowwss

GGaalleerriiaa SS∏∏oonneecczznnaa mmaallll ooppeennss

The developer isselling 174 apartmentsin the capital

Developer Robyg haslaunched sales of apartmentsfrom the latest phase of itsOsiedle Zdrowa residential

project in Warsaw. One hun-dred and seventy-four units areon offer, sized from 33.6-117sqm and priced from z∏.6,399per sqm.

According to the developer,this phase of Osiedle Zdrowacomprises a large number of

two-room apartments of 40-50sqm in size, a product which iscurrently in high demand inthe Warsaw market.

“Each building is plannedseparately, in response to thechanging market situation.This allows for flexible reaction

to banks’ lending policy andchanges in the ‘Family on itsOwn’ [mortgage-subsidy] pro-gram,” Oscar Kazanelson,president of Robyg’s supervi-sory board, said in a statement.

Osiedle Zdrowa is locatedon ul. Zdrowa in the capital’sWilanów district. The latestphase of the development,which has been designed byAtelier 3 Girtler & Girtler, isscheduled for completion in

Q3 2012.Robyg, which listed on the

Warsaw Stock Exchange lastNovember, is currently involvedin a total of six residential proj-ects in Warsaw and Gdaƒsk.The company has recentlyannounced plans to build acomplex of office and retailbuildings in Warsaw’s Wilanówdistrict and is also consideringentering the Wroc∏aw market.

AAddaamm ZZddrrooddoowwsskkii

AIG/Lincoln Polska has heldthe grand opening ceremonyfor its Galeria S∏onecznashopping and entertainmentcenter in Radom,Mazowieckie voivodship.The three-storey facility,which is the first retailscheme of its kind in the city,comprises 42,000 sqm ofretail space with 150 storesand points of services. Park-ing for 1,220 vehicles has alsobeen provided.

The mall is currently 85percent leased out. Majortenants include fashion

brands Zara, H&M, C&Aand Reserved, grocery chainMarcPol, electronics retailerRTV Euro AGD and a six-screen Multikino cinema.

Located on Radom’s ul.Chrobrego, Galeria S∏onecznais part of a larger, multi-useproject called CentrumS∏oneczne. Apart from retailspace, the complex alsoincludes the OsiedleS∏oneczne residential schemewhose first, already deliveredphase includes three buildingswith a total of 86 units, a waterpark, amphitheater, recre-

ation park and green areas.AIG/Lincoln has been

active in the Polish marketsince 1997. The developer ispresent in both the residen-tial and commercial seg-ments; its major completedprojects include the SaskiPoint, Saski Crescent, River-side Park and GrzybowskaPark office developments inWarsaw as well as the Dia-mond Business Park logisticsinvestments in Raszyn,Piaseczno, ¸ódê, Strykówand Gliwice.

AAddaamm ZZddrrooddoowwsskkii

CO

UR

TE

SY O

F T

BT

I W

SP

ÓL

NIC

Y

The latest phase of Osiedle Zdrowa is scheduled for completion in Q3 2012

CO

UR

TE

SY O

F M

ED

IAD

EM

CO

MM

UN

ICA

TIO

NS

The mall is 85 percent leased out

1.5

2.0

2.5

Apr 6Mar 7Feb 7Jan 7Dec 6Nov 15

Regaining ground

Robyg's stock price, November 2010 – April 2011

Source: Warsaw Stock Exchange

APRIL 11-17, 2011LLOOKKAALLEE IIMMMMOOBBIILLIIAA –– RREEAALL EESSTTAATTEE18 www.wbj.pl

Residential

Dolcan launches work on

first ‘rent-free’ projectOthers to follow soonin locations aroundWarsaw

Developer Dolcan haslaunched construction of itsRudy Rydz residential projectin Warsaw. The investment isthe first of a number of “rent-free” schemes which the com-pany is planning to build in ornear the capital. The concept,which Dolcan announced lastyear, involves the develop-ment of housing units whoseowners will not have to pay theusual maintenance and coop-erative fee expenses.

The Rudy Rydz estate,located in Warsaw’s Rem-bertów district, will comprisestand-alone buildings housingfrom four to six apartments.In total, 78 units sized from50-90 sqm have been plannedwithin the project, and almosthalf of them have alreadybeen sold. The prices of theapartments start at z∏.5,500per sqm.

Phase I of Rudy Rydz isscheduled for completion inQ1 2012. Within the next fewmonths, Dolcan plans to startconstruction on four otherprojects of this kind.

Czerwona Jarz´bina willbe located in the Targówekdistrict and will deliver 46apartments, while the KonikPolny and Kamyk Zielonyschemes will both be built inBia∏o∏´ka and will comprise26 and 130 apartments,respectively. The company’slatest project, OsiedlePasikonik in Marki (near

Warsaw), will host a total of16 residential units.

Dolcan has operated in thePolish market for 20 yearsnow. The developer has so fardelivered 20 projects compris-ing approximately 4,000 apart-ments in cities such as Warsaw,Lublin, Szczecin and Byd-goszcz.

AAddaamm ZZddrrooddoowwsskkii

CO

UR

TE

SY O

F G

LO

BA

LB

RA

ND

IN

ST

ITU

TE

Rudy Rydz will comprise a total of 78 units

Rank Progress sells

Galeria Twierdza K∏odzko

A subsidiary of Americaninvestment fund BlackstoneReal Estate has inked a pre-liminary agreement for thepurchase of Galeria TwierdzaK∏odzko, a shopping centerlocated in the Lower Silesiantown of K∏odzko. The deal isvalued at almost €40 millionand is expected to be con-cluded by the end of May.

Progress II and ProgressIII, subsidiaries of real estateinvestor and developer RankProgress, are the sellers.

Zizia, Blackstone’s daugh-

ter company, is conductingdue diligence on the property.The value of the transactioncould change based on its find-ings, Rank Progress has noted.

Galeria Twierdza K∏odzkoopened in 2009. Its two com-ponents – Galeria Twierdza Iand Park Handlowy TwierdzaII – comprise a total of 31,500sqm of retail and service space.Its tenants include Carrefour,Media Expert, Jysk, Marks &Spencer, Leroy Merlin andMcDonald’s. The facility alsohosts a multiplex cinema.

The Legnica-based RankProgress has two completedinvestments – in Legnica andJelenia Góra – under its beltand other four retail projectscurrently under way in Âwid-nica, Kalisz, Krosno andZamoÊç. The company earn-ed a z∏.91 million net profit in2010.

Blackstone Group oper-ates out of 21 global officesand invests regionallythrough local partners andadvisors.

KKaattaarrzzyynnaa PPiiaasseecckkaa

CO

UR

TE

SY O

F R

AN

K P

RO

GR

ES

S

The 31,500-sqm project is valued at almost €40 million

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 11-17, 2011TTHHEE LLIISSTT20 www.wbj.pl

Corporate Services

Security CompaniesRanked by revenue from security services in 2009 www.bookoflists.pl

Notes: NR = Not Ranked, WND = Would Not Disclose. Research for The List was done in May 2010. Number of employees and owner-ship structure are as of May 2010. All information pertains to the companies’ activities in Poland. Companies not responding to our surveyare not listed. Footnotes: (1) Securitas Group consists of Securitas Polska Sp. z o.o.; Securitas Services Sp. z o.o.; Securitas Alert Services Sp. z o.o.; Purzeczko- Grupa Securitas Sp. z o.o. (2) Grupa EKOTRADE consists of Ekotrade Sp. z o. o.; Agopol Ekotrade Sp. z o. o.; Multexim Patrol Sp. z o. o.; Dyskam Sp. z o.o.

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

Rank

Company nameAddressTel./FaxE-mailWeb page

Revenue fromsecurityservices (z∏. mln)

Total revenue (z∏. mln)

Prop

erty

sec

urity

/Bo

dygu

ards

/Al

arm

sys

tem

inst

alla

tion

/De

tect

ive

serv

ices

Acce

ss c

ontro

l sys

tem

inst

alla

tion

/Re

mot

e m

onito

ring

/CC

TV m

onito

ring

/Co

nvoy

s

On-s

ite p

rote

ctio

n /

Clea

ning

/In

terv

entio

n un

its /

Trai

ning

Other

Privatehouses /Offices /Industrialbuildings

Shoppingmalls /Banks /Public

buildings

Cooperation withinsurancecompanies

Selected clients

Number of securityemployees /

Full timeemployees /Year founded

Top local executive /

Title

1

Grupa Solidul. Post´pu 17, 02-676 Warsaw22 668-6006/22 668-6006 ext. 1507solid@solidsecurity.plwww.solidsecurity.pl

876.6842.5826.0

941.1892.5854.8

✓✓✓-

✓✓✓✓

✓✓✓✓

-

✓✓✓

✓✓✓

PZU; InterRisk ViennaInsurance Group

Millennium Bank; Bank ZachodniWBK; PKO BP; Coca Cola HBC

Polska; Carrefour Polska;Castorama Polska; MPWiK;

Statoil Poland

17,26813,4911994

Arkadiusz ReszkePresident

2

Konsalnet SAul. Przasnyska 6A, 01-756 Warsaw22 560-5000/22 560-5004centrala@konsalnet.com.plwww.konsalnet.com.pl

483.0250.0251.0

511.0300.0307.0

✓✓✓

WND

✓✓✓✓

✓✓✓✓

Cash processing; security audits;armed escorts; VIP protection;

mass event security; transport ofhazardous goods, artwork,

valuables, noble metals; lossverification in economic relations;

GPS monitoring

✓✓✓

✓✓✓

-Pekao; PKO BP; ArcelorMittal

Poland; Tesco Poland; Polkomtel;Polska Telefonia Cyfrowa

WNDWND1994

Adam Paw∏owiczPresident

3

Impel Security Polska Sp. z o.o.ul. Âl´˝na 118, 53-111 Wroc∏aw71 711-0300/71 711-0313cc.ochrona@impel.plwww.impel.pl

416.6386.0323.1

1,033.41,002.1890.1

✓✓✓-

✓✓✓✓

✓-✓✓

-

✓✓✓

✓✓✓

Ergo Hestia

Kredyt Bank; Vattenfall HeatPoland; Katowicki Holding

W´glowy; KGHM Polska Miedê;4213 Military Unit

WNDWND1990

¸ukasz Puci∏owskiPresident

4

G4Sul. Prosta 69, 00-838 Warsaw22 534-5100/22 534-5101g4s@pl.g4s.comwww.g4s.pl

201.1208.0209.0

201.1208.0239.0

✓✓✓✓

✓✓✓✓

✓✓✓✓

Cash processing; protection andsecurity consultancy; securityaudits; escorts; mass event

security

✓✓✓

✓✓✓

ACE; Hestia WND

7,6727,7971993

Dariusz Chorà˝yPresident

5

Securitas Group(1)

ul. Cybernetyki 21, 02-677 Warsaw22 457-0735/22 457-0784securitas@securitas.plwww.securitas.pl

190.0184.0126.0

190.0184.0126.0

✓✓✓-

✓✓✓✓

✓✓✓✓

Security audits; bodyguards;reception services; security

management

✓✓✓

✓✓✓

XL Insurance (member ofXL Capital)

Schenker Logistics; Grupa Lotos;Avon; Bank Handlowy-Citibank;

HSBC; Ernst & Young; P&G;Polbank EFG; Electrolux; Delphi;

MAN; General Motors; BAT;Electro World

4,363WND1996

Krzysztof Toczyƒski;Dariusz Bàk;

Miros∏aw PurzeczkoPresidents

6

Grupa EKOTRADE(2)

ul. Prosta 2/14, 00-860 Warsaw22 548-9000/22 548-9050biuro@ekotrade.com.plwww.ekotrade.com.pl

142.0123.4107.6

144.6126.6111.0

✓✓✓-

✓✓✓✓

✓✓✓✓

Fire monitoring; mass eventsecurity; reception services

✓✓✓

✓✓✓

XL Insurance CompanyLimited

Getin Bank; MarcPol;Metropolitan Warszawa;

Warsaw School of Economics;Agricultural Social Insurance

Fund

5,2003501991

Jacek JerschinaPresident

7

City Security Group Sp. z o.o.ul. Wybrze˝e Gdyƒskie 2, 01-531 Warsaw22 628-6070/22 635-5116biuro@citysecurity.plwww.citysecurity.pl

67.057.538.0

68.059.038.0

✓✓✓✓

✓✓✓✓

✓-✓✓

Anti-terrorist training

✓✓✓

✓-✓

ConcordiaNATO Military Airport in

Malbork; Praktiker; ALMA:Bumar; Accor; Radwar

3,6001,1502001

Beniamin KrasickiBoard Member

8

Grupa HUNTERS Sp. z o.o.ul. Bukowska 111, 62-065 Grodzisk Wielkopolski61 442-1600/61 442-1613biuro@hunters.plwww.hunters.pl

32.926.721.6

43.837.825.6

✓✓✓✓

✓✓✓✓

✓✓✓-

Inkaso; event security; GPS carmonitoring; DNA system marking

✓✓✓

✓✓✓

Allianz; PZU; Hestia;Benefia

Suchan; Imperial; Douglas; Piotri Pawe∏; TOM

8521,1361990

Piotr ˚y∏kowskiPresident

9

Agencja Ochrony Osób i MieniaGuard-Service Sp. z o.o.ul. Tatrzaƒska 6A, 60-413 Poznaƒ61 847-7196/61 847-7196guardservice@guardservice.plwww.guardservice.pl

19.016.512.0

20.017.013.0

✓✓✓✓

✓✓✓✓

✓✓✓✓

-

✓✓✓

✓✓✓

PZUVolkswagen Polska; Raben

Polska; LEK; Sulzer Chemtech;Kuehne+Nagel

5005002000

Konrad Sz∏apkaPresident

10

Agencja Ochrony Mienia “Matpol” Sp. z o.o.ul. Dominikaƒska 33, 02-738 Warsaw847-3535/853-5544matpol@matpol.com.plwww.matpol.com.pl

18.718.514.0

18.718.514.0

✓✓✓-

✓✓✓✓

✓✓✓✓

Mass event security

✓✓✓

✓✓✓

InterRisk; Concordia

Social Insurance Institution(ZUS); Pekao; Warsaw MedicalUniversity; the Chancellery of

the President of Poland;Municipal Bus Authority in

Warsaw

66398

1993

Zbigniew MatysPresident

11

Agencja Ochrony Osób i Mienia Zubrzyckiul. ¸ucka 18/1701A, 00-845 Warsaw22 654-3011/22 654-3012biuro@zubrzycki.com.plwww.zubrzycki.com.pl

17.321.620.9

17.321.620.9

✓✓✓-

✓✓✓✓

✓-✓✓

-

✓✓✓

✓-✓

PZURossman; Deichmann; PKP(Oddzia∏ Dworce Kolejowe);

Ministry of Health

4001301994

Sylwester ZubrzyckiOwner

12

Gustaw Securitas System Sp. z o.o.ul. Tkacka 19-22, 70-556 Szczecin91 812-1478/91 434-7527biuro@gustaw-securitas.plwww.gustaw-securitas.pl

16.414.512.0

17.214.512.0

✓✓✓-

✓✓✓-

✓-✓✓

-

✓✓✓

✓✓✓

PZU; Warta

Polish Radio and TV Szczecin;National Museum; District PublicProsecutor’s Office; VoivodshipAdministrative Court; Carlsberg

Polska; NETTO

5801081988

Gustaw WiliƒskiPresident

13

Agencja “Komandos” Sp. z o.o.ul. Pontonierów 7, 00-910 Warsaw22 879-1500/22 879-1520ochrona@komandos.plwww.komandos.pl

15.025.030.0

15.025.030.0

✓✓--

---✓

✓--✓

Deposit and treasury services

✓✓-

✓✓✓

Concordia Polska

The President’s Residency inWis∏a; Szczecin-ÂwinoujÊcie

Port; BNP Paribas Fortis;ZASADA

2401401990

Józef B´benekPresident

14

P. Dussmann Sp. z o.o.ul. Kurpiƒskiego 55A, 02-733 Warsaw22 827-2290/22 827-2298dussmann@dussmann.plwww.dussmann.pl

1.20.30.2

43.229.423.3

✓✓✓-

✓✓✓✓

✓✓✓✓

Mass event security

✓✓✓

✓✓✓

AXA TUiRNap Invest; Budizol; Cosmedica;

Medicover; Fantasy Park

9119

1993

Pawe∏ SkwarczowskiPresident

2009 / 2008 / 2007

Services Type of property protected

APRIL 11-17, 2011 CCOOMMPPAANNYY FFOOCCUUSS www.wbj.pl 21

Polish game developerCD Projekt ispreparing to launchits second major gameand has ambitiousplans for its flagshipproperty

There aren’t many officeswhere a life-sized statue of anarmored orc constitutes a sen-sible interior design choice.They clash with potted plants,after all, and tend to makeclients nervous.

That’s not a problem at CDProjekt’s office. The gamedeveloper is in the business ofsuspending disbelief, and itspremises attest to this. Casual-ly attired employees let offsteam with foosball and thelatest Xbox 360 games, or chatin the well-equipped kitchen.Within these sword-and-poster adorned walls, a life-sized orc fits in pretty well.

The decor offers a curiousjuxtaposition though. This“Peter Pan”-meets-”Revengeof the Nerds” atmosphere socommon in game developmentin fact belies a deadly serious,highly competitive industry.Computer games are a relative-ly young business, but one thathas matured rapidly over itsfew decades of existence.

Lessons pastCD Projekt itself has beenaround since 1994, but for itsfirst decade the company wasprimarily a regional publisherand distributor, best-knownfor localizing foreign games. In2007, it caught the gamingworld’s attention with “TheWitcher,” a computer role-playing game (RPG) whichput the player in the role ofGeralt of Rivia (see accompa-nying box).

Developed on a budget ofz∏.27 million, the game earnedrespectable reviews (a score of81/100 on Metacritic for theoriginal release, and 86 for thelater “Enhanced Edition”release). Sales for the first 12months amounted to over onemillion units.

Making its first big gamewas a major learning experi-

ence for the company, saidMarcin Iwiƒski, co-founder ofCD Projekt and joint CEO ofOptimus, the firm that owns it.

“It was our dream to makegames, but we were startingfrom scratch. We didn’t knowhow to make games, but weknew how to sell them and thisis a big advantage,” he added.

His company partneredwith Atari to publish the gameinternationally, signing a dealwhich saw Atari take upwardsof 65 percent of net income onsales. It was somewhat skewedin terms of the net income split,but unlike many freshmandevelopers, CD Projekt re-tained full creative control andrights to its intellectual proper-ty (IP). And the partnershiptaught CD Projekt a great dealabout the international pub-lishing process.

“It’s easy to go back in timetoday and say if we could havedone it a certain way it wouldhave been much better, but atthat time we hadn’t developedany games,” Iwiƒski said, not-ing that the lessons “needed tobe learned.”

Sophomore effortSoon the company will findout if its lessons were learnedwell enough. It is preparing tolaunch a sequel to its 2007game, titled “The Witcher 2:Assassins of Kings,” on May17. And its expectations arehigh.

Adam Kiciƒski, presidentand joint CEO of Optimus,described a sales target of onemillion units for the May-to-December period as “moreconservative than optimistic.”For the full May-to-May cycle,the firm wants to move 1.3 mil-lion units, a figure up about 30percent on first-year sales for“The Witcher.”

Expenditures on “TheWitcher 2” will be marginallyhigher than for the first game aswell, but the sum includes thedevelopment of unannouncedprojects. “At the end of the day,the cost of ‘Witcher 2’ on thePC will be lower than that of‘Witcher 1’ PC,” Kiciƒski said.

Drawing on its experiencefrom the first game, CD Pro-

jekt has also taken adifferent approachto its internationalpublishing deals.

“Our intention on‘The Witcher 2’ was tochange [the situation].In order to change ityou need to financethe game all your-self, plus put addi-tional money onmarketing, PR,production ofadditional assetsif needed,” saysMarcin Iwiƒski.

This timearound, the com-pany expects toearn closer to 60percent of netincome on salesand it has also been careful tohold onto the rights to digitaldistribution. By eliminatingthe costs associated withbricks-and-mortar retail, itwill take around 70 percent ofthe total price for digitalsales.

And digital is a muchmore popular sales platformthan it was in 2007. “This isbecoming the place forgamers to buy,” noted Iwiƒs-ki.

In public lifeCD Projekt too has changed agreat deal since 2007. Backthen it was preparing for a2009 stock market debut andthe acquisition of smaller com-petitor Metropolis.

Then came the financial cri-sis. The company is in theprocess of liquidating Metrop-olis, having taken most of itsstaff onboard, and it finallyentered the Warsaw StockExchange last year through anacquisition by former computerhardware producer Optimus.

Iwiƒski and Kiciƒski notethat the transition to publiclytraded company has made itfar easier to raise capital, andthe introduction of an institu-tional investor, PKO TFI, hasadded stability. Being on theWSE has also boosted CDProjekt’s overall credibility.

“The perception of thecompany is changing dramati-

cally. We did not expect it tochange so much,” admittedIwiƒski.

Both men acknowledge thatOptimus isn’t the best name forCD Projekt’s holding companyor its stock symbol. They would

eventually like to change thesituation, possibly licensing outthe Optimus label.

“We recognize the stren-gths and weaknesses of theOptimus brand. It definitelyhas value and we would like touse it, but we have no inten-tion of producing hardware, soit will mostly be throughlicensing if at all,” said Iwiƒski.

Wedded to ‘The Witcher’CD Projekt’s fortunes dependlargely on the success of “TheWitcher 2.” Game develop-ment is always a gamble, anddoubly so with a top-shelf game.

But the company is bettingespecially heavily on its IP,with comic books timed tocome out with the new game,console versions expected (butnot officially confirmed) andother plans in the works.

“We want to build anempire around the IP,” saysAdam Kiciƒski. Games willremain the core stream, butthere are plenty of otheropportunities to explore, headds.

For his part, Marcin Iwiƒskiis confident that his companycan achieve success by stayingtrue to “The Witcher,” with itsdark and immersive narrative,and by focusing on its coremarket. “We know our placeand how we can monetize itsuccessfully. I think that’s ourbig strength.” ●

The author has worked on afreelance basis for CD Projekt inthe past, editing texts for theEnglish-language versions of“The Witcher” games.

CD Projekt’s “Witcher”games are based on an intel-lectual property created byPolish fantasy authorAndrzej Sapkowski. Hiswritings chronicle the adven-tures of Geralt of Rivia, analbino witcher (wiedêmin),or monster hunter, with afondness for wine, womenand warfare.

The world of “The Witch-er” is dark and brutal, withfew conventional heroes.

Themes from Polish andEuropean history pop up, asseen in prejudice against andghettoization of non-humanraces. “Pogroms” and simi-larly violent events are com-mon.

The witchers themselvesare mutants, the results ofmedical experiments per-formed on children. Thosewho survive the processspend years training to fightthe rather nasty creatures

which inhabit the world of“The Witcher,” such as giantspiders, zombies and demons– the standard fare for fanta-sy IPs, for the most part.

Within this world, thecharacter of Geralt (or thegamer playing as Geralt, inCD Projekt’s games) fre-quently faces moral dilem-mas. Does he save a mon-strous princess, cursedbecause she is the product ofan incestuous union? Or

does he simply slay her?What about a pair of mur-derers about to be killed by awrathful ghost? Does thewitcher intervene or letvengeance take its course?

In the world of “TheWitcher,” the only certaintyis that Geralt will end up in afight, drink the local tavernunder the table and tumbleinto bed with a willing wench(or two). And not necessarilyin that order. ●

0

2

4

6

8

10

Apr 20

11

Mar 20

11

Feb 20

11

Jan 20

11

Dec 20

1

Nov 20

10

Oct 2010

Sept 2

010

Aug 20

10

July 20

10

June 2

010

May 20

10

Apr 20

10

* Price from the fourth of the month or nearest trading day

Source: Warsaw Stock Exchange

-10

zł.mln

10

20

30

40

50

60

ProfitRevenues

20102009

* Acquisition official as of May 2010

Source: Optimus

Disclosure

The world of ‘The Witcher’

Game on

Optimus' stock price, April 2010 – April 2011*

Initial figures

Consolidated revenues and net profit for Optimus (in z∏.

millions), before and after CD Projekt acquisition*

CO

UR

TE

SY O

F C

D P

RO

JE

KT

CO

UR

TE

SY O

F C

D P

RO

JE

KT

Game development

TTaakkiinngg iitt ttoo tthhee nneexxtt lleevveell E Blake Berry

Concept art from “The Witcher 2”

APRIL 11-17, 2011AARRTTSS && CCUULLTTUURREE22 www.wbj.pl

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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

Silent Film FestivalKino Iluzjon, April 14-17

The 9th edition of the SilentFilm Festival will be largelydevoted to German cinema,but films from as far off as

Australia and Japan will makean appearance. On the 80th

Anniversary of the death ofFriedrich Wilhelm Murnau,his masterpiece “Nosferatu”will be shown in re-mastered

form. All films will be accom-panied by live music.

Tickets z∏.16-20. For more info,log on to www.fn.org.pl ●

Cinema before sound“Reverse” (“Rewers”)April 18Kino Alchemia

This is the latest showing inKino Alchemia’s “Polish Filmsin English” series, which seeksto familiarize anglophoneswith the local cinematic tradi-tion. The critically acclaimed“Reverse” won five awards atthe 2009 Polish Film Festival,including the “Best Film”award.

Primarily set in 1950s War-saw, this is a story about threegenerations of women in Stal-inist Poland. Sabina (played byAgata Buzek, daughter of for-mer Prime Minister JerzyBuzek) is looking for a hus-band. Aided by her mother

and hindered by her grand-mother, various male suitorsbegin to visit their apartment.

One of them will change Sabi-na’s life, for better or forworse. ●

Backwards in time

Car Rally & ExhibitionApril 17, 11 am – 6 pmThe National Museum inWarsaw

On the last day of its “WeWant to be Modern” exhibi-tion, the National Museum isholding a vintage car show.Cars from the ‘50s and ‘60swill take visitors back to thedays of the Polish People’sRepublic. This is also the lastchance to see “We Want to beModern,” which showcasesexamples of post-1945 Polishdesign.

For more info, log on towww.mnw.art.pl ●

Vintage vehicles

Some content provided bythe Warsaw Insider. Formore information on cultureand entertainment inWarsaw this month, pick up the April issue.

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“Heroes of Mightand Magic”April 20 – May 23Centre for Contemporary Art

This month the Centre forContemporary Art in Warsaw(CSW) showcases the vivid,often disturbing images of Pol-ish artist Aleksandra Wal-iszewska.

A graduate of Warsaw’sAcademy of Fine Arts, MsWaliszewska has more than 20solo exhibitions to her nameand has been awarded severalstipends by the Polish Ministryof Culture. According to theCSW, she draws a new 25x35picture every day, ignoring theconventions of the contempo-rary art world.

“Heroes of Might andMagic,” whose name the artistborrowed from a popular com-puter game, is not a great exhi-bition for school trips or firstdates (depending on the date,of course). For one thing, the

works on display are all hum-ble in scale (25x35 cm) andtechnique, meaning they donot draw the viewer in fromafar.

Then there’s the subjectmatter. The Ms Waliszewska’swork is filled with dark themesof isolation, biological identity

and sexual predation. In somepieces, victims appear almostoblivious to their own plight;in others, such as “Death of aPedophile,” they are clearlyempowered. It’s challengingmaterial, but it’s worth reflec-tion.

EEBBBB

Heart of darkness

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APRIL 11-17, 2011 LLAASSTT WWOORRDD www.wbj.pl 23

AA ffrreesshh llooookk aatt ggeettaawwaayy vveehhiicclleessTech Eye

Never underestimate the importanceof a proper getaway plan. It’s oftenthe difference between a criminalmastermind and a criminal doing 25-to-life with a snuggle-hungry cellmatecalled The Gibblet.

Call us crazy, but Techeye hasalways preferred being on the master-mind side of things. That’s why we

meticulously plan several escaperoutes for every heist we pull.

What, Techeye a criminal? Not in

the traditional sense of the word.We’re not the sort to hold up a bankor ransom a wealthy family’s belovedpet llama. But we do have a weaknessfor freshly baked everything.

Ever since we learned to crawl,we’ve devoted insane amounts of timeto plotting and executing cookiecapers, pie pilferage, shortbread swin-dles, you name it.If it’s freshlybaked, we’ll bur-gle it.

The second-most importantfactor in anescape plan,aside from theroute, is the get-away vehicle. Wefavor bikes, per-sonally, as theycan squeezethrough alleysand other tight spaces where fat-bot-tomed pastry chefs dare not tread.And we naturally prefer high-techbikes to boring low-tech vehicles.

Enter the Bergmönch(www.bergmoench.com): half back-pack, half bike. Made by Dutch firmKoga, it’s meant for people who liketo take the hard way up a mountain

and the easy way down. In fact, sinceit lacks a seat and a means to generateforward momentum, down is the onlyway it goes.

The bike features a hand-built,full-suspension aluminum 7005frame, with triple-hardened tubes anda lightweight swing arm. If you’re thetype to enjoy having an extra nine

kilos strapped to your back on amountainside and have €1,499 layingaround, then this is the vehicle foryou.

Or, if you’re like Techeye, youmight “borrow” some exhaustedclimber’s Bergmönch and use it to robAlpine bakeries.

For flatland getaways, a better

vehicle would be AVD’s Windcheetahrecumbent trike (www.windchee-tah.co.uk). The Windcheetah comesin two varieties, the ClubSport(€2,750) and the HyperSport(€3,850), and its maker has justunveiled a second series of the latterwhich shaves off some weight andadds some swank.

A l t h o u g hAVD is coy aboutits top speed, theWindcheetah isreputedly veryfast. It’s probablysomewhere in theneighborhood ofa real cheetah, butwe’d adviseagainst racing oneunless you let usvideotape theexperience.

Our final get-away vehicle – Honda’s U3-X Per-sonal Mobility Device – is so unusu-al that the average pie owner willstop to marvel at your wobbly, slow-speed escape rather than give chase.

The U3-X is perhaps bestdescribed as the love child of a Seg-way, a unicycle and a Honda’sASIMO robot. Parentage-à-trois –

that’s the level of freaky we’re deal-ing with here.

We have no idea how it works,but the gadget can stand by itselfand the rider can zip in all direc-tions without turning. There’s apromo vid for the U3-X which isboring enough to make a tax offi-cial’s brain hemorrhage, but never-theless makes us want one.

If and when Honda brings theU3-X to the market (it’s technical-ly still a concept vehicle), Techeyewill put it to good use. After we fig-ure out how to keep our balancewith an armload of cupcakes, ofcourse. ●

Ever execute a half-baked escape plan, get caught and end up in prison with a cellmate named after chicken innards? Let us know: techeye@wbj.pl

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