wbj #37 2012
DESCRIPTION
Warsaw Business Journal, vol.18, #37, September 17-23TRANSCRIPT
VOLUME 18, NUMBER 37 • SEPTEMBER 17-23, 2012 . z∏.12.50 (VAT 8% included) . ISSN 1233 7889 INDEX-RUCH-332-127
PPuuttiinn’’ssddeeccrreeeePGNiG may have to
negotiate with the
Kremlin in its price
dispute with Gazprom 5
Since 1994 . Poland’s only business weekly in English
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Optimism that a resolution to theeuro zone crisis is in sight hasbrought the bulls back to theWarsaw Stock Exchange – butfor how long? 12-13
MMoorreeppeerrffeeccttuunniioonn??The EC has unveiled its plan
to create a banking union, but
Polish officials are less than
enthused 3
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The same but different:Tech Eye reviews the iPhone 5
10
George Soros on whyGermany must lead theeuro zone or leave it
News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2-4
Business . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5
Law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6
Interview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8-9
Opinion & Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . .10
Cover Story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12-13
Finance & Economics . . . . . . . . . .14
Lokale Immobilia . . . . . . . . . .15-17
The List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18-19
Markets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20
Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21
Lifestyle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22
Last Word . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23
In this issue
• Special GRI preview issue
• Warsaw Trade Tower sold
• Poland outperforms CEE
15-17
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Plus• EU shale gas battle
• Poles sour on the US
• Popular Polish bonds
• New Katyn revelations
• Furniture powerhouse
• Paralympic medal haul
The bulls are back
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FranceGermanyItalyEUSpainUKUSPolandTurkeyRussia
SEPTEMBER 17-23, 2012NNEEWWSS2 www.wbj.pl
Polish exports
on the rise From January to July
2012, the value of Polish
exports amounted to
€80.5 billion – 3% higher
than the same period a
year earlier, according to
data from the Central
Statistical Office. Data in
z∏oty show that the value
of exports rebounded by
11% year-on-year,
although in US dollars,
exports fell 4%. Imports
in z∏oty grew 6.3%, but
when denominated in
euros and dollars,
imports fell over the
period. Poland had a
negative trade balance
when calculated in all
three currencies.
Polish families
want to move
abroad
Over half of Poles who
have tasted life abroad
want to take their kids
with them out of Poland
as soon as they can,
according to a survey
conducted by labor
agency Otto Work Force,
Rzeczpospolita reported.
Polish families argue that
it is easier to find a well-
paid job in Western
countries, where they can
very often can count on
robust social assistance.
PiS catching up
with PO: poll
If elections were held
today, 28% of Poles
would vote for the ruling
Civic Platform (PO) party,
headed by current Prime
Minister Donald Tusk,
while 26% would vote for
Law and Justice (PiS),
headed by former Prime
Minister Jaros∏aw
Kaczyƒski, according to a
survey carried out by TNS
Polska. The numbers
show that PO has lost one
percentage point of
support while PiS has
gained two since the last
poll was carried out in
August.
Economists
pessimistic
Even after the current
economic slowdown
ends, Poland’s economy
has no chance to return
to the days of 5-7%
growth, and instead will
likely grow by 2-3% per
year at most,
economists told
Rzeczpospolita. The
economy needs
additional stimulus, a
loosening of regulations
and more business-
friendly law, they say. ●
Abacorp ..............................5
Advent International ..........5
AEA Technology ..................3
AIG/Lincoln ......................16
Akron Investment Central
Eastern Europe II..............15
Amber Gold ........................2
American Express ............15
Apple ................................23
ARC Rynek i Opinia ..........14
Audytel ................................5
Avestus Real Estate..........15
AXA....................................15
Bank Pekao ......................12
Bank Zachodni WBK ........14
Biedecki ..............................6
Boeing ................................5
CBRE ................................17
Colliers International ......15
Cushman & Wakefield......17
Echo Investment ..............15
Ecorse Investments............5
Eko Holding ........................5
Emperia ..............................5
Fidelity ..............................14
Gazprom..........................3, 5
GRI ........................15, 16, 17
Goldman Sachs ................20
Griffin Group ....................15
Hochtief Development
Poland ..............................15
Hydrobudowa Polska..........5
Immo Invest ......................16
ING TFI ..............................12
JEMS Architekci................15
Jones Lang LaSalle ....15, 17
Kernel ..............................20
KGHM................................12
KPMG ................................15
KSP Real Estate Investment
Management ....................15
Kulczyk Real Estate
Holding..............................15
Kulczyk Silverstein
Properties ........................15
LOT ......................................5
Manpower ....................2, 14
Mattel ................................15
Metro Properties ..............15
Mid Europa Partners..........5
Nordea Bank ....................14
Otto Work Force..................2
PBG Group ..........................5
Penta Investments ............5
Peter Nielsen & Partners ..6
PGNiG ................................5
Process Solutions Group..14
PZU ..................................12
Quinlan Private Golub ......15
RTKL Associates ..............15
Savills................................17
Silverstein Properties ......15
Skarbiec TFI......................12
Synthos ............................12
TVN....................................20
Warsaw
Stock Exchange ............6, 12
X-Trade Brokers ..............20
A recorded telephone conver-sation between a judge and ajournalist posing as an official inthe Prime Minister’s Chan-cellery has gripped public atten-tion and brought to the forequestions about whether thePolish government routinelypressures members of the judi-cial system for political gain.
The conversation wasreleased to the media last week,and involved judge RyszardMilewski, the head judge of theDistrict Court in Gdaƒsk, and ajournalist from the right-wingGazeta Polska Codziennie news-paper.
In the recording, the jour-nalist tells the judge that thePM’s office is interested in theAmber Gold case, which isbeing heard by Mr Milewski’scourt, and that the head of MrTusk’s Chancellery, TomaszArabski, would like to meet himin order to “arrange when the
next court hearing on AmberGold should be held.”
Amber Gold was a “para-bank” that attracted clients withpromises of high returns oninvestments in gold-indexedinstruments, but has now gonebust and is being described as apyramid scheme by governmentofficials.
Its owner, Marcin P., hasbeen arrested and charged withcheating thousands of peopleout of over z∏.180 million. Atone point, the prime minister’sson, Micha∏ Tusk, worked for alow-cost airline owned byAmber Gold.
In the conversation, thejournalist also told the judgethat the prime minister wanteda meeting with him but didn’twant it to coincide with anyAmber Gold case hearings, soas not to be perceived as“amounting to pressure.”
In response, the judge
offered several dates he couldorder the next hearing, askingwhether the PM’s office wantedhim to “speed up the case ornot.”
The journalist then askedMr Milewski whether he “trust-ed” the judges he had assignedto the case, to which the judgereplied, “Don’t you worry aboutthat.”
Justice Minister Jaros∏awGowin said the judge’s behaviorwas “scandalous” and that heshould be dismissed. “In inde-pendent courts, we shouldn’thave people who are ready toaccept political dispensations,”Mr Gowin said.
Poland’s largest oppositionparty, Law and Justice (PiS),has said a parliamentary com-mission must be established toinvestigate the Amber Goldaffair, since it suspects the gov-ernment has something to hide.It also suggests that Mr Milews-ki’s readiness to cooperate withthe government representednot an isolated incident, butrather a practice common in thePolish justice system.
Mr Tusk has rejected thecalls for a parliamentary com-mission, saying it would be a“political spectacle.” He alsosaid it was possible that a crimehas been committed by thenewspaper that obtained therecording.
RReemmii AAddeekkooyyaa
36is how many medals Polish athletes won during the
Paralympic Games in London. Poland’s Olympicathletes won just 10.
2,417.32 points was the level at which the blue-chip WIG20 closed last
Friday, its highest level since October 2011.
14% is the share of Polish firms that plan to cut jobs this
year. About 12% plan to create new jobs, according to astudy by employment agency Manpower Group.
73 is the number of companies that declared bankruptcyin August 2012. That’s 4.3% more than a month earlier
and 25.7% more than in August 2011.
“The euro zone train will be leaving.”EU Budget Commissioner Janusz Lewandowski, on what is at stake when itcomes to whether or not Poland will join the newly proposed EU banking union.Mr Lewandowski called the decision facing the Polish government “a veryimportant strategic choice.”
Quote of the Week
A land down underNot unlike discovering a lostworld, the underground pas-sages of the Filtry waterworksare one of Warsaw’s best-keptsecrets. Log on to WBJ.pl tofind out more.
On WBJ.pl
Numbers in the News
Company index
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SEPTEMBER
18-19 PROPERTY FORUM 2012Event: Property Forum 2012 is the largest event
dedicated to the sector in Poland. The eventis a great opportunity for the management ofcommercial real estate developers to meetwith facility managers and tenants.
Location: Sheraton Hotel, WarsawWeb: propertynews.pl
20 POLISH OUTSOURCING FORUMEvent: Organized by Roadshow Poland and Aspire,
the Polish Outsourcing Forum will presentthe latest trends in the outsourcing market inPoland and abroad and will feature represen-tatives from business, government andmedia.
Location: Hyatt Hotel, WarsawWeb: roadshowpolska.pl/e
30 34TH WARSAW MARATHONEvent: The annual Warsaw Marathon will raise
funds for the Bátor Tábor Polska Foundation,an organization that offers therapeutic camp-
ing opportunities to children with chronicdiseases in Central and Eastern Europe. Par-ticipants are expected to be sponsored byfriends, family and colleagues for every kilo-meter they run. Organized by KompaniaWra˝eƒ, the marathon route will travelthrough Warsaw’s key landmarks, includingthe Old Town.
Location: WarsawWeb: kompaniawrazen.pl
OCTOBER4 ‘BUSINESS IS TALKING’Event: This congress, organized by Netia, is an
experience-exchange platform for new tech-nologies and their application in business. Itprovides knowledge of ICT solutions andinnovation technologies. Each year, the con-gress brings together over 1,000 partici-pants, and is strongly supported by TVNCNBC. This year’s theme will be “Integra-tion, Innovation, Inspiration.”
Location: Multikino Z∏ote Tarasy, WarsawWeb: biznestorozmowy.pl
September/October
DATELINE
Poland’s justice systemIN THE SPOTLIGHT
Figures in focusApproval ratingsOverall approval for US President Barack Obama's handling ofinternational politics, selected countries in 2012 (in %)
Source: German Marshall Fund
SEPTEMBER 17-23, 2012 NNEEWWSS www.wbj.pl 3
European Union
PPoollaanndd’’ss ffuuttuurree iinn ‘‘bbaannkkiinngg uunniioonn’’ uunncclleeaarrThe EuropeanCommission’s planallows for countriesoutside the euro zoneto join, but not to havea full say
After the European Commis-sion revealed proposals lastweek to give the EuropeanCentral Bank supervisorypowers over euro zone banks,Poland’s government re-mained non-committal, reluc-tant to voice its approval of aplan that could place Warsawon the outside looking in.
In a speech to the Euro-pean Parliament last week,Jose Manuel Barroso, presi-dent of the European Com-mission, called the proposals“a major step to a bankingunion.”
Specifically, the EC wantsto give the ECB supervisorypower over all banks in theeuro zone, “with a mechanismfor non-euro countries to join
on a voluntary basis,” the EUexecutive said in a statement.
Precisely how that mecha-nism will work is unclear, andPoland is keen to avoid a situa-tion where it gives up supervi-sion of its banks to a body inwhich it has no direct say.
Poland’s Finance Ministryissued a statement saying itwas too early to decidePoland’s stance on the unionuntil it sees “all the details ofthe plans for the euro zonebanks.”
According to the proposal,
ultimate responsibility forsupervisory tasks related to thefinancial stability of all eurozone banks will lie with theECB, although national super-visors will continue to play an“important role” in preparingand implementing ECB deci-
sions, the EC’s statement said.Under the EC’s proposal,
the ECB would be able todecide to assume full supervi-sory responsibility over anycredit institution, particularlythose which have received orrequested public funding, atthe start of next year. By July1, 2013 all banks of major sys-temic importance would beput under the supervision ofthe ECB. The phasing-in peri-od would be completed byJanuary 1, 2014, bringing allbanks within the system underECB supervision.
Catch the train?EU Budget CommissionerJanusz Lewandowski, a Pole,told journalists last week thatPoland has before it “a veryimportant strategic choice” ofwhether or not to join thebanking union, adding thatWarsaw would have to decidebefore the year runs out.
Mr Lewandowski said thatcountries outside the euro
zone would only be allowed to“cooperate closely” with thebanking union but would notcount as full-fledged members.He questioned whether suchguarantees would be“enough” to convince coun-tries to join the banking unionwhile giving up domesticsupervision.
But he added that the“euro zone train will be leav-ing,” and said that staying out-side the banking union “couldworsen the external percep-tion of the Polish banking sys-tem.”
Poland’s Finance Ministrysaid in its statement that “ifPoland does not join the newsystem fully, it will not weakenour position in the EU,” butthat it would do everything inits power to have an “influenceon decisions taken in the uni-fied structure, which couldhave an indirect influence oncountries outside the EBCsupervision.”
RReemmii AAddeekkooyyaa
Unconventional gas
EC shale gas reportstirs hornets’ nestThe study could heraldthe introduction ofmore stringentenvironmentalregulations. Poland isnot impressed
The Polish government hasreacted angrily to news thatthe European Commission isplanning to strengthen envi-ronmental regulations relatedto the extraction of shale gas.The EC says changes in legis-lation will be needed in orderto deal with threats to theenvironment which were iden-tified in a new report.
A study for the EuropeanCommission led by consultan-cy AEA Technology highlight-ed risks to surface- andground-water contaminationrelated to the hydraulic frac-turing process used to extractshale gas, as well as other risks,including increases in air andnoise pollution.
“The study identified cleargaps in the existing legisla-tion,” said EC spokespersonJoe Hennon.
“We will analyze, consultwith member states and thepublic, and propose somethingin 2013. At this stage it is notpossible to say whether it willbe stand-alone new legislationor amendments to existing leg-islation,” he added.
Experts say tougher envi-
ronmental regulations wouldlikely raise shale gas produc-tion costs for companiesprospecting in Poland.
‘Behind a desk’Poland’s Treasury MinisterMiko∏aj Budzanowski said hedisagreed with many of thefindings in the report andcriticized it for “misleadingthe public from behind adesk.”
“This is an important mat-ter and we will intervene,” hesaid. “I have the impressionthat the report was preparedin the comfort of an air-condi-tioned office, not taking intoaccount the laws of physicsand geology.” He added thatcompanies prospecting forshale gas in Poland currentlyadhere to stringent, and suffi-cient, environmental regula-tions.
The government is stakingmajor hopes and no little capi-tal on the development of thecountry’s shale gas industry,which could allow Poland tobecome a self-sufficient pro-ducer of gas.
“That partly explains whythe government reacted sosensitively,” said ¸ukaszCioch, general director of theCentre for Energy Studies atTischner European Universi-ty. “The promising outlookfor commercially exploitableshale gas in Poland is subject
to many factors and variablesat this stage. The governmentis risking a great deal. Itprobably prioritizes hardfacts and critical answersfrom people close to theactual drilling over PR, socialactivism and reports pro-duced from behind a desk,”he added.
Polish media reported thata number of experts are skep-tical about the findings of thereport due to earlier closecooperation between AEATechnology and Russia’sGazprom group, the world’slargest extractor of natural gas.Gazprom exports large quanti-ties of natural gas to Polandand would lose out if Poland’sshale gas industry were to takeoff.
Poland is thought to havethe EU’s largest shale gasreserves, but estimates of totalaccessible deposits vary widely.
“Over time, facts shouldprevail over speculation and,hopefully, be reflected insound, fact-driven EU legisla-tion, sooner than later. As ofnow, there appears to be a lotof politics, lobbying and‘strategizing’ behind closeddoors, especially among busi-ness stakeholders. We are stillat a very early stage in Poland,as reflected by the current leg-islative turmoil,” said MrCioch.
GGaarreetthh PPrriiccee
‘Useful summary’
¸ukasz Cioch, general director ofthe Centre for Energy Studies atTischner European University,assesses AEA Technology’s reportinto the environmental effects ofshale gas prospecting
“The report itself is a comprehensive reviewof the shale gas prospecting processes acrossmultiple technical, legislative and geographicsettings. It comprises many intuitive recom-mendations, but does not seem to contributemuch by way of ground-breaking, definitiveresearch into environmental questions assuch,” he said.
He added that while “useful for weatherforecasts,” the report’s emphasis on risk-assessment categories such as “high,” “mod-erate” or “low” entails a number of poten-tially “harmful implications” when appliedto social, legislative, technological and envi-ronmental aspects of shale gas prospecting.This is unless research methodology and
data on the comparative impact of otheravailable technologies were to be fullyincorporated into the study.
“The industry should make good use ofconstructive, well-intentioned pressure, criti-cism or demands of increasing transparencyand a proactive approach to communication,”he added.
He concluded that, “while it is of vitalimportance that there should be strict con-trols and regulations which follow the tech-nology very closely and stimulate innovation,one should avoid the luxury of reasoning[along the lines that] ‘the fact that we likehamburgers doesn’t mean that we want tomeet the cow.’ ”
“Mining will always have its adverseeffects. Sound regulations, constructive pres-sure on environmental factors and emphasison innovation will hopefully accelerate theonset of cleaner energy sources. Until thathappens, we are simply stuck with compro-mise. The trick of the game is to make it a sus-tainable one.” ●
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Mr Barroso outlined the EC’s proposal for a banking union last weekR
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Treasury Minister Miko∏aj Budzanowski was highly critical of the report
“I have theimpression that thereport was preparedin the comfort of an
air-conditionedoffice, not taking intoaccount the laws of
physics and geology”
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SEPTEMBER 17-23, 2012NNEEWWSS4 www.wbj.pl
Katyn
President Roosevelt knew Stalinwas behind Katyn massacreDocuments releasedlast week show the USgovernment knew whomurdered tens ofthousands of Poles in1940
US President Franklin DelanoRoosevelt and his administra-tion had credible evidence thatit was the Soviets who commit-ted the 1940 massacre of 22,000Polish officers and inteligentsiain and near the Katyn Forest inRussia, but preferred to keepthe information quiet, docu-ments published last week sug-gest.
According to the docu-ments, published by the USNational Archives and RecordsAdministration, the USreceived coded reports in 1943from two of its officers whowere taken by their Germancaptors to the Katyn Forest tosee mass graves packed withthousands of corpses in Polishofficers’ uniforms.
The men reported that thecorpses were in an advancedstate of decay, proof that thekillers could not have been theNazis (as Soviet propagandaclaimed), since they had onlyrecently occupied the area.
It has long been suspectedthat President Roosevelt hadknown Soviet leader JosephStalin ordered the massacre,but didn’t want to alienate theUSSR, an ally whom the Amer-icans were counting on to helpdefeat Germany during WorldWar II. However, documenta-tion proving President Roo-sevelt’s knowledge of who wasbehind the crime had remainedundisclosed until last week.
Though the messages didreach Washington, they disap-peared soon after, indicatingthat the administration wanted
to keep the reports underwraps. They failed to appear ina 1951-52 Congressional hear-ing on the massacre.
In response to the release,Foreign Minister Rados∏awSikorski wrote in an open letterthat “we must ensure that thefullness of the truth is uncov-ered for its own sake and in thename of historical justice.”
It was Soviet leader MikhailGorbachev who in 1990 finallyadmitted publicly that theUSSR was responsible for theKatyn massacre.
RReemmii AAddeekkooyyaa
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Some 22,000 Polish officers and inteligentsia were killed
by Soviet secret police in the Katyn massacre of 1940
US-Polish relations
Poles’ views on US, Obamaturn increasingly negativeThat’s according to asurvey by the GermanMarshall Fund
In no other European countryhas support for American lead-ership in world affairs droppedas much as in Poland, with only38 percent of Poles now find-ing it “desirable,” down from49 percent in 2011, accordingto the German MarshallFund’s latest annual survey oftransatlantic trends.
Among European coun-tries, Poland gave PresidentBarack Obama his lowestfavorability rating – 54 percent– compared to 82 percent fromthe continent as a whole.
Just 49 percent of Polesapprove of Mr Obama’s inter-national policies, a 16 percent-age-point drop since last year,while Poland also had the sec-ond-lowest level (59 percent)of respondents who said theybelieved that the United Statesand the EU have “enoughcommon interests” to enableinternational cooperation.
Likewise, the percentage ofsurveyed Poles who saw“enough common interests”between the EU and US (59percent) fell below the
Europe-wide average of 66percent.
Three key incidentsPresident Obama’s standingamong Poles has been tar-nished in recent years, mostlydue to three incidents: Thefirst was his 2009 cancellationof George W. Bush’s missileshield program, elements ofwhich were to be hosted inPoland, on the anniversary ofthe Soviet Union’s invasion ofPoland in World War II (helater announced a replacementprogram, which also includedPoland).
Second, in 2010, Poles weredismayed to see him playing
golf on the day of the funeralof the late Polish PresidentLech Kaczyƒski (he was pre-vented from attending due avolcanic eruption in Iceland).
Finally, earlier this year, hemade an unfortunate slip ofthe tongue referring to Ger-man concentration camps inNazi-occupied Poland duringWorld War II as “Polish deathcamps” (he was honoring aPolish hero at the time).
If Poles were to vote in theupcoming American presiden-tial election, 35 percent wouldvote for Mr Obama, and 16percent would vote for MittRomney, the survey found.
RReemmii AAddeekkooyyaa
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Fewer than half of Poles approve of President Obama’s
international policies
PGNiG recorded a net lossof z∏.314 million in the secondquarter of 2012, seeing its mar-gin on gas sales drop to -13percent as the US dollarstrengthened against the z∏otyduring the period. PGNiGpays Gazprom in dollars.
“Putin’s statement will sig-nificantly reduce the chancesof PGNiG and Gazpromreaching an out-of-court set-tlement,” said Peter Csaszar,an analyst at KBC Securities.
To improve PGNiG’s bar-gaining position, TreasuryMinister Miko∏aj Budzanows-ki said that the companyshould seek to double its nat-ural gas production by 2019,the year when PGNiG is dueto start renegotiating its nextlong-term gas supply contractwith Gazprom.
Polish energy market regu-lator URE did little to help
beleaguered PGNiG lastweek, rejecting a request fromthe gas firm to increase the
price it charges Polish cus-tomers.
GGaarreetthh PPrriiccee
SEPTEMBER 17-23, 2012 BBUUSSIINNEESSSS www.wbj.pl 5
LOT sells
Dreamliner
tickets
The first Boeing 787
Dreamliner will not
become part of LOT
Polish Airlines’ fleet until
December, but
passengers can already
book tickets for routes
due to be serviced by the
airplane. To begin with,
the new aircraft will
service flights to
European capitals.
Polish public
debt rises
At the end of the first half
of 2012 Poland’s public
debt amounted to
z∏.842.6 billion, the
Finance Ministry
announced. That’s 3.3%
(z∏.27.3 billion) more than
at the beginning of the
year and 7.2% more than
12 months ealier.
Emperia to sell
properties
Polish trading company
Emperia will put 95
properties on sale
shortly, with the first
sales offers expected in
the coming weeks. The
book value of these
properties stands at more
than z∏.350 million. “I
think that their market
value is close to this
amount, so their sale
should not have a
significant impact on the
company’s net results,
only its cash situation,”
Parkiet reported Artur
Kawa, Emperia’s
president, as saying.
Telecoms won’t
grow as fast as
expectedIn its latest report,
consulting firm Audytel
has trimmed its forecast
for the value of growth in
the telecoms sector in
Poland this year.
Whereas it had earlier
estimated that the sector
would grow by z∏.2.2
billion this year, it has
now changed this
forecast to a predicted
growth of z∏.1.6 billion.
This would take the total
value of the sector up to
z∏.48.58 billion. ●
Poland is the second-largestproducer of furniture, withonly China producing more,according to a recent report byAbacorp on the furnitureindustry. Every year Polish fur-niture factories produce morethan 31 million couches, sofas,chairs, mattresses as well ascar and airplane seats. Interms of sales, Poland is infourth place, behind the US,Italy and China.
The furniture industry inPoland provides 62,000 jobs,and in 2011, Polish furnituresales stood at over z∏.12 billion.The sector is growing five
times faster than in the rest ofthe EU.
Seventy-five percent of thefurniture produced in Polandis sold abroad – half of thatgoes to Germany, 20 percentto France, 8 percent to theNetherlands and 6 percent toSweden, the report said.
Poland’s specialty is trans-formable bedroom furniturelike futons and foldablechairs. According to Aba-corp, over half of such furni-ture sold in Europe comesfrom Poland. Poland is also aleader in the production ofupholstered furniture for cars
and airplanes.What gives Polish furniture
its edge? “Price-to-qualityratio above all,” Marcin Ban-dura, CEO of SIC, an uphol-stery manufacturer in ¸ódê,was quoted by daily GazetaWyborcza as saying.
According to Mr Bandura,the quality of Polish furnitureis just as high as that made inthe West, but it is much cheap-er. The average price of apiece of furniture produced inWestern Europe is €147, com-pared to €90 in Poland, thenewspaper wrote.
IIzzaabbeellaa DDeeppcczzyykk
Poland is world leader infurniture production: report
Advent launches Eko Holdingtakeover bidEcorse Investments, a sub-sidiary of private equity firmAdvent International, an-nounced a call for all shares inPolish supermarket operatorEko Holding last week. It isoffering over z∏.199 million atz∏.4.1 per share – 13 percentbelow the company’s stockprice just before the call.
Ecorse Investments hopesto purchase at least 80 percentof Eko, which it would then de-list. It will accept offers from
September 28 to October 29. The success of the bid
depends mainly on Eko Hold-ing’s largest shareholder andpresident of the board –Krzysztof Gradecki.
Together with his wife, MrGradecki controls just over 55percent of Eko Holding. Hehasn’t revealed yet if he plansto answer the call for shares.
However, an unnamed rep-resentative of investors in EkoHolding told Parkiet that the
offer price is “highly unsatis-factory.”
Also reportedly interestedin Eko Holding are two otherfunds: Penta Investments andMid Europa Partners.
These two are willing topay more than Advent, Parkietreported.
With some 300 supermar-kets, Eko Holding is one of thelargest players in the market.Its stock market capitalizationis around z∏.230 million. GGPP
Hydrobudowa files foroutright liquidation
The share price of construc-tion company HydrobudowaPolska dropped 40 percent toz∏.0.03 last Monday, in reac-tion to news that the compa-ny’s board has changed itsbankruptcy application to arequest for outright liquida-tion.
Previously, the company, apart of the troubled PBGGroup, had applied for a con-trolled bankruptcy whereby itwould enter into individualagreements to pay creditors atleast some of what they areowed.
However, the builder doesnot believe it will be able tomeet its obligations, since itsfinancial position has deterio-rated so drastically in recentmonths. The company’s mar-gins evaporated thanks to thelow prices resulting from bid-ding wars for Euro 2012 con-struction projects and the
growing cost of raw materials.It recorded a loss of z∏.800 mil-lion in the first half of this year.
With banks taking controlof Hydrobudowa’s accountsand withdrawing from loanagreements, the company haslost financial liquidity. More-over, new contracts have driedup in recent months, followingthe end of the Euro 2012 infra-structure building boom. As aresult, Hydrobudowa’s liabili-ties have risen to z∏.75 million.
The company said in astatement that it will be forcedto lay off 90 percent of itsworkforce, which wouldamount to around 850 people.
Hydrobudowa was part ofthe consortium that builtPoland’s National Stadium. Itis also involved in the con-struction of sewage systemsand water-pipe networks, aswell as roads and sewage treat-ment plants. GGPP
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Hydrobudowa helped build the National Stadium in Warsaw
Gas supplies
PPuuttiinn mmoovveess ttoo pprrootteecctt GGaazzpprroommThe Russian presidentwants “strategiccompanies” to ask theKremlin forpermission to lowerprices or discloseinformation
Polish state-controlled gasmonopolist PGNiG was dealttwo blows to its aim ofimproving its weakened fi-nancial position last week,first from the Russian govern-ment and then from the localregulator.
Russian President VladimirPutin signed a decree lastTuesday declaring that “strate-gic Russian companies” – suchas Gazprom – must firstreceive permission from theKremlin before changing pric-ing contracts or disclosinginformation.
It is suggested Mr Putinsigned the decree to shieldGazprom from a recentlylaunched EU investigationinto whether the Russian com-pany is abusing its position asdominant gas supplier to theEU. The decree puts signifi-cant political weight behindGazprom’s position andmakes it less likely the Russianfirm will be forced to make itsprices more competitive, ananalyst who asked not to benamed told WBJ.
ArbitrationPGNiG has filed an arbitra-tion claim in order to secureprice cuts on natural gas itimports from Gazprom undera long-term contract. The Pol-ish company sources most ofits gas from Russia but says theprices it is charged are unfairlyhigh.
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Mr Putin is seeking to protect Gazprom from an EU
anti-monopoly probe
SEPTEMBER 17-23, 2012LLAAWW6 www.wbj.pl
Contact: Miros∏aw Stefanik
Legal News
BROUGHT TO YOU BY PETER NIELSEN & PARTNERS LAW OFFICE
Draft amendment to the acton CIT for 2013A draft amendment to the act on corporateincome tax (CIT) for 2013 was recently pub-lished on the website of the GovernmentLegislation Centre – a body that contributesto the writing and revision of laws pro-posed by the government. The draft, ifadopted, would introduce limitations onsome types of tax optimization – amongthem so-called “thin capitalization,” bywhich companies maximize tax deductionsby including interest payments on debttaken on by affiliated companies. Currently,such deductions are limited to threefoldthe amount of initial capital, and these lim-its apply to companies that are directlyrelated. The new legislation would extendthese limitations to companies that are indi-rectly related. The draft also would expandthe number of companies who pay CIT, byincluding limited joint-stock partnerships.
New legislation to keep telecoms from loweringinternet speedsThe Sejm, Poland’s lower house of parlia-ment, is working on an amendment to thecountry’s Telecommunication Law. Thedraft would bring Polish law in line with
some EU provisions. One proposed changelooks to protect end users by preventingtelecoms from lowering their clients’ inter-net data speeds below what is stipulated inthe given contract or regulations. The presi-dent of the Office of Electronic Communica-tions (UKE) will be allowed to object to themethod telecoms use to measure the data-transmission speed, and will be allowedforce a given telecom to use a particularmeasurement method.
Change of supervision overcooperative savings and loanassociationsOn October 27, an act on cooperative sav-ings and loan associations will come intoforce. The main goal of the act is to intro-duce national supervision over such associ-ations by transferring supervisory powers,detailed decisions on permissible risk lev-els and investment policy to the PolishFinancial Supervision Authority (KNF).Moreover, the KNF will supervise activitiesrelated to the establishment of such asso-ciations by requiring permits for foundingsuch an association and for approving itsstatutes. The solvency ratio of the associa-tions will be set at the level of at least 5 per-cent. ●
Monika GlinkaAssociate
DDiisscclloossuurree rreeqquuiirreemmeennttss oonn tthhee WWSSEELegal Forum
Over the last three years thePolish Financial SupervisionAuthority (KNF) – Poland’s finan-cial regulator – has imposedsome z∏.6.33 million in fines onWarsaw Stock Exchange-listedcompanies that have breacheddisclosure requirements. Let’stake a look at these require-ments, and the penalties com-panies and businesspeople facewhen the rules are broken.
The stock exchange The argument can be made thatthe Warsaw Stock Exchange(WSE) is the best stockexchange in the CEE region,and presents opportunities forlarge, medium-sized and smallcompanies. The WSE’s MainMarket is addressed to“mature” companies with atleast a few years of businesshistory and a capitalization ofminimum €15 million. A secondmarket, NewConnect (an alter-native market often comapredwith the London AIM and Scan-dinavian First North), is intend-ed, in particular, for small firms
and start-ups that want to get afinancial boost from the capitalmarket, but who require onewith less stringent regulation.
Both the Main Market andNewConnect require membercompanies to comply with spe-cific disclosure requirements.And those, as governed by Pol-ish regulations, are in line withEU rules, specifically with theTransparency and Market AbuseDirectives.
Disclosure require-ments on Polish mar-ketsIssuers that are admitted totrading on the Main Market areobliged to provide the followinginformation to the KNF, to theWSE and to the public simulta-neously:•Inside information – that is,
any information of a precisenature, relating, whetherdirectly or indirectly, to one ormore issuers of financialinstruments, one or morefinancial instruments, oracquisition or disposal of such
instruments, which has notbeen made public and which,if made public, would be likelyto have a significant effect onthe prices of financial instru-ments;
•Current reports – these relateto all substantial eventsregarding the issuer or its cap-ital group, such as changes inshareholding structure ormanagement, share issues,and decisions adopted at thegeneral shareholders meet-ing;
•Periodic information – thisconsists of historical data ofthe issuer during a given peri-od, such as quarterly, semi-annual and annual reports.
Since NewConnect is a second-ary trading venue, disclosurerequirements are relatively lessstringent. However, issuers onthat market will have to dis-close to the public:•Inside information – this
should be understood in thesame way as for companieslisted on the Main Market;
•Current reports – these relatealmost to the same issues ason the Main Market, but witha narrower coverage;
•Periodic information – thisconsists solely of annual andsemi-annual reports. Theissuer is exempt from drawingup quarterly reports.
Sanctions for infringement of regulationsAccording to Polish regulations,the KNF may impose adminis-trative, penal and civil sanctionson issuers whose shares arelisted on the Main Market andwho have breached disclosurerequirements. The most severeadministrative punishmentmight be, for example, banningthe offending company’s secu-rities from trading for a definiteor indefinite period of time andthe imposition a fine, whichmay amount to as much asz∏.1,000,000.
Moreover, the person in acompany responsible for dis-closing false information or
withholding true data is subjectto a fine of up to z∏.5,000,000 orimprisonment from six monthsto five years. It is worth notingthat regulations provide for theobligation of the issuer to repairdamage caused by disclosinguntrue information or undis-closed information.
Penalties on NewConnectlook a little bit different. Theissuer, depending on thedegree and scope of theinfringement, may be sanc-tioned with: a written warning,a fine of up to z∏.20,000, as wellas a suspension or ban of thecompany’s financial instru-ments from trade.
Practice shows that issuerson both markets, on a dailybasis, face many obstaclesrelated to the fulfillment of dis-closure requirements andunfortunately do, from time totime, break the rules and thusface fines. It is therefore wisefor issuers to make use of spe-cialist services in order to avoidall types of penalties and otherunpleasant consequences. ●
Legal Forum is a paid-for module which gives law firms in Poland an opportunity to discuss and inform readers about important developments in the market. The content is created in consultation with Warsaw Business Journal's editorial staff.
Tax
Technology tax breakPolish legislationallows for yourcompany to deducttechnology spendingfrom its tax require-ments. Here’s how
Almost all taxpayers in Polandcan make use of a special taxdeduction on new technology.The legislation in place allowsfor a company to deduct allcosts spent on the acquisitionof new technologies from theirrevenues. The deductions canbe made as early as in the yearthe expenditures were made.
In order to receive thededuction, the new technolo-gies have to be acquired on thebasis of a contract and must beentered into the company’srecord of fixed and intangibleassets.
New technologies aredefined in the legislation astechnological knowledge inthe form of intangible assets,in particular the results ofresearch and development,which allows the creation of anew product or an improvedexisting product or service andwhich has not been in use by
others around the world formore than the last five years.Moreover, the new technologymust be confirmed as such byan independent scientific unit.An independent scientific unitis defined in Polish law (specif-ically the Act of 30 April 2010on the principles of financingof science; Journal of LawsNo. 96, item. 615).
The confirmation can beprepared by units of universi-ties. Reception of the confir-mation (or “opinion”) willrequire the conclusion of acontract for the preparation ofthe opinion with a scientificunit and submission of adetailed technical descriptionof the machine/technology andthe manufacturer’s technicaldocumentation – marketingmaterials are not appropriate.If the devices are protected bypatents, then the patents, or atleast the patent numbers,should be presented. It willalso require payment of theprice for preparation of theopinion. The price can be setas a lump sum (from z∏.4,000to z∏.40,000) or it can be set asa percentage of the value ofthe deduction. This will all
depend on the range of theopinion and the type of tech-nology.
The time necessary forpreparation of the opinion willdepend on the range of theanalysis. In practice this usual-ly means that the opinion cantake two months or longer toprepare.
The ultimate requirementsand time necessary for prepa-ration of the opinion willdepend on the particular sci-entific unit that will provide it.
KKaattaarrzzyynnaa RRyysszzaarrddLegal and tax advisor
Peter Nielsen & [email protected]
SEPTEMBER 17-23, 20128 www.wbj.pl IINNTTEERRVVIIEEWW
Foreign policy
PPiiSS MMPP ttoouuttss vviissiioonn ooff rreeggiioonnaall lleeaaddeerrsshhiipp
Ewa Boniecka: The Polishgovernment’s foreign policy isoften an area of heated con-frontation between the rulingCivil Platform and your party,Law and Justice. How do youassess Poland’s policy towardsEurope? Witold Waszczykowski: Letme start by recalling that thebreak in Poland’s foreign poli-cy began in 2007, when CivicPlatform decided at the startof its election campaign thatforeign policy would be a fieldof conflict between it and Lawand Justice. Up until 2007, themajority of those in power inPoland presented similar con-ceptions of our foreign policy,which were expressed by vari-ous presidents [including]Aleksander KwaÊniewski andthe late Lech Kaczyƒski.
The view was that Polandshould play a proactive role inEurope, so positions weretaken to allow us – in institu-
tions such as NATO and theEU, to which we had earlieracceded – to participate inshaping policy, at leasttowards the east [of the Euro-pean Union]. This concept ofPoland playing a proactiverole in European foreign poli-cy was reinforced by our closecooperation with the UnitedStates and our role asspokesperson for the interestsof the Central and EasternEurope region. This policywas carried out by all previousprime ministers, ministers andpresidents, who made effortsto increase cooperation withthe Baltic states and theVisegrad Group [of the CzechRepublic, Hungary, Polandand Slovakia].
When Civic Platformgained power, they decidedthat this policy was too ambi-tious and that our active poli-cy towards Eastern Europebrought us into conflict with
Russia and did not benefit usin the EU.
The present governmentnow conducts a minimalistforeign policy, which has led itto rid itself of those instru-ments which gave Polandinfluence in European institu-tions, and is instead satisfiedwith the position given to usby the strongest of its mem-bers, first of which is Ger-many. And on this clientelistpolicy, PiS is not in agree-ment.
What is PiS offering as analternative?We emphasize that to makePolish European policy sub-stantial and meaningful, it isnecessary to rebuild Poland’sposition in our region. Wemust return to serious talkswith the Baltic states andcountries in the CEE andassure them that Poland isready and willing to be aspokesperson for our region’sinterests and aspirations in the
European Union.We are a large and politi-
cally important Europeanregion and a big economicmarket for the West. But thiswould only be truly acknowl-edged by other EU members ifwe act as a unified whole, withPoland, due to its size, geopo-litical location and economicpotential, acting as a linkbetween Eastern and Westernmembers. Such a strategywould strengthen the effec-tiveness of the whole of the
EU, as well as cooperationbetween its members, andshould be used as an advan-tage by Poland’s leaders.
PiS emphasizes that Polandshould return to such an ambi-tious policy and lead a mean-ingful dialogue with countriesfrom the Baltic and CEEregions, who have many com-mon interests and commonworries which should be takeninto account in shaping EUpolicy.
Let’s turn to some specificsabout the present situation inthe EU. How do you see thesituation, and do you have anysuggestions about how to res-cue the euro?I consider the whole conceptof introducing the euro 10years ago to have been wrongand in contradiction to thedirection in which the world isdeveloping. In the last 200years there have been demo-cratic revolutions in manycountries, because societiesdemanded to have an influ-ence on taxes and on shapingbudgets. The evident politicalprerogative of the state is tomake decisions about printingmoney and about its ownfinancial policy.
The euro was introducedwithout providing the Euro-pean Union with political con-trol over it, and this was thefirst mistake.
The second one is econom-ic, because the common cur-rency could [only] apply toareas that have a similar levelof development. It is evidentnow that this is not so, there-fore during the present crisisthere is discussion aboutestablishing political controlover the euro zone and trans-
forming the European Unioninto a kind of federation. ButEU members do not want afederation, so in my opinion itis possible that countries willreturn to using their nationalcurrencies and that the eurowill be kept as a nominal cur-rency, used in financial deal-ings between countries.
It appears as if the Smolenskcatastrophe currently plays adominant role in how PiS for-mulates its own stancetowards Russia. Is thiscorrect?The issue of the Smolenskcatastrophe is a consequenceof the “collision character” ofPolish-Russian relations,which has been in existence foryears, because Poland andRussia have different viewsabout how relations are set inEurope.
Our country’s stance is thatthe European and transat-lantic institutions, the EU andNATO, and their enlarge-ment, result in [increased] sta-bilization and peace in ourcontinent and that their activi-ties are not hostile or con-frontational towards Russia.Yet Russia does not accept thisand is aiming to return to the
Witold Waszczykowski, Law and Justice (PiS)MP and vice chairman of the Foreign AffairsCommittee in the Sejm, talks with WBJ abouthis party’s vision for Poland’s foreign policyand his assessment of the roots of theconfrontation between PiS and the ruling CivicPlatform (PO)
“PiS will never agree to remove theSmolensk tragedy from the agenda of
Polish-Russian relations”
SEPTEMBER 17-23, 2012 IINNTTEERRVVIIEEWW www.wbj.pl 9
19th century “concert of pow-ers” arrangement, where Rus-sia, with a group of countriesof its choosing, makes deci-sions about internationalissues.
Of course, Putin’s biggestambition would be to recreatethe arrangement … of theCold War, when the world wasdivided by the decisions of thebig two powers, the US andRussia. But however much thisis desired by Russia, it is not arealistic plan. So Russia is try-ing to build a group of coun-tries that are dependent on it,or at least closely tied with it. Ifthis were to happen, NATOand other, European, institu-tions would be pushed into asecond-tier position andPoland would become a third-rate country.
We do not agree with thatphilosophy and think that theenlargement of democraticinstitutions in countries in theeast should continue, becauseit contributes to politicaldemocratization and the liber-alization of the economy, andwould have a positive impacton the peaceful developmentof the world.
Poland finds itself at thecrossroads of two worlds: theintegrated West, and the“East,” which is getting rid ofeven the pretense of democra-cy. So neighboring a country asundemocratic, unpredictableand as dangerous as Russia, wehave lowered the level of oursecurity. Yet PM Tusk and For-eign Minister Sikorski are fol-lowing a policy of “reset” andin fact say: “Let’s put aside theissue of the Smolensk catastro-phe, to disregard the causes ofthat tragedy.”
PiS does not agree and willnever agree to remove thattragedy from the agenda ofPolish-Russian relations. Webelieve that Poland could buildrelations with Russia on the
basis of stronger political anddiplomatic instruments prac-ticed by ourselves and in theframework of the EuropeanUnion.
How do you assess Polish-American relations concern-ing security, particularly inrelation to the planned NATOmissile defense system thatPoland will host?
Close relations with the USin the field of security are nec-essary for us, because despitePoland’s entry into NATO, thesecurity status of Poland andthe whole Eastern Europeanregion remains worse than thatof Western Europe.
For years we have demand-ed that this situation bechanged, now we demand thatNATO’s contingency plans foraiding [us] in the case ofaggression would have anautomatic, rather than a gener-al, character.
I was involved in negotia-tions about the first project forbuilding a missile shield inPoland during George Bush’sadministration and I know thatit was not the Americans whofirst changed their minds, butPrime Minister Tusk. When,on July 4, 2008, I returnedfrom Washington with anagreement ready to sign, Don-ald Tusk said that this agree-ment did not contribute toPoland’s security, while thethen-President Lech Kaczyƒskiwas not informed by the gov-ernment about what it intend-ed to do.
And the shield could at thattime have been implemented,if Poland had ratified theagreement. President Obamawould not have changed sucha decision. He decided tochange the whole concept ofthe missile shield in Septem-ber 2009, about a year aftertaking office, by which timethe Polish government had stillnot ratified the agreement.According to the new plans,the missile shield would bebuilt in Poland in 2018. I wantto point out that if Obamawere to win a second presiden-tial term, it would finish inJanuary 2017. So, in fact, hesaid to Russia and the worldthat during his second term inoffice there is not going to be amissile shield in Poland, andwhat happens in 2018 is not hisconcern.
By the end of this year a basefor US F-16 fighter planes willhave been established inPoland and for the first timeAmerican troops will be pres-ent on Polish soil. How do yousee this?This is a small positive step inthe right direction. I do not dis-agree with it and I hope thatour cooperation with the USdevelops further. We look atthe US as a European powerand we have to make the nextAmerican president – whoeverit may be – once again showthat the US is interested in ourregion.
I think that Americanstrategists are starting to real-ize that the policy of “reset”with Moscow has not resultedin an improvement in Ameri-can relations with Russia, andthat a new approach to theserelations is now needed. Weshould observe these trendsand be more active in settingour own agenda with theAmericans. But to do so, weneed the will and the ability. ●
“I consider thewhole concept of
introducing the euro10 years ago to have
been wrong”
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SEPTEMBER 17-23, 201210 www.wbj.pl OOPPIINNIIOONN && AANNAALLYYSSIISS
George Soros
E urope has been in a financialcrisis since 2007. When thebankruptcy of Lehman Bro-
thers endangered the credit of finan-cial institutions, private credit wasreplaced by the credit of the state,revealing an unrecognized flaw in theeuro. By transferring their right to
print money to the European CentralBank (ECB), member countriesexposed themselves to the risk ofdefault, like Third World countriesheavily indebted in a foreign curren-cy. Commercial banks loaded withweaker countries’ government bondsbecame potentially insolvent.
There is a parallel between theongoing euro crisis and the interna-tional banking crisis of 1982. Backthen, the International MonetaryFund saved the global banking sys-tem by lending just enough money toheavily indebted countries; defaultwas avoided, but at the cost of a last-ing depression. Latin America suf-fered a lost decade.
Shifting burdenGermany is playing the same roletoday as the IMF did then. The set-ting differs, but the effect is the same.Creditors are shifting the entire bur-den of adjustment on to the debtorcountries and avoiding their ownresponsibility.
The euro crisis is a complex mix-ture of banking and sovereign-debtproblems, as well as divergences ineconomic performance that havegiven rise to balance-of-paymentsimbalances within the euro zone. Theauthorities did not understand the
complexity of the crisis, let alone seea solution. So they tried to buy time.
Usually, that works. Financialpanics subside, and the authoritiesrealize a profit on their intervention.But not this time, because the finan-cial problems were combined with aprocess of political disintegration.
When the European Union wascreated, it was the embodiment of anopen society – a voluntary associationof equal states that surrendered partof their sovereignty for the commongood. The euro crisis is now turningthe EU into something fundamental-ly different, dividing member coun-tries into two classes – creditors anddebtors – with the creditors in charge.
Lack of coherent policiesAs the strongest creditor country,Germany has emerged as the hege-mon. Debtor countries pay substan-tial risk premiums for financing theirgovernment debt. This is reflected intheir cost of financing in general. Tomake matters worse, the Bundesbankremains committed to an outmodedmonetary doctrine rooted in Ger-many’s traumatic experience withinflation. As a result, it recognizesonly inflation as a threat to stability,and ignores deflation, which is thereal threat today. Moreover, Ger-many’s insistence on austerity fordebtor countries can easily becomecounterproductive by increasing thedebt ratio as GDP falls.
There is a real danger that a two-tier Europe will become permanent.Both human and financial resourceswill be attracted to the center, leavingthe periphery permanently de-pressed. But the periphery is seethingwith discontent.
Europe’s tragedy is not the resultof an evil plot, but stems, rather, froma lack of coherent policies. As inancient Greek tragedies, misconcep-tions and a sheer lack of understand-ing have had unintended but fatefulconsequences.
Germany, as the largest creditorcountry, is in charge, but refuses totake on additional liabilities; as aresult, every opportunity to resolve
the crisis was missed. The crisisspread from Greece to other deficitcountries, eventually calling intoquestion the euro’s very survival.Since a breakup of the euro wouldcause immense damage, Germanyalways does the minimum necessaryto hold it together.
Considering alternativesMost recently, German ChancellorAngela Merkel has backed ECBPresident Mario Draghi, leavingBundesbank president Jens Weid-mann isolated. This will enable theECB to put a lid on the borrowingcosts of countries that submit to anausterity program under the supervi-sion of the Troika (the IMF, the ECB,and the European Commission).That will save the euro, but it is also astep toward the permanent divisionof Europe into debtors and creditors.
The debtors are bound to reject atwo-tier Europe sooner or later. Ifthe euro breaks up in disarray, thecommon market and the EU will bedestroyed, leaving Europe worse offthan it was when the effort to unite itbegan, owing to a legacy of mutualmistrust and hostility. The later thebreakup, the worse the ultimate out-come. So it is time to consider alter-natives that until recently would havebeen inconceivable.
In my judgment, the best course ofaction is to persuade Germany tochoose between either leading thecreation of a political union with gen-uine burden-sharing, or leaving theeuro.
Since all of the accumulated debtis denominated in euros, it makes allthe difference who remains in chargeof the monetary union. If Germanyleft, the euro would depreciate.Debtor countries would regain theircompetitiveness; their debt woulddiminish in real terms; and, with theECB under their control, the threatof default would disappear and theirborrowing costs would fall to levelscomparable to that in the UnitedKingdom.
The creditor countries, by con-trast, would incur losses on their
claims and investments denominatedin euros and encounter stiffer compe-tition at home from other euro zonemembers. The extent of creditorcountries’ losses would depend onthe extent of the depreciation, givingthem an interest in keeping thedepreciation within bounds.
Keynes’ dreamAfter initial dislocations, the even-tual outcome would fulfill JohnMaynard Keynes’ dream of aninternational currency system inwhich both creditors and debtorsshare responsibility for maintainingstability. And Europe would avertthe looming depression.
The same result could beachieved, with less cost to Ger-many, if Germany chose to behave
as a benevolent hegemon. Thatwould mean implementing the pro-posed European banking union;establishing a more-or-less levelplaying field between debtor andcreditor countries by establishing aDebt Reduction Fund, and eventu-ally converting all debt into eurobonds; and aiming at nominal GDPgrowth of up to 5 percent, so thatEurope could grow its way out ofexcessive indebtedness.
Whether Germany decides tolead or leave, either alternativewould be better than creating anunsustainable two-tier Europe. ●
George Soros is chairman of SorosFund Management and
of the Open Society Institute.Copyright: Project Syndicate, 2012.
WWhhyy GGeerrmmaannyy sshhoouulldd lleeaadd oorr lleeaavvee
“The euro crisis isdividing membercountries intocreditors and debtors,with the creditors incharge”
MANAGING EDITORGARETH PRICE([email protected])
POLITICS EDITORREMI ADEKOYA([email protected])
REAL ESTATE EDITORADAM ZDRODOWSKI([email protected])
SPORTS & LIFESTYLE EDITORDAVID INGHAM([email protected])
JOURNALISTIZABELA DEPCZYK([email protected])
CONTRIBUTORSE. BLAKE BERRYEWA BONIECKAALICE TRUDELLE
COLUMNISTSADAM NARCZEWSKIANDREW NAWROCKI
PRODUCTION MANAGERPIOTR WYSKOK
GRAPHIC DESIGNER¸UKASZ MAZUREK
MARKETING &SALES
AGNIESZKA BREJWO MARKETING &SALES DIRECTOR([email protected])
MAGDALENA KARPI¡SKA([email protected])
AGNIESZKA KUCZY¡SKA([email protected])
EWA BROGOSZ-KORYCKA([email protected])
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PR & MARKETING SPECIALIST KATARZYNA MAREK([email protected])
SUBSCRIPTIONS MANAGERAGNIESZKA MICHALIK([email protected])
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BOOK OF LISTS COORDINATORMONIKA BRYSIAK([email protected])
PUBLISHER VALKEA MEDIA SA EDITOR-IN-CHIEF ANDREW KURETH ([email protected]) MANAGING DIRECTOR MONIKA STAWICKA
Editorials are the opinions of WBJ’s editorial board. Other opinions are those of the authors alone. Comments, opinions and letters should be sent to [email protected]. Please include a name and contact information and clearly indicate if they are to be considered for publication.
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Better Germany as a “benevolent hegemon” than the creation of a
two-tier Europe, says George Soros
IBA European Regional ForumOpportunities and challenges that growing businesses face in selected new EU member states – perspectives for the future
21-23 November 2012, Warsaw
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Listed companies
SSuummmmeerr ssuurrggee oonn tthhee WWSSEE
Between the beginning ofJune and early September, theWarsaw Stock Exchange’sblue-chip WIG20 index gainednearly 17 percent, outdoingmost major European indices.The overall WIG, meanwhile,rose by more than 18 percentover the same period.
WBJ spoke with leadingbanking analysts and fund man-agers to find out what wasbehind the recent gains. And,perhaps more importantly, tofind out whether or notinvestors in Poland shouldremain bullish, or head for thehills.
M&A and hopeNot counting January, boththe overall WIG and WIG20
took a hard hit earlier thisyear, with both indices shed-ding approximately 10 percentof their values. Constructionstocks have seen the largestdeclines, with the broaderWIG-DEWEL shedding 25percent of its February values,following bankruptcy an-nouncements by firms strug-gling with the costs of Euro2012 building projects. Worse,stocks within this sector arecontinuing to fall, and manyanalysts predict furtherdeclines.
But since June, stocks list-ed on the WIG20 have seen aspectacular rebound, gainingimmensely, with many compa-nies in the chemical sector see-ing some of the largest gains.
“One part of the reasonthat may explain increases onthe overall WIG and WIG20were a series of takeover bidsand hostile acquisitionattempts slightly before mid-2012,” said Pawel Cymcyk,analyst at ING TFI. One of thelargest of these was in thechemical sector, with a seriesof tender offers for AzotyTarnów made by RussianAcron. The share price ofAzoty Tarnów has risen byover 20 percent since June,pushing up the broader WIG-CHEMIA index as well.Indeed the WIG-CHEMIAindex has been one of theleaders among all sub-indices,gaining close to 15 percent.
Mr Cymcyk’s view wasechoed by Krzysztof Mrów-czyƒski, an analyst at BankPekao. “Prices of chemicalstocks have been pumped upby all these tender offers in the
last few months,” said MrMrówczyƒski. Synthos, whichis listed on the WIG20 and isthe largest chemical companyon the WIG-CHEMIA index,has risen by around 5 percentsince the beginning of June.
Another reason for therecent surge in stock prices,especially on the WIG20, can
be attributed to a general“risk-on” sentiment. Tradinglong on hope has been an on-and-off theme in 2012,although in recent monthsthere has been a general feel-ing of optimism.
“Support from [GermanChancellor Angela] Merkeland ECB president MarioDraghi over this past summerhas definitely lifted markets,”said Mr Cymcyk. He wasquick, though, to explain thattrading long on hope is precar-ious, and that the future ofGreece in the short term is stilluncertain.
In recent weeks, WSEindices have reacted positivelyto moves by European policy-makers to quell the crisis,including the ECB’sannouncement that it willlaunch an unlimited bond-buy-ing program. Indeed, theWIG20 rose to its highest levelsince October 2011 on Fridayof last week, growing 2.71 per-cent in a single day. The
WIG20 rose 4.32 percent overthe course of last week, whilethe WIG grew 3.73 percent.
Dreaming of dividendsPerhaps most important inexplaining gains over the lastfew months are the huge sumspaid out in dividends by thelargest companies – many on
the WIG20. Nearly 200 listedcompanies have paid out, orplan to pay out, dividends toshareholders. For the WIG20alone, over z∏.18 billion isexpected to be returned toshareholders, up more than 30percent from 2011. Accordingto ¸ukasz Pa∏ka, an analyst atfinancial portal Money.pl, oneof the main reasons why com-panies are paying out recorddividends is that they areexpecting hard times. Firmsprefer to share their profitsrather than pursue investmentsin times of such uncertainty.
Politics has its say too. Ofthe 13 companies on theWIG20 that have paid out div-idends so far in 2012, six arepartially owned by the stateand two have indirect govern-ment equity participation.And to meet budget inflows,the government has estimatedthat it will earn z∏.8.5 billionfrom dividends this year, a fig-ure that would beat the 2009record, when z∏.7.8 billion was
collected. As Mr Pa∏ka put it,“It is clear that the Polish gov-ernment wants to take advan-tage of the fact that manycompanies are awash in cash,and do not necessarily want topursue additional investmentsin the short run.”
This all means good newsfor shareholders’ long posi-tions on stocks on the WIG20,with metals firm KGHM andinsurer PZU leading the wayin dividend payments. “Notonly domestic, but so too for-eign investors are rushing in togobble up relatively cheapshares of the largest compa-nies on the WIG20 to takeadvantage of dividend pay-ments,” said Grzegorz Zatryb,chief strategist at SkarbiecTFI, an investment firm. As heput it, “WIG20 shares don’tunderperform when dividendsare paid out, they can general-ly be seen as dividend-proof.”
What’s next? Market analysts across theboard agree that restoringconfidence in the euro zone iskey to the direction in whichmarkets will move in theupcoming months. With thesituation in Greece stillunclear and looming overEurope after two years, tech-nical indicators and other mar-ket influences mean less insuch an environment. More-over, the Polish economy grewby a worse-than-expected 2.4percent y/y in Q2 – the worstreading since Q3 of 2009, asthe impact of the Europeandebt crisis started to be felt inearnest.
Andrew Nawrocki & Iza Arciszewska
CO
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BJ/A
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The blue-chip WIG20 index has gained almost 14 percent over the last three months
“WSE indices have reacted positively tomoves by European policymakers to quell
the crisis”
The Warsaw Stock Exchange’s main indiceshave risen strongly in recent months, butdoubts remain about how long investorconfidence will last
SEPTEMBER 17-23, 2012 CCOOVVEERR SSTTOORRYY www.wbj.pl 13
“In such an environment ofdeteriorating conditions, onthe backdrop of cheap stocksand large dividend payments,
going long on stocks on theWIG20 is probably the best betif one wants exposure to Polishequity,” said Mr Zatryb.
One sector that will surelybe impacted negatively if hopefades further, though, is thebanking sector. “Good times
for banking are more or lessover,” said Mr Zatryb. SinceJune, the WIG-BANKI indexhas seen a rise of almost 15percent, but it is likely that thesector will see falls in theupcoming months.
Another sector thatinvestors should be wary of ischemicals. In the words of MrMrówczyƒski, “generally,chemical companies (thoseproducing basic chemicals)outperform other industrieswhen there is an economicupturn, but when the economyslows down, their margins areunder greater pressure thanother industries.”
Moreover, Mr Mrówczyƒs-ki said that the “cyclical peakin the basic chemicals segmentis already behind us. Thismeans that in the coming quar-ters margins of companiesfrom the WIG-CHEM indexshould erode.” However, theyshould not underperform asmuch as they did in 2009, whenmany chemical producersnearly went bankrupt, he said.
So, despite recent surgeson the WSE, the long-termoutlook remains deeply uncer-tain. The reasons behind theincreases are in many casestenuous, with investors oftenbanking on nothing more thanhope, as well as a spree of divi-dend payouts that will come toan end sooner rather thanlater.
With the Polish economystarting to slow dramatically
and the situation in the eurozone remaining dangerous, itis imperative for Polish stocksthat the European crisis isbrought under control. TheECB’s announcement that it
will launch an unlimited bond-buying program has heartenedinvestors, but a fresh round ofbad news could quickly spellan end to the WSE’s latestsurge. ●
Polish debt proving popular
Perhaps most telling of the “risk-on” sentimenttowards Poland in recent months has been therecent rush by foreign investors to buy Polishtreasuries. Poland, still viewed as a risky countryby some foreign investors, saw huge inflows inJune and July, with foreign investors gobblingup Polish debt. Moreover, in September, Polandsold $2 billion of new benchmark dollar bondsafter its borrowing costs fell to record lows.
With many of the safest foreign govern-ment bonds producing negative yields, Polish
treasuries have become widely attractive,especially on the back of a growing (albeitdecelerating) economy and stable gover-nance. Data from the National Bank ofPoland shows that of the z∏.3.5 billion thatflowed into Poland in June, over z∏.2.3 billionalone – roughly 65 percent of inflows – wentinto Polish treasuries. This huge demand hassome analysts pointing to a possible creditupgrade for Poland sometime in the first halfof 2013. ●
0
2
4
6
8
10
2012*2011201020092008200720062005
*Budget assumption
8.20
3.50
4.40
7.80
2.602.902.002.20
A timely boostRevenues earned by the Polish Treasury from dividends (z∏. bln)
Source: Money.pl
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
KGHMPZUJSWPek
ao
Bogdan
ka
Citi Hand
lowy
AssecoPG
ETPS
APKO
BPSyn
thos
TauronTVN
0.10 0.31 0.50 1.27 1.50 1.83 2.19 2.764.00
5.38 5.38
22.43
28.34
Pay mastersValue of dividend per share paid this year by companies listedon the WIG20
Source: Money.plT
OM
AS
Z P
AC
ZO
S/F
OT
ON
OVA
For how long will the WIG and WIG20 keep rising?
SEPTEMBER 10-16, 2012FFIINNAANNCCEE && EECCOONNOOMMIICCSS14 www.wbj.pl
Advertorial Feature
BROUGHT TO YOU BY PROCESS SOLUTIONS
TThhee cchhaannggiinngg llaannddssccaappee ooff oouuttssoouurrcciinngg
Debt market
Polish governmentbonds popular amonginternational investorsRecord-low yieldsaren’t driving awaydemand for Polishgovernment debt
Polish government bonds aregaining popularity, as bondsfrom other governmentsdeemed “safe” by internation-al investors continue to seeyields shrink.
Poland, part of a regionwith its own financial difficul-ties, is seen as somewhat riski-er than the US or Germany,but still a solid bet, due to itsstability and strong fundamen-tals.
As a result, Polish bondsare proving popular, and areachieving record-low yields intheir own right. Last week, thePolish government sold $2 bil-lion in 10-year dollar-denomi-nated bonds at a record-lowyield – just 150 basis pointsabove US treasuries. Demandfor the bonds reached as highas $9 billion, Reuters reported.
The yields have fallen sostrongly, in fact, that someanalysts believe it is unlikely
they’ll get any lower. “When you look at the
slope of the Polish yield curve,it is now very flat,” AndrewWeir, a global bond fund man-ager at Fidelity, told Reuters.“It seems to me that we areapproaching the momentwhen Polish bonds are nolonger as cheap as they oncewere.”
“We are already seeinglower inflows into the market.I do not think that investorswant to somehow offload Pol-ish debt, but these capitalinflows will probably be small-er,” he added.
Yields on Polish 10-yearbonds were around 4.885 per-cent last week, having fallenfrom around 6 percent towardthe end of last year. The yieldsof 2- and 5-year bonds areclose to their lowest levels inhistory, daily Parkiet reported.
Nevertheless, analysts atCredit Suisse expect Polishbonds to remain popular. “Astable fiscal condition inPoland can increasingly gener-ate demand by foreign
investors for alternative finan-cial instruments in the G10and the euro,” the bank wrotein a statement. “This in turncan result in improved per-formance of the Polish marketin comparison with othercountries in the region and theG10.”
The bank’s analysts expecta significant strengthening ofthe z∏oty in the coming monthsas well. As WBJ went to pressthe z∏oty was hovering aroundz∏.4.08 to the euro. CreditSuisse sees the z∏oty strength-ening to z∏.4.0 to the euro overthe next three months, and toz∏.3.95 over the next 12months.
The bank noted thatPoland will continue to leadthe region in terms of econom-ic growth and added that whilethe rate-setting Monetary Pol-icy Council has taken a moremoderate tone, it is unlikely toreduce interest rates until theend of the year, since inflationshould remain high until atleast November.
AAKK
One-third of Poles fear for their jobsSome 31 percent of workingPoles fear they could lose theirjobs, since, for the first time infive years, more firms are plan-ning to fire than hire employ-ees, according to a survey fromManpower and ARC Rynek iOpinia.
By comparison, in lastyear’s survey, 25 percent ofPoles were worried about los-
ing their jobs.Unemployment is currently
at 12.4 percent in Poland, withalmost 2 million people regis-tered jobless.
Some 49 percent of Polesfeel secure in their jobs, while40 percent believe that if theylost their current jobs, theywould have a significant prob-lem finding a new one.
Understandably then, 33percent of respondents saidthey would accept a pay cutin order to keep their job,with another 37 percent say-ing they were “unsure” as tohow they would react. Thirtypercent said they would cer-tainly refuse to take a paycut.
RRAA
PPoolliisshh CCPPII iinnffllaattiioonn eeaasseessPolish CPI inflation slowed to3.8 percent year-on-year inAugust, from 4 percent y/y amonth earlier, Central Statisti-cal Office data showed. Theresult was in line with expecta-tions.
“This development was dueto further cuts of food prices(mainly vegetables and fruit)as well as of clothing andfootwear prices,” BankZachodni WBK wrote in areport.
“In our view this is still notthe beginning of a durabledownward trend,” Piotr Bujak,chief economist Poland atNordea Bank, wrote in an e-mail.
“At least until Octoberinflation will remain close to4%, i.e. clearly above the cen-tral bank’s inflation target of2.5% with allowed fluctuations
of +/-1%-point. Thus, wethink that the slight inflationdrop in August is not enoughto convince the majority of[Monetary Policy Council]members to trim rates alreadyin October,” he added.
He said, however, that
Nordea believes the next datadue for release this month,including industrial outputand retail sales, “will tip thescales in favor of rates-setterscalling for a rate cut as soon aspossible.”
GGPP
It is no longer only about cut-ting costs, the challenge is toleverage the SSC and createvalue by finding smart waysto drive their organizationsforward globally.
The basic instincts of business haveremained unchanged over time.The ultimate objective to createvalue for shareholders triggers theurge to maximize operational cashflow, which in turn drives the questfor maximizing profitability.
A combination of healthy top-linegrowth together with careful costcontrol has served most companieswell over the years. However, the
ever-changing environment and theneed to forge a competitive edge inthe market means that all compa-nies must continuously worksmarter just to stand still. Develop-ments in work practices togetherwith advances in technology haveenabled companies to better organ-ize and align their non-core internalprocesses. Reducing internal com-plexity and implementing best prac-tices have been commonplace formost international businesses.
The vast majority of larger corpo-rations have completed or are closeto completing the implementation ofone or another integrated IT solution(e.g. SAP, Oracle, MS Dynamics AX)at most of their major business oper-ational sites around the world. As aresult of this they are able more effi-ciently and more effectively to man-age the administration of their inter-nal processes. Once on a commonIT platform, many corporations real-ize further efficiencies by relocatingpart of their internal administrativeprocessing and support functionsinto a small number of centralizedlocations, often to just one singlelocation, i.e. the Shared Service Cen-ter or SSC, usually located in a “low-cost” country with a well-educatedand highly productive workforce.
During the past 10 years or so,the number of SSCs being estab-lished in CEE has been acceleratingincredibly. The region now has near-ly 500 SSCs, getting close to thesame as in Western Europe. Morethan 90 percent of these SSCs arelocated in five countries. It’s not farshort of a revolution. We at ProcessSolutions operate a Business Pro-cess Outsourcing business focusedon providing hands-on accountingand tax compliance solutions formore than 300 international clients.Established in 1999, we have closeto 300 people in five offices locatedspecifically in the above countries.We specialize in providing full sup-port to CEE SSCs. Not only do weprovide internal accounting and pay-roll for the SSC itself, but also train-ing for the SSC personnel, qualifiedloan staff, as well as statutoryaccounting and tax services withglobal coverage.
A typical multinational companywhich has its SSC located in CEEcountries will serve somewherebetween 10 and 50 countries.Therefore the demand for compe-tent personnel with strong languageskills is high.
Those SSCs that are at a moreadvanced stage in their develop-
ment have started to outsource cer-tain parts of their SSC activities. Typ-ically they are outsourcing the lowercomplexity transaction processingtasks to the large Business ProcessOutsourcing (BPO) serviceproviders, who are then relocatingthese simple, well defined, low risktasks to lower cost locations in CEEand Asia. This “hybrid” solution,where part of the activities are out-sourced, effectively segments theSSC into layers – outsourced trans-actional BPO SSCs/in-house Cen-ters of Scale for simple transactionprocessing, leaving the more com-plex tasks to be handled by the SSCCenters of Excellence.
The SSCs in CEE are thereforetending to develop into Centers ofExcellence over time and taking onever more complex tasks. Somemore mature SSCs are now takingover the Compliance Managementfunction, handling parts of the statu-tory accounting and tax functionwhich has typically remained in-house at each local country.
Since the financial crisis the busi-ness environment has becomeeven more difficult for most corpo-rations and they can no longer relyon guaranteed growth either indomestic or international markets,
there is no apparent slow-down inthe trend towards SSCs. Organiza-tions are still looking to establishSSCs if only to catch up with theircompetitors. But it doesn’t stopthere. For existing SSCs it is nolonger about only cutting costs, thechallenge is to leverage the SSC andcreate value by finding smart waysto drive their organizations forwardglobally.
Andrew Majlath, CEO ofProcess Solutions Group
3.5
3.8
4.1
4.4
4.7
5.0
Aug. '1
2Jul.
'12Jun
. '12
May '12
Apr. '1
2Mar.
'12Feb
. '12
Jan. '1
2Dec.
'11Nov.
'11Oct.
'11Sep
. '11
Aug. '1
1
Still highPoland's CPI inflation rate (%), August 2011-August 2012
Source: Central Statistical Office
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 SEPTEMBER 17-23, 2012, LI 17/37
Galeria
Sudecka deal
signed
Warsaw Stock Exchange-
listed developer Echo
Investment has signed an
agreement with the
Municipality of Jelenia
Góra, Lower Silesia
voivodship, concerning
the development of its
planned Galeria Sudecka
shopping center in the
city. The agreement calls
for, among other things,
the development by Echo
Investment of road
infrastructure near the
planned mall. The
investor plans to apply for
a building permit for
Galeria Sudecka within
the next two months.
Construction on the
53,000-sqm project is
scheduled to launch in
spring 2013 and finish one
year later.
Metro malls
BREEAM-
certifiedAfter an almost four-
month-long audit, 11
shopping centers from the
real estate portfolio
managed by Metro
Properties have obtained
BREEAM In-Use
certification, which is
given to existing buildings.
The centers in question
are nine M1 facilities, the
CH Ster shopping center
in Szczecin and the CH
Ursynów shopping center
in Warsaw. They have
been rated “excellent” in
building management and
“very good” in asset
rating. ●
WTT on sale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15
Hala Koszyki deal . . . . . . . . . . . .15
KSP funds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15
GRI interview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16
Property-related stocks . . . . . .16
Investment market . . . . . . . . . .17
SEE overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17
In this issue
16-17
Lokale Immobilia gears up for New Europe GRI 2012 with an interview
of GRI’s managing director, as well as market analysis features
Akron InvestmentCentral EasternEurope II is sellingthe tallest officebuilding in the region
The Akron Investment Cen-tral Eastern Europe IIclosed-end investment fundhas announced plans to sellthe Warsaw Trade Toweroffice building in the Polishcapital that it acquired in2006. Colliers Internationaland Jones Lang LaSalle willhandle the sale process.
Designed by the Ameri-can RTKL Associates archi-tectural studio and complet-ed in 2000, the WTT fea-tures 43 floors and stands at
over 208 meters tall, makingit the tallest office buildingin Central Europe.
The skyscraper is locatedin Warsaw’s Wola districtand is expected to benefitfrom the planned comple-tion of the central stretch ofthe capital’s second subwayline in 2014. It comprisesmore than 45,000 sqm ofclass-A space and its tenantsinclude KPMG, AmericanExpress, Mattel and AXA.
“Given the prominenceand excellent quality of theWarsaw Trade Tower, weanticipate good interest inthe sale process,” TomaszTrzós∏o, head of capitalmarkets, CEE, at JonesLang LaSalle, said in a
statement.“The compelling combi-
nation of Poland’s ongoingeconomic growth and War-saw’s low city center officevacancy rate supports theWTT offering,” stated NeilGregory-Eaves, head of theinvestment services team,Warsaw, at Colliers Interna-tional.
“The property is one ofthe few core office assetscurrently for sale in the citycenter,” he added. Mr Gre-gory-Eaves and Jones LangLaSalle’s Trzós∏o were alsoinvolved in the recent saleof the Warsaw FinancialCenter office skyscraper inWarsaw.
AAddaamm ZZddrrooddoowwsskkii
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The WTT building offers over 45,000 sqm of office space
To subscribe: e-mail [email protected] or call +48 22 639 85 68, ext. 201 and sign up for free two-week no-obligation trial subscription
Warsaw Business Journal presents Real Estate weekly newsletter
• Know about the newest projects before they’re on the market• Keep up to date on the latest tenders and auctions• Learn the latest trends in Poland’s dynamic office, residential and retail sectors • Find out who’s who in Polish real estate
or
Real estate investor and devel-oper Griffin Group hasacquired Hala Koszyki, a com-pany involved in the process ofrevitalizing an eponymous his-toric market hall in Warsaw,from Avestus Real Estate. Thevalue of the deal, which wasbrokered by Colliers Interna-tional, has not been revealed.
Originally, Avestus RealEstate, formerly known asQuinlan Private Golub,planned to renovate the halland develop new mixed-usebuildings in its neighborhood.Now, however, the companyhas decided to sell thescheme and focus on its otherinvestments in Poland.
Griffin Group is planningto continue the process ofrevitalizing Hala Koszykiwhich is, after completion,
expected to offer “interestingand modern retail space sur-rounded by office buildings,”the company said in a state-ment.
The JEMS Architekci stu-dio has been tasked withdesigning the Hala Koszykiproject. An advanced archi-tectural concept for theplanned investment is to bepresented before the end of
the year, Griffin Group said.The acquisition of Hala
Koszyki follows a number ofinvestments made by GriffinGroup in Poland in recentyears. In January 2012, forone, the company acquiredthe Prima Court office build-ing in Warsaw and in April itadded an investment plot inGdaƒsk to its portfolio.
AAddaamm ZZddrrooddoowwsskkii
Griffin Group acquiresHala Koszyki in Warsaw
CO
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Office
WWaarrssaaww TTrraaddeeTToowweerr sskkyyssccrraappeerrppuutt uupp ffoorr ssaallee
Real estate investor anddeveloper Kulczyk SilversteinProperties (KSP) has estab-lished an institutional realestate investment manage-ment platform called KSPReal Estate Investment Man-agement (KSP REIM) forinvestors seeking exposure tothe CEE region.
KSP REIM, which willlaunch and manage closed-end funds, intends to raise€200-300 million of equityover the next two years, whichit will invest in commercialproperty in capital and sec-ondary cities in Poland andthe Czech Republic.
After five years, the entityplans to manage assets valuedat a total of over €1.5 billion.“We will focus on investing inthe major cities of the CEE
region which are character-ized by high economicgrowth,” Otis Spencer, co-head of KSP REIM, said in astatement.
“We are looking for proj-ects having both incomepotential as well as opportuni-ties to increase value. We areparticularly interested inunique projects in terms oflocation and whose value canbe increased by renovation orrepositioning,” Mr Spenceradded.
Established at the end of2010, KSP is a joint venture ofKulczyk Real Estate Holdingand Silverstein Properties.The company recently boughttwo office buildings in centralWarsaw from Hochtief Devel-opment Poland.
AAddaamm ZZddrrooddoowwsskkii
KSP to launchinvestment funds
SEPTEMBER 17-23, 2012LLOOKKAALLEE IIMMMMOOBBIILLIIAA –– RREEAALL EESSTTAATTEE16 www.wbj.pl
Security Closing % change 52-week 52-week % change Total Marketprice (week) low high (year) shares value
on Sep 13 (z∏. mln)
BUDIMEX 49.00 0.31 45.85 88.35 -24.21 25,530,098 1,250.97
CELTIC 9.00 -14.20 7.02 22.70 -54.43 34,231,466 308.08
DOMDEV 26.00 5.26 23.50 42.80 0.00 24,670,397 641.43
ECHO 4.01 5.80 3.05 4.40 21.52 420,000,000 1,684.20
ELBUDOWA 94.35 0.75 87.00 120.00 -7.50 4,747,608 447.94
ENERGOPLD 0.18 -10.00 0.17 2.96 -93.68 70,972,001 12.77
ERBUD 11.89 2.06 11.33 23.30 -41.72 12,644,169 150.34
GANT 3.45 -4.43 3.45 9.85 -56.77 20,120,000 69.41
GTC 6.70 6.35 5.20 12.49 -29.55 319,372,990 2,139.80
HBPOLSKA 0.03 -40.00 0.02 1.43 -96.74 210,558,445 6.32
JWCONSTR 4.20 1.69 3.85 8.42 -39.91 54,073,280 227.11
LCCORP 0.92 3.37 0.85 1.48 1.10 447,558,311 411.75
MARVIPOL 10.35 -0.38 6.20 11.00 16.55 36,923,400 382.16
MIRBUD 1.09 -0.91 0.98 2.68 -53.02 75,000,000 81.75
MOSTALWAR 12.94 1.89 11.30 25.88 -35.62 20,000,000 258.80
MOSTALZAB 0.94 1.08 0.81 1.80 -30.37 149,130,538 140.18
ORCOGROUP 6.38 -2.15 6.38 22.00 -70.67 99,992,889 637.95
PBG 3.98 -22.11 3.36 92.00 -94.19 14,295,000 56.89
PLAZACNTR 2.00 -3.85 1.80 2.94 -16.32 297,174,515 594.35
POLAQUA 3.53 -8.31 3.40 10.30 -66.70 27,500,100 97.08
POLIMEXMS 0.52 -7.14 0.48 2.04 -62.86 521,154,076 271.00
POLNORD 11.80 -0.84 10.49 19.85 -5.45 23,798,439 280.82
RANKPROGR 7.80 2.63 7.10 16.97 -25.64 37,145,050 289.73
ROBYG 1.14 -4.20 1.04 1.75 1.79 257,935,500 294.05
RONSON 0.64 0.00 0.63 1.15 -33.33 272,360,000 174.31
TRAKCJA 0.70 -7.89 0.65 1.87 -53.02 232,105,480 162.47
ULMA 38.99 3.97 37.20 74.80 -34.53 5,255,632 204.92
UNIBEP 4.48 2.99 3.60 6.61 -2.40 34,021,684 152.42
WARIMPEX 3.10 4.03 2.64 5.77 -42.59 54,000,000 167.40
ZUE 6.46 0.94 5.07 9.40 -29.78 22,000,000 142.12
Property-related stocks
New Europe GRI 2012
PPoollaanndd ssttiillll tthhee rreeggiioonn’’ss ‘‘mmaaggnneett’’ ffoorr ccaappiittaall Lokale Immobilia talksto Ronny Gotthardt,managing director atthe Global Real EstateInsitute, which will beholding its New EuropeGRI 2012 conference inWarsaw this November,about the situation ofthe property marketsin Poland and theregion
Adam Zdrodowski: You areholding the New Europe GRIsummit in Warsaw for the sec-ond time in a row. Does thismean Poland’s property marketcontinues to stand out in theregion?It does, despite the trying situa-tion in the euro zone. Orbecause of it. Poland has shownremarkable resilience, outshin-ing all else in CEE. Propertyinvestors like such scenarios,and while investors have with-drawn widely from the region,Poland has been buoyant withcapital coming in.
In terms of potential, thePolish property market is
attractive, not just Warsaw, andinvestors are discovering moreof the region’s opportunities fornew and re-developments. Theavailability of debt is creating abottleneck, and hence thetransactions volume has beenlower recently.
It is widely expected that theupcoming months will be moredifficult for the Polish economy.Could the country’s real estatemarket see more problems nextyear?Alongside the Czech Republic,Poland is the only alternativeand remains the magnet forcapital. However, if Europeslips into a severe recession,and in particular if the Germaneconomy loses steam, both ofwhich are quite likely, the Pol-ish economy will not beimmune, though in andamongst the gloom Polandmight retain its haven status,cushioning it from the worst.
The best insurance will be tocontinue favorable conditionsand policies for foreign capital –and they will keep coming.Actual transaction numbersreveal less activity in 2012, but
the real estate outlook remainsbetter than elsewhere.
As the euro zone continues tosuffer, do you see increasedinvestor interest in the Centraland Eastern Europe (CEE)region and how is that reflectedin the attendance at the confer-ence?CEE is increasingly incoherent.Poland and the Czech Republictogether account for 90 percentof all business in the region,with Poland getting the lion’sshare of interest. Since thebeginning of the crisis, investorshave been retreating from CEEmarkets, finding better valuedomestically. And thoseinvestors are coming back onlyslowly and selectively. Thenumber one choice is Poland.
Beyond that investors actasset-driven, not markets. TheNew Europe GRI’s return toWarsaw illustrates the impor-tance of the Polish market. Atthe same time there will bemore senior regional players –Romania, Slovakia, Hungaryand others, and some majorforeign investors and develop-ers. Connections are the key in
new markets, and that is whatGRI is about.
What kinds of risks could thepotential investor in Polandand CEE face? Or is the regiontoday regarded as a safe havenin Europe?Who would consider anythingsafe today? Poland is consid-ered in much better shapethan other economies, closerto core than emerging, similarfor the Czech Republic. Theregion overall is heteroge-neous. The greatest threats arefrom outside, like Europe andthe world economy, in its tow anationalist and protectionistdrift in certain parts. Historyshows protectionism neversolves pain but scares capitalaway, if anything.
Hungary, Romania, eventhough fundamentals are posi-tive, are problematic forinvestors. On the reverse, thePolish government sends posi-tive signals and as such por-trays itself as a safe haven.Long term Central, Easternand South Eastern Europe arehighly attractive for develop-ers and investors.
Which sector of the Polishproperty market has been per-forming best of late and inwhich could some potentialproblems loom?The most money is in theoffice market and that contin-ues to attract investors. Higherproportions of disposableincome and availability of pri-vate credit creates demand inretail and shopping centersacross the country. With[Poland’s] population ofaround 40 million, foreignretailers are expanding contin-uously, but often face a lack ofquality retail stock.
Other sectors might not beas fancied; residential has lostsome of its sheen because ofinvestor concern and restraintin mortgage approvals. Theoverall shortage in housing,however, will make a futureupturn likely.
In Poland, the Warsaw marketcontinues to attract the mostattention from investors. Howare the regional Polish citiesperceived?Warsaw is the center, pre-ferred by investors and lenders
alike. But investors ventureout towards regional centers,Gdaƒsk, Katowice, Kraków,Wroc∏aw, ¸ódê and a few oth-ers as they find better value inthe regions, as long as goodinfrastructure, sufficient popu-lation, local industry and jobsare available. Recent exampleslike AIG/Lincoln developing aretail project in Gdaƒsk orImmo Invest developing mul-tifamily buildings in Luboƒillustrate the opportunities arethere. ●
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Poland is the number-one
choice for investors in
CEE, Mr Gotthardt said
Special New Europe GRI 2012 issue New Europe GRI 2012 will take place November
26-27 at the Hyatt Regency in Warsaw. For more
information, log on to globalrealestate.org
Despite lowerinvestment volumes, thecountry is still seeingsome of the largestdeals in the region
Commercial property invest-ment volumes are expected todecrease in Poland this year buta number of spectacular trans-actions have closed in recentmonths, including the sale oftwo office towers in Warsaw,showing that the country is stillhighly attractive for investors.Moreover, more deals appearto be in the pipeline.
Lower volumesOverall commercial propertyinvestment volumes in the CEEregion decreased by 60 percentyear-on-year to almost €2.1 bil-lion in the first half of 2012,
according to CBRE data. How-ever, the most significantdecreases were recorded incountries seen as more risky.
Meanwhile, Russia andPoland accounted for 83 per-cent of the deal flow in theregion in H1. Office investmenttransactions in the Polish mar-ket were valued at a total of just€140 million but were expectedto surge in the second half ofthe year.
The retail transactions vol-ume in Poland amounted to€596 million and included thelargest deal across CEE in theperiod – the sale of the Z∏oteTarasy shopping center indowntown Warsaw.
Still attractiveIt is evident that the totalinvestment volume in Polandwill decrease this year but the
final figure is difficult to fore-cast since several major dealsare now being negotiated andit is not certain if they will beclosed in 2012, said MichaelAtwell, recently appointedhead of CEE capital marketsat CBRE.
Mr Atwell stressed that asthe largest market in the regionand a country with a stableeconomy and strong fundamen-tals, Poland continues to beattractive for investors. This, hesaid, is borne out by severallarge deals, including the sale ofthe WFC tower in Warsaw, thatthe country has seen of late.
There remain ample oppor-tunities to invest in prime prop-erty in the Polish market, MrAtwell said. “What has changedover the last few years is the factthat transactions take longer tonegotiate,” he added.
Warsaw-focusedAccording to Mr Atwell, War-saw is now getting the mostinvestor attention. Particularlyin demand are office buildingslocated in the capital’s centralbusiness district, as well as thosein the city’s popular and con-stantly growing business hub inMokotów.
Location and visibility areamong the factors that countmost for investors when choos-ing potential acquisition assets.“Investment funds are nowshowing relatively little interestin the regional Polish cities,” MrAtwell said.
In the retail sector, investorinterest is more evenly distrib-uted and investors are generallylooking for prime large-scaleassets, both in Warsaw and thesecondary Polish cities. Therecent sale of the Manufaktura
mall in ¸ódê, for one, is anexample of the trend, MrAtwell added.
Same investorsMr Atwell, who most recentlyworked as partner and head ofCushman & Wakefield’s MiddleEast operations, after havingspent almost a decade in Poland
and Hungary, said that more orless the same investors havebeen active in the Polish marketin recent years, although a fewnew entrants are being seen.
Some of the most activeplayers in the Polish market arenow German investment fundsand British pension funds.Some major American in-vestors also remain interestedin investing in property in thecountry, he noted.
It remains to be seenwhether new investors fromother parts of the world willenter Poland in the near future.Some Middle Eastern entitiesare now investigating invest-ment opportunities in CEE, MrAtwell said, and pointed outthat a Qatari fund bought tele-com TP’s headquarters in War-saw last year.
AAddaamm ZZddrrooddoowwsskkii
SEPTEMBER 17-23, 2012 LLOOKKAALLEE IIMMMMOOBBIILLIIAA –– RREEAALL EESSTTAATTEE www.wbj.pl 17
Investment market
PPoollaanndd ccoonnttiinnuueess ttoo oouuttppeerrffoorrmm CCEEEE ppeeeerrss
SEE markets
SSoouutthheeaasstteerrnn pprroommiisseeThe SEE region ischaracterised by lowtransaction volumesand falling values, but experts say itsprospects are positive
The real estate markets ofSoutheastern Europe have beenwitnessing low transaction vol-umes and falling values for sometime now, due to investors’growing aversion to risk. Butmarket analysts say the situationin the region is set to improve.
“Investors’ aversion to riskhas increased across Europe inthe past year as the sovereigndebt crisis and other macroconcerns have dominated theagenda and generally led toincreased caution amonginvestors and occupiers,” saidDavid Hutchings, head ofEuropean research at Cush-man & Wakefield.
“Smaller and less liquidmarkets have in particular suf-fered as a result of this andmuch of SEE falls in to thiscategory,” he added.
Cyprus’ banking sector, forone, is quite dependent on thatof Greece, and is suffering dueto a perception of high risk.
“Cyprus, having a bankingsector closely linked to Greeceand becoming the latest coun-try to seek a bailout, is also suf-fering from limited investorinterest,” said Eri Mitsoster-giou, director European re-search at Savills.
Investor interest, mean-while, has been low in othercountries in the region, such asRomania and Bulgaria.
“Romania and Bulgaria areless weighed down by fiscalburdens … nevertheless, in-vestor interest has been spo-radic there and focused onprime assets,” Ms Mitsoster-giou said. “Most of the primedeals have now taken place inthe market,” she added.
Positive outlookHowever, analysts say thatprospects for the region arepositive. The EU and the Euro-pean Central Bank are takingsteps to ease the uncertainty
surrounding the future of theeuro zone. These steps, ana-lysts say, should boost investorconfidence and eliminate someof the speculation taking placein markets. This is especiallyimportant for Greece, wherespeculative trades are beingmade in relation to its possibleexit from the currency bloc.
Analysts say that whilemost investors will stayfocused on core markets inWestern Europe, the shortageof appropriate stock in mostareas and demand for yields
will cause some of them tolook more widely aroundEurope for opportunities, inplaces such as the SEE region.
“If the current euro crisisdoes not worsen, we are cau-tiously optimistic about thenear to medium term future –we are for sure not at the endof the crisis or close to the end,but hopefully we have passedthe end of the beginning,” saidJens J. Moller Madsen, man-aging director SEE at JonesLang LaSalle.
IIzzaabbeellaa DDeeppcczzyykk
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The WFC sale was one of
the biggest deals this year
Special New Europe GRI 2012 issue New Europe GRI 2012 will take place November
26-27 at the Hyatt Regency in Warsaw. For more
information, log on to globalrealestate.org
SEPTEMBER 17-23, 2012TTHHEE LLIISSTT18 www.wbj.pl
Corporate Services
Auditing and Accounting CompaniesRanked by revenue from auditing and accounting in 2010 www.bookoflists.pl
Rank
Company nameAddressTel./FaxE-mailWeb page
Revenue fromauditing andaccounting
(z∏. mln)
Total revenue(z∏. mln) Accounting /
Auditing
Taxconsultancy /
Other
Auditing /Accounting
Taxconsultancy
/ M&ASpecialization: Other Selected clients
Tota
l num
ber
of
em
plo
yees
/N
um
ber
of
full-
tim
eem
plo
yees
/Ye
ar
founded in P
ola
nd
Num
ber
of:
Accounta
nts
/
Inte
rnationally
lic
ense
dauditors
/P
ola
nd-lic
ense
d a
uditors
Top local executive /
Title
1
PricewaterhouseCoopers Sp. z o.o.Al. Armii Ludowej 14, 00-638 Warsaw22 523-4000/22 [email protected]/pl
WND231.7
188.9(1)
165.0(2)
WND419.8
399.7(1)
388.8(2)
6.6%46.8%
22.7%23.9%
✓✓
✓✓
Reporting and accounting consultancy;advisory on internal audit, audits of
business processes, information systemsand advisory on internal control; riskmanagement advisory; legal, tax and
business advisory; public subscription offeradvisory; financial and strategic advisory for
companies and public sector entities;transactional consulting; human capital
management; advisory on shared servicecenters; advisory for investors; sustainable
development advisory
BRE Bank; TP; PKO BP; ITI/TVN; PolskaTelefonia Cyfrowa; Shell; KGHM;Kompania Piwowarska; Samsung
Electronics; Volvo; Electrolux; ToyotaMotor Manufacturing; RWE; Coca Cola;GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals; NBP;Jastrz´bska Spó∏ka W´glowa; LG Group;Jeronimo Martins; Schenker; GPW; Philip
Morris; Alticor; Ministry of Finance;PGNiG; Kredyt Bank; Polkomtel; Google;
GazSystem; Tesco; Bumar
1,7651,7651990
14870162
Olga Grygier-SiddonsCEO/President
2
Ernst & YoungRondo ONZ 1, 00-124 Warsaw22 557-7000/22 [email protected]/pl
213.5(3)
200.0(4)
211.0(1)
182.0(2)
497.0(3)
424.0(4)
444.0(1)
423.0(2)
5%35%
22%37%
✓✓
✓✓
Business consulting; financial advisory; ITconsulting; effectiveness management;financial risk management; business risk
management; abuse risk management; ITrisk management; European consultancy;
transaction advisory
Asseco Poland; Getin Holding; GrupaLotos; GTC; ING Bank Âlàski; Mostostal
Warszawa; Tauron Polska Energia;Multimedia; Netia; Poczta Polska; PERN;
CEDC
1,5851,3941990
2591987
Duleep AluwihareManaging Partner of Ernst & Young
in Poland
3
KPMG ul. Ch∏odna 51, 00-867 Warsaw22 528-1100/22 [email protected]
106.8171.2176.8
176.6(2)
230.0407.0455.0
440.3(2)
2%40%
21%37%
✓✓
✓✓
Legal, business, financial advisory; riskmanagement advisory
WND
1,2891,1491990
24WND108
Andrzej Âcis∏owskiSenior Partner
4
DeloitteAl. Jana Paw∏a II 19, 00-854 Warsaw22 511-0811/22 [email protected]/pl
68.8113.6127.5125.9
216.2344.6340.3371.8
-34%
30%36%
✓-
✓✓
Consulting; financial advice; riskmanagement
TP; PZU; ArcelorMittal; PGNiG; Fiat; WPP
1,1631,0651990
-2363
Marek MetryckiPresident
5
BDO Sp. z o.o.ul. Post´pu 12, 02-676 Warsaw22 543-1600/22 [email protected]
24.441.043.040.1
29.351.551.650.2
WNDWND
WNDWND
✓✓
✓✓
Introducing co-partnerships into publicrotation IPO; business advisory; financial
advisory; finance acquisition; special audits;advisory for trial proceedings; IT advisory;
structural funds acquisition; implementationof IT systems; risk management advisory;
IT audit; training
ACTION; ALTERCO; AMBRA; ARP;AVIVA; Ceramika NOWA GALA;
COMARCH; FAMUR; INDYKPOL; JupiterTFI; JW Construction; KDPW; KOFOLA;Kronospan; Laboratorium Kosmetyczne
Dr. Irena Eris; PCC; Petroinvest;POLNORD; PROKOM; Takenaka Europe;
Trakcja-Tiltra; Jagiellonian University;YAWAL; X Trade Brokers
3182931991
73126
André HelinPresident
6
Mazars w Polsceul. Pi´kna 18, 00-549 Warsaw22 255-5200/22 [email protected]
WND34.0
34.0(5)
36.0(6)
WND41.0
41.0(5)40.0(6)
31%52%
7%10%
✓✓
✓✓
Business advisory
Air Liquide; Alior Bank; AXA; BNP ParibasBank Polska; Bonduelle; Camaieu;
Citroen; DM IDM; Etam; Farmacol; G+J;Hochland; K2 Internet; Konsorcjum Stali;Leclerc; Orze∏ Bia∏y; Publicis; Raiffeisen
Investment; Sofrecom; Swissmed
1691641992
51413
Michel KiviatkowskiPartner
7
Rödl & Partner (Roedl Audit Sp. z o.o.;Roedl Outsourcing Sp. z o.o.)ul. Sienna 73, 00-833 Warsaw22 696-2800/22 [email protected], www.roedl.pl
21.533.937.935.8
27.444.762.242.5
44.9%30.9%
1.3%22.9%
✓✓
✓✓
Legal and tax advisory services; businessconsulting; IT consulting; training;translation services; HR consulting
WND
2892831992
43217
Liliane Preußer;Jens Jungmann;Therese BaginskiPartner; Expert Auditors
8
Grant Thornton Fràckowiak Sp. z o.o., Sp.k.Pl. Wiosny Ludów 2, 61-831 Poznaƒ61 850-9200/61 [email protected], www.grantthornton.pl
WND23.925.723.8
WND34.135.731.9
27%44%
29%-
✓✓
✓✓
Economic advisory
PBG; MNI; Koelner; Alchemia;Komputronik; LPP; Monini Polska; RWEDea Polska; Polkomtel; Estneti OsauhingOddzia∏ w Polsce; Polski oddzia∏ Nordic
Gaming; Dutchmed PL
2252251993
65-
30
Cecylia Pol;Tomasz Wróblewski
President; Vice President
9
Baker Tilly w Polsceul. Hrubieszowska 2, 01-209 Warsaw22 295-3000/22 [email protected]
8.016.219.618.1
19.637.539.937.4
32%9%
4%55%
✓✓
✓✓
Services for public limited companies; initialpublic offerings; due diligence;
management consulting; economic andlegal analysis; tax advisory; payroll service
outsorcing; full HR and recruitment services
PL2012; Trilux; World Courier; Samsonite;M&M Aerospace Hardware; Philips &Lite-On Digital SolutionsCorp; Lilium;
North Coast; MCI Management; GrupaCaelum Development; Euromark; NFI
Midas
2692541990
8767
Steven FosterPresident
10
Grupa Kapita∏owa PKF Consultul. Elblàska 15/17, 01-747 Warsaw22 560-7650/22 [email protected]
10.814.115.312.9
13.218.819.717.7
20%55%
5%20%
✓✓
✓✓
Financial advisory; IPO prospectus issuing;debuts on NewConnect and Catalyst;
accounting; training activities; structuralfunds; due diligence; valuations
ECCO; TECH-BUD; Besic; JDSU Polska;Nutriad Polska; Capital Group Capital
Park; Capital Group Neo BPA; AgencjaRozwoju Przemys∏u; Krajowa Spó∏ka
Cukrowa; PKP Intercity
1751281993
35-
25
Ewa Jakubczyk-Ca∏yPresident
11
IMPEL ACCOUNTING Sp. z o.o.ul. T́ czowa 13, 53-601 Wroc∏aw71 769-5700/71 [email protected]
5.610.810.29.4
6.311.410.69.9
92.3%-
4.8%2.9%
✓✓
✓-
WNDGrupa IMPEL; TIM; Grupa Zaberd; Grupa
Vantage
1541542007
117-4
Alina Rudnicka-AcostaPresident
12
TPA Horwath (TPA Horwath HorodkoSp. z o.o., TPA Horwath AccountingSp. z o.o.)ul. Murawa 12-18, 61-655 Poznaƒ61 630-0500/61 [email protected] www.tpa-horwath.pl
6.110.18.89.0
6.110.18.99.1
WNDWND
WNDWND
✓✓
✓✓
Corporate finance; HR advisoryStrabag; Erbud; Union Investment; Point
Park; Aberdeen; Deka Immobilien
11694
2005
2815
Krzysztof HorodkoManaging Partner
13
Exco A2A Polska Sp. z o.o.Al. Niepodleg∏oÊci 106, 02-585 Warsaw22 847-6117/22 [email protected], www.exco.pl
WND10.0WNDWND
WND10.0WNDWND
WNDWND
WNDWND
-✓
✓✓
Contract audits; HR and payroll advisory;project management; due diligence;
controlling; VAT tax collectionWND
100WND1999
WNDWNDWND
Raphael VieuxmaireBoard Member
14
Extor Sp. z o.o.ul. Wyrzyska 9A, 02-455 Warsaw22 266-0550/22 [email protected], www.extor.pl
4.58.87.65.6
4.58.87.65.6
95%-
-5%
-✓
-✓
Payroll services
RGA; State Street Bank; SAD; BrunswickMarine; Kingspan Insulation; NWAI DomMaklerski; Bruckner Polska; Eolos Polska;Hercesa Sagarbe Axial Polska; Vredestein
8073
1994
60--
Rafa∏ StrzeleckiPresident
15
System Rewident Sp. z o.o.ul. Rakowiecka 30A, 02-528 Warsaw22 380-0380/22 [email protected]
3.47.66.76.5
4.37.87.16.7
61.5%35.9%
2.6%-
✓✓
✓✓
HR and payroll; business consulting;stocktaking; trainings
FIS Technology Services; UBB Polska;B3System; Stopklatka; SAP Polska; CBRichard Ellis Polska; Grupa Portfolio RealEstate; Soyter; Grupa Heitman; Multico;
Grupa Farmy Wiatrowe
7673
1995
24-
12
Jadwiga SzabatPresident
16
Estelligence Sp. z o.o. ul. I. Krasickiego 35, 02-611 Warsaw22 250-0550/22 [email protected]
3.56.52.71.5
3.56.52.71.5
WNDWND
WNDWND
-✓
--
WND WND
5349
2004
39--
Agnieszka SzwedowiczBoard Member
1st half of 2011 / 2010 / 2009 / 2008
Revenue split Specialization
SEPTEMBER 17-23, 2012 TTHHEE LLIISSTT www.wbj.pl 19
Notes: NA = Not Applicable, NR = Not Ranked, WND = Would Not Disclose. Research for The List was conducted in October 2011. Number ofemployees is as of September 2011. All information pertains to the companies' activities in Poland. Companies not responding to our survey are not listed.Footnotes: (1) Financial year: July 1, 2008 - June 30, 2009; (2) Financial year: July 1, 2007 - June 30, 2008; (3) Financial year: July 1, 2010 -June 30, 2011; (4) Financial year: July 1, 2009 - June 30, 2010; (5) Financial year: September 1, 2008 - August 31, 2009; (6) Financial year:September 1, 2007 - August 31, 2008; (7) Consolidated data of getsix Sp. z o.o. and getsix Poznaƒ Sp. z o.o.; (8) Financial year: July 1 - June 30
To the best of WBJ ’s knowledge, the information is accurate as of press time. While every effort is made to ensureaccuracy and thoroughness, omissions and typographical errors may occur. Corrections or additions to The List shouldbe sent, on official letterhead, to Warsaw Business Journal, attn. Katarzyna Hernik, ul. Elblàska 15/17, 01-747 Warsaw,via fax to (+48) 22 639-8569, or via e-mail to [email protected]. Copyright 2011, Valkea Media SA. The List may not bereprinted or reproduced in whole or in part without prior written permission of the publisher. Reprints are available.
Rank
Company nameAddressTel./FaxE-mailWeb page
Revenue fromauditing andaccounting
(z∏. mln)
Total revenue(z∏. mln) Accounting /
Auditing
Taxconsultancy /
Other
Auditing /Accounting
Taxconsultancy /
M&ASpecialization: Other Selected clients
Tota
l num
ber
of
em
plo
yees
/N
um
ber
of
full-
tim
eem
plo
yees
/Ye
ar
founded in P
ola
nd
Num
ber
of:
Accounta
nts
/
Inte
rnationally
lic
ense
dauditors
/P
ola
nd-lic
ense
d a
uditors
Top local executive /
Title
17
AUXILIUM SA Al. Pokoju 84, 31-564 Kraków12 425-8053/12 [email protected]
4.15.95.44.1
4.56.55.84.4
35%56%
5%4%
✓✓
✓✓
Stock market advisory
Doradcy 24; INBOOK; Liberty Group;TELFORCEONE; INTERSPORT Polska; STI
Group; ART NEW MEDIA; PositiveAdvisor; Odlewnie Polskie; Dom Lekarski;
Unima 2000; Makolab; CementowniaWARTA; Wojskowa Agencja
Mieszkaniowa; Adesso; Stomil Poznaƒ;Lamda; Gdaƒsk University of Technology;
18729
1995
22-
136
Zofia PodhorodeckaPresident
18
Moore Stephens Central Audit Sp. z o.o.ul. Sienna 82, 00-815 Warsaw22 652-2183/22 [email protected]
3.25.65.34.7
3.35.95.84.8
39%54%
4%3%
✓✓
✓✓
- WND
4842
2005
2513
Janusz Bia∏eckiPresident
19
Baltic Accountants and ConsultantsKurt IversenAl. Wojska Polskiego 11, 01-524 Warsaw22 869-0666/22 [email protected]
2.64.94.84.3
2.85.35.34.9
69%22%
6%3%
✓✓
✓-
WND WND
2929
1990
1713
Kurt IversenDirector
20
Morison Finansista Audit Sp. z o.o.ul. G∏ówna 6, 61-005 Poznaƒ61 654-4102/61 [email protected], www.morison.pl
2.94.45.65.8
3.76.57.17.0
33.3%34.7%
6.3%25.7%
✓✓
✓✓
Corporate finance; controlling; investmentadvisory; valuations
Mi´dzynarodowe Targi Poznaƒskie;Agencja NieruchomoÊci Rolnych;
Kopalnia W´gla Brunatnego “Konin”;Oponeo; WUPRIN˚; Wittchen; Chata
Polska; PIECBIOGAZ; TotalizatorSportowy; Polskie Radio; Polskie Jad∏o;
Cracow University of Economics
8752
1989
23-
35
Lidia Skud∏awskaPresident
21
getsix Sp. z o.o.(7)
ul. Szwedzka 5, 55-040 BielanyWroc∏awskie71 388-1300/71 [email protected], www.getsix.pl
2.74.33.1
WND
2.74.33.1
WND
70%-
10%20%
-✓
✓-
Virtual office services; start-up support;business planning and modeling;
accounting services by using customers’ ITsystems; payroll and HR services; IT
services (Extranet and ERP applicationhosting); legal advice
WND
4545
2006
40WNDWND
Monika Martynkiewicz-Frank; Claus Frank;
Roy HeynleinPartners
22
Grupa Gumu∏ka - Audyt Sp. z o.o.ul. Jana Matejki 4, 40-077 Katowice32 790-2294/32 [email protected], www.gumulka.pl
2.64.13.42.8
4.58.65.84.3
9%39%
38%14%
✓✓
✓✓
Evaluation; opinion polls; EU fundsacquisition for project development;
valuation expertise; NewConnect; Catalyst;Warsaw Stock Exchange
FM Polska; PARP; MRR; GK ZARMEN;Tauron Wytwarzanie; Polish Chamber of
Commerce; G∏ówny InstytutBudownictwa; Agencja Rozwoju
Przemys∏u; Warsaw City Hall; ZUS FRD;GK K´ty
7070
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918
Rados∏aw Gumu∏kaPresident
23
Korycka, Budziak & Audytorzy Sp. z o.o.ul. Solec 22, 00-410 Warsaw22 522-2390/22 [email protected], www.kba.com.pl
2.04.04.44.2
2.24.55.14.8
53%37%
9%1%
✓✓
✓✓
Accounting advisory; due diligenceJupiter NFI; Apator; PRI Pol - Aqua;
Pekao Fundusz Kapita∏owy; Roto Frank;Uniwheels Production; Guhring
2723
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10-3
Ewa OrkwiszewskaPresident
24
FK Partner Sp. z o.o.ul. Tagore’a 3, 02-647 Warsaw22 242-8511/22 [email protected]
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2.65.97.36.9
61.1%-
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HR outsourcing; training; IT outsourcing;financial advice
BPH TFI; Miejskie Przedsi´biorstwoTaksówkowe; Lexmark Polska; Aptiv
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Krzysztof ¸ogiewaPresident
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ul. Zagnaƒska 84, 25-528 Kielce41 368-6669/41 [email protected]
WND2.62.52.5
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Economic and financial case studies
Piekarnia Pod Telegrafem RomanSmolarski; Kopalnie i Zak∏ady Chemiczne
Siarki Siarkopol; Przedsi´biorstwoBudownictwa Ogólnego Kartel; Grupa
Polskie Sk∏ady Budowlane; Zak∏adyW∏ókien Chemicznych Stilon
5223
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Andrzej MuchaPresident
26
Mac Auditor Sp. z o.o.ul. Obrze˝na 5, 02-691 Warsaw22 649-2765/22 [email protected]
1.42.51.41.3
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Verification of valuationsIdea TFI; Opoka TFI; Ipopema TFI; Noble
Funds TFI
3511
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Rados∏aw ÂwiderskiPresident
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MK CONSULTING Sp. z o.o., Sp.k.ul. Mariensztat 8, 00-302 Warsaw22 538-9160/22 [email protected]
0.91.81.51.3
0.91.81.51.3
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MSR/MSSF; controlling; outsourcing; shelfcompanies; accounting advice; HR and
payroll; legal and customs services;liquidations; management reporting;
accounting for EU projects
WND
2321
2005
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Monika ZaluskaPresident
28
Staniszewski & Richter Sp. z o.o.ul. Lwowska 10/21, 00-658 Warsaw22 622-4198/22 [email protected], www.auditors.pl
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-First Property Group; Ceraco Group;
Polfrost; EZO; Richter Med
2020
1993
222
Marzena RichterBoard Member
29
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1.41.31.61.6
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304
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26
Adam KarcherPresident
30
TBR Kowalczyk Sp.j.ul. Indiri Gandhi 11, 02-776 Warsaw22 647-2002/22 [email protected], www.tbr.pl
0.50.90.80.7
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100%-
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-✓
--
WNDAPS; Magnolia Polska; AWTInternational Polska; Papilart
128
1997
6--
Arkadiusz KowalczykManaging Partner
31
Optant Sp. z o.o.ul. Berezyƒska 39, 03-908 Warsaw22 617-2233/22 [email protected]
0.40.80.80.8
0.40.80.80.8
99%- 1%
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-Fleishman Hillard; Vivarto; Fastpoland;
Apli Polska; Navitor
88
2004
5--
¸ukasz KaliƒskiManaging Partner
32
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0.30.60.61.2
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Tomasz WikliƒskiPresident
NR Process Solutions Sp. z o.o.Al. Jerozolimskie 81, 02-001 Warsaw22 695-0295/22 [email protected]
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Bookkeeping and tax compliance; statutoryand international reporting; HR and payroll;
fiscal representation; start-up support;business planning and modeling; corporate
administration
British Telecom; Caterpillar; Gefco;Hutton Energy; Interserve; Toro;
Turbomach; WizzAir
2020
2007
18-1
Tomasz TàkielManager
1st half of 2011 / 2010 / 2009 / 2008
Revenue split Specialization
SEPTEMBER 17-23, 2012MMAARRKKEETTSS20 www.wbj.pl
SO
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: W
SE
PLN-EUR
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currency rates
Markets rally
on QE3
Currency report
Hot on the tail of the Euro-pean Central Bank’s decisionto buy bonds from troubledcountries, the US FederalReserve provided investorswith another boost. Itannounced it will be buyingback bonds worth $40 billioneach month until the eco-nomic situation stabilizes.The announcement of thethird round of quantitativeeasing (QE3) undertaken bythe Fed boosted markets andrisk aversion declined. TheEUR/USD broke the $1.28resistance level and rallied allthe way to $1.31, its highestlevel since May.
The move was strong andthis week I would expect acorrective downward move-ment as traders will probablytake some of their profitsfrom the market, closing longpositions.
The z∏oty continued its
run from the previous weekagainst the major currencies.The main impulse came fromthe Fed because internal datashowed CPI inflation at 3.8percent y/y. Inflation is notrising, while the economy isslowing down, all of whichprobably indicates that inter-est rates will be cut at somepoint this year.
An interest rate cut hasbeen more or less discount-ed by the market, and theeuphoria on the markethelped the z∏oty appreciate.The EUR/PLN rate fell toz∏.4.06 by the end of theweek, while the USD/PLNdropped to z∏.3.10. Thez∏oty has already gained 8percent against the US dol-lar this year, making it thethird-best performer in thiscategory just after the Hun-garian forint and theChilean peso. ●
Adam NarczewskiX-Trade Brokers DM SA
SO
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: N
BP
Major indices
Top 5 Closing % change (week) 52-week high 52-week low
URSUS 2.55 30.10 2.70 0.66HYGIENKA 1.17 27.17 1.47 0.76SELENAFM 6.90 25.45 11.90 5.05WESTAISIC 0.55 22.22 9.21 0.42ADVGRUPA 13.29 21.37 15.50 7.10
WIG 43,047.41 (September 13 close)
Change for the week: 2.17% 52-week high: 43,047.41
Change year to September 13: 12.34% 52-week low: 36,549.47
Top 5 Closing % change (week) 52-week high 52-week low
TVN 6.89 6.66 15.98 5.90GTC 6.70 6.35 12.75 5.13PKNORLEN 42.94 6.29 43.56 30.33KGHM 144.40 4.71 174.20 102.40GETIN 1.65 4.43 9.03 1.43
Bottom 5 Closing % change (week) 52-week high 52-week low
IFCAPITAL 0.96 -41.82 14.97 0.45HBPOLSKA 0.03 -40.00 1.47 0.02RESBUD 9.10 -33.09 70.00 2.88IGROUP 0.21 -22.22 0.86 0.19PBG 3.98 -22.11 94.65 3.25
Bottom 5 Closing % change (week) 52-week high 52-week low
PBG 3.98 -22.11 94.65 3.25POLIMEXMS 0.52 -7.14 2.09 0.46CEZ 124.50 -1.97 141.50 111.90BRE 312.00 -1.89 321.00 204.90TPSA 16.84 -0.36 18.56 15.18
WIG20 2,353.51 (September 13 close)
Change for the week: 2.47% 52-week high: 2,414.62
Change year to September 13: 7.26% 52-week low: 2,035.80
mWIG40 2,280.20 (September 13 close)
Change for the week: 1.99% 52-week high: 2,561.94
Change year to September 13: 4.11% 52-week low: 2,076.52
sWIG80 9,420.59 (September 13 close)
Change for the week: -0.02% 52-week high: 10,536.29
Change year to September 13: 9.49% 52-week low: 8,218.71
NewConnect 34.55 (September 13 close)
Change for the week: 0.14% 52-week high: 43.83
Change year to September 13: -16.73% 52-week low: 33.69
WIG-Banki 6,337.78 (September 13 close)
Change for the week: 2.00% 52-week high: 6,337.78
Change year to September 13: 14.33% 52-week low: 4,944.19
DJIA13,539.86 (Sep 13 close)
1.86% (for the week)
CHANGE: 9.22%
(year to Sep 13)
52-week high: 13539.86
52-week low: 10,404.50
NASDAQ3,155.83 (Sep 13 close)
0.64% (for the week)
CHANGE: 19.15%
(year to Sep 13)
52-week high: 3155.83
52-week low: 2,298.89
S&P5001,459.99 (Sep 13 close)
1.95% (for the week)
CHANGE: 14.32%
(year to Sep 13)
52-week high: 1459.99
52-week low: 1,074.77
FTSE1005,819.9 (Sep 13 close)
0.74% (for the week)
CHANGE: 2.11%
(year to Sep 13)
52-week high: 5,989.10
52-week low: 4,868.60
DAX7,310.32 (Sep 13 close)
2.00% (for the week)
CHANGE: 20.32%
(year to Sep 13)
52-week high: 7310.32
52-week low: 4965.80
NIKKEI2258,995.15 (Sep 13 close)
3.62% (for the week)
CHANGE: 5.08%
(year to Sep 13)
52-week high: 10,255.20
52-week low: 8,560.11
world stock indices
17.0
8
20.0
8
21.0
8
22.0
8
23.0
8
24.0
8
27.0
8
28.0
8
29.0
8
30.0
8
31.0
8
03.0
9
04.0
9
05.0
9
06.0
9
07.0
9
10.0
9
11.0
9
12.0
9
13.0
940,000
40,800
41,600
42,400
43,200
44,00017
.08
20.0
8
21.0
8
22.0
8
23.0
8
24.0
8
27.0
8
28.0
8
29.0
8
30.0
8
31.0
8
03.0
9
04.0
9
05.0
9
06.0
9
07.0
9
10.0
9
11.0
9
12.0
9
13.0
92,200
2,240
2,280
2,320
2,360
2,400
17.0
8
20.0
8
21.0
8
22.0
8
23.0
8
24.0
8
27.0
8
28.0
8
29.0
8
30.0
8
31.0
8
03.0
9
04.0
9
05.0
9
06.0
9
07.0
9
10.0
9
11.0
9
12.0
9
13.0
92,200
2,220
2,240
2,260
2,280
2,300
17.0
8
20.0
8
21.0
8
22.0
8
23.0
8
24.0
8
27.0
8
28.0
8
29.0
8
30.0
8
31.0
8
03.0
9
04.0
9
05.0
9
06.0
9
07.0
9
10.0
9
11.0
9
12.0
9
13.0
99,200
9,260
9,320
9,380
9,440
9,500
17.0
8
20.0
8
21.0
8
22.0
8
23.0
8
24.0
8
27.0
8
28.0
8
29.0
8
30.0
8
31.0
8
03.0
9
04.0
9
05.0
9
06.0
9
07.0
9
10.0
9
11.0
9
12.0
9
13.0
933.0
33.4
33.8
34.2
34.6
35.0
17.0
8
20.0
8
21.0
8
22.0
8
23.0
8
24.0
8
27.0
8
28.0
8
29.0
8
30.0
8
31.0
8
03.0
9
04.0
9
05.0
9
06.0
9
07.0
9
10.0
9
11.0
9
12.0
9
13.0
95,900
6,000
6,100
6,200
6,300
6,400
Other indices
Hope pays off
Stocks report
Last week was yet anotherpositive period for stock mar-kets across Europe, with thePolish overall WIG and blue-chip WIG20 indices seeingimpressive gains. Hope onceagain paid off, with investorsdriving up indices two daysbefore Germany’s Constitu-tional Court approved theeuro zone’s new rescue fund.
Stocks opened with a jumplast Monday, despite notmuch data being released.Leading the WIG20 for theday were shares of TVN, clos-ing over 9 percent higher afterinvestment bank GoldmanSachs changed its bearishposition towards the stock to a“neutral.” The WIG20 closed0.78 percent higher.
Similarly on Tuesday,stocks saw another bullishrun, with shares of TVN (5.5percent) once again dominat-ing the WIG20. Unlike on
Monday, gains on the WIG20only took off an hour beforeclosing, with the blue-chipindex gaining 0.75 percent.On Wednesday, after a chop-py start, Polish stocks reactedto the crucial approval byGermany’s ConstitutionalCourt rather disappointingly.After leading Europe in gainsthe day before, the WIG20was only one of four indices toclose in the red, shedding aquarter of a percent.
Thursday saw all eyes turnto the US. Polish indicesbounced back after their mar-ginal losses on Wednesdayafter the Federal Reservepromised more monetarystimulus. The WIG20 gained0.27 percent, with UkrainianKernel seeing the largestgains, up 3 percent. On Fridaythe WIG rose 2.42 percentwhile the WIG20 grew 2.71percent. ●
Andrew Nawrocki WBJ market analyst
SEPTEMBER 17-23, 2012 SSPPOORRTTSS www.wbj.pl 21
Paralympics
PPoollaanndd ffiinniisshheess nniinntthhaatt LLoonnddoonn PPaarraallyymmppiiccssPolish Paralympianspicked up 36 medals,including 14 golds
The spectacular closing cere-mony of the ParalympicGames in London brought toan end not only the biggest-ever Paralympics, but also asporting festival that startedwith the Olympic Games inAugust.
Polish Paralympiansarrived back home withan impressive haul ofmedals. The countrytook ninth place in thefinal medal count, with36 in total, including 14gold, 13 silver and 9bronze medals – a per-formance that Polandgot nowhere near tomatching during themain Olympic event inLondon.
Notable performersincluded Natalia Party-ka, who retained herParalympic title in thewomen’s table tennissingles Class 10 event,and Rafa∏ Wilk, whowon two golds incycling.
China finished top of
the Paralympic medals tablewith 231 medals, including 95golds. Russia was second andGreat Britain third. The US,which topped the Olympicsmedals table, finished in sixthplace with 98 medals.
The 2012 Paralympicsbroke all manner of records,including number of athletes(4,200), tickets sold (2.7 mil-lion) and TV audience(around 4 billion people).
“These Games have chan-ged us all forever,” said Inter-national Paralympic Commit-tee president Sir PhilipCraven as he declared the2012 Paralympics closed.
“The thrilling achieve-ments of the Paralympianshave caused us to see them asrole models, not victims. Theyhave changed our lives,” TheDaily Telegraph wrote in aneditorial. GGPP
SH
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Natalia Partyka, one of Poland’s Paralympic gold medalists
Motorsport
KKuubbiiccaa wwiinnss ffiirrsstt rraacceeiinn lloonngg ccoommeebbaacckk ttrraaiill“The aim remains toreturn to FormulaOne,” the Polishracing star saidfollowing his victory ina rally in Italy
Polish Formula One driverRobert Kubica says he is ontrack to make a return to F1racing, following his victory inearly September in the RondeGomitolo di Lana rally in Italy.
“Being here is already agood step, but I would havepreferred to be somewhereelse,” the 27-year-old toldreporters after the race, refer-ring to the Italian Grand Prixwhich took place on the sameweekend.
Mr Kubica sustained life-threatening injuries in a horrificcrash in Italy early last year,leading many to speculate thathe would never again make areturn to competitive racing, let
alone F1. “I have still got a long road
to travel and will probablynever be at the same physicallevel as before,” Mr Kubicasaid. “But I don’t intend to giveup.”
“The aim remains to returnto Formula One and the nextfew months will tell me whetherI can do it next year already orwill have to wait until 2014,” headded.
GGaarreetthh PPrriiccee
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Robert Kubica is back racing
SEPTEMBER 17-23, 2012LLIIFFEESSTTYYLLEE22 www.wbj.pl
Centre for ContemporaryArt at Ujazdowski Castle ul. Jazdów 2www.csw.art.pl
Czarna Gallery ul. Marsza∏kowska 4www.czarnagaleria.art.pl
Galeria 022, DAP, Lufcik ul. Mazowiecka 11awww.owzpap.pl
Galeria 65 ul. Bema 65www.galeria65.com
Galeria Appendix 2ul. Bia∏ostocka 9www.appendix2.com
Galeria Asymetria ul. Nowogrodzka 18awww.asymetria.eu
Galeria Foksal ul. Foksal 1-4www.galeriafoksal.pl
Galeria Milano Rondo Waszyngtona 2Awww.milano.arts.pl
Galeria Schody ul. Nowy Âwiat 39www.galeriaschody.pl
Galeria XX1 Al. Jana Paw∏a II 36www.galeriaxx1.pl
Galeria Zoya ul. Kopernika 32 m.8www.zoya.art.pl
Green Gallery ul. Krzywe Ko∏o 2/4www.greengallery.pl
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 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
La Folle Journée de Varsovie / Crazy Daysof Music 2012 – RussiaTeatr WielkiPl. Teatralny 1September 28-30
Packing in some 60 concertsfeaturing over 950 musiciansinto three days, this year’s edi-tion of “La Folle Journée deVarsovie” offers up plenty ofopportunities to catch live clas-sical music performances in aninformal atmosphere.
The event marks the thirdtime La Folle Journée has beenheld in Poland. The festival –which aims to make classicalmusic more accessible to thosewho find it stuffy and formal –began in France in 1995, andsoon spread to countries suchas Brazil, Japan, Portugal andSpain.
After the festival in Polandconcentrated on Chopin in2010 and “the Titans” (Brahms,Mahler, Liszt, Strauss and Szy-manowski) in 2011, this year’sedition will be devoted to classi-cal music from Russia. Perfor-mances will include pieces bycomposers such as Prokofiev,Rachmaninov, Rimsky-Kor-sakov, Shostakovich, Stravinskyand Tchaikovsky, among others.
To achieve the accessibilityand informality that the organ-
izers are aiming for, most of theconcerts will last about an hourand will be held in several ofthe various halls of Warsaw’sGrand Theater – NationalOpera, as well as in a tent in thesquare in front of it. Ticketprices are low: z∏.5, z∏.7 andz∏.10.
Musicians of worldwiderenown – such as Abdel Rah-man El Bacha, Alexander Kni-
azev, Andrei Korobeinikov, theBorodin Quartet andGiampiero Sobrino – will play,but so too will young musiciansand the best ensembles fromPolish schools, organizers say.The festival will also featuremusic education programs forchildren.
AAnnddrreeww KKuurreetthhFor more information, logon to szalonednimuzyki.pl
Music festival
Crazy for Russian classics
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Agnieszka Polska “Aurorite”to November 25, 2012;Radek Szlaga“Freedom Club”to November 18, 2012CSW – Centre forContemporary Art ul. Jazdów 2Warsaw
Two contemporary art exhibi-tions worth checking out beganearlier this month and will beopen through late November atthe Centre for ContemporaryArt at Ujazdowski Castle inWarsaw.
“Aurorite” is a collection ofworks by Agnieszka Polska, anartist who uses photography,animation, video and collage to
explore the thin line betweenmemory and creation. Ms Pols-ka takes newspapers, booksand black-and-white photos assource materials, and usesthem to show how the miscon-ceptions that are producedfrom taking these artifacts outof context can lead to newunderstandings. Organizers ofthe exhibition say she is “lessinterested in what was actuallyarchived, paying more atten-tion to the things that have notbeen stored.” The works posethe question as to where histor-ical documentation ends andartistic creation begins.
Another exhibition – “Free-dom Club” – takes its inspira-tion from a single set of histori-
cal events: the Unabombercase, which unfolded over aperiod of nearly 20 years in theUnited States. The artist,Radek Szlaga, explores theimages and ideas that motivat-ed Ted Kaczynski, a formerchild prodigy, to embark on acampaign of sending deadlybombs in the mail. The massmurderer signed the packages“FC,” which he later said stoodfor “Freedom Club.” Mr Szla-ga’s paintings follow the trail ofthe Unabomber (and his Polishroots) in an attempt to makesense of this promising mindgone wrong.
AAKKFor more information,
log on to csw.art.pl.
Contemporary art
Young artists look toreinterpret history
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Robert Szlaga’s work was inspired by the Unabomber case
So it’s official – the iPhone 5 is every-thing we expected and more. Or less,actually. But less in a good way. Most-ly.
First things first. As anticipated,Apple’s latest smartphone comesequipped with a four-inch display, upfrom the traditional 3.5-inches of thepast. It’s a Retina display, of the sameeye-popping variety introduced lastyear with the third-generation iPad,with 326 pixels per inch. That’s not thehighest PPI count on the market(indeed, it’s no change from theiPhone 4S), but it offers stunningquality and is more than good enoughto watch HD films or play graphics-heavy games.
To power the Retina displaythere’s a new chip inside the iPhone 5– called the “A6” – and Apple ispromising CPU and graphics per-formance that’s twice as fast as that oflast generation’s A5 chip. Indeed, thegraphics look fantastic, but with afaster chip you have to wonder aboutbattery performance, right? Well,Apple hasn’t talked this up too much,except to say that the iPhone 5 willhave better battery life than the 4S.That’s due to power-saving functionson the A6 chip, apparently.
“Ultra-fast wireless” was anothertalking point, but of course this
depends in part on your mobile net-work provider. Still, LTE-support hasbeen added, so if your carrier has aproper 4G network then you’ll finallybe able to take full advantage of itwith an iPhone.
Then there’s the new 8-megapixel,rear-facing iSight camera, whichsounds a lot like the old 8-megapixel,rear-facing iSight camera last seen inthe 4S, but is in fact not the same. Thisversion is 25-percent smaller, appar-ently, with a extra-durable sapphirecrystal lens.
What else, what else ... oh right. Asexpected, Apple is ditching two of itsolder technologies – the execrable 30-pin dock connector and the oft-maligned earbuds. The former isbeing replaced by an all-digital con-nector that’s 80 percent smaller. And,because Apple is never content with-out a flashy name for its proprietarytechnologies, the new connector hasbeen dubbed “Lightning.” That’sprobably because it’s fast, but we’drecommend keeping your dock con-nector indoors during storms. Just incase.
For their part, Apple’s earbudshave gotten a much-needed upgrade,though the fact that they’re officiallycalled “EarPods” is a bit twee forTecheye’s tastes. Also, the “beam-
forming” microphone system soundsvaguely ominous. On the plus side,they pack noise-canceling technologythat will come in very handy, makingit that much easier to ignore boringcolleagues, hungry offspring, needyspouses or crazy, ranting bus passen-gers.
Probably the most eyebrow-rais-ing aspect of the iPhone 5 is the factthat all of the performance upgradeshave been accompanied by a signifi-cant slimming of the whole phone.The device is 0.3 inches (7.6 mm)wide and weighs 0.25 lbs (112 g),making it 18 percent thinner and 20percent lighter than the 4S. In fact, inwhat is obviously a cynical attempt toentice supermodels, Apple is callingthis the “world’s thinnest smart-phone.”
So that’s the iPhone 5, availablestarting September 21. It’s not a revo-lution. It’s not eye-wateringly innova-tive.
Instead it’s a refinement onApple’s existing formula for success.It’s lighter, skinnier, more powerfuland, um, display-ier than its prede-cessor. And, judging by the pompwith which it was introduced, theiPhone 5 is packing 25 percent morehubris than any other phone on themarket. ●
SEPTEMBER 17-23, 2012 LLAASSTT WWOORRDD www.wbj.pl 23
The iPhone 5: stronger, thinner and rather familiarTech Eye
Ever cynically attempted to entice a supermodel? Let us know: [email protected]
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