Warsaw Business Journal, vol. 19, #12, April 2-7, 2013
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VOLUME 19, NUMBER 12 • APRIL 2-7, 2013 . z∏.12.50 (VAT 8% included) . ISSN 1233 7889 INDEX-RUCH-332-127 Roads open The European Commission has released some z∏.3.5 billion in road funding for Poland 4 Since 1994 . Poland’s only business weekly in English WWW.WBJ.PL European project In an exclusive interview for WBJ, former President Aleksander KwaÊniewski discusses his new Europe Plus initiative, Polish and EU affairs, and suggests how elections for a European president could be conducted 12-13 Euro U-turn Prime Minister Donald Tusk has announced he now supports a referendum on euro zone entry 3 EAST NEWS 6 WSE’s new platform The Warsaw Stock Exchange will implement its new trading system this month 8-9 A complex relationship Alexander Alekseev, Russia’s ambassador to Poland, sat down with WBJ to assess the current state of the two countries’ often difficult relations News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2-4 Business . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5-6 Finance & Economics . . . . . . . . . . .7 Interview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8-9 Opinion & Analysis . . . . . . . . .10-11 Cover Story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12-13 Lokale Immobilia . . . . . . . . . .14-17 The List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19 Markets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21 Lifestyle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22 Last Word . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23 In this issue • Browar Lubicz • Pa∏ac Szuchów • Park Avenue 14-17 A new business model for Cyprus Javier Solana sees light on the horizon for the troubled island nation 11 Get radical A business lobby group warns that Poland needs “radical” economic reform right away 7 COURTESY OF BALMORAL LOKALE IMMOBILIA REAL ESTATE
Transcript
VOLUME 19, NUMBER 12 • APRIL 2-7, 2013 . z∏.12.50 (VAT 8% included) . ISSN 1233 7889 INDEX-RUCH-332-127
RRooaaddss ooppeennThe European Commission has
released some z∏.3.5 billion in
road funding for Poland 4
Since 1994 . Poland’s only business weekly in English
WW
W.W
BJ.P
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European projectIn an exclusiveinterview forWBJ, formerPresidentAleksanderKwaÊniewskidiscusses his newEurope Plusinitiative, Polishand EU affairs,and suggests howelections for aEuropeanpresident couldbe conducted
12-13
EEuurroo UU--ttuurrnnPrime Minister Donald Tusk has
announced he now supports a
referendum on euro zone entry 3
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WSE’s new platformThe Warsaw Stock Exchange will implementits new trading system this month
8-9
A complex relationshipAlexander Alekseev, Russia’s ambassador to Poland,sat down with WBJ to assess the current state of thetwo countries’ often difficult relations
Visa Europe ......................................6
Visa Incorporated..............................6
Warsaw Chopin Airport ..................14
Warsaw Stock Exchange ......6, 14, 16
X-Trade Brokers..............................20
Poland and Slovakia’s PrimeMinisters met last week to dis-cuss details of a joint bid toorganize the Winter Olympicsin 2022.
“This is the best time tosubmit our bid, and therewon’t be a better one in thefuture. Poland and Slovakiaare both viewed by others asstable countries with goodeconomies,” said Polish PrimeMinister Donald Tusk. “Ibelieve this will be a financiallyviable project. We shouldn’tdrop our ambitions justbecause there is a crisis in theeuro zone,” added his Slo-vakian counterpart RobertFico.
Kraków would be themain host of the games, hold-ing the opening and closingceremonies as well as variousice-skating events, bobsleighand luge. The southern city ofZakopane would host ski-jumping, biathlon, snow-boarding and cross-countryskiing events. Slovakia mean-while, would be organizingmost of the ice-hockey gamesand all of the alpine skiingevents.
Both PMs claim that thestrength of their bid comesfrom their recent experiencein hosting big sporting events.Poland was a co-host of the2012 European soccer cham-
pionships, and Slovakia hostedthe Ice Hockey World Cham-pionships in 2011.
When it comes to the costsof organizing the events, offi-cials don’t want to mentionany figures yet. However, pre-liminary estimates by Ma∏opol-ska voivodship authoritiesclaim it would cost z∏.5 billion.In comparison, officials fromOslo, another city that wantsto host the 2022 Olympics,claim it would cost them €5billion.
The official applicationprocess starts in May and endsin November of 2013. The hostwill be chosen in 2015.
JJaacceekk CCiieessnnoowwsskkii
25%is the average share of household income that Poles
spend on food.
z∏.5.3 billionis how much the National Bank of Poland will transfer
to the state budget from its 2012 profit.
z∏.3.5 billion is the value of a bond issue Bank Gospodarki
˚ywnoÊciowej is due to hold soon.
63.5%is the share the five largest banks in Poland have ofthe total number of personal bank accounts in the
country.
“Who knows? Maybe I'll even make somemoney on this thing.”
Former Polish president Lech Wa∏´sa on TVN24, referring to the fact that whilehe has had two scheduled lectures in the US called off due to his recent anti-gaystatements, he has received four new offers for speaking engagements.
Quote of the Week
Paths to sustainable powerWhat is the path to sustainable energy policies for theentire world? Renowned economist Jeffery Sachsgives his take on the matter. Log on to WBJ.pl to readmore.
On WBJ.pl
Numbers in the News
Company index
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4-5 APPETITE FOR OUTSOURCING CONFERENCEEvent: This conference, organized by Bluevine Con-
sulting with the help of the City of Kielce andDeloitte, will focus on developmentprospects for BPO centers in Kielce andother cities of Eastern Poland.
Location: Kieleckie Centrum BiznesuAl. SolidarnoÊci 34 Kielce
Web: www.prospectsinpoland.com
9-10 OFFICEDAYSEvent: This fair is designed for four main groups of
attendees: office managers and personsresponsible for ordering equipment andoffice services; developers, owners andmanagers of office buildings; architects andinterior designers; and IT specialists respon-sible for company hardware.
Location: WARSAW EXPO XXI Centre,
ul. Pràdzyƒskiego 12/14, Warsaw
Web: www.officedays.pl
10 MADE IN POLAND CONFERENCEEvent: Journalists, entrepreneurs and officials will
discuss Polish exports – their successes,challenges and impact on the Polisheconomy.
Location: National Stadium, Al. Poniatowskiego 1, Warsaw
17-21 FASHIONPHILOSOPHY FASHION WEEK POLANDEvent: Spring edition of the biggest fashion event in
Central and Eastern Europe. This timedesigners from the region will present theirideas for their Autumn/Winter collections.
Location: ¸ódê Special Economic Zone, ul. Tymienieckiego 22/24, ¸ódê
AprilCalendar
The 2022 Winter OlympicsIN THE SPOTLIGHT
Figures in focus
Who will be the next Cyprus?Selected euro zone countries’ bank assets as a share of GDP (in %, as of December 2012)
Sources: Eurostat, ECB
APRIL 2-7, 2013 NNEEWWSS www.wbj.pl 3
CIA black sites
Guantanamo detaineesues PolandA man who allegedlyrevealed valuableinformation about 9-11mastermind KhalidSheikh Mohamed issuing Poland in aEuropean court
Saudi citizen Abu Zubaydahhas filed a lawsuit againstPoland with the EuropeanCourt of Human Rights inStrasbourg. His lawyers claimthat he was held at a CIA“black site” in Poland between2002 and 2003 and that Warsawis withholding crucial evidenceneeded to investigate his case.
Mr Zubaydah has beendetained by US authorities formore than a decade withoutbeing charged and is now beingheld in the Guantanamo BayUS detention camp in Cuba.His lawyers claim he wasrepeatedly waterboarded by USinterrogators, and lost one ofhis eyes as a result of the torturehe endured.
The same court is alreadyhearing the case of anotherman, a Saudi national Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, who allegeshe was held in a CIA jail inPoland.
Polish officials deny accusa-tions that the CIA operatedprisons on Polish soil and claimthat they are conducting a fulland fair investigation into theallegations. However, they saythey can’t release all of the nec-essary documents because
many of them are top secret.Nevertheless, in October
2011, Thomas Hammarberg,the Council of Europe’s Com-missioner for Human Rightssaid it was “clear” that Polandhad hosted secret CIA prisonsbetween December 2002 andSeptember 2003.
“We know who was heldthere and what interrogationmethods were used. They canbe described as torture,” hesaid.
Victim statusBack in February, the Euro-pean Court of Human Rightsdecided to declassify docu-ments pertaining to the com-plaint by Mr al-Nashiri.Poland’s Ministry of ForeignAffairs expressed disappoint-ment and surprise at the deci-sion.
Poland’s investigation intothe existence of the allegedCIA prisons in Europe is the
only one currently inprogress. Lithuania discontin-ued its own investigation andRomania decided not to startone. Poland’s investigationwas launched five years ago,but deadlines for progresshave been repeatedly pushedback.
Both Mr al-Nashiri andMr Zubaydah have beengiven victim status in the Pol-ish investigation, which givestheir legal representatives theright to be briefed on certainaspects of the case. The appli-cation to the court in Stras-bourg said that a Polishlawyer for Mr Zubaydah hasbeen denied access to files heneeds to properly representhis client. He’s only allowedto see a small part of the filesin the prosecutor’s office andcan’t make any notes or legalsubmissions based on what hehas read in them.
JJaacceekk CCiieessnnoowwsskkii
Euro adoption
TTuusskk mmaakkeess UU--ttuurrnn oonn eeuurroo rreeffeerreenndduummThe prime ministernow says Polishcitizens should choosewhether their countrywill adopt the commoncurrency
Prime Minister Donald Tuskhas had a change of heartregarding the necessity of a ref-erendum in Poland on eurozone accession, announcing henow supports the idea. “I amfully in favor of us looking foragreement in parliament tochange the constitution so as toadd an amendment that thefinal decision on Poland’s entryinto the euro zone can be decid-ed through a referendum,” saidMr Tusk at a press conferencelast week.
“I have nothing against thatfor obvious reasons: you needfewer people [to win a referen-dum] on entering the euro zonethan the number of voters nec-essary to give you the two-thirdsparliamentary majority you
need to change the constitu-tion,” added the prime minis-ter.
This marks a significant shiftfor Mr Tusk who just lastDecember said, “We alreadyhave behind us a referendumon joining the euro zonebecause the [2003] referendumwe held on European Unionaccession was also an accept-ance of euro adoption.”
Parliamentary arithmetic unfavorableDonald Tusk’s latest stance islikely inspired by political reali-ty on the ground. The conserva-tive and euroskeptic oppositionLaw and Justice party hasenough MPs to deny the PMthe two-thirds majority heneeds to change the constitu-tion, which explicitly states thatPoland’s official currency is thez∏oty.
Going by current opinionpolls and Law and Justice’s pastperformance in elections, it islikely to still have enough MPs
to block such a constitutionalchange, even after a scheduled2015 parliamentary vote.Hence Mr Tusk’s latest gambit.
Although Law and Justice’sspokesperson Mariusz B∏asz-czak responded saying “we donot accept any such transac-tions,” he did add that “we
believe that if Mr Tusk’s gov-ernment wants to take ourcountry into the euro zone,there should be a referendum.”
Mr B∏aszczak commentedon the PM’s change of heart onthe issue. “Before, they tried toconvince us that by joining theEU, we had accepted the condi-
tions that we are now beingfaced with. Today Mr Tusk isnot ruling out a referendum.”
Mr B∏aszcak also confirmedhis party’s opposition to Polandadopting the common currency,saying, it “doesn’t make anysense, especially in the situationwe have today whereby the
euro zone is going bankrupt.”In Law and Justice’s view,Poland should only join theeuro zone when its “economiclevel is equal to that of Ger-many’s.”
No walk in the parkConvincing Poles to supportadopting the euro, which MrTusk favors, will not be easy. AMarch poll by Homo Hominishowed 62 percent of respon-dents against Poland enteringthe euro zone, with only 32 per-cent in support.
Mr Tusk’s government hasmaintained that by 2015,Poland will fulfill all the criteriarequired to join the euro zone.But Stanis∏aw Gomu∏ka, a for-mer deputy finance minister inMr Tusk’s government, toldWBJ that 2019 is a “realistic”date for euro adoption consid-ering the fact that Polandwould still have to spend twoyears in the Exchange RateMechanism (ERM II).
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Abu Zubaydah has filed a lawsuit against Poland
in the European Court of Human Rights
The euro zone crisis
Cypriots keep their coolas banks reopenDespite facing biglosses in the less-than-desirable bailout plan,Cypriots refrain fromstorming banks
Last Thursday, after almost twoweeks of being closed, Cyprus’banks reopened, with crowdsawaiting the start of business infront of banks in Nicosia.Police, reinforced with privatesecurity firms, guarded ATMsin Cyprus’ capital, but no prob-lems with crowd control werereported.
President Nicos Anastasi-ades thanked Cypriots for the“maturity and spirit of responsi-bility they have shown at a criti-cal time for the stability of theCypriot economy,” in a state-ment published by his office.
Still, some capital controlsremain, including a daily cashwithdrawal limit of €300 perperson and a limit on paymentseffected abroad to €5,000.Cypriot banks can accept
checks as deposits but they maynot cash them. Limits on cashhave also been imposed, with€1,000 the maximum sum aCypriot or a visitor can takewith them when leaving theisland.
These limits have been ini-tially imposed for seven daysand are being reviewed daily.They may be fully lifted in amonth, according to CypriotForeign Minister LoannisKasoulides.
Mr Kasoulides said hebelieved in Cypriots’ loyalty andself-control and that “there willbe no bank run.”
Rescue underwayThe island nation’s banks hadremained closed since March16, when they froze between6.75 and 9.9 percent of alldeposits while lawmakersdebated a one-off levy in anattempt to raise €5.8 billion, thesum demanded by the EU andthe IMF as a prerequisite forthe €10 billion bailout for
Cyprus. As soon as the Cyprusparliament rejected the tax, afrantic search for cash started.
When Cyprus’ biggestinvestor, Russia, refused tothrow it a rope, Cyprus’ survivalwas once again placed in thehands of euro zone financeministers, who, after negotia-tions that lasted from March22-25, finally agreed to a rescuepackage.
The deal will see the islandnation’s banking sector signifi-cantly reduced, with LaikiBank, one of the country’slargest lenders, set to be wounddown. Shareholders and seniorbondholders would take losses.The Bank of Cyprus will be sig-nificantly restructured.
While the plan does notinclude the previously pro-posed across-the-board tax onall banking deposits, those withover €100,000 will take a heavyhit, though the size of the lossesstill needs to be determined.The depositors will take“forced losses” rather than atax.
Laiki Bank’s good assetswill be absorbed by the Bank ofCyprus. The short-term financ-ing that Laiki had been receiv-ing from the IMF will likelycontinue – and will be taken onby the Bank of Cyprus.
Cyprus is due to receive thefirst payment of the bailoutpackage, worth some €10 bil-lion, in early May.
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After being closed for nearly two weeks, Cyprus’ banks
reopened last Thursday
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Prime Minister Tusk says that he is “fully in favor” of a referendum on euro adoption
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APRIL 2-7, 2013NNEEWWSS4 www.wbj.pl
Labor
Thousands go on strike inSilesia, more threatenedNearly 100,000workers protested forfour hours demandingmore benefits
Thousands of workers went onstrike for a few hours in Sile-sia, Poland’s southern industri-al region last Tuesday. Theprotesters, led by the Solidari-ty trade union, demandedmore job security, higher pen-sions and better protectionfrom the economic downturn.
Due to the protests, localtransport was delayed for afew hours and some schoolscanceled classes. Variousindustrial facilities, powerplants and hospitals took partin the strike as well.
Solidarity representativesinvited Prime Minister DonaldTusk and his ministers for talkson solving the social and eco-nomic issues they wereprotesting against. Prime Min-ister Tusk responded by sayingthat the forum for discussingsuch issues is the trilateralcommission, with representa-tives from the government,trade unions and employers.Solidarity members missedfour out of five meetings of thecommission in 2013.
Mr Tusk added that noprotests should be ignored, butSolidarity’s demands arepotentially dangerous foremployees and could backfire.“Their claims are good fortrade unions and those cur-rently employed, but can beharmful for people looking forwork and those that fear losingtheir jobs,” he said at the pressconference.
The PM’s views wereechoed by Deputy PM andEconomy Minister JanuszPiechociƒski. Mr Piechociƒski,the leader of the Polish Peo-ple’s Party, the junior coalition
member, said that some of thedemands would push the labormarket “some 30 years back,”referring to the privileges manyworkers, especially in the min-ing sector, enjoyed during thecommunist era. Mr Piechociƒs-ki added that the demandswere “unacceptable,” andwould burden the already tightbudget.
The protesters announcedthat if the government doesn’ttake their demands intoaccount, they would take “fur-ther steps,” including a nation-wide general strike.
JJaacceekk CCiieessnnoowwsskkii
Infrastructure
EC unfreezes z∏.3.5 billion in funds for Polish roadsThe Polishgovernment was foundto provide sufficientsupervision over EUco-founded projects
The European Commissionannounced that it has releasedz∏.3.5 billion in funding for Pol-ish roads that it suspendedback in December of last year.The funds were used for proj-ects managed by Poland’sGeneral Directorate ofNational Roads and Motor-ways.
After the suspicion that analleged cartel fixed the tendersfor road-building projects co-funded by the EU’s opera-tional program “Infrastructureand Environment,” the ECdecided to freeze the fundsand audit the investments.
When the audit was com-pleted, the EC found that thePolish government providessufficient supervision over EUco-funded projects and thefunds are again available toPolish government organiza-tions.
During the investigation 11people were charged. Amongthem are 10 executives whoworked for construction firms,
including large internationalones, and one former directorof Poland’s General Direc-torate for National Roads andMotorways.
The allegations, revealedin February, accuse thoseinvolved of bribes, price-fix-ing and undermining quality-control inspections.
One of the prosecutors inthis case, Zbigniew Jaskólski,explained in an interview withTVN24 how the cartel operat-ed. “A group of employees ofconstruction firms had accessto confidential data from one
of the GDDKiA directors.They knew exactly how muchthe agency could spend onevery project, and they divid-ed them between them-selves.”
In documents submitted tothe court, prosecutors allegethat one executive bribed theGDDKiA official with a gold-embossed limited-editionfountain pen, which wasworth $3,800 and came in aglass case shaped like theancient Lighthouse at Alexan-dria.
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The funding will allow Poland to get back to building
much-needed highways
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Striking in Silesia
After launching talkswith the US, the EUwants to create anotherfree trade zone, thistime with Japan
Talks on creating a free tradezone between the EU andJapan were scheduled to startlast Monday, but the Cypruscrisis pushed them back toApril. Nevertheless, the partiesare determined to go aheadwith the negotiations.
Combined, Japan and theEU represent an economic areaof approximately 30 percent ofthe global economy and 40 per-cent of global trade.
“The agreement that wehave in mind is a comprehen-sive one, tackling barriers andnon-tariff barriers, public pro-curements and intellectualproperty rights,” said EU TradeCommissioner Karel DeGucht.
Still, the negotiations areexpected to be long and diffi-cult; both sides have their owndemands. Japanese authoritieswant to eliminate EU tariffson electronics (14 percent)and cars (10 percent), whichput them at a disadvantagecompared with their SouthKorean rivals. South Koreahas a free-trade agreementwith the EU.
The EU on the other handwants Japan to remove someof the bureaucratic obstacles
that prevent many Europeancompanies from entering andcompeting on Japanese soil.For example, the Japaneseapproval process for drugsand medical equipment isstricter than internationalstandards.
European car makers alsocriticize Japan for unfairlyrestricting their access to theJapanese market. The coun-try uses its own safety andenvironmental standards, notthe international ones adopt-ed by the EU. As a result,European car manufacturersdoubt that the agreement willchange their position inJapan. “We’re more thandeeply skeptical. There’s nota single foreign [car] manu-facturer in Japan, so there’sreally no possibility to enterthe market,” Stephen Biegun,Ford’s vice president of inter-national governmental affairs,told Reuters.
Poland not a big player inJapanThe trade-flow between Japanand Poland is strictly one-way.According to the Polish Infor-mation and Foreign InvestmentAgency there isn’t a single Pol-ish investment in Japan, whileJapanese companies had a totalof $1.5 billion invested inPoland at the end of 2010,according to National Bank ofPoland data. There are 264Japanese companies present inPoland (mostly in the automo-tive and electronic sector),while JETRO (the Japan Exter-nal Trade Organization) listsonly four Polish companiesoperating in Japan.
The agreement could helpPoland lower its trade deficitwith Japan. As of 2010 it wasvalued at some €2.2 billion.Right now Poland exportsmostly car parts, beef, jetengines and razor blades toJapan. JJaacceekk CCiieessnnoowwsskkii
Trade
EU, Japan to start talkson free trade zone
APRIL 2-7, 2013 BBUUSSIINNEESSSS www.wbj.pl 5
The Polish Pension FundsManagers Chamber (IGTE)has put forward a number ofproposed changes to Poland’spension system. The mainsuggested change includedpaying pensions for a limitednumber of years, instead oftill the end of life, in monthlyinstallments.
The IGTE has also sug-gested that a capital security
fund should be created tosafeguard fund members’money before they retire. Thefund managers also proposeda new fee system that wouldinclude a performance fee.
The proposal met withstrong opposition from thegovernment. Deputy PrimeMinister and Finance Minis-ter Jacek Rostowski describedthe idea to provide pension
money for a limited time as“deeply shocking.”
“Our government does notagree to this,” Mr Rostowskisaid. “I was sure that by pay-ing monthly installments topension funds, I’d be guaran-teed pensions for life, nowthey are trying to take thataway from us,” Mr Rostowskiadded.
KKWW
Pension funds propose‘shocking’ reform of system
Portuguese banking groupMillennium bcp is not sellingits stake in Polish Bank Millen-nium, according to sourcesquoted by Reuters. The Por-tuguese group will keep thestake until at least the end ofnext year and look for otherways to pay off state aid, thesources said. Bcp has until2017 to pay back €3 billion itreceived from the Portuguesegovernment.
Earlier this year, Rzecz-
pospolita had reported thatBank Millennium would besold. Millennium bcp deniedit, but investors continued tospeculate on the sale.
Millennium bcp’s 66 per-cent stake in Bank Millenniumis worth an estimated $1.2 bil-lion. The bank was to be soldin 2011 but a buyer was notfound at the time.
Shares in Bank Millenniumhave gained 3 percent thisyear, outperforming Warsaw’s
banking index, which shed 5percent.
Millennium bcp sharessurged 31 percent in the sametime frame on hopes of a eurozone recovery. “From what Iunderstand, people at bcphave given themselves untilthe end of 2014 to see whetherthey will be able to find thefunds to pay off the state aid itreceived,” one of the sourcessaid.
KKWW
Millennium bcp to postponeselling its Polish unit
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Period Import Export Balance
2007 47,472 77,088 -29,616
2008 48,105 75,009 -26,904
2009 42,412 51,851 -9,439
2010 50,217 65,740 -15,523
2011 57,854 68,930 -11,076
Land of the rising trade Japan’s trade with the EU (in € millions)
APRIL 2-7, 2013BBUUSSIINNEESSSS6 www.wbj.pl
Stock exchange
WSE’s new trading platform tobegin operation this monthThe bourse hopes thatthe new system willattract new investors,but some financialinstitutions aren’tready
The Warsaw Stock Exchangehas set April 15 as the launchdate for its new UniversalTrading Platform (UTP) whichwill replace the WARSET sys-tem that has been in use since2000.
The bourse claims that theUTP is faster, more secure andcan handle more operationsthan the one currently in use(20,000 orders per second ascompared to 850 that the cur-rent system can handle).
Its biggest advantage,though, might be that it’s com-patible with the systems usedon stock exchanges owned byNYSE Euronext, includingthose in New York and Lon-don. It will also allow for morealgorithmic trading (that is, theuse of electronic platformswith pre-programmed tradinginstructions that don’t requirehuman intervention) inPoland. The bourse’s manage-ment believes that the new sys-tem’s speed and compatibility
with world markets will attractnew investors to WSE.
Not everyone is happy withthe planned changes, though.Out of 57 financial institutionsand brokers that are officialmembers of the WSE, only 41have said they are ready toswitch to the UTP. Eventhough 200 tests have been runand the system has been avail-able to all WSE members forover a year now, some claim
they’re still not ready and needmore time.
WSE officials claim theywill not budge and the changewill be executed as planned.
“We shouldn’t delay theimplementation of the systemany further, but rather com-plete it in a manner that is safefor the market,” said AdamMaciejewski, CEO and presi-dent of the Warsaw StockExchange. JJaacceekk CCiieessnnoowwsskkii
The WSE hopes to see trade go up after it implements
the new platform
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Media patronage
Leadership for Europe in the21st centuryIs democracy workingfor Europeans? Howcan politicians regainthe people’s trust?
Top European politicians andbusinesspeople searched for ananswer to the question of thekind of leadership style neededin Europe today at a confer-ence hosted by former PolishPresident Aleksander KwaÊ-niewski in late March.
During a panel discussion,Giuliano Amato, former primeminister of Italy, said thatEuropeans today had littlesympathy for politicians andbelieved that being a politicianinvolves “privileges without anysacrifices.”
“This is of course not truebecause being in politicsinvolves a lot of sacrifice, butmost people don’t see it thatway,” Mr Amato said, addingthat the real question was howto change that perception inorder for the voter-politicianrelationship to be seen by bothsides in a more realistic light.
Credibility gapMeanwhile José MariaAznar, former head ofSpain’s government, saidpoliticians today “lacked
credibility in the eyes of vot-ers” and had to find a way tochange the situation beforepeople are ready to followthem.
The former Spanish PMbristled, however, at MrKwaÊniewski’s suggestionthat due to the current eco-nomic turmoil in Spain,democracy itself could beunder threat in that country.
“We don’t have a problemwith democracy in Spain.What we could have is aproblem with populists whowill use the democratic sys-tem to get into power andthen abuse that system afterhaving gotten that power,”said Mr Aznar.
Mr KwaÊniewski alsoprovocatively wondered
aloud whether the Chinesegrowth model, one notinvolving democracy, couldappear increasingly attractiveto Europeans, fed up withconstant news of crises andinertia in their political andeconomic system. Here, MrAmato, Mr Aznar and JanKrzysztof Bieliecki, a formerPolish prime minister, allagreed that democracy is theonly system acceptable inEurope today.
Consensus was alsoreached on the fact that thekind of leadership needed inEurope currently is not oneof Napoleonic, authoritarianfashion, but rather a concilia-tory and partnership-orientedstyle of leadership.
RReemmii AAddeekkooyyaa
DAILY EXECUTIVE DIGEST
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Visa Europe sale could bringPolish banks millionsEuropean banksreportedly want to sellthe entity to its UScounterpart
The European banks that ownVisa Europe are consideringselling it to US-based VisaIncorporated, The Wall StreetJournal reported last week, cit-ing sources close to the case.Both companies are separateentities, with Visa Europe beinga minority shareholder in VisaInc. While the US company hasan option to buy shares in theEuropean organization, VisaEurope has the right to sellthem to Visa Inc.
The value of the transactioncould reach $3 billion, WSJ’ssources claim, although someanalysts claim it could be worthas much as $11 billion. VisaEurope has 3,000 members in36 countries, including a fewPolish banks. Poland’s largestlender, PKO BP, even has a rep-resentative on Visa Europe’sboard of directors.
The transaction, if it were togo through, could drasticallychange the landscape in thecard-payments sector inEurope. In the last fiscal yearalone (ending on September30, 2012) Visa Europe’s fee rev-
enue was €1.11 billion. Although Visa Inc. will have
to spend a sizable amount if thedeal is made, the company’sgain in terms of internationalmarket share will more thanmake up for the expenditure:Visa Europe is the largest cardnetwork in the EU. Moreover,the purchase would expand thecompany’s presence in rapidlygrowing markets such as Polandand Turkey.
Visa Europe’s owners saythat if they manage to sell theirshares, they would want to starta new payment system in itsplace, according to the report.
“[Starting a new system]won’t be easy, but definitelypossible,” explained Robert¸aniewski, president of theFoundation for the Develop-
ment of Non-cash Payments(Fundacja Rozwoju ObrotuBezgotówkowego). “The mar-ket is still not completely satu-rated. Every new system work-ing on a European or a nationallevel could change the marketcompletely and make it morecompetitive.”
For the moment, neitherside wants to comment on thepotential transaction, but VisaEurope has a board of directorsmeeting scheduled for April,where the sale is reportedly setto be discussed. The Europeanentity claims that its coopera-tion with Visa Inc. is complicat-ed because of the differentfinancial regulations in Europeand the US, and they would bebetter off with their own system.
JJaacceekk CCiieessnnoowwsskkii
The deal could radically change the landscape of the
card-payments market in Europe
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APRIL 2-7, 2013 FFIINNAANNCCEE && EECCOONNOOMMIICCSS www.wbj.pl 7
Entitlements
BCC: Poland needs ‘radical’ economic reformWithout radicaldecisions, Poland couldbe in trouble soon, saysa prominent businessadvocacy group
Poland will face serious prob-lems in a couple of years if itdoes not introduce economicreforms and changes to uni-formed services’ pensions, aswell as if it doesn’t curb miners’benefits, said Marek Goliszews-ki, head of the Business CentreClub (BCC), Poland’s largest
organization of private employ-ers.
“The economy needs radicaldecisions. Unfortunately, it isunlikely that the governmentwill curb miners’ privileges orreform the uniformed services’pension system. This will back-fire. We will all have to pay forit,” Mr Goliszewski said.
At a special meeting onMonday, experts from the BCCShadow Cabinet reviewed theactivities of the government andparticular ministries.
Mr Goliszewski said that an
assessment of Prime MinisterDonald Tusk should be made inboth political and economiccontexts. “As a politician, I cangive him a high score of 6 out of10, but as an organizer of theeconomy – he will only get twopoints,” Mr Goliszewski said,explaining his critical assess-ment came as a result of grow-ing public debt, a high deficitand a lack of social insurancereforms.
According to BCC chiefeconomist Stanis∏aw Gomu∏ka,Poland’s main problem is that
the government and the financeminister are passive in theirapproach to reforming publicfinances. In his opinion, keep-ing the deficit at the level of 3.5percent at the end of year willbe extremely difficult in view ofthe economic downturn and ris-ing unemployment. However,he praised Poland’s successfulnegotiation of the new EUmulti-annual budget for 2014-2020 and the return to the dis-cussion on euro zone entrance.
The BCC experts were alsoapproving of the government’s
activities related to utilizing EUfunds and defense policy, whilethey were most critical of theministers’ activities in infra-structure, social insurance andthe State Treasury.
The shadow cabinet of theBusiness Center Club, Poland’slargest alliance of privateemployers, was created in April2012 to support reforms, moni-tor the work of ministries thatare crucial for business and rec-ommend changes facilitatingPoland’s economic growth.
AAlleekkssaannddrraa SS∏∏aabbiisszz
Budget deficit
at z∏.21.68 bln
in February
Poland's budget deficit
was at z∏.21.68 billion at
the end of February, the
Ministry of Finance
announced. Earlier
estimates from the
ministry had put the
deficit at z∏.21.65 billion.
The February figure is
61% of the plan for 2013.
Poles saved
z∏.79.1 billion
on taxes
in 2011
The money saved by
taxpayers on all kinds of
tax write-offs and
exemptions in Poland in
2011 amounted to z∏.79.1
billion, the Ministry of
Finance said in a recently
published report. This
amount stands at 5.2% of
GDP. In 2010, the value
was z∏.73.8 billion. The
rise of z∏.5.3 billion came
despite an increase in the
highest VAT tax rate to
23% and the canceling of
a number of tax write-
offs.
Shale gas pro-
duction may
cost z∏.250 blnCompanies exploring for
shale gas in Poland may
have to spend up to
z∏.250 billion by the time
the exploratory stage is
complete, industry
representatives
estimate. “A portion of
the sum may come from
abroad, but the
solutions proposed so far
have not been
satisfactory for
investors,” said Marcin
Zi´ba, the CEO of the
Polish Exploration and
Production Industry
Organization. He
explained that current
regulations could
discourage investors. ●
Poland is “unlikely” to cut itsvalue-added taxes as plannedfrom the current 23 percent to22 percent next year becausethe economic slowdown issqueezing tax revenue, PrimeMinister Donald Tusk said onTuesday.
“We would have to see aradical improvement in thesecond half of the year to beable to reduce VAT. It looksunlikely to me,” he said.
The government plannedto reduce the standard VATrate back to 22 percent in2014 after raising it to 23 per-cent in 2011. The reductionof VAT was to be contingentupon the EU lifting theexcessive debt procedureagainst Poland in 2013. Thechances for the latter aregood. European Commis-
Tusk: 23% VAT rate unlikely to be reduced in 2014
According to Morgan Stanley,Poland’s next move in interestrates will be an increase, proba-bly by 0.5 percentage points.This is likely to happen in thesecond half of next year, thebank said.
“Recent data showing weakindustrial output and retailsales will not persuade policy
makers to cut the benchmarkrate from a record-low 3.25 per-cent,” Pasquale Diana, anemerging-markets economist atMorgan Stanley in London,said in a report.
“The Monetary PolicyCouncil is set to wait and see forsome months, and we thinkthere are no further cuts from
here,” Mr Diana wrote.The RPP made an unex-
pected move on March 6, whenit cut interest rates by 50 basispoints. Still, Marek Belka, headof the National Bank of Poland,said the council could make fur-ther cuts if growth turned outbelow their estimates.
AASS
Morgan Stanley: Poland’s
interest rates to rise in 2014
Poland’s unemployment
to fall in April?
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Jan. ‘1
3
Dec. ‘1
2
Nov. ‘1
2
Oct. ‘1
2
Sep.
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Aug.
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Jul. ‘1
2
Jun. ‘1
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May ‘1
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Apr. ‘
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Jan. ‘1
2
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Unemployment lines Poland’s unemployment rate (in %), February 2011-February 2013
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Prime Minister Donald Tusk
Owing to the unfavorable andharsh weather conditions thatdelayed seasonal work, oneshould not expect unemploy-ment to fall in March, but thejobless rate will start decliningin April, deputy Labor MinisterJacek M´cina said last Tuesday.
The unemployment ratehit 14.4 percent in February2013, up 0.2 percentage
points from January 2013,Poland’s statistics office GUSreported earlier in March.The number of Poles withoutwork at the end of Februaryamounted to 2,336,700. Therewere 82,800 new jobs on themarket, up from 64,000 inJanuary and up from 60,800in February 2012.
AASS
sioner for Economic andMonetary Affairs Olli Rehnsaid earlier this month thatPoland qualified for liftingthe procedure.
Poland’s economy is facingits steepest slowdown in 12years, as rising unemployment
limits consumer spending andreduces inflows to state cof-fers. The budget deficitreached 61 percent of thisyear’s target at the end ofFebruary as the tax takedeclined.
AASS
APRIL 2-7, 20138 www.wbj.pl IINNTTEERRVVIIEEWW
Polish-Russian relations
Less than perfectEwa Boniecka: How do youassess the current state ofrelations between Russia andPoland?Alexander Alekseev: The stateof relations between Russiaand Poland is ambiguous. Wehave a lot of contact and thereare some aspects of our rela-tionship which are positive.An example is our progress inrealizing an agreement onlocal border traffic in the areaof Kaliningrad and regionsclose to it in Poland. Theagreement has been signedand has been functioningsince July 2012.
I would very much like moresuch progress and concrete ven-tures in our relations to contin-ue. But our mutual understand-ing is less than perfect and wehave a lot to improve on when itcomes to the atmosphere of ourrelations.
What solution do you envis-age regarding the thornyissue of the wreckage of the
TU-154 plane, which crashedin Smolensk, Russia in 2010resulting in the death of Pres-ident Lech Kaczyƒski and 95others? The wreckage stillhasn’t been returned, much toPoland’s displeasure.I do not see it as a problem atall. Of course, the wreckagehas to stay in Russia till theend of our investigation. I amsurprised at the amount ofrumors here, because we havebeen passing on the informa-tion about the investigation toour Polish colleges. It is not apolitical issue, but a legal one.
Maybe you want to keep thewreckage for good?Not at all. That would beimpossible. The plane wreck-age belongs to Poland. We willgive it back to Poland afterconcluding all the necessarylegal procedures. And I wouldlike to stress again that it isnot a political issue, but a legalone. It is not a political obsta-cle to our relations, because
this issue is regulated by alegal framework. All Polishinvestigators have directaccess to the wreckage, so it isnot a problem for your investi-gation to proceed.
What role does history play inPoles’ and Russians’ attitudestowards each other?The perception of history inPoland and Russia is very dif-
ferent. In Poland, it is the sub-ject of an anti-Russian cam-paign. And it is a huge prob-lem in making the relationsbetween our countries moveforward.
I try to explain to my Polishfriends that in Russia we havealso had many problems withour history. If our Polishfriends would like to present alist of their requirementsregarding historical issues –then we are ready to presentour list of requirements to
Poland and perhaps this is theline to follow.
In Poland’s relations withRussia, history is used as atool in many political cam-paigns. In fact, it is not a ques-tion of history but an argu-ment against Russia. We knowthat there have been some his-torical problems in Russian-Polish relations, but our atten-tion is focused on actions in
our bilateral relations andespecially towards futurecooperation.
Is history as important to theaverage Russian as it is to theaverage Pole?History is important to theaverage Russian, but not inthe way it is to a Pole. Histori-cal considerations are put inthe context of today’s chal-lenges. And we do not want toplace our relations with Euro-pean countries in the frame-
work of historical considera-tions.
What impact has the globalfinancial crisis had on Rus-sia’s economy and on Polish-Russian economic relations?This crisis is continuing and ithas had an impact on theRussian economy, mostly inthe energy and industrial sec-tors. Now the situation is muchbetter and in 2012 we had 3.7percent GDP growth.
But the crisis has influ-enced Polish-Russian eco-nomic relations. In the years2008-2009, we had a roughly30 percent decrease in ourbilateral trade. Now, the situa-tion is much improved and Iam happy to tell you that Pol-ish exports to Russia havebeen increasing.
Poland has a deficit in itstrade with Russia, as the valueof our exports to Poland ismuch larger than that of ourimports from Poland. Accord-ing to Russian statistics, lastyear, the value of our bilateraltrade stood at $28 billion.Meanwhile, Russian exportsto Poland amounted to $20.5billion.
WBJ sat down with Alexander Alekseev,Russia’s ambassador to Poland, to talk aboutPolish-Russian relations in the contexts ofpolitics, economics and culture
Poles don’t
want the euroA recent poll by Homo
Homini shows that a
majority of Poles are
against adopting the
euro. As many as 62
percent of the
respondents said that
they were against
entering the euro zone,
while 32 percent
approved of adopting the
common currency and 6
percent were unsure. The
survey was carried out on
March 22, when the
Cyprus crisis remained
unresolved.
Five banks
dominate
market The five largest Polish
banks have a combined
63.5 percent share in the
total number of personal
bank accounts in the
country. What’s more,
they accounted for
550,000 of the 1.56 million
new accounts registered
in 2012. The two largest
banks secured their
leading positions. PKO BP
has 6.22 million accounts
and saw 74,000 new ones
registered last year, while
Bank Pekao has 3.41
million and opened 52,600
new ones in 2012. ●
“I don’t know any other country whereRussian investors encounter so many
difficult problems.”
APRIL 2-7, 2013 IINNTTEERRVVIIEEWW www.wbj.pl 9
Poland is one of our keypartners and its share of Rus-sia’s foreign trade turnoverstands at 3.3 percent. Ourcountry is number-two whenit comes to Poland’s foreigntrade. We are the second-biggest importer of Polishproducts (after Germany)whereas our products are infifth place when it comes togoods imported by Poland.
Poland imports a hugeamount of gas and oil fromRussia and we pay higherprices for them than someother European countries.Why is that?First of all, the supply of gasand oil as with other articles isa matter of negotiations andprice is a part of those negoti-ations. Secondly, you have totake into account not only thecommercial aspect of ouragreement, but also generalcircumstances. Sometimes,Russian society is involved in
the process and the distribu-tion system is taken intoaccount as well. So it is naturalthat oil and gas prices areshaped differently for variouscountries.
As I understand, you are jus-tifying a situation wherebyPoland pays more for gas andoil than other countries bypointing to circumstancesother than commercial ones –is that correct?I am not justifying the situa-tion, only explaining it is amatter of circumstances. Ithas to be viewed in context ofthe whole economic relation-ship between our countries.
And I take it our economicrelations are not going assmoothly as those, forinstance, between Russia andItaly or Germany?There are many countries inthe European Union thathave been more successful in
economic relations withPoland than Russia. I have topoint to two different aspectsof Polish-Russian economicrelations: commercial ex-changes are going on, butmore modern forms of coop-eration like investment are inweak shape.
There is no Russian invest-ment in Poland, while Polishinvestments in Russia are wel-come. The problem of Russ-ian investment in Poland is theissue of access to the Polishmarket for our capital.
We have an open market. Sowhat is the problem for Russ-ian investors in Poland?Yes, your market is open, buta lot of problems occur if aRussian shows the the will toinvest in Poland. There arepolitical obstacles at both gov-ernment and local levels. Amember of the Polish govern-ment stresses that the privati-zation process is for the bene-
fit of the Polish society, so it isnecessary to prevent Russianinvestors from interfering inyour market.
I don’t know any othercountry where Russian in-vestors encounter so many dif-ficulties. So our society is los-ing interest in investing inPoland. This is not an econom-ic problem but a political one.
How is the development ofties between Russia and theEuropean Union influencingour bilateral relations?It is natural that we have dif-ferent relations with particu-lar members of the EU. Eachcountry has its own interestsand our relations with themhave to be taken into account.It is not a political decision; itis a natural reaction to the dif-fering national realities.
Since some nations arevery interested in having closerelations with us, we do nothave to look so far to developrelations with other countries.Developing relations has to bemutual.
There are changes going on inpolitical structures aroundthe world with the growingrole of China, India andBrazil. How does this shapethe global policy of yourcountry and your attitudetowards Europe?We have several priorities inour foreign policy. One of ourtop priorities is Europe. Weare part of the same civiliza-tion; it is impossible for Russianot to be involved in Euro-pean affairs. We are paying alot of attention to the Euro-pean Union as it is. The Euro-pean Union is one of our priv-ileged partners.
During this interview Ihave pointed to the differentRussian attitudes towardsrelations with some membersof the EU, but I would like tounderline that Russia has verystrong and very sophisticatedtools in relations with theEuropean Union as a whole.
We have special relationswith Brazil, China and India.With China we have a strate-gic partnership and our strate-gic goals are very similar toone another’s. We are alsoworking on our economicrelations especially withChina.
We have close relationswith India. Ever since thecountry has been independ-ent, we have had perfect rela-tions with India. We are shar-ing our experience and knowl-edge with our Indian friendsand we are cooperating with
India, as much as with China,in military matters. And as forBrazil, we have very good rela-tions in the framework of theBRICS group (Brazil, Russia,India, China, and SouthAfrica). We appreciate thisforum very much with itspolitical and economic ties.
In view of the continuation of“reset” in Russian-Americanrelations, why does Moscowstill hold a negative approachtowards the installation of ananti-missile system and asmall American base inPoland?There are no small bases;what we are talking about is anetwork of bases around theRussian territory. We havestrong evidence that thesebases, which would beinstalled in Poland and someother countries, could pose athreat to our nuclear capacity.This is absolutely unaccept-able for Russia.
How does this Russian stancerelate to developing your rela-tions with the US?It is a part of our relationswith the United States as wellas our relations with NATO. Itis a huge obstacle and we willcontinue talks with the US toseek the final solution andcompromise on this issue.
We have to be sure that theAmerican capacity is not in aposition to threaten ournuclear security. We havegood relations with the US,but we have to talk about theissue of bases and confirmthat it is not a move directedagainst us. These talks shouldbe sufficient to resolve thematter.
How do you assess the longer-term impact of the muchincreased Polish-Russian cul-tural ties, the presence ofmodern Russian plays in ourtheaters and Polish artists’exhibitions in the PushkinMuseum in Moscow andother famous galleries?Culture is a crucial part of ourrelations. Russian culture isrich and in great demand inPoland. Also, Polish culturehas awoken great interest inRussia. Polish cinema andmusic are present all overRussia. We can already talkabout a boom in our culturalrelations. I had the pleasure todeliver a Russian award toPolish theater director Krist-ian Lupa. And this revival ofcultural ties between ourcountries should help con-tribute to better mutualunderstanding. ●
EA
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NE
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Alexander Alekseev, Russian ambassador to Poland
BG˚ in huge
bond issueBank Gospodarki
˚ywnoÊciowej (BG˚), the
Polish unit of Dutch
Rabobank, has signed
agreements on the issue
of debt securities worth
z∏.3.5 billion. The issue
proceeds will be spent on
financing new loans
granted by the bank. The
bank plans to issue
deposit certificates and
corporate bonds with a
nominal value of up to
z∏.2.5 billion. The issue
underwriters are Bank
Handlowy, Bank Pekao,
BRE Bank and ING Bank
Âlàski.
Fewer Poles
get mortgages
The number of mortgage
loans granted in Poland
fell by 12.5% in 2012,
credit information unit
Biuro Informacji
Kredytowej (BIK) said.
Banks granted 217,000
such loans last year,
which is 31,000 fewer
than in 2011. Only 9% of
the loans were granted in
foreign currencies.
Fewer tourists
this year
The number of foreign
tourists visiting Poland is
expected to decline in
2013, as is the value of
their money spent in the
country. The Institute of
Tourism forecasts that
14.7 million foreigners
will visit Poland in 2013,
compared to 14.8 million
in 2012. The number is
then expected to rise to
15 million in 2014 and to
15.4 million in 2015.
Poland lags
behind in
innovationPoland is one of the
least innovative
countries in the
European Union,
according to a report
prepared by the
European Commission.
The only countries that
ranked lower are
Bulgaria, Romania and
Latvia. Poland’s growth
in spite of the crisis did
not translate into a more
innovative economy. ●
APRIL 2-7, 201310 www.wbj.pl OOPPIINNIIOONN && AANNAALLYYSSIISS
The commodity super-cycle –in which commodity pricesreach ever-higher highs, and
fall only to higher lows – is notover. Despite the euphoria aroundshale gas – indeed, despite weakglobal growth – commodity priceshave risen by as much as 150 per-cent in the aftermath of the finan-cial crisis. In the medium term, thistrend will continue to pose an infla-tion risk and undermine living stan-dards worldwide.
For starters, there is the conver-gence argument. As China grows,its increasing size, wealth, andurbanization will continue to stokedemand for energy, grains, miner-als, and other resources.
For example, the US consumesmore than nine times as much oilas China on a per capita basis. Asmore of China’s population con-verges to Western standards of con-sumption, demand for commodi-ties – and thus their prices – willremain on an upward trajectory.
Not created equalOf course, not all commodities areequal. For example, although thecase for copper seems straightfor-ward, given that it is a key input forwiring, electronics, and indoorplumbing, a strong bid for iron isnot as obvious, given the Chineseinfrastructure boom that alreadyhas occurred in the last twodecades.
Worst-case estimates haveChina’s real GDP growing ataround 7 percent per year over thenext decade. Meanwhile, the sup-ply of most commodities is forecastto grow by no more than 2 percentannually in real terms. All elsebeing equal, unless China’s com-modity intensity, defined as theamount of a commodity consumedto generate a unit of output, fallsdramatically, its demand for com-modities will be greater this yearthan it was last year.
As long as China’s commoditydemand grows at a higher ratethan global supply,prices will rise.And therapid
economic growth that China’s lead-ers must sustain in order to liftenormous numbers of people outof poverty – and thus prevent a cri-sis of legitimacy – places a floorunder global food, energy, andmineral prices.
To be sure, intensity of use hasfallen for some commodities, likegold and nuclear energy; but forothers, such as aluminum and coal,it has risen since 2000 or, as is thecase for copper and oil, declineshave slowed markedly or stalled athigh levels. As the composition ofChina’s economy continues to shiftfrom investment to consumption,demand for commodity-intensiveconsumer durables – cars, mobilephones, indoor plumbing, comput-ers, and televisions – will rise.
Reserve priceThere is also the issue of the so-called reserve price (the highestprice a buyer is willing to pay for agood or service). The reserve priceplaces a cap on how high commod-ity prices will go, as it is the price atwhich demand destruction occurs(consumers are no longer willing orable to purchase the good or serv-ice).
For many commodities, such asoil, the reserve price is higher inemerging countries than in devel-oped economies. One explanationfor the difference is acceleratingwage growth across developingregions, which is raising commoditydemand, whereas stagnating wagesin developed markets are causingthe reserve price to decline. Byimplication, if nothing else, globalenergy, food, and mineral priceswill continue to be buoyed by seem-ingly insatiable emerging-marketdemand, which commandsmuch higher reserveprices.
Ultimately,emerging
economies’ absolute size and rateof growth both matter in chartingcommodity demand and the futuretrajectory of global commodityprices, with per capita income clear-ly linked to consumers’ wealth. Ifpeople feel rich and enjoy growingwages and appreciating assets, they
are less inclined to cannibalizeother spending when commodityconsumption becomes more expen-sive. They just pay more and carryon.
Supply-side challengesOf course, upward pressure oncommodity prices also stems fromsupply-side challenges. It is not justthat global supplies of resourcesare increasingly scarce, but alsothat supplies are increasinglyfalling into inefficient hands.
Around the world, governmentsare taking greater control ofresources and imposing policiesthat hamper global production andultimately force prices higher. (Fol-lowing the recent fracas surround-ing Argentina’s nationalizationof Yacimientos PetrolíferosFiscales [YPF], Aus-tralia’s 2012 miningtax on iron andcoal com-panies
is a stark reminder that such ten-dencies are not limited to emerg-ing-market politicians.)
Such price increases can proveparticularly inflationary in coun-tries that import commodities. Andthey can be disastrous to exportingeconomies, which risk rapid cur-
rency appreciation and thus a lossof competitiveness.
Of course, technological ad-vances, like hydraulic fracturing(“fracking”) in the shale-gasindustry, could increase supplyand therefore lower prices. Butmounting environmental chal-lenges, and the limited availabili-ty of commodity substitutes, sug-gest that a reprieve on commodi-ty prices is not near.
Short-term focusThere is a perennial temptation tofocus on – even to overemphasize –the short-term, tactical drivers ofcommodity-price movements, atthe expense of giving longer-term,structural factors their due. Whileshort-term factors – for example,political instability, weather-relat-ed disruptions, and speculativeactivity – are important determi-nants of prices, they tell only partof the story.
The economic fundamentals ofsupply and demand remain the keyfactors in driving the direction ofcommodity prices and determiningwhether the commodity super-cyclewill persist. In practical terms, thismeans that oil prices, for example,are more likely to hover near $120per barrel over the next decade,rather than $50; and we are unlike-ly to see a $20 barrel of oil everagain. ●
Dambisa Moyo is the author,most recently, of “Winner Take All:
China’s Race for Resourcesand What it Means
for the World.”
CCoommmmooddiittiieess oonn tthhee rriissee
“Oil prices are more likely to hover near$120 per barrel over the next decade, ratherthan $50; and we are unlikely to see a $20
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.
Prenumerata realizowana przez RUCH S.A: Zamówienia na prenumerat´ w wersji papierowej i na e-wydania mo˝na sk∏adaç bezpoÊrednio na stronie www.prenumerata.ruch.com.plEwentualne pytania prosimy kierowaç na adres e-mail: [email protected] lub kontaktujàc si´ z Telefonicznym Biurem Obs∏ugi Klienta pod numerem: 801 800 803 lub 22 717 59 59 – czynne w godzinach 700 – 1800. Koszt po∏àczenia wg taryfy operatora.
Copyright: ProjectSyndicate, 2013.
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APRIL 2-7, 2013 OOPPIINNIIOONN && AANNAALLYYSSIISS www.wbj.pl 11
Once again, Europe has peeredinto the abyss. But the tenta-tive agreement between
Cyprus and the troika (the Euro-pean Commission, the InternationalMonetary Fund, and the EuropeanCentral Bank) probably means thatthe worst has been avoided. Big loss-es for large depositors in Cypriotbanks will now be imposed, and thecountry’s second-largest bank will beshuttered. Looking ahead, however,Cyprus has the means not only torecover, but even to heal its long-standing division with the Turkish-backed statelet in the north of theisland.
Cyprus, of course, is just the lat-est country to be hit by the econom-ic crisis surging through theMediterranean. For years, Cyprushad an immense banking bubble,with the sector’s assets estimated atroughly seven times the country’sGDP, as foreign money poured intoa tax haven within the euro zone’ssecure environment.
The end of a money-laundering paradiseThe design of the bailout has beenshaped both by domestic pressuresfaced by euro zone leaders and bythe exceptional nature of the Cypri-ot banking bubble: many Europeanleaders suspect that the island hadbecome a money-laundering centerfor Russian individuals and entities,which pumped an estimated €68 bil-lion into the country’s banks.Regardless of the details of the ulti-mate deal, the risk is that the ghostof Russia’s bailout of Cyprus in 2011could provoke severe side effectsacross Southern Europe, both forgovernments’ borrowing costs andfor small savers.
Nevertheless, it is imperative notto lose sight of some very valuableassets that Cyprus holds – assets thatcould mean the country’s economicsalvation.
Cyprus has natural wealthIn 2011, the American energy com-pany Noble discovered some 200 bil-lion cubic meters of gas in theEastern Mediterranean – the valueof this block, known as theAphrodite gas field, has been esti-mated at some €80 billion. Work hasalready begun on extraction, withproduction expected to commencein 2018. Experts say that the reservescould provide some 100 years ofenergy for Cyprus – and an alterna-tive supply source for energy-hungryEurope. In fact, in the search for anacceptable bailout package, thefuture revenues from these assetswere at one point considered as pos-sible guarantees.
The United States GeologicalSurvey has estimated that theLevant Basin, which extends acrossthe Israeli, Cypriot, and Lebaneseseabed, contains some 3.45 trillion
cubic meters ofrecoverable nat-ural gas and 1.7billion barrels ofoil. Given theirgeographic loca-tion, however,these incrediblereserves can beu n c a p p e d ,extracted, andexported onlyon the basis ofi n t e r - s t a t ecooperation.
As with all marine gas and oildeposits, the rights to the waters andthe riches below are critical. And,given such riches, competition mightappear lucrative at first sight. Butcooperation stands to enlarge the pie.
Moreover, economic agreementsmay promote closer cooperation inother realms. Energy matters have
already led to an unprecedentedwarming in relations between coun-tries such as Israel and Cyprus inrecent years, with an agreementsigned in 2010 formally delimitingthese states’ respective exclusiveeconomic zones. It is not unimagin-able that this type of cooperationcould be extended to include otherneighbors around the Levant.
The good newsThe good news is that Cyprus’snewly elected president, Nicos Anas-tasiades, may be open to such an
agenda. Naturally, much willdepend on how he fares politically inthe current turmoil surrounding thebailout package. Mr Anastasiades, amember of the pro-EuropeanDimokratikós Sinayermós (Democ-ratic Rally) party, won 57 percent of
the popular vote on a platform thatemphasized economic recovery, andthis will naturally be his top priority.Nevertheless, a cautious lookbeyond the current turbulence – andinto Anastasiades’s history – pro-vides grounds for optimism.
In 2004, Anastasiades and hisparty supported the Annan Plan,developed by former United NationsSecretary-General Kofi Annan andsupported by the European Union.Mr Annan’s reunification proposalprovided the blueprint for a “UnitedRepublic of Cyprus” comprising a
federation of two states.When put to a referendum, rough-
ly two-thirds of the island’s 250,000Turkish Cypriots in the north support-ed the Annan Plan, but 76 percent ofthe 860,000 Greek Cypriots in thesouth rejected it. It is not inconceiv-able, however, that Mr Anastasiades’svictory could provide impetus forreopening the dialogue between theisland’s north and south – that is, oncethe current crisis has passed.
Such an outcome would be amajor breakthrough for Cyprus andthe region. Resolving the island’slongstanding division would nestCyprus more comfortably in the EU,and the economic effects would bemanifold, extending throughout theeastern Mediterranean.
Greek-Turkish relationsFor example, both Turkey andGreece could reduce their militaryspending (though naturally to vary-ing degrees, given their respectivegeopolitical environments). Greeceis the second-largest defensespender, relative to GDP, in the EU.Clearly, in today’s economic climate,savings here could provide hugely
w e l c o m ebudget relief.
And the Kurdishrebel leader Abdullah
Öcalan’s recent call for aceasefire is an encouraging
sign that Turkey, too, stands tobenefit from a peace dividend.
Greek Prime Minister AntonisSamaras’s visit to Istanbul in Marchwas a heartening sign that tensionsbetween Greece and Turkey arealready beginning to ease. A deep-ening of cooperation in the easternMediterranean would provide myri-ad economic opportunities, not leastthe many related to developing theregion’s cross-border maritime gasreserves.
Mr Anastasiades has endured aperfect economic storm during hisfirst month in office, and the currentcrisis is certain to continue to domi-nate his agenda. But, beyond today’stempest, there is light on the hori-zon. Cyprus, and its neighbors, mustnow pull together to reach it. ●
Javier Solana was EU High Repre-sentative for Foreign and Security
Policy, Secretary-General of NATO,and Foreign Minister of Spain. He is
currently president of the ESADECenter for Global Economy.Copyright: Project Syndicate,
2013.Project-syndicate.org
“Beyond today’s tempest,there is light on the
horizon.”
AA nneeww bbuussiinneessss mmooddeellffoorr CCyypprruuss Javier Solana
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APRIL 2-7, 2013CCOOVVEERR SSTTOORRYY12
Lithuanian-
Polish-
Ukrainian
battalionAn agreement on the
formation of a Lithuanian-
Polish-Ukrainian battalion
could be signed by the
governments of the three
countries in the second
quarter of this year,
Poland’s Defense Minister
Tomasz Siemoniak
announced. “We expect
that the training of
brigades may begin in
fall,” Mr Siemoniak said.
Pole discovers
new planet
A 33-year-old Polish IT
professional made news
as the discoverer of planet
PH2b, outside the solar
system. The amateur
astronomer, Rafa∏
Herszkowicz, was the first
person to notice and mark
the planet using web
service Odkrywcyplanet.pl,
the Polish version of the
international project
Planet Hunters, which
provides users with data
from the NASA Kepler
space mission.
Foreign debt at
€276.1 billion
in Q4 2012The National Bank of
Poland said that Poland’s
total foreign debt rose to
€276.1 billion in the fourth
quarter of 2012. In the
third quarter, it amounted
to €273.045 billion. Long-
term debt increased to
€223.1 billion from
€217.075 billion in Q3
2012, while short-term
debt fell to €52.948 billion
from €55.970 billion. ●
www.wbj.pl
Exclusive interview
Debate and persuadeRemi Adekoya: Last week,Poland’s Foreign MinisterRados∏aw Sikorski laid outthe country’s foreign policypriorities. Did the speech sig-nal any big changes?Aleksander KwaÊniewski: Ididn’t notice any big changes.There were no surprises, turn-abouts or resets. However, Ithink what is important is thatthe speech did indicate achange in emphasis.
When I was president[from 1995-2005], our foreignpolicy priority was to focus ontransatlantic relations becausewe wanted to ensure Poland’ssecurity and its entry intoNATO. Relations with theUnited States were thereforecrucial to us. Our second pri-ority was the European Union.
Today, the most importantaim of our foreign policy is tostrengthen the EU as an organ-ization and strengthen Poland’sposition within that organiza-tion. If Poland wants to play arole in the new global frame-work, it can only do so as anactive and significant memberof the EU. Alone, we won’t getvery far. Of course, we are amember of NATO today andstrengthening relations with theUS remains important, but ourdirect relationship with Wash-ington is now being viewed in itsproper perspective.
Historical friendship isimportant and good, butPoland is never going to be asignificant strategic partner forAmerica. It is the EU that canbe such a partner. So weshould be trying to ensure thatthe EU has a cohesive, sensi-ble vision of its future and itsties with the US.
Remi Adekoya
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WBJ sat down withformer Polish president,co-creator of theDemocratic Left Allianceand current leader of anew center-left initiativeEurope Plus, AleksanderKwaÊniewski, to discussthe way forward for theEU, how Europe couldelect a president, Poland’sforeign policy and hispolitical plans for thefuture
APRIL 2-7, 2013 CCOOVVEERR SSTTOORRYY www.wbj.pl 13
Mr Sikorski suggested in hisspeech that Poland has thechance to access the inner cir-cle of EU decision-makers. Isthat a realistic assertion?Yes, very realistic. What’smore, I feel that the currentgovernment [of Prime Minis-ter Donald Tusk] is not usingits opportunities very well.Right now, Europe is underreconstruction and needs newengines.
The two main engines,France and Germany, aredoing fine and that’s great. Butsome of the other centers ofgravity, such as Italy andSpain, have problems. Conse-
quentially, there is a need fornew European powerhouses. Isee two countries that couldstep in to play that role,Poland and Sweden.
Why those two?They are relatively big coun-tries. They both look goodeconomically, the crisis isaffecting them less than oth-ers. Both have yet to join theeuro zone and I believe thattheir accessing it wouldstrengthen the currency union.
Both countries are predis-posed towards playing a role inbuilding a common Europeanforeign policy. They havealready started. In fact, it isbecause of Poland and Swe-den’s support for the EasternPartnership program that ithas become official EU policytowards countries in Poland’seastern neighborhood, such asUkraine and Georgia.
Again, I think the govern-ment is not using all its oppor-tunities to press forwardPoland’s case. Mr Sikorski’sBerlin speech last year callingfor a European federation wasvery interesting and I thought
it heralded the beginning of aPolish doctrine, proof that ourideas are shaping Europe.
But things have been quietsince then and today we focuson the technicalities of EUmembership such as how muchmoney we receive from itsbudget. That is important ofcourse, but right now Poland isnot showing any real vision. Wesupport the open-door policyfor would-be EU members butwhy don’t we speak up aboutthis? I know there is a crisis andthat is limiting, but the govern-ment has wrongly adopted await-and-see attitude.
If Poland were to campaign
loudly for an open-door policy,that could thrust us into thatdecision-making circle. Wehave the competence, histori-cal experience and we aretrusted in Europe.
These advantages couldmake us a country that keepsclose relations with othernations in the neighborhoodand leads them into the Euro-pean fold. We need to show wehave ideas for Ukraine, forBelarus, show we cooperatewith Moldova and are open tothe EU aspirations of theBaltic nations.
That would make us aregional center, which othercountries feel they can dependon. It would make us a countrythrough which others couldappeal to the EU for greaterconsideration towards them.
So you support Mr Sikorski’scalls for a European federa-tion?Yes, I do. And I regret that thetopic was brought up once andthen neglected.
What do you think Poland cando, realistically, to bring
Europe closer to a federation?We have to debate and per-suade. Firstly, we must per-suade our own citizens. Thefact that one minister has afederalist concept does notmean that concept is shared bya majority of Poles.
We need discussion aboutEurope here in Poland. I amhoping for such a discussion inthe debate we are going tohave on whether or not to jointhe euro zone. First, we haveto decide the matter here inPoland and then on the Euro-pean scene where in my opin-ion, the issue of federalismmust be resolved once and forall.
Could the recent crisis inCyprus have far-reaching con-sequences in the future?I don’t think there will be far-reaching consequences. TheCyprus situation was an ele-ment of the crisis we havebeen experiencing for somefive years now. We created acurrency union but we didn’tadhere to the rules we set up.And I need not remind youthat it’s not only the Greekgovernment that broke therules of the Maastricht Treaty.
So did Germany …And France. In 2004, my twogood friends, Gerhard Schrö-der and Jacques Chirac, didnot hesitate to break the rulesof the Maastricht Treaty. So ifthe strongest don’t bother withthe criteria, what can youexpect from the weaker ones?
We didn’t implement insti-tutional guarantees to makesure the market functionsproperly and we are now pay-ing a big price for that. For along time, Cyprus exploitedthe fact that an incredibleamount of cash, mostly fromRussians but also fromUkrainians and others, waslodged in their banks.
But after the good yearscome the lean ones. Today, theCypriot system can’t survivewithout outside help. Howev-
er, I did not like the idea ofimplementing an impromptutax on deposits there. That isreminiscent of Bolshevik tac-tics, confiscating people’smoney overnight.
I really don’t understandthat move. It weakens trust inthe banking system and citi-zens’ rights. What’s worse, thewhole operation was a mess.The European Commissionacted like an amateur here.Once you decide on such a dif-ficult move, you have to exe-cute it in a manner that guar-antees 100 percent success.But I don’t think that even aprolonged crisis in Cypruscould affect the wider Euro-pean economy. They are sim-ply too small.
Do you support electing aEuropean president?Yes, I do.
Technically, how could that behandled?If we want to integrate furtherand give institutions greatpowers, then those institutionsneed to have democratic legit-imacy. Citizens can’t believedecisions are made solely inthe corridors of power.
There are a couple of stepswe could take to involveEurope’s 500 million citizensin the process of EU gover-nance.
Firstly, during elections forthe European Parliament, themain parties could apportion apart of their electoral lists tocandidates of other Europeannationalities. Poles would beable to vote for a Frenchman,a German or someone fromLuxembourg. We’d get toknow who’s who in Europe.That would be a first step.
The second step would beto hold the elections over thecourse of two or three daysand not a whole week. Rightnow, EP elections are every-where and nowhere, but if theywere held over two to threedays, there would be moremedia interest, more suspenseand people would get moreinvolved.
When it comes to choosinga European president, wecould select one day for such avote. Each country would beable to present a candidate
who would have to garner say,one million signatures of sup-port in at least five EU coun-tries. Only then could he standfor election.
There would be a campaignand candidates would have totravel all over Europe. Finally,we would arrive at a list of fiveor 10 names, which would bealphabetically presented on avoting list and then we wouldchoose. If no candidate crossesthe 50 percent threshold, therewould be two rounds of voting.
In effect, we would havesomeone with a mandate. Itwould be easier to overcomeour national egos and bureau-cratic limitations. The wholedecision-making processwould be smoother becausethe president would be able toforce things through, if neces-sary. It is really not difficult toimagine. The main obstacle isour egoism.
Are you referring to nation-alistic sentiments?Yes, we still hold on to allthat. But I am hopefulbecause a new generation isemerging. Take language forexample. This is a barrier tocommunication for manyEuropeans of my generation.But for the younger genera-tions, that barrier is virtuallynon-existent. Basic English isunderstood practically every-where in Europe among theyoung and so running a presi-dential campaign, for exam-ple, should not be a problem.
But of course, we shouldnot exaggerate with ourambitions by thinking we canimplement such changes veryquickly. The EU has 50 yearsof evolutionary growth and ifwe try to do things in a morerevolutionary fashion, somepeople could feel excludedand angry. However, if feder-alist reforms are impossibletoday, then in 20 years, whenpeople of my generation arein their 80s and [members ofthe younger] generation intheir 50s, it will not be such abig deal. By then it will seemobvious.
Is 20 years a long time?Considering that we are in acrisis and need fast solutions,it is a long time. But if welook at the EU from a histor-
ical perspective, 20 years isnot such a tragedy.
Will politicians who becomeMEPs on the platform ofyour latest political initia-tive, Europe Plus, try to pushfederalism?Yes, we are decided support-ers of further European inte-gration and expansion. Wewant more European initia-tives that bring peopletogether, because all we haveright now is the Eurovisionsong contest.
I am not comparing theelection of a European presi-dent to the Eurovision con-test, what I am trying to say iswe need events that will helpbuild a European identityand European public opin-ion. Such events remind usthat we share more than acommon market and freeborders. People need to feelthey have a say in how theyare ruled.
Do you believe the Polish leftwill unite before the nextelections or will the partyyou created, Democratic LeftAlliance, and Europe Plus,which you lead now, haveseparate electoral lists?We have more than a year todiscuss and negotiate.According to opinion polls,each of these factions hasroughly 10 percent support ora little more. That means ifthey were to stand for elec-tion together, a result of 20percent or more is very realis-tic.
So my offer of coopera-tion to politicians from theDemocratic Left Alliance isstill open. I have a goodmemory but I don’t keepgrudges so I can put aside allthe silly things some of themhave said about me recently.
The stakes are too high forthat, we need to bring bal-ance to the political scene.We can’t continue to besqueezed between two right-wing parties. Jaros∏awKaczyƒski’s Law and Justiceis very right-wing and DonaldTusk’s Civic Platform is lessso, but still conservative. Thisis not a normal situation for amodern state in the middle ofEurope. ●
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“We want more European initiatives thatbring people together, because all we haveright now is the Eurovision song contest.”
Aleksander KwaÊniewskiAleksander KwaÊniewski was born in 1954in Bia∏ogard, northwestern Poland. Hejoined the Communist Party in 1977 andwas an active member, eventually rising tothe position of Sports Minister at the age of31.
After the fall of communism, MrKwaÊniewski co-created the DemocraticLeft Alliance, which was largely made upof former Communist Party members. In1995, he ran for president, going up againstincumbent Lech Wa∏´sa, the legendary Sol-idarity leader and anti-communist activist.
Mr KwaÊniewski won that confronta-tion, becoming the second democraticallyelected president in post-communistPoland. He won re-election in 2000 and leftoffice five years later with approval ratingsat 60 percent.
In February this year, Mr KwaÊniewskiannounced he would be co-creatingEurope Plus, a center-left political initia-tive that would nominate its own candi-dates for the European Parliament elec-tions scheduled in 2014. ●C
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LLOOKKAALLEE IIMMMMOOBBIILLIIAAW a r s a w B u s i n e s s J o u r n a l ’s w e e k l y s u p p l e m e n t o n r e a l e s t a t e , c o n s t r u c t i o n a n d d e v e l o p m e n t APRIL 2-7, 2013, 2 LI 18/12
Rank Progress
sells mall for
€25 million
Real estate developer
Rank Progress signed a
preliminary agreement to
sell shopping mall Galeria
Âwidnicka for €25 million.
The buyer is Elsoria
Polska I. Rank Progress
may still withdraw from
the preliminary agreement
if it finds another buyer,
but no later than
September 15. Galeria
Âwidnikca is located in
Âwidnica in southwestern
Poland. It has a total area
of 24,000 sqm.
Runway work
at Chopin
AirportBeginning April 2,
Warsaw Chopin Airport’s
runway 3 was set to close
for six months for major
repair work. The need for
the overhaul stems from
natural wear and tear, as
the last major work on
runway 3 took place
nearly 30 years ago. The
work on the runway will
move the landing
threshold 600 meters.
Echo sells
three malls
Echo Investment has
signed preliminary
contracts concerning the
sale of Echo shopping
centers in Radom, Tarnów
and Piotrków Trybunalski.
The new owner of the
facilities will be London &
Cambridge Properties
Ltd. The total value of the
three contracts is €67
million. ●
Historic brewery . . . . . . . . . . . .14
Galeria Wilanów delayed . . . . .14
Park Avenue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15
Gdański Business Center . . . . .15
Galeria Mokotów extension . .16
Grzybowska 81 sold . . . . . . . . .16
Wrocław warehouse . . . . . . . . .17
Pałac Szuchów . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17
In this issue
1615
Warsaw's new office complex Park Avenuescheduled for 2015
Another 5,000 sqm of GLAwill be added to GaleriaMokotów in April
Residential
HHiissttoorriicc bbrreewweerryy ttoo bbee rreevviittaalliizzeeddBRE Bank Hipotecznywill finance the firstphase of the BrowarLubicz mixed-userevitalization projectin Kraków
Real estate investor BalmoralProperties has secured bankfinancing for the first phase ofits Browar Lubicz revitaliza-tion project in Kraków,Ma∏opolskie voivodship, fromBRE Bank Hipoteczny. Thevalue of the loan is z∏.70 mil-lion.
The mixed-use project islocated in a 19th-centurybrewery near Kraków’s mainrailway station, only 800meters from the city’s MainSquare (Rynek G∏ówny). Therevitalization of the estate andthe construction of new build-ings nearby, is expected todeliver a total of over 30,000sqm of residential, office andservice space. PORR Polska isthe general contractor for the
scheme.The first phase of the
investment is scheduled forcompletion at the end of thisyear and will comprise 137apartments, ranging from31.70 sqm to 121.73 sqm,along with 4,600 sqm of retailspace and 1,900 sqm of officespace. It will cost a total ofz∏.100 million and the wholedevelopment will cost z∏.200million.
Originally known as“John’s Brewery,” BrowarLubicz was founded in 1840 bythe Jenny family. It was thelargest brewery in Kraków atthe time. It was acquired bybaron Jan Goetz-Okocimski in1903 and managed to surviveboth world wars. Nationalizedin 1961, it was managed by theBoard of Fermentation Indus-try in Zabrze.
After the brewery wastaken over by Okocim in 1968it was equipped with one ofthe first block malt-works anda bottling line from the Ger-
man Democratic Republic.For many years the brewerywas the biggest manufacturerin the city. When Carlsbergacquired Okocim in 2001, adecision was made to stop pro-duction at the brewery.
One of 16 landmarks col-lectively recognized as theIndustrial Heritage Route, thesite comprises several build-ings protected due to their his-toric value, including the
Goetz Palace, an administra-tive building, a former malthouse, a staircase tower, acooling engine room, and aboiler room with a chimney.Traces of the original layoutremain, including passagesjoining the owner’s residentialpremises directly with the pro-duction plant and a restauranthall.
Browar Lubicz could beone of the most prestigious
residential estates in Krakówwhen completed. The compa-ny has already sold 51 apart-ments in the investment.
Balmoral has been active inPoland since 2008. Its portfo-lio in Poland includes threehectares of land located nearWarsaw’s Arkadia mall, whereit plans to build some 100,000sqm of housing and officespace.
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The first phase of the revitalization of the historic Browar Lubicz brewery will include
137 apartments
Retail
Galeria Wilanów construction pushed back againThe development of amall in one of thecapital’s fastest-growing districts hashit a snag that coulddelay it for severalyears
WSE-listed developer GlobeTrade Centre (GTC)announced that the construc-tion of its Galeria Wilanówcommercial center in War-saw’s Wilanów district won’tbe launched in Q1 this year aswas expected. The investorhasn’t obtained a building per-mit yet.
GTC claims it will probablylaunch construction in Q3 orQ4 of 2013 but the city offi-cials are less optimistic.According to them, the con-struction of such a big scheme
is not in line with the localzoning plans. This, they saycould delay the opening of themall by as many as severalyears. The officials claim thatto allow for the constructionof Galeria Wilanów, its planswould have to be redesignedand that it would probablytake two to three more years.
There are two schemeswithin the center, designed by
the APA Wojciechowski archi-tectural studio and the IsraeliMoshe Tzur design studio.One is 250 meters long andwill offer 60,000 sqm of retailspace. The other one, smallerin size, will comprise 16,000sqm of retail space. Both areset to be built at the intersec-tion of ul. Przyczó∏kowa andul. Branickiego. The firstbuilding’s construction cost is
estimated at €160 million. The sole developer of the
planned Galeria Wilanów,GTC, acquired the remaining50 percent stake in the invest-ment previously held by Pol-nord.
GTC has also failed tosecure another building per-mit for the construction of anas-yet unnamed shopping cen-ter in Warsaw’s Bia∏o∏´ka dis-
trict, planned on a five-hectare plot at the intersec-tion of ul. Âwiatowida and ul.Modliƒska.
Founded in 1994 in War-saw, GTC is active in Centraland Eastern Europe as well asin Southeastern Europe. Thecompany has so far delivereda total of some 647,000 sqm ofleasable space.
KKaarroolliinnaa KKoowwaallsskkaa
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
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Galeria Wilanów may have to be redesigned – and it may also be delayed by years
APRIL 2-7, 2013 LLOOKKAALLEE IIMMMMOOBBIILLIIAA –– RREEAALL EESSTTAATTEE www.wbj.pl 15
Office
HB Reavis lays cornerstonefor Gdaƒski Business CenterThe development, nearGdaƒski RailwayStation, will deliver atotal of 95,000 sqmwhen completed in Q42014
Developer HB Reavis Polandhas laid the cornerstone forits Gdaƒski Business Centeroffice building on ul. Inflanc-ka in Warsaw’s ÂródmieÊciedistrict, on land that the com-pany acquired from Spanishfirm Lubasa last year.
The office project is theinvestor’s second in Warsaw,after the Konstruktorska BCoffice building in the
Mokotów district.Designed by the Warsaw-
based E&L Architects studio,the 95,000-sqm GdaƒskiBusiness Center will bedeveloped in two phases. Thefirst phase will comprise a 17-storey building A with almost32,000 sqm and a nine-storeybuilding B comprising 17,000sqm. There will be a restau-rant, a café and an ATMmachine in the buildings.
Both schemes are sched-uled to be completed in thesecond quarter of 2014. Thedate of the start of construc-tion on phase two has notbeen disclosed, as it willdepend on the pace of com-
mercialization of the firstphase of the development.
“Gdaƒski Business Centeris the best choice for tenantswho would like to set theiroffice on the outskirts of thecity center, keeping the loca-tion’s prestige while saving oncosts,” Stanislav Frnka, coun-try CEO, HB Reavis Poland,said in a statement. He addedthat the project is convenient-ly situated in the vicinity ofthe railway station, theDworzec Gdaƒski subwaystation, as well as tram andbus stops. It is a five-minutewalk from the Old Town andthe Arkadia commercial cen-ter.
The investment is current-ly undergoing BREEAM cer-tification for energy efficien-cy and environmental per-formance.
Active in five Europeancountries, HB Reavis has todate developed a total ofmore than 600,000 sqm ofoffice, retail and logisticsspace. In Warsaw, the com-pany’s plans include thedelivery of an office complexnear the Warsaw West rail-way station.
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Gdaƒski Business Center is scheduled to be completed in
the second quarter of 2014
Office
New office building indowntown WarsawThe Park Avenueproject will deliver13,500 sqm of GLA inthe summer of 2015
Developer Park Projects willlaunch construction on a 14-storey office building calledPark Avenue in Warsaw thissummer. The investment willbe adjacent to the 17-storeyHampton by Hilton hotel,currently under constructionat the intersection of ul.Wspólna and ul. Cha∏u-biƒskiego.
Planned as an L-shapedoffice scheme with a spaciousmain lobby and parking situ-ated underground, the build-ing will comprise a lower sec-tion with seven floors and ahigher section with 15 floors.Both sections will boast ter-races overlooking St Bar-bara’s Church and a nearbypark.
The development, de-signed by the JSK Architekcistudio, will consist of 13,500sqm of leasable space witheach of the lower floors occu-pying approximately 1,300sqm and the top seven floorscomprising 480 sqm each,accompanied by retail space
on the ground floor.Park Avenue’s glass facade
on ul. Wspólna will be partlydecorated with sandstone,while the tower portion will bemostly covered with steel. Thedevelopment is scheduled forcompletion in the summer of2015. Park Projects is current-ly in the process of selecting ageneral contractor for thescheme.
The plot was supposed tobe developed in the early
1990s. Ten years later ParkProjects was preparing tobuild an apartment buildingon the site but later changedits plans.
Park Projects Group is partof an international organiza-tion that has been operatingon the Polish market since1999. Among other develop-ments, Park Projects has alsodelivered the Park Towersproject on ul. Pory in Warsaw.
KKaarroolliinnaa KKoowwaallsskkaa
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sandstone
APRIL 2-7, 2013LLOOKKAALLEE IIMMMMOOBBIILLIIAA –– RREEAALL EESSTTAATTEE16 www.wbj.pl
Retail
Extension of Galeria Mokotów to be finished next monthNearly 5,000 sqm ofGLA will be added toGaleria Mokotów afterits redevelopment inApril
Unibail-Rodamco, the ownerof the Galeria Mokotów shop-ping center in Warsaw, hasannounced it will complete analmost z∏.60 million extensionproject at the end of April.The redevelopment, which willadd nearly 5,000 sqm of spaceto the 62,300-sqm mall, beganlast summer.
The expansion might notbe the end to increasing themall’s space though, as Uni-bail-Rodamco has applied tothe city for a permit to buildanother wing of the gallery inplace of an existing guardedparking lot on ul. RodzinyHiszpaƒskich.
The extension scheme,which was designed by the SudArchitectes and SMZArchitekci studios, will add anew L-shaped structure with3,500 sqm of space to the exist-ing building, located on ul.Wo∏oska in the capital’sMokotów district.
In addition, the restaurant
area located on the secondlevel of Galeria Mokotów willgrow by 1,500 sqm, as newrestaurants and recreationareas will be added. The wholeinvestment is meant to delivermore space for restaurantfacilities within the mall.
Already-existing shops,such as Peek & Cloppenburgand Zara, will be remodeledand will gain more floor space.Currently, the shopping centercomprises 260 stores and over2,400 parking spaces.
The mall’s second-floorreconstruction was designedby the Sud Architects Polska
studio, and the expansion proj-ect was prepared by SMZArchitekci. The general con-tractor is Awbud SA.
Developed by Globe TradeCentre and opened for busi-ness in 2000, Galeria Mokotówhas already seen three expan-sions, one in 2002 and two in2006. The mall was fullyacquired by Unibail-Rodamcoin the summer of 2011.
According to a reportissued at the end of last year byJones Lang LaSalle, most Pol-ish shopping malls are under-going modernization andextension work to meet the
requirements of clients andtenants in times of increasingcompetition between shoppingcenters. Older facilities needto be upgraded in order tomaintain or improve theirmarket position in relation tonewer rivals.
The report finds that by theend of 2014, at least 20 moreshopping centers, in additionto the 74 already modernized,are planned for refurbishing.Currently, Sadyba Best Mall inthe capital’s Mokotów districtis also undergoing extensionwork.
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Grzybowska 81
sold to BPS
On March 27 developerUnibep sold the perpetualusufruct to its Grzybowska 81office project in Warsaw toBank Polskiej Spó∏dzielczoÊci(BPS).
The seven-floor scheme issituated on ul. Grzybowska 81in Warsaw’s Wola district, nearthe city’s Warsaw RisingMuseum. It comprises almost10,000 sqm of usable spaceand a three-level undergroundparking lot with spaces for 130cars. The facility was designedby the Grupa 5 Architekci stu-dio.
A preliminary sales agree-ment was signed back in June2012, while the investment wasstill under construction. Theagreed gross sales price wasz∏.122.549 million, whilez∏.69.132 million of the sum
will be used to pay off bankloans Unibep needed tofinance the development.
Unibep purchased the2,248 sqm plot on which thescheme was erected fromPekaes, a transport, forward-ing and logistics group, back inDecember 2010.
This is not the only officescheme in the capital theWSE-listed Unibep is involvedin. Together with its subsidiary,Unidevelopment, the compa-ny has been working on anoth-er office project, named WolaHouse, since November 2012.
The 11-storey develop-ment, scheduled for comple-tion in May 2014, is located onAl. Prymasa Tysiàclecia inWarsaw’s Wola district and willoffer approximately 22,500sqm of office space. KKEEKK
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APRIL 2-7, 2013 LLOOKKAALLEE IIMMMMOOBBIILLIIAA –– RREEAALL EESSTTAATTEE www.wbj.pl 17
Logistics
Wroc∏aw’s warehouse market growing biggerWith the developmentof a road network, thedemand for warehousespace is increasing inthe capital of LowerSilesia
Wroc∏aw has strengthened itsposition as one of the mainwarehousing markets inPoland, a recent report byJones Lang LaSalle finds.According to the study, newroads are driving logisticsdemand to the city, which is aconvenient location for distrib-utors running cross-borderoperations in Central Europe.The A4 motorway connectsthe region to the Europeanhighway network and the largePolish urban areas of Katow-ice and Kraków.
Another key elementboosting demand in the regionis a sizable and relatively afflu-ent local market, with 2.9 mil-lion inhabitants in the regionand 0.77 million in theWroc∏aw urban area alone.Three nearby special econom-ic zones with numerousinvestors from the FMCG,automotive, aviation and man-ufacturing industries also playan important part.
Alongside Central Poland,Wroc∏aw was one of the two
regions in Poland to register asurge in take-up volumes ascompared to 2011. Over153,000 sqm was leased in2012 (versus 130,000 sqm in2011), which was the third-largest volume in the country.The majority of this netdemand was generated bylogistic operators (33 percent)and automotive companies (32percent). Lease renewalsencompassed 58,000 sqm andaccounted for 28 percent ofthe gross demand (212,000sqm in 2012).
The immediately availablespace decreased, with 58,000sqm remaining vacant at theend of Q4 2012, which trans-lated to vacancy rate of 8.7percent. Rental levels forwarehouse space in Wroc∏awremained stable during 2012.At the end of the year, ownersof prime assets chargedmonthly rents of between €3and €3.8 per sqm. Effectiverents, which include additionalincentives and exemptions, arelower and span between €2.7and €3.3 per sqm per month.
At the end of 2012, ware-house stock in Lower Silesiatotaled 663,000 sqm, making itthe fifth-largest market in thecountry. Supply increased by56,000 sqm in 2012, against40,000 sqm in 2011. Thelargest projects completed in2012 include: the built-to-suitbuilding for TJX in Wroc∏awEast Logistics Centre byGoodman (28,000 sqm) andtwo buildings (10,000 sqmeach) completed within Panat-toni Park Wroc∏aw II.
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Office
Griffin to redevelopformer GestaporesidencePa∏ac Szuchów inWarsaw’s downtownwill be expanded intoan office building
Real estate investor and devel-oper Griffin Group hasannounced it will redevelop thehistoric Pa∏ac Szuchów on Al.Szucha 6 near Plac Unii Lubel-skiej in the capital’s ÂródmieÊciedistrict.
A new seven-storey bou-tique-office building, comprising4,400 sqm of space, will be devel-oped behind the existing proper-ty, while its facade will extend tothat of the edifice, giving theimpression that the two build-ings are a single unit.
Construction on the schemewill be launched in the summerof 2014 and will last a year and ahalf.
Griffin CEO Przemys∏awKrych said that the plannedbuilding has already begunattracting future tenants: therehave been offers from threeembassies and several law firms.
While the new building isbeing constructed, the 900-sqmNeo-Renaissance Pa∏ac Szu-chów will be refitted to make itfully accessible to the disabled.
The development wasdesigned by renowned pre-wararchitect Jan Bagieƒski and builtin 1912-1913. It was acquired byGriffin Group in 2011 from thebank that bought it from theowners, the Gawroƒski family,and underwent extensive revital-ization.
The new owners haverestored the palace in accor-dance with the requirements setby Warsaw’s curator of historicalbuildings at a cost of severalhundred thousand z∏oty. Reno-vators found over 30 kilometersof wires in the walls, as thepalace served as the residence ofthe head of the Gestapo inPoland during the Nazi occupa-tion.
According to legend, thebuilding then served as the War-saw offices of SMERSH, anumbrella organization compris-ing three independent counter-intelligence agencies in the RedArmy.
The building was later usedas the location of Polish counter-intelligence forces in the com-munist era and the Embassy ofFederal Republic of Germanybefore 1990.
KKaarroolliinnaa KKoowwaallsskkaa
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APRIL 2-7, 2013 TTHHEE LLIISSTT www.wbj.pl 19
Motor industry and freight
Car Fleet Management FirmsRanked by size of car fleet (as of March 2013) www.bookoflists.pl
Notes: WND = Would Not Disclose. Research for The List was conducted in March2013. Number of employees and ownership structure are as of March 2013. All infor-mation pertains to the companies’ activities in Poland. Companies not responding toour survey are not listed.
To the best of WBJ ’s knowledge, the information is accurate as of press time. While every effort is made to ensure accuracy and thoroughness, omissions and typographicalerrors may occur. Corrections or additions to The List should be sent, on official letterhead, to Warsaw Business Journal, attn. Monika Brysiak, ul. Elblàska 15/17, 01-747 War-saw, via fax to +48 22 257-7500, or via e-mail to [email protected]. Copyright 2013, Valkea Media SA. The List may not be reprinted or reproduced in whole or in part withoutprior written permission of the publisher. Reprints are available.
A guide to Polish business and industry Przewodnik po polskim biznesie i gospodarce
Rank
Company nameAddressTel./FaxE-mailWebsite
Size of carfleet
(number ofcars)
Revenue from fleetmanagement
(z∏. mln)
Total revenue (z∏. mln)
Nuber of newcontracts signed
Number of branchoffices (locations)
Services offered Selected clients
Total number ofemployees /
Year founded inPoland
Ownership: Polish /Foreign
Top localexecutive /
Title
1
Masterlease Polska (Prime Car ManagementSA, Futura Leasing SA, Masterlease Sp. z o.o.)ul. Polanki 4, 80-308 Gdaƒsk58 340-4400/58 [email protected]
22,739
WNDWNDWNDWND
546.6540.0457.0431.6
6,4367,5406,9985,976
17 (Warsaw; Gdaƒsk;Bia∏ystok; Bydgoszcz;
Szczecin; Olsztyn;Wroc∏aw; Katowice;
Koszalin; Zielona Góra;Lublin; Poznaƒ; Rzeszów;
Toruƒ; Kraków; Opole;Toruƒ; Kielce)
Long-term leasing; fleet management;leasing
TP; Netia; Philip MorrisPolska; Nordea Bank
Polska; Grupa Siemens
1701995
NoneArbis Capital Partners -
100%
Jerzy KobyliƒskiPresident
2
LeasePlan Fleet Management Polska Sp. z o.o.ul. Domaniewska 52, 02-672 Warsaw22 335-1666/22 [email protected]
Long-term car leasing; car purchasefinancing; insurance; maintanance;fuel cards; replacement cars; GPSmonitoring; assistance; short-term
leasing
WND14
2001WND
Maciej Olesiƒski President
2012/ 2011/ 2010/ 2009
APRIL 2-7, 2013MMAARRKKEETTSS20 www.wbj.pl
SO
UR
CE
: W
SE
PLN-EUR
4
.186
0
4.15
86
4
.172
3
4.1
779
4
.186
6
4.1
774
22.0
3
25.0
3
26.0
3
27.0
3
28.0
3
29.0
34.1
4.2 PLN-USD
22.0
3
25.0
3
26.0
3
27.0
3
28.0
3
29.0
3
3.23
61
3.19
50
3.24
27
3.2
635
3.
2773
3.2
590
3.0
3.5 PLN-GBP
22.0
3
25.0
3
26.0
3
27.0
3
28.0
3
29.0
3
4.92
24
4.85
99
4.92
13
4
.935
5
4
.970
7
4.9
528
4.8
5.0 PLN-CHF
3
.425
7
3.40
19
3
.418
4
3.43
04
3.4
349
3.4
323
22.0
3
25.0
3
26.0
3
27.0
3
28.0
3
29.0
33.3
3.5 PLN-RUB
22.0
3
25.0
3
26.0
3
27.0
3
28.0
3
29.0
3
0.10
47
0.1
040
0.1
050
0.
1055
0
.105
5
0.1
050
0.10
0.11 PLN-100JPY
22.0
3
25.0
3
26.0
3
27.0
3
28.0
3
29.0
3
3
.427
5
3.3
726
3.
4432
3
.451
8
3
.487
8
3.4
646
3.3
3.5
currency rates
A calm week
Currency report
The last week of March didnot bring any surprisingevents that could have movedmarkets. Cyprus will get fundsfrom the IMF, but still the sit-uation is hard for its citizens.Macroeconomic data fromthe US was rather disappoint-ing, but it has not helped theEUR/USD to recover. Themain currency pair continuedits downward movement,reaching a weekly low of$1.2750, its lowest sinceNovember of last year. If thisweek’s US labor marketreport shows another strongincrease in employment, theEUR/USD will head towardeven lower levels.
On the local market, itwas a calm week. The lack ofcrucial macroeconomic datafrom the Polish economyhad traders focusing onexternal factors, and thosehave not given the z∏oty
power to appreciate. Takinginto account euro zone’s eco-nomic and political risks(Cyprus, Italy) it is hard toexpect the local currency willregain value anytime soon.
On the other hand, onlydramatic external events couldharm the z∏oty in such a waythat its depreciation could be ahigh risk for the economy.This past week the PLN cur-rency pairs rebounded andtheir downward larger correc-tive movements were denied.The EUR/PLN advancedfrom z∏.4.16 to z∏.4.18 (a week-ly high of z∏.4.19) while themore volatile USD/PLNclimbed to z∏.3.25 from itsweekly lows of z∏.3.20 (weeklyhighs at z∏.3.28).
As traders are back fromEaster and important macro-economic data will be pub-lished this week, volatilityshould be higher. ●
Adam NarczewskiX-Trade Brokers DM SA
SO
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BP
Major indices
Top 5 Closing % change (week) 52-week high 52-week low
Change for the week: -1.07% 52-week high: 2,628.36
Change year to March 28: -9.75% 52-week low: 2,035.80
mWIG40 2,624.74 (March 28 close)
Change for the week: -0.41% 52-week high: 2,718.31
Change year to March 28: 2.19% 52-week low: 2,147.52
sWIG80 10,938.55 (March 28 close)
Change for the week: -1.18% 52-week high: 11,245.80
Change year to March 28: 3.87% 52-week low: 8,984.43
NewConnect 32.70 (March 28 close)
Change for the week: 0.28% 52-week high: 42.57
Change year to March 28: -1.57% 52-week low: 32.08
WIG-Banki 6,369.16 (March 28 close)
Change for the week: 0.18% 52-week high: 6,723.16
Change year to March 28: -5.27% 52-week low: 5,163.30
DJIA14,578.54 (Mar 28 close)
1.09% (for the week)
CHANGE: 8.69%
(year to Mar 28)
52-week high: 14,585.10
52-week low: 12,035.09
NASDAQ3,267.52 (Mar 28 close)
1.39% (for the week)
CHANGE: 4.99%
(year to Mar 28)
52-week high: 3,270.30
52-week low: 2,726.68
S&P5001,569.19 (Mar 28 close)
1.51% (for the week)
CHANGE: 7.30%
(year to Mar 28)
52-week high: 1,570.28
52-week low: 1,266.74
FTSE1006,411.74 (Mar 28 close)
0.36% (for the week)
CHANGE: 6.38%
(year to Mar 28)
52-week high: 6,534.00
52-week low: 5,299.80
DAX7,795.31 (Mar 28 close)
-1.73% (for the week)
CHANGE: 0.21%
(year to Mar 28)
52-week high: 8,074.47
52-week low: 5,914.43
NIKKEI12,335.96 (Mar 28 close)
-2.37% (for the week)
CHANGE: 15.42%
(year to Mar 28)
52-week high: 12,462.86
52-week low: 10,016.98
world stock indices
01.0
3
04.0
3
05.0
3
06.0
3
07.0
3
08.0
3
11.0
3
12.0
3
13.0
3
14.0
3
15.0
3
18.0
3
19.0
3
20.0
3
21.0
3
22.0
3
25.0
3
26.0
3
27.0
3
28.0
344,000
44,800
45,600
46,400
47,200
48,00001
.03
04.0
3
05.0
3
06.0
3
07.0
3
08.0
3
11.0
3
12.0
3
13.0
3
14.0
3
15.0
3
18.0
3
19.0
3
20.0
3
21.0
3
22.0
3
25.0
3
26.0
3
27.0
3
28.0
32,300
2,340
2,380
2,420
2,460
2,500
01.0
3
04.0
3
05.0
3
06.0
3
07.0
3
08.0
3
11.0
3
12.0
3
13.0
3
14.0
3
15.0
3
18.0
3
19.0
3
20.0
3
21.0
3
22.0
3
25.0
3
26.0
3
27.0
3
28.0
32,500
2,560
2,620
2,680
2,740
2,800
01.0
3
04.0
3
05.0
3
06.0
3
07.0
3
08.0
3
11.0
3
12.0
3
13.0
3
14.0
3
15.0
3
18.0
3
19.0
3
20.0
3
21.0
3
22.0
3
25.0
3
26.0
3
27.0
3
28.0
310,800
10,900
11,000
11,100
11,200
11,300
01.0
3
04.0
3
05.0
3
06.0
3
07.0
3
08.0
3
11.0
3
12.0
3
13.0
3
14.0
3
15.0
3
18.0
3
19.0
3
20.0
3
21.0
3
22.0
3
25.0
3
26.0
3
27.0
3
28.0
332.0
32.4
32.8
33.2
33.6
34.0
01.0
3
04.0
3
05.0
3
06.0
3
07.0
3
08.0
3
11.0
3
12.0
3
13.0
3
14.0
3
15.0
3
18.0
3
19.0
3
20.0
3
21.0
3
22.0
3
25.0
3
26.0
3
27.0
3
28.0
36,200
6,280
6,360
6,440
6,520
6,600
Other indices
Little change
Stocks report
Cyprus continued to domi-nate headlines last week, withinvestors nervously reactingto any news from the smallisland nation-state. Europeanequity markets retreated onMonday after a senior eurozone official stated that theCyprus bailout could be usedto shape other regional bank-ing problems by shifting morerisk to depositors. Poland’sWIG and WIG20 closedlower for the day, falling 1.07percent and 1.29 percent,respectively.
Better-than-expected hou-sing and manufacturing datafrom the US helped pull upequity markets on Tuesday,offsetting concerns about theCyprus bailout. Polish equi-ties saw a mini-rally late in theday, gaining back some lossesfrom Monday. Poland’s blue-chip index saw a 0.60 percentrise, while the broader WIG
Despite a disappointingItalian bond auction as wellas bleak euro zone economicdata, Polish equities sawimpressive gains on Wednes-day. Both the WIG andWIG20 gained more than 1percent for the day, withshares of PKN Orlen leadingthe way with a 5.29 percentgain.
Shares reversed directionon Thursday. Despite gainsthroughout the old conti-nent, Polish shares returnedto normality, after postingunusually large gains the daybefore. The WIG fell by 0.22percent, while the WIG20saw a 0.64 percent slide.
On Friday, markets wereclosed as the Easter holidaydrew near. ●
Andrew Nawrocki WBJ market analyst
APRIL 2-7, 2013 SSPPOORRTTSS www.wbj.pl 21
Soccer
Poland back to winning ways
SH
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TO
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Robert Lewandowski (with ball)
Robert Lewandowskiscored twice in a 5-0victory
Poland defeated Europeanminnows San Marino 5-0 inWarsaw last week. And whileanything other than victorywould have been a disaster forthe White Eagles, the win stillrestored some much-neededpride following their 3-1 homedefeat to Ukraine four daysearlier.
The German Bundesliga’sleading scorer, RobertLewandowski, was named cap-tain for the night and his twopenalty-kick goals, which ended
a nine-game international scor-ing drought, helped propel hisside to a comfortable win over ateam with only one win in theirhistory. The Borussia Dort-mund striker opened the scor-ing from the spot on 21 min-utes. His Dortmund teammate¸ukasz Piszczek doubled theadvantage just seven minuteslater after he reacted first toAdrian Mierzejewski’s lowcross to fire the ball past SanMarino keeper Aldo Simoncini.
After the break MrLewandowski once againscored from the penalty spot,although this time he was some-what fortunate as Mr Simoncini
guessed the right way. Butthough he managed to get afirm hand on the ball, it stillcrept over the line to take MrLewandowski’s internationaltally to 17 goals in 53 appear-ances. ¸ukasz Teodorczyk andJakub Kosecki completed therout with goals in the 61st and92nd minutes, respectively, toleave Poland in third place inWorld Cup qualifying Group Hwith eight points. Next up forthe White Eagles is a friendlywith Liechtenstein on June 4 inKraków, before they faceGroup H strugglers Moldovaaway in Chisinau on June 7.
DDaavviidd IInngghhaamm
American football
Warsaw Eagles beat Koz∏y PoznaƒThe Eagles kicked offthe 2013 season with a39-0 win
The Warsaw Eagles started offthe 2013 Topliga season with abang, taking apart Koz∏y(Goats) Poznaƒ 39-0. Widereceiver Clarence DouglasAnderson scored three touch-downs for the Eagles, whohave never lost to the Koz∏y ineight encounters.
Though the bright sun atkickoff could have been mis-taken for a midsummer scene,the ring of snow piled uparound the field and the chillin the air told otherwise, astemperatures plunged wellbelow the freezing mark forone of the coldest PLFA regu-lar season games in memory.
Following a Koz∏y turnoveron the opening drive, MrAnderson scored on Warsaw’ssecond offensive play, takingthe ball in from the 27-yardline. The game settled downquickly after that score, andWarsaw began to wear downthe Poznaƒ defense with amethodical running game thatwould eventually light up thescoreboard five times in thecontest.
Warsaw led 20-0 at halftimeon the strength of second-quarter touchdown runs by Mr
Anderson and Piotr Osu-chowski, who scored twice.Koz∏y tried getting the offensegoing with two different quar-terbacks, Patryk Barczak andKrzysztof Cymbrowski, butneither was able to crack astout Warsaw defense.
Mr Osuchowski and DawidWi´ckowski both scored in thethird quarter, and the Eagleswrapped up the scoring in thefourth when Shane Gimzothrew his first touchdown passof the season, a 43-yarder toMr Anderson.
In their Topliga debut thecapital’s other team, the War-saw Spartans, were given theunenviable task of playing
Poland’s defending champi-ons, Seahawks Gdynia. Thefinal scoreline of 48-0 in favorof the visiting Seahawks didnot quite do justice to howwell the Spartans played, buthighlights that a lot of workneeds to be done if this year isto be a successful one for theSpartans.
Elsewhere, the Wroc∏awGiants beat the AZS SilesiaRebels 61-0, with running backJamal Schulters scoring fourtouchdowns. The weekend’sother game,Wroclaw Devils vsZag∏´bia Steelers, was calledoff with the field unplayabledue to the wintry conditions.
AAlleexx ZZaarrggaanniiss
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The Eagles’ Dominik Koniusz runs with the ball in War-
saw’s 39-0 win over Poznaƒ.
APRIL 2-7, 2013LLIIFFEESSTTYYLLEE22 www.wbj.pl
Beyond the Great Wall. Chinese art from the collection of MNWOngoing until May 12National MuseumAl. Jerozolimskie 3 Warsaw
This recently opened exhibitionpresents the most interestingexhibits from the NationalMuseum’s oriental art collec-tion. The collection, which con-tains over 5,000 pieces, includ-ing sculptures, paintings, callig-raphy, furniture and ceramics,
is the largest of its kind inPoland and offers a fascinatingopportunity to gain insight intothe past lives of the elite inChina’s society, as well as thecountry’s beliefs, symbols andcustoms.
The museum’s collection oforiental art was partiallydestroyed during World War II,but has been largely rebuiltthanks to donations from pri-vate collections. The firstimportant post-war donationwas in 1951, a bequest of theacclaimed pianist and politicianIgnacy Jan Paderewski, whoaccumulated a wide collectionof Chinese art and artifactsduring his life. In 1962, a groupof several hundred woodcutsand rubbings, collected bySinology professor WitoldJab∏oƒski, were also donated byhis widow. Some of the mostvaluable pieces come from thecollection of activist in exileRoman Kuty∏owski, who pur-chased them during his timespent living in New York duringthe inter-war period.
Most of the exhibits arefrom the Ming (1368-1644) andQing (1644-1911) dynasties,with some pieces also datingfrom the beginning of the 20thcentury.
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Exhibition
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A Hawk and a HacksawApril 14Pardon To TuPl. Grzybowski 12 / 16 Warsaw
A Hawk and a Hacksaw, a duohailing from Albuquerque,New Mexico, will visit Polandonce again in mid-April. Theband, which consists of JeremyBates on accordion/vocals andHeather Trost on violin, pro-duce mainly instrumentalmusic that’s influenced byEastern European, Balkan andTurkish traditional folk sounds.Their name name is a refer-ence to the line from “Don
Quixote.” The original quotewas changed from “Handsaw”to “Hacksaw” and is a refer-ence to the Aksak meter that isprevalent in Balkan and Turk-ish music.
Their self-titled debutalbum, which was released in2002, first brought them towider attention when it wasused as the soundtrack for thedocumentary “Zizek!” Theduo’s sixth studio album “Youhave Already Gone to theOther World” was released onApril 2.
Lauded by traditionalmusic fans as well as newcom-
ers to the genre, Michael Gira,lead singer of fellow US bandSwans, said of the band recent-ly that, “their instruments andtheir voices are ecstatic swords,swooping with blithe abandonthrough the soft flesh of theworld, killing and then discard-ing the ordinary and the mun-dane with an unbridled com-mitment to joy and mesmeric,gleeful self-immolation.”
Tickets for the event arepriced from z∏.25.
DDaavviidd IInngghhaamm
For more information logon to pardontotu.blogspot.com
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A Hawk and a Hacksaw
Dancing beauty with swallow, Mianzhu, 1930-1932
Yay, it’s golf season. Time to slip intoargyle socks, snazzy plaid shorts and apastel sweater vest. Time to sipumbrella drinks with our pals, Muffy,Buddy, Aggie and Skip. Time to hitthe links and smack around moreballs than a crazed urologist wieldinga reflex hammer.
Wait ... Is it golf season? Of courseit is. Right?
Argh, our dark secret is revealedat last: Techeye is a golf neophyte.Shocking, isn’t it? With our noblemien, patrician heart and widelyenvied collection of world leaders’used handkerchiefs (the crusties ofthe upper crust, if you will), everyone
just assumes we’re an avid golfer. Alas, it’s not true. We know a
wedge from a wedgie, but that’s it.So we’re not sure if it’s golf season
or not, but no matter. We’re lookingat golf gadgets this week and that’sthat. They’ll eventually be relevant, atleast for golfers that suck enough toneed gadgets. Like Techeye.
First up is the 3BaysGSA Puttfrom Hong Kong-based golf gurus3Bays (3bayslife.com). The pointygizmo snugly plugs into the butt endof a putter and measures everythingabout your swing that you could wantit to measure, including attack angle,tempo, down- and back-swing timesand impact speed. All of this data isviewable via an iPhone app that alsolets you analyze performance andconsistency. You can also zoom in,compare swing arcs and do othernerdy golf stuff.
Worry not, at just 9.8g the3BaysGSA Putt shouldn’t handicapyour putt (though maybe a handi-capped putt is a good thing, whoknows). And if you already own a setof golf clubs, the device’s $199.99price tag probably won’t affect yourwallet (the app is free). Do yourself afavor, though, and don’t watch theultra-awkward golf-pro testimonial
videos 3Bays has on its site. Theymight affect your sense of emotion-al well-being.
Then there’s the GolfBuddy Voice,a subscription-free GPS device thatfigures out which course you’re play-ing and alerts you, in a kind of annoy-ing voice, how far you are from thenext hole (Golfbuddyglobal.com). Ithas a capacious-sounding 40,000-course capacity, too.
But wait, there’s more. TheGolfBuddy Voice has five buttons! Amono LCD screen! It clips on hats!And only weighs 28g!
You get all that for just $149.99.
And one last thing – you can turnoff the annoying voice. But why
should you?
Irritatingopponents to distraction is
a great tactic, one that Techeyeemploys on a daily basis.
But we digress. Let’s turn now tothe SensoGlove (Sensoglove.com), anewfangled golf glove that’s designed,quite obviously, to senso. In broaderterms, it is “the first and only golfglove with a built-in computer thatconstantly reads your grip pressure.”
That’s important, because it helpsavoid “death grip,” a sinister tech-nique that is much admired amongShaolin monks but is bad for golfers.
So the SensoGlove keeps track ofyour grip and helps you develop“increased club head awareness.”How grand.
The SensoGlove costs $89 andreplacement gloves can be had for$22.48. Why you’d need replacementgloves is unclear, though we speculatethat it has something to do with senso-overload.
Anyway, with gadgets like these,Techeye’s days of shame may be over.We’ll keep our much-whacked ballson the fairway and maybe we’ll evenget some new high scores. Fifty overpar, here we come! ●
APRIL 2-7, 2013 LLAASSTT WWOORRDD www.wbj.pl 23
Gadgets to add some more slice to your par holesTech Eye
Ever suffered the attentions of a crazed urologist? Let us know: [email protected]
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Centre forContemporary Art atUjazdowski Castle ul. Jazdów 2www.csw.art.pl
Czarna Gallery ul. Marsza∏kowska 4www.czarnagaleria.art.pl
