Total ..............................................5
Total E&P Koblandy ....................5
Totalizator Sportowy ....................2
TP Group ....................................10
Ubraniometr ......................Sup 2,4
Wrapp ..........................................5
X-Trade Brokers DM..................20
Zero Motorcycles ......................23
The draw for the group stagesof Euro 2012 has throwntogether some interestingmatch-ups, none more so thanthe meeting of rivals Polandand Russia, who face off inWarsaw on June 12.
To say the two countrieshave history is something of anunderstatement.
Much of Poland spent 123years under Russian control fol-lowing the third and final parti-tion of the Polish-Lithuaniancommonwealth in 1795. Later,during World War II, 22,000army officers and other Polishnationals were murdered by theSoviet secret police in andaround Katyn Forest, Russia. Itwas a crime that Soviet authori-ties denied was committed byRussia for the next 50 years.
Following the end of WWIIand the creation of the People’sRepublic of Poland, the countrybecame a satellite communiststate of the Soviet Union, adevelopment which still causes
bitterness among many Poleswho lived through the era.
More recently, relationsbetween the two countries havebeen roiled by the 2010Smolensk disaster, whichclaimed the lives of 96 people,including major military andpolitical figures, among themthen-President Lech Kaczyƒski.
A government investigationinto the tragedy subsequentlyfound that both Russian andPolish authorities were at faultfor the accident. But some –notably opposition party Lawand Justice (PiS) – lay the blamefirmly at Russia’s door, with thecurrent PiS leader and the twinbrother of the late president,Jaros∏aw Kaczyƒski, publiclystating that Russia had purpose-ly caused the crash.
Last week, the controversysurrounding Smolensk lookedset to once again beleaguer rela-tions between the two countries,as Poland’s Minister of SportJoanna Mucha announced she
was in discussions with Russianrepresentatives regarding thepossibility of changing theirEuro 2012 base.
The Russian soccer teamand management are set to stayat Warsaw’s Bristol Hotel, whichis located in the heart of the cap-ital next to Poland’s PresidentialPalace. However, on June 10,two days after the start of thetournament, a demonstration –fervent Smolensk disaster con-spiracy theorists hold themmonthly – to mark the anniver-sary of the catastrophe is set totake place outside the palace.
The Russian soccer associa-tion has since announced that ithas no intention of changingaccommodation, but the factremains that while Poland isdoing everything it can to showitself to be a modern, civilized,European nation, anti-Russianprotests could negatively harmits image at a time when thewhole world is watching.
DDaavviidd IInngghhaamm
350,000was the number of people arrested due to Poland’s
strict drug possession laws between 2001 and 2011.
2.9%is how much Poland’s industrial production increased
in April 2012, higher than a month earlier, but lessthan analysts’ forecasts of 3.2 percent.
z∏.3,719was the total amount of fines imposed on businessesby the competition regulator for wrongful or illegal
conduct last year. A total of 431 companies were fined.
5th from lastis where Poland came in an innovation ranking of EU
countries in April.
“Some in Europe think Poland’s face ispowdered-up, that Kaczyƒski’s Poland
is the real Poland.”EU Commissioner Janusz Lewandowski at the Innovation Congress in Warsaw,explaining how some European elites believe Law and Justice leader Jaros∏awKaczyƒski’s ultra-conservative views are more reflective of Poles’ actual viewsthan those of the current, centrist, ruling party Civic Platform.
Quote of the Week
Communist grandeur
This week Warsaw Insider takes you for a stroll aroundone of Warsaw's most bizarre neighborhoods with a lookat Plac Konstytucji, a gargantuan project built as a show-piece district by the communist regime after WWII.
On WBJ.pl
Numbers in the News
Company index
MAY28 TRADE & INVESTMENT CONFERENCEEvent: This conference brings together British and
Polish business leaders to discuss theprospects of enhancing investment flowsbetween the two countries and will mark the20th anniversary year of the British PolishChamber of Commerce.
Location: WarsawWeb: bpcc.org.pl
28-29 POLISH REAL ESTATE FORUMEvent: The forum provides independent, profession-
al and reliable knowledge about the process-es that occur on the property market inPoland. This unique event aims are to shareinsights and opinions on the functioning ofthe market over the past year.
Location: SopotWeb: nowyadres.pl
31 LEWIATAN BUSINESS ANGELS SEMINAREvent: The seminar is held to share the experience
of LBA’s Italian partners in evaluating proj-ects and best teams, structuring deals, valu-
ing them and preparing for exits, so as toincrease the number and quality of dealsclosed in our angel group. Registration untilMay 30, 2012.
Location: WarsawWeb: lba.pl
JUNE1-3 WALLSTREETEvent: The conference is the largest meeting of
investors in Central and Eastern Europe. Thisyear will mark the event’s 16th consecutiveedition and will take place in Zakopane, nes-tled in the Polish Tatra Mountains.
Location: ZakopaneWeb: wallstreet.org.pl
11 GEWINNEvent: The GEWINN Real Estate Conference is a
platform for commercial real estate andinvestments in Central, Eastern and South-eastern Europe – including Russia, CIS andTurkey.
Location: ViennaWeb: gewinn.com
May/June
DATELINE
Russia and Poland at Euro 2012
IN THE SPOTLIGHT
Figures in focus
Energy costsHousehold electricity prices including all taxes, average priceper 100 kWh in H2 2011, selected EU27 countries
Markets swung wildly lastweek, dropping ahead of anEU summit on Wednesdayand picking up again onThursday, although leadersfailed to decide on any furthercourse of action for facing theeuro-zone crisis.
“The risk of a Greek exit
has increased considerably,and comments from euro-zone policymakers suggesttheir thinking has changed.Until recently a Greek exit wasout of the question. Now itseems inevitable, and theythink they are better preparedand that there is a chance they
can block contagion,” saidPiotr Bielski, a senior econo-mist at BZ WBK.
“The market swingsbetween optimism that euro-zone leaders will be able tostop this contagion and pes-simism that they won’t, inwhich case the consequencescould be dramatic,” he added.
Indeed, the dominant posi-tion among euro-zone leadersafter last week’s EU summitwas that they would stand byGreece if the country standsby the terms of its €174 billionbailout.
“We want Greece to remainin the euro zone. But the pre-condition is that Greeceupholds the commitments ithas made,” German Chancel-lor Angela Merkel told jour-nalists after the meeting.
Germany’s central banksaid last week the conse-quences of a Greek euro-zoneexit “for the euro area andGermany would be consider-able, but manageable givenprudent crisis management.”
It also emerged last weekthat senior euro-zone financeministry officials had held aconference call during which
each country was asked todetail the contingency plan-ning their treasuries had doneto prepare for a Greek depar-ture.
Greeks go to the polls onJune 17 in a parliamentaryelection that is widely per-ceived as a referendum for oragainst Greece remaining inthe euro.
The view from PolandPoland’s markets and currencywere not spared last week, andPolish Prime Minister DonaldTusk told the Sejm that “In ouropinion we have to do every-thing so that Europe is pre-pared in the case of Greece’sexit from the euro area.”
Although the risk of conta-gion in Poland is much lowerthan in the euro zone, in thelast few years there has been ahigh inflow of foreign capitalinto the country, said Mr Biel-ski. “Today about one-third ofoutstanding treasury bondsare held in foreign capital.That’s a lot, and it means thatsignificant funds could flee incase of a panic.”
Meanwhile, Danske mar-kets analysts warned that CEEcurrencies had already comeunder pressure and that thistrend could “easily escalate ...we are likely to start revisingour FX forecast for the regionin a more negative direction.”
Jaros∏aw Kaczyƒski, leader ofPoland’s biggest oppositionparty, Law and Justice (PiS),has called for a political“ceasefire” during the upcom-ing Euro 2012 soccer champi-onship, saying he is doing so“unconditionally.”
“We want that period to bea calm one and we will abideby that rule,” Mr Kaczyƒskitold journalists.
The PiS leader said hisparty would not be holding anypublic gatherings or eventsduring the period.
Some had feared that theoutspoken Mr Kaczyƒski andhis party would organize polit-ical demonstrations criticizingPrime Minister Donald Tuskand his government during thechampionships.
In response to Mr Kaczyƒs-ki’s announcement Mr Tusk,who heads the Civic Platform(PO) party, said he was takingthe PiS leader’s pledge in goodfaith. He added that what ismost important is that Euro2012 takes place in a “peacefulatmosphere.”
He then publicly invited MrKaczyƒski to attend the open-ing match with him. The PiSleader, however, declined theoffer, saying he would bewatching the games on his TVset “like millions of Poles.”
Worries remain though thatlabor unions such as Solidaritywill take the chance duringEuro 2012 to protest againstthe government’s recent deci-sion to raise the retirement agefor men and women to 67. The
bill has been passed by bothhouses of Poland’s parliamentand now awaits the president’ssignature.
Last week, the Solidaritytrade union held protests infront of the Presidential Palacein Warsaw and the union’sleader, Piotr Duda, met withPresident Bronis∏aw Komo-rowski to urge him not to signthe bill.
“Some people call on me notto sign this law, others are call-ing on me to do it immediately.... I will do what the constitutionsays, I mean I do not plan anyundue delay, but I have to takethe time to deeply study all thepros and cons,” the presidenttold journalists after the meet-ing. “As of today I do not seethreats to the constitutionalnature of the law,” he added.
Protests not popularA recent Homo Homini sur-vey indicates that 72 percent of
Poles are opposed to unionsholding protests during thetournament.
When asked about Solidar-ity’s plans during the games,Mr Duda said that while theyhad not yet decided whether toprotest during the tourna-ment, he felt Mr Tusk’s gov-ernment was “playing a cynicalPR game … by getting thepresident to sign the pensionreform bill quickly before the
Euro and then pushing Soli-darity to the wall by paintingus as those who want to spoilthe tournament with protests.”
“Then, after Euro 2012,people will go on vacation andit will be game over [regardingthe effort to stop the reformgoing through],” he added.
The tournament, which isbeing co-hosted by Poland andUkraine, runs from June 8 toJuly 1. RReemmii AAddeekkooyyaa
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German Chancellor Angela Merkel is trying to stay
tough on Greece
JA
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Jaros∏aw Kaczyƒski has turned down the PM’s offer to
attend the opening match of Euro 2012
As the prospect of Greece leaving the euro zonebecomes more real, euro-zone leaders are stillno closer to a common stance on resolving thecrisis
36,000
36,400
36,800
37,200
37,600
38,000
24.0523.0522.0521.0518.05
Steep dropThe Warsaw Stock Exchange’s WIG index close, May 18-24
Source: Money.pl
Poland’s main opposition leader says his partywants peace and calm during the tournament,but it is still unclear whether trade unions wantthe same
MAY 28 – JUNE 3, 2012NNEEWWSS4
Poland ill-
prepared for
mobile
paymentsPoland came in 26th in a
ranking of 34 countries
regarding readiness to
launch mobile
payments. Singapore
came first, followed by
Canada, the US, Kenya
and South Korea,
according to
MasterCard’s Mobile
Payments Readiness
Index. The main reason
for Poland’s lowly
position is that it lacks a
legal framework that
would allow the
infrastructure for mobile
payments to be launched
quickly.
San Leon
Energy gets
Praszka
concession
The Ministry of the
Environment has
awarded San Leon
Energy the Praszka
concession, an area in the
Southern Permian/SW
Carboniferous Basin. The
land, which covers 1,200
sq km, will be used for
shale gas exploration
purposes. ●
www.wbj.pl
NATO’s ability todefend its own territorymust remain thealliance’s top focus,said Polish officials inChicago
While the May 20-21 NATOsummit in Chicago confirmedthat the ISAF mission inAfghanistan would wind up bythe end of 2014, it left openquestions about the alliance’scontribution to the country’ssecurity after that date.
Poland was not among thecountries to pledge financialcontribution, with Polish Presi-dent Bronis∏aw Komorowskisaying that post-2014 aid toAfghanistan will be regulatedby “completely new decisions, anew mandate and a new con-cept.”
According to Beata Górka-Winter, international securityprogram coordinator at the Pol-ish Institute of InternationalAffairs, while the official stanceis that Poland is studying theidea of participating financiallyafter 2014, “Our message is thatPoland was engaged in
Afghanistan for many yearswith the largest NATO contin-gent, so we suggest looking forother possibilities.”
One of these, she said, isthat other countries that did notparticipate militarily might con-tribute more. Another is thatAfghanistan’s neighbors con-tribute too. “China, India andIran are currently the biggestinvestors in Afghanistan, soright now NATO is also pro-tecting the economy and thustheir investments.”
The NATO summit’s “Dec-laration on Afghanistan” envis-ages a post-2014 force of228,500 with an estimatedannual budget of $4.1 billion,with the aim for Afghanistan toassume full financial responsi-bility “no later than 2024.”
In the meantime, the USadministration is unwilling tofoot the entire bill, and hasbeen seeking pledges fromallies of $1.3 billion. Amongconcrete contributions thathave already been announcedare the UK ($100 million annu-ally), Italy ($120 million), Aus-tralia ($100 million) and Turkey($20 million). The suggested
annual contribution for Polandis $20 million, Foreign AffairsMinister Rados∏aw Sikorskitold reporters earlier in May.
On the home frontIn Chicago, both Mr Sikorskiand Mr Komorowski under-lined that maintaining NATO’scapacity to defend the territoryof its members remained of cru-cial importance to Poland.
“Much of Europe – primari-ly the countries which emergedfrom the former Soviet Bloc –
still does not enjoy the securitythat other European stateswithin NATO enjoy,” said MrSikorski in a speech at theChicago Council on GlobalAffairs. “NATO’s core ArticleV capabilities need to staysharp. This means a robustexercises policy, exercises withtroops – not just staff officersand their maps – [as well as]stronger contingency planning,and pooling of allied intelli-gence.”
Part of reaffirming and
sharpening this capability,despite the fact that technologygrows more expensive and thatdefense budgets are under pres-sure, is the alliance’s new Con-nected Forces and SmartDefense initiatives, which pavethe way for multinationaldefense projects among allies.
“I want to thank PresidentObama that we have thoseplans. But it took 10 years tostart planning,” Mr Sikorskisaid.
AAlliiccee TTrruuddeellllee
NATO
Poland reluctant to foot post-2014 bill in Afghanistan
Media patronage
Central & EasternEuropean entrepreneurs
meet in Warsaw On May 24-25 the Novotel WarszawaCentrum Hotel hosted the Center forEntrepreneurship and Executive Devel-opment’s (CEED) “Growing Up & Out”conference. The event served as an oppor-tunity for European entrepreneurs to gaininsight on expansion into Central andEastern Europe, as well as to participatein various networking activities.
Approximately 100 business ownersfrom Albania, Armenia, Bosnia, Bulgaria,Kosovo, Macedonia, Romania, Serbia andSlovenia visited Warsaw to attend.
The first day of the conference washeld under the slogan “Doing Business inPoland.” Guests visited the Warsaw StockExchange to gain information aboutopportunities available for foreign com-panies both on the bourse’s main floorand on its alternative market NewCon-nect.
This was followed by a presentation byJacek Adamski, deputy director general atthe Polish Confederation of PrivateEmployers – Lewiatan, who shared hisexperience in conducting business in theregion. The day ended with the panel dis-cussion “What does it take to make it inPoland?” during which foreign entrepre-neurs discussed their experiences con-cerning introducing companies into the
Polish market, as well as cross bordercooperation.
On the second day Jerry Colonna, anearly investor in Twitter who has beennamed as one of the 100 Most InfluentialPeople for the New Economy by UpsideMagazine, conducted a presentation enti-tled “Become the entrepreneur & CEOthat can manage and induce change.” MrColonna discussed issues such as dealingwith extreme mental and physical stress,as well as other challenges that entrepre-neurs often face.
This address was followed by two paneldiscussions entitled “Sharing the Entre-preneurial Journey” and “Find the Fund-ing.” Guest speakers included entrepre-neurs, CEOs and investors, who discussedtheir experiences both in establishing andrunning a business, as well as in findingfinancial backing for various projects.
The conference also included variousnetworking opportunities in between thekeynote addresses and panel discussions.In addition to team building and groupnetworking activities, attendees were alsoable to meet one on one.
CEED is currently comprised of over1,000 members and has already assistedover 10,000 Central and Eastern Euro-pean entrepreneurs. ●
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Polish military policemen conduct training for the Afghan National Police in Ghazni
Poland-Lithuania row
Lithuanian president slamsPoland on Russia relationsDalia Grybauskaitesaid Poland favorsRussia over smallallies. Poles point outthat they aredefending Baltic skies
Diplomatic difficulties be-tween Poland and Lithuaniashow no signs of abating, asLithuanian President DaliaGrybauskaite is reported tohave taken a swipe at Polandwhile on a visit to the US toattend last week’s NATO sum-mit in Chicago.
Ms Grybauskaite, whilespeaking to a gathering of theLithuanian-American commu-nity in Illinois, said that “Pol-ish politicians have decidedthat … it is better to have Rus-sia as a friend, and all othersmaller countries, which arenot so important, couldbecome scapegoats. It seemsthat this is the role we havebeen given,” the Lithuania Tri-bune news portal reported.
In response, Polish ForeignMinister Rados∏aw Sikorskitold journalists, “We don’thave the original transcript ofthe statements, but I can’timagine that such a statement
could come now when Polishpilots are protecting the skiesover the Baltic states.”
“It seems to me that itwould be easier to establishrights under the EuropeanCharter on Minority Lan-guages, than to build exotictheories,” he added, referringto ongoing efforts by Lithua-nia’s Polish minority to usePolish versions of their namesin official documents.
Polish-Lithuanian ties havebeen strained in recent years,largely due to Polish accusa-tions that the Lithuanian gov-ernment has discriminated
against Polish minorities wholive in Lithuania. Over 6 per-cent of Lithuania’s 3.2 millioncitizens are of Polish origin,making them the largestminority in the Baltic state.
Polish president Bronis∏awKomorowski refrained fromcommenting on Ms Gry-bauskaite’s words directly,though he did say that duringlast week’s NATO summit inChicago he had “the satisfac-tion of discussing the Polishinvolvement in the security ofthe Baltic states, including air-policing missions.”
RReemmii AAddeekkooyyaa
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Polish politicians use Lithuania as a “scapegoat,” Ms
Grybauskaite reportedly said
Energy
Kulczyk strikes gasagain in Tanzania
MAY 28 – JUNE 3, 2012 BBUUSSIINNEESSSS www.wbj.pl 5
Africa has “hugepotential” forinvestment, saysKulczyk Investments’CEO
Ophir, an oil and gas explo-ration company in which Kul-czyk Investments holds a 10.2percent stake, struck massivegas reserves for the second timein just a few weeks off the coastof Tanzania in May.
Recoverable gas at theMzia-1 well is estimated atbetween 2 and 6 trillion cubicfeet. Prior to Mzia-1, the firmand its partner, British gas pro-ducer BG Group, estimatedtotal gross recoverableresources at their Tanzania off-shore wells at 7 TCF. In April,results from drilling at Ophir’sJodari-1 exploration well hadalready doubled the Firm’s esti-mated gross recoverable gasreserves in the country.
The latest discovery wasdescribed by Ophir EnergyCEO Nick Cooper as “a majorstep towards a Tanzanian LNGhub development.”
Although he declined toreveal if Kulczyk Investments isplanning to acquire moreshares in Ophir or other com-panies prospecting for gas inAfrica, CEO Dariusz Mioduskisaid that the continent plays a
“very important role” in thefirm’s strategy.
“[Our firm] already investsin 12 African countries such asGabon, Kenya, Madagascar,Nigeria, Somalia, Tanzania andothers. We believe huge poten-tial lies in that region not onlybecause of natural resourcesbut also because of all thedevelopment projects that willhave to be done there, forexample in the infrastructure ordownstream sector,” Mr Mio-duski said.
“In our opinion investing inAfrica is not only a chance forcompanies like KI, but it canalso be a great opportunity forPoland and the whole Euro-pean economy,” he added.
Although KI’s stake inOphir has not yet brought tan-gible financial gains – in 2011the firm made a $19.1 millionloss – Mr Mioduski said he wasalready sure that Ophir will be avery successful project forinvestors.
Indeed, the share price ofthe London Stock Exchange-listed firm has soared from£2.50 in December 2011 to£5.90 in mid-May, valuing KI’sstake at £239 million, or z∏.1.27billion. According to Puls Bizne-su, Polish billionaire Jan Kul-czyk purchased a 13 percentstake in Ophir through hisinvestment fund in 2006 foraround z∏.400 million.
AAlliiccee TTrruuddeellllee
Social gifting
Wrapp social gift-card service comingto PolandA new app will linkPolish Wrapp retailerswith Facebook
Already available in the UK,the US, Norway and Sweden,Swedish social gifting start-upWrapp aims to expand itsonline social gift-giving serviceto Poland. Using the Wrappapp, Facebook users are able to“celebrate” their friends bysending them free gift cardsfrom various retailers such asH&M, Sephora and Gap.
Choosing from the list ofparticipating companies, usersare able to add gift cards totheir friend’s “wallet” and con-tribute additional funds to raisethe card’s value if they wish.Friends then receive a notifica-tion about their gift via Face-book, e-mail, or SMS. Since theapp’s debut last November, 1.7million gift cards have alreadybeen sent by 250,000 users.
The app is appealing tocompanies as it provides acheap alternative marketingstrategy. On average, the valueof purchases generated byWrapp is four to six timesgreater than the initial value of
the gift card. Customersredeem their gift cards by pre-senting a bar code sent to theirsmart phone to the sales clerk.
Thomas Krotkiewski, thecountry manager for Wrapp,hopes to launch Wrapp inPoland by the fall.
Though participating com-panies are yet to be revealed,the list will most likely includethe country’s best-known retail-ers. Mr Krotkiewski believesWrapp’s success in Sweden andthe UK can easily be repeatedin Poland, since “the need forgift-giving is a universal con-cept.”
Though smart phones arenot yet nearly as popular inPoland as they are in countrieswhere Wrapp is already avail-able, Mr Krotkiewski does notsee this as an obstacle to theapp’s popularity.
“Our target group is youngpeople who are already veryinvolved with social media viatheir smart phones,” he said.
With Polish smartphonesales on the rise, the number ofpotential Wrapp users is onlyexpected to grow.
NNaattaalliiaa KKooppyyttnniikk
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Kulczyk Investments has struck massive reserves off
the coast of Tanzania
IKEA opens €140 millionproduction plant in PolandSwedish furniture giant IKEAGroup last Thursday officiallyopened a factory in Koszyki,Podlaskie voivodship, innortheastern Poland.
The new plant, which em-ploys some 250 workers,includes a workshop for produc-ing furniture panels, as well as asawmill. A plant where panelscan be cut to size and laminatedhas also been constructed aspart of the investment.
According to the PolishInformation and ForeignInvestment Agency the facto-ry, construction on which waspartially funded by the EUInnovative Economy Pro-gramme, was the largest for-eign investment in Poland in2010. Work on the schemelasted for nearly two years andcost €140 million.
The project, whose investorwas IKEA Group subsidiary
Swedspan, is expected to turnout 250,000 cubic meters ofpaneling per year when itreaches full capacity.
Swedspan now plans tobuild a technological center inKoszyki to design new materi-als for IKEA. The investmentwill cost €2.6 million, manag-ing director for SwedspanPoland Laimonas Rackauskassaid during a press conference.
GGPP
Petrolinvest and Total signKazakhstan agreementOilTechnoGroup, a Kazakhcompany controlled by Gdynia-based oil company Petrolinvest,and Total E&P Koblandy, afirm owned by French compa-ny Total, have signed a cooper-ation agreement concerningoperations in Kazakhstan.
The two companies willnow continue exploring for oiland gas on the OTG conces-sion in Kazakhstan. TheFrench company has pledged
to invest $70 million, withwhich it plans to dig a deepborehole at the site. In returnfor the investment Total hasacquired a 50 percent stake inthe OTG concession.
The prospective resourcesthat could result from the con-tract are estimated at 1,909.2million barrels, Petrolinvestsaid in a statement. The valueof Petrolinvest’s share in thelicense amounts to $2.3 billion.
“Total’s cooperation wasrequested not only in terms offinancing, but also the wealthof experience in the develop-ment of hydrocarbon depositsresulting from its handling ofoil fields around the world,including in Kazakhstan, whereit is one of the largestinvestors,” said Bertrand LeGuern, president of Petrolin-vest.
DDaavviidd IInngghhaamm
¸ódê to
expropriate
Enkev’s land?
The city of ¸ódê has told
Enkev, a manufacturer of
natural filling materials,
that if it does not accept
the city’s offer of z∏.21
million to relocate its
factory, the city will
expropriate the land on
which the facility sits in
order to build a highway.
The company had until
the end of May to make
its decision, the city hall
said. Enkev president
Czes∏aw Grochulski told
WBJ that his firm cannot
accept the compensation,
since it is barely half of
what Enkev would need
to relocate. He added that
accepting the deal would
force Enkev to close.
Facebook
office in Poland
Facebook, the biggest
social networking site in
the world, which
currently has 8.3 million
Polish users, is set to
open an office in Poland.
The location of Facebook
Poland is as yet
unconfirmed, but the
company will sell
advertising to Polish
entities. ●
MAY 28 – JUNE 3, 2012BBUUSSIINNEESSSS6 www.wbj.pl
Travel
PPooppuullaarriittyy ooff ddoommeessttiiccaaiirr ttrraavveell ttaakkeess ooffffCheap flights and newconnections arepersuading Poles toforgo train and cartravel
High gas prices and chaotictrain schedules are not theonly factors drawing Poles toregional airports. In the pastyear, LOT Polish Airlines andits main competitor, OLTExpress, have made travelingaround the country by airmuch more popular byexpanding their servicesaround Poland.
The trend first took rootlast summer, when Eurolot, anairline owned by LOT, beganits own routes betweenKraków, Gdaƒsk and Wroc∏awfor z∏.199 a flight. The successof this venture prompted OLTExpress to open 30 connec-tions between 10 cities forz∏.79 each way.
Since then, the low pricesand convenience of theseflights have continued to drawmuch larger numbers of peo-ple to travel around the coun-try by plane.
Most of Poland’s major air-
ports have been renovated orexpanded in the past few yearsand are therefore capable ofservicing the influx of travel-ers. The numbers are impres-sive: Gdaƒsk saw a year-on-year increase of 203 percentthis April, while Wroc∏aw andKatowice serviced 140 and 175percent more travelers re-spectively, according to areport by daily newspaperGazeta Wyborcza.
During April, 327,000 Polestraveled on domestic flights, a91 percent increase on the
same period a year earlier. LOT has not lost any
clients on its domestic flights,despite the success of OLTExpress. Instead, OLT clientsrepresent a new customerdemographic which is fre-quently choosing to travel byair instead of by car or train,Gazeta Wyborcza wrote.
Growth in the sector couldslow from 2015, when newhigh-speed Pendolino trainsare expected to begin operat-ing between Poland’s majorcities. NNaattaalliiaa KKooppyyttnniikk
Chemicals
AAccrroonn’’ss TTaarrnnóóww bbiidd‘‘ttoooo llooww’’ ssaayyss TTrreeaassuurryy Analysts sayshareholders shouldhold out for a higheroffer
Polish Treasury MinisterMiko∏aj Budzanowski toldreporters last week that anoffer by Russian fertilizermaker Acron to buy up to 66percent in Polish chemicalscompany Azoty Tarnów is toolow.
At z∏.36 per share the offeris actually 12.1 percent abovethe value stock-listed Tarnówclosed at on the day before thebid was made, in mid-May.
Nevertheless, analysts saythat the offer, which runs from
June 6 through June 22,undervalues the company,since it has good long-termprospects following its pur-chase of several smaller chem-ical firms.
“Given that the offerincludes the sale of a controlpremium, the minimum offerprice shareholders would like-ly ask for is over z∏.40,” said¸ukasz Prokopiuk, analyst atbrokerage house IDMSA.
“We currently value thecompany at z∏.41.50 per shareand are advising clients to holdthe stock and wait for Acron toincrease its offer,” said Kon-rad Anuszkiewicz, analyst atIpopema Securities.
But the Polish state, whose32.05 percent stake makes itthe largest shareholder in thecompany, will also have to takeinto consideration factorsother than the offer price.
The Russian company,which said in a statement thatit bid for Tarnów because itwanted to expand into Euro-pean markets, is also thoughtto be interested in the Polishcompany’s domestic rival,state-controlled Zak∏ady Azo-towe Pu∏awy. However, it isexpected to bid for the latterfirm only if it first wins controlof Tarnów.
Analysts says Acron’s plansto invest in Tarnów in order toincrease the Polish company’svalue would lead to a reduc-tion in Pu∏awy’s price, sincethe two Polish companiesoperate in some of the samemarkets. This would shrink the– potentially much larger –amount the state would getfrom selling Pu∏awy, hittingthe state budget.
Moreover, said Mr Pro-kopiuk, “If [Acron] buys bothfirms, then it would controlcompanies that account for 25percent of natural-gas con-sumption in Poland.” GGPP
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Eurolot began domestic flights to major Polish cities
last summer
Price joltAzoty Tarnów's share price over the last month (in z∏.)
Apr. 30 May 7 May 1431.97
33.11
34.26
35.41
36.56
May 21Source: Stooq.pl
Since 2000, Polandhas seen the sharpestincrease in the use oftemporary contractsfor young workers inthe EU
Nearly 75 million young peo-ple around the world are cur-rently without a job, anincrease of more than fourmillion since 2007, accordingto a new report by the Interna-tional Labour Organization(ILO).
The unemployment rateamong the world’s youth(those aged 15 to 24) in 2011reached 12.6 percent, the sameas it was in 2009. It is projectedto reach 12.7 percent this year.These figures are unlikelyto improve until 2016,warns the ILO.
Including those who,discouraged by a lack ofprospects, have given upon or postponed theprocess of looking for ajob, unemployment am-ong the world’s youth in2011 was 13.6 percent.
ILO doesn’t provideinformation about youthunemployment by coun-try, but says in its reportthat youth unemploy-ment in the “DevelopedEconomies & EuropeanUnion” region stood at18 percent in 2011.According to Eurostatdata, unemployment am-
ong people aged under 25 inthe EU stood at 21.4 percentin 2011, and at 25.8 percent inPoland. Spain and Greece hadthe highest youth unemploy-ment rates, at 46.4 and 44.4percent respectively.
Another sign of the times isthe rise in the use of tempo-rary contracts for young work-ers. Poland was the leader inthat category in Europe for theperiod between 2000 and2008, when temporaryemployment among youthsincreased by almost 50 per-
centage points, compared to4.3 percentage points for theEU.
Job creation for young peo-ple must become a key priorityin policy-making, according toJosé Manuel Salazar-Xiri-nachs, executive director ofthe ILO Employment Sector.
“This includes measuressuch as offering tax and otherincentives to enterprises whohire young people, efforts toreduce the skills mismatchamong youth, entrepreneur-ship programs that integrateskills training, mentoring andaccess to capital, and theimprovement of social protec-tion for the young,” he said ina statement.
AAlliiccee TTrruuddeellllee
MAY 28 – JUNE 3, 2012 FFIINNAANNCCEE && EECCOONNOOMMIICCSS www.wbj.pl 7
Media patronage
Classic and contemporaryAiley II, one of the mostprestigious modern balletcompanies in the US, per-formed in Poland for thefirst time on Friday, May25, at Warsaw’s Palace ofCulture and Science.
The company, which isknown for skillfully mixingclassical and contempo-rary choreography withmodern music, was in thecapital as part of its inter-national tour which willcontinue on to Germany,Estonia, Latvia andLithuania. For danceenthusiasts, the company’sperformance provided afresh approach to tradi-tional ballet choreography.
During their Warsaw performance,which was sponsored by Allegro Group,the troop danced to Shards as choreo-graphed by Donald Byrd. Performances ofSplendid Isolation II, The Hunt, and Reve-lations were also part of Friday night’s pro-gram.
Ailey II is the Ailey School’s junior
company in residence, and membership isseen as a crucial step for talented youngdancers and choreographers on their wayto the professional dance world. Today, theAiley School, which was founded in the1960s by dancer and choreographer AlvinAiley, trains over 3,500 students, and haspreformed for around 23 million people ina total of 71 countries. ●
Youth unemployment
Unemployment among world’syouth stuck at crisis peak levels
–20
–10
10
20
30
40
50
Spain
Latvi
a
Belgium
United
King
dom
Lithu
ania
Greece
Czech R
epub
lic
German
yEU
27
Hunga
ryIta
ly
Sloven
ia
Luxe
mbourg
Polan
d
Youth
Adult
0
Temporary solutionChange in the incidence of temporary employment in total employmentin the European Union, youth and adults, 2000-2008 (Q2)
So
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e:
Inte
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ab
ou
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Poland’s Finance Ministry sold
€11 bln to stabilize z∏oty in 2011
Poland’s Finance Ministry sold€11 billion on the currencymarket during 2011, it said in astatement. This was done in anattempt to stabilize the z∏otythroughout the year. At onepoint in 2011, the currencydropped to its lowest level infour years.
In a statement, the FinanceMinistry said it had convertedEU funds directly on the mar-ket, in addition to selling for-eign debt. In 2010, the ministrysold only €1.25 billion for thesame purpose.
Clearly more drastic meas-ures needed to be taken lastyear, when the z∏oty lost 11percent against the euro dueto worries that the euro-zonedebt crisis would harm the Pol-ish economy.
Maintaining a strongerz∏oty throughout 2011 curbedthe local-currency value ofPoland’s foreign debt. Conse-quently, the ministry was ableto prevent public debt fromsurpassing 55 percent of GDP.
If this level had beenbreached, it would have trig-gered legally mandated budgetcuts.
During the first quarter of2012, the z∏oty strengthenedand the ministry reverted to itsusual practice of exchangingfunds at the central bank
rather than on the currencymarket. However, the curren-cy weakened recently toaround z∏.4.40 against theeuro, prompting the FinanceMinistry to once again stepinto currency markets in mid-May.
NNaattaalliiaa KKooppyyttnniikk
SH
UT
TE
RS
TO
CK
The z∏oty dropped to its lowest level in four years in 2011
Industrial production rises,analysts unimpressedPoland’s industrial productionrose 2.9 percent year-on-yearin April, following on fromweak figures reported inMarch, according to the Cen-tral Statistical Office.
The increase in productionwas slightly lower than expect-ed, with analysts predicting
growth of around 3 percent.The largest rise was seen in
the construction industry,which saw growth of 8.1 per-cent compared to the sameperiod last year. Mining andquarrying companies saw thelargest decrease in production,at 11 percent year-on-year.
“Output growth in Aprilslightly accelerated, but this islargely due to statistical fac-tors. The data confirm that thedebt crisis in the euro area isgradually filtering through tothe Polish economy,” wroteCitibank analysts in a marketreport. DDII,, AATT
Retail sales slow,unemployment dropsRetail sales decelerated inApril to 5.5 percent year-on-year from 10.7 percent y/y inMarch, considerably belowmarket expectations of around9.3 percent, Central StatisticalOffice data showed last week.
“Deceleration of retailsales is partly an effect of ahigh statistical base from April2011, due to the Easter sched-ule (this year Easter was cele-brated at the very beginning ofApril, so some purchases tookplace in March),” BankZachodni WBK analysts wrotein a market report.
On the year, trade of auto-mobiles and parts rose 10.6percent while fuel sales wereup 11.3 percent. Sales of food,beverages and tobacco rose 1percent y/y.
Meanwhile, the unemploy-ment rate declined to 12.9 per-cent from 13.3 percent inMarch. The reading was in line
with forecasts.Looking ahead, BZ WBK
wrote, “In coming months wedo not exclude a further grad-ual decline of the unemploy-ment rate due to seasonal fac-tors and the organization of
Euro 2012.”“From the point of view of
monetary policy, [the] dataindicate no need for furtherinterest-rate hikes,” BZ WBKwrote.
GGaarreetthh PPrriiccee
11.00
11.75
12.50
13.25
14.00
Apr. '1
2
Mar. '12
Feb. '1
2Jan
. '12
Dec. '11
Nov. '11
Oct. '11
Sep. '1
1
Aug.
'11Jul.
'11Jun
. '11
May '11
Apr. '1
1
Mar. '11
Feb. '1
1Jan
. '11
Dec. '10
Nov. '10
Oct. '10
Sep. '1
0
Aug.
'10Jul.
'10Jun
. '10
May '10
Apr. '1
0
On its way back down?Poland's unemployment rate, April 2010-April 2012
Source: Central Statistical Office
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25.8% is the youth
unemployment rate in Poland
MAY 28 – JUNE 3, 2012OOPPIINNIIOONN && AANNAALLYYSSIISS8 www.wbj.pl
A mid-May TNS Polska poll indicatesthat the ruling Civic Platform (PO)party now has 28 percent supportamong Poles, ahead of Law and Jus-tice (PIS) with 25 percent. Third isPalikot’s Movement (RP) which isbacked by 10 percent of Poles fol-lowed, by the Democratic LeftAlliance (SLD) at 7 percent.
This poll, taken after Prime Minis-ter Donald Tusk pushed throughreforms to the pension systemopposed by some 80-90 percent of
Poles, shows clearly that Poles simplydo not see any alternative to the PMand his government and will notthrow their support behind PiS or anyother party, come what may.
Mr Tusk and his party have madeseveral political errors this year, start-ing with an ill-conceived prescriptiondrug reform that caused chaos and
confusion in its first few weeks. After that, they unleashed the
wrath of Poland’s youth by initiallybacking the ACTA treaty which aimsto implement stricter copyright lawson the internet. Mr Tusk later admit-ted that he had been “mistaken” inbacking the treaty and withdrew hissupport. Then there are the manyinfrastructure projects that were sup-posed to be ready for the upcomingEuro 2012 tournament and have yetto be finished. And now Mr Tusk haspassed a hugely unpopular reformraising the retirement age for menand women to 67.
Various polls have shown any-thing from 80 to 90 percent of Polesoppose this reform. The Solidaritylabor union gathered two millionsignatures from people calling for areferendum on the subject and havestaged several protests against thechange, including blocking MPsfrom Donald Tusk’s party fromleaving parliament after theypassed the bill.
Despite all of this, PO is still num-ber one in the polls.
Nothing to fear This should give the prime ministercourage to implement more badlyneeded reforms in Poland. Few lead-ers in Europe today enjoy the luxuryof having such feeble political opposi-
tion as Mr Tusk has. He should takeadvantage of this. Poland’s economyis not doing badly but with some help,could do much better.
However, this will only happen ifcertain problems are tackled head on,and if Mr Tusk takes the bulls by thehorns.
For example, the labor-participa-tion rate in Poland is low, at about 56percent according to World Bankdata. By comparison, it is at 60 per-cent in Germany and 59 percent inthe Czech Republic. Efforts shouldbe made to address this. There is alsothe problem of KRUS, the farmers’national-insurance system, which isstill a heavy burden on the state, cost-ing taxpayers some z∏.17 billion everyyear. That’s about half the size of theentire budget deficit expected forPoland this year. It is also only z∏.1billion less than the amount Polandhas spent on R&D since it joined theEU in 2004.
Of course, KRUS would be atricky thing to reform as Mr Tusk’sjunior coalition partner, the PolishPeople’s Party (PSL), is a rural partyand will be loathe to antagonize itselectorate. No one is asking the PMto axe KRUS altogether, but stepscan be taken to at least limit some ofthe privileges that farmers still enjoydespite being the largest beneficiariesof EU funds.
Mr Tusk should exploit hisstrength and the opposition’s weak-ness for the good of his country. ●
Remi Adekoya is Warsaw Business Journal’s politics editor.
Read his blog, “The business of politics” on WBJ.pl
W hen the architects of the eurostarted drawing up plans forits creation in the late 1980s,
economists warned them that a viablemonetary union required more thanan independent central bank and aframework for budgetary discipline.Study after study emphasized asym-metries within the future common-currency area, the possible inadequa-cy of a one-size-fits-all monetary pol-icy, the weakness of adjustment chan-nels in the absence of cross-borderlabor mobility, and the need for somesort of fiscal union involving insur-ance-type mechanisms to assist coun-tries in trouble.
Beyond economics, manyobservers noted that EuropeanUnion citizens would accept tightmonetary bonds only if they wereparticipating in a shared politicalcommunity. The former president ofthe Bundesbank, Hans Tietmeyer,liked to quote a medieval Frenchphilosopher, Nicolas Oresme, whowrote that money does not belong tothe prince, but to the community.The question was, which politicalcommunity would support the euro?
Deep doubtsSome of these warnings were inspiredby deep-seated doubts about Euro-pean monetary unification. But oth-ers merely wanted to emphasize thatEuropeans needed a better-equippedand stronger vessel for the journeythat they were contemplating. Theirmessage was simple: National gov-
ernments must make their economiesfit for the strictures of monetaryunion; the euro must be supported bydeeper economic integration; and acommon currency needs politicallegitimacy – that is, a polity.
In the end, the leaders at thattime – especially German Chancel-lor Helmut Kohl and French Presi-dent Francois Mitterrand and hissuccessor, Jacques Chirac – setforth to sea in a light vessel. On theeconomic front, they agreed ononly a bare-bones Economic andMonetary Union built around mon-etary rectitude and an unenforce-able promise of fiscal discipline.On the political front, they did notagree at all, so the creation of aEuropean polity remained still-born.
Some at the time, like then-Euro-pean Commission President JacquesDelors, openly deplored this narrowapproach. Though political con-straints prevailed, the euro’s archi-tects were however not naive. Theyknew that their brainchild was incom-plete. But they assumed that, overtime, monetary unification would cre-ate momentum for national reforms,further economic integration, andsome form of political unification.After all, that piecemeal approach iswhat had helped to build the EU eversince its origins in the coal and steelcommunity of the 1950s. Few amongthe euro’s proponents expected thatthere would be no significant changeafter its launch.
Mistaken assumptionBut this assumption was mistaken.From the signing of the MaastrichtTreaty in 1992 to the 10th anniversaryof the euro in 2009, the expectedmomentum for creating a commonEuropean polity was nowhere insight.
Indeed, very few countries havebothered to spell out, let alone imple-ment, a euro-inspired economic-reform agenda. Having agreed to del-egate responsibility for monetary pol-icy to the European Central Bank,most governments put up fierceresistance to any further transfer ofsovereignty. In 2005, a timid attemptto foster political integration byadopting a constitutional treaty wasdefeated in popular referenda inFrance and the Netherlands.
So, contrary to expectations,things stayed put. Soon after theintroduction of the euro in 1999, itbecame clear that the scenariofavored by the common currency’sarchitects would not be realized.Everybody accepted – if grudgingly –that the bare-bones EMU was theonly game in town.
Now, however, what did not hap-pen through smooth evolution hasstarted to happen through crisis.Since 2009, the Europeans havealready put in place the crisis-man-agement and resolution apparatusthat they initially refused even to dis-cuss. Simultaneously, governments,under merciless pressure from thebond markets, are introducing labor-
and product-market reforms thatthey deemed politically inconceivableonly a few quarters ago.
But the bond markets want more.The questions that they are askingmore loudly with each passing daydemand answers. Will Europeansagree to mutualize part of the cost ofthe crisis? Greece’s creditors (mostlyeuro-zone residents) have alreadyaccepted some of the burden byaccepting a “haircut” on their assets.But, if another country finds itselfunable to bear the fiscal cost of thecrisis, will it also shift the burden toits external creditors in some form oranother?
And, beyond transfers, will Euro-peans, or some of them, agree to cre-ate a banking union (that is, Euro-peanization of banking supervision,deposit insurance, and crisis resolu-tion)? Will they agree to pool tax rev-enues so that EU-level institutionscan credibly take charge of financialstability?
Vital questionsThese questions are vital for thefuture of the common European cur-rency. In spite of their desire not toraise them, European leaders facethe uncomfortable prospect of havingto answer them – and without muchdelay.
The historical irony is that an envi-ronment of crisis is forcing Euro-peans to make choices that they didnot want to envisage, much less con-front, in quieter times. The Greek
debt crisis forced them to create anassistance mechanism. The Spanishcrisis may well force them to create abanking union. And the threat of aGreek exit from the euro may forcethem to decide how far-reaching a fis-cal union they are prepared toembrace.
For many, recent developmentsmark the beginning of the end for theeuro architects’ bold creation. But,depending on how Europeans answerthese questions, today’s crises mightone day be remembered as the end ofthe beginning. ●
Jean Pisani-Ferry is director ofBruegel, an international economics
think tank, professor of economics atUniversité Paris-Dauphine, and a
member of the French Prime Minis-ter’s Council of Economic Analysis.
“Few leaders inEurope today enjoythe luxury of havingsuch feeble politicalopposition”
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In recent months, we havejoined discussions led byformer United States Sena-
tor Sam Nunn, former British Minis-ter of Defense Lord DesmondBrowne, and others to find a way toreduce nuclear weapons in Europe.Although we fully endorse the aim ofworking towards a world free ofnuclear arms, we firmly believe thatNATO must remain a nuclearalliance so long as these weaponscontinue to exist around the world.
There are a number of powerfulreasons for maintaining NATO’s cur-rent mix of capabilities, including thepresence of US nuclear weapons inEurope.
Overwhelming disparityFor starters, there remains an over-whelming disparity between the USand Russia on non-strategic nuclearweapons in Europe, with roughly 200for the former and an estimated2,000 for the latter. Every effort must
be made to reduce these numbers,but only by reciprocal measures.
Indeed, there are serious doubtsthat unilateral withdrawals by NATOwould encourage Russian PresidentVladimir Putin to review his coun-try’s deepening reliance on nucleardeterrence. Given that our countriesare very close to Russia’s deployednuclear arsenal, an increasing nucleardisparity between NATO and Russiaresulting from NATO reductionswould be of paramount concern toour fellow citizens.
That ongoing disparity should andmust remain a concern for NATO asa whole. Let us not forget that, only afew years ago, Russia and Belarusconducted joint military exercisesaccording to a scenario that includeda nuclear attack on Poland.
No progress in sightSecond, it seems unlikely that therewill be much progress in talks withRussia on reducing tactical nuclear
weapons in the near future, and cer-tainly not until after November’spresidential election in the US. Weregret this. Our countries welcomedthe ratification in 2011 of the NewSTART agreement between the USand Russia – a positive outcome ofUS President Barack Obama’s policytowards Russia of reducing strategicnuclear weapons, and we hope thatthere will be no backtracking on thistreaty.
But the fact is that there is no fol-low-on process in sight to make goodon this goal. Moreover, missile-defense cooperation has stalled overfundamental differences in politicalapproaches, and Mr Putin has indi-cated that he will not attend theNATO-Russia summit in Chicago.
Senator Nunn has rightly pointedout that US/NATO and Russianthreat perceptions will never com-pletely overlap. Yet a great number ofthe threats facing the two sides areincreasingly shared and can often best
be confronted together. For this rea-son, we need to continue to engageour Russian partners with patience,transparency, and a view to enhancingmutual trust and confidence.
Long-term commitment Finally, reducing the presence of UStactical nuclear weapons in Europewould add to the concerns expressedby many European leaders aboutAmerica’s long-term commitments tothe continent. Thanks to US leader-ship, Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, andother European countries haveenjoyed historically unsurpassedsecurity since joining NATO, but thatsecurity should not be taken forgranted.
All of the NATO allies must under-stand that the global security land-scape is changing. Cyber threats andenergy security have come to the fore.The situation in the Asia-Pacificregion requires moving US troopswho were once based in Europe to
Australia. But we believe that theongoing reductions of US convention-al forces in Europe should not yet becompounded by any possible reduc-tion in America’s nuclear capabilitiesthere. This would weaken the transat-lantic link that is essential for Europe’ssecurity and NATO’s cohesion.
Nuclear disarmament needs toremain high on NATO’s agenda, butnew and creative approaches areneeded if disarmament is to enhance,rather than undermine, the Allies’security. Only those approaches thatensure reciprocity, transparency,cohesion, and undiminished securityfor all of NATO’s members have achance at success. ●
Imants Liegis is a former defenseminister of Latvia. Linas Linkevicius
is a former defense minister of Lithua-nia. Janusz Onyszkiewicz is a former
defense minister of Poland.Copyright: Project Syndicate, 2012.
project-syndicate.org
T he stakes for shale gas in Cen-tral and Eastern Europe justgot a whole lot bigger. Last
week’s announcement that Chevronand Royal Dutch Shell would leadthe planned exploration for uncon-ventional gas in Ukraine hasincreased the likelihood that Europemight someday be flush with com-mercial quantities of non-Russiannatural gas. Yet recent setbacks forshale gas in Bulgaria and Romania,together with a possible ban in theCzech Republic and a slow start tothe first round of regulations inPoland are reminders that a brightfuture for this resource is far fromassured. While most attention hasfocused on the role of regional capi-tals in creating the right climate forenergy investment, the internationaloil companies who are pioneering thesearch for shale gas in countries likePoland can do more to ensure theirown success.
Should it materialize, the benefitsof a commercially-viable arc ofunconventional gas from the Baltic tothe Black Sea would be a boon toregional economies, a catalyst forcloser commercial links with theUnited States and a robust solutionto one Central Europe’s greatest vul-
nerabilities: energy insecurity. Evenso, events of the last six months havealso shown just how irregular theprocess of regional unconventionalgas development is likely to be inpractice. From Bulgaria’s whiplashreversal on shale exploration lastDecember to the Romanian govern-ment’s new moratorium on hydraulicfracturing – the process for recover-ing shale gas – and a possible ban inthe Czech Republic, public pushbackagainst unconventional gas has quick-ly surfaced.
Three ways to be more effectiveAgainst this backdrop, Polish policy-makers have begun to write the coun-try’s first set of rules, which are tai-lored specifically for unconventionalgas. How this process unfolds, andwhat it manages to produce in thecritical early rounds, could determinethe chances for success of shale gasdevelopment in not just Poland butthe wider European neighborhood. Itis a pivotal moment, one for whichprivate energy companies need to actstrategically. A rapid sequence ofnegative developments – a few emptywells, a suboptimal first tranche oflaws, an unexpected turn in public
perceptions – could have a chillingeffect on shale gas development foryears to come. While companiesappear to understand this fact andare doing what they can to ensuresuccess, here are three additionalways that they could be more effec-tive:
1. Think long-term. Since late lastyear, the overriding focus of the ener-gy industry has been directed at theupcoming hydrocarbon tax, nowunder preparation and considerationinside the Polish government. How-ever, this levy only represents onepiece of a larger framework. Like thehydrocarbon tax, additional regulato-ry components on issues such as envi-ronmental rules for hydraulic fractur-ing will be enacted in three broadstages: the internal government draft-ing process, a social and industry dia-logue and parliamentary debate.Rather than addressing these tranch-es piecemeal, companies couldincrease the odds of success for shalegas by putting forward a coordinatedstrategy for engaging the full-spec-trum of pending regulations at deci-sive points in the public vettingprocess. So far, the approach hasmainly been ad hoc.
2. Educate the public – proactive-
ly. One lesson from the US shaleboom is that public perceptions mat-ter, particularly when local communi-ties are unaccustomed to hydrocar-bon extraction. Yet, there is a successstory about shale gas in North Amer-ica that is not being told in Poland. Asthe number of unconventional wellsproliferates and municipalitiesencounter commercial gas produc-tion for the first time, Polish votersare likely to ask themselves: Is thissafe? In the United States, the recordof wide-scale unconventional drillingis remarkably strong. To date, propo-nents of unconventional gas haveunderutilized this fact to dispel popu-lar misconceptions of hydraulic frac-turing. At this early phase, a forward-leaning offense aimed at closing theknowledge gap on Polish shale gascould pay dividends down the road.
3. Work outside of government. Inaddition to the archipelago of stateministries with a stake in unconven-tional gas (e.g. Environment, Financeand Economy), energy producerscould amplify their efforts to engagea wider audience of opinion-makers.To this end, the domestic policydebate would benefit from a moresustained, high-profile conversationwith gas producers on the best prac-
tices and safety strategies, which havebeen perfected in North America andcould be applied to Poland. This levelof outreach is likely to prove benefi-cial once upcoming regulatorytrances are presented for legislativeapproval and scrutinized by the poli-cy-conscious public.
Poland, the modelGoing forward, what happens inPoland over the next 12 months willlikely resonate across Central andEastern Europe for years to come.For their part, the energy companiesnow operating in Poland can help toensure the country becomes a modelfor others in the region to follow.Companies should think long-term intheir strategy, proactively educate thepublic and engage a wider domesticaudience. In the United States, shalegas has meant greater prosperity andsupply security for millions. It is astory that Europeans can replicateand an added incentive for all stake-holders in Polish shale gas to it rightthe first time. ●
Peter B. Doran is senior policyanalyst at the Center for European
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.
Imants Liegis, Linas Linkevicius, and Janusz Onyszkiewicz
MAY 28 – JUNE 3, 201210 www.wbj.pl CCOOVVEERR SSTTOORRYY
The region isnow rarelyc o n s i d -ered as u i t -able
market forfirst-up in-
vestments. “Asmany investors currently con-sider other markets moreattractive, it is increasinglyrare to find new first-timeinvestors in the region,” saidMs Kumar.
“However, the next six to12 months, as more managersreturn to market, will be reallycrucial in clarifying thefuture.”
Stand-out performerPoland, with its sizable popula-tion of 38 million and solideconomic fundamentals, is thestand-out country in CEE, andin many ways bucks the trendseen in the rest of the region.
“We can all agree thatPoland is the most emergedmarket,” said Ms Kumar.
“Economically, Poland hasperformed the best in Europethroughout the crisis, its stockmarket is well developed andinvestors are comfortablewith it.”
According to a report by lawfirm CMS and DealWatch, 3,792deals with a total value of €150billion took place last year in“Emerging Europe” (CEE,Russia and Ukraine). Russia –
main-ly due to
large trans-actions in the
mining sector – ac-counted for 65 per-cent of the deal
value, while Poland was at 12percent.
The largest transactionoutside of Russia was tycoonZygmunt Solorz-˚ak’s €4.8billion purchase of mobiletelephone operator Polkom-tel. Another notable deal wasMontagu Private Equity’s€420 million buyout of PolishTV and radio broadcast infra-structure operator Emitelfrom TP Group.
Experts say that LPs whoseportfolios are focused onEurope as a whole rather thanemerging markets as such, arenow increasingly turning theirattention to Poland – seeing itas a stable alternative to trou-bled euro-zone markets.
Partly as a result, Poland isexpected to fare better thanall other European countriesin 2012. According to aRoland Berger survey of pri-vate-equity-sector firms fromacross Europe, Poland isforecast to see growth of 4percent in M&A activityinvolving private equity fundsthis year. That’s compared to-10 percent in Greece, -7 per-cent in Spain, Portugal, Italy,France and the Beneluxcountries, -3 percent in Ger-many and -2 percent in the
UK. In CEE excludingPoland, growth of 1 percent isforecast.
Companies from the con-sumer-goods, health-care, phar-maceutical and retail sectorsare forecast to see particularlystrong investment activity,with a number of mergers and
acquisitions expected inthose sectors.
Active investorsPolish private equity playersthat WBJ spoke to painted agenerally positive picture ofthe situation on the ground.And their firms are not doingbusiness just in Poland, sug-gesting that the region as awhole still offers investmentopportunities despite of hav-ing fallen out of favor withmany investors.
While admitting that thesupply of capital had dropped,Syntaxis Capital’s PrzemekSzczepaƒski said he saw theglass as being half full.
After finalizing two majordeals in the first quarter, hesaid Syntaxis expected to closeseveral other transactions inthe near future in a number ofCEE countries. The company,which has €250 million undermanagement, invests between€5 million and €20 million perdeal.
Poland, Mr Szczepaƒskisaid, has some particularlyattractive sectors for invest-ments. “In Poland, compa-nies involved in the con-sumer product sector areespecially strong. Health careis another potentially attrac-tive sector, but since it’s aregulated market it is diffi-cult to predict cash flow inthe medium term. There is agood deal flow of leveragedbuyout financing opportuni-ties for which we’re keen on
Once seen as offering emerg-ing-market profits with Euro-pean risk, Central and EasternEurope has of late fallen outof favor with private equityinvestors, many of whom havenow turned their attentions towhat they see as more reward-ing opportunities elsewhere.
A recent survey by theEmerging Markets PrivateEquity Association (EMPEA)shows CEE languishingbehind all other emergingmarkets in terms of invest-ment attractiveness. The sur-vey polled representativesfrom 106 limited partnerships(LPs) in 28 countries.
Out of fashion“The results of the survey arefairly dire on the surface –CEE ranked very low in termsof perceived attractiveness,”said Kanika Kumar, an associ-ate at Acanthus, an advisoryfirm focused on private equityfund placement.“It is fair tosay that CEE is not in vogue atthe moment with investors.”
From the heady heights of2006-2007, when around €2-3billion was raised for CEE pri-vate equity deals, last year saw
a relatively paltry €300 millionin fundraising, according toAcanthus data.
At the same time as CEEhas seen its attractiveness fall,many other emerging marketshave leaped ahead. Accordingto EMPEA’s survey, LatinAmerica beyond Brazil is seenas the most attractive destina-tion for dealmaking in theupcoming years, with Brazil,China and Southeast Asia fol-
lowing close behind. Increasedcommitments are also expect-ed in Sub-Saharan Africa andTurkey.
These markets are in manycases seen as being riskier thanCEE, but are also thought tooffer higher potential profits.
“CEE has fallen out offavor due to investors lookingfor higher returns around theglobe,” said PrzemekSzczepaƒski, a partner at Syn-taxis Capital, a provider of
mezzanine finance for mid-market buyouts and capitalgrowth transactions in CEE.
“It is a much tougherfundraising environment.Those who have proven them-selves during the crisis andhave a unique strategy coulddo well, but the market is start-ing to consolidate with small-er, weaker [PE] playersmerging with strongercompanies.”
CEE’s reputa-tion has alsobeen blight-ed by thef i s c a lperform-ance ofs e v e r a lcountries,with thestate of Hun-gary’s publicfinances provingto be particularlyoff-putting forinvestors. Meanwhile,Ukraine – often includedin CEE PE portfolios – hasfound itself hampered by itsreputation for corruption andunstable governance.
Individually, moreover,many CEE countries’ popula-tions are simply too small tocompete with behemoths likeIndia, China or even Brazil,whose markets are much larg-er.
“It is fair to say thatCEE is not in vogue
at the moment”
Selected major private equity investments in Poland, 2011
Investor Company Estimated value Stake Description(€ billions)
Zygmunt Solorz-˚ak Polkomtel 4.8 100%Tycoon Zygmunt Solorz-˚ak purchased mobile telephone operator Polkomtel
Montagu Private Equity bought Polish TV Montagu Private Equity Emitel 0.42 N/A and radio broadcast infrastructure operator Emitel
from Telekomunikacja Polska GroupMid Europa Partners signed an agreement
Mid Europa Partners ˚abka Polska 0.4 100% to acquire 100% of ˚abka Polska, the leading convenience store chain in Poland, from Penta Investments
Source: Deloitte's Central Europe Private Equity confidence survey; company statements
BROUGHT TO YOU BY PETER NIELSEN & PARTNERS LAW OFFICE
Remuneration rights for foreigners staying illegally in PolandOn May 10, the Sejm, Poland’s lowerhouse of parliament, adopted the draft Acton Consequences of Employing Foreign-ers Staying Illegally in Poland. The draftAct, which is now being reviewed by theSenate, defines sanctions for entitieswhich employ foreigners who stay inPoland illegally. It also sets out proceduresthat foreigners have to follow in order toclaim remuneration and related benefits.Pursuant to the Act, foreigners are definedas persons who are not citizens of the EU,the European Free Trade Association orSwitzerland.
No more advance paymentson the milk marketOn May 15, 2012 the Polish presidentsigned into law legislation which changedthe Act on Organizing the Milk and DairyProduce Market. The changes are expect-ed to have a positive impact on economiccompetitiveness and entrepreneurship.
Under the law, milk producers will not beobliged to make advance payments forfees for exceeding individual milk quotasin a given year. If there is no real danger ofexceeding the national quota, producerswill be able to spend all funds earned frommilk sales to settle their ongoing obliga-tions, or to allocate them for investments.
Court: PGE can’t take overEnergaOn May 14, the Competition and Con-sumer Protection Court upheld the deci-sion of the president of the Office forCompetition and Consumer Protection(UOKiK) which prohibited Polish state-owned electrical utility PGE from takingover smaller sibling Energa. UOKiK hadsaid that such a takeover would limit com-petition. On October 20, 2010 PGE appliedto UOKiK for consent to take over Energa,with the regulator then announcing itsdecision on January 2011. PGE is thebiggest energy producer in Poland. Ener-ga is engaged in the production, sale anddistribution of electrical energy. ●
Though Central Europe has lost some of itsluster for private equity investors, Polandremains an attractive target. But getting theregion back on investors’ radars is crucial forcontinued success
Private equity
Poland stands out in CEE Gareth Price
providing financing.”Jacek Korpala, co-manag-
ing partner of Arx, a mid-mar-ket private equity firm thatfocuses on CEE, was equallyeffusive about the outlook,stating that Poland is the mostinteresting market in theregion.
“We are not concerned, wehave not stopped investing,”he said, adding that his compa-ny will start a new round offundraising in late 2013.
Despite it being too earlyto talk about specifics, hesaid Arx, which investsbetween €5 million and €15
million per deal, is currentlyinvolved in transactions inthe manufacturing and med-ical sectors.
Besides Poland, the CzechRepublic and Sloveniapresently offer interestinginvestment opportunities, hesaid. He nevertheless tem-
pered his optimism, sayingthat “the next three to fouryears will be difficult” whenit comes to fundraising.
In CEE, Mr Szczepaƒskisaid, investors now distinguishPoland from other countriesdue to its strong performanceduring the crisis, when its econ-omy continued to grow everyyear.
“It is now almost easier toraise a Poland-only fund, sincethe perception of risk is muchlower,” he said.
Poland needsa strong CEEBut such is the size of the Pol-ish market that Poland cannotafford its neighbors in CEE tolag behind for too long.
The Polish market for PEinvestments is relatively shal-low, meaning fund managersrarely limit themselves toPoland alone. Instead, theytend to take a pan-CEEapproach, to increase theirchances of hitting the jackpot.For this reason, the attractive-
ness of the CEE market as awhole is critical for Poland.
To avoid being subject tothe ever-changing whims andmoods of investors, the regionneeds to establish itself as astable asset class that doesn’tneed to be in fashion to attractsustainable levels of capital,said Mr Szczepaƒski.
“It would be good if therewas a consistent group support-ing CEE strategies, to ensuresolid and stable cash flow intothe region,” he added. ●
MAY 28 – JUNE 3, 2012 CCOOVVEERR SSTTOORRYY www.wbj.pl 11
RISTORANTE SAN LORENZO AL. JANA PAWŁA II 36 TEL. 22 652 1616 WWW.SANLORENZO.PL
Investment approachesPrior to the crisis, one strategy frequentlyemployed by emerging market investors wasto put money into sectors with attractiveunderlying macroeconomic drivers and thenride the wave of growth.
Acanthus associate Kanika Kumardescribed this approach as potentially lessrealistic in today’s environment, when a lot ofthe low hanging fruit has already been picked.It is also a strategy that relies more on exoge-nous factors and therefore is inherently morevulnerable to cyclical fluctuations, a factor
which may have contributed to the CEE bub-ble of 2006-07.
“It was inevitable the boom would come toand end … it could be the same for Brazil infive years’ time,” said Ms Kumar.
For CEE in particular, extracting growth isincreasingly a matter of maximizing efficiencyat the micro level: working directly with entre-preneurs and helping them to expand theirbusinesses.“For this you need the right man-ager with local knowledge and experience,”she said. ●
Other
Retail
Food & beverage
Energy & utilities
Financial services
Health care
Manufacturing
Technology
8.8
23.5
8.8
8.8
11.8
11.8
5.9
20.6
Investor focusInvestors to focus on opportunities in the following sectors (in Central Europe)
Source: Deloitte's Central Europe Private Equity Confidence survey, May 2012
-10
-8
-6
-4
-2
0
2
4
Greece
Iberia
& Italy
France
Benelu
x
Austria
& Switze
rland
GermanyUK
CEE (ex
cl. Pol
and)
Scandi
navia
Poland
Poland on topExpected change in M&A activity involving private equity funds in 2012compared to 2011, selected European regions and countries (in %)
Source: Roland Berger Strategy Consultants’ survey European Private Equity Outlook 2012
0
50
100
150
200
April 2
012
October
2011
April 2
011
October
2010
April 2
010
October
2009
April 2
009
October
2008
April 2
008
October
2007
April 2
007
October
2006
March 2
006
Septem
ber 20
05
March 2
005
Double dipCentral Europe PE Confidence Index
Source: Deloitte's Central Europe Private Equity Confidence survey, May 2012
Selected significant exits in Poland, 2011
Company Seller Buyer Value (€ millions) Stake
Kruk Enterprise Investors IPO 78.7 50%
PharmaSwiss Enterprise Investors Valeant Pharmaceuticals International 52.5 N/A
Motor Polimer Carlson Capital Partners European Polymers and Chemicals Distribution N/A 100%
Source: Deloitte's Trimming the sails Central Europe Private Equity confidence survey; company statements
MAY 28 – JUNE 3, 2012IINNTTEERRVVIIEEWW12 www.wbj.pl
PO-PSL relations
TTrroouubbllee iinn tthhee ccooaalliittiioonn??
Ewa Boniecka: PSL hasrecently presented severallegislative proposals. Is yourparty making a calculatedpolitical move to show itsindependence from coalitionpartner, PO?
Stanis∏aw ˚elichowski: It isnot a calculated politicalmove on our part. As an expe-rienced party, we have a deepconviction that there is cur-rently an opportunity forPoland to move forward rap-idly.
Poland has inherited amuch more difficult road todevelopment than richer
Western countries, but thosedifficult experiences haveforced Poles to deal withcrises and made us moreresistant. European capitaltries to escape crises by flee-ing to Asia, Africa and otherregions. Poland, with its eco-nomic stability and still rela-tively low labor costs, couldattract and absorb part of thatcapital. Another element ofthis momentum for Poland isthe flow of substantialamounts of funds from theEuropean Union, which wehave to absorb most effective-ly while it lasts.
But in order to take advan-
tage of these opportunities wehave to conduct a policy tyingeconomic growth with socialpolicies, because Poland isstill a country of deep eco-nomic and social contrasts. Toreduce these gaps we needjob-creating policies, incen-tives for families to support ahigher birth rate and we needto create conditions to inte-grate groups of people wholive in poverty. And it is todeal with these problems thatmy party is now presenting apackage of proposals.
When PSL acts independent-ly of PO, as it did in pushingfor changes and additions tothe government’s recent pen-sion-reform bill, the result isoften confusion and tensionwithin the coalition. If PSLdoes not feel responsible forpushing government propos-als, where is the coalitionheading?During tough talks in the
coalition, PSL made clearthat we saw Prime MinisterTusk’s proposal of extendingthe retirement age to 67 yearsas a technical proposition,which needed additionalsocial elements. This reformis needed due to our demo-graphic situation, but it has tobe adapted to our social con-text, which was understood byPO and the whole govern-ment due to PSL’s efforts.
What are the most importantelements of PSL’s socialpackage? At this moment, they areopen to discussion, and wewant to consult with varioussocial groups. The main focusis to create conditions toincrease the number of birthsin Poland by helping familiesand improving working condi-tions for women, includingthose who are self-employedand are currently not entitledto state-funded health insur-
ance. We also want toincrease the threshold ofincome for receiving socialwelfare, and are consideringthe introduction of tax breaksfor firms that establish daynurseries in the workplace.
These proposals would beexpensive: Are they realistic? If we increase our present
rate of economic growth,attract more foreign capital,increase our productivity andare able to create more jobsfor Poles, so that instead of
working abroad they work athome, income to the budgetwill be higher, allowing us tofinance these proposals.
PSL’s proposal to create aprogram for young people tobuild their own houses onland offered at a very lowprice by the state (“Ziemia zaz∏otówk´”) is very controver-
sial. Why is it a good idea?In countries such as Swedenand Portugal, the governmentprovides free land in regions
The ruling coalition, composed of the PolishPeople’s Party (PSL) and PM Donald Tusk’s(PO) Civic Platform, seems to be having troublefinding common ground on several issues, most recently on the government’s flagshipreform to raise the retirement age. Stanis∏aw˚elichowski, a prominent member of PSL, tellsWBJ how this tug of war at the top is playing out
“The supposition that PSL could befeeling threatened by Palikot’s
Movement is totally unfounded and simply ridiculous”
Rados∏aw Biedecki Partner
Increased purchaser protection – does it work?
Legal Forum
Is it time to purchase an apartment?Will prices decrease or increase inthe coming months? The last fewweeks have been quite confusingregarding the standing and condi-tion of developers and the state ofPoland’s construction sector as awhole. On the one hand, developershave lately been announcing thatthey plan to build more apartmentsthan in previous months, and thisdespite a credit freeze by the banks.On the other hand, constructioncompanies, and in particular thoseinvolved in the construction of high-ways, have been hit by invoice settle-ment delays, leading to spectacularbankruptcy motions.
The reason for the increase in res-idential developers’ activity was theentry into force on April 29, 2012 ofthe so-called Developers Act, whichimposes on them new obligationstowards individual buyers. It alsoapplies to apartment cooperativeswhich act as sellers. Prior to the entryinto force of the Developers Act,about 53 percent of housing invest-ments were carried out without theuse of any bank financing. The mostimportant changes concern: the formof the notarial deed for the prelimi-nary sale agreement, the duty to pro-vide an informational prospectus,
and payment of the purchase priceinto an escrow account.
Integral prospectusThe scope of key information to becontained in the prospectus is as fol-lows: description of the last threeprojects completed and informationshowing that no enforcement proce-dure has been conducted against thedeveloper for an amount exceedingz∏.100,000; information about theplot on which the building will beconstructed and about neighboringplots. In case there is no local zoningplan, the developer shall include inits prospectus details about plannedroads and other large investments,within a radius of 1 km from theplot; information about whether thedeveloper holds a building permitdecision, details about when it plansto start and finish constructionwork, information about projectfinancing, details about the kind ofescrow agreement that will be used(please see below), and a list of theconditions under which the agree-ment can be terminated; price persqm, number of floors, buildingtechnology, number of premises andgarage spaces, surface area of theapartment; consent of the bankfinancing the investment to transfer
to the purchaser ownership of theapartment free of any liens/mort-gages in connection with any poten-tial debt held by the developer.
The provision of false informa-tion in the prospectus can result in asentence of up to two years inprison, but in case there is noprospectus at all – just a fine.
Integral prospectusThe prospectus is an integral part ofthe above-mentioned preliminarypurchase agreement in the form of anotarial deed. Moreover, a purchas-er’s claim arising from such anagreement shall be disclosed in theland and mortgage register kept forthe property.
Land and mortgage entryDevelopers complain that in casethe purchaser does not obtain a loanor simply does not enter into a finalsales agreement, the claim will stillbe disclosed in the land and mort-gage register.
This will make it almost impossi-ble to sell such an apartment beforethe claim is deleted. Moreover, sucha deletion can take a considerableperiod of time, in particular whenthe former client is not ready tocooperate.
Escrow accountThe requirement for an escrowaccount was introduced in order toprotect the purchaser from financialtroubles experienced by the develop-er (including bankruptcy and unfairpractices). Under the new law, thepurchaser will pay installments intoan escrow account kept by the bank.The bank will release funds to thedeveloper: after receipt of the notar-ial deed (agreement) transferring theownership of the apartment/house tothe purchaser (closed-end escrowaccount); or step-by-step after com-pletion of each construction stage(open-end escrow account); in thiscase the banks will most probablyverify on-site the completion of thestages of construction.
In the case of an open-endescrow account, developers have theoption (but not the duty) to providethe client with a bank guarantee orinsurance policy. Developers are noteager to provide prospective clientswith such guarantees and if they do,it has an impact on the costs borneby the client. In case of a developer’sbankruptcy the funds accumulatedin the escrow account and the titleto the land on which the investmentis carried out will be excluded fromthe bankruptcy estate.
Until 2008 the surface area ofnew apartments had been growing,with the average reaching around 68sqm. Since then the average areahas decreased to 35-40 sqm for atwo-room apartment and to 45-55sqm for a three-room apartment.This is mainly due to purchasers’limited financing opportunities. Thereduced area and fall in price doesnot apply to apartments in attractivedowntown locations and prestigiousbuildings.
Developers obtained numerousbuilding permits and accumulated asubstantial number of offers prior tothe entry into force of the Develop-er’s Act. Consequently, most of theirprojects on sale are now not subjectto the requirement of the escrowaccount. The escrow is applicable tooffers introduced on the marketafter April 29, 2012 and experts esti-mate that the present offers corre-spond to a six-month sale period.According to them, the increasedloan requirements by the banks andthe large offer of small apartmentsshould lead to a further downwardadjustment of prices. Thus, it is abuyer’s market. But the legal protec-tion in connection with the escrowaccount will be truly applicable prob-ably only next year. ●
Legal Forum is a paid-for module which gives law firms in Poland an opportunity to discuss and inform readers about important developments in the market. The content is created in consultation with Warsaw Business Journal's editorial staff.
Continued on p. 13 ➡
MMEEDDIIAA PPAATTRROONNAAGGEE:: ZZAACCZZNNIIJJ..BBIIZZA s p e c i a l m e d i a p a t r o n a g e s u p p l e m e n t o n p r o m o t i n g e n t e r p r e n e u r s h i p MAY 28 – JUNE 3, 2012
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The winners of the Zacznij.biz competitionwere selected during the Final Gala
On December 1, 2011 two editions of thecompetition began: Zacznij.biz “Science –
the hidden potential of your business” andZacznij.biz “A new face of your business”.
Zacznij.biz “Science – the hidden potentialof your business” was aimed at academics:researchers, graduate students and stu-
dents of technical universities, who want tocommercialize their ideas. Zacznij.biz “Anew face of your business” was aimed atmicro and small enterprises with biggrowth potential, operating in the hi-techsector, seeking to raise capital for develop-ment and implementation of new technolo-gies.
The prize for those who entered the bestideas into the competition was to interestpotential investors from Lewiatan BusinessAngels (LBA) – the largest and most activeBusiness Angels network in Poland. LBAmatches entrepreneurs who have innovativeideas and ambitious development plans withprivate investors.
Members of Jury of Honour of the
Zacznij.biz competition were:
• Bo˝ena Lubliƒska-Kasprzak, Presidentof the Polish Agency for EnterpriseDevelopment
• Henryka Bochniarz, President of thePolish Confederation of PrivateEmployers Lewiatan
• Professor W∏odzimierz Kurnik, Rectorof the Warsaw University of Technology
• Professor Micha∏ Kleiber, President ofthe Polish Academy of Sciences.
In the early stage of the competition thejury selected 80 participants out of 100applications. Members of the Zacznij.bizjury included Jacek B∏oƒski, Tomasz
Grzybowski, Edward Kozicki, Szymon
Kurzyca, Maciej Strz´bicki. ●
Zacznij.biz is a business-plan competition organized by the Polish Confederation of Private
Employers Lewiatan and Lewiatan Business Angels. The idea behind the contests is to promote
entrepreneurship, assist in preparing business plans and attract investors – business angels – to
work with the best ideas.
Materiał współfi nansowany ze Êrodków Unii Europejskiej w ramach Europejskiego Funduszu Rozwoju Regionalnego
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Selected contestants were invited to take partin the Innovatorium I. The purpose of thisworkshop was to deliver knowledge aboutbusiness angels’ expectations regardingmarketing aspects, competitors or financialprojections and valuations. The workshopswere conducted by Szymon Kurzyca andMaciej Strz´bicki, a marketing expert coop-erating with LBA.
After Innovatorium I, which took place onFebruary 14-15, 2012, participants had timeto improve their business plans, which were
then voted on by the jury. The jury chose 23projects (6 projects from Zacznij.biz “Science– the hidden potential of your business”, 17projects from Zacznij.biz “A new face of yourbusiness”) to take part in the semi-finalphase of the competition.Prior to the semi-final presentations, theseprojects were invited to participate inInnovatorium II. The purpose of this work-shop (which took place on March 30, 2012)was to prepare the participants for the pitch,i.e. presentation of their ideas to the poten-tial investors – business angels. The first
part of the workshops was conducted bySzymon Kurzyca and Maciej Strz´bicki. Thecoaches who conducted second part wereArtur Bartosiƒski and Adam Gieniusz.
All the participants then prepared for proj-ect presentations in front of the jury –which took place on April 16-17, 2012. Eachof the contestants had 15 minutes to maketheir pitch, and a further 15 minutes for aquestion-and-answer session. After twodays of over 20 presentations, jury selectedthe Finalists.
Workshops
The WinnersZacznij.biz “Science – the hidden potential of
your business”
1st Place - Phoenix Technologies – plasma sys-tems processing waste into electricity – the busi-ness concept is to develop and implement thesale of equipment used for processing waste intoelectricity and heat. The technology fits with cur-rent government policies on waste managementand with the general pro-ecology trend.www.phoenixtech.pl
2nd place - EgzoTech – uniaxial rehabilitationexoskeletons – the business concept is to createa company which would manufacture, researchand distribute exoskeletons as well as medical
and utility equipment. EgzoTech’s flagship prod-uct would be the stationary rehabilitationexoskeleton which would be steered by an elec-tromyograph.www.egzotech.pl
Zacznij.biz “A new face of your business”
1st Place - INFADO – active set of hi-fi DSP – astart-up with a high-tech profile in the electronicsarea, IT and mathematical algorithms for digitalsignal processing (DSP). The first INFADO prod-uct is an active set of hi-fi DSP speakers that usea range of advanced technologies in order tocombine the convenience of playing music in theform of files from a PC or an iPod, with the high-
est audio quality.www.infado.pl
2nd place - Ubraniometr – a mechanism whichwould precisely measure the differences in cloth-ing sizes according to the clothes’ brand. The aimis to increase clothes-purchasing online bydecreasing the risk of buying the wrong size.www.ubraniometr.pl
Aside from the Finalists, the jury also decided onfive “semi-finalists” – two projects from the“Science” competition, and three projects fromthe “Business” competition. These semi-finalistshad the opportunity to showcase their ideas at astand at the Gala. ●
Materiał współfi nansowany ze Êrodków Unii Europejskiej w ramach Europejskiego Funduszu Rozwoju Regionalnego
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On May 17, 2012 in Dom Dochodowy,
Warsaw the Competition Final Gala
took place.
The Finalists presented their proj-ects to potential investors. The win-ners of both competitions wereselected by all the guests attendingthe Final Gala. Among the voterswere members of the Jury of Honor,the Jury, as well as business angelsbrought together through LewiatanBusiness Angels.
The Finalists also had the opportu-nity to set up a promotional standduring the Gala. ●
The Gala
Materiał współfi nansowany ze Êrodków Unii Europejskiej w ramach Europejskiego Funduszu Rozwoju Regionalnego
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Zacznij.biz
“Science – the hidden potential
of your business”
1st Place – Phoenix Technologies2nd Place – EgzoTech
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Jakub Sza∏atkiewicz and Joanna Tytz (Phoenix Technologies)
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Micha∏ Mikulski (EgzoTech)
Zacznij.biz
“A new face of your business”
1st Place – INFADO2nd Place – Ubraniometr
“Lewiatan’s trainers were especially helpfulin showing us how to translate the technicallanguage of our project into more investor-friendly jargon,” said Joanna Tytz of PhoenixTechnologies, winner of the “Science – thehidden potential of your business” edition ofthe competition.
Micha∏ Mikulski, a finalist in the Zacznij.bizcontest, said, “The trainers were very help-ful and open with us, and were able to
explain how to handle many difficult issues.It isn't always easy for us to simultaneous-ly lead a project from a technical, businessand PR standpoint, so Lewiatan's guidancewas very helpful in this respect.”
“There was a lot of emphasis on marketingstrategy and creating a stand-out elementfor the investor's presentation. This wasimportant for the contest's participants,since the majority of their knowledge and
skills focused more on the technical andbusiness aspects, rather than marketing,”explained Pawe∏ Piwowarski of Infado, win-ner of the “A new face of your business”edition of the competition.
On behalf of the Polish Confederation of
Private Employers Lewiatan and Lewiatan
Business Angels, we would like to con-
gratulate the winners and thank all of our
Partners:
Materiał współfi nansowany ze Êrodków Unii Europejskiej w ramach Europejskiego Funduszu Rozwoju Regionalnego
Pawe∏ Piwowarski (INFADO) Marta Moksa (Ubraniometr)
HONORARY PATRON MEDIA PARTNERS
PARTNERS
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MAY 28 – JUNE 3, 2012 www.wbj.pl 13IINNTTEERRVVIIEEWW
with diminishing populationson the condition that peoplebuild homes and settle therewithin the following five years.In Poland the land would beprovided by the AgriculturalProperty Agency, which has atits disposal over two millionacres, of which over 300,000 isunused.
The program is addressedto young Poles returning fromwork abroad and also to Polesof various ages who settled incountries such as Belarus andKazakhstan, but want toresettle in their country of ori-gin. It also opens the door forthe 12 million Poles who liveabroad to come back. Theinflux of new people, somewell educated and with broadprofessional experience,would rejuvenate life inremote places with unusedland, such as the Lower Sile-sia, Warmiƒsko-Mazurskieand Zachodniopomorskievoivodships. Civic Platform iscurrently skeptical about thisprogram.
What is your attitudetowards some of the morecontroversial ethical draftbills currently being dis-cussed, such as state financ-ing for in vitro fertilizationand same-sex civil unions?It is difficult to say whetherregulating some ethical mat-ters should be dealt withthrough government policy orbe left to the conscience ofparliamentary club members.
I could not allow myself,with a clear conscience, toprevent poorer people fromhaving access to in vitro fertil-ization, while rich people areable to pay for it by them-selves. As far as civil unionsare concerned, nobody livingin such informal unionsshould feel excluded on anybasis, including sexual orien-tation. But our civil code pro-vides all the necessary rightsand regulations for dealingwith issues such as inheri-tance in such unions. So Iconsider the idea of a civilunions bill not to be a realproblem, but rather oneinvented by [liberal party]Palikot’s Movement for polit-ical calculation.
Do you think that Civil Plat-form could reach out to thesocially liberal Palikot’sMovement for support inpassing certain draft billswhich PSL is reluctant toback? The Civil Platform is a sensi-ble party and will not throwthe interests of the countryinto the hands of an unpre-dictable party such asPalikot’s Movement. Nobody
knows what Janusz Palikotreally wants, what definitepolitical views he holds andhow his MPs will behave inconcrete situations. The sup-position that PSL could befeeling threatened byPalikot’s Movement in termsof our position and role in theruling coalition is totallyunfounded and simply ridicu-lous.
It seems that PSL is distanc-ing itself from the warbetween Law and Justice
(PiS) and PO over theSmolensk catastrophe, andthat PM Tusk has to rejectthe accusations being thrownat him and the governmenton his own. How do you seethe situation?I do not agree that PSL is dis-tancing itself from theSmolensk catastrophe, whichis a national tragedy thatshould be fully explained. ButI think that all of us in govern-ment did not foresee theimpact of all those absurd the-ories about the motives andcircumstances of that catastro-phe, which PiS’s leader[Jaros∏aw Kaczyƒski] and hiscolleagues are spreading.
In every society there aresome people who are proneto feeling persecuted.Because they feel disappoint-ed in life, they look for ene-mies, and here they find it inRussia. I thought at the begin-ning that the Smolensk catas-trophe would unite Poles, butinstead this tragedy has divid-
ed our society, a divide whichis purposely fed by PiS inorder to make political gains.
Do you think that those divi-sions will remain?Yes, because I do not see away out of it. There is no goodsolution, we have to live withthis political war. I do notbelieve that the most matter-of-fact expert’s opinionscould help to stop this war,because the people whobelieve that it was an assassi-nation will continue to hold
that view. Even establishing a parlia-
mentary commission to dealwith the catastrophe or callingin international experts wouldbe fruitless, because PiSwould stick to its opinions,regardless of the facts. PSLdoes not want to conduct pol-itics on the graves of peoplewho perished in the Smolenskcatastrophe.
I think that the largest partof our society does not wantthis war, has accomplished alot and is working hard to helpour country to progress. Butanother part is lagging behindand is looking for enemies toexplain their failures. Maybe inour history we have had a trag-ic tendency to divide amongourselves. The great Polishpoet Cyprian Kamil Norwidwrote that building a strongnation requires searching forthose things which unite us, notthose which divide. I believethat we should remember thisin present-day Poland. ●
“We have to conduct a policy tyingeconomic growth with social policies,
because Poland is still a country ofdeep economic and social contrasts”
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PSL MP Stanis∏aw ˚elichowski wants to lure home
Poles living abroad with cheap land
➡ Continued from p. 12
Combining the most in-depth social media knowledge with the sophisticated insights of consumer behavior
*Attention USA clients
www.valkea-attention.com
don’t think so.But these companies
is just a fad. Maybe social media
*
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 MAY 28 – JUNE 3, 2012, LI 17/21
Griffin Group
investment
plot
Real estate investor and
developer Griffin Group
has acquired 4.5 hectares
of land in the Sienna
Grobla area of downtown
Gdaƒsk. The company
has revealed that almost
75,000 sqm of residential
and office space can be
developed on the
property. This is the
latest of a number of real
estate acquisitions made
by Griffin Group in the
last two years. In late
2010, the company
bought 37 hectares of
land in Warsaw on which
it plans to build an
exclusive single-family
housing project. In
November 2011, Griffin
Group acquired seven
investment plots across
Poland.
Lufthansa
Systems in
Opera OfficeLufthansa Systems has
leased over 3,500 sqm of
office space at developer
Euro Styl’s Opera Office
project in Gdaƒsk. Jones
Lang LaSalle, the
exclusive leasing agent
for the scheme, brokered
the transaction. “The
Tri-city office market has
been very dynamic in
2012, both when it comes
to developers and
tenants,” Magdalena
Reƒska, manager of the
Gdaƒsk office of Jones
Lang LaSalle, said in a
statement. ●
Office
OOKKRREE DDeevveellooppmmeenntt ttoo llaauunncchhGGrreeeennWWiinnggss pprroojjeecctt iinn WWaarrssaaww iinn QQ33The company is alsoplanning an officeinvestment in thecapital’s Ochotadistrict
Developer OKRE Develop-ment will this Septemberlaunch construction on itsGreenWings office project inWarsaw. The scheme will bebuilt on the city’s ul. 17 Stycz-nia, near the capital’s WarsawChopin Airport, and willdeliver 10,850 sqm of officeand conference space on itsseven floors.
“We are finalizing the
agreement with the generalcontractor,” said RonnieRichardson, president ofOKRE Development’s man-agement board. He addedthat construction would take18 months, with the buildingexpected to be completed inFebruary 2014 and ready foroccupancy three months later.
Mr Richardson touted theconvenient location of theGreenWings project, as wellas the green building creden-tials of the facility. Designedby the JEMS Architekci stu-dio, the development hasalready earned a “VeryGood” BREAM evaluation.
GreenWings Offices . . . . . . . . . .15
New Hines fund . . . . . . . . . . . . .15
Seaside hotels . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16
Alchemia certification . . . . . . .16
Property-related stocks . . . . . .16
New Inowrocław mall . . . . . . .17
Galeria Dzierżoniów project . .17
Retail Horizons Conference . . .17
Property marketing . . . . . . . . . .18
New Bouygues apartments . . .18
In this issue
1716
There is a hotel developmentboom underway on Poland’sBaltic coast
The 31,000-sqm GaleriaSolna mall in Inowroc∏aw hasobtained a building permit
New Hines fund to
invest over €900 millionInternational real estate com-pany Hines has announced theclosing of the Hines Russia &Poland Fund (HRPF) that hasbeen formed to invest morethan €900 million in the Russ-ian and Polish property mar-kets.
HRPF is the fourth Hinesfund with a strategy to investin the two countries. Approxi-mately 80 percent of its capitalwill be invested in Russia, withthe fund having already allo-cated equity to three newretail projects in the country,
and 20 percent in Poland.“Poland remains a growing
and vibrant economy in spiteof European economic head-winds,” Mieczys∏aw Godzisz,president of the managementboard of Hines Polska, said ina statement.
“We continue to believethat very interesting opportu-nities for investment in theoffice, retail and mixed-usesectors are available in multi-ple cities throughout Poland,”Mr Godzisz added.
AAddaamm ZZddrrooddoowwsskkii
Each floor of GreenWingswill offer around 1,600 sqm ofspace, with the smallestleasable modules sized from400 sqm. “We can offer spacefor all sorts of tenants, includ-ing those who will take upone or more floors, but wealso target the scheme tosmall and medium-sized busi-nesses,” Mr Richardson said.
The scheme is beingleased by Cushman & Wake-field and NAI Estate Fellows.
Apart from the plannedGreenWings investment, thecompany is now also workingon another office project inWarsaw that will be locatedon Al. Grójecka in the capi-tal’s Ochota district and com-prise approximately 7,500
sqm of space.The developer is now
awaiting a planning decisionfor the site and expects toobtain a building permit forthe Kury∏owicz & Associ-ates-designed facility inOctober. “Construction willbe launched in 2013,” MrRichardson said.
AAddaamm ZZddrrooddoowwsskkii
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GreenWings will deliver 10,850 sqm of space
MAY 28 – JUNE 3, 2012LLOOKKAALLEE IIMMMMOOBBIILLIIAA –– RREEAALL EESSTTAATTEE16 www.wbj.pl
Security Closing % change 52-week 52-week % change Total Marketprice (week) low high (year) shares value
Increased interest in seasidevacations has led both Polishand international companiesto invest in hotel develop-ments on Poland’s Baltic coast.A Hampton by Hilton hotelhas just opened in ÂwinoujÊcie,while a Golden Tulip Resi-dence is set to open inMi´dzyzdroje in late July, anda Hotel Grand Cru and HotelFahrenheit are set to welcomevisitors in Gdaƒsk in June.
Development in the sectorhas been widespread, withprojects encompassing notonly budget and mid-rangehotels, but also luxury invest-ments. According to Eurostat,there were 113 hotels in thePomorskie region five yearsago. Now there are 158, withseveral more set to open with-in the coming year.
Four- and five-star hotelsare becoming increasinglyattractive options for holiday-
makers and the number offour-star hotels has more thandoubled (to 25) since 2007.Since 2005, the proportion ofPoles who stayed at hotels andchose four- or five-star facili-ties rose from 28 to 42 percent,according to Eurostat.
Plans for large projectssuch as the Baltic Park Molo inÂwinoujÊcie are already under-way. This investment willinclude two luxury condohotels with a mall, conferencecenter, entertainment centerand water park.
Apart from increased inter-est among Polish vacationers,the hotel industry has alsobenefited from overall eco-nomic growth in thePomorskie region. Infrastruc-tural improvements as well asa greater variety of domesticflight options have made thecoast more accessible fordomestic holidaymakers.
Eurostat data show that thePolish hotel occupancy raterose by 7.6 percent last year,higher than the EU average of3.8 percent. NNaattaalliiaa KKooppyyttnniikk
Alchemia in Gdaƒsk receives
platinum LEED pre-certificationDeveloper Torus has received aplatinum-level LEED pre-cer-tificate for its Alchemia multi-function investment in Gdaƒsk.
Receiving the pre-certifi-cate, which denotes that thedevelopment is on track to get-ting a LEED certificate for sus-tainable development, is thefirst stage of a three-stage certi-fication process.
“There are two more stagesahead of us, namely the projectreview and the constructionreview,” said company leasingdirector Maciej Bro˝ek.
Alchemia, which is locatedin Gdaƒsk’s Oliwia district, is tohave a total of 21,000 sqm ofleasable area, over 16,000 sqmof which will be office space. Arecreation area including sportsfacilities will take up 4,000 sqm.Construction on the first phase,which comprises two buildings,is scheduled to finish in thethird quarter of 2013.
Mr Bro˝ek said the compa-ny had already leased out 3,000sqm, although he declined todisclose to whom.
S∏awomir Gajewski, presi-dent of the management boardat Torus, said the company hadplanned to acquire the LEEDcertificate as early as the designand planning stage.
“It was very important for us
to make the decision aboutacquiring the LEED when westarted planning the building,”Mr Gajewski said.
He added that early plan-ning helped to reduce the timeand cost of the certificationprocess.
Mr Gajewski said that con-structing a LEED-certifiedbuilding raises environmentalawareness among both thosewho lease space and membersof the local community.
Among all the company’s“green” plans, water efficiencyis a priority for Torus.
“Our strategy is to design awater storage reservoir thatwould collect rainwater fromrooftops. A reservoir of thiskind could provide water forthe building’s occupants for upto 21 days,” the company said ina statement.
Torus will also seek to mini-mize energy wastage atAlchemia by deliberately notemploying heating, ventilating,air-conditioning and coolingsystems which run on chloro-fluorocarbons-based sub-stances.
IIzzaabbeellaa DDeeppcczzyykk
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There are now 158 hotels in the Pomorskie region
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Torus leasing director Maciej Bro˝ek says LEED-
certified buildings help raise environmental awarenesss
MAY 28 – JUNE 3, 2012 LLOOKKAALLEE IIMMMMOOBBIILLIIAA –– RREEAALL EESSTTAATTEE www.wbj.pl 17
Shopping centers
Galeria Solna mall gets building permitThe 31,000-sqmshopping center isscheduled to open inthe first half of 2013
Acteum Central Europe- andLibra Project-established ACE1, the investor of the plannedGaleria Solna shopping mall inInowroc∏aw, Kujawsko-Pomorskie voivodship, hasobtained a building permit forthe more than 31,000-sqmdevelopment.
Construction on the schemeis scheduled to launch in Juneand finish in the first half of2013. “The obtaining of a build-ing permit is a milestone foreach investment,” TomaszSzewczyk, president of themanagement board at Acteum,said in a statement.
“It sends a clear signal totenants that the project is pro-ceeding according to scheduleand is fully legitimized by thecity authorities. From now on,we can talk about the detailsconcerning the dates of the con-struction launch and the finish-ing of the project,” Mr Szew-czyk added.
In late April, the investorsecured bank financing for
Galeria Solna from Pekao.“The obtaining of financing forthis kind of investment provesthat the project is well preparedand well planned,” stated Grze-gorz P´kalski, president of themanagement board of LibraProject.
The Galeria Solna mall willcomprise over 31,000 sqm ofleasable space. Key tenants willinclude a Tesco hypermarketand a Nomi DIY store. The
shopping center will houseapproximately 100 other retailunits.
Acteum Central Europe iscurrently expanding two retailprojects from CBRE GlobalInvestors’ portfolio – Sarni Stokin Bielsko-Bia∏a and Ogrody inElblàg. The majority sharehold-er of Libra Project is DariuszMi∏ek whose Galeria KoronaKielce mall in Kielce opened inmid-May. AAZZ
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Construction on the scheme is set to finish in H1 2013
Work on Galeria Dzier˝oniów to launch in third quarterA new shopping center calledGaleria Dzier˝oniów will bedeveloped by Biuro InwestycjiKapita∏owych in Dzier˝oniów,Lower Silesia voivodship. Con-struction on the 5,000-sqmscheme is scheduled to launchin the third quarter of this year.
“The excellent location inthe downtown, at the mainintersection, and the largepotential of the urban center,led to our decision to purchasethe plot and to develop a shop-ping center on it,” statedMiros∏aw Koszany, presidentof the management board atBiuro Inwestycji Kapi-ta∏owych.
The architectural conceptof the Galeria Dzier˝oniówmall has been furnished by the
Bose International studio. Thedevelopment, which will openin Q3 2013, is being commer-cialized by Retail Concept.
Kraków-based Biuro Inwes-
tycji Kapita∏owych has untilrecently specialized mostly inthe development and lease ofwarehouse investments.
AAddaamm ZZddrrooddoowwsskkii
PRCH presents Best Practice Manual
The Polish Council of Shop-ping Centers (PRCH) present-ed its “Best Practice Manual”at its recent Retail HorizonsConference in Warsaw.
The manual, which was puttogether by landlords and ten-ants who are members ofPRCH, provides informationregarding best practices forbusinesses in terms of leaseagreements, service charges
and marketing costs. It also setsout best practices for ensuringsustainable growth for Poland’sshopping center market.
Anna Szmeja-Kroplewska,general manager of PRCH,said it was important that allthose who helped produce themanual agreed with everypractice contained within it.
She added that the issueson which they could not reach
a consensus were listed in theannex and would be used tohelp produce future editions ofthe publication.
PRCH is a non-profitorganization comprised of over190 companies from the retailproperty market. This year’sPRCH conference was attend-ed by over 300 representativesfrom 150 companies.
IIzzaabbeellaa DDeeppcczzyykk
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Galeria Dzier˝oniów will comprise 5,000 sqm of space
In a residentialmarket bursting withnew apartments,developers need tocome up with newmarketing strategies
Coming up with the right mar-keting strategy is crucial intoday’s residential market, inwhich there is a substantialsupply of new homes, said par-ticipants at the PremediumTrendy 2012 conference inWarsaw last week.
Admittedly, being aware ofbuyers’ expectations and offer-ing the right product still playsa major role. Analysis of thepreferences of potential clientsshows that certain types ofapartments are today in partic-ularly high demand, saidJaros∏aw J´drzyƒski, analyst atRynek.Pierwotny.com.
However, in a situationwhen there are many similarresidential projects in the samelocation and buyers are morecautious while making a pur-chase decision, having the rightproduct is often not enough toensure the desired salesresults, stressed Daria Affel-
towicz of Dom Badawczy Mai-son.
She added that makingmarketing mistakes can thusbe costly and argued that whatis crucial is targeting distinctivegroups of clients, characterizedby a particular lifestyle andattitude to banks and spendingmoney. “Do not sell yourapartments to the averagePole,” Ms Affeltowicz said.
She added that developersneed to always think abouttheir target group and choosetheir communication accord-ingly. “Remember about theneeds and motivation of theparticular segment [of buyers].Find the right bait.” Ms Affel-
towicz said.Dariusz Wilk, marketing
and sales director at GantDevelopment, pointed out thatas there are now many com-pleted apartments in the mar-ket, buyers are increasinglymaking their purchase deci-sions having seen the realproduct, rather than just a ren-dering.
He added that the trendwill likely also remain visible inthe near future and said that itis therefore important thesedays that developers thinkabout the marketing side oftheir projects while still at thedesign stage.
AAddaamm ZZddrrooddoowwsskkii
MAY 28 – JUNE 3, 2012LLOOKKAALLEE IIMMMMOOBBIILLIIAA –– RREEAALL EESSTTAATTEE18 www.wbj.pl
Bouygues launches newresidential project in Warsaw
Developer Bouygues Immo-bilier Polska has launchedsales of apartments in its LaTour Residence multifamilyresidential project in Warsaw.The scheme will deliver 246apartments which are sched-uled to be completed in thelast quarter of 2014.
The 12-storey La Tour Res-idence development will bebuilt at the intersection of Al.Bohaterów WrzeÊnia and ul.Bitwy Warszawskiej 1920 r. inWarsaw’s Ochota district,close to the city’s Warsaw West
railway station and the BlueCity and Reduta malls.
“The La Tour Residenceinvestment combines all thekey advantages of big citylife,” stated KatarzynaRauber, sales and marketingdirector at Bouygues Immo-bilier Polska. She pointed tothe good transport links of thelocation and the project’sproximity to public facilitiesand green areas.
The housing units in LaTour Residence are sized from37 sqm to 150 sqm and priced
at an average of z∏.7,500 persqm. They can, optionally, bebought as turnkey apartments,with the developer offeringthree finishing standards.
One of the largest develop-ers in France, BouyguesImmobilier has been active inPoland since 2001 and had bythe end of 2010 completedmore than 1,600 homes in thecountry. The company’s ongo-ing schemes include the PatioAvenir and La Cascade proj-ects in the Polish capital.
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The La Tour Residence development will deliver 246 apartments by the end of 2014
From 40 sqm to 60 sqm 49.07 29.80 47.49 30.65 60.98
From 60 sqm to 80 sqm 22.43 25.83 25.14 12.90 9.76
From 80 sqm to 100 sqm 11.45 19.87 3.91 3.23 3.66
Over 100 sqm 3.39 1.32 2.23 3.23 3.66
MAY 28 – JUNE 3, 2012 TTHHEE LLIISSTT www.wbj.pl 19
Financial Services
Factoring CompaniesRanked by revenue from factoring in 2010 www.bookoflists.pl
Notes: NR = Not Ranked, WND = Would Not Disclose. Research for The List was conductedin November 2011. Number of employees and ownership structure are as of October 2011. Allinformation pertains to the companies’ activities in Poland. Companies not responding to our sur-vey are not listed.
To the best of WBJ ’s knowledge, the information is accurate as of press time. While every effort is made to ensure accuracy and thoroughness, omissions andtypographical errors may occur. Corrections or additions to The List should be sent, on official letterhead, to Warsaw Business Journal, attn. Joanna Raszka,ul. Elblàska 15/17, 01-747 Warsaw, via fax to (+48) 22 639-8569, or via e-mail to [email protected]. Copyright 2011, Valkea Media SA. The List may not be reprint-ed or reproduced in whole or in part without prior written permission of the publisher. Reprints are available.
Rank
Company nameAddressTel./FaxE-mailWeb page
Revenue fromfactoring (z∏. mln)
Total revenue(z∏. mln)
Full /Partial
Export /Import
Maxim
um
ris
k c
ove
red /
Fir
st p
ay-
out
Fir
st p
aym
ent
due (
days
) /
Com
mis
sion
Collateral required Sectors serviced
Debt
colle
ction /
Analy
sis
of
debto
r’s
financia
l si
tuation
Debt
adm
inis
tration /
Fin
ancia
l advi
sory
/Le
dger
main
tenance
Number of clients /Total employees /
Year founded
Ownership: Polish /Foreign
Top local executive /
Title
1
ING Commercial Finance Polska SAul. Malczewskiego 45, 02-622 Warsaw22 558-7400/22 [email protected]
arvato Polska, oddzia∏ BertelsmannMedia Sp. z o.o.- faktoringul. Kolejowa 150, 62-064 Plewiska k/Poznania61 652-8800/61 [email protected]
WNDWND13.212.5
WNDWND145.0246.0
✓✓
✓-
90%80-90%
7-180WND
Blank promissory note All sectors✓✓
✓✓✓
3025
1994
NoneBertelsmann - 100%
Janusz JankowiakPresident
NR
Raiffeisen Bank Polska SAul. Pi´kna 20, 00-549 Warsaw22 585-2001/22 [email protected]/faktoring
WNDWNDWNDWND
WND1,706.41,407.01,556.0
✓✓
✓-
Up to 100%Up to 100%
1WND
Power of attorney overbank account
All sectors✓✓
✓--
WND36
1991
NoneRaiffeisen Bank
International - 100%
Piotr CzarneckiPresident
1st half of 2011 / 2010 /2009 / 2008
Factoring Services
MAY 28 – JUNE 3, 2012MMAARRKKEETTSS20 www.wbj.pl
SO
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PLN-EUR
4.36
83
4.33
22
4.32
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4.35
76
4.36
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4.35
10
18.0
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21.0
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22.0
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4.4 PLN-USD
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5.35 5.43
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5.36
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5.34
19
5.41
22
5.44
96
5.41
78
PLN-CHF
3.63
71
3.60
70
3.59
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3.62
85
3.63
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3.62
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18.0
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3.7 0.12 PLN-RUB
18.0
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PLN-100JPY
18.0
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4.4
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4.34
60
currency rates
Z∏oty underpressure
Currency report
The z∏oty remains underpressure as risk aversion oncurrency markets remainshigh. The situation inGreece is far from solved,with the EU summit notbringing any clear solutions.
Market participants arebecoming more tense aseuro-zone countries preparefor Greece to exit the mone-tary union. The US dollarhad another strong week,advancing to $1.2520 againstthe euro, its lowest sinceAugust of 2010. The outlookstill remains negative for theeuro, but next week wemight observe a rebound tolevels just above $1.26.
In terms of domestic fig-ures, it was revealed lastweek that industrial produc-tion increased by just 2.9percent on an annual basis.On the other hand, coreCPI inflation climbed to 2.7
percent, giving strongerarguments for hawks in theMonetary Policy Council.
Also, the drop in retailsales proved that – just as inEurope – economic growthin Poland is slowing down,piling pressure on the z∏oty.
Last week theEUR/PLN was unable tobreak the z∏.4.30 level, and arebound from there lifted itto the recent highs ofz∏.4.40. Towards the end ofthe week, the market cor-rected and the EUR/PLNfinished at z∏.4.36, but theoutlook is still negative ifthere is no agreement aboutGreece.
External factors will con-tinue to affect the z∏oty – itwill only appreciate if thereis a decline in risk aversion.In the case of a “Grexit,”get ready for a much weakerz∏oty.●
Adam NarczewskiX-Trade Brokers DM SA
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BP
Major indices
Top 5 Closing % change (week) 52-week high 52-week low
Change for the week: -1.04% 52-week high: 2,903.61
Change year to May 24: -7.22% 52-week low: 2,035.80
mWIG40 2,035.80 (May 24 close)
Change for the week: -0.86% 52-week high: 2,959.86
Change year to May 24: 2.83% 52-week low: 2,076.52
sWIG80 9,069.24 (May 24 close)
Change for the week: -1.23% 52-week high: 12,779.22
Change year to May 24: 5.40% 52-week low: 8,604.31
NewConnect 38.09 (May 24 close)
Change for the week: -2.06% 52-week high: 57.46
Change year to May 24: -8.19% 52-week low: 38.09
WIG-Banki 5,181.61 (May 24 close)
Change for the week: -2.03% 52-week high: 7,112.78
Change year to May 24: -6.52% 52-week low: 4,944.19
DJIA12,529.75 (May 24 close)
0.70% (for the week)
CHANGE: 1.07%
(year to May 24)
52-week high: 13,359.60
52-week low: 10,362.30
NASDAQ2,839.38 (May 24 close)
0.91% (for the week)
CHANGE: 7.20%
(year to May 24)
52-week high: 3,134.17
52-week low: 2,298.89
S&P5001,320.68 (May 24 close)
1.21% (for the week)
CHANGE: 3.42%
(year to May 24)
52-week high: 1,422.38
52-week low: 1,074.77
FTSE1005,350.00 (May 24 close)
0.22% (for the week)
CHANGE: -6.14%
(year to May 24)
52-week high: 6,084.10
52-week low: 4,791.00
DAX6,315.89 (May 24 close)
0.11% (for the week)
CHANGE: 3.96%
(year to May 24)
52-week high: 7,523.53
52-week low: 4,965.80
NIKKEI2258,563.38 (May 24 close)
-3.53% (for the week)
CHANGE: 0.04%
(year to May 24)
52-week high: 10,255.20
52-week low: 8,135.79
world stock indices
36,000
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38.0
38.8
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40.4
41.2
42.0
25.0
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02.0
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5 5,100
5,260
5,420
5,580
5,740
5,900
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Other indices
No end in sight
Stocks report
The blue-chip WIG20 nearlydropped below 2,000 pointslast week, a low that has notbeen seen since as far backas 2009. It was yet anotherturbulent week for marketsas worries over Greece’sfuture paralyzed Europe,while China’s softer growthcompounded fears of a slow-ing global economy.
Last Monday, stocks gotsome much-needed reliefafter large declines the weekbefore. Strong words fromworld leaders emphasizingsupport for the euro zoneand China briefly appeasedinvestors. Both the overallWIG and WIG20 saw solidgains of about 1.5 percent.
On Tuesday, shares con-tinued their bounce back,with gains throughoutEurope. The WIG20 under-performed the rest of thecontinent’s blue-chip stocks,
eking out a 0.16 percent gain.Shares of PZU dragged themain index down, closing 2.2percent lower than at thestart of the day.
The mini-gains thencame to an end on Wednes-day. Aside from Greece,poor macroeconomic datafrom Japan and the UKbroadened worries of aglobal recession. Financialswere hit particularly hard.Only shares of TVN rose,continuing impressive re-cent gains.
On Thursday May 24,stocks saw small gains, withmany wondering whether themarket has pulled back farenough. In a volatile session,the WIG eventually closednearly a quarter of a percentlower.
Finally on Friday, May 25,the WIG closed up 0.02 per-cent. ●
Andrew Nawrocki WBJ market analyst
MAY 28 – JUNE 3, 2012 SSPPOORRTTSS www.wbj.pl 21
Artur Sobiech scoredthe only goal of thegame
Polish national soccer teamcoach Franciszek Smuda saidhe was pleased with his teamfollowing a 1-0 victory overLatvia last week.
“In general I am happywith the match, although therewere times I was not happy,but we have time to correct it,”he told journalists after thegame at the Hypo-Arena, inKlagenfurt, Austria.
“We should play moredirect soccer, maybe then Iwould not be so upset on thebench. But this can beexplained by fatigue,” headded.
The Polish side, whichlargely comprised reserveplayers, overcame their Lat-vian counterparts courtesy of agoal from 21-year-old Han-nover striker Artur Sobiech,who came off the bench tohead home an 81st-minutewinner.
However, despite theresult, Mr Smuda said he wasstill no nearer to naming his
23-man squad for Euro 2012,with three of the players cur-rently in Austria set to be cutfrom the final squad.
Poland was due to play Slo-vakia on May 26 (after WBJwent to press), with the Borus-sia Dortmund trio of RobertLewandowski, ¸ukasz Pisz-czek, and captain JakubB∏aszczykowski all set to play,as the national side fine-tunesits preparations ahead of itsopening match against Greece
on June 8.Poland’s manager was then
set to reveal the names of theplayers who failed to make thefinal cut for the tournamentsquad.
Asked what his hopes werefor the tournament the nation-al team coach said, “There isone aim, I’ll still say, to get outof the group. But of course thisis not as easy as everyonethinks.”
DDaavviidd IInngghhaamm
American football
Koz∏y fall one play shortof shocking Topliga The Poznaƒ teamcame close todefeating DevilsWroc∏aw
Koz∏y Poznaƒ came within awhisker of pulling off one ofthe biggest upsets in PolishAmerican football history inthe Topliga’s seventh round ofmatches at the end of May.They failed on a go-ahead two-point conversion attempt inthe last minute of the game,allowing the home team DevilsWroc∏aw to escape with a 7-6
victory.History was not on Poz-
naƒ’s side coming into thegame. They had won only oncein five attempts all-timeagainst the Devils, getting shutout in each of the other four.
Like the first game this yearbetween these two teams, itwas a defensive struggle in thepurest sense. Both teams hadchances to score throughout,but each time either offenseapproached the end zone, theopposing defense would forcea turnover.
The Devils went into half-time up 7-0 following a 77-yard punt return by GrzegorzMazur in the second quarter.Going in to the final minute,Koz∏y had still failed to getpast the Devils’ defense, untilDeante Battle manged tocarry the ball four yards to theend zone on fourth down tomake it 7-6.
Koz∏y quickly decided to gofor two and the win, but thedrama dissipated immediatelywhen a botched exchangebetween center and quarter-back on the snap left Koz∏yunable to convert.
Elsewhere, the WarsawEagles crushed the Dom-BudKraków Tigers 52-0 to con-demn the Tigers to their fifthstraight defeat. Tyrone Lan-drum and Piotr Osuchowskieach scored a pair of touch-downs for the victors as Warsawended their two-game losingstreak in impressive fashion.
In the weekend’s othergame the Gdynia Seahawkstook care of business at home,cruising past the AZS SilesiaRebels 61-19 to maintain theirshare of first place in thePLFA Topliga.
AAlleexx ZZaarrggaanniiss
Tomasz Kowalskisuffered seriousinjuries in amotorcycle accident
One of Poland’s major medalhopes for this summer’s Lon-don Olympics was seriouslyinjured in a motorcycle acci-dent in northern Poland onMay 20, and has ruled himselfout of the event as a result.
Thirty-year-old Polish judostar Tomasz Kowalski was rid-ing as a passenger on a motor-bike with his 30-year-old team-mate Tomasz Adamiec, whenthey collided with a car andended up in a ditch by the sideof the road.
Mr Adamiec escaped with
minor injuries but Mr Kowals-ki, who won silver at this year’sEuropean Judo Champi-onships, suffered seriousinjuries to his pelvis and lowerleg.
In an interview with Polishdaily Gazeta Wyborcza MrKowalski said he wasresigned to the fact that hewill not make this year’sOlympics, but plans to doeverything he can to makethe games in Rio de Janeiroin four years’ time.
“The most important thingis that we lived. … I now havetime for deep reflection, and Iknow that I will be a strongerman,” he said.
Kuba B∏aszczykowski will captain the national side
Soccer
Poland defeats Latviain Euro 2012 warmup
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The Devils’ Niles Mittesch fumbles the ball
Lewandowski aims tomaintain formPolish striker Robert Lewan-dowski says he does not needto train heavily ahead of Euro2012, but just has to maintainthe form that saw him score 30goals for German giantsBorussia Dortmund last sea-son.
The 23-year-old joined upwith his international team-mates in the Austrian town ofLeinz for a pre-tournamenttraining camp last week, afterhelping his club side secure theGerman cup and league cham-pionships earlier in May.Lewandowski scored a hattrick as Dortmund demolishedBayern Munich 5-2 in the sea-son-ending German Cup tofinish their league title-winningseason in style.
“This short rest has come inhandy, because we are fresh.We rested mentally and nowwe need to get back to work,”he said.
Elephant replacesoctopusRemember Paul, the score-predicting octopus from the2010 World Cup? Well now,Poland has its very own “psy-chic” animal in the shape ofCitta the elephant, who cur-rently lives at Kraków Zoo.
Zookeepers plan to give theelephant a ball to help it pre-dict Euro 2012 results in muchthe same way as Paul the octo-pus did two years ago.
However, in a trial runthings didn’t exactly go asplanned, as Citta swallowed theball she was given to play with.
Topless protestersattempt to steal trophyFeminist protesters in Ukrainetried to steal the EuropeanChampionship trophy while itwas on display in the country’sfourth-largest city Dnipro-petrovsk, last week.
Two women who belong to
the group FEMEN invadedthe stage before removingtheir tops and trying to takethe trophy.
FEMEN has gained globalnotoriety for unique protests,which often involve nudity inpublic places.
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
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MAY 28 – JUNE 3, 2012LLIIFFEESSTTYYLLEE22 www.wbj.pl
Since it began back in 1983,Ursynalia has evolved from asmall-scale local rock festivalin to one of the largest student
festivals.From mid-2000, the event
has featured a number offamous groups such as Ameri-can rockers Korn and Britishindie band The Future Heads.
This year’s main lineupboasts big names as well, withnu-metal pioneers Limp Bizk-it, influential metal band Slay-
er, and Canadian punk rockersBilly Talent set to be amongthe numerous bands entertain-ing revelers in the capital.
Tickets for the festivalbegin at z∏.30, with three-daypasses priced from z∏.60.
NNaattaalliiaa KKooppyyttnniikkFor more information log
on to ursynalia.pl
Nabucco June 3 and 5,Teatr Wielki, Plac Teatralny 1 Warsaw
Nabucco, the opera that per-manently cemented GiuseppeVerdi’s place as a world-renowned composer, tells thestory of Jews who were exiledfrom their homeland by the
Babylonian King Nabucco(known as Nebuchadnezzar inEnglish).
In four acts this opera man-ages to combine strong biblicalthemes with the typical the-atrical drama and conflictbased around the topics of pol-itics, family and religion.
The most famous musicalpiece in Nabucco is the chorus
“Va, pensiero!” (“Raise yourthoughts on golden wings”),which is often repeated as anencore at the end of perform-ances.
For performances in War-saw this June, the magnificentstage set was created by famedartist Andrzej Kreütz Majews-ki.
DDaavviidd IInngghhaamm
Festival
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New National ArtJune 2-August 19Museum of Modern Artul.Paƒska 3Warsaw
This new exhibition, devel-oped in conjunction with the7th Berlin Biennale art project,is focused on national-patriot-ic visual culture in modern-dayPoland.
Described as “a ubiquitousstyle that has thrived withoutawareness or support on thepart of art institutions,” theinstallations, paintings, films,and books on display shareone main theme – being usedas a tool to influence peopleand to shape their views.
The curators of the exhibi-tion have sought to highlightthe impact that right-wing artcan have on society and high-light its immediacy in compar-
ison to the art often favored byleft-leaning, elitist art institu-tions.
By displaying national-patriotic art the museumhopes to capture the true char-acter of political art and itsimpact on social moods inmodern-day Poland.
Among the works on dis-play is “Smoleƒsk” a paintingby Zbigniew Dowgia∏∏o, whodescribes the piece, whichcommemorates the lives lost inthe Smolesnk plane tragedy of2010, as a manifestation of hisown soul.
DDaavviidd IInngghhaamm
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“Smoleƒsk” by Zbigniew M. Dowgia∏∏o
Centre for ContemporaryArt at Ujazdowski Castle ul. Jazdów 2www.csw.art.pl
Czarna Gallery ul. Marsza∏kowska 4www.czarnagaleria.art.pl
Galeria 022, DAP, Lufcik ul. Mazowiecka 11awww.owzpap.pl
State ArchaeologicalMuseum in Warsawul. D∏uga 52 www.pma.pl
State Ethnographic Museumul. Kredytowa 1www.ethnomuseum.website.pl
Historical Museum of Warsaw Old Town Square 28-42www.mhw.pl
History Meeting House of Warsaw ul. Karowa 20www.dsh.waw.pl
Warsaw Philharmonic ul. Jasna 5www.filharmonia.pl
Warsaw Rising Museum ul. Grzybowska 79www.1944.pl
Wilanów Palace Museumand Wilanów PosterMuseumul. St Kostki Potockiego 10/16www.milanow-palac.plwww.postermuseum.pl
Zachęta National Art GalleryPl. Ma∏achowskiego 3www.zacheta.art.pl
Museums, galleries and venues in Warsaw
WBJ’s restaurant review feature
Blue Cactusul. Zajàczkowska 11Warsawbluecactus.plSince it opened for business in1996, Blue Cactus has prideditself on bringing a little bit ofcolor to the capital.
Along with staples of Mexi-can cuisine such as fajitas, bur-ritos and enchiladas, the mainmenu offers American dishesincluding hot wings, gourmetburgers, and T-bone and rib-eye steaks, or, for seafoodenthusiasts, shrimp (grilled orfried), salmon tartar andceviche.
If you’re an avocado lover,then we recommend you startyour Blue Cactus experiencewith a bowl of guacamoleserved with crispy tortillachips.
Blue Cactus also has a spe-cial menu which changes withthe seasons, offering guestsdishes based on seasonal pro-duce. Currently the specialmenu focuses on asparagus,
with dishes including aspara-gus salad, salmon with aspara-gus, and white asparagus andgreen curry soup.
The restaurant is made upof two separate and spaciousrooms. Featuring painted andhand-carved tables and chairs,as well as authentic decora-tions, the interior of Blue Cac-tus looks like something out ofa Mexican wedding fiesta.
The restaurant also fea-
tures an outdoor sitting area,perfect for enjoying a margari-ta on a hot summer night.
Blue Cactus also offersbreakfasts, all for z∏.18, and onSundays between 12 and 3 pmyou can enjoy brunch forz∏.80. In the evenings, you canalso enjoy dancing in the Igua-na Lounge right next door.
MAY 28 – JUNE 3, 2012 LLAASSTT WWOORRDD www.wbj.pl 23
Past, present and future, on two wheelsTech Eye
You know that kid who got pickedlast, and grudgingly, for team gamesin elementary school? The one thatwas popular for dodgeball, but onlybecause he or she was an easy tar-get? The one that ran with all thegrace of a one-legged duck?
Techeye knew that kid. Dodgeballwas really fun when he played.
His name was Gary, which wasreason enough for other kids not tolike him. To make matters worse hehad a unibrow and reeked of carrots(his mother put them in everythinghe ate, including peanut butter andjelly sandwiches). Gary had at leastone thing going for him, though – areally radical bike. Shiny, silver andfast, it never made up for his socialinadequacies, but it sometimes cameclose.
Techeye recently bumped into
Gary, who is today the proud ownerof Hairy Gary’s Beauty Emporium,the only source of carrot-infusedshampoo in the whole village. So thisweek, in his honor, we’re looking atsome of the newest, radest two-wheelers in the world.
First up is the DeLorean Anyday,from DeLorean Motor Company(deloreanbicycle.com), the maker ofthe car from “Back to the Future.”Having seen the future, the firm hasdecided bicycles are the best wayforward.
Several bicycle models are prom-ised – we’ve got our fingers crossed
for one with gull-wing doors – butonly the Anyday has been unveiled.Designed and custom built by Italy’sSarto Antonio Racing Bicycles, witha frame made of Columbus XCrstainless steel tubing and boasting abelt drive (rather than a chain), thisthing is shiny, silver and fast. Noword on whether it’ll hit 88 mph,though.
The DeLorean Anyday costs$5,500. Just keep in mind that itsmaker has a spotty track record –only around 9,000 DeLorean carswere made, over a period of twoyears, before the company went
bankrupt in the 1980s. So if you’reinterested in the Anyday, it might bewise to buy now.
Then there’s the Wörthersee, anelectric bike designed by Teutonictransport manufacturer Audi(audi.com). This is just a conceptvehicle, prepared for theWörthersee 2012 auto show, sodon’t get too excited about buyingone. Nevertheless, it offers a fasci-nating look at the (possible) futureof bicycles.
The Wörthersee is built from car-bon fiber-reinforced polymer andweighs a piffling 24 lbs. It has a lithi-um-ion battery and a 44-mile range,with a top speed of 50 mph. Oh, andthere’s also a “wheelie mode,” abuilt-in touchscreen, integrated Wi-Fi and smartphone connectivity.
On the negative side, the bikeseat looks about as wide as a
g-string. In Audi’s vision of thefuture, cyclists apparently have tinybuttocks.
Last up this week is the Zero DSElectric Motorcycle from ZeroMotorcycles (zeromotorcycles.com).Advertised as “lightweight andstealthy,” this might just be themotorcycle modern-day ninjas havebeen clamoring for. Or not.
The Zero DS comes in twomodels, differentiated mainly bytheir power systems. The ZF6($11,495) charges faster but onlyhas a 75-mile range, while the ZF9($13,995) is slower to charge butwill take you 112 miles. Both mod-els have a max top speed of 80mph, with a sustained top speed of70 mph.
Other features include a main-tenance-free powertrain, advancedbattery-cell technology, regenera-tive braking, a power pack“designed to last the life of themotorcycle” and an aircraft-gradealuminum frame.
Plus, let’s face it, the Zero DSlooks wicked. Any kid whose familyowns one of these is practicallyguaranteed to get picked for teamgames. Even if he or she runs like aone-legged duck. ●
Ever tasted the glory of the peanut butter, jelly and carrot sandwich? Let us know: [email protected]
