Poland, Italy sign deal on fighting organized crime

Poland's Interior Ministry has signed an agreement with its Italian counterpart on the exchange of information on organized crime and illegal immigration, the ministry said Tuesday.

The deal was struck during a meeting between Poland's Interior Minister Janusz Kaczmarek and his Italian counterpart Guliano Amato Monday, the Polish PAP news agency quoted the ministry's spokesman Michal Rachon as saying.

"The meeting resulted in the signing of an agreement on fighting organized crime. The ministers also discussed problems linked with immigration, including illegal immigration," Rachon said.

Source:english.people.com.cn

Poland's Lotos targets efficiency, to up non-Russian supplies

Grupa Lotos, Poland's number two refiner, on Tuesday announced plans to up the share of oil it gets by sea to 15 pct this year from 10 pct in 2006, and to make it one of Europe's top five oil firms by efficiency.

'In three years we want to be in the top ten, maybe top five most efficient European refineries,' Lotos CEO Pawel Olechnowicz told a news conference, adding the company will compare itself to over 60 other European players via operating profit margins or debt to capital ratio.

Lotos plans to invest a total of 7.3 bln zlotys in 2007-2012 in new technology and upping its market share, as well as diversifying oil resources, 90 pct of which now comes from Russia.

By 2012 the refiner wants to reduce its dependence on Russian crude to no more than 60 percent. Lotos, owner of 69 pct of Poland's Baltic Sea oil rig operator Petrobaltic, also buys oil from Kuwait and the North Sea.

Lotos also plans to buy out the rest of Petrobaltic shares from the state in 2008, and to franchise out all of its gas stations to private dealers by the start of next year.

''I care more about what is mine' -- that's the idea. Competition is directed at lowering costs, and if we don't go in this direction, we will lose our clients,' Olechnowicz said.

The company, however, has suspended plans to build an Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) plant to process heavy petroleum residues. Lotos now plans to use the residues to produce asphalt -- a premium product as Poland embarks on a road-building programme ahead of the Euro 2012 football championships.

Source: forbes.com

Zensar opens outsouring centre in Poland

Zensar Technologies, a leading global IT and business process outsourcing services provider, announced the opening of its Polish operations, based in the city of Gdan�sk - the first of its kind centre in Poland to be opened by an Indian outsourcing company.

The centre will create over 350 new jobs for the community in its first 30 months of its operations, and will be the latest addition to Zensar�s network of consulting and software development centres in USA, UK, Singapore, Tokyo, China, India and South Africa.

The company will offer the entire range of Zensar solutions in Eastern Europe.

Ganesh Natarajan, Deputy Chairman and Managing Director, Zensar Technologies said, �We are viewing Poland as a major investment centre for research, education and development, and we are planning to invest over $2 million in developing global delivery capabilities in this country. We are confident that Poland will be a significant hub in our Europe strategy in the coming years.�

Recruitment is well underway at the centre with a team of 23 Polish engineers sent to Zensar's headquarters in Pune, for a three-month in-depth training and understanding of the company's product suite so that they can immediately lead the operations back in Poland.

The engineers will not only be developing their programming skills further but also learn more complex IT infrastructure design and architecture.

Zensar, whose European headquarters is in Slough, UK, now employs over 3,700 people across 24 sites globally with nearly 200 people based in the UK and Europe. The company recently declared its results for fiscal year-ended March 2007 with a 41 per cent growth in revenues and 67 per cent growth in profits. Source: http:business-standard.com

Poland improves GDP

Poland recorded a 7.4 percent growth in gross domestic product (GDP) in Q1 2007, compared to a 5.5 percent increase in the same period last year, according to Poland's Central Statistical Office (GUS).

Poland scored a total 5.8 percent GDP growth in 2006, with the National Bank of Poland (NBP) predicting a 5.7 percent increase this year and growth of around 5 percent in 2008 and 2009. Unemployment, currently near 15 percent and among the highest in the EU, is expected to drop to 10 percent by 2009, according to the NBP.

Source: cbw.cz

Poland 5 mths budget deficit narrows to 14.5-15 pct of FY projection - minister

WARSAW (Thomson Financial) - Poland's cumulative budget deficit to the end of May was 14.5-15 pct of the projection for the the whole of 2007, lower than an earlier forecast of 16-17 pct, said Deputy Finance Minister Elzbieta Suchocka-Roguska.

'Thanks to high revenues and lower-than-expected spending, we expect that after May the budget (deficit) will be 14.5-15 pct of the plan for the whole year,' Suchocka-Roguska told Thomson Financial News.

Poland's budget deficit last year came in around 5 bln zlotys below the 30 bln target, cutting the amount the ministry has to borrow on local debt markets.

The deficit this year is also planned at 30 bln, though the ministry has said it may again be several billion lower.

Source:By Paweł Sobczak, forbes.coml

Poland, Albania sign economic cooperation accord

Poland and Albania signed on Monday an agreement on economic cooperation, which will allow further development of cooperation in industry, power and mining sectors and in tourism between two countries.

The document was signed by Polish Economy Minister Piotr Wozniak and visiting Albanian Minister of Economy, Trade and Energy Genc Ruli.

Under the signed accord, the two countries will set up a mix commission to prepare proposals aimed to further develop bilateral cooperation, Polish PAP news agency reported.

Both minister stressed that hitherto bilateral turnover is very modest. Last year, Poland exported to Albania goods worth 5.6 million euros, chiefly agricultural and food products as well as electro-engineering and chemicals products. Imports closed at 800, 000 euros and focused on wood and paper products and products of light and chemical industries.

Ruli said that Albania is one of the best tourist regions in the world although it still has visible shortcomings in its road and telecommunications infrastructure, stressing that Albania is offering its land for investments while its parliament is working on a draft law to allow the sale of land to foreign investors.

The minister invited Polish capital to invest in Albania's fuel sector and to cooperate in the power industry.

Source: english.people.com.cn

Poland: apple crop will be 70% smaller than in 2006

The Polish fruit crop will be much smaller and prices will be much higher than in the previous season, especially in case of cherries, apricots, peaches and apples – announced representatives of the Research Institute of Pomology in Skierniewice.

According to prof. Augustyn Mika, losses on strawberry plantations were smaller than in orchards (only fruits of early strawberries were damaged) and the total crop can be 20-30% smaller than a year ago (194 thousand MT). In such a case, the strawberry crop will not meet the demand of processors. Prof. Mika also expects almost 100% losses in sweet cherry, apricot and peach orchards and around 90% in plum orchards (the losses on ‘Sweet Common Prune’ variety plantations are the smallest).

The pear crop will be probably around 30% smaller than a year ago (59 thousand MT). Relatively good yields of currants (red and black) and sour cherries are expected, though they will also be around 30% smaller than in previous season (195 thousand MT of sour cherries and 195 thousand MT of currants).

Apples are by far the most important type of Polish fruit. According to Mika’s forecast, the total apple crop in Poland will be around 70% smaller than in 2006 (2,3 million MT). The varieties damaged the most are ‘Idared’, ‘Ligol’ and ‘Jonagold’. Smaller losses are expected in case of ‘Gala’, Golden Delicious’ and ‘Elize’.

Apple juice processors in Poland can have major problems with raw material, since the yield of processing apples will be around 55% smaller comparing to 2006. Good crops are only expected for raspberries and gooseberries and black chokeberry (Aronia melanocarpa).
Source: freshplaza.com

Poland's Unemployment Rate Drops

Poland's unemployment rate dropped to 13 or 13.1 percent in May, according to preliminary figures released Monday by the Labor Ministry.

Labor Minister Anna Kalata said that the jobless rate fell from 13.7 percent in April thanks to jobs created by seasonal work in gardening, construction, road building and tourism.

The estimate was based on preliminary data, and the ministry was to release a more precise estimate on Wednesday.

The improvement comes amid the strongest economic growth that the former communist country of 38 million has seen in 10 years, with year-on-year growth in the first quarter of 7.4 percent.

Unemployment has also fallen amid the departure of hundreds of thousands of Poles to Britain and Ireland to work.

Poland's jobless rate has declined gradually since its post-1989 peak of 20.7 percent in February 2003, but remains the highest in the expanded European Union.

Source: chron.com

Anti-missile system in CzechRep, Poland the most effective - Bush

The USA wants to build its anti-missile shield in the Czech Republic and Poland so that the system that is to protect a majority of NATO allies is the most effective, U.S. President George W. Bush told today's issue of Czech paper daily Mlada fronta Dnes and another four European dailies.

Bush reiterated in the interview that the U.S. anti-missile defence is not directed against Russia that disagrees with the Americans' plans.

It aims at rogue regimes, Bush said adding that is why he had sent Defense Secretary Robert Gates to explain the U.S. plans to the Russian leaders.

Bush said the Americans are transparent and that they invite the Russians to participate in the thing.

He added that the United States wants Russia to have an insight into its technologies, and invited Russians to come and have a look at everything.

Bush said the Cold War has ended, but there are threats by extremists who are ready to kill in order to push through their ideology.

Asked what the U.S. Administration offers to Poland where silos for missiles are to built in order to win over its support for the base, Bush said that Poland as well as the United States are in NATO, which means that an attack on either of them would be an attack on the other.

He said that the Americans can offer no better security guarantee to anyone and that they mean it.

The planned anti-missile shield will not protect the southeastern part of NATO, including Bulgaria. Bush said in this connection that the shield is to protect states against long-range missiles. Bulgaria will be protected by the NATO defence system that can destroy medium-range missiles.

Bush said it is just this what he wants to emphasise when he visits Bulgaria. He said, however, that his priority goal naturally is to persuade states in European countries' not distant vicinity not to threaten anyone.

Bush said he fears very much that Iran will build a missile with a nuclear charge that could reach Europe or the territory of any other ally. The United States does not want anyone to be able to blackmail the world, he said.

U.S. ambassador to NATO Victoria Nuland said on Friday that the anti-missile protection system should be interconnected with NATO so that it would protect all allies.

Preliminary decisions on interconnecting the systems could be made at the NATO summit in Bucharest in April next year, Nuland said.

With the help of the radar base in Britain and further base that Washington wants to build in Greenland, the United States will be capable of intercepting missiles directed by Iran at the United States. The bases in the Czech Republic and Poland should protect the territory of European states, she said.

Bush also mentioned visas in the interview with journalists from the countries that he will visit during his European tour.

Americans do not need visas on their trips to the Czech Republic, while Czechs wishing to visit the United States must undergo a relatively complex procedure when they apply for the U.S. visa. The Americans apply the same policy in relation to other new EU member countries, with the exception of Slovenia.

Bush said that in cooperation with the U.S. Congress he is trying to change the established laws. He also said that the United States is now conducting a debate on immigration.

Bush said that he is in favour of profound reforms in this respect, and that he also supports changes in visa legislation. He said he is not capable of saying more precisely when all this could make it through Congress, but said that the thing is being worked on hard.

Bush will arrive in Prague in the evening on Monday, June 4. His visit will be part of his trip to the G8 summit that will be held in Germany on June 6-8. Bush will also visit Poland, Italy, Albania and Bulgaria.

Source: launch.praguemonitor.com

Bush visit may turn up heat over missile shield plan

George W. Bush's tense relationship with Moscow will be tested by his forthcoming visits to the Czech Republic and Poland, where a proposed US missile defence shield is seen mainly as a political defence against a potentially revanchist Russia.

The US president arrives in Prague on Monday and is due to make a short stop in Jurata, a resort town on Poland's Baltic coast, on Friday as part of a central European tour tied to his attendance at the G8 summit in Germany.

A key subject in both countries will be the US proposal to expand its missile defence shield to cover Europe, which would entail the construction of a radar base in the Czech Republic and locating 10 missile interceptors in Poland.

Mr Bush has been trying to sell the system as a response to the threat posed by states like Iran and North Korea. But in central Europe the focus is closer to home.

For central Europeans, the perceived threat from their former imperial master – grown rich on oil and gas exports and still seen as nostalgic for empire – is much more acute. A common view is that agreeing to the bases is a way of cementing central Europe more closely to western Europe and the US.

"A small country like the Czech Republic has to prove itself as a reliable partner and as a good ally," Karel Schwarzenberg, the Czech foreign minister, told the Financial Times.

"Russia has again become a rich country and they would like to return to the position of the Soviet Union, of being a superpower," says Mr Schwarzenberg. "They have the idea that all former parts of the Soviet Union are their sphere of interest and the states that belonged to Comecon or the Warsaw Pact are those where they should have a right of veto. It is very simple, they are staking claims."

The view is just as suspicious in Poland, a country that spent more than two centuries under Russian, and later Soviet, domination.

"In Russia today, the elite thinks in cold war terms," says Pawel Zalewski, the chairman of the parliamentary foreign relations committee and a member of the ruling Law and Justice party. "They are demanding that the west recognise their sphere of interest in the former Soviet Union and in former Soviet satellites."

Warsaw has also made clear that it wants the US to enhance Polish security if the missile defence base is built, fearing that the base itself could become a target.

"Poland should have instruments strengthening its air defences which would defend against an attack by medium-range missiles," says Mr Zalewski. "This is essential following threats from Russian generals who declare that Russian rockets are aimed at Poland."

Russia recently tested new strategic and tactical rockets, which it said could respectively evade and destroy the US anti-missile system.

During a recent visit to Poland, Robert Gates, the US defence secretary, was unenthusiastic about equipping Poland with local air defence and anti-missile systems.

But without a system to defend Polish airspace, there will be little support for the base, says Mr Zalewski.

"In the case that Polish security is not enhanced then it makes no sense for Poland to become engaged in this project," says Mr Zalewski.

Source:http:msnbc.msn.com

Carrefour sells Slovak hypermarkets; opens 48th hypermarket in Poland

Carrefour said it has signed an agreement with Slovak companies ICS and ECM Group MV to sell its four hypermarkets in the country.

No financial details were provided.

The French supermarket giant said the stores will now be operated under franchise, adding that the transaction is subject to approval by the relevant authorities.

Separately, Carrefour also announced today that it is to open its 48th hypermarket in Poland this weekend.

The new store will have a surface are of 7,000 sq metres and will employ 320 staff.

Source:forbes.com

7-Eleven gets closer to Poland

7-Eleven, one of world’s strongest brands in small shops, may finally come to Poland.

“We have no plans to implement our brand in Poland”, Margaret Chabris, 7-Eleven spokeswoman said.

“We have received credible data in the USA that preliminary talks are going on concerning selling the license to use 7-Eleven brand in Poland”, Adam Wroczynski from Akademia Rozwoju Systemow Sieciowych said, however.

He believes that up to 1,000 small shops would be launched in Poland within three years.
Source:

Poland: political and economical implications of the US antimissile shield

Poland and the Czech Republic accepted to participate in the US antimissile defence initiative. The plan, that Putin considers as an anti-Russian initiative, provides for the stationing of 10 MEADS interceptor missiles in Poland and a radar in Czech territory. Bush declared the project is aimed at avoiding eventual ballistic attacks from rogue nations such as Ahmadinejad's Iran and Kim Jong-il's North Korea. In the meantime Moscow has stated that it has just developed the RS24, a new intercontinental ballistic missile able to penetrate whatever shield, present or future. No economic-financial details have been defined yet for the US anti-ballistic project but it is, however, clear that Polish companies or companies having relations with Poland will participate in the project.
Source: By Teresa Coratella, uk.equilibri.net

Poland is prepared for Russian Druzhba oil pipeline shutdown - PM Kaczynski

Poland is prepared in the event that the Russian Druzhba oil pipeline is shut down, as it can import oil via other routes, Polish Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski, together with Lithuanian counterpart Gediminas Kirkilas, told a press conference Friday, following a visit to top Polish fuel firm PKN Orlen.
"Regarding the Druzhba pipeline, there is the possibility that it will be shut down slowly or less slowly," Kaczynski said. "We are considering this, and this was the topic of our talks with PKN Orlen's management board."

"Poland has the technical capabilities to import oil through other routes," he added.

Kaczynski pointed out that Poland is making efforts on the international scene designed to have a European Union-Russian cooperation agreement make potentially harmful arbitrary decisions to partners impossible.

"Economic causes are not behind these problems," Kaczynski said. "They are of political character totally - this is politics understood in a wrong way."

In mid-2006 Russia shut down the part of the Druzhba oil pipeline that transports crude to Lithuanian refinery Mazeikiu Nafta, owned by PKN Orlen. Since then the Russians have repeated that the pipeline is in bad condition and may not be reparable. Additionally, Russia is considering shutting down the section of the Druzhba pipeline passing through Belarus and Poland for the same reason.

Lithuanian Prime Minister Gediminas Kirkilas said that Lithuania offered Russia technical assistance in repairing the broken pipeline and that it has also applied to the European Union Commission for support in solving the problem with the Russian pipeline.
Source: biznes.onet.pl