Police looking for Poland’s Ryszard Krauze

A warrant for the arrest of Ryszard Krauze, one of Poland’s richest men, has been issued by the Polish prosecutor's office.

Reported in TVN 24 and the Rzeczpospolitia newspaper, Marek Zieleniecki, a spokesperson for Krauze’s software company, the IT giant Prokom, said that his boss was ‘on holiday’ but he did not know where he was.

“He could be in Poland, or abroad,” he said.

The spokesman denied reports that, on July 5, Krauze met with Janusz Kaczmarek, the former interior minister who was arrested this morning in connection with an enquiry by the Anti-Corruption Bureau into alleged illegalities at the agricultural ministry. It is thought that prosecutors think it is possible that the leak to the Anti-Corruption Bureau took place during a meeting of Kaczmarek, Prokom’s President Ryszard Krauze and Self defense’s ’s MP Lech Woszczerowicz in the Warsaw Marriot hotel the day before the ‘sting’ operation.

Prosecutors are said to be in possession of an analysis that localizes mobile phones, which established that the mobiles of Kaczmarek, Krauze and Woszczerowicz were in one place at the same time.

Kaczmarek has since denied the claims and has pointed to the justice ministry as being the source of the leak, which has prevented arrests being made into the affair and obstructed the course of justice.
Source:thenews.pl

Ex-Interior Minister Arrested in Poland

(08.30.07) Masked special agents arrested a former interior minister-turned-government critic on Thursday, raising cries of protest from Poland's opposition parties who accuse the conservative prime minister of using law enforcement to silence opponents.

Officers from the Internal Security agency arrested Janusz Kaczmarek on suspicion he was tied to a leak of classified information, prosecutors said. Kaczmarek had become a vocal critic of the government, accusing it of spying on journalists and opposition politicians.

Two of Kaczmarek's associates, former national police chief Konrad Kornatowski and Jaromir Netzel, head of state-controlled PZU insurance company, were also taken into custody.

Federal prosecutor Dariusz Barski said an arrest warrant was also issued for Ryszard Krauze, the head of Prokom software and listed by Forbes magazine's Polish edition as the country's eighth-richest person with a fortune of $750 million. They did not make public the specific charge or say what Krauze's connection to the case was.

The arrests deepened the political strife that has engulfed Poland since July, when the ruling coalition began to crumble. The country is getting ready for early elections expected in October.

Opposition politicians slammed the government, calling Thursday's arrests politically inspired acts aimed at silencing critics.

Roman Giertych, head of the ultra-Catholic League of Polish Families, a former coalition partner in Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski's government, accused Kaczynski of "using prosecutors and the secret services for political goals."

The prime minister denied any political motives behind the arrests.

"These (arrests) occurred in the normal run of the justice system, and placing them in any other context is groundless," he told reporters in Lubin, southwest Poland.

Kaczynski sought to portray the arrests as a success in the fight against corruption - his party's key campaign pledge when it won 2005 elections.

His Law and Justice party is eager to tout its accomplishments to voters ahead of possible early elections. Parliament is slated to vote Sept. 7 on whether to dissolve, which would trigger new polls.

Kaczmarek has surfaced as a sharp critic of Kaczynski's government since his dismissal in August. He testified last week before the parliament's secret services commission, alleging the government used law enforcement to spy on journalists and dig for dirt on political opponents.

His testimony was later read to all lawmakers in a closed-door session, many of whom called it "frightening" and clamored for a special parliamentary committee.

The Law and Justice party has blocked efforts to set up such a committee.

Kornatowski, a close associate who served as national police chief under the former minister, had been expected to testify on Friday in front of the secret services commission.

Poland's Law and Justice-led governing coalition collapsed after an investigation into alleged wrongdoing at the Agriculture Ministry last month resulted in the firing of the agriculture minister and Deputy Premier Andrzej Lepper, who headed one of the two junior coalition parties.

Poland's Anti-Corruption Office implicated Lepper after a six-month sting operation into alleged corruption at his ministry. Lepper has denied the allegations.

Authorities have been trying to track down the source of a leak that the agency's chief, Mariusz Kaminski, has said resulted in Lepper being warned of the operation against him.

The Warsaw regional prosecutors office said Thursday's arrests were linked to the leak in the anti-corruption operation in the Agriculture Ministry. Kaczmarek's lawyer, Wojciech Brochwicz, told reporters that prosecutors charged the former minister with hampering the investigation and submitting false testimony.

Source: forbes.com

Poland's Q2 growth shows inflation easing - finance minister

Poland's second-quarter growth data show inflation pressure is easing and may suggest expansion might be close to its peak, finance minister Zyta Gilowska said today.

Economic growth slowed to 6.7 pct annual rate in the second quarter from 7.4 pct in the first three months of the year, but came in above analysts' expectations due to booming domestic demand, the data showed today.

'Second-quarter data are excellent,' Gilowska told reporters. 'They show pressures in trade are easing, which is particularly evident in the price of building materials, which makes pressure to raise prices weaker.'

Gilowska said the demand component of second-quarter growth is also weaker than expected which may suggest price pressure is easing.

'After the second-quarter growth data we might wonder whether the maximum has now been reached or not. I think it might be approaching,' Gilowska said.

Source:By Paweł Sobczak, forbes.com

EC considers Poland’s Gdansk shipyard plan

The European Commission has said that it will not set a date for a decision on the future of the Gdansk shipyard, which the EU has demanded scale down production capacity or pay back aid funds it has previously supplied to the historic ship builder.

The European Commission said it has not set a timetable for a decision on how to deal with the Gdansk shipyard after Polish authorities rejected demands to reduce capacity there.

The EC’s spokesman Neelie Kroes told a news conference, Tuesday: 'We have not yet decided when we will make a decision. We will be trying to find the best possible solution for Polish shipyards and for European shipyards.'

Last week, Poland rejected EU plans to reduce Gdansk’s three shipways to one, in an effort to make the yard more competitive. The shipyard’s vice-president Andrzej Buczkowski said that the works could survive if just one shipway was closed.

The shipyard sent to Brussels its final plan to limit its production on August 21.

Unofficially, the EC has let it be known that a decision on the shipyard’s future may be given by the end of October.

European Commission denied that its decision will be influenced by possible elections in Poland, and the process of finalising the works over the European Treaty.

Chairman of the European Parliament communist fraction Francis Wurtz, Tuesday, called that the EC’s rules absurd and added that Brussels’ activities will force the shipyard, which employs 3,000, into bankruptcy.

Francis Wurtz appealed for ‘solidarity’ with the shipbuilders who on August 31 are to stage a protest in Brussels.
Source: thenews.pl

Poland's Petrolinvest buys 59 pct in Russian peer for 17 mln usd

Polish oil exploration venture Petrolinvest has bought a 59 stake in its Russian peer Peczora-Petroleum for 17 mln usd, the company said in a statement.

Peczora-Petroleum has concessions to explore and dig out oil in Russia's Komi Republic. Petrolinvest paid for the company from a loan granted by its biggest stakeholder - Prokom Investments.

Petrolinvest made its debut on the Warsaw bourse last month and has stakes in companies with concessions for drilling in regions of Kazakhstan and Russia's Komi Republic, with estimated oil resources of 63.2 bln barrels.

Source: By Adrian Krajewski, forbes.com

Sharp Crystal Park opens in Poland

Sharp Crystal Park has been opened in the mid-northern Polish city of Lysomice, in the presence of Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski and Sharp president Miko Katayama. Its main part is the Sharp factory, producing LCD television sets. It now employs 1,300 people but eventually 3 thousand people will find a job there. The investment cost 44 million euros. Premier Kaczynski said that thanks to this investment Poland will become a leading producer of tv sets in Europe. He also hoped that more foreign investment, especially bringing advanced technology, will be located in Poland. So far, Poland has attracted foreign investment worth a total of 87 million euros, mainly from the EU member states. The Polish premier was glad that Japan is beginning to perceive Poland as an important market.
Source:polskieradio.pl

Accor spends 42 mln eur to up stake in Poland's Orbis to 45.48 pct - report

PARIS (Thomson Financial) - France's Accor spent 42 mln eur to increase its stake in Polish hotel and services company Orbis to 45.48 pct, making it the largest shareholder, Les Echos reported.

'A tranche of shares was available, and the dip in the markets this summer constituted an opportunity,' an Accor spokesman told Les Echos. 'But a takeover bid is not on the cards,' he added.

Accor bought a 20 pct stake in the company in 2000.

Source: By Helen Beresford, forbes.com

Poland’s progressive tax system could alienate investors

Finance experts and business people are pointing out that Poland is surrounded by countries with low, flat tax rates. If Polish governments refuse to grasp the nettle and lower tax, investment might just head abroad.

In East Central Europe, flat tax rates have already been introduced in Slovakia, Lithuania, Latvia, Ukraine, Estonia, Russia and Romania. Soon the list will also include the Czech Republic.

Only Poland, Germany, Hungary and Belarus have progressive taxes, depending on size of income.

“If ]Poland] doesn’t introduce it, the country lose the foreign investment battle, we’ll be less and less competitive”, Peter Kay, financial expert from KPMG, a worldwide consultancy was quoted in Poland’s Dziennik daily.

A flat tax, however, though once the policy of the opposition grouping Civic Platform, is something that scares many politicians in Poland.

“Flat tax works like a counter Robin Hood: takes away from the poor to give to the rich”, said vice prime minister Przemysław Gosiewski
Source:thenews.pl

Lithuania, Poland to discuss energy

WARSAW, Poland, Aug. 27 Lithuanian President Valdas Adamkus arrived in the Polish city of Gdansk Monday for a two-day visit that will focus on, among other things, energy.

Both nations, which are new members of the European Union, are wary of Russia's energy influence on the bloc. Russia, the world's No. 2 oil producer and No. 1 gas producer, supplies the EU with more than 20 percent of its energy needs.

Recent cuts in supplies to former Russian allies have led to fears -- especially in Poland, which was in the Soviet bloc during the Cold War -- that Russia may be using its energy as a weapon in its quest to regain global dominance.

Adamkus and his Polish counterpart, Lech Kaczynski, were also to discuss the joint construction of a nuclear power station in Ignalina, Lithuania.
Source:earthtimes.org

Poland and single currency – not if, but when

National Bank of Poland (NBP) President, Sławomir Skrzypek, thinks that the issue of whether or not to join Eurozone has already been decided, and the question now is rather when to do it and not if.

In an interview with Radio Rzeszów, Skrzypek said that the intention to join the single currency was expressed in the accession treaty when Poland signed it.

He added that the report concerning the costs and benefits of joining the Eurozone, which is currently being prepared by NBP, may be of assistance when answering the question as to when Poland intends to adopt the euro.

The document should be completed by 2008. It is then that Poland, according to the announcements of the Ministry of Finance, should meet the fiscal convergence criteria and, as Skrzypek explained; it will be possible to make all vital decisions.

He also pointed out that Poland has already met inflation criteria.

In the NBP president’s opinion, the report – because of its significance – should balance all the pros and cons of joining the Eurozone.

Sławomir Skrzypek wants the NBP to trigger off a real debate about the issue and the assessment will be based on science, business and finance environments, as well as public opinion...

Since coming to office in January this year, Skrzypek’s more cautious approach to the single currency has differed from his predecessor, Leszek Balcerowicz, who wanted Poland to enter the Eurozone as soon as possible.

The government of Poland, however, has said that before taking the final decision they wish to have a referendum on the subjest before adopting the euro.
Source:thenews.p

Vandemoortele Group takes over Gourmand Poland

The Vandemoortele Group, a Belgian food group specialising in soy products, frozen dough products and margarines and fats,has taken over Gourmand Poland, the Polish frozen bakery business of the Group Dossche.

Gourmand Poland, with a turnover of €3m in Poland and a number of other Central European countries, produces and sells frozen bakery products, of which frozen bread is the most significant in the range. In addition, the company produces frozen puff pastries, Viennese pastries and snacks.

"Thanks to its market knowledge, logistical network and typically Polish product portfolio, Gourmand Poland offers the Vandemoortele Group accelerated access to the Polish market. After the Czech Republic, where Vandemoortele is already a prominent player, Poland will be the second country in Central Europe where we want to strengthen our market position in frozen bakery products," says Eddy de Muelenaere, Managing Director of the Lipids & Dough Division of the Vandemoortele Group.
Source: polishmarket.com

Poland Seeks Nigeria's Support For Exhibition

THE Polish government has urged Nigeria to support its bid to host "Expo 2012'', an international exhibition on culture, leisure and business.

Polish special envoy, Amb. Eugreniusz Rzewuski made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Abuja.Rzewuski had attended a dinner organised ahead of the international fiesta.

"Nigeria has a great diversity of culture and we are sure there is a lot to exhibit to the world at Wroclaw Expo 2012 Poland.

"We need Nigeria's vote to support our candidature because there is also Morocco and South Korea in the bid,'' he said.

In a presentation at the party, Vice Chancellor, University of Wroclaw, Prof. Krzysztor Nawotka, said the theme of the Expo is "The Culture of Leisure in World Economics.''

Nawotka said 4.5 million visitors from 90 countries with 15 corporate exhibitors are expected at Wroclaw 2012.

Polish Ambassador, Mr Grzegorz Walinski said Poland was cooperating with Nigeria in the areas of security and education.

"It is a source of pride to us because these are issues that are important to both countries.

"We have exchange programmes with Bayero University, Kano and the Ahmadu Bello Univesity, Zaria,'' he said.

Source:tribune.com.ng

Samsung expands R&D centres

The centre for research and development (R&D) in China and India will hire new people. The company is looking to hire more engineering's.

In Poland Samsung recently established a research and development (R&D) in Warszawa. The centre is expected to start operating during the fall.

This new research and development centres will focus on software development for mobile phones.
Source: evertiq.com