Business in Poland

Śląsk Wrocław – the richest club in Poland?

2009-02-23T15:23:00.001+01:00

One of the wealthiest men in Poland, Zygmunt Solorz-Żak is set to take over Slask Wroclaw before the start of the new round according the journal "Sport". In two years the budget of the "Wojskowi" is to be set at 80 million zloty thus making Slask the richest club in Poland.
Devoted
The club from Wroclaw, with the help from Solorz-Żak, is to build one of the largest shopping centers in Poland. Profits from this project will be devoted to football and are estimated to give Slask about 40 million zloty per year. Together with other income, this would create a club budget, reaching 80 million per season.

Financial leader
Should this project succeed Śląsk would have approximately two times more money than the current leading Polish clubs such as KKS Lech Poznan, Wisla Krakow and Legia Warsaw. Currently Slask's budget is estimated at 20 million zloty and about less than half of that amount is taken from the municipal fund.
Source:By Michał Jankiewicz, polishsoca.com

Poland argues euro best defense against crisis

2009-02-20T10:20:00.000+01:00

Strong public finances and quick adoption of the euro are the best remedy for Poland's deepening economic turmoil, the country's finance minister said Thursday, as new figures showed a sharp drop in industrial production.

"Secure public finances and a quick adoption of the euro are the best way out of the crisis for Poland," Jacek Rostowski told parliament.

Euro membership is still years away, but the subject gained new urgency after Eastern European currencies and stock markets were hit in recent days by continuing bad economic news.

Poland and its zloty have been suffering after initially avoiding the worst of the initial fallout triggered by the collapse of banks and financial institutions in the United States and western Europe.

The zloty stood at 4.73 to the euro on Thursday — better than Wednesday's level of 4.89. That good news, however, was tempered by the Central Statistical Office's announcement that Poland's industrial production dropped 14.9 percent in January compared with the same month last year.
It was the third consecutive month of declining industrial production — a key indicator for the overall health of the economy.

Prime Minister Donald Tusk said earlier this month that Poland would stick to its plans to adopt the euro in 2012, but acknowledged that the financial crisis could threaten that goal.

The government has refused to increase the budget deficit even after the crisis pushed down 2009 growth estimates from around 3.7 percent to 1.7 percent. Instead, it opted earlier this month to find 19.7 billion zlotys ($5.5 billion) in savings in the 2009 budget.

"We are ready to find more savings, and if that doesn't suffice we don't want to raise taxes or increase the budget deficit, but we have to be prepared for a situation in which we have to choose the lesser evil," Rostowski said.

Danske Bank chief analyst Lars Christensen said Poland's public finances "are relatively strong, both in a central European and even a European perspective," and that the government is "more or less on track and moving in the right direction."

Before adopting the euro, prospective members are required to spend at least two years in an exchange rate mechanism, or ERM-II, that demands low and controlled inflation, healthy public finances and a budget deficit below 3 percent. Meeting Poland's 2012 euro target would require Warsaw to start that process this year.

Analyst Christensen said the government is veering onto a "dangerous path" with its continued talk "about ERM-2 and euro adoption when it is clear that there is no commitment on the other side of the table from the ECB (European Central Bank) or the EU Commission."

Christensen said such talk raises too many questions — such as where to peg the zloty — and "creates uncertainty rather than certainty."

Rostowski, who has been criticized by the opposition for his handling of the economy in the face of the turmoil, said adopting the euro would shield Poland's currency from pressures that have seen the zloty drop as much as 15 percent in 2009 to 4.9 against the euro and pushed up foreign debt payments.

"Our ambition to quickly join the euro stems from the fact that it is the best means to fight the crisis in Poland," Rostowski said.

The 16 countries using the euro — including Poland's neighbor Slovakia, which joined Jan. 1 — have seen growth plummet and strain on their public finances, but have not had to deal with added pain of sharp currency devaluations. Some non-euro countries, such as Iceland, Hungary, and Ukraine, have needed IMF bailouts after their currencies plunged.
Source: iht.com

Obama team urges Polish patience on shield

2009-02-20T10:17:00.001+01:00

The United States urged Poland Thursday to be patient over a missile defence deal it inked with Washington while President Barack Obama's team reviews the controversial multi-billion dollar shield.

"What I told the defense minister today is that they have to give us a little more time to review these things," US Defense Secretary Robert Gates said at a NATO meeting in Krakow, southern Poland.

Gates said no final decision on the shield, which has enraged Russia, has yet been made.

"Between the economic crisis, Afghanistan and Iraq the administration has not yet reviewed where it is on a whole range of issues including relationships with our allies, the missile defense program, the relationship with the Russians."

Former president George W. Bush launched plans to extend the US missile shield into Europe, basing 10 interceptors in Poland linked to a radar in the Czech Republic to counter any threat from "rogue states," primarily Iran.

But Obama's administration has begun a review of the project's costs and technical feasibility, a move which has eased fears in Russia that the shield was aimed at it.

Polish Defence Minister Bogdan Klich said talks with Washington on implementing the deal, and in particular the stationing of US Patriot missiles in Poland, were ongoing.

"We must be patient and wait until the new administration in Washington will end the ongoing review and we will receive a clearer and forward looking position," Klich said after talks with Gates.

"I reminded him (Gates) that the agreements that were signed last year should be implemented," Klich told AFP after the meeting.

Klich however said talks at deputy ministerial level on technical aspects of the controversial US plan -- the benefits Poland stood to gain from the deal -- "are on track."

The minister told AFP there was no delay "on the topic of the SOFA (Status of Forces Agreement) supplemental agreement; we are speaking about implementation deals on the (missile) base agreement and the topic of locating American Patriot missiles in Poland."

Earlier Thursday Gates reiterated the Obama administration's position on the missile shield.

"We are concerned about the Iranian missile threat and as long as that threat exists we will continue to pursue missile defense, as long as we know it will work and as long as it is cost effective.

"But we will pursue it not only with our NATO allies but also with the Russians."

The August 14, 2008 missile defence deal inked by Washington and Warsaw sparked outrage in Moscow which threatened to aim its own missiles at the planned US installations in Europe.

Washington had wanted the Polish and Czech installations up and running by 2011-2013, to complete its system already in place in the United States, Greenland and Britain.

Washington insists the shield -- endorsed by NATO at it's February 2008 summit -- is in no way aimed at Russia.

The United States warns that Iran could develop long-range missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads by 2015-2017.

Quoted by the Czech CTK agency in Washington earlier this month, Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg suggested the Czech radar facility was likely to be delayed for three years while the Obama review was conducted.

"Czechs will fully understand it if the US administration puts off the construction of the radar base by three years. We will not be basically opposed to this," Schwarzenberg said.

Missile defence is expected to figure high on the agenda of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin during a planned visit to Poland in the next few months, his first in seven years.

In late January, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said he was confident Russia would freeze a move to deploy missiles in the Kaliningrad region, on Warsaw's doorstep, in retaliation for the US deployment in Poland.
Source:AFP

Polish Zloty, Stocks Lead East Europe Rally on Government Help

2009-02-20T09:53:00.001+01:00

Feb. 19 (Bloomberg) -- Poland’s zloty, stocks and bonds led a rally in east European markets after the government pledged to support the currency and reaffirmed its commitment to adopt the euro in 2012.

Warsaw’s benchmark stock index soared the most in almost three months, the zloty jumped as much as 2.9 percent and government bond prices rose as Deputy Finance Minister Ludwik Kotecki told Gazeta Prawna the currency will strengthen in May or June as the country plans to join the euro. Prime Minister Donald Tusk said today the currency must be protected “at any cost.”

The Czech koruna and Hungarian forint also advanced as Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said it ended bets on a further depreciation and a Czech newspaper report signaled the central bank may enter the market.

“The zloty is setting an upbeat tone for the region’s currencies on the intervention and euro-adoption plans,” said Marcin Grotek, an analyst at Raiffeisen Bank in Warsaw. “We’ve also heard verbal intervention in the Czech Republic, and the Hungarian government is talking about unconventional ways to defend the forint. All that is helping eastern European markets gain.”

The zloty strengthened to 4.6799 per euro at 4:33 p.m. in Warsaw. Poland will continue to sell euro funds from the European Union on the interbank market, PAP newswire reported, citing Finance Minister Jacek Rostowski. Adopting the euro is the “best remedy” for the economy amid the global financial crisis, he told parliament.

Best Performer

The Polish currency was the best-performer among emerging- market counterparts in the past two days, advancing 5.4 percent. It rebounded from an almost five-year low on Feb. 17 after Moody’s Investors Service said banks with east European subsidiaries may face rating downgrades.

The gain in government debt pushed the yield of the five- year note 2 basis points lower to 5.89 percent. Bond yields move inversely to prices.

“Government debt prices are gaining on the zloty’s advance, though liquidity is still low,” said Maciek Slomka, head of fixed income in Warsaw at Bank Pekao SA. “The euro sales by the government, comments on euro entry plans and the Goldman report pushed the markets up.”

The Czech koruna advanced as much as 1.5 percent after Mlada Fronta Dnes newspaper cited central bank Deputy Governor Miroslav Singer as saying he would not rule out further use of monetary policy tools, including verbal intervention, to support the currency. The koruna was last 0.6 percent higher at 28.770 per euro.

‘Non-Conventional Intervention’

The Hungarian forint jumped as much as 1.4 percent and traded at 302.00 per euro, compared with a record low of 309.71 two days ago. Hungarian Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany said yesterday he asked central bank President Andras Simor and Finance Minister Janos Veres to seek a “non-conventional intervention opportunity that can help in the defense of the Hungarian forint.”

The euro snapped three days of losses against the dollar on speculation German Chancellor Angela Merkel will signal Europe’s largest economy plans to help ease the financial turmoil in the region.

Goldman recommended closing a trade betting the Polish, Hungarian and Czech currencies will decline further.

Goldman View

“We have long had the view that CEE3 currencies will likely underperform on the basis of unsustainable external imbalances,” London-based analysts Thomas Stolper and Themos Fiotakis at Goldman Sachs wrote in a note sent to clients late yesterday. “But after the rapid depreciation in recent weeks and months we now see several factors that make short positions in eastern European currencies less of a one-way bet.”

Poland’s WIG20 Index rallied 68.16, or 5.1 percent, to 1,405.94, as a rebound in the zloty boosted financial shares, calming concerns about provisions linked to currency options. Hungary’s BUX Index gained 2.9 percent, the most since Jan. 6, and the Czech PX Index rose 4.5 percent, the most in three months.

“The currency rebound pushed the banks up, no doubt about it,” said Marek Juras, head of equity research at Bank Zachodni WBK SA in Warsaw. “That brought some relief about earnings.”

The financial industry’s WIGBANK Index jumped 8.5 percent, the biggest one-day gain in almost three months as Rostowski said the Polish banking system is “healthy.”

Polish Banks

Bank Pekao SA, Poland’s biggest lender and a unit of UniCredit SpA, soared 9.85, or 15 percent, to 77.7, climbing from a seven-year low. PKO Bank Polski SA, the second-largest, gained 1.18 zloty, or 6 percent, to 21. BRE Bank SA, controlled by Commerzbank AG, increased 10.5 zloty, or 11 percent, to 107.5.

Banks led declines this year in Polish equities as they raised provisions for failed bets on currency options and the economy braces for its worst slowdown since 2002. The zloty’s slump compounded problems for companies that bought options from banks last year to bet on an increase in the currency.

Poland’s financial services regulator last week almost tripled its estimate of losses from option deals to as much as 15 billion zloty ($4.1 billion). Polish banks may have to write off as much as 2.25 billion zloty because of companies’ potential losses linked to currency options, the regulator said Feb. 10.

Source: Ewa Krukowska, Pawel Kozlowski
bloomberg.com

Lufthansa is extending its route network in Poland by adding Rzeszów to its summer timetable 2009.

2009-02-17T17:46:00.000+01:00

From 27 April 2009, the Lufthansa CityLine regional airline subsidiary will begin operating five flights weekly on the Frankfurt-Rzeszów route with a Bombardier CRJ-700.

Rzeszów is an important economic and cultural centre in southeastern Poland. Located in the Carpathian foothills, and near the border with Ukraine and Slovakia, the city has become a major communication hub, attracting a number of companies and investors to set up bases there.

Aside from the aviation industry, the city is home to automotive components and mechanical engineering firms. Alongside its business importance, Rzeszów is a major academic centre. It hosts diverse universities providing education to a current 70,000 students, principally in aviation studies and electrical engineering.

“The new flights to Rzeszów will expand Lufthansa’s broad array of services in Poland. With their addition to the network, we will be offering our customers fast and convenient connections to eight Polish cities in different regions,” said Karl-Ulrich Garnadt, Executive Vice President Services and Human Resources Lufthansa Passenger Airlines. “Only a few months ago, Lufthansa augmented the existing connection ex Munich to Poznan by laying on flights there from Frankfurt as well, giving Lufthansa passengers a choice of more than 200 weekly connections to Germany’s neighbouring country.

The Frankfurt to Rzeszów round-trip is available from 99 euros.
Source:asiatraveltips.com

Poland sees Kedzierzyn IPO in April-May

2009-02-10T14:45:00.002+01:00

Poland intends to move ahead with its plans for the initial public offer of shares in chemical group Kedzierzyn, a management board member at the state privatisation vehicle told Reuters on Monday.

"Kedzierzyn had splendid results last year, it would be a shame not to use the opportunity to go through with the offer," Wieslaw Skwarko of Nafta Polska agency, which oversees the oil and chemicals sectors, said in an interview.

"A window of opportunity will come in April-May," he said, noting that audited results for the company will be ready by that time.

Kedzierzyn said earlier it aims for about 500 million zlotys ($142 million) from issuing about 30 percent of equity in new shares.

Skwarko said the agency was also determined to move ahead with further privatisations of listed companies Tarnow ATTP.WA and Ciech CECH.WA, but not at all costs.

"We are not going to disregard the market situation ... if the situation is really bad, absolutely hopeless, then we will abandon privatisation plans," he said.

Poland wants to sell strategic stakes in Tarnow, Ciech, and unlisted Kedzierzyn to a single investor who would integrate them and finance further development.

The last IPO in the chemical sector -- Tarnow's debut in April 2008 -- was rescued when state-controlled companies PGNiG PGNI.WA and Ciech CECH.WA bought 16.5 percent of the shares.

Since then, market sentiment has worsened as investors' flight from emerging markets continued. Warsaw's main WIG20 .WIG20 index has this year fallen by more than 14 percent, after shedding nearly half of its value in 2008. ($1=3.516 Zloty)
Source:ByPatryk Wasilewski, Pawel Bernat,Hans Peters,reuters.com

Orlen may delay Polkomtel, Anwil exits-report

2009-02-10T14:38:00.001+01:00

Poland's leading refiner PKN Orlen PKNA.WA may delay the sale of its stake in mobile operator Polkomtel and petrochemicals arm Anwil due to weak market condtions, its chief executive was quoted as saying on Monday.

State news agency PAP quoted Jacek Krawiec as saying in Orlen's internal bi-weekly magazine it would be hard to get a satisfactory price for these assets this year.

"Due to the current situation Polkomtel and Anwil sales are in question," Krawiec said. "As we have often said, the exits will happen only if we receive attractive prices, and that could be difficult this year."

Orlen recently raised its stake in Poland's No. 2 cellphone operator Polkomtel to nearly 25 percent from 19.6 percent, but reiterated that it was determined to ultimately exit the investment.

Other shareholders of Polkomtel include copper miner KGHM KGHM.WA, unlisted energy producer PGE, and British mobile giant Vodafone (VOD.L).

Analysts say Vodafone, which also increased its Polkomtel stake, would be a natural buyer in case any of the Polish shareholders were to exit.

Orlen has an 85 percent stake at chemical maker Anwil.

The company's shares were flat in late afternoon trade, while Warsaw's WIG20 index .WIG20 rose 1.9 percent.
Source: By Patryk Wasilewski,Rupert Winchester
/uk.reuters.com

Poland could delay euro adoption: PM

2009-02-06T15:26:00.001+01:00

Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk on Wednesday said his government could delay its 2012 target for the adoption of the euro currency should the global financial crisis pose risks to the Polish currency or financial system.

Before joining the eurozone, would-be members must spend at least two years in the exchange-rate mechanism known as ERM-2 which tests the stability of their national currency.

In order to meet the 2012 euro target date Poland must enter the eurozone’s required Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERMII) in the first half of 2009.

"I’m not sticking to the doctrine that if I’ve said May (for ERMII entry) it must be so," Tusk told Poland’s commercial broadcaster TVN24.

"If it will be the case that (entry into ERMII) will be risky for the Polish currency and our financial system, we will delay it," Tusk said.

The Polish central bank and government insisted Wednesday there was no need for intervention to prop Poland’s currency the zloty, which has plunged to a five-year low against the euro and Swiss franc.

The zloty tumbled from 3.50 to the euro in September 2008 to a five-year low this week hovering around 4.50.

The fall comes despite forecasts that 2004 EU entrant Poland will be just one of two of the 27 member bloc’s states to achieve economic growth over two percent this year.

Poland committed itself to joining the eurozone and replacing its currency, the zloty, with the euro as part of its 2004 European Union entry agreement. No deadline for the switch was set.
Source:montrealgazette.com

Poland's Pulawy says Q2 net loss 10.2 mln zlotys

2009-02-03T17:35:00.001+01:00

WARSAW, Feb 3 (Reuters) - Polish chemical maker Pulawy had a net loss of 10.2 million zlotys ($3 million) in the second quarter of its fiscal year, compared with a 91.5 million profit a year earlier, the company said.
Source:By Adrian Krajewski, John Stonestreet
forbes.com

Poland’s car market goes under

2009-02-03T17:33:00.001+01:00

Despite aggressive promotion, the demand for new cars plummeted by over 10% m/m in January, an initial report by Samar Automotive Marker Research Institute is quoted by ‘Puls Biznesu’.
REKLAMA

‘December saw massive sales and an increased number of purchases in fear of prices rising due to the deteriorating zloty. The number of cars bought in January was significantly lower’ Wojciech Drzewiecki, head of Samar Institute, is quoted as saying. The drop in sales is expected to deepen because of a price hike. ‘The cars manufactured in 2009 are going to be more expensive by at least 10% because of the unfavourable rate of the zloty to the euro which will be followed by a lower number of purchases and a further slowdown on the market’ Adam Kołodziejczyk, president of Ford Poland, says.

The Volkswagen manufacturing plant in Poznan, central Poland, has already been faced with the diminishing demand for new cars. The factory discontinued production for 3 days due to an insufficient number of orders. Piotr Danielewicz, the spokesman for Volkswagen Poznań, informed that the company had more downtime planned. ‘Cars are produced on specific orders. Due to a drop in demand the production had to be withheld. According to an agreement with the trade unions, Volkswagen is keeping the work places and is not lowering the workers wages. The production stoppage is planned for February 2-4 and 23-27’ he said. Workers are to take days off then, wnp.pl reports.
Source:polishmarket.com.pl

UPDATE 1-Polish c.bank hawks say Feb rate cut may be needed

2009-02-03T17:28:00.002+01:00

WARSAW, Feb 3 (Reuters) - Poland's central bank may cut interest rates again at the February meeting of its rate-setting panel, two hawkish policymakers said on Tuesday, in comments underlining the pace of the country's economic slowdown.

The bank's 10-strong Monetary Policy Council (MPC) has already cut its main rate by 175 basis points to 4.25 percent since November to buttress growth hit by the global crisis and now expected to fall to about 2 percent in 2009.
'We're still in an easing cycle... Every sharp decline in industrial output breaks the balance in the economy. We can't allow for that now,' policymaker Marian Noga told the Gazeta Prawna daily in an interview.

'I do not rule out that in February we might have another rate cut,' said Noga, who consistently backed rate hikes during the bank's previous monetary tightening cycle.

Halina Wasilewska-Trenkner, one of only two council members to oppose November's cut in interest rates, said the chances were equal of the bank cutting rates or making no move when it meets later in February.

She signalled the central bank's inflation projection, which policymakers traditionally obtain before the MPC's February meeting, would be key to the decision.

Noga also said it would be more appropriate now for the central bank to move in cuts of 25-50 basis points. Wasilewska-Trenkner did not elaborate on her preferred scale of easing.
In a further sign of the slowdown, the head of the state investment agency said foreign direct investments into the European Union's largest ex-communist member were likely to drop to 7-10 billion euros in 2009 from about 12 billion in 2008.

Labour Minister Jolanta Fedak said on Tuesday unemployment could jump to as much as 12 percent by the end of this year if economic growth continues to slow.

Poland's unemployment has recently started to rise after a prolonged downward trend, hitting 9.5 percent in December.

Source:By Adrian Krajewski, Kuba Jaworowski
forbes.com

Poland's zloty falls 0.5 pct to key 4.50 vs euro

2009-02-03T17:25:00.000+01:00

WARSAW, Feb 3 (Reuters) - Poland's zloty fell 0.5 percent against the euro on Tuesday and hit a key level of 4.50 zlotys against the single currency, Reuters systems showed.

These are speculative moves aimed at breaking stop losses as many people bet that currency options will force companies to buy euros. The weak economic situation adds to the grim outlook,' a trader at a Warsaw bank said.
Source:By Kuba Jaworowski, forbes.com

Commerzbank's BRE sees much higher provisions in 2009

2009-02-03T17:23:00.000+01:00

Poland's No. 3 lender BRE Bank BREP.WA expects its provisions to grow significantly this year as worsening economic conditions weigh on its corporate clients, management board member Wieslaw Thor said on Tuesday.

Last year, provisions at Commerzbank's (CBKG.DE) Polish unit stood at 269 million zlotys ($77.4 million).
Source: By Piotr Skolimowski, Chris Borowski
reuters.com

Poland to unveil budget cutbacks as growth slumps

2009-02-03T17:18:00.001+01:00

Poland plans to unveil up to 20 billion zlotys in budget savings on Tuesday, as unemployment soars and investment falls, cutting into the previously plentiful income of the European Union's biggest ex-communist state.
Economists have slashed forecasts for growth this year as the global financial crisis hit home, raising concerns that a 2009 budget plan prepared almost half a year ago would fall apart due to plummeting revenues.
The head of the state's investment agency said on Tuesday that foreign direct investments coming into Poland were likely to drop to 7-10 billion euros in 2009 from about 12 billion in 2008.
Labour Minister Jolanta Fedak added that unemployment could jump to as much as 12 percent this year, having fallen into single figures for the first time since Poland's early 1990s transition from communism.
Slawomir Nowak, a top aide to the prime minister, said the government would announce a savings plan later on Tuesday and that it had found a planned 17 billion zlotys ($4.89 billion) in savings, despite doubts expressed by analysts.
But a government source confirmed for Reuters a media report that the government could increase the value of savings to 20 billion as it seeks to fill the prospective hole in revenues.
"On one hand it is rationalisation (of spending)," Nowak told Polish broadcaster TVN's morning show. "But the majority is freezing of investments (until later)."
ZLOTY HIT
Where Western European governments have upped spending to stimulate their economies, Romania and Hungary have led spending cuts by eastern European governments concerned about their ability to bring in external finance.
Poland's zloty hit a four-and-half-year low on Tuesday and the large cap WIG 20 bourse index slid close to levels last seen in 2003 as investors continued to dump riskier assets in emerging Europe in favour of more developed western markets.
Austrian and Italian officials have also warned in recent weeks that a squeeze on capital for their banks in the region could halt investment in Central Europe's once-booming ex-communist economies.
Poland, with a population of 38 million, saw its economy grow 4.8 percent in 2008, down from 6.7 percent in 2007. It is expected to slow even more sharply this year with some even expecting growth close to zero.
In response to the spreading economic gloom, growing fears over job security and weakening consumption, the central bank has cut interest rates three times since November, by a total of 175 basis points, bringing the key rate down to 4.25 percent.
Underlining the pace of the country's economic slowdown, two of the three most persistent hawks on the central bank's 10-strong Monetary Policy Council (MPC) called on Tuesday for another rate cut this month.
The deteriorating outlook in Poland has prompted even the most hawkish members of the central bank's MPC to back a further rate cut this month.
"We're still in an easing cycle... Every sharp decline in industrial output breaks the balance in the economy. We can't allow for that now," Marian Noga, who had consistently backed rate hikes during the bank's previous monetary tightening cycle, told the Gazeta Prawna daily in an interview.
Source:Adrian Krajewski and Kuba Jaworowski, /business/feedarticle/8340065

UPDATE 2-Polish rates may be cut to below 3 pct-c.banker

2009-02-03T11:00:00.002+01:00

Poland's central bank should cut interest rates further, possibly to below 3 percent, as economic conditions deteriorate and inflation keeps falling, key Monetary Policy Council member Jan Czekaj said on Monday.

In response to the sharply slowing economy, easing inflation and the global crisis, the central bank began to lower borrowing costs in November 2008 and has reduced its benchmark rate three times by a total of 175 basis points to at 4.25 percent.
he finance ministry said on Monday it expected price growth to have eased to 3.2 percent in January, from 3.3 percent in December -- moving closer towards the bank's 2.5 percent target.

'I believe that there should be more rate cuts fairly quickly,' Czekaj told daily Rzeczpospolita in an interview released on Monday.

'Maybe the proper level for the (key) rate would be 3.5 or maybe 3 percent ... If the economy will be growing slowly it cannot be excluded that we will need to lower the rate to below 3 percent.' Czekaj is a key swing-voter on the 10-strong MPC.

He also said that he saw no reason for delaying or dropping the government's ambitious plans for euro adoption in 2012 because of the sharp global and domestic economic slowdown.

'There is no such need,' he said. '...ERM 2 entry could calm the situation on the currency market.'

Many analysts say that pushing ahead with euro adoption in 2012 could be too risky because high market volatility and the global crisis would make it harder for the zloty currency pass one of the entry tests, spending two years proving its stability in the pre-euro ERM 2 currency grid.
Analysts expect more interest rate cuts but remain split on where the key rate will end this year and how low it will fall in this easing cycle. The median forecast in the latest Reuters poll places the key rate at 3.25 percent in December.

'There are objective conditions for easing monetary policy,' Czekaj said.

Although the Polish Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) rose to 40.3 points in January, the first rise in the index since February 2008, it is still well below the 50 growth/contraction divide, showing the manufacturing sector remains weak.

'Overall, the first batch of 2009 PMI data point to further aggressive rate cuts by the central bank in the first quarter,' said Trevor Balchin, economist at Markit Economics, which compiles the PMI data. 'Inflation concerns have eased despite the falling zloty, as the PMI showed further falls in price pressures in manufacturing.'

Poland's gross domestic product (GDP) growth in 2008 eased to 4.8 percent, from 6.7 percent in 2007, preliminary statistics office estimates showed last week, and some analysts said the sharp slowdown in investments last year indicated more trouble ahead for the Polish economy.
Source:By Karolina Sowikowska,Ruth Pitchford,
forbes.com

Economic crisis finally hits Poland

2009-01-30T10:48:00.001+01:00

A string of dreary statistics this week shows that the once-booming economy has started to sputter: manufacturing fell significantly at the end of last year, unemployment shot up and officials are finally admitting that Poland is hurting.

Poland "will not be an island resistant to trends outside its borders," Prime Minister Donald acknowledged Tuesday as he announced a plan to seek budget savings this year to cover a likely shortfall in state revenues.

For months, Poland's leaders and economists insisted the country could avoid the global turmoil thanks to its healthy banking sector and low mortgage and consumer debt levels.

Shoppers kept spending at the gleaming new malls that have mushroomed in recent years across Poland — by far the largest of 10 formerly communist countries that have joined the European Union in recent years.
But the days of denial have now passed.

"Everybody is worrying," said Maja Goettig, chief economist for BPH Bank in Warsaw. "The outlook is worsening each month, and the question is how big this slowdown will be. We've just entered it — and nobody knows when it will end."

The economy that grew at a brisk 6.7 percent in 2007 — swelling the ranks of a middle class with money to spend on fine wines, fancy cars and large homes — slowed to a still-healthy 4.8 percent in 2008, according to figures released by the government's Central Statistical Office Thursday.

Data released this week have shown that Poland felt a chill toward the end of the year as the global crisis hit the country's western European neighbors and the United States. Unemployment rose in December for the second straight month, reaching 9.5 percent — due in part to a slowdown in the manufacturing sector as foreign orders fall.

Industrial production in November fell 8.9 percent over the previous year; data released Tuesday showed another 4.4 percent year-on-year fall in December.

The same day, the central bank cut interest rates by a hefty three-quarters of a percentage point for the second consecutive month. It cited a "stronger than previously expected economic slowdown" in cutting its benchmark rate to 4.25 percent
As worries deepen, Poland's zloty has depreciated significantly in recent months against major currencies like the euro and the U.S. dollar.

The question now is how bad things will get. Many experts still believe Poland can weather the storm better than other European countries and manage modest growth in 2009, although it exports heavily to countries already in recession.

Goettig says her bank predicts 2 percent growth for now, but expects to revise that downward to zero growth. Tusk, the prime minister, said the government's "pessimistic" scenario is for 1.7 percent growth.

Another source of instability comes from the fact that many of the Poles who bought homes in recent years took out mortgages in Swiss francs. Now that the zloty has declined, some are finding it harder to repay their loans.

Despite the souring mood, there are some reasons for optimism.

Polish banks are tightly regulated and were never burdened by the toxic assets that have brought down financial institutions elsewhere. Economy Minister Waldemar Pawlak says Polish banks, mostly owned by large Western European banks, are often in a much better situation than their parent companies.

And bucking the larger trend, retail sales in December grew 6.6 percent over the same month in 2007, better than experts expected.

However, the state statistics office said this week that consumer confidence is now falling.

Agata Lagan, who runs a string of high-end clothing shops throughout Poland, attests to that. She said December sales fell by 30 percent in her Lilla Moda shops in Warsaw year on year.

Another factor weighing on profits is that the battered zloty has made it more expensive to import the goods.

"Usually when we have a new collection, the shops are full of customers ready to shop on the first and second days," she said. But when a new collection arrived two weeks ago, the crowd was less than half the usual size.

"Everyone is waiting for discounts," she said.
Source:iht.com

Azerbaijan energy partner to Poland

2009-01-30T10:44:00.000+01:00

Poland supports the Azeri drive to join European nations as a reliable and diverse energy partner, Poland's Ambassador to Azerbaijan Kshishtof Krayevski said.

Krayevski said in an interview with Azeri news agency Today.Az that 2008 was a significant year for strengthening relations between Warsaw and Baku, noting the participation of Polish President Lech Kaczynski at a major energy summit in Baku in November.

"We always support Azerbaijan's intention to integrate with the Euro-Atlantic structures; we are cooperating in the sphere of diversification of energy supplies to Europe," the envoy said.

Europe put renewed focus on energy diversity in 2008. January 2009 brought increased emphasis on that goal following a decision by Russia to halt gas supplies to Europe following a debt row with Ukraine.

The envoy addressed the crisis, noting that while Warsaw and Moscow are important partners in the energy sector, the European Union needs to focus on alternative gas routes as 80 percent of the Russian gas for Europe travels through Ukraine.

"I think the conflict between Russia and Ukraine proved the importance and the need to diversify energy supplies," he said. "It turned out that Europe, including the EU states such as Poland, Slovakia and Bulgaria, are too dependent on supplies from Russia."
Source:upi.com

Polish companies face hedging losses

2009-01-28T10:30:00.001+01:00

A year ago, the smart money in Poland and other central European emerging markets was that local currencies would continue to strengthen against the euro and the dollar, so many companies took the precaution of hedging their foreign currency exposure.
Trouble came when the global economic slowdown hit the region late last year, causing currencies like the Hungarian forint and the Polish zloty to drop sharply as investors fled to the safety of the dollar. To make matters worse, some companies had taken particularly aggressive hedges, hoping to use what was seen as a sure bet to make extra profits.

Now the estimated loss faced by Polish companies could be as high as 5.5bn zlotys ($1.7bn, €1.3bn, 1.2bn), according to the Financial Supervision Authority, Poland’s financial markets regulator.

Waldemar Pawlak, the economy minister, said that about 200 companies had already alerted the government to problems with hedges.

“In some cases the situation could be dramatic,” he told Parkiet newspaper. “That is the case with companies where the transactions were not undertaken to lessen risk but to speculate; where the foreign currency revenues of a company are a lot lower than the amount of foreign exchange they would have to pay the bank.”

To reduce their costs, some companies, including those with low foreign currency revenues, set up hedging options with several banks that would allow them to buy euros at a preferable rate, but the transaction was then financed by bets in the opposite direction, exposing them to significant risk if the zloty ended up falling instead of rising.

“These companies wanted to in some way protect themselves against a drop in revenue due to the strengthening zloty,” said Zbigniew Szczerbetka, managing partner for Poland at Deloitte, the consultancy. “They began to look for ways of improving the achievable rate, and the only way to do that was to increase the level of risk.”

Some companies have already gotten into difficulty over ill-conceived hedging operations. This month Odlewnie Polskie, a foundry equipment maker, declared bankruptcy because of the “violent and unpredictable increase in the rate of the euro and the speculative nature of options agreements”, according to a management statement. Some banks are also facing losses from customers unable to pay out unfavourable hedging contracts.

Boleslaw Bujak, chief executive of Ropczyce, whose subsidiary Elwo, a filter maker, recently declared bankruptcy, told the Gazeta Wyborcza newspaper; “In retrospect I can only say we chose bad instruments. But in the summer they were widely promoted. The offer was very attractive and it seemed a good way to protect ourselves against the strengthening zloty. All the opinions we had in the summer showed that the zloty would continue to strengthen.”

But it did not. Since its peak in July, the zloty has dropped by 43 per cent against the euro and by 60 per cent against the dollar.

The worry now is that companies will be reluctant to hedge their currency risk in the future, which could be very risky. Poland’s three shipyards failed in large measure because they failed to secure themselves against the strong zloty in recent years, and some analysts are predicting that the Polish currency will strengthen again later this year, when Poland becomes one of the few European economies not in recession.

“Over time, the real economy out-performance will matter,” said Juliet Sampson, chief economist for emerging Europe at HSBC. “No one thinks the zloty is currently overvalued.

By Jan Cienski,ft.onet.pl

Poland cuts key interest rate to 4.25 percent

2009-01-28T10:20:00.000+01:00

Poland's central bank slashed its key interest rate by three quarters of a percentage point to 4.25 percent Tuesday amid signs the country's economy is slowing.

The National Bank of Poland announced the cut to its seven-day intervention rate on its Web site. It was expected to release details about the decision later Tuesday.

The bank also cut the key interest rate by 0.75 percentage points last month.

Analysts had expected the bank to cut rates in January, although many predicted cuts of just a half percentage point.

Government data shows that industrial production fell 4.4 percent in December compared with the same month last year, while unemployment climbed for the second consecutive month to 9.5 percent in December.
Poland's currency, the zloty, has also shed value against the U.S. dollar and the euro in recent months.
Source: iht.com

Eqal licenses Lonelygirl to Poland

2009-01-23T12:52:00.002+01:00

The creators of the web series Lonelygirl15 and KateModern have teamed up with two Polish production companies to spin off a new online show called n1ckola.

Eqal, the social entertainment company founded by Lonelygirl creators Miles Beckett and Greg Goodfried, has struck a licensing agreement with Poland's Agora and A2 Multimedia.

N1ckola will combine several genres, including reality, documentary and feature fiction. More than 100 episodes will be produced, with each episode running from one to five minutes.

The show will air four to five times each week, with the premiere episode debuting next Monday on the N1ckola.pl platform.

Through the licensing agreement, Agora will have rights to the Lonelygirl15 brand name, logo, plot and characters. Eqal will consult with Agora on the new story, character creation and development, scripts and storyline.

"We're thrilled to take the Lonelygirl15 franchise to Europe," said Goodfried. "The show's expansion into multiple international territories, including the UK, Italy and Poland represents the global excitement of online entertainment."

This latest deal follows the announcement last week of Eqal's new project with CBS for primetime mystery series Harper's Island. The company also recently revealed LG15: The Show Is Yours, a pilot submission scheme giving fans the chance to create the next series in the Lonelygirl franchise.

Source: By Martin Buxton ,c21media.net

Polish 09 deficit may top plan,neutral for rating-Fitch

2009-01-23T12:48:00.001+01:00

Poland's general government deficit may rise to 2.7 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2009 but even a slightly higher gap would not impact the country's rating, a Fitch Ratings analyst said on Thursdays.

David Heslam also said Poland, rated by Fitch at A- with a stable outlook, may not be able to hold the 2009 budget gap at the budget-envisaged 18.2 billion zlotys as the economy slows sharply on the back of the global crisis.
We have a slightly wider government deficit than the government -- at 2.7 percent -- and the bias is on a higher deficit. This wouldn't put pressure on Poland's rating even if the deficit stood at 3 percent as government debt dynamics would not significantly worsen,' Heslam told Reuters.

Source: By Kuba Jaworowski, forbes.com

Poland approves higher electricity prices for 2009

2009-01-23T12:42:00.000+01:00

Poland's energy regulator URE approved a last batch of electricity tariffs for 2009, raising distribution fees by 1.1 percent on the average, URE said in a statement.

It had previously approved a 10 percent rise in wholesale prices for 12 out of 14 energy trading companies.

"Taking inflation into account, the real cost of delivering energy will either remain flat or fall," URE said.

The end-user tariff is a combination of the wholesale price and the distribution fee charged by power companies.

Electricity distributors, including subsidiaries of Sweden's Vattenfall [VATN.UL] and Poland's only listed utility Enea ENEAa.WA, asked the regulator for price increases of some 40-60 percent.

Power plants in the European Union's largest ex-communist economy are nearly entirely dependent on coal and the electricity distributors backed their claims with rising coal prices and the cost of buying carbon dioxide permits.

The regulator had said the price rise in 2009 should not exceed 5 percent and will be the only electricity price increase this year.

Source:By Patryk Wasilewski, reuters.com

Frigoglass to cut jobs in Greece, Poland

2009-01-21T09:33:00.000+01:00

Greek cooler maker Frigoglass (FRIr.AT) said on Tuesday it plans to cut its workforce in a domestic unit and close its Polish factory as part of a plant restructuring programme.

The world's largest maker of drink refrigeration equipment said it would reduce its workforce at its Kato Achaia plant by 120 employees, out of a total of 210 workers, through a voluntary redudancy scheme.

"The cost of the proposed severance package is estimated at 8.5 million euros, and will be recorded as an exceptional charge in Frigoglass' full year 2008 financial results," the company said in a statement.

"The voluntary redundancy scheme reaffirms the management's proactive approach towards production rationalization and will allow for a speedier margin recovery during 2010-2011", Piraeus Securities said in a morning note.

Frigoglass also said it was closing its plant in Poland in response to the rapidly deteriorating global economic climate.

The announcement follows a statement in October that the company would restructure its Polish plant. [ID:nLO116771]

Frigoglass shares were down 4.00 percent to 3.36 euros at 1000 GMT, compared to losses of 0.67 percent for the general index .ATG.
Source: By Tatiana Fragou, Simon Jessop, reuters.com

Poland – 82nd most free economy

2009-01-15T11:07:00.000+01:00

Poland is the 82nd freest economy in the world, according to the Heritage Foundation’s 2009 Economic Freedom Index.

The ranking, out of 183 countries, is the same for the post-communist central European nation as it was in 2008. One place above is Greece, one place below is Kazakhstan.

According to the Heritage Foundation, Poland’s ranking reflects, “modest declines in five of the 10 economic freedoms that offset a considerable gain in freedom from corruption. Poland is ranked 35th out of 43 countries in the Europe region, and its overall score is above the world average.”

After a series of reforms implemented last year, :Poland scores above the world average in trade freedom, monetary freedom, investment freedom, financial freedom, property rights, and freedom from corruption.”

However, Poland ranks badly in the size of the state sector, with high public spending and still sluggish progress in the rate of privatization

Source:hpolskieradio.pl

Poland should cut rates further-c.banker

2009-01-15T11:02:00.002+01:00

Polish central bank should cut interest rates further to foster growth and may move in larger than 25 basis point steps, Monetary Policy Council member Andrzej Slawinski said on Wednesday
The main factor guiding the monetary policy now will be the fact that the economic growth will for some time be lower than the potential,' Slawinski told TVN CNBC in an interview.
'The monetary policy should further be eased ... in order to help the economic growth come back ... to the level of potential growth,' Slawinski said.

Source: By Piotr Skolimowsk, forbes.com

PKN Q4 results hit by cheap oil, weak zloty-paper

2009-01-13T18:14:00.003+01:00

Poland's top oil refiner PKN Orlen's PKNA.WA results in the fourth quarter were negatively impacted by lower oil prices and weaker zloty, the company's CEO Jacek Krawiec was quoted as saying on Tuesday.

Krawiec also said the company which now owns 90 percent of Mazeikiu Nafta, a Lithuanian refiner, may seek an investment partner for Mazeikiu if the plant's efficiency does not improve.

"I can't rule out that we'll be forced to seek an investment partner (for Mazeikiu)... This is a hypothesis for the event that other instruments of lifting efficiency fail," Krawiec told daily Rzeczpospolita in an interview.

Source: By Kuba Jaworowski,Hans Peters
reuters.com

Dell Moves Irish Manufacturing Opers To Poland, With 1,900 Job Losses

2009-01-09T09:37:00.000+01:00

U.S. computer and information technology company Dell Inc. (DELL) Thursday said it is moving its Irish manufacturing operations to Poland by early 2010, with the loss of 1,900 Irish jobs.

The company, which established its manufacturing facilities for Europe, Middle East and Africa in Ireland in 1990, said the move is part of a $3 billion companywide cost-reduction initiative revealed last year.

Dell said 1,300 sales and marketing jobs will remain in Dublin, as will 1,000 Limerick-based jobs in logistics, solutions, procurement, engineering and product development. "Limerick will remain the logistics hub for Europe," a spokeswoman told Dow Jones Newswires.

Sean Corkery, vice president of EMEA operations, said in a statement: "This is a difficult decision, but the right one for Dell to become even more competitive, and deliver greater value to customers in the region."

Ireland provides an attractive 12.5% corporate tax rate for multinationals based in the country, but Dell said the transfer of operations aims to simplify operations, improve productivity and reduce costs.

Economists say the move is another sign that the Irish economy, fueled by the twin engines of a construction boom and multinational investment since the 1990s, is losing its edge to cheaper Eastern European countries.

Alan McQuaid, economist at Bloxham Stockbrokers, said the level of job cuts is disappointing. "If you're starting to lose jobs in multinationals it doesn't auger well for the economy as a whole," he said. "This is a warning that we need to remain competitive."
Source:By Quentin Fottrell, Dow Jones Newswires
money.cnn.com

FEATURE-Pain, defiance in East Europe as strong euro takes toll

2009-01-09T09:29:00.002+01:00

From mortgage holders to travel agents, many East Europeans are feeling poorer this winter after their local currencies lost up to a quarter of their value against the euro over the past six months.

The ex-communist region's once booming economies are now taking a nasty and unexpected further knock as the bitter row between Russia and Ukraine seriously disrupts gas supplies at a time of subzero temperatures.

Yet the mood among shoppers flocking to January sales in Warsaw, Prague and elsewhere remains surprisingly resilient and upbeat. Many say they have yet to feel the impact of the currency losses -- or of the global credit crunch that triggered them -- in their own daily lives.

"Personally I don't see any difference and customers don't seem to care whether the zloty is strong or not," said Katarzyna Pietkowska, 19, a Polish student selling souvenirs in a glitzy new Warsaw shopping mall.

"As a country, we survived Hitler and Stalin, so what's a little financial crisis," she said, expressing an optimism still prevalent among consumers in Poland, largest of the ex-communist nations to have joined the European Union since 2004.

Poland's economy is expected to have grown by more than 5 percent in 2008, though it is now slowing fast.

The zloty has lost 24 percent against the euro since last July as investors have fled a region seen as too risky at a time of global economic crisis. Hungary's forint has shed 16 percent, Romania's leu 15 percent and the Czech crown 12 percent.

Despite a brief New Year bounce, the currencies are expected to stay under pressure in the coming months as foreign investment continues to dry up and exports wither in the face of recession in western Europe, the region's main trade partner.
Some cast an envious glance at tiny Slovakia, which on January 1 became the first ex-Soviet bloc country to adopt the euro and thus escape the region's wild currency gyrations.

FEAR

East Europeans who took out mortgages and other loans in euros or Swiss francs because of lower interest rates than those offered at home are among those hardest hit.

Romanian magazine designer Dan Ivanescu, 35, said monthly instalments on a euro-denominated loan he took out have leapt by 50 percent since September.

"I used to pay 1,000 lei in the summer and now because of the level of the euro I am paying about 1,500 lei. Because of this I was forced to scrap other expenses like clothing and household appliances," he told Reuters in Bucharest.

"I also had a loan to buy a plot of land to build a house on it later. But because of this crisis I got scared and decided to pay it back to the bank."

A weaker local currency also translates into higher prices of imported goods including fuel for countries of the region.

Companies as well as individuals are suffering.
"Retail companies have foreign currency loans like everybody else and their financing costs have increased," said Gyorgy Vamos, head of Hungary's National Alliance of Commerce.

"People will also buy less as access to foreign currency loans shrinks. The import costs of producers also rise, though those who also have exports find some compensation."

The travel industry is bracing for chilly times after a huge post-communist expansion in the number of Poles, Czechs and others buying exotic holidays in the sun.

"Foreign tours are going to get about 12 or so percent more expensive this year (because of the fall in the zloty)," said Jacek Dabrowski, spokesman of the Triada travel agent network.

GLOOM IN COUNTRYSIDE

The mood darkens noticeably away from the buzz and bright lights of the region's affluent capital cities.

"People in Budapest talk easily, almost all of them have a job. In the country it is harder," said Tibor Lovas, 48, a building worker in Hosszuheteny, a village in southern Hungary.

"The New Year festivities were much more subdued here than in previous years. The bars are empty. People buy ridiculous amounts of wood or coal for heating too, like 300 kg at a time."
Hungary needed an emergency IMF bailout last autumn to avert economic meltdown. Though Budapest shoppers also turned out in force for the sales, the tone is more cautious than in Warsaw or Prague whose economies are still relatively buoyant.

"Generally, individuals do not suffer from the crisis yet, but the bad things are yet to come, including unemployment and other negative developments caused by the financial crisis," said Budapest lawyer Joszef Heffentreger, 65.

Poles, by contrast, remain among the most optimistic in Europe about the economic situation and are continuing to spend their zlotys even as the clouds darken, surveys show.

"I buy whatever I want, just as before... Maybe things are a bit more expensive, but I don't need to count every zloty," said one Warsaw restaurant owner, 57, who declined to give his name.

"But I'm sure the crisis will affect me some day," he added.
Source: uk.reuters.com

Propalms Secures International Representation Office in Poland, Europe and the Middle East

2009-01-09T09:22:00.000+01:00

Propalms, Inc.is pleased to announce that the Company has signed an agreement with IT Business Centre (ITBC), based in Warsaw, Poland, to be its agent representative in Poland, Europe and the Middle East, further expanding its worldwide presence. With more than 10 years of international IT experience, ITBC provides complete IT and Telecom services, and serves as a one-stop shop for corporate network and database solutions.

The benefits of signing with ITBC and having an international agent representative are the low cost of entry into foreign markets. ITBC's International Representation Office (IRO), a separate division, consists of professional sales representatives, marketing specialists and a technical support team. IRO's active knowledge of the client base, competition and native languages are expected to facilitate numerous new business opportunities in the year ahead.

"We are a firm believer in Propalms' Terminal Services Edition and its ability to deliver applications reliably. We envision a mutually beneficial relationship in the year ahead and expect to add to Propalms's growing customer base," stated Wasim Bnayat, Director of IT Business Centre's Eastern Europe and Middle East Division.

"IRO's role will be to recruit new distributors and resellers on our behalf. We are very excited about this new partnership. ITBC have already proven their business development skills by signing of a new distribution contract with Sedcom in Poland," stated Owen Dukes, CEO of Propalms, Inc.

For more information about IT Business Centre, please visit the following link: www.itbc.com.pl.

About Propalms, Inc.:

Propalms, Inc. is a global provider of application delivery solutions for Terminal Services and Virtual Desktop Infrastructures. Delivering to enterprises of all sizes, Propalms offers reliable, scalable and affordable solutions that simply work. Our belief is that application delivery solutions should be flexible, dynamic and, above all, simple to use.

Statements contained in this news release, other than those identifying historical facts, constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the Safe Harbor provisions as contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements relating to the Company's future expectations, including but not limited to revenues and earnings, technology efficacy, strategies and plans, are subject to safe harbors protection. Actual Company results and performance may be materially different from any future results, performance, strategies, plans, or achievements that may be expressed or implied by any such forward-looking statements. The Company disclaims any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements.

CONTACT: Propalms, Inc.
Investor Relations
+ 1-866-THE-APPL(E)
http://www.propalms.com
Source:globenewswire.com

Poland not threatened by Ukraine gas crisis

2009-01-09T09:11:00.000+01:00

Poland has enough gas reserves and is not threatened with the shortages that other central European countries are experiencing, says Zbigniew Chlebowski, head of the ruling Civic Platform’s parliamentary party.

Chlebowski told Polish Radio this morning that Poland imports much of its gas via a pipeline from Belarus, so the total shut off of gas from Ukraine has only cut supplies by a total of 16 percent.

Poland’s gas usage has increased by 10 million cubic meters daily due to the recent snap of sub zero temperatures.

A statement by gas monopoly, PGNiG, said that reserves were being drawn on and supply to some industrial clients has been limited. Companies such as oil giant Orlen have experienced around a 14 percent drop in supply.

Eighteen countries are experiencing shortages, some severe. Slovakia declared a state of emergency, Wednesday, and is considering restarting a nuclear power plant to make up for the shortfall in energy.
Source:polskieradio.pl

Poland's Millennium to scrap 2009 targets-report

2009-01-07T17:27:00.000+01:00

Polish bank Millennium BIGW.WA will scrap its financial targets for this year when it announces quarterly earnings on Jan. 22, newspaper Parkiet reported on Wednesday, without giving sources.

The unit of Portugal's largest listed lender, Millennium bcp (BCP.LS), has planned to reach a 20 percent return on equity and reduce its cost-to-income ratio to 55 percent by the end of 2009.

The bank's spokesman was not available for comment and the head of its investor relations department declined to discuss the newspaper article.

Millennium Chief Executive Boguslaw Kott signalled in the middle of last year that the bank would review some of its medium-term goals following the slump in the mutual fund industry.

At 1040 GMT, shares in Millennium traded were unchanged at 2.9 zlotys. The bank lost three quarters of its market value last year.
Source: By Piotr Skolimowski, Simon Jessop
reuters.com

UPDATE 2-Polish gas imports down 16 pct on Ukraine row

2009-01-07T17:22:00.002+01:00

Poland's imports of Russian gas have dropped overall by only 16 percent despite a total halt in supplies via Ukraine triggered by the row between Moscow and Kiev over pricing, Polish gas monopoly PGNiG said on Wednesday.
PGNiG said it had offset much of the shortfall by increasing gas deliveries from a second pipeline crossing Belarus and also by tapping more extensively into Poland's domestic gas reserves.

The company also took steps to limit deliveries to its largest industrial clients to help shield private households and vital public services from disruption.

'At the moment (total) gas imports from the East are being carried out at 84 percent. In order to balance deliveries to clients, usage of gas from storage was increased,' PGNiG said in a statement.

PGNiG does not provide exact volumes of imported gas through each route, but the Ukrainian link is estimated at 14-15 billion cubic meters a day. Imports via Belarus have been increased by at least 5 billion cubic meters daily.

Poland uses about 13 billion cubic metres of gas annually, of which about one third comes from domestic gas sources
The Belarus pipeline and domestic reserves puts Poland, the largest ex-communist state in the European Union, in a stronger position than some of its neighbours.
'Compared to other countries in the region our situation is moderately safe thanks to the alternative import route,' DI BRE analyst Kamil Kliszcz told Reuters.

As temperatures have dropped well below zero in recent days, Poland's daily gas usage rose to about 55 million cubic metres daily from 45 million cubic metres before the cold spell, PGNiG spokeswoman Joanna Zakrzewska said.

INDUSTRY HIT

On Wednesday large gas consumers including chemical makers and refiners started to receive information on an impending cut in gas supplies after the government approved measures aimed at economising on consumption.

Poland's largest fertiliser company Pulawy, which analysts see as most vulnerable to the disruption in gas supplies, has already reported PGNiG will cut the volume of supplied gas by between 12.5 and 16.7 percent as of Wednesday.

'If the reduction in imports persists, Pulawy would be the most vulnerable because it did not reduce its production levels earlier, unlike other chemical firms,' Kliszcz said.

The reduced supply to Pulawy might last until the end of January.

Poland's top oil refiner PKN Orlen will see its gas supplies cut by as much as 28 percent starting later on Wednesday and lasting until the end of January.

The cut in supplies will have a small impact on the company's profits because it will be forced to use heating oil instead of gas to keep its production running, PKN's spokesman Dawid Piekarz said.

Earlier the refiner declared that despite the gas disruption it will keep the refining level unchanged.

Other Polish chemical makers Police and Tarnow were forced to cut their production levels in late 2008 due to sharply reduced demand for fertilizers and falling prices which makes them more immune to the gas crisis.
Source: By Patryk Wasilewski and Pawel Bernat, forbes.com

Russia to cut gas supply to Poland by 5 percent

2009-01-07T14:30:00.000+01:00

A Polish energy official says Gazprom has informed Poland of a 5 percent cut in natural gas deliveries from Russia.

Deputy head of the Energy Regulating Office Marek Woszczyk says the decrease poses no threat as Poland receives natural gas deliveries via two separate pipelines running through Ukraine and Belarus.

Woszczyk also says Poland's reserves are 85 percent full.

The news Tuesday comes amid an escalating gas dispute between Russia and Ukraine.

Source: iht.com

UPDATE 1-Poland's PGNiG to ask industry to curb gas usage

2009-01-07T14:23:00.001+01:00

* Deliveries via Ukraine fall by another 7 mln cubic metres

* Reduction of deliveries to industrial clients on horizon

* Chemical companies warn of impact on profit, output

(Combines stories, adds quote, details, background)

Poland's dominant gas distributor PGNiG (PGNI.WA) said on Tuesday it would ask industrial clients to limit gas usage as supplies via Ukraine were hit by the pricing dispute between Moscow and Kiev.

Deliveries through Ukraine fell by a further 7 million cubic metres on Tuesday, PGNiG said in a statement, forcing it to draw more gas from its storage facilities.

The conflict between Ukraine and Russia over gas prices escalated dramatically on Tuesday, with deliveries halted to the Balkans, Turkey and southeast Europe.

Bulgaria, Turkey, Macedonia, Greece and Croatia said flows of Russian gas via Ukraine had stopped, creating what Bulgaria called a "crisis situation" in the middle of winter. [ID:nL6410970].

"PGNiG was told by RosUkrEnergo the (gas delivery) contract is impossible to carry out until further notice," PGNiG said.

The group said earlier its reserves were sufficient to supply all of its clients for a couple of weeks.

Gas pipeline operator Gaz System said it had asked the economy ministry for permission to cut deliveries to industrial clients in order to protect individuals.

Poland's largest fertiliser maker Pulawy PULW.WA, which uses nearly 1 billion cubic metres of gas annually, said the drop in deliveries may result in a further cut in production levels and have an impact on its results.

"There is a risk of further reduction in production levels," said Pulawy spokesman Grzegorz Kulik. "The fertilizing season is starting and it can have impact on the market and our results."

The company was already forced to cut its production levels by 30 percent in mid-November due to falling demand.

Ryszard Siwiec, the head of Poland's other leading chemical company Police PICE.WA, said he could be forced to halt production of nitrogen-based fertiliser, which accounts for a quarter of its output, if asked to further cut gas usage.

Source; By By Patryk Wasilewski and Adrian Krajewski, Will Waterman, reuters.com

Polish c.banker sees 2009 growth down at 2 pct

2009-01-05T18:20:00.001+01:00

Poland's economic growth will likely slow to around 2 percent this year, the central bank's policy maker Andrzej Slawinski said.

'The divergence of forecasts is high ... but the growth close to 2 percent is the most likely scenario,' Slawinski, a moderate member of the 10-strong rate-setting panel, told radio PiN in an interview.
Source: By Piotr Skolimowski, Mike Peacock, forbes.com

UPDATE 1-Ferrovial's units win Polish road order

2009-01-05T18:16:00.002+01:00

A group that includes Spanish builder Ferrovial (FER.MC) and its units Cintra (CCIT.MC) and Budimex BMEX.WA have won a major road deal in Poland, Budimex said on Monday.

Spanish newspaper Expansion reported that the contract could be worth 1.8 billion euros ($2.51 billion).

"The deal ... is now at the Ministry of Infrastructure, which needs to consult the Finance Ministry," said Krzysztof Koziol, spokesman at Polish Budimex. "Nobody has thus far settled the price."

Autostrada Poludnie, controlled by Ferrovial, Cintra and Budimex, is to build the 180-kilometre toll road between Strykow in Central Poland and Pyrzowice in the South.

Budimex is also the favourite to win a second motorway project in Poland worth 1 billion euros, Expansion said.
Source: By Tracy Rucinski, Adrian Krajewski, Will Waterman, .reuters.com

UPDATE 1-Polish c.bankers diverge on 2009 growth forecast

2009-01-05T18:12:00.002+01:00

Polish central bank policymakers on Monday offered differing views on the scale of the economic slowdown in 2009, underscoring uncertainty about the impact of the global financial crisis on the EU's largest eastern member.
The divergence of forecasts is high ... but the growth close to 2 percent is the most likely scenario,' Slawinski, a moderate member of the 10-strong rate-setting panel, told radio PiN in an interview.
Andrzej Slawinski, a moderate on the 10-member rate-setting Monetary Policy Council (MPC), said he expects growth of around 2 percent this year, while his hawkish colleague Marian Noga told a newspaper economic growth would slow to 3 percent.

However, both figures mark a significant slowdown from a predicted growth rate for 2008 of at least 5 percent, with markets expecting the central bank to respond by cutting interest rates by a total of one percentage point during 2009.

Analysts have in recent months slashed forecasts for the local economy as worries mount that recession in the euro zone, Poland's main trade partner, will derail years of strong growth.

The deteriorating outlook for the economy also prompted the central bank to slash borrowing costs by a total of 1 percentage point late last year, including a 75 basis point cut in December, its biggest easing in six years.

The main interest rate in Poland now stands at 5 percent.
Source: By Piotr Skolimowski, Mike Peacock, forbes.com

Poland's gas via Ukraine still less

2009-01-05T18:08:00.000+01:00

Gas deliveries to Poland via Ukraine remained lower by 5 million cubic metres daily on Monday, Poland's dominant gas distributor PGNiG (PGNI.WA) said in a statement on Monday.

The drop is being made up fr with imports thorugh Belarus, and Poland is not experiencing a drop in overall gas deliveries, PGNiG added.

Source: ByPatryk Wasilewski, reuters.com

Poland aims to sell Enea stake for $2.4 bln -report

2009-01-05T18:02:00.001+01:00

Poland wants to sell its remaining 76.5 percent stake in utility Enea ENEAa.WA, minority owned by Sweden's Vattenfall [VATN.UL], for 7 billion zlotys ($2.4 billion), the treasury minister was quoted as saying on Monday.

In November, Poland sold 19 percent of Enea to Vattenfall for 1.7 billion zlotys as part of Warsaw's largest initial public offering last year.

The state-owned Swedish energy group has already said it wants ultimately to hold all of Enea.

"If we sell all of Enea, as planned, we should get some 7 billion zlotys," Treasury Minister Alkesander Grad in an interview with Gazeta Wyborcza.

Although Grad has said any investor would be allowed to bid for the Enea stake, Vattenfall is seen as the most likely buyer.

Grad added he hoped Vattenfall would also buy the remaining stakes of two other Polish energy companies, GZE and Vattenfall Heat Poland, for about 1.2 billion zlotys in early 2009. Poland was close to unloading the stakes in December, but Vattenfall backed out at the last minute over a disagreement with energy regulator URE on electricity prices.
Source: By Patryk Wasilewski, Will Waterman, reuters.com

PKN places two offers for Lithuanian oil terminal

2008-12-21T10:28:00.001+01:00

Poland's leading refiner PKN Orlen PKNA.WA filed made two proposals that could give it control of the Lithuanian Klaipedos (KNF1L.VL) oil terminal, the company's chief executive Jacek Krawiec said on Friday.

The Lithuanian government, which controls the terminal, will decide on the offers in January, Lithuania's Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius said.

"We want to get either a minority stake with operational control right, or a majority stake," Krawiec told a press briefing. "It makes no difference to us (which option Lithuanian government choses)."

PKN Orlen, which already controls Lithuanian refinery Mazeikiu, has suffered a blow after Russian crude supplies to the refiner via the Druzhba pipeline were choked off.

This forced it to ship crude via the offshore terminal in the Baltic Sea at higher cost. Mazeikiu also exports 60 percent of its output via sea routes and the Klaipedos terminal would help it cut down on transport expenditures.
Source: By Nerijous Adomaitis, Patryk Wasilewski Andrew Callus, reuters.com

World Bank to lend Poland 975 mln euros for reforms

2008-12-21T10:25:00.000+01:00

The World Bank will lend Poland 975 million euros to help finance labour market and health care reforms, the finance ministry said on Friday in a statement.

The loan, which will be signed on Tuesday Dec. 23, was agreed a year ago and is not linked to the current global financial crisis, the bank's Polish unit told Reuters.
The loan has nothing to do with the global crisis...nor with loans given to countries like Hungary, which are going through some real trouble,' Jacek Wojciechowicz, spokesman for the World Bank in Poland, said.

Warsaw plans to increase labour supply under the '50+' programme and wants to commercialise parts of the public health care sector.
Source:By Gabriela Baczyńska, Patrick Graham, forbes.com

UPDATE 1-Polish zloty fall unjustified, growth to slow-cbanker

2008-12-21T10:19:00.001+01:00

Poland's economic fundamentals do not justify the zloty's recent depreciation, although growth in 2009 could be less than 2.8 percent, the central bank governor said on Friday.

'As far as the current situation is concerned, fundamentals show that the depreciation (of the zloty) is not justified. I'm confident about the future of our currency,' Slawomir Skrzypek told reporters.
But Skrzypek, who has been a leading dove on the central bank's rate-setting council, warned of a significant economic slowdown next year.

'There are a number of risks that (the economic growth rate in 2009) could be lower than showed in the October projection (2.8 percent),' Skrzypek said.

The government expects the European Union's largest ex-communist economy to grow by 3.7 percent next year, but analysts have slashed forecasts due to a deepening recession in the euro zone and global doom that should weigh on exports.

Source:By Marcin Goclowski, Karolina Slowikowska, Chris Borowski
forbes.com

Soccer-Crisis seen helping Poland's Euro 2012 preparations

2008-12-21T10:11:00.002+01:00

Global financial crisis may make the job of preparing for the Euro 2012 football championship easier for Poland as demand for unrelated construction eases and prices drop, a senior official said on Friday.

Marcin Herra, who heads the PL.2012 agency preparing for the event, told Reuters in an interview, the global slowdown in investment increased developers' interest in key infrastructure projects, while falling prices of building materials should make the final price-tag lower.

Infrastructure work is a major challenge for Poland and co-host Ukraine, which have to build not only stadiums to host the tournament but also roads, airports, railways and hotels.

"The crisis and the slowdown will have many consequences for the preparations... There are no more problems with finding employees... This will allow us to make much more rational deals than we previously expected," Herra said.

Herra estimated that total infrastructure work linked to the tournament would cost Poland about 20 billion euros ($27.92 billion), with most of the cash coming out of European Union funds, adding that the economic crisis would not impact the financing.

However, things are not so rosy in Ukraine, which unlike Poland is not an EU member and so does not have the same access to EU funding. The financial crisis has also badly hit the ex-Soviet republic's economy and exacerbated political tensions.

"During our last visit (to Ukraine) we received a declaration from the deputy prime minister that the funding for Euro 2012 is guaranteed by the state. For us that ends the issue," Herra said, playing down Kiev's woes.

The Ukrainian economy has taken a big hit from the global crisis, prompting the International Monetary Fund to step in with a loan now worth $17.4 billion. The value of the local hryvnia currency has halved since September.
or Poland, the infrastructure work needed for Euro 2012 is viewed as a timely cushion for its economic slowdown.

"The tournament is without doubt a catalyst for the infrastructure transformation Poland has to see," said Herra.

Poland was recently complimented by the UEFA head Michel Platini on the steady progress in its preparations.

Herra said Warsaw's key National Stadium project was running ahead of schedule, though he added much work remained to do.

The groundwork at the stadium is expected to end in March 2009, just in time for selection of the company that will be responsible for building the stadium itself. The construction is planned to start in April and run until mid-2011.

UEFA has often said the stadiums in Warsaw and Kiev, slated to host the opening game and the final, are the key investments required for the tournament and must be prepared if Poland and Ukraine do not want to be stripped of hosting rights.

UEFA has criticised both countries in the past for slow progress on the preparations, but Herra said by next year the results would be much more visible "Next year will be the time when construction works start on six stadiums, we see kick-off on extending five airports as well as railroad modernisation and road-building," Herra said. "It will also be a time of much closer cooperation with Ukraine." This week Poland began construction of the Gdansk stadium and selected a developer for modernising the Krakow stadium. It is also expected to announce offers for construction of the Wroclaw stadium later on Friday.
Source: By Patryk Wasilewski, uk.reuters.com

Polish c.bank head: fx interventions may be needed

2008-12-18T09:21:00.000+01:00

WARSAW, Dec 17 (Reuters) - Poland's central bank governor Slawomir Skrzypek said on Wednesday there may be a need or currency market interventions because of the zloty's sharp depreciation.

He added he was not a fan of such a solution but that he was worried about the weakening zloty 'The zloty is subject to very big volatility. Its depreciation has accelerated over the last months,' Skrzypek told reporters.

'When it comes to possible central bank actions, the free-floating exchange-rate is a value in itself. I am not a supporter of forex interventions but such a need cannot be ruled out now.'

Source:By Adrian Krajewski, Karolina Slowikowska
forbes.com

New passenger car registrations in Europe fell by 25.8% in November; Sales in Ireland fell 55.9%

2008-12-17T08:30:00.000+01:00

New passenger car registrations in Europe* fell by 25.8% in November compared to the same month of last year, declining for the seventh month in a row, mirroring the financial and economic crises, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association. Sales in Ireland fell to 644 units - a plunge of 55.9% compared with the same month in 2007. European sales are down 7.1% in the 11 months to November and are off 18.6% in Ireland.

The last time registrations dropped as steep as in November, was in 1999 and 1993 with data then, before the EU enlargement, only including the EU15 plus EFTA countries. Last month’s results were aggravated by on average two working days less across the region**. Markets in Western Europe and the new EU Member States contracted at a similar pace (-26.0% and -22.6% respectively). All markets decreased except Finland, Poland and the Czech Republic. In units, European November registrations declined to 932,537 cars. Cumulatively from January to November, 13,788,256 new cars were registered in Europe*, representing a 7.1% downturn.

In Western Europe, a total of 854,698 new passenger cars were registered in November, or 26.0% less than in November last year. The downturn hit all countries except Finland, ranging from -3.5% in Portugal to -55.9% in Ireland. Of the major markets, Spain was the most severely affected (-49.6%), followed by the UK (-36.8%) and Italy (-29.5%), while Germany (-17.7%) faced the steepest fall of its market since December 2007 (-20.3%) and France (-14.1%) since August 2003 (-15.4%). January to November results show a 7.6% decline of the West European market, with around one million fewer cars registered compared to the same period last year. France managed to level last year’s demand so far (+0.8%), while registrations in Germany declined by 1.5%, in the UK by 10.7%, in Italy by 13.4% and in Spain by 26.0%.

Markets in the new EU Member Statesechoed the November drop recorded in Western Europe, plummeting by 22.6%, and against the trend so far. The new EU Member States long showed more resilience, in relative terms, because of the greater number of first-time buyers as opposed to the replacement market of Western Europe. Of the main markets, the Czech Republic +2.0%) and Poland (+10.7%) posted growth, compensating the negative results recorded in Hungary (-28.4%) and Romania (-53.1%). Eleven months into the year, the region posted growth with 0.3% more cars registered than over the same period a year earlier. Hungary and Romania saw their new registrations go down by 7.4% and 7.5% but the Czech Republic and Poland performed better than last year with a 9.3% upturn.

* EU27 + EFTA, data for Cyprus and Malta unavailable

** One working day less for Austria, France, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Slovenia; three fewer working days for the Czech Republic and Slovakia, same number of working days as last year for Hungary.

Source: By Finfacts Team, finfacts.ie

Twitter disses Nasza Klasa (Poland’s social network)

2008-12-17T08:16:00.000+01:00

Twitter was at the center of a stink today when Google announced that it was integrating the micro-messaging service into its Friend Connection service. This led to a flurry of questions in the tech blogosphere as to why Twitter was integrating with Google and no one else?

Silicon Alley Insider first stated “Twitter Chooses Google, Not Facebook,” but later changed that headline after Twitter co-founder Biz Stone corrected them, saying that Twitter was working on Facebook Connect integration as well. Twitter’s chief executive Evan Williams also sent out a tweet (Twitter message) explaining that:

For the record: Twitter did not “choose Google, not Facebook.” We’re working with both. We have more to do on the FB side before launch.

This led TechCrunch to write “Twitter Humiliates MySpace” because it didn’t bother mentioning them in any social service integration talk. You see the trend?

To stop this, Stone decided to write a blog post entitled “Let’s All Be Friends!” In it, he write that “Twitter plans to integrate with the open initiatives offered by our friends at MySpace, Facebook, and Google.”

So that leaves me wondering what other social network I can mention that Twitter is neglecting? How about Nasza Klasa, the largest social network of Poland? After all, it did make Google’s Zeitgeist list this year. Why are you not working with them Twitter?

The nerve.

You can find me on Twitter here along with fellow VentureBeatniks Eric Eldon, Dean Takahashi, Anthony Ha, Chris Morrison and Dan Kaplan. Oh, and we have a VentureBeat account (for our posts) as well.
Source:venturebeat.com

Poland wins emissions deal

2008-12-17T08:10:00.000+01:00

An EU summit ended in a good deal for Poland, but the UN climate conference appeared to accomplish little
A draft compromise on CO2 emissions cuts, agreed upon at an EU summit in Brussels in December, states that Poland will receive up to 70 percent of its emission allowance for free. The exemption will be gradually phased out by 2020 and is considered a satisfactory improvement on the previous deal, which offered half the emissions allowance for free until 2016.

“Without doubt, [the summot] ended with our success,” said President Lech Kaczyński. Poland had threatened to veto the deal amid concerns that emissions credits would prove too expensive. Over 90 percent of Poland’s power comes from coal-dependent energy plants.

The draft deal creates a solidarity fund, retaining 10 percent of revenues from credit trading, which will be distributed among nine post-communist EU member states to help them invest in cleaner technologies.

An additional two percent of credit trading revenues will be divided among eastern EU members in recognition of the emissions reductions they achieved in the 1990s after the collapse of communism.

“The deal is flexible, allowing for the modernization of the Polish power sector and ensuring that there will not be any steep increase in electricity prices,” a Polish official told Reuters. In other news, on the sidelines of the UN climate change conference in Poznań, Poland entered into tentative agreements with Ireland and the World Bank, each of which will purchase carbon emission credits under the Kyoto Protocol. According to unofficial information, Ireland is ready to buy emission allowances worth EUR15 (zł.59.5) million, while the World Bank signed a separate deal to purchase 10 million tonnes of emissions for around EUR10 (zł.39.6) per tonne.

The Poznań summit finished with a proposal for a “Solidarity Partnership” declaration, but many delegates argued that too little had been done to move forward on climate-change countermeasures.

Source: By Marcin Poznan, Warsaw Business Journal

Poland's car industry warns PM of possible crisis

2008-12-17T08:05:00.000+01:00

Polish car makers have asked the prime minister to take steps to protect the domestic industry from a worldwide drop in demand, an industry representative said Tuesday.

Poland's Chamber of Automotive Industry head Roman Kantorski told The Associated Press that representatives of car dealerships and auto parts producers have written to Prime Minister Donald Tusk urging him to consider steps to cushion the sector against recession. They suggested government guarantees for bank credits and flexibility in saving specialized jobs.

Kantorski said the letter was a precautionary step, but acknowledged that some auto part makers are considering layoffs. He refused to say which firms might make cuts.

Some 97 percent of Poland's car production is exported to markets where demand is falling.
Source:The Associated Press

Vattenfall withdraws from its investment plans in Poland

2008-12-17T07:56:00.000+01:00

The investor is discouraged with the attempts to reduce energy prices. The company does not trust the government any longer while the value of companies it was going to buy for PLN 1bn (EUR 247m) has dropped.

One of the successes of the Ministry of the Treasury was the agreement with Vattenfall to sell the remaining stake of GZE power plants and of Vattenfall Heat Poland.

“We have decided to withdraw from these transactions. The reason is the state policy towards energy prices regulations. The regulator supported by the government aims to force artificial price cut. We don’t trust Poland as we used to. We wouldn’t be surprised if it happened in Venezuela but it’s a shock here”, Torbjorn Wahlborg, Vattenfall Poland CEO said.

He added that the value of companies Vattenfall was going to buy dropped.

“The government cannot be as naïve as to believe that it may regulate energy prices and at the same time get from us prices negotiated in other market conditions”, Torbjorn Wahlborg added.

Two weeks ago, the energy regulator URE said that it won’t approve of energy prices above PLN 155 per MWh while next year’s contracts already amount to PLN 220-230 per MWh.

Vattenfall was supposed to pay over PLN 1bn for both stakes.

“We will wait till the end of the first quarter. Maybe the situation changes”, the CEO added.
Source:www.pb.p

Poland should rethink euro entry date-c.bank head

2008-10-14T09:51:00.000+02:00

The current situation prompts a rethink of Poland's euro entry date, the head of its central bank was quoted as saying on Monday, adding there are arguments for a rate cut.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced last month that Warsaw wanted to be ready in 2011 to join euro zone, with entry expected the following year.
"Current situation prompts a rethink of the euro entry date," central bank governor Slawomir Skrzypek told daily Rzeczpospolita in an interview.
"Before we enter the ERM-2 rate exchange mechanism, global financial turmoil should be finished," he added.
A candidate country must stay in the ERM-2 for two years before qualifying for the euro.
The governor, seen as a dove among the central bank's 10-strong Monetary Policy Council, also said there are lots of arguments backing a rate cut.
"There are lots of arguments justifying a need for an interest rate cut in Poland," Skrzypek told daily Rzeczpospolita in an interview. "There are many factors singalling for the tightening cycle to at least be halted."
Skrzypek, referring to the recent banking crisis, told Rzeczpospolita the central bank would play the role of a "last-hope lender," if such a problem occurs.
"If there occur problems with liquidity, the central bank is ready to react," he said.
Early on Monday the finance ministry said in a statement there is no threat to Poland's financial market and the government will meet later in the afternoon to discuss its strategy at the European Council meeting due on October 15-16.
The key interest rate stands now at 6.0 percent.
Source:By Adrian Krajewski,Andy Bruceguardian.co.uk

Climate Talks Push Ahead in Poland Amid Credit Crunch

2008-10-14T09:43:00.000+02:00

Oct. 13 (Bloomberg) -- Environment ministers from 40 nations met today in Warsaw to lay the groundwork for new climate-change regulations that may raise costs for polluting industries such as power generation and transportation.

Attempts to reach an agreement on limits for carbon-dioxide emissions at United Nations-sponsored talks in December face their biggest hurdle in the credit crisis that's pushing the world economy toward recession, said Astrid Klug, Germany's deputy environment minister.

``We have to make sure that the financial crisis does not hinder climate-change efforts,'' Klug said today in an interview in Berlin. ``This is critical because it's the major threat'' to the negotiations, she added.

Governments in Europe and the U.S. have stepped in to bail out banks, trying to protect the global economy from the biggest financial turmoil since the Great Depression. Stock indexes in the U.S. last week slid the most since 1914.

Environmental ministers meeting through tomorrow in Warsaw will discuss progress made since the UN conference in Bali last December and priorities for one in Poznan, Poland, this December. Aiming to curb CO2 output that add to global warming, the negotiators are seeking to conclude an accord between 192 nations by a December 2009 UN conference planned in Copenhagen.

Countries must ``keep the momentum'' to forge new rules to slow global warming and adopt cleaner technologies that may create millions of jobs, Danish Climate and Energy Minister Connie Hedegaard said.

`Lower Carbon World'

``The financial crisis is not working against this agenda,'' Hedegaard said in an Oct. 10 interview from Luxembourg. ``On the contrary, to take the climate and energy challenges seriously will be one of the ways we can make this shift into a lower carbon world and that will benefit our situation.''

The European Union's 27 members currently are hammering out a climate and energy package that includes a target of cutting emissions of global-warming gases by 20 percent by 2020. Hedegaard said she expected countries to work through objections to the draft law, including opposition by Poland to provisions on auctioning emissions credits, or permits that allow companies such as utilities to emit specific amounts of greenhouse gases.

``It would be difficult for governments to say right now `We're just going to forget about climate change because we have a big financial crisis,''' said Trevor Sikorski, a carbon analyst at Barclays Capital in London. ``One crisis doesn't stop climate change from creating yet another global crisis we'd have to deal with.''

German Target

Germany aims to help reach an accord on the European carbon- trading system after 2012, said Michael Schroeren, a spokesman for the environment ministry.

In that year emissions limits expire for Germany and most other developing countries under the 1997 Kyoto treaty, leaving a void for addressing man-made greenhouse gases.

A United Nations panel said last year it would cost as much as 3 percent of economic output to keep the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere at current levels in 2030. Tools include investing in renewable energy, making buildings and vehicles more energy efficient and developing technology that captures polluting gases from plants and pumps them underground.
Source: By Alex Morales and Jeremy van Loon
bloomberg.com

ArcelorMittal invests 80 mn euro in Poland

2008-09-19T14:50:00.000+02:00

World's largest steel producer ArcelorMittal on Thursday said it has invested 80 million euro (Rs 531 crore) to set up a rolling mill in Warsaw with an annual output of 650 kilo tonnes, aimed to tap the booming construction market of Poland.

“ArcelorMittal Warszawa, subsidiary of ArcelorMittal Group, today inaugurates the new bar rolling mill (in Poland) following an investment of 80 million euro,'' a company statement said here. It will allow ArcelorMittal's arm to provide the complete prod uct range and secure market share by optimal service and quality, mainly intended to serve the booming construction market in Poland, the statement added.

“The new bar rolling mill (which rolls the metal into sheets, bars, or other forms) in Warsaw has a production capacity of 650 KT/year. The facility is very flexible and can manufacture rebars of 840 mm, plain bars of 1650 mm, squares, flats, equal angle s and channels,'' it said. - PTI
Source:thehindubusinessline.com

CEZ plans two power plants in Poland -report

2008-09-10T16:42:00.000+02:00

Czech power company CEZ plans to build two power plants in Poland in the next five years to meet growing demand for electricity, its Polish head was quoted as saying on Wednesday.

Petr Ivanek told newspaper Gazeta Prawna that CEZ, which owns the 492 MW coal-fired power plant Skawina in Poland, will decide on the precise location of the new units, one a 400 MW and the other an 800 MW plant, by the middle of next year.

"There is a possibility that we will build a new unit in Skawina, but we are also considering other locations," Ivanek told the newspaper.

"For example, we are considering the construction of a new plant where there may be potential for a large presence of wind farms," he added.

CEZ has yet to decide on the type of units it wants to build but does not rule out a joint project with one of Poland's coal mining companies to secure coal supplies, Ivanek said.

"The Polish coal industry doesn't have money for investments, so we will offer the coal mining companies at least the possibility of financing investments in new deposits in exchange for guarantees of future supplies," Ivanek said.

Poland must build new plants or it will suffer a capacity deficit of up to 6 percent in 2008-2014 as demand for power outgrows supply, the local energy regulator said last week.
Source: By Piotr Skolimowski, reuters.com

Poland's Agora in news channel due diligence-agency

2008-09-07T11:59:00.000+02:00

Polish media group Agora AGOD.WA is conducting due diligence in a local news channel Superstacja, local newswire PAP reported on Friday, citing a person close to the station.

"I know that Agora is conducting a due dilligence in the company," Zygmunt Solorz-Zak, whose firm controls half of Superstacja, told the agency. Agora declined comment.

Agora, which publishes one of Poland's leading dailies Gazeta Wyborcza, has declined to comment on media speculation it may pay around 30 million zlotys ($12.6 million) for a stake in Superstacja to gain a foothold in the television market.

Agora may seek to buy a third of Superstacja and eventually take over the company, according to media reports.

The company, which is present in all media segments outside television, has amassed a war chest of almost $500 million to decrease its dependence on the slow-growing newspaper advertising market.

Superstacja is seeking to compete in an increasingly crowded news market with TVN TVNN.WA and the recently launched news channel of unlisted broadcaster Polsat, also controlled by Solorz-Zak.
Source: By Adrian Krajewski, David Holmes

Poland, foreign investors agree to save historic shipyards

2008-09-07T11:56:00.000+02:00

A week before an EU deadline, Poland on Friday signed a "final agreement" with investors to save three Polish shipyards from bankruptcy, the treasury ministry announced.

"The plans concerning the three shipyards (in Gdansk, Gdynia and Szczecin) will be transmitted shortly to the European Commission," Poland's domestic PAP news agency quoted treasury spokesman Maciej Wewior as saying.

Wewior said investors then had until September 12, a date set by Brussels, to reply to any possible Commission observations. He did not give details about the agreements.

The investors' offers are the last hope for the survival of Poland's Baltic Sea shipyards, remembered for dealing a death blow to communism by giving birth to Solidarity, the first and only free trade union in the Soviet bloc.

Under EU competition regulations, the yards will have to repay some 2.1 billion euros (three billion dollars) in public subsidies should the plans fail to materialise.

Brussels has declined to approve a string of restructuring plans set forth by Warsaw in recent years, insisting they failed to meet competition rules. Public subsidies were too high, private investment too low and the viability of the shipyards was not guaranteed.

Owned by the state, the shipyards in Gdynia and Szczecin are sinking in debt and orders from Brussels to repay subsidies would almost certainly spell their collapse.

The highly symbolic Gdansk yard, the 1980s cradle of Solidarity's anti-communist offensive, was acquired by Ukraine's powerful Industrial Union of Donbass (ISD) last year.

But it must also undergo restructuring and is also threatened with bankruptcy.

ISD is interested in acquiring the yard in Gdynia and merging it with the Gdansk yard.

Mostostal Chojnice-Ulstein, a Polish-Norwegian consortium, is interested in the Szczecin yard.

But both investors want more public subsidies from the Polish government in order to push ahead with their privatisation and restructuring plans.
Source:afp.google.com

Poland is cream in the cup for Coffeeheaven

2008-09-07T11:52:00.000+02:00

When Richard Worthington launched his Coffeeheaven chain in Poland nine years ago, the takeaway paper coffee cup, so loved by urbanites in the US and the UK, was nowhere to be seen on the streets of Warsaw. The idea was even frowned on by some Varsovians.

“We got people saying ‘I don’t want to drink coffee from an American paper cup’. They were used to drinking from porcelain and the only way we could make our business profitable was if we were to develop takeaway.
“But then we had a bit of luck. A popular magazine featured a cup of coffee with our logo on it describing it as cool. So it became acceptable and fashionable to be seen in the street with a paper Coffeeheaven cup.”

Mr Worthington spotted his opportunity on a business trip to the Polish capital in the late 1990s when looking for a place to buy a cup of coffee.

The dearth of ristrettos in comfy, western-style surroundings gave the former Estée Lauder executive an idea that he has since turned into a business of 89 stores spanning eastern and central Europe and the Baltic states.

According to Allegra Strategies, a research consultancy, the regions in which he is operating have become thirsty for western habits and products, especially upmarket coffee.

The Aim-listed company does not have operations in the UK nor does it plan to. Instead it has focused on eastern and central Europe and the Baltic, where it believes it has plenty of room to expand.

coffeeJeffrey Young, Allegra managing director, says: “Eastern Europe is virgin territory in terms of coffee bars . . . success is associated with the west and so there is an appetite for western things.”

While Coffeeheaven has ridden the growing wave of demand for branded coffee, more recently it has also benefited from the surge of the Polish zloty and the Czech koruna.

In Poland, Coffeeheaven’s biggest and most advanced market, it runs 53 stores and controls just over a fifth of a still-fragmented market, according to Allegra. It also runs 36 stores across the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Hungary and Romania.

The Polish business is described as “very profitable”. For the year to March 31, like-for-like sales grew 16 per cent and operating profits were £2.1m.

Coffeeheaven’s growth has not gone unnoticed by some of the world’s larger operators and in recent months there have been rumours of the company being a takeover target.

Whitbread’s Costa Coffee has launched in the region, although with mixed success. Its Polish franchise partner is looking for an exit, although Whitbread says it is trading well. Starbucks has a handful of stores in the Czech Republic and Romania.

Shares in Coffeeheaven have were buoyed by speculation, hitting a high of 43¾p in June, but they have since dropped back to 36½p. Mr Worthington refuses to comment on whether the company has been approached and says that when he started out there was no big game plan to get the business up and running and then sell.

He is scathing of the “push-button” approach of big operators such as Starbucks. “I am not convinced that coffee bars work as truly ‘global businesses’. Coffee bars are very personal and individual – very much ‘your place’ – and by definition it’s difficult to personalise something that is global.

Coffeeheaven is set to expand, but it has drawn criticism for not advancing at a ristretto- fuelled rate. “We have always had a target of 350 stores but it could be 200 and it could be 500. We’ve never put a time scale on it.”

Mr Worthington cites the example of Gerry Ford, founder of Caffè Nero, who faced the same criticisms in the early stages of building his business.

“If we could open 500 stores we would have done it. In some of these markets you’re never going to build 200 stores in two years, maybe in 10 years. The market just isn’t ready. It’s taken us eight years to get to nearly 100 stores in seven countries. Some markets are at different stages. Romania is where Poland was in 1999. It’s a long-term game.”
Source:ft.com

Poland agrees shipyard rescue plan, EU to decide

2008-09-05T15:31:00.000+02:00

Poland's government said on Thursday it had reached a preliminary agreement with investors on plans to overhaul its historic Baltic shipyards and avert their closure.

The European Commission has given Poland a Sept. 12 deadline to present its restructuring plan for the yards, cradle of the anti-communist Solidarity trade union in the 1980s, or else repay illegal state aid that would force them into bankruptcy.

The shipyards employ about 15,000 workers but Polish officials say as many as 60,000 jobs could be at risk if suppliers and related sectors are taken into account.

State-owned Gdynia and Szczecin and the privatised Gdansk yards have received state aid totalling more than 2.3 billion euros ($3.34 billion) over the years, in violation of EU competition rules.

Treasury Minister Aleksander Grad said the tentative accord envisaged additional state aid for the yards, which is allowed under EU rules provided it leads to the long-term financial viability of the companies concerned.
'We reached agreement with the investors in recent days... that clearly stipulates in what respect and to what degree the treasury can participate in financing old liabilities with new state aid,' Grad told parliament.

The investors involved are Ukraine's Industrial Union of Donbass, which owns the Gdansk yard and is interested in buying Gdynia, and private Polish firm Mostostal Chojnice, which wants to buy Szczecin.

'We're ready to grant additional public help. We're ready to support these shipyards in the interim period, but we have to bear in mind that we're part of the European Union...and that the European Commission has the deciding vote (on their fate),' Grad said.

The Treasury said the additional aid amounted to 835 million zlotys ($359.1 million) for Gdansk and Gdynia and 400 million zlotys for Szczecin. Investors have pledged about 1 billion zlotys for Gdansk and Gdynia and 242 million zlotys

for Szczecin.

Successive governments have failed to deal with the problem since Poland joined the EU in 2004. The yards have not made profit on a single ship built since at least 2004 and would not have survived without subsidies, but analysts say that,

properly managed, they could still flourish.

(
Source:hemscott.com

Herbalife Family Foundation Establishes Program in Poland

2008-09-05T15:28:00.000+02:00

LOS ANGELES, Sep 04, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- The Herbalife Family Foundation has established a Casa Herbalife program outside of Warsaw to help provide good nutrition to the children at the Children's Home in Falbogi, Poland.
The orphanage opened in 1977 to provide day and overnight care and currently cares for children between the ages of two to 19 years old. Children's Home will use the grant money to supplement its current food budget and nutrition education for the children. Local independent Herbalife distributors have committed to providing ongoing support through fund raising and volunteerism.
This is the 35th Casa Herbalife program established worldwide.
HFF is a 501(c)(3), non-profit corporation dedicated to improving children's lives by helping organizations provide healthy nutrition to children at risk. Additionally, HFF often supports relief efforts in response to natural disasters.

Source: marketwatch.com

Arrow ECS and IBM Sign Distribution Agreement in Poland

2008-09-04T12:04:00.000+02:00

Arrow Enterprise Computing Solutions, a business segment of Arrow Electronics, and IBM have signed a distribution agreement. Under the agreement, Arrow will become an authorized distributor of IBM hardware solutions in Poland.

The agreement includes the distribution rights for IBM Power System servers - including the full System i and System p lines; IBM System Storage products; and IBM Global Technology Services.

Arrow Enterprise Computing Solutions (ECS) offers IBM software solutions in Poland through Arrow ECS's Logix business. Arrow ECS also offers a portfolio of product lines that are complementary to IBM, such as VMware and Symantec, in Poland.

In addition to Poland, Arrow ECS distributes IBM products in Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Morocco, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, the UK and the US.

Andy Bryant, president of Arrow ECS, said: "Arrow ECS and IBM have a long history together in the channel, and this agreement is an extension of our relationship. Through this agreement and our recent acquisition of the LOGIX Group, Arrow ECS now offers the full suite of IBM solutions in Poland."
Source:redorbit.com

UPDATE 1-UniCredit agrees to buy Pekao stake from Poland

2008-09-03T10:38:00.000+02:00

WARSAW/MILAN, Sept 2 (Reuters) - Italian bank UniCredit SpA (CRDI.MI: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) agreed on Tuesday to buy a further stake in its Polish unit Pekao BAPE.WA from the state Treasury, Warsaw's ministry and Unicredit said on Tuesday.

The ministry's statement said Poland's Treasury will sell the stake of around 4 percent in Pekao at a 3 percent premium to the average market price of the shares over the past six months.

The deal gives Poland's Treasury a put option on the shares running from Sept. 2 to June 30 next year. UniCredit has a call option on the shares for a year from Dec. 23, 2008.

Pekao, Poland's largest bank by assets, beat market expectations with a 54 percent rise in second-quarter earnings.
Source: By Gabriela Baczynska, Ian Simpson, David Holmes
reuters.com

Jiangling Motors plans to set up auto plant in Poland

2008-09-03T10:35:00.000+02:00

Jiangling Motors Corp (JMC)<000550><200550>, one of the biggest commercial vehicle manufacturers in China, is planning to invest US$1.2 billion to build an auto manufacturing plant in Poland, as per industry sources.

The new plant is designed to produce 400,000 units of vehicles per year.

Representatives of the Chinese auto maker will negotiate with officials from the relevant government bodies in Poland on the cooperation program in mid September.

Industry insider indicated that it will become the first manufacturing plant established by a Chinese enterprise in Europe, if the deal is nailed down.

JMC said in a statement that its Landwind series, which has a fairly good performance-price ratio, has passed the relevant tests in the country.

The company sold 51,722 vehicles in the first half of this year, up 14% year-on-year, according to an earlier filing with the Shenzhen Stock Exchange. Its vehicle sales in June alone amounted to 9,936 units, representing an increase of 11% over a year ago.
Source:chinaknowledge.com

TSYS opens office in Poland

2008-09-03T10:32:00.000+02:00

Credit card processor TSYS said Monday it has opened an office in Poland as part of its expansion into eastern Europe.

TSYS, headquartered in Columbus, said the office in Warsaw, Poland, sets up its push into that nation, as well as the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary.

The company said it has been serving the Polish market since 1992.

"Complemented by our existing footprint with six clients in Poland, this decision is a long-term strategic commitment to the region," said Kelley Knutson, TSYS' group executive of global services.

The payment processor said Poland is a "key growth market" and has potential for growth because of the number of credit cards in circulation.

TSYS' global footprint includes more than 300 clients in 75 countries.
Source: By Tony Adams, ledger-enquirer.com

Poland's Largest Telecom Operator, Netia, Chooses Kabira(R) KPSA(TM) and Capgemini for the Delivery of New Provisioning Platform

2008-09-03T10:28:00.000+02:00

WARSAW, POLAND and SAN MATEO, CA, Sep 03, 2008 (MARKET WIRE via COMTEX) -- Kabira Technologies, Inc., a leader in extreme transaction processing software for global enterprises, and Capgemini Polska Sp z o.o., a member of the Capgemini Group, one of the world's foremost providers of consulting, technology and outsourcing services, announced the successful implementation of a new service provisioning system at Netia S.A., Poland's largest alternative provider of fixed-line and broadband telecommunications services. The new system was designed and implemented in only seven months, with ongoing maintenance services to be delivered by Capgemini Polska Sp z o.o.
In mid-2007, Netia announced its new operating strategy, focused on growth through dynamic expansion of its customer base, and by increasing customer value. Netia plans to build on new opportunities to access the fixed-line network of the incumbent operator (via bitstream access, local loop unbundling and wholesale line rental), and to capitalize on Netia's already strong position in the business market. In particular, Netia intends to become the market leader for broadband services in Poland, with the objective of acquiring one million broadband customers over the next three years. To help accomplish this, Netia selected the Kabira Provisioning and Service Activation(TM) (KPSA) platform to support the launch and activation of its new broadband services, ASDL access (including bitstream and LLU access), as well as VoIP, data and iDTV over ADSL. Netia also selected Capgemini Polska Sp z o.o. to manage the delivery, installation and implementation of this new service provisioning system and middleware platform.
"Netia is enjoying strong growth and therefore needed a flexible provisioning platform in order to adjust to challenging market conditions," said Jaroslaw Baczynski, chief information officer of Netia. "Replacing our in-house developed provisioning system with the Kabira Provisioning and Service Activation solution provides us with the ideal service fulfilment platform for managing both our existing and future requirements in a cost-efficient and 'future-proof manner.' KPSA gives us the ability to quickly provision and activate complex services, which is critical in today's intensely competitive Polish marketplace," Baczynski added. "Throughout this project, the Kabira and Capgemini teams have demonstrated a high level of professionalism. Capgemini Polska Sp z o.o. successfully managed the project's deliverables despite an aggressive timeline and wide scope. We are confident we have chosen the right partners to manage our growth effectively."
"We are pleased to have been appointed by Netia S.A. as their system integrator partner for delivering this mission critical project," said Wojciech Wojnar, TME director for Capgemini Polska Sp z o.o. "Capgemini has broad experience in the Telco sector and strong local competencies. I believe that this combination, together with our methodology of working with partners and clients, results in successful delivery." Wojnar continued, "This project is the first example of the working collaboration between Capgemini in Poland and Kabira Technologies to deliver solutions for the local telecommunications and financial sectors. Kabira has excellent reach in the telco industry, and the right strategy to address customer needs for high-volume, real-time transaction processing."
Philippe Lavigne, director of alliances for Kabira's EMEA region, said, "The flexibility, ease of use and reliability of KPSA will help enable Netia to efficiently deliver real-time convergent services at the lowest cost to its customers. With its advanced capabilities, KPSA will help Netia achieve its rapid growth and expansion plans." Lavigne continued, "When we introduced our Global Alliance Program last year, we stressed our commitment to working with partners that have the strong IT expertise and core competencies to bring our industry-specific transaction processing solutions to market. We are delighted to share this first joint customer win with Capgemini in Poland and we are looking forward to a fruitful collaboration."
This new service provisioning system gives Netia S.A. the ability to automate the provisioning and activation of their existing services, facilitate the implementation of new services and be able to handle high-volume provisioning transactions. It is also expected to enable Netia's service delivery infrastructure to achieve current and future targets for subscriber activity, ADSL/bitstream services roll-outs and delivery of convergent sets of innovative services. The project reflects Netia's commitment to providing its retail and wholesale customers with new, more desirable services and to lead convergent services advancements in the Polish marketplace.
Source:marketwatch.com

Tesco Hypermarkets, Poland

2008-09-02T16:37:00.000+02:00

Word reaches us that Atvertin Sp. z o.o. a Polish company, based in Poznan and owned by specialist investment company BBI Capital NFI has won a contract to implement perhaps the largest digital signage systems in Poland, namely 48 Tesco Hypermarkets.

No news yet on a digital signage software solution but we suspect that has already been chosen.
Source: By Adrian J Cotterill, dailydooh.com

Poland’s energy security not threatened, says Economy Minister

2008-09-02T16:33:00.000+02:00

According to Deputy-Prime Minister and Minister of Economy Waldemar Pawlak, Poles do not have to worry about their country’s energy security.

The vice-prime minister said that there is no threat of Russia stopping delivery of energy resources to Poland, as had been reported by the UK’s Daily Telegraph last week. The companies that deliver gas and oil, said Pawlak on Polish Radio today, will stick to their contracts because they do not want to lose credibility in the eyes of their trading partners.

Last week, the British press warned that Russia might try to exert political pressure on countries dependent on it for natural resources, a group which includes Poland.

Waldemar Pawlak stressed that Poland's situation regarding energy safety is good. According to him, the Naftoport in Gdansk, handling crude oil and crude oil products, enables the import of resources from sources other than Russia.

He also stressed that it is technically possible to import oil to Poland via the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline. In fact, this has already been tried: the oil was transported from Turkey through Italy's Trieste to oil refineries in the Czech Republic owned by Poland's PKN Orlen.

Pawlak said, however, that the pipeline is controlled by British Petroleum, which has a lot of business with Russia.

The vice-prime minister also stressed that domestic resources, which cover 60 percent of Poland's demand for energy, are key to the country's energy safety. He said that producing gas from coal mined in Poland will become increasingly appealing if security concerns continue.
Source:www.polskieradio.p

Poland should raise rates in September-c.banker

2008-09-02T16:30:00.000+02:00

WARSAW, Sept 2 (Reuters) - The Polish central bank should raise interest rates in September, policy maker Dariusz Filar was quoted as saying on Tuesday.
"In my opinion, the current data shows the need to raise interest rates as soon as it's possible, in September," Filar told daily Dziennik in an interview.
He also said a possible further hike would depend on the incoming data and inflation was likely to ease in September to 4.8 percent, and then in October, to 4.7 percent.
Annual inflation in July stood at 4.8 percent, up from 4.6 percent in June and much above the central bank's 2.5 percent target.
The finance ministry estimated August inflation at 5 percent and most analyst believe it would be the peak and consumer prices were likely to ease afterwards.
In response to accelerating inflation, soaring wages and the booming economy, the central bank's Monetary Policy Council has raise rates eight times from an all-time low of 4.0 percent in April 2007.
The key interest rate stands now at 6.0 percent.
Source:By Dagmara Leszkowicz,guardian.co.uk

Bottled water consumption growth in Poland falls short of expectations

2008-09-02T16:12:00.000+02:00

During the first seven months of 2008 and amounted to almost 1.2bn litres, according to research agency Nielsen. By way of comparison, the consumption of water has grown by 7% year on year for the corresponding period in 2007.
At the beginning of this year, Euromonitor International envisaged that the sale of water would increase by 10% versus 2007. At present, however, it appears that the realisation of this prognosis will be impossible. Cooler than average spring and summer seasons have prompted lower-than-expected consumption of bottled water. This can also be attributed to the lack of new products introduced this year such as the flavoured waters that have been popular over the last two years.
However, in terms of value, sales have grown by 7% to PLN 1.3bn (€388m) as a result of rises of 4-5% in water prices. The cost of water production has also risen on the back of higher transport and labour costs, according to Rzeczpospolita.
Water consumption in Poland is still much lower than in other European countries. The average Pole drinks 60 litres of bottled water per year whereas other European nations consume 90 litres annually per capita, on average.
Source:polishmarket.com

US dollar hits new multi-month high versus Polish zloty

2008-08-27T09:38:00.000+02:00

(RTTNews) - Extending yesterday's uptrend, the US currency advanced against the Polish zloty in New York morning trading on Tuesday. At about 8:30 am ET, the greenback climbed to a new multi-month high of 2.2835 versus the zloty, compared to yesterday's close of 2.2376. As of now, the air is trading at 2.2670.

Tuesday, the Central Statistical Office of Poland announced that the Poland's unemployment rate dropped to 9.4% in July from 9.6% recorded in prior month. A year ago, the rate was 12.1%. The jobless rate declined for the sixth month in a row, falling from 11.7% in January.

The Central Statistical Office also said that Polish retails sales rose 14.3% year-on-year in July, a notch higher than the 14.2% rise recorded in June. Economists had expected the growth to decline to 14% for July.

Source: By RTT Staff Writer

Fitch sees Poland 2008 growth easing to 5.2 pct-paper

2008-08-27T09:34:00.000+02:00

WARSAW, Aug 27 (Reuters) - Poland's economic growth is expected to slow to 5.2 percent this year and to 4.6 percent in 2009, due to a slowdown in Europe, Fitch Ratings Agency's analyst David Heslam was quoted as saying.
On other hand Poland's growth will be supported by strong domestic demand, low unemployment, and a healthy labour market, Heslam said.
"We have revised our forecast for Poland's growth to 5.2 percent in 2008 and 4.6 percent in 2009," Heslam told Rzeczpospolita daily.
Ex-communist central Europe's largest economy expanded by 6.6 percent in 2007 but market analysts expect the growth will slow to 5.3 percent in 2008. The finance ministry has forecast an expansion of 5.5 percent.

Source: By Patryk Wasilewski,Kim Coghill
guardian.co.uk

Actors paid to line up for iPhone launch in Poland

2008-08-22T13:21:00.000+02:00

When Apple Inc rolled out its iPhone in the United States, some fans paid big money to be among the first to get their hands on the device. In Poland, people are getting paid to line up.

"We have these fake queues at front of 20 stores around the country to drum up interest in the iPhone," a spokesman said.

As part of a marketing campaign ahead of the iPhone's Friday launch in Poland, the country's largest mobile operator Orange (FTE.PA: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) is paying dozens of actors to stand in queues.

Apple sold about one million of the new iPhone models in the United States around the July launch weekend, but buyers in Poland may be reluctant to pay hefty monthly charges.

There were no queues at T-Mobile's (DTEGn.DE: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) Era stores, which will also due to launch the iPhone on Friday.
Source:By Chris Boroski reuters.com

Poland may need a rate cut in Q1 2009 - c.banker

2008-08-20T10:27:00.000+02:00

WARSAW, Aug 20 (Reuters) - Poland may need interest rate cuts in the first quarter of 2009 should the economy slow to about 4 percent and inflation ease, Monetary Policy Council (MPC) Stanislaw Owsiak was quoted as saying on Wednesday.
"Should the pace of growth fall (to 4 percent) and inflation ease as outlined in the inflation projection then rate cuts would be possible," Owsiak told daily Gazeta Prawna.
"But this is a scenario that could materialise in the first quarter of 2009 at the earliest," he added.
Owsiak also said the Polish economy would probably slow but it should not be a "deep" slowdown.
"It (the slowdown) won't be deep but if the pace of growth falls to 4 percent then it will be a greater slowdown than most people expect," Owsiak said.
The central bank's June inflation projection showed Poland's inflation is set to stay above 3.5 percent till the end of 2009 and return below the central bank's upper fluctuation limit of 3.5 percent in 2010.
Source: By Kuba Jaworowski,Jacqueline Wong, guardian.co.uk

Golf on par with best investments in Poland

2008-08-12T11:29:00.000+02:00

Chairman the ITI media group, Jan Wejchert, is planning to invest 60 million euros in the thriving golfing industry, still perceived as elitist in Poland.

The construction of a new golf course, already in progress near the Polish capital, will cost Wejchert between ten to twelve million euros, the daily Rzeczpospolita has discovered.

The ITI Chairman will have to spend an additional 48 to 50 million euros on purchasing the necessary amount of land. The new golf course will be be among the best in Central and Eastern Europe, says the company.

The golf market has been on the increase in Poland, as the number of Polish golf amateurs, currently estimated at 6,000, grows by 20 per cent every year, according to the Polish Golf Association.

“There are currently about 40 golf courses in Poland, including several 18-holes ones. [...] Some of the golf courses in Poland are on par with the world’s best,” Waclaw Laszkiewicz, head of marketing at the Polish branch of PGA told the newspaper.

In September this year, Wejherowo, north Poland will be the venue of the European qualifications for the Golf World Championship with a prize pool of 5.5 million US dollars.
Source: polskieradio.pl

Poland targets young age bracket in tourism drive

2008-08-12T11:13:00.000+02:00

Golfing or kite surfing are two activities rarely mentioned in connection with Poland, but preconceptions about the east European nation are not keeping up with developments in its tourist industry. "There's a long list of attractions that are not associated with Poland," said Jan Wavrzyniak, director of the Polish tourist board, in Hamburg recently.

Kite surfing is one of those activities. "Wind conditions around the Baltic peninsula of Hel are the best in Europe."

Poland is now trying to raise awareness of what it has to offer visitors.

"Poland can be surprising," is the tourist board's new slogan to entice mainly young visitors.

At the moment, most tourists visiting Poland are in the 25 to 45-year-old age group and they have a range of wellness hotels, adventure activities and night clubs in the big cities to cater for their needs.

Poland already counts on a high number of visitors. "Poland had 15 million tourists last year," says Wavrzyniak. That number includes all visitors who spent at least one night in the country.

Poland is especially popular among German visitors as 5.3 million arrived. The country has been in the top ten list of destinations that Germans visited since 2006.

Last year, it was eighth on Germans' list of destinations for bus tours after Italy, Austria and that old favourite of Spain in fourth. Almost all of Poland's border controls with EU nations have fallen since the country joined the Schengen Agreement last year.

Wavrzyniak believes that the move considerably boosted the number of people visiting his country. Among the most popular destinations in Poland are the Masuria region in the northeast, the Baltic Coast and the Karkonosze Mountains on the Czech border.

Poland is also popular as a city-break destination with the old royal city of Krakow welcoming 6.8 million visitors last year making it one of the top urban destinations overall.

"Almost every American that comes to Europe, comes to Krakow," says Wavrzyniak.

Poland is also likely to get another boost through football, regardless of how the country performs at the European Championship, as it is co-hosting the 2012 event along with Ukraine.

Investment in tourist infrastructure such as hotels is taking place with international chains such as the Radisson and Hilton building new branches.

The country's second Sheraton Hotel is due to open in the Baltic seaside town of Sopot.

Poland is also hosting the UN's Climate Conference in September in Poznan which will be something of a test run for 2012 as about 10,000 visitors from 180 nations are expected to attend the event.
Source: earthtimes.org

Poland's Paralympic champ in Olympics

2008-08-12T11:09:00.000+02:00

BEIJING (Reuters) - Poland's Natalia Partyka is both a long shot and a clear favorite for a table tennis medal at the Beijing Games.

The Polish player, who was born with a right arm that ends at the elbow, is the reining Paralympic champion.

But before defending her Paralympic title, she will get a crack at the Olympics in team play -- one of only two athletes, along with South African swimmer Natalie du Toit, to compete in both in Beijing.

"All the time I play with able people, so I like more the Olympics, but I'm so happy I'm going to play in the Paralympics and I hope I can win," she said.

Partyka, 19, burst into the sport's top tier earlier this year when she defeated Singapore's Li Jia Wei, world number six, in a match at the world team championships.

"A lot of people were surprised but only at the beginning," she said. "I think now it's normal, all the players know me."

Partyka cradles the ball in the nook of her shortened right arm, tossing it up and turning sharply to serve, a technique that has carried her to a world ranking of 147th.

Coupled with excellent footwork, she said she feels no disadvantage against competitors.

"Maybe I'm not so good with body balance but I have strong legs, so really it's not so difficult," she said.

Partyka failed to qualify for singles play at the Olympics and was selected by the national coach for the team competition.

"It is my first but I hope not last (Olympics)," she said. "In London I would like to take part in singles."
Source:By Simon Rabinovitch, reuters.com

Bronislaw Geremek, who helped end Communist control of Poland, is dead at 76

2008-07-14T10:38:00.000+02:00

Bronislaw Geremek, a pivotal figure in the fight to end Communist rule in Poland and one of the leading statesmen of the democratic era that followed, died on Sunday. He was 76.

He was killed in a car accident, Reuters reported, quoting the police in western Poland. The Associated Press said that Geremek's wife died in 2004 and that he is survived by two sons.

In a lifetime of enormous achievement, Geremek's greatest contribution may have been as one of the leaders of the round-table negotiations that helped pave the way for elections in 1989 that eventually brought the Solidarity movement to power, initiating a peaceful end to Communist control of Poland.

This negotiated change of power provided a template for other countries in the Warsaw Pact and, in the years since, far beyond. Geremek's role in the talks made him one of the shepherds of what he himself called the "nonviolent passage from the totalitarian regime to democratic liberties." Geremek later served as Poland's foreign minister, from 1997 to 2000. At the time of his death he was a member of the European Parliament.

The very picture of the bearded, pipe-smoking academic, Geremek was a historian who specialized in medieval France.
His life, and the future of Poland, took a striking turn when he and Tadeusz Mazowiecki, a future prime minister, drove to Gdansk in August 1980 with a statement signed by 64 leading intellectuals in support of the striking workers at the famous Lenin Shipyard.

Lech Walesa, the leader of Solidarity, the independent trade union movement, asked them to stay and become advisers to the workers. The cooperation of intellectuals and workers was a key factor in making Solidarity such an unusually powerful force for change. Geremek was imprisoned for his efforts by the Communist government when martial law was imposed in December 1981.

The fall of the Berlin Wall provided such a potent, tangible symbol of the end of Communist hegemony in Eastern Europe that it has become easy to forget the leading role that the Solidarity movement in Poland played in breaking down the aura of invincibility of the authoritarian regimes of the Warsaw Pact. Solidarity ultimately paved the way for freedom and the integration into Western institutions of former Soviet satellites and even former Soviet republics.

In June 1989, after Solidarity's strong showing in the elections that grew out of the round-table talks, Geremek said: "The winds of history have normally blown against us Poles. Finally they are blowing in our direction."

When Solidarity entered Parliament the following month, Geremek was the movement's parliamentary leader. Known as a pragmatist, he was someone who searched out compromise in difficult times. There was much uncertainty in the early years, whether it involved fears over a unified Germany or the attempted coup in the Soviet Union.

Born Jewish in Warsaw, Geremek survived the Holocaust, escaping from the Warsaw ghetto when he was 11 and remaining in hiding until the end of the war. His father died at Auschwitz.

Geremek joined the Communist Polish United Workers Party, but he resigned in protest in 1968 after the invasion of Czechoslovakia.

In an interview with The New York Times in 1998, Geremek said he had not considered leaving Poland during an anti-Jewish campaign in 1968. "If I don't like the policy in my country," he said, "I have to change it."

Because of the political developments he helped to bring about, Geremek had the opportunity to take part in all-but-unimaginable changes for Poland, including negotiations to join the European Union when he was foreign minister. He served as head of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe in 1998 and signed the documents that formally marked Poland's accession to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

"Poland forever returns to where she has always belonged: the free world," Geremek said at the ceremony marking the country's entrance into NATO in Independence, Missouri, in March 1999.

Timothy Garton Ash, the author of "The Polish Revolution: Solidarity," met Geremek in 1980 at the birth of Solidarity and they became friends. "He was one of the most important political brains of the end of Communism in Europe altogether," Garton Ash said.

"He could be extremely statesmanlike and formal and awe-inspiring," Garton Ash recalled in a telephone interview on Sunday. "He could also be extremely funny and irreverent and tell some very good jokes."

Speaking with the columnist Anthony Lewis in 1988, Geremek said a book he had written on medieval France could not be published because Polish Communist authorities objected to but a single word in the whole work. Asked what the word was, he replied: "Geremek."
Source: By Nicholas Kulish, iht.com

UPDATE 1-Strong zloty may avert Polish rate hikes-minister

2008-07-14T10:27:00.000+02:00

WARSAW, July 11 (Reuters) - Poland's strengthening zloty could help prevent the central bank from further raising interest rates, the economy minister said on Friday.

'In my opinion the (bank's) Monetary Policy Council can hold off with further rate increases with the current zloty level,' said Waldemar Pawlak, who is also deputy prime minister.

'Rising prices are caused by foreign factors and not the Polish market,' he told reporters.

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Donald Tusk said the record high zloty was mainly positive for the Polish economy because it helped offset soaring global oil and food prices.

Pawlak, who leads the junior coalition partner Peasant Party, has said in the past he is worried about the vibrant Polish currency as it is hurting the bottom line of exporters.

The zloty rose to a new high of 3.2630 against the euro earlier this week, up 10 percent this year and more than 30 percent since Poland joined the European Union in 2004.

Source:By Adrian Krajewski, Chris Borowski, Victoria Main, forbes.com

Poland ready to provide majority of Euro 2012 venues

2008-07-07T10:34:00.000+02:00

Poland is prepared to provide six of the eight venues needed for Euro 2012 if co-host Ukraine is not ready in time, Polish sports officials told local media on Saturday.

Earlier this week UEFA president Michel Platini gave Ukraine three months to prove its preparations for hosting the event were on track.

"We are hoping Euro 2012 will be co-hosted by Poland and Ukraine as planned, but the risk factor must be assessed and a contingency reserve prepared," Polish Sports Minister Miroslaw Drzewiecki told news channel TVN24 on Saturday.

"Our reserve is the fact that we are building not four but six stadiums, so we can sleep peacefully no matter what happens."

Polish daily Gazeta Wyborcza said a contingency plan to hold the tournament at six Polish venues instead of the originally planned four was being considered by tournament organisers, citing unidentified UEFA sources.

Television reports also showed Polish Football Association president Michal Listkiewicz adding that alternative venues were being given consideration by what he termed "the UEFA family".

"This is a big group of UEFA activists, politicians and other VIPs for whom Euro is also a round of business meetings and banquets, and only Polish cities are capable of providing the necessary attractions," Listkiewicz said.

Earlier this year and again last week, both countries were warned they might lose the right to co-host the tournament because of delays in building and upgrading much-needed infrastructure including stadiums and transport networks.

Last Wednesday, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk gave the visiting Platini his personal assurances that his country would have everything ready on schedule by 2011.
Eight venues are due to stage the matches. Warsaw, Poznan, Wroclaw and Gdansk in Poland and Kiev, Donetsk, Lviv and Dnipropetrovsk in Ukraine.

The two reserve stadiums Poland's Drzewiecki referred to were in Chorzow and Krakow -- both in the south of the country.

Source:in.reuters.com

Poland plans contingency for 2012

2008-07-07T10:24:00.000+02:00

Poland say they will step in and provide six of the eight venues for Euro 2012 if co-hosts Ukraine are not ready to help stage the tournament.

Ukraine have been given until September by Uefa president Michel Platini to prove they are capable of co-hosting Europe's showpiece football event.

Uefa have told Ukraine to speed up work on building stadiums and improve roads and transport infrastructure.

But Poland say they have a plan in place, if Ukraine continue to struggle.

"We are hoping Euro 2012 will be co-hosted by Poland and Ukraine as planned, but the risk factor must be assessed and a contingency reserve prepared," Polish sports minister Miroslaw Drzewiecki told Polish news channel TVN24 on Saturday.

Our reserve is the fact that we are building not four but six stadiums

Polish sports minister - Miroslaw Drzewiecki
"Our reserve is the fact that we are building not four but six stadiums, so we can sleep peacefully no matter what happens."

Poland and Ukraine, who were awarded the competition in April last year, have admitted that preparations had fallen behind because of political instability in both countries.

Work has not started on the new stadium in the Polish capital Warsaw, while contractors have not yet been appointed for the major refurbishment of the Olympic Stadium in Kiev.

Eight venues are due to stage the matches - Warsaw, Poznan, Wroclaw and Gdansk in Poland and Kiev, Donetsk, Lviv and Dnipropetrovsk in Ukraine.

The two reserve stadiums in Poland are in Chorzow and Krakow, both in the south of the country.

Uefa will make its next announcement on the subject at a meeting on 23 September.
Source: news.bbc.co.uk

Poland's euro-scepticism threatens to throw a spanner in EU works

2008-07-07T10:09:00.000+02:00

Marta Kotlarz, an ambitious young law graduate who returned to Poland this year to launch her career after working in England, was enjoying the sunshine in the smart Baltic seaside town of Sopot among crowds of well-dressed holidaymakers.

The town's cafes and fashionable sushi restaurants were crowded with Poland's new middle class. With the economy growing at five or six per cent per cent annually they can afford to dine out in style.

The holiday crowd are the people who have done well out of membership of the EU and there is huge support for Europe at Sopot's tables.

Yet as they discussed their Euro-sceptic president's announcement this week that after the Lisbon Treaty's rejection by Irish voters there was 'no point' him signing it, there were also real doubts about Poland's future relationship with Europe.
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"We like the free market," Miss Kotlarz said as she sipped a cappuccino. "But we don't know where the EU is going and whether it will change into a super state."

President Kaczynski's announcement caused gossip in Sopot and uproar in Warsaw, where the pro-EU political establishment had hoped that under a new prime minister the doubts and arguments about Europe could now be forgotten.

For the past few years they have been embarrassed about Poland being portrayed as part of the difficult squad. The politicians openly questioned further integration and vocal minorities have taken every chance to denounce Europe. The establishment had hoped that all that was in the past.

But with one brief comment, President Kaczynski has reignited a debate among ordinary Poles who are grateful for the prosperity the EU has brought and feel glad to be part of the family of European nations again after decades cut off behind the Iron Curtain, but also feel uneasy about what the political experiment they have signed up for will ultimately do to their hard-fought and treasured independence.

Miss Kotlarz is typical of a generation that is hungry for a better life. She remembers the shortages and restrictions from her childhood in the workers' paradise, and she knows that joining the EU has brought Poles like her opportunities that her parents only dreamt of.

She worked in an aquarium in Cheshire to improve her English, and now looks forward to a bright future at home. Yet she feels unhappy with the way Poland's establishment sees Europe.

"The media view is that everybody is pro-EU and if you are not, you are stupid," she said. "I spoke to a friend of mine who is working in Ireland and she said it was exactly the same there. And yet the Irish rejected the treaty."

She believes that Poles would probably have voted for the treaty, just, if they were given the chance in a referendum. They certainly would vote to stay inside the EU. Since Poland joined in 2004 surveys have consistently found that 70 - 80 per cent of the nation supports membership although there is a vocal minority of opponents, including farmers, nationalists, and Roman Catholics who fear gay marriage and abortion on demand will be forced on them.

There is also President Kaczynski, whose twin brother was prime minister until last year. Together their Law and Justice party caused Brussels a series of headaches.

They argued that the Lisbon treaty would have eroded Poland's influence within the EU at the expense of larger powers and they were able to negotiate changes to the treaty.

Supporters of the new prime minister Donald Tusk had hoped that with the President's twin brother voted out of power last year the pair would no longer be able to cause them embarrassment by trying to put a brake on moves for further integration.

Instead Poland's pro-EU politicians now face months of fresh argument and debate about Poland's role in Europe.

Euro-sceptics are delighted.

"The Polish people like the EU but they don't want to be bullied from abroad because they have had a lot of that in the past," said MEP Maciej Giertych (CRRCT), a standard bearer for the Eurosceptic cause. "The Polish people didn't like the Lisbon Treaty. There is no appetite for a federal superstate here."

Like the voters in Ireland's referendum, ordinary Poles admitted to being rather puzzled by the details of the Lisbon Treaty, and also uneasy about what it will mean for them.

"I don't know what is in it," admitted one contract worker in the industrial city of Gdansk, near Sopot. "It's not something I would discuss over a glass of beer."

The business world, looking forward to a spectacular, Irish-style transformation of Poland's economy, are watching events keenly. David Thomas, chairman of the Polish British Chamber of Commerce, said that although the treaty was big news again in political circles at the moment his Polish friends are preoccupied with a lack of workers. Huge numbers have moved to the building sites and factories of the West.

Farmers have a similar problem – there are plans to import labourers from Ukraine this autumn to harvest Poland's crops – and although they are better off than they have ever been but still grumble constantly about EU regulations.

Poles from many walks of life complain that the EU's rules - how many fish they can catch or ships they can build - remind them of the old days of communism.

"For a few years after the fall of communism there was a wonderful lack of red tape," said one British expatriate who is based in Warsaw. "But a lot of it has come back with the EU."

There are enough interest groups with grievances to keep complaints about the changes Europe has brought to Polish society constantly before Polish eyes.

Fishermen are one group that have fought a long battle with the European Commission over a cod fishing ban, blockading ports and claiming the EU is forcing them out of business.

Another stick to beat the EU with is the emotional issue of Germans seeking property that they or their forebears lost when they were forced out in 1945. Court cases are pending before German courts seeking the return of property or compensation, and many Poles believe the EU will eventually force them to pay although they argue that Stalin was to blame.

But the EU's biggest headache in Poland will continue to be President Kaczynski, especially while he seeks a higher profile for himself and his Law and Justice party as a series of local elections lead up to parliamentary elections in 2010.

One Western diplomat in Warsaw said that judging from past form the President will in the end probably sign the treaty, which has already been ratified by the Polish Parliament. After all he helped to draw it up, and as the diplomat pointed out the President is a moderate and astute politician.

He is also famously stubborn, however, and nobody doubts that his Euroscepticism is genuinely felt and supported by many of the voters he will want to win over. It may yet be Warsaw, not Dublin, where the coup de grace is applied to the Lisbon Treaty.
Source: By By Nick Meo, telegraph.co.uk

Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska wins Eastbourne tournament

2008-06-23T09:34:00.000+02:00

Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland won her third title of the year Saturday, beating Nadia Petrova of Russia 6-4, 6-7 (11), 6-4 in the final of the Eastbourne International Women's Open.

Radwanska, seeded fourth, joined Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova as the tour's only three-time winners in 2008. She also won in Thailand and Turkey and has four career titles. Petrova has not won a title since the Paris indoor event in February 2007.

"For sure I had some chances in the second set and she made some good shots," Radwanska said.

The eighth-seeded Russian was treated before the match for strained right calf and during the final set for an ailing left hip. Radwanska struggled with cramps in the third set.

In a match where both players struggled to hold serve, Radwanska broke three straight times to go up 4-2 in the first set. She failed to serve out the set when leading 5-3, but broke back again with a forehand winner.

Petrova broke to lead 2-1 in the second before Radwanska made it 4-4. In the tiebreaker, Radwanska missed three match points before Petrova evened the match on her fourth set point.

In the third, Radwanska broke for a 5-4 lead when Petrova made a forehand error, and then closed the match on her fifth match point.

Petrova wasn't sure why she played poorly in the final set.

"It was a very strange game at 4-4 on my serve," Petrova said. "It was two easy mistakes and I have no idea where they came from. I don't remember getting nervous or thinking ahead of the game, but maybe just the fatigue kicked in."
Source: canadianpress.google.com

Poland's LOT sees losses, higher fares

2008-06-20T13:34:00.000+02:00

WARSAW, Poland -

Poland's national airline, LOT SA, said Thursday that its first-quarter losses more than doubled as a result of soaring fuel costs, and warned that it would probably have to raise ticket prices.

Konrad Tyrajski, a LOT board member responsible for finance, said the airline lost 101 million zlotys ($46 million) in the January-March period. That compared with losses of 44.6 million zlotys ($20 million) a year earlier.

A hike in ticket prices "is very likely" as a result, he said at a news conference in Warsaw.

He did not say by how much fares might rise, and neither he nor LOT president Dariusz Nowak said when they might go up.

Nowak said that the airline was also looking for other ways to control costs to limit the increases on ticket prices. But, he added, for now "cheap tickets are not the best thing for us."
he airline also presented planned changes at its low-cost subsidiary, Centralwings, which has suffered from financial troubles.

Nowak said Centralwings plans to expand its charter connections and put less emphasis on its budget flight operation.

He also said that Tomasz Szymczak - the president since 2006 of Warsaw Airport Services, which manages the capital's airport - would become Centralwings' new director.
Source:forbes.com

Poland's PGNiG buys 10 percent of chemicals group Tarnow in poorly-bid IPO

2008-06-20T13:31:00.000+02:00

WARSAW (Thomson Financial) - Polish blue-chip gas company PGNiG bought a more than 10 percent stake in state-owned chemicals maker Tarnow for around 78 million Polish zlotys in its initial public offering, PGNiG said in a statement on Wednesday.

PGNiG said in a statement it bought 4 million shares in Tarnow, helping keep most of the company in state hands after an IPO that was intended to sell off around 40 percent of the state-owned company to private investors.

Reuters also reported a source close to the transaction as saying that another state-controlled company, the country's largest chemicals producer Ciech, had also bought a five percent stake in the IPO.

Tarnow was seeking to raise at least 307.5 million zlotys from the sale of 16 million new shares in Tarnow, which would reduce the government's stake to 60 percent. But the company said today it sold 15.1 million shares at 19.50 zlotys each, which values the stake sold at 295 million zlotys.
Source: By Patrick Graham, forbes.com

Poland May output low but economy still healthy

2008-06-20T12:54:00.000+02:00

(Adds analysts, detail)
By Piotr Bujnicki and Urszula Kaczorowska
WARSAW, June 18 (Reuters) - Polish industrial output came in well below market expectations in May but most analysts said this was due to a statistical effect and central Europe's largest economy remained healthy for now.
The zloty and bonds hardly reacted to the statistical office's data showing output rose 2.3 percent year-on-year against 7.4 percent expected by analysts in a Reuters poll and 15.1 percent in April.
Analysts said the Monetary Policy Council (MPC) was still likely to raise interest rates at next week's meeting as a rise in producer prices by half a percentage point to 2.8 pointed to strong inflationary pressures in the economy.
"The output data is strongly affected by two long weekends in May ...So we don't think this will affect the way the MPC sees the economy," said Ryszard Petru, chief economist at BPH Bank in Warsaw.
The expected June rate hike would bring the main rate to 6 percent from the current 5.75 percent.
May consumer price inflation stood at 4.4 percent -- the highest level since December 2004 and almost two percentage points above the central bank's target of 2.5 percent.
The MPC has already raised rates seven times bringing the main rate to 5.75 percent, responding to a booming economy which grew by 6.1 percent in the first quarter. In 2008 the economy is expected to grow by 5.5 percent compared to 6.6 percent in 2007.
"We do not think today's data constitutes a collapse in economic activity in Poland, but rather expect a gradual slowdown in GDP growth in the coming quarters," Piotr Kalisz economist at Citibank Handlowy in Warsaw wrote in a note.
THE SCEPTICS
Some economists said the output data could be marking the beginning of a sharper-than-expected slowdown but more data was needed to confirm the trend.
"The economic slowdown is taking place and I think it will continue in the time to come," said Michal Dybula, economist at BNP Paribas in Warsaw. who expects the economy to slow to 3.9 percent in 2009.
Dybula said the slowdown would be revealed in export and output data in the coming months. "We will face a slowdown resulting from a cyclical downturn connected with the slowdown in the European Union as a whole," he added.
But so far exports are strong. In April they rose by more than 30 percent in year-on-year terms despite the strong zloty which has also strengthened by about 30 percent against the euro since Poland entered the European Union in 2004.
Economists who remain sceptical of Poland's growth prospects say that while the economy may be slowing some indicators, like wages, consumer and producer inflation, can still show a considerable rate of growth.
Wages, which are one of the main concerns of the MPC, grew by 10.5 percent in May raising fears of second round effects.
Source:(Writing by Kuba Jaworowski; Editing by Malcolm Whittaker)
guardian.co.uk

Poland's loss dented economy

2008-06-11T10:04:00.000+02:00

WARSAW (AFP) — National gloom over Poland's 2-0 thrashing by Germany in their Euro 2008 debut cost the Polish economy some 50 million zlotys (14.7 million euros, 23 million dollars), experts estimated on Tuesday.

"Poland's daily GDP is five billion zlotys. If you consider that the loss in productivity was 10 percent and that 10 percent of professionally active people are interested in football, you get that figure," Jeremi Mordasewicz, an expert from Poland's employers' federation, told the daily Rzeczpospolita.

Polish fans had their hopes for an historic win over eternal rivals Germany dashed in Sunday's match by the Mannschaft's Lukas Podolski, who ironically was born in Poland but emigrated with his family as a youngster.

Poland's attention has now shifted to their next opponents, co-hosts Austria, whom they meet in Vienna on Thursday.

Some 90 percent of Poland's 38 million people are Catholic, and some travelling fans have been seeking extra spiritual balm during the European championships.

But Father Zygmunt Waz, rector of the Polish-language church that has long served the migrant community in Vienna, has decided to try to remain as neutral as he can, notably because most Austrians are equally faithful Catholics.

Waz has planned a mass for the Polish team, but said he won't be praying for a win.

"We don't want to bring God into this. The Austrians pray too, and we don't want to put God in a difficult position," he told Poland's PAP news agency.
Sorurce:afp.google.com

UPDATE 1-Poland sells JPY 25 bln in bonds, may issue more

2008-06-11T10:01:00.000+02:00

WARSAW, June 10 (Reuters) - Poland sold 25 billion yen in 30-year yen-denominated bonds maturing in 2038 and does not rule out further foreign currency issues, the finance ministry said on Tuesday.

The bonds were priced at 65 basis points above the 30-year swap rate, corresponding to a yield of 3.3 percent.

"Given the current market conditions this is a very good price," said Piotr Marczak, head of the finance ministry's debt management department.

Other yen or euro-denominated issues are possible this year, Marczak said, but added that market conditions would determine whether the ministry pursued this option.

"A potential yen issue is possible after the summer, most likely in the fourth quarter," Marczak said.

Poland last went to the foreign markets in March, when it placed bonds worth 475 million Swiss francs.

The ministry has been struggling recently to sell its paper on the domestic market due to weak market conditions and has been forced to change its issue plans, limiting the supply of long-term bonds in favour of shorter T-bill notes. (Reporting by Patryk Wasilewski; Editing by Ron Askew)
Source:in.reuters.com

Poland gearing for the euro plans significant cut in state deficit in 2009

2008-06-11T09:38:00.000+02:00

The government plans to cut Poland's budget deficit drastically next year as the country prepares to adopt the euro currency, the finance minister said Tuesday.

Finance Minister Jacek Rostowski did not say exactly how the government would manage to shrink the deficit, saying only that it was possible thanks to budgetary reforms and despite plans to lower income taxes.

The government, which is still working on the draft 2009 budget, foresees a deficit of 18.2 billion zlotys (US$8.2 billion; €5.3 billion), down from this year's predicted deficit of 27 billion (US$12 billion; €8 billion), Rostowski said.

Also, in line with EU requirements, the government is planning to further limit budget deficit by 0.5 percent of GDP each year and go well below the required 3 percent of GDP in 2011, Rostowski said.

The preliminary budget provisions also plan for a total of 328.7 billion zlotys (US$149 billion;€96 billion) in government spending. This year the government budgeted 339 billion zlotys (US$154 billion;€100 billion) for spending.
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It will be the lowest deficit planned since 2000, Rostowski said. "This is proof how far we have advanced on reforming public finances."

Poland also plans to lower private income tax next year, which will decrease state revenues by some 7 billion zlotys (US$3 billion; €2 billion). The current 19, 30 and 40 percent tax levels will be scaled down to 18 and 30 percent levels. Rostowski did not have detailed figures on expected budget income from tax.

He also predicted 5 percent GDP growth in 2009, compared with expected 5.5 percent this year and inflation of 2.9 percent — within the euro zone regulations that set the ceiling at 3 percent.

A former communist nation, Poland joined the European Union in 2004 but has yet to set a date for adopting the EU common currency.
Source:iht.com

FACTBOX-Motor racing-Poland's Robert Kubica

2008-06-10T09:40:00.000+02:00

une 8 (Reuters) - Factbox on Poland's Robert Kubica, who took his and BMW Sauber's first Formula One victory in Canada on Sunday to take the lead in the drivers' championship:

Born: Dec 7, 1984 in Krakow (Poland)

* Signed by BMW Sauber as a reserve driver for 2006 after a test for then-champions Renault.

* Made his Formula One debut in Hungary in 2006 as a replacement for Canadian former world champion Jacques Villeneuve. Poland's first Formula One driver ended that season 16th with six points.

* Took first F1 podium finish with third place at the 2006 Italian Grand Prix at Monza.

* Lucky to survive unscathed after a huge crash in Canada last year that put him in hospital and forced him to miss the following U.S. Grand Prix.

* Secured BMW Sauber's first pole position at this year's Bahrain Grand Prix in April and grabbed his and their first win in Canada.

* Kubica has come up the hard way, struggling for funding and moving to Italy at the age of 13 after being driven around Europe by his father in pursuit of his karting career.

* A keen rally fan, the Pole has not ruled out one day switching to that form of motorsport. He has also singled out snooker player Ronnie O'Sullivan as a sporting hero
* Kubica's approach to Formula One is uncomplicated, the Pole declaring earlier this season that he is happy as long as he has food, a fast car and a roof over his head.

* The 1.85 metre tall Pole shed six kilos between the end of last season and the start of the 2008 campaign to put himself on more level terms with diminutive team mate Nick Heidfeld. "We have seen that...if I were lighter I would go a bit quicker," he said in April.

* Kubica said this week that he has benefited from new rules this season banning traction control and so-called driver aids. "As soon as we switched off all the systems which last year were helping drivers I found the car much better, much easier to drive," he said. (Compiled by Alan Baldwin, editing by Miles Evans)
Source:reuters.com

Plaza Centers buys site in Poland to develop shopping centre

2008-06-03T08:48:00.000+02:00

LONDON (Thomson Financial) - Plaza Centers N.V. said it has acquired a 17,000 square metre site in Leszno, Poland, for the development of a major new shopping and entertainment centre.

The emerging markets property developer said it expects the project to have a gross development budget of about 37 million euros and that it expects to start construction in the middle of 2009, with completion targeted for the end of 2010.

Plaza Centers said the shopping and entertainment centre will provide space for over 70 shops, with a total lettable area of 16,000 square metres.
Source:forbes.com

Poland wants to export more meat to Russia

2008-06-03T08:46:00.000+02:00

MOSCOW, June 2 (RIA Novosti) - Warsaw hopes Moscow will enlarge the number of accredited livestock produce suppliers to Russia, a Polish Embassy official said on Monday.

So far, only six Polish meat companies have been permitted to supply Russia with beef and pork, nine with poultry, 20 with dairy produce and one with egg products. Four companies have a license to store agricultural products prior to onward shipment to Russia.

An earlier Russian ban on Polish meat was previously a major source of tension between Moscow and Warsaw. In January 2008, the two countries signed a memorandum lifting the ban, imposed in 2005 over claims of low quality imports.

Jerzy Rutkowski, head of the Polish embassy's economic department, said since the memorandum was signed, Russian inspectors had carried out inspections of several Polish meat producers, but only five had received accreditation to export to Russia.

"There are many more meat processing enterprises in Poland that wish to export their produce to Russia and that meet Russian veterinary standards," he said.

"A little more than 4,000 tons of meat was delivered to Russia from Poland from the start of this year until the end of April. This is an insignificant amount," the embassy official said, adding that Poland would like the number of its meat exporters to Russia to increase several fold.

Poland had earlier vetoed the start of negotiations on a new EU partnership agreement with Moscow over Russia's meat embargo. Warsaw lifted its veto after the two countries resolved the dispute and took steps to improve relations.
Source: rian.ru

Poland wants to fully privatise all 4 power groups

2008-06-03T08:43:00.000+02:00

Poland wants to fully privatise all of its four state-owned power groups -- PGE, Enea, Energa and Tauron -- Treasury Minister Aleksander Grad said on Monday.

"We expect the four energy groups to be fully privatised," Grad told a business seminar. "We want to conduct the privatisation in such a way that would not change the state monopoly into a private one."

Earlier the ministry said it planned to float shares of the power groups, including Poland's largest electricity provider PGE, but wanted to retain a controlling stake in all of them.

Because of companies' nearly total reliance on domestic coal, as well as outdated distribution and production facilities, they will need to spend growing amounts of cash to buy carbon dioxide (CO2) permits to comply with the EU's plan to limit greenhouse gases emissions.

Government talks on allocating Poland's 2008-2012 annual quota of 208.5 million tonnes of CO2 between economy sectors have been delayed because the treasury and economy ministries differ from the environment ministry on the preferable split.

Originally, the environment ministry wanted the energy sector to be hardest hit by the country's emissions cuts, but other ministers warned it would cause another jump in electricity prices, already driving Poland's inflation.

"The Treasury thinks that the electro-energetic sector must have different (higher) CO2 limits, so the value of the power companies is not hurt days before the public offerings," Grad also said.

"But we are very close to reaching a deal on the carbon allocations with the environment ministry," he added.

Earlier in April, a deputy economy minister said that the energy sector's emissions will stand at 132 million tonnes, about 63 percent of the country's entire limit. (Reporting by Patryk Wasilewski, writing by Gabriela Baczynska)
Source:http://in.reuters.com/article/oilRpt/idINL0247976920080602

Poland new market for Bangladesh's knitwear

2008-06-03T08:40:00.000+02:00

Poland new market for Bangladesh's knitwear

Poland, a central European country, is becoming a major export destination for Bangladesh's knitwear products, according to industry insiders.

The demand for the local knitwear products in the Polish market increases because those are good in quality and cheap in prices. Besides, there is a new development that the Polish, who were accustomed to buying Bangladesh knitwear through German retailers, are now keen to import those directly, a major exporter told The Daily Star.

The Polish market is being dominated by Germany, a major buyer of Bangladesh knitwear products in European Union.

Data shows Bangladesh exported knitwear products worth US$21.06 million to Poland in 2007, while the earning was $18.39 million in 2006 and $7.13 million in 2005.

These knitwear products include T-shirts, sweater and lady's polo.

An official of the Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) however said the amount of knitwear product exports to Poland in the current year could not be ascertained as compilation now goes on.

Meanwhile, a 3-year record shows a decline in woven exports to the central European country. In 2007, woven products worth $2.6 million were exported, while the country fetched $6 million from exports to Poland in 2006 and $3 million in 2005.

According to industry people, the country's knitwear exports to Europe were $3.9 billion in 2007, which is 75 percent of the item's total export figure.

Considering Poland as a highly potential market, the trade body for the knitwear sector has already urged the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) to send soon a high profile business mission to that country.

BKMEA President Fazlul Hoque said, “Since the response from Polish side is good the government should take it into consideration as soon as possible.”

Hoque, however, said his organisation will consider sending such a team if the state-run export promotional agency does not respond positively in this regard.

Meanwhile, knitwear, the largest export earner followed by woven garments, earned $3.913 billion during July-March period of the current fiscal, marking a 17.34 percent growth over the same period of the previous fiscal.

During this time, woven garments earned $3.770 billion, a 7.54 percent growth over the same period of the previous fiscal.

Source: By Refayet Ullah Mirdha, thedailystar.net

Poland plans July IPOs of power group Enea, bank BGZ

2008-05-29T16:34:00.000+02:00

WARSAW, May 28 (Reuters) - Poland plans to list shares in power group Enea and bank BGZ in July as its ambitious privatisation plans pick up steam, a deputy treasury minister said on Wednesday.

The government plans to sell new Enea shares in Warsaw bourse's largest initial public offering so far this year worth 2.5-3.0 billion zlotys ($1.16-$1.39 billion), Deputy Treasury Minister Joanna Schmid said in a television interview.

Poland will also float its 37 percent stake in bank BGZ, estimated to be worth several million zlotys. The bank's largest shareholder is Dutch Rabobank [RABN.UL].

"In July we'll have the IPOs of Enea and BGZ and in October the Warsaw Bourse," Schmid said.

The current government, which took office in November, has vowed to jumpstart privatisation that stalled under its conservative predecessors. It wants to raise $14 billion from sales of state stakes in 740 companies over the next four years.

In the first privatisation IPO since the debut of press distributor Ruch RUCH.WA in December 2007, Poland will sell new shares in chemicals producer Tarnow worth some $140 million this month. [ID:nL2891495]

Enea is Poland's first of four state-owned power groups slated for an IPO through a sale of new shares. The treasury originally planned to also list the largest, PGE, this year, but Schimd said its offer would take place next year. (Reporting by Marynia Kruk, writing by Chris Borowski; editing by Rory Channing)
Source:reuters.com

Poland mulls giving PGNiG stake in chemicals groups

2008-05-28T13:18:00.000+02:00

Poland is considering raising its stake in gas distributor PGNiG PGNI.WA in exchange for stakes in state-controlled chemical companies Pulawy PULW.WA or Police PICE.WA, a deputy treasury minister said on Tuesday.

Poland currently has 85 percent of PGNiG but has said it will honour a previous government's commitment to give 13 percent to employees, which would take its stake below the 75 percent level necessary for certain strategic company decisions. "We are ready to raise PGNIG capital and rebuild our holding at the company above the 75 percent level," Deputy Treasury Minister Krzysztof Zuk said in a television interview.

"Higher synergies are visible in case of Police and Pulawy ... We are interested in extending the value chain and increasing margins."

The government controls 50.7 percent of Pulawy and 68.2 percent of Police, which are Poland's two largest fertiliser producers, both heavily dependent on natural gas delivered by PGNiG.

Zuk said the government was also considering other ways of increasing the state's stake in PGNiG, including swapping shares in another Polish power group.

By 0945 GMT, PGNiG shares had slipped 0.2 percent. They are down 17.7 percent this year, underperforming Warsaw's WIG20 index .WIG20, which has lost 15.6 percent. (Reporting by Patryk Wasilewski, editing by Will Waterman)
Source: reuters.com

Poland optimistic on meeting euro inflation criteria in 2009 UPDATE

2008-05-28T08:35:00.000+02:00

WARSAW (Thomson Financial) - Poland is increasingly optimistic it will meet inflation criteria for joining the euro in time to decide whether to opt in to the ERM-2 currency grid in 2009, its finance minister said on Monday.

Minister Jacek Rostowski has declined to rule out joining the pre-euro currency mechanism next year, saying that the country will need to be sure of meeting the criteria on price stability after a jump in recent months.

'I am more and more optimistic that we will meet the inflation criteria next year,' he told a business roundtable meeting organised by The Economist.

'We want to join ERM-2 when the economy will be extremely well-prepared to join the euro.'

Poland agreed to adopt the euro when it joined the European Union in 2004 and has free rein on when it enters ERM-2. It has to spend two years in the currency grid before applying to join the euro zone itself.

The current government, elected late last year, has stopped short of giving a timetable for adopting the single currency, saying only that it will focus on meeting the economic fitness tests required by the Maastricht treaty.

But analysts say that the centre-right cabinet may prove shy of applying to join ERM-2 soon due to the prospect of a general election in 2011 that would come just as its stay in the mechanism was reaching the two-year threshold.

The country of 38 million now fulfils criteria on debt and the budget deficit, and Central Bank Chief Economist Zbigniew Hockuba told Thomson Financial News last week it may well meet the conditions on inflation next year.

'I think that in the second half of this year inflation will start to fall and within a year or two we will meet the criterion, also in terms of sustainability of inflation,' he said.

Maastricht stipulates that applicants for the euro must have inflation which is no higher than 1.5 percentage points above the average of the three EU members with the lowest inflation rates.

With inflation rising steadily over the last year, to 4.1 percent in April, economists say price growth in Poland now hovers on the verge of meeting the criteria but that the relationship should worsen in the next few months.
Source:Piotr Skolimowski, Paweł Sobaczak
forbes.com

Flat Tax Progress in Hungary and Poland

2008-04-16T14:56:00.000+02:00

While most other East European nations have adopted pro-growth flat tax systems, Hungary and Poland are still burdened by class-warfare systems that penalize people for contributing more to economic performance. The Budapest Times, however, reports that Hungary’s small parties may combine to push through an 18 percent flat tax:

MDF leader Ibolya Dávid called for opposition parties to attend talks on 15 April to work out details of a bill to submit to parliament by May. The party wants to emulate regional peers such as Slovakia and Romania by introducing a flat 18% personal income tax to reduce a tax burden it called “unfairly high”. The Free Democrats (SZDSZ) and main opposition party Fidesz - along with its ally the Christian Democrats (KDNP) - have said in the past that they would favour a flat tax. …The MSZP has only 190 seats in the 386-seat parliament, meaning that the opposition parties could force through a flat tax bill by banding together. Hungary is ranked as having the second-highest tax burden for single people, behind Belgium, amongst the members of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Many feel the high burden - made worse in 2006 when the government hiked taxes as part of its economic reforms - damages Hungary’s regional competitiveness.

Meanwhile, the Polish government already has promised to implement a flat tax, but a key official has suggested that the new system may be implemented in 2009 rather than in 2010 or 2011 as originally planned. Because of its size and geography, Poland’s shift to a flat tax would be a momentous development and could sharply increase the pressure for pro-growth reforms in Old Europe:

According to Zbigniew Chlebowski, head of ruling Civic Platform’s (PO) parliamentary club, there is a possibility of introducing a flat tax rate as early as 2009. Chelbowski said that Prime Minister Tusk supports this option and is ready to fight President Kaczynski should he veto it. Chelbowski, however, did not give a concrete rate of the possible flat tax, but stressed that it shall surely be lower than 18 percent, because such a rate would be higher than the present tax rates. The final decision is to be made in July or August. The ruling Civic Platform had originally planned to introduce the new tax in 2010 or 2011.

Source:cato-at-liberty.org

Poland's PKO BP picks ex-central banker Pruski as new CEO

2008-04-16T14:54:00.000+02:00

WARSAW (Thomson Financial) - Poland's second-largest lender PKO BP SA named former central bank deputy governor Jerzy Pruski as the new chief executive, it said in a statement.

Pruski, aged 49, left the central bank earlier this year after a much publicised row with central bank's governor Slawomir Skrzypek. Before that, he sat on the bank's monetary policy council from 1998 to 2004 and was a deputy chief executive at small LG Petro Bank throughout the 1990s.
e will succeed Rafal Juszczak who, during his 10 month stint at PKO, transformed the sleepy state-owned lender into an aggressive player on the country's booming mortgage market.

While shares in PKO have lost more than eight percent over the last year, the bank has outperformed its peers thanks to rapidly improving results.

The key task facing Pruski will be to regain PKO's position as the largest bank in Poland after it dropped into second place following a merger of the local units of Italy's UniCredit S.P.A. last year.

He will also have to complete a long-delayed rollout of a single software system and shrink the bank's large workforce, a legacy of its past as leading communist era savings bank for ordinary Poles.

Pruski will take over running the bank on May 20
Source: By Piotr Skolimowski, hemscott.com

Indian IT R&D, service centre in Poland

2008-04-16T14:52:00.000+02:00

Indian integrated solutions provider Wipro Technologies will open a European research & development and service centre in Wroclaw, southwest Poland.

The company will employ over 200 Polish and international IT specialists who can speak English and German, Gazeta Wyborcza daily has found out unofficially.

‘Our IT specialists will try to find out how to manage people’s work in corporations more effectively using sophisticated applications,’ an anonymous negotiator has revealed.

The newspaper’s sources also reveal that the new investment to be conducted in co-operation with the Credit Suisse Group will be announced at a joint press conference by the Mayor of Wroclaw Rafal Dutkiewicz and Ambassador of India to Poland Chandra Mohan Bhandari.

When asked about the new IT centre, the Wroclaw Town Hall told journalists to ‘wait till Monday’. The Wipro Technologies HQ in Bangalore, India has also refused any comments.

When Wipro Technologies was established in 1945, it was predominantly a vegetable producer, but the owner of the company Azim Premji transformed it into a global supplied of IT solutions. In 2007, its revenues amounted to 5 billion US dollars.
Source: polskieradio.pl

Poland sells more than planned at bumper treasury bill tender

2008-04-16T14:49:00.000+02:00

WARSAW (Thomson Financial) - Poland sold a total of 4.71 billion zlotys of treasury bills at a tender today, more than the initially planned offer of 4.5 billion, as investors bid for a total of 8.8 billion of the papers, the finance ministry said in a statement.

The ministry said it sold 3.13 billion zlotys of 52-week bills at a minimum price of 9,390.87 zlotys, 1.0 billion of 26-week bills at a minimum price of 9,691.57, and 572.5 million of 13-week bills at a minimum price of 9,848.39.

The average yield at the tender ran from 6.061 percent for the 13-week papers, to 6.220 percent for the 26-week bills and 6.380 percent.
Source: by Paweł Sobczak, forbes.com

Business Poland: US Dollar Drops Again Against Polish Zloty

2008-04-16T12:40:00.000+02:00

Warsaw, Poland - 12 April, 2008 The US dollar continued its slide against the US dollar on Friday and is now quoted by the National Bank of Poland at 216.00 Zloty per 100 USD.

The continued weakening of the dollar against the zloty, combined with increasing energy prices, is having a negative effect on some Polish manufacturers that depend on the US market. The famous Polish glass industry, being energy dependent and high quality, is being hit particularly hard.

The exchange rates quoted by the National Bank of Poland for all currencies is updated on line each day and can be seen at NBP .
Source:masterpage.com.pl

Poland's Action has two main takeover targets with 1 bln zlotys of sales each

2008-04-09T09:10:00.000+02:00

Polish IT distributor Action SA is pursuing two primary takeover targets, one in Poland and one in the Czech Republic, each with annual revenues of around 1 billion zlotys, the group's chief executive was quoted as saying.

In an interview with daily Parkiet, CEO Piotr Bielinski said Action is also in talks with several other companies, including in Slovakia, with sales of around 500 million zlotys each.

'All companies we are interested in are computer equipment distributors,' Bielinski said. 'We are open for mergers as well as takeovers.'
Source: By Adrian Krajewski, forbes.com