Russia to cut gas supply to Poland by 5 percent

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-Polish c.bankers diverge on 2009 growth forecast

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 aims to sell Enea stake for $2.4 bln -report

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

World Bank to lend Poland 975 mln euros for reforms

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

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

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

Poland wins emissions deal

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

ARCADIS Wins Major Highway Project in Poland

ARCADIS , the international consulting and engineering company, today announced the award of a EUR 11 million contract to design a 65 km long section of the A-1 motorway in Poland. The contract was awarded to an ARCADIS-led consortium with partners Mosty Katowice, Transprojekt Warsaw and DHV Polska. Client is the General Directorate for National Roads and Motorways. The project is co-financed by the European Union.

The design work will take 18 months and includes the preparation of building and construction designs, environmental impact and permitting support and construction contract documents. The section will be part of the motorway Gdansk - Torun - Czestochowa - Katowice and further to the southern Polish/Czech border. It will be a dual carriageway motorway with two lanes in each direction, a median and emergency lanes. The width of the median will allow for the later addition of a third traffic lane in both directions.

Traveller comfort and safety and environmental protection are essential in the project. It will therefore include the design of architecturally appealing engineering structures and service areas for passenger and freight vehicles. Also, a drainage system and environmental protection features (sound barriers, retention ponds and separators) will be installed. The project will also include motorway maintenance areas for administrative personnel and facilities for the road service staff and materials.

Marek Adamek, CEO of ARCADIS in Poland about the project: "Completion of the A-1 motorway is part of a larger investment program for the improvement of road infrastructure in Poland, which is of strategic importance to the Polish economy and society. It will help accommodate the increasing traffic while assuring comfort and safety. Its construction will result in the creation of new jobs and provide new investment and trade opportunities. It will allow for a quicker integration of Poland with other European Union countries." As to why ARCADIS was granted the project Adamek said: "It is a combination of many years of experience in high quality road design, a strong market position and the professional reputation of our experts."

ARCADIS is an international company providing consultancy, engineering and management services in infrastructure, environment and facilities, to enhance mobility, sustainability and quality of life. ARCADIS develops, designs, implements, maintains and operates projects for companies and governments. With more than 12,000 employees and over $ 1.9 billion in gross revenue, the company has an extensive international network that is supported by strong local market positions.

Except for historical information contained herein, the statements in this release are forward-looking statements that are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause the company's actual results in future periods to differ materially from forecasted results. Those risks include, among others, risks associated with possible changes in environmental legislation and risks with regard to the Company's ability to acquire and execute projects. These and other risks are described in ARCADIS' filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission over the last 12 months, copies of which will be available from the SEC or may be obtained upon request from the Company.

Source: money.cnn.com