BizPoland Magazine, July/August 2016

July–August 2016

vol. 8 no. 3(52) Price: 20 zł

China’s Presidential visit to boost trade by billions

Innovation:

SSC/BPO News:

Energy:

Loving Vincent aims for $100 million

New players in SSC sector

18 Winners at CEE Clean Energy Awards

20 October 2016

FDI Poland Investor Awards

“Distinguishing top foreign investors in Poland – and top Polish companies expanding globally”

in association with

For this 4th year of the FDI Poland Investor Awards Gala, we are expanding the concept to recognise the rapidly-growing expansion of Polish firms on a global scale. In addition to our 10 categories for major foreign investors in Poland, we have 10 new categories for Polish companies/entrepreneurs who are successfully expanding internationally.

With more than 250 international guests - top executives in charge of investment decisions related to Poland, and top management and entrepreneurs from Poland’s leading international companies – the FDI Poland Investor Awards continues to strengthen its position as the main Awards event recognising cross-border deals involving Poland.

The awards gala is preceded by a half-day of discussion panels covering key success factors and practical experiences for Polish companies expanding abroad.

23 Awards Categories

Top Foreign Investors in Poland

Top North American Investor Top UK/Irish Investor Top French Investor Top Iberian Investor Top Benelux Investor Top Scandinavian Investor Top DACH Investor (Germany/Austria/Switzerland) Top Chinese Investor Top East Asia Investor (Japan, Korea) Top Indian Investor of the Year Top Rest of the World Investor in Poland

NEW Top Polish companies going Global Top Polish Investor in North America Top Polish Investor in UK/Ireland Top Polish Investor in France Top Polish Investor in Spain/Portugal Top Polish Investor in Benelux Top Polish Investor in Scandinavia Top Polish Investor in DACH Top Polish Investor in China (or Taiwan) Top Polish Investor in Japan or Korea Top Polish Investor in India Top Polish Investor in the Rest of the World

Overall Award: Top Cross-Border M&A deal of the year (exclusively for Polish company expanding abroad)

WWW.FDIPOLANDAWARDS.PL

20 October 2016

FDI Poland Investor Awards

“Distinguishing top foreign investors in Poland – and top Polish companies expanding globally”

FDI Poland Investor Awards 2015 Winners Top CEE (Central East Europe) Investor

Top Scandinavian Investor

Top DACH Investor (Germany, Austria, Switzerland)

Top Benelux Investor

Top French Investor

Top Iberian Investor

Top UK Investor

Top Indian Investor

Top Taiwanese Investor

Top Japanese Investor

Top Korean Investor

Top Chinese Investor

Top Canadian Investor of the Year

Top U.S. Investor of the Year

Top Special Economic Zone

Top Polish FDI Investor

In Association with: Supporting Partner:

Supporting Partner:

Auditor:

FineWines by:

Organizer

Organizer

WWW.FDIPOLANDAWARDS.PL

Cover Story

(6) Chinese delegation brings billion-dollar boost to trade (8) Belt and Road Initiative to drive billions into infrastructure

July–August 2016

Innovation

vol. 8 no. 3(52)

Published by: BizPoland Media Group sp.z o.o. ul. Długa 44/50, bud. D, lok 704, 00-241 Warszawa tel.: 022 831 7062 General Manager and Editor: Thom Barnhardt (tb@biznespolska.pl) Editorial staff, contributors and columnists: Preston Smith, Steven Foster, Marek Matraszek, Christian Schnell, multiple Chambers of Commerce, more than 10 Polish cities and Special Economic Zones, PAIZ Maria Ponomareva (maria@biznespolska.pl) Armine Starowicz (armine@biznespolska.pl) Advertising Sales: Magdalena Jakubowska (mjakubowska@biznespolska.pl) Graphic Design: Sławek Parfianowicz (sparfianowicz.wordpress.com) Distribution of BizPoland Magazine: Direct, controlled distribution via post to international investors in Poland - members of major foreign Chambers of Commerce: United States (AmCham) • Canada (PCCC) • Ireland (IPCC) • Netherlands • Scandinavia (SPCC) • United Kingdom (BPCC) • France • Spain • Portugal • Switzerland

(9) Loving Vincent aims to break the $100 million box-office barrier (11) Loving Vincent – The Creative Side of the Story

SSC/BPO Newss

(14) DNV GL to hire 200 for SSC in Gdynia (15) 3M opens SSC in Wrocław (16) ABB to hire another 1,000 in Kraków (17) PhlexGlobal launches in Lublin (18) Over 193,000 employees in Business Services sector; Eltel will create 80 jobs; Ryanair opens IT Centre in Wrocław

Cargo Transport

(19) Katowice Airport opens huge Cargo terminal

NATO Summit

(20) NATO Summit 2016: What will be on the agenda in Warsaw? (24) Massive military exercise reveals flaws in NATO defence

Advisory

(25) Government’s Revised RES act and Poland’s 2020 Target (26) CSRevolution – Big Polish Businesses Need to Step Up (27) The Brexit is one thing, but another schism is on the rise

FDI – Incoming

(30) Air Canada Rouge launches new flights to Warsaw (32) Canadian company Cyclone opens first factory in Poland (33) Akiem in $107 million deal with Bombardier for 52 locomotives (34) 3D printer Verashape in EuroPark Mielec; Mondelēz in Bielany Wrocławskie (35) Japanese Ajinomoto in 7 million euro instant noodle expansion

FDI – Outgoing

(36) Polish business in Algeria (38) Polish companies Go India (39) Arrinera Hussarya GT supercar debuts in UK (40) Vietnam, Poland expand cooperation (41) Iran boasts “golden investment opportunities” for Poland (42) Solar-powered Solliner yacht seeks global buyers (43) Brainly Acquires OpenStudy

Energy

(44) Winners announced at 3rd annual CEE CLEAN Energy Awards (46) Poland receives first commercial LNG Cargo (47) Ceremony to mark commencement of CHP plant (48) Polish private coal miner sees no miracles as output to dwindle

Events

Subscribe to BizPoland Magazine Annual subscribers to BizPoland Magazine (500 PLN) receive our monthly magazine, as well as all our business supplements for free: CEE Shared Services & Outsourcing, CEE Clean Energy Directory,

Details at subs@bizpoland.pl or call +48-22-831-7062

(50) ABSL forecasts 300,000 employees by 2020

Cover Story

Chinese delegation brings billion-dollar boost to trade Xi Jinping said he sees an important role for Poland as his country looks to increase commercial ties with Europe.

The large Chinese delegation that visited Poland in late June, led by Chinese President Xi Jinping, is a watershed event in economic relations between China and Poland.

The result will likely be accelerated investment from China into major investment and infrastructure projects in Poland.

Xi spoke during a visit to Warsaw in late-June that was intended to boost Chinese investment in infrastructure and energy and open the Chinese market to Polish food producers.

Poland has been China’s largest partner in central and eastern Europe, with trade worth tens of billions of euro. But Poland is chiefly an importer and is hoping to boost its economy by increasing exports, mainly of farm products and especially beef and apples, banned by major importer Russia.

“I am convinced that Poland can continue to have a very important role in building ties between China and Europe,” Xi told a news conference. “There is a very high convergence between China’s initiative to develop European ties and Poland’s development plans.”

Xi noted that China’s new approach to its own economic development is based on new technolo-

memoranda of understanding were signed, mostly related to construction, raw materials, energy, new technologies, finance and science.

“I hope that for China, Poland will become a gateway to Europe,” Duda said, not-

Jacek Bartosik, an expert with the Jagiellonian Club’s Analysis Center, said it’s important for Poland to establish strong links with fast-growing economies outside of Europe. “The center of gravity of the world economy

ing that Poland’s biggest port in Gdansk has potential to handle large volumes of trade.

Duda’s adviser, Krzysztof Szczerski, said that Poland

is no longer in Europe, but on the Pacific coast,” he said.

“There is a very high convergence between China’s initiative to develop European ties and Poland’s development plans.”

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gies and environmental projects.

He and Polish President Andrzej Duda signed an agreement to step up bilateral ties. Some 40 deals and

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wants to have a role in upgrading and creating new land and sea transport links between China and the European Union.

China’s Xi weaves Poland into ‘new silk road’ plan Xi and Duda also greeted a China Railway Express cargo train in Warsaw, in a symbolic opening of a land connection between China and Europe. The cargo train began its journey 13 days earlier in Chengdu, capital of central Sichuan province.

Experts say Warsaw wants to use the rail link with China - launched in 2013 - to correct a chronic bilateral trade imbalance

July–August 2016

Cover Story

by exporting more farm products like milk, meat and apples.

The rail link -- one of the world’s longest -- is part of China’s “new silk road” for trade with Europe and is touted as a revival of the ancient Silk Road trade route. Around 20 freight trains run between China and Poland each week carrying electronics, food stuffs, alcohol and car parts, according to Poland’s PKP state railways. The journey takes 11-14 days, a fraction of the 40-50 day transit by sea.

Xi and Duda also bit into rosy Polish apples as they greeted the train. One of the EU’s leading apple producers, Poland has been hit hard by a Russian import ban on the fruit. Thanks to deals sealed during Xi’s visit, Poland can now start exporting apples to China.

Xi and his wife also visited Serbia and Uzbekistan on this overseas trip. The last visit to Poland by a Chinese president was in 2004, by Hu Jintao.

World’s “largest” investment fund eyes massive investments in Poland China’s head of state also urged Poland to “fully take advantage of its position as a founding member of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank” (AIIB) to do

2016 July–August

business. Launched by China in January 2016, the AIIB includes several European countries among its members, but the United States and Japan declined to join. Some view it as a rival to the World Bank.

Calling the AIIB the “world’s largest investment fund”, Polish Deputy Prime Minister

Poland’s Deputy Development Minister Radoslaw Domagalski said Warsaw was prepared to set up special investment zones “as gateways for Chinese capital into Poland.” Chinese activity in central and eastern Europe is rooted in the “16+1 Forum” for cooperation between 16 ex-

“The center of gravity of the world economy is no longer in Europe, but on the Pacific coast,” Mateusz Morawiecki told reporters that Warsaw was discussing “massive investments” with Beijing. “It is certainly still too early to say we’ve reached some kind of conclusion,” he said, revealing only that “multibillion sums” were involved.

Warsaw’s drive for closer ties with Beijing is rooted in its “need for capital and export markets beyond Europe, because of the upcoming decrease in EU funds and saturation of the European market,” said Justyna Szczudlik, an analyst with the Warsaw-based Polish Institute of International Affairs.

communist eastern European states and China, launched in 2012 in Warsaw. At the time, Beijing vowed to commit a total of $10.5 billion in credit lines and funds to boost economic ties with the region, but analysts say the capital injections have been slow to materialise.

According to Poland’s PAIZ foreign investment agency chief Bartlomiej Pawlak there are currently around 900 companies with Chinese capital registered in Poland, but he admits that so far, there has been a “lack of spectacular Chinese investment”. n

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Cover Story

Belt and Road Initiative to drive billions into infrastructure Under the framework of "Belt and Road Initiative" and "16+1 Cooperation", China-Poland economic and trade cooperation has seen continuous improvement and enterprises of both countries have vigorously taken part in investment cooperation.

The Polish government expects Chinese enterprises and capital to invest in Gdansk Port, Lodz Logistics Distribution Center, Warsaw's Second Airport, Wisla, Oder River renovation, Melania Provincial Technology & Logistics Park and Industrial Park, Baltic Sea Railway and nuclear power station construction, among the priorities.

With bilateral trade reaching 17.1 billion U.S. dollars in 2015, Poland has been China's largest trading partner in CEE, while China has been Poland's largest trading partner in Asia. Mutual investments by both countries also reflect the improving trend.

In 2015, China invested USD 800 million in Poland, while Poland invested USD 200 million in China.

As of March 2016, Poland has 303 investment projects in China with a total amount of 210 million U.S. dollars. China has directly invested 354 million USD cumulatively in Poland's biomedicine, new energy,

machinery and electronic manufacturing, business and trade services and real estate, etc. Chinese contractors in Poland have fulfilled turnover of 480 million USD. Investment between China and Poland has witnessed a rapid rise.

From 2003 to 2015, cumulative investment of Poland in China has increased by 300 percent, while that of China in Poland has increased by 700 percent. By the end of 2015, the stock of investment by China in Poland only accounted for 0.2 percent of total foreign investment of Poland. Witold Waszczykowski, Foreign Minister of Poland said that "almost all fields in Poland are open to Chinese enterprises and establishment joint venture enterprises would be an ideal path to realize cooperation."

Select Chinese investments in Poland are noteworthy. By the end of April 2016, China-CEE Investment Cooperation Fund, founded in 2013, has invested roughly 317 million USD, 70 percent of which has been invested in Poland's new energy, telecommunications and bio-pharmaceutical fields. The four wind power plants invested by China have reduced carbon emission of 1.66 million

tons. In addition to the rapid growth of Huawei and LiuGong Group, Hubei Sanhuan Xiangzhou completed acquisition and merger in August 2013 of KFLT, the largest bearing enterprise in Poland, which is the first successful overseas M&A by China's automotive bearing enterprise.

Wroclaw Flood Control Project, undertaken by Sinohydro Group Ltd. with the total value of 88.63 million USD, is about to be completed. As the first contracted public project successfully undertaken in Poland by a Chinese enterprise, this project not only provides safe and reliable flood-control facilities but also plays a significant role in improving navigation capacity, protecting environment and developing tourism and has received praise and recognition from both local government and the public.

Poland takes the construction of "Belt and Road Initiative" and "16+1 Cooperation" as an important opportunity to deepen all-round cooperation with China and anticipates Chinese enterprises to increase investment in industrial parks, ports and inland water transportation, aviation and airport, high-speed railway and also clean energy. n

Chinese investment brings to life Polish factory

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Once facing hardship, Fabryka Lozysk Tocznych-Krasnik S.A. (FLT-Krasnik S.A.), a Polish bearing factory, now ranks fourth in eastern Poland’s Lublin Province in terms of factory scale, thanks to the rapid development of ChinaPoland economic and trade cooperation in recent years. According to statistics, bilateral trade volume has increased by 30 percent in the last five years. During the same period, Chinese enterprises have invested over $1.3 billion in Poland, creating 14,000 jobs in the country.

After purchasing 89 percent of the bearing factory from the Polish Industrial Development Agency in

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2013, China’s Tri-Ring Group upgraded the factory’s equipment. As a result, it witnessed an over 20 percent growth in sales revenue, and more than 30 percent increase in profit in 2015.

According to plans, the factory, with over 2,200 employees, will exceed 500 million Zolty (€120 million) in annual sales in the next five years, said Zhao Weiren, general manager of the TriRing Group Polish branch, adding that they hope that FLT-Krasnik S.A. will be listed among the top 10 firms in the global bearing industry.

Before the Chinese firm acquired the Polish company, FLT-Krasnik S.A.,

founded in 1938, was on the edge of bankruptcy due to the financial crisis.

“After the buyout, FLT-Krasnik S.A. benefited from the timely capital injection. Our employees were often sent to China for latest technology and information, elevating the factory to the top level in the industry,” said Grzegorz Jasinski, Chairman of FLTKrasnik S.A. Wojciech Wilk, Governor of Lublin said that the Polish side was concerned about the acquisition at first. But the Polish government is no longer worried about possible downside from the deal, the governor added.. n

July–August 2016

Innovation

Loving Vincent aims to break the $100 million box-office barrier It all started with a girl in a London bar. That’s when American Sean

But it all really started back in 1992, when Bobbitt, fresh out of the University of Virginia landed in a small village in southeast Poland to teach English as part

feat rarely achieved by expats in Poland.

After his stint with the Peace Corps he ended up in Warsaw, briefly working as a journalist

modern multiplex movie theatre in Poland – Silver Screen. Bobbitt was soon hired to help out at the company, and after the downturn of 2001, which decimated many business models, Sean became “prezes” of Silver Screen, which had been bought by New Yorkbased private equity fund Apollo.

Apollo went on to build several Silver Screens in Poland, led by Bobbitt, who honed his financial and operational skills with the backing of Apollo. At a screening at Silver Screen, he met Welchman, which a decade later would prove to a fateful meeting. In 2008, Multikino bought

of the Peace Corps. As the only foreigner in the town, he went on to master the Polish language – a

at the Warsaw Business Journal, where one of his stories was to interview two other American expatriates who launched the first

out Apollo and the Silver Screen muliplexes, yielding a not-insignficant capital gain to Bobbitt, who left the operation in 2009.

Bobbitt bumped into, by chance, a Polish director who was working on an animated film that would go on to win an Oscar. Fast-forward seven plus years and this team, led by cutting-edge director Hugh Welchman, is on the cusp of producing a megahit - with a twist - that aims to break the $100 million global box-office earnings.

2016 July–August

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Innovation

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A couple of years later (June 2012), Bobbitt started with BreakThru Films, and as CEO, has been the driving force behind the operational and financial backbone of the production of Loving Vincent.

And while the creative innovation of the film has been applauded (and more on that in the side-story below), another innovation is the business model behind the film. Like many other successful businesses in Poland (manufacturing, outsourcing), the producers of Loving Vincent have based their costs in CEE, with their main clients based in western Europe and US. With a budget of 22 million pln, a pittance next to computeranimated films (Disney’s Frozen had a buget of $200 million), the producers and investors in Loving Vincent believe the animated film (in fact, it defies definition, and is in a category of its own – let’s call it animated painting) will have global appeal. While the early days of raising financing to fund the monthly costs were at

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times bleak, Bobbitt has successfully tapped multiple sources of financing to fund the film. After raising about 58000 GBP via a Kickstarter campaign, subsequent financing came from the Pomeranian Development Agency, then later a Wroclaw and Lower Silesia film fund (350,000pln; one reason that some of the work is being done from Wroclaw), and still later a bigger grant of 1 million pln (combined with a 1 million pln loan) from the Polish Film Institute. Sponsors such as Unibail-Rodamco are backing the film. And as the project built momentum and proved that it was likely to be completed, more investors have come on board, including RBF Production, a top exec from Oracle, and the most recent round from SilverReel, one of the world’s leading film finance firms.

The money’s been needed to grow the team of artists – originally just 45, now 85 painters, mostly based in Gdansk but also in Wroclaw and Greece. The artists have come from all corners of the globe including Ukraine,

Japan, Canada, Italy, Ireland and of course Poland. They are painting – at a snail’s pace – more than 52,400 frames that are then photographed individually.

A major task of any film producer is selling the distribution rights. As of June, Bobbitt said they have near-global distribution planned, with deals already done covering Scandinavia, Latin America, China, Japan, Hong Kong, Italy and Portugal. The film’s debut in France has been set for 14th December 2016.

Major markets that are currently being negotiated include the United States, England, Netherlands and Australia.

Social media response suggests BreakThru Films indeed has a break-thru film at hand.

Earlier this year, when an unofficial trailer was leaked on Facebook, it was shared by two million people in 24 hours. Within a few weeks, the trailer had been watched 150 million times.

Expect a flurry of distribution deals to be signed in late 2016, with debuts globally in 2017. n

July–August 2016

Innovation

Loving Vincent – The Creative Side of the Story (excerpted from The Telegraph)

In a science park outside Gdansk, the Oscar-winning British animator Hugh Welchman is working on a film unlike any that has been seen before. All 52,400 frames in Loving Vincent, an animated feature about Vincent Van Gogh’s mysterious suicide, will be hand-painted in oils by a professional artists in the Dutchman’s distinctive style.

Welchman – who won his Oscar in 2008 for the short Peter and the Wolf – says he knew from the outset that his vision for Loving Vincent was “completely insane”.

But six years on, it looks like he and his team of animators might actually pull it off.

On the day that I visit, Welchman’s studio is home to an army of neo-Van Goghs, working flat out to finish the film in time for an anticipated Christmas release. It’s not the

hi-tech, computer-centric animation factory you might expect.

Instead I find myself walking, stunned, along monastic rows of oil and linseed-infused cells, each one a little artist’s atelier in which exquisite labours of love are being committed to canvas.

Inside one, I find Polish artist Bartosz Armusieicz working on a copy of Starry Night, one of the most immediately recognisable of the 130 Van Gogh paintings that will feature in the film.

The opening scene, Armusieicz explains, will swoop down from the heavens, past the moon

2016 July–August

and stars, through the swirling blue and violet clouds of Starry Night, and eventually home in on a house in Arles, where a fight is taking place. By the time it is completed, the creation of this single sequence will have taken him and two other artists a year and a half to create.

Owing to the complex pattern of brushstrokes that make up Van Gogh’s sky, Armusieicz explains, he cannot simply adapt an existing painting in order to create the film’s next frame. To maintain the clarity of the lines, and for them to move in a believable way,

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Innovation

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each frame has to be created from scratch. Overall, the film will use more than 3,000 litres of oil paint.

Proudly, Armusieicz shows his past four months’ work - about eight seconds of footage.

The film’s production process, pioneered by the 46-year-old Welchman, is many-layered.

The first step was to shoot in Britain against a green-screen background with a cast of actors chosen because of their resemblance to real-life figures that Van Gogh painted. The footage is then projected frame-by-frame onto an artist’s board, painted over in the style of Van Gogh and then photographed before the board is scraped clean for the next frame.

It was Welchman’s wife, the Polish animator Dorota Kobiela, who first came up with the idea for the film. Kobiela had been interested in Van Gogh since her college days studying painting in Warsaw, and was particularly curious about the many conflicting accounts of the Dutchman’s last days. On July 29 1890, two

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days after shooting himself in the abdomen in the fields of Auverssur-Oise, a suburb of Paris, Van Gogh died from his injuries.

Why did this ambitious young artist kill himself just as he was creating some of his finest work?

What was the state of his mental health, and what was going on in his private life? “No one knows exactly why Van Gogh killed

himself,” Welchman, says. “And if anyone tells you they do, then they’re being a one-eyed kid.

He didn’t leave a suicide note; he didn’t write a letter; there’s no first-hand evidence given by Doctor Gachet [his physician].

Vincent and his brother Theo spent several hours together before he died, and Vincent was fully lucid. But Theo never relayed

July–August 2016

Innovation in writing anything about the conversations that they had.”

Kobiela first told Welchman about her ambition to paint a short animation about Van Gogh’s last days in 2008, the year that they met. “I fell in love with Dorota, then I fell in love with her project,” he says.

So together they began to read every biography they could find of an artist Welchman describes as “a rock star, the Kurt Cobain of the 19th century”.

“We had to have a good story,” he adds. “If the story is no good,

2016 July–August

no matter how beautiful it is, people are going to resent sitting there for 90 minutes.”

They came up with a noirish detective story (featuring real people Van Gogh knew), set a year after the artist’s death. The film takes in the various conflicting accounts given by residents of Auvers. It also explores the notimpossible theory that Van Gogh was murdered by René Secrétan, a local 16 year-old who enjoyed ridiculing the quiet, anti-social artist, and went as far as admitting to having given him the gun.

Welchman admits that finding artists with the necessary skills to pull off this feat of storytelling wasn’t easy. 4,000 Polish painters applied for the job, but only a small fraction made the cut. The members of the current, 91-strong team come from all over the world and are spread out across three animation studios in Athens, Wroclaw and Gdansk.

Surely, I suggest, no one will notice if they end up generating one or two frames on a computer? “Of course they will,” says Welchman, smiling. “Painters are individuals. Even the mistakes are not mistakes. They’re variants in interpretations.”

Experts from the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam have given the Loving Vincent team detailed insights into the artist’s techniques – but being an exceptional artist isn’t enough when it comes to making an animated film. “The painters also have to learn to act,” says Welchman. “None of the painters in the team has any animation experience. They have to realise it’s not a pretty painting, it’s a performance.” He tells me that one of the team’s most talented painters had to leave the project because “he was only painting individual paintings”.

In 2012, Welchman and Kobiela spent a year working out their initial vision with four painters, then took some sample footage to Ivan Mactaggart and David Parfitt at Trademark Films, the production company behind such successes as Shakespeare in Love and My Week with Marilyn.

“I told them we don’t do animation,” says Mactaggart. “They said, ‘Have a look at this trailer.’

After which I said, ‘All right, now we do animation. Where do we sign?’ “ Trademark helped Welchman develop the script and find a star cast, andMactaggart believes that the project has been helped at every step of the way by the quality of the painted footage.

“Saoirse Ronan said she’d never seen anything like it. Jerome Flynn agreed to come on board when I told him we’re going to make his character look like a painting that sold for $83 million.” n

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SSC/BPO News

DNV GL to hire 200 for SSC in Gdynia Strengthening its presence in Poland, the classification, certification and technical advisory company DNV GL is building up a centre in Gdynia for global support services within finance, operational accounting, HR, procurement and real estate management. Competent employees at all levels, from fresh graduates, seasoned professionals to senior managers will be hired to build up the centre.

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DNV GL is a global knowledgebased company with about 15,000 employees in 100 countries, with leading expert positions in maritime, oil and gas, renewable energy and power grid sectors. Its corporate headquarter is in Oslo, Norway, and has currently around 400 Polish employees.

“DNV GL has had a strong presence in Gdynia since 1972, mainly supporting the maritime industry. Since then we have added software and IT services which today successfully support our international organisation.

Joining forces with our existing Global Shared Services IT unit in Gdynia, we will now build our first centre of this type here with finance, operational accounting, HR, procurement and real estate management services. Drawing on good universities in the region, I know Gdynia is a location where we can recruit skilled employees. By the end of next year we expect to be 150-200 people,” says Thormod Fjell, who leads DNV GL’s Global Shared Services unit.

“The company is an outstanding employer and due to the complexity of high-end processes supported gives our city’s economy great value added. We are confident that the new global centre shall prove another success story”- comments Katarzyna Gruszecka-Spychała, the Deputy Mayor of Gdynia.

“Making our global support processes more digital, agile and efficient is exciting from a

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professional perspective, and also very important for DNV GL. Obviously, there will be a steep learning curve for all involved,” expresses Thormod Fjell.

Aleksandra Czerwińska from Poland will be leading the Gdynia centre. She is returning to Poland for this job after eight years as regional manager for DNV GL’s for Finance and administrative services in China.

“To be a part of building our new centre and working within an international organization with a highly recognized brand is an exciting opportunity. DNV GL is

a great place to develop competence, and through my 16 years in the company, I have built an extensive international network and gained invaluable experience within how international businesses are run,” she says.

“We are now looking for dedicated employees with strong skill sets, a professional and service oriented attitude, and of course a strong team spirit. We can offer

interesting and challenging tasks, and most importantly, competence development and career opportunities in a company with a strong, value-based culture,” explains Aleksandra Czerwińska.

“It’s very important to see such a well-established investor take another huge step based on the quality of local talent pool”- says Mieczysław Struk, Marshall of Pomerania. “This serves as yet another confirmation that professionals in Tri City have proven skilled, experienced and talented enough to secure proper staffing to the new operations in DNV GL.”- he summarizes. n

July–August 2016

SSC/BPO News

3M opens SSC in Wrocław At the beginning of June, American giant 3M opened a Business Shared Services Centre in Wrocław. It will support business processes within the company in 52 EMEA counties. Operating in Poland since 25 years, 3M has already invested half a billion of dollars in the country, including $ 300m in Wrocław.

To develop more advanced production, the company needs innovation and services units.

Therefore, 3M decided to implement them in Wrocław, where the company’s production superhub operates. In 2005, 3M opened a R&D office in Wrocław and two years later launched

the Centre of Innovations there.

3M’s BSS office will hire 400 professionals specialising in IT, database management, accounting and other advanced services for the company’s offices located in the 52 European, Asian and African countries.

This is one of the three biggest

BSS centres owned by 3M globally. Moreover, the investor has businesses in Poland including production units in Janów and Rabka. 3M is planning to develop its production capacity in Poland to make Poland the leading exporter of 3M’s products to the Eastern Europe markets. n

Transcom Worldwide Poland opens in Białystok Operating since 2003 in Poland, Transcom Worldwide Poland has just opened a new branch of Transcom in Bialystok. In June, 55 new employees started work at Transcom. And later this year, Transcom will create an additional

2016 July–August

150 new jobs. Transcom’s new office is in the city center.

“After analyzing our results and ever-increasing demand from our clients and the development plans of our projects, we decided to open in Bialystok”, said Marek

Shul, Country Manager, Transcom Poland. “We’ve been in Olsztyn for 13 years and in Gdansk for 8 years, so this third office reflects our confidence in Poland”, said Roberto Boggio, General Manager Continental Europe Transcom. n

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SSC/BPO News

ABB to hire another 1,000 in Kraków Zürich-based engineering company ABB, which specialises in power and automation technology, has extended its lease from 10,000 sqm to 20,000 sqm in the Axis office building in Kraków.

ABB will occupy the entire building for one of its operational centres in Europe. The first agreement for 50% of Skanska’s

building was signed in September 2015, when Axis decided to consolidate several of its Krakówbased departments.

Now the company is also planning further expansion.

“We are planning to employ an additional 1,000 specialists by the end of 2018 and the Axis office building meets our company’s development plans,” said Janusz Machnicki, the country real estate manager at ABB. Axis is Skanska’s second office investment in Kraków, after

Kapelanka 42 – a complex of two office buildings. It comprises 20,000 sqm gla and is scheduled to be completed in the fourth quarter of this year. Skanska fully leased the project and sold it to Swedish investor Niam before its completion. The building has been issued with a LEED ‘Gold’ shell and core green certificate.

In March 2016, Skanska also launched the development of High Five, a project located on ul. Pawia in Kraków close to the Dworzec Główny railway station. n

16 BiznesPolska.pl/EN

July–August 2016

SSC/BPO News

PhlexGlobal launches in Lublin Britich company PhlexGlobal will hire up to 60 people for its new office in Lublin, according to Stella Donghua, managing director of Phlexglobal. The Lublin branch will be responsible for processing of documentation for clinical trials for the company’s customers in the pharmaceutical industry, for such clients as Bayer.

“ We are seeing a change of attitude among investors as regards Lublin. We are already the first choice of the so-called “next bench”, but we must fight for promotion”, said Artur Habza, director of the Department of Economic and International Cooperation at the City of Lublin. Artur Szymczyk, Deputy Mayor of Lublin added: “First, it was necessary to invest to reap the fruits. There’s no denying that without such projects as a new airport, companies like Phlexglobal would not be in Lublin.

There will be also new investors who follow their example”.

Stella Donghua, managing director Phlexglobal says that Poland has been chosen by the company

2016 July–August

because of the savings. “There is no secret that labor costs are lower than in the UK and the US, where we have our offices and employ a total of approximately 270 people.

Our customers expect us to lower prices”, she said. She also emphasized that the work ethic and reliability of Poles is at a high level.

Advantages of Lublin include overwhelming support from the regional authorities and the state of the infrastructure. “From London to Lublin, we can travel seven days a week. Besides being a good communication with the airport and the city center is quite close to our Warsaw office”, said Donghua.

PhlexGlobal will be working closely with the Polish company

ArchiDoc. Archidoc not only prepared office space for needed future employees (office building Nord Office Park), but above all is carrying out the recruitment process: “Thanks to our partner, we do not have to spend time to understand the Polish law and the specificity of operations in Poland. We can concentrate only on the quality of services”, emphasized Konrad Rochalski, CEO ArchiDoc. The company offers salaries of about 3,000pln gross per month.

After six months, the rate increases to 3500pln. The company ensures that employees can count on flexible working hours and permanent contracts. n

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17

SSC/BPO News

Over 193,000 employees in Business Services sector Investment promotion agency recently released its newest annual report on Poland's Business Services Sector, which continues to grow at a healthy clip.

The "Business Services Sector in Poland 2016. Gaining Momentum" report published by the Polish Information and Foreign Investment Agency (PAIZ) tracks and analyses trends of this rapidly growing sector of Polish economy.

BSS (Business Service Sector) has become the fastest growing area of the Polish economy and one of the largest employers in the country.

Employment in BSS now exceeds 193,000 in 852 companies. The average headcount in a business services centre in 2015 is 227 people.

“Poland has become an important player in BSS, even on a global scale. We are an equal partner for international companies. Solutions developed in Poland are very often implemented in the international

market”, said Bartłomiej Pawlak, the new president of PAIZ. According to Iwona ChojnowskaHaponik, Foreign Investment Department Director at PAIiIZ and the leader of the team which prepared the report, highly qualified human resources is the main factor shaping the rapid development of the sector. “90% of employees in BSS have MA degrees. Nobody moves simple processes to Poland any more. Poles are engaged in ambitious international projects”. n

Eltel will create 80 jobs The Scandinavian energy and telecom operator will open a Shared Services Centre in Gdańsk in 2016. The company plans to employ 80 specialists in HR, accounting and finance and has already started to recruit.

The office, which is expected to reach its full operating capacity in two years, will employ app.

80 people and will consolidate operations that are currently performed in the company’s offices in other countries. It is to provide support services in the field of finance, human resources

and procurement. According to Satu Koskinen, Director of Global Shared Services Group Eltel, Gdańsk has a well-developed and mature market for shared services at a competitive cost level. Moreover, in his opinion, the city offers high qualified professionals.

Eltel has yet to reveal the address of its planned office, as the lease agreement has not been yet signed, but according to a company representative it has now entered the final stage of negotiations. "Eltel’s strategy is to achieve an annual average growth of 10 pct, which should be well supported by harmonised

and specialised group shared services. The new centre will give us an efficient and scalable platform to support Eltel’s ambition to grow, both organically and through acquisitions,” commented Gert Sköld, the CFO of Eltel.

Wiesław Byczkowski, the deputy marshal of the Pomeranian voivodship, has stated that this will be the first Swedish shared service centre in the province “As a region we want to increase our competitiveness in the Baltic Sea area. We are pleased that our neighbours have recognised the potential of our human resources and office facilities,” he added. n

Ryanair opens IT Centre in Wrocław Ryanair is opening a IT Centre in Poland that will be provided

by Travel Labs Poland owned by the Irish company.

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“After more than half a year of intensive collaboration between PAIiIZ and Ryanair, as well as the strong position of Wrocław on the European IT services map,

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Ryanair has chosen Wrocław, said PAIiIZ deputy president Michał Dąbrowski announcing the decision of Ryanair. Ryanair’s state-of-the-art digital and IT innovation hub in Wrocław will be open in August. Currently, the company is recruiting 90 programmers.

“This decision is great, however not surprising. Providing top class IT service by well-educated

programmers is Poland’s national specialty. Therefore, those who want to "fly high", know that there is no better place like Poland. Today, employing over 150,000 of IT experts, Poland has one of the most mature business services sectors (BSS) in the world, while the BSS is considered as the fastest growing segment of Polish economy”, said Dąbrowski. n

July–August 2016

Cargo Transport

Katowice Airport opens huge Cargo terminal In June, the International Airport in Pyrzowice (Katowice) officially opened its new Cargo terminal, which is the most modern facility of its kind in Poland. The project, led

by Skanska, took 18 months to complete with a budget of 36 million pln.

The super-modern terminal will be the basis for substantial development of freight-traffic for the airport. The Katowice Airport is the second busiest – after Warsaw’s Chopin airport - air cargo hub in Poland, and acts as an air cargo hub for the whole southern part of the country. Courier companies such as DHL Express, TNT, FedEx and UPS all have daily flights to its European cities via Pyrzowice. The Pyrzowice airport is in first place for cargo charters. In 2015, the airport handled 16,119 tons of cargo.

The construction of this new cargo base is an important element of the strategic development of air cargo - not only for Pyrzowice, but throughout southern Poland.

Artur Tomasik, President of GTL

World-class facilities with top technology The new facility is the first building designed exclusively to handle cargo. The use of modern technology guarantees fast and comprehensive service packages - from the moment of unloading the plane, through transport to the warehouse, which is equipped with modern sorting systems to serve global couriers and transport companies. Processing times will be shortened – ultimately able to service several thousand packages per hour - shortening the waiting time for shipment and providing the highest-quality service at peak periods, like Christmas.

the current terminal. „Given the strong growth of Pyrzowice for handling cargo, we have designed this in a modular format, hence the arrangement of the hall can be adjusted to the growing needs of courier companies”, said Jacek Kościelny, Project Manager, Skanska. The terminal is divided into two parts – one supports air freight (10,000 s.m.) and the other is offices (2,000 s.m.).

The design is of independent zones - so that each courier can operate in isolation, separated from the others. „Businesses have their own parking spaces, loading ramps, cargo-loading gates, servers and their own office facilities”, said Rafał Melerski, Site Manager, Skanska. The hall also has offices for Poland’s Customs Office and Border Guard.

Modules and zone The new cargo terminal has 12,000 s.m. and is three times larger than

Strategic development In recent years, GTL SA has consistently developed the

2016 July–August

airport’s infrastructure, including doubling the size of the apron for aircraft, modernization of taxiways and construction of a new apron for cargo aircraft. The newest runway is long - a length of 3 200 meters. Since these new investments have been completed, Katowice Airport is the only regional airport with reference code 4E (according to the classification of the International Aviation Communications (ICAO)), which means that it is fully optimized for the world’s largest aircrafts, including the largest cargo planes. This year, the Polish Air Navigation Services Agency will start construction of a new air traffic control tower, and the company Chopin Airport Development, under a franchise agreement with Marriott International, will start the construction of a hotel under the brandname Moxy.

Artur Tomasik, President of GTL, emphasizes that these investments are designed to ensure optimal development of Katowice Airport in terms of both passenger traffic and cargo. „Pyrzowice is a natural choice for cargo traffic. This region has a strong economy anchored by the automotive industry, as well as powerful demographics, which are of particular importance in the dynamic development of the e-commerce market, which uses transport by air. Also important are our operational strengths, such as no restrictions 24 hours a day, and this is from the perspective of cargo a major advantage.” „Commissioning of the new cargo base at Katowice Airport is the beginning of development of the logistics industry in the southeastern part of the airport. We have excellent cooperation with the Katowice Special Economic Zone (SEZ), which has become one of the two most developed Special Economic Zones in the world.

More than 220 companies operate here, and have invested more than 23 billion USD, employing over 56,000 people.” n

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19

NATO Summit

NATO Summit 2016: What will be on the agenda in Warsaw?

At their Summit in Warsaw on 8–9 July, the heads of state and government of the NATO member countries will have a very full agenda of key topics for discussion.

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It seems unlikely that the leaders will seek to revise key guidance documents—the 2010 NATO Strategic Concept and the 2012 Deterrence and Defence Posture Review. However, it is widely recognized that both documents contain some language and ideas that are no longer in line with the way NATO members see current security problems.

For example, even if France did not invoke article 5 of the Washington Treaty, there is a consensus among member states that the terrorist attacks in Paris in November 2015 were an act of armed aggression. Since 2010, the Islamic State (IS) group has joined al-Qaeda as an enemy of NATO. Moreover, NATO has now agreed that a cyberattack can, under certain conditions, be considered an act of aggression that would require an article 5 response. In addition, the current Strategic Concept describes the threat of a conventional attack against the NATO alliance as low and underlines the strategic importance of NATO-Russia cooperation.

Today, while NATO stops short of describing Russia in its documents as an enemy, and continues to hold out the possibility of cooperation under certain conditions, it is equally clear that NATO no longer sees Moscow as a partner. How to deal with Russia is one of six broad interlinked agenda items that are likely to dominate the Warsaw Summit: • the conflict in Ukraine and relations with Russia; • strengthening collective defence; • rethinking deterrence and the roles of nuclear weapons, missile defence and cybersecurity; • addressing the ‘arc of crises’, especially armed Islamist extremism, while staying engaged in Afghanistan;

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• the ‘open door’ and partnerships policies; and • the ‘burden sharing’ debate.

These are discussed below.

1. The conflict in Ukraine and relations with Russia The relationship between Russia and NATO—and the West more generally—has deteriorated, taking on a radically changed quality. Since the illegal annexation of Crimea, NATO has suspended all practical civilian and military cooperation with Russia, while leaving some channels open for dialogue. In a televised interview in Poland in May, NATO’s Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that NATO would do its best to avoid escalations and promote an open dialogue with Moscow. The NATO-Russia Council met in April 2016, but Stoltenberg underlined that the meeting only reinforced the existence of what the he called profound and persistent disagreements.

2. Strengthening collective defence A linked issue on the agenda will be to assess the implementation of the package of measures intended to strengthen collective defence that the leaders agreed at their previous Summit, in Wales in 2014. A number of so-called assurance measures were agreed at the Wales Summit, including establishing a continuous air, land and maritime presence and conducting meaningful military activities in the eastern part of the alliance. After 2014, plans have been developed to ensure that around 4000 troops from NATO countries will be present in the Baltic states and Poland on a rotational basis.

The small but rapid reaction force authorized in 2014 has been created to respond immediately, anywhere in the alliance, in case of need. In addition, the ‘follow-on’ NATO Response Force has been doubled in size to roughly 40,000 troops. The rotational forces and

July–August 2016

NATO Summit the NATO Response Force both include all the necessary air, maritime, logistic and other support.

The 1997 NATO-Russia Founding Act stated that, in the circumstances prevailing at the time, the permanent stationing of substantial combat forces in Central and Eastern Europe was not necessary.

Some NATO members believe that the security environment has changed in ways that mean that any undertaking given to Russia need no longer be respected. However, recent arrangements have been designed by NATO in a way that all members of the organization believe to be consistent with the text of the 1997 Founding Act. The Wales Summit also decided to increase the number of military exercises conducted each year, and to design exercises using scenarios closer to the collective defence mission. In 2016 at least 23 military exercises of different sizes are planned, using a range of scenarios and hosted by 20 different nations.

Potential areas of disagreement: The ‘frontline’ NATO states would have preferred further measures to exploit the flexibility offered by the NATO-Russia Founding Act to the fullest extent possible. In March 2014, for example, Poland urged

NATO to station 10 000 troops on its territory on a permanent basis, but the organization has so far resisted doing so. The United States has already taken measures to bolster forces on NATO’s eastern flank, but sustaining significant rotational forces with wider participation among member states will be challenging, and from a practical perspective a permanent presence would be easier to manage. It is likely that the USA will contribute

2016 July–August

a significant share of the 4000 troops to be part of the rotation, but the exact composition is yet to be determined and the Warsaw Summit is expected to finalize exact numbers and the exact locations for the rotational presence.

3. Rethinking deterrence: the roles of nuclear weapons, missile defence and cybersecurity A third important subject for discussion among NATO leaders will be deterrence: what it means and how it can be assured given deteriorating relations with Russia. This is closely tied to national perceptions of which security problems are the most pressing, and the sense of how far a military response is the most appropriate one.

The role of nuclear weapons in European security has recently become a subject of discussion after many years in which it was relegated to the background. Statements by senior Russian leaders have focused attention on how Russia sees the use of nuclear weapons in its military doctrine, and nuclear-capable weapon delivery platforms regularly participate in Russian military exercises. While it is unlikely that NATO will make any significant modifications to its nuclear policies at the Warsaw Summit, it is re-evaluating the role of nuclear scenarios in its crisis-management exercises.

In 2015 NATO Defence Ministers conducted a focused discussion around better integrating conventional and nuclear deterrence.

Russia already undertakes exercises in which nuclear and conventional forces are closely integrated, and NATO currently carries out nuclear exercises of its own—but not in an integrated way with conventional weapons. In 2016 nuclear-capable aircraft, such as the F‑15E Strike Eagles normally stationed at RAF Lakenheath in England, participated in Exercise INIOHOS in Greece, perhaps to remind Russia that the United States has nuclear capabilities in Europe.

In addition, the strategic nuclear capabilities of France, the United Kingdom and the USA could also be available to NATO if required.

In 2010 NATO authorized the development of a missile defence architecture that would provide

equal protection to European NATO states in case of attack by a small number of short- and mediumrange ballistic missiles. The Warsaw Summit will review the implementation of the 2010 decisions. Until now the United States and NATO have defined their missile defence programmes as directed against exclusively non-Russian threats.

There is a new military environment at the periphery of NATO, and a growing sense that it faces a multidimensional challenge. Growing military capabilities are combining with new types of threat posed by dedicated tools for cyberwarfare, the sophisticated manipulation of information in both mainstream and social media, and the strategic use of energy policy. In this case NATO leaders will consider how to combine the military reassurance measures that they have already agreed with an effective, multifaceted response to the new challenges that they face.

In particular, the Summit is likely to designate cyberwar the fifth domain of warfare (the others being air, sea, land and space). The USA did so in 2011. The distinction is important because it suggests that NATO would have the option to treat certain cyberattacks as military attacks, and respond accordingly under article 5 of the Washington Treaty.

Potential areas of disagreement: The fact that Russia is a participant in the major conflicts that are taking place in countries bordering Europe means that NATO leaders will need to consider whether the reassurance measures already defined are sufficient, or, if not, what additional decisions might be needed.

4. Addressing the arc of crises: taking on armed Islamist extremist movements while staying engaged in Afghanistan A fourth issue that will be discussed in Warsaw is the contribution that NATO can make to crisis management from an arc of crises perspective. The issues this raises are the most complicated and difficult, and the discussion of them may be the most contentious. This narrative was outlined by the previous NATO Secretary General, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, and NATO’s former

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NATO Summit Supreme Allied Commander Europe, Philip Breedlove, in the Wall Street Journal in August 2014: ‘Instability rages to the south, with an arc of crises spreading from North Africa to the Middle East. And Russia is resorting to a hybrid war, with snap exercises, secret commandos and smuggled missiles’. While it is unlikely that there will be support for any new combat operations outside the area of application of the Washington Treaty, whether NATO should initiate planning for such a contingency may be discussed.

There is strong support for additional efforts in the area of capacity building, and NATO Foreign Ministers have used the term ‘projecting stability’ to describe efforts to help partners strengthen their own forces and secure their own countries. The Summit will certainly be an opportunity to assess the impact of capacity building in Afghanistan.

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Capacity building in Afghanistan At the end of 2014 NATO terminated its combat mission in Afghanistan and transitioned into Operation Resolute Support. Since January 2015, the focus of NATO in Afghanistan has been supporting the emerging Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) and other Afghan security institutions under the Ministry of Interior and the National Directorate of Security as they take full responsibility for ending conflict and building peace.

The number of NATO forces has been reduced and consolidated into locations where training, advisory and assistance roles can be provided for the essential functions set out in the mission support plan agreed between NATO and the Afghan Government. Assistance is being provided on budget planning and execution, reducing corruption, force generation (i.e. how to recruit, train and equip the armed forces and other security forces), logistics, the management of civil-military relations and public diplomacy, how to plan military operations (including how to provide the necessary resources), how to build strategic and tactical intelligence relevant to the overall mission of

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the ANSF and how to counter the Taliban’s information warfare.

In May the NATO Foreign Ministers agreed to extend the Afghan mission beyond 2016, so the Warsaw Summit will have to consider how to ensure the success

of leaders in Warsaw. For those countries that request it, NATO is likely to offer capacity building and training in those functional areas where it has unique expertise.

For example, in discussions with countries in the Gulf Cooperation

of Operation Resolute Support in the difficult security environment that still exists in Afghanistan. In particular, given the presence of groups affiliated with IS, NATO will have to consider whether to provide more—and more direct— assistance to the ANSF and other Afghan security institutions, and perhaps even resume a combat role.

The Summit is also likely to review international financial support for the Afghan security forces.

NATO officials will be hopeful they can get sufficient financial commitments locked in until 2020 as the previous round of pledges expires in 2017. However, finding the US$ 6 billion a year to continue to fund the Afghan security forces will be a major headache. Since toppling the Taliban in 2001, the USA alone has contributed nearly US$ 93 billion in assistance to Afghanistan, of which more than US$ 56 billion has been spent on training, equipping and supporting Afghan security forces.

Council that are trying to build closer military cooperation among themselves, NATO can offer unique insights into joint command systems and the management of collective defence.

NATO has already agreed to send an assessment team to Iraq to explore the possibility of in-country NATO training for Iraq’s military to help it better fight IS. NATO has already trained hundreds of Iraqi officers in Jordan. NATO is also considering aiding the USled Coalition to Counter ISIL by supplying AWACS surveillance aircraft, while Libya’s new UNbrokered government is consulting NATO on how it might rebuild its defence and security institutions.

Finally, NATO is also looking to do more in the Mediterranean Sea, in cooperation with the European Union (EU) and others. NATO’s Operation Active Endeavour is likely to become a broader maritime security operation, taking on new tasks such as upholding freedom of navigation, interdiction and support to maritime counterterrorism.

Potential areas of disagreement: To what extent have NATO member states moved beyond

Addressing conflict in the Middle East The role of NATO in conflict-affected locations in the Middle East is also likely to be on the agenda

July–August 2016

NATO Summit the ‘intervention fatigue’ associated with the large-scale Western military interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan? Several NATO states and partners are likely to remain very cautious about the future use of force, and concerned about measures that could lead to a ‘step-by-step’ military engagement. However, reluctance to deploy military force is also now under review given the conflict in Ukraine and growing calls to combat IS in Iraq, Libya, Syria and elsewhere.

5. The ‘open door’ and partnerships policies The Summit will also pay close attention to the the composition of NATO, now and in the future, and consider how to strengthen a range of different relationships and partnerships, first and foremost in close proximity to its borders to the East and South.

In May 2016 Montenegro signed an Accession Protocol, which is the penultimate step in joining NATO. Once that protocol has been ratified by all member states, Montenegro will become the 29th member of NATO. After Bulgaria, Romania and Slovenia joined in 2004, and Albania and Croatia in 2009, the decision by Montenegro to seek membership is a further step in consolidating participation in south-east Europe. The decision is also a signal that NATO membership is not fixed, and that additional aspirant countries such as Georgia, Macedonia and Bosnia might join in the future. However, while future enlargement of NATO membership is not excluded, in practice there is widespread agreement that in the short term the prospects for expanding the alliance are limited.

The Summit will also address the issue of how NATO works with various different partners on issues of mutual interest. NATO has built a network of partnerships with more than 40 countries from all over the globe, including countries in North Africa and the Middle East, non-NATO members in Europe—such as Finland and Sweden, which are both so-called Enhanced Opportunity Partners of NATO—and countries further afield, such as Australia, Japan and South Korea. NATO is now

2016 July–August

looking at various ways to deepen and broaden those partnerships. It might, for example, intensify political consultations by making them more frequent and more focused; or it could engage certain interested partners on specific subjects of common concern by using established forums, such as the Mediterranean Dialogue and the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative, as well as smaller, more flexible formats.

There have been indications of increasingly positive cooperation between NATO and the EU. Federica Mogherini, the EU High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy, and the Foreign Ministers of Finland and Sweden participated in the May NATO ministerial meeting. This was interpreted as a signal that further NATOEU cooperation could be expected, both on functional issues—such as cybersecurity and strategic com-

munications to counteract information operations—and in operations such as the recent cooperation to address human trafficking.

6. Burden sharing At the Wales Summit, NATO made a defence investment pledge that will be assessed in Warsaw. The alliance pledged to move progressively towards allocating 2 per cent of member states’ GDP to defence and, perhaps as important, allocate at least 20 per cent of their defence budgets to major equipment,

including Research & Development.

To give substance to this pledge, a number have stopped the successive reductions in military spending that took place in the years before the Wales summit, and in some cases have begun to increase military spending. It is too soon to say how the increased resources will be used.

Potential areas of disagreement: This debate is one of the longest running fault lines within NATO, with accusations that Europe spends too little on defence and is being protected at US taxpayers’ expense. While the USA does pick up a disproportionate share of the NATO tab, the imbalance is not as great as is sometimes suggested. At the Warsaw Summit, evidence that the military spending of European member states is no longer falling, and is beginning to increase, is likely to be highlighted as a successful outcome of the decisions taken in Wales in 2014. However, persuading Europe’s taxpayers to make further significant increases in defence spending remains an uphill challenge. Moreover, in the light of the complex security challenges that need to be addressed, whether increasing military spending is always the most appropriate response will continue to be contested.

'Future NATO' project The conflict in Ukraine has forced NATO to go ‘back to basics’ and focus more on collective defence.

However, it is unlikely to prevent the Warsaw Summit from continuing to advance a broader, ‘Future NATO’, project in which both capabilities and partnerships are strengthened.

NATO does not have, and will not acquire, all of the tools needed to address evolving 21st century security threats. However, the way in which NATO can consolidate and build on its partnerships is perhaps currently its least well defined area of work. As a result, the critical metric for success at the Warsaw Summit will be how the capacities available to NATO will be applied alongside those controlled by states and other international organizations.

Authors: Dr. Ian Anthony, Dr. Ian Davis. Dr Ian Davis is the Director of the SIPRI Editorial, Publications and Library Department. n

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NATO Summit

Massive military exercise reveals flaws in NATO defence

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NATO would currently be unable to protect the Baltics against a Russian attack, the commander of US ground forces in Europe, General Ben Hodges, said after the June exercises named “Anaconda”.

"Russia could take over the Baltic states faster than we would be able to defend them," Hodges said.

The general said he agreed with an assessment by military analysts who claimed that Russian forces could conquer the capitals of Baltic states Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia within 36 to 60 hours.

Hodges also said NATO forces had found numerous deficiencies during the recent "Anaconda" military exercise in Poland.

Heavy military equipment could not be moved fast enough from western to eastern Europe, said the general, who also voiced concern about the alliance's communication technology.

"Neither radio communication nor email are secure," he was quoted as saying. "I assume that everything I write on my BlackBerry is being monitored."

The Anaconda maneuver included troops from more than 20 NATO member states but was officially a Polish national exercise.

Hodges said that "some countries, like France and Germany, thought it would be too provocative toward Russia to call it a NATO exercise".

Thousands of NATO troops hit the ground in Poland in the massive 10-day show of force as the alliance launched its biggest war games in eastern Europe since the Cold War. Russian President Vladimir Putin hit out at NATO for "stepping up its aggressive rhetoric and its aggressive actions close to our borders". He said that Moscow was therefore "obliged to dedicate special attention to resolving tasks connected with heightening the defense capabilities of our country".

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'Boost NATO's eastern flank' NATO announced in June that it would deploy four battalions to the Baltic nations and Poland to counter a more assertive Russia, ahead of a landmark summit in Warsaw on July 8-9.

All four countries were once ruled from Moscow and remain deeply suspicious of Russia's intentions.

Russia bitterly opposes NATO's expansion into its Soviet-era satellites and last month said it would create three new divisions in its southwest region to meet what it described as a dangerous military build-up along its borders.

Putin, speaking in late June on the 75th anniversary of Nazi Germany's invasion of the USSR, accused the West of rejecting overtures from Russia to help tackle the common foe of "international terrorism" -- as it once ignored the Soviet Union's warnings about Hitler -- while seeking to isolate Moscow over the Ukraine crisis.

"We once again, as it was on the eve of World War II, are not seeing a positive response," Putin said.

Relations between Russia and the West have slumped to their lowest point since the Cold War over Moscow's 2014 annexation of Crimea from Ukraine and its alleged masterminding of a separatist uprising. Fears of Russian expansionism have rattled NATO's former eastern bloc members and prompted the US-led alliance to bolster its presence along its eastern flank.

Following talks in Berlin, both German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Poland's Prime Minister Beata Szydlo stressed the importance of boosting security on the border with Russia.

"Germany has always sought dialogue with Russia," Merkel said, but added that on the other hand, "Germany also sees the necessity to boost NATO's eastern flank.

That's why we are taking on additional responsibility in Lithuania, that's why we took part in the Anaconda manuever," she said.

Szydlo said that the moves are not only aimed at shielding her country and the Baltic states, but at protecting all of Europe. n

July–August 2016

Advisory

The RES Act amendment drafted by the Ministry of Energy will enter into force by 1 July. However, the new auction support system will not technically enter into force without a positive notification decision. During the notification procedure, further changes of the RES Act are likely, and the Ministry of Energy has also announced additional amendment to the RES Act in autumn. Part of the notification procedure, although generally subject to the decision of the DG Competition, will concern the issue of how Poland plans to fulfil its 2020 RES target – this is subject to justification by the DG Energy. Solivan’s recent report pointed out that by the end of 2016 Poland will be at about 10 TWh, i.e. 30% behind the 2020 RES-e target, and also way behind the green heat and green transportation target.

The RES production forecast for 2016 amounts to 11 – 12 TWh of wind power, 4.5 to 5.0 TWh production by dedicated biomass installations, 2 – 2.5 TWh production by dedicated co-firing installations, 1.8 to 2.2 TWh production by hydropower plants, 0.8 to 0.9 TWh production by biogas installations and 0.2 to 0.3 TWh of production by all other installations including PV, which provides with a total production of approx.

22 TWh per year – depending on wind conditions and rain/snow falls. According to the National Action Plan, the 2020 RES electricity production should amount to 31 to 32 TWh per year. All other RES technologies, beside onshore wind and larger PV installations, due to their development stage, will provide a maximum increase in RES production of presumably less 2 TWh by 2020 (not including co-firing in lignite power plants, see below). Microinstallations which will benefit from net-metering only will also not provide to any remarkable new RES-e production exceeding 100 to 200 GWh on-grid. So, without these two politically questioned technologies Poland will clearly fail to fulfil its RES-e 2020 target.

The new concept of energy clusters – proposed by the Ministry of Energy – and energy cooperatives – proposed by the Ministry of Agriculture – taking part in auctions has been questioned by many market participants, such as transmission grid operator PSE, the Energy Regulatory Authority (URE), as well as State-owned utilities. Generally, these type of investments are not clearly defined, but should be preferred by separate auction baskets, and therefore investors with less preferred technologies may try to prequalify for such auction baskets. However, the URE has already declared that the software for the auction platform is not prepared for these types of investments, and further changes have not been budgeted.

Other auction baskets which have been introduced to the bill include (i) RES generators with a high capacity factor, i.e. biomass plants and (ii) RES generators with a high capacity factor and low CO2

2016 July–August

by Christian Schnell cschnell@solivan.pl

emissions, i.e. hydropower and offshore will rather not be subject to further changes. However, the first Polish offshore investments will not be connected to the grid before 2023. Hydropower plants are also a preferred technology, but operative support will be limited to investments with a maximum installed capacity of 20 MW. Currently, according to the Polish Association for Small Hydropower Plants, only a few smaller projects are at last mile development stage to qualify for 2017 auction, so the impact on the 2020 target is very limited.

The Ministry of Energy has also introduced special auction basket for incineration plants, i.e. its “green” share of burning municipal and industrial waste.

Generally, the European waste disposal regime (introduced into Polish law in 2012) gives incineration plants low priority, so actively promoting incineration plants may not comply with relevant EU directives. However, none of the envisaged investments are yet at last mile development stage to qualify for 2017 auction, and it is doubtful whether municipalities will decide to start applying for investment grants rather than looking for operative support.

The newly-introduced obligation to use a certain proportion of local agricultural biomass (sourced within a 300 km radius of the RES generator) from 2017 has been specified. The new regulations are intended to stop agricultural biomass imports. The Ministry of Agriculture has not yet started working on the relevant implementation regulation, i.e. certification requirement. Generally, larger investments in biomass installations should be flexible regarding used substrates even including biodegradable waste, as it is difficult to predict which type of biomass can be profitably used as substrate during the 15-year support period - including the obligation to deliver a certain amount of contracted energy. The new regulations at the EU level from 2020 will also have a major impact on the future of biomass firing.

The definition of a dedicated co-firing installation has also been changed, so that currently only an energetic share of biomass amounting to 15% is required to fulfil this definition. From the technical point of view, existing lignite power plants may fulfil the 15% energy share obligation without any major technical changes, which means that according to this change cofiring in existing lignite power plants may again gain one certificate per MWh – according to production in 2012, the production potential in lignite power plants amounts to 3 TWh of “dedicated” co-firing. This might be a breach of the non-written understanding of the EU Commission and the Polish government from 2015 not to continue with investigating oversupport from 2008 for co-firing in case Poland will stop supporting nondedicated co-firing. n

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ADVISORY

Government’s Revised RES act and Poland’s 2020 Target

25

Advisory

CSRevolution – Big Polish Businesses Need to Step Up

ADVISORY

Headache or Happiness?

The 1st of January is usually a quiet day for most businesspeople as they recover from the night before.

The start of 2017, though, will see Polish businesspeople thinking about new, expanding EU regulations that might cause them even more of a headache if they haven’t properly prepared. Does this affect your business and – even if it doesn’t – have you considered how corporate social responsibility can affect your bottom line?

26

What’s New? As of next year big Polish businesses will be obliged to report non-financial company information as part of new European Union regulations aimed at improving and harmonising corporate social responsibility.

European Commission research indicates that just 2,500 EU companies currently do so, implying that 42,000 large companies are still not up to speed.

For Polish businesses, this new reporting obligation will mean a big step up and culture change, as well as a big opportunity to improve brand reputation and compete with global best practice by understanding and expressing their company’s relationship to its employees, customers, society and environment.

Polish Business. Ahead or Behind the Curve?

English-Polish translators sometimes get their dictionaries in a twist on the word ‘sustainability.’ The most common translation into Polish, ‘zrównoważony’ (balanced) takes into account only part of the word’s full meaning in English. This small linguistic difference says a lot about Poland’s race to catch up with international best practice.

Poland’s Deputy Prime Minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, has conceded in a recent Gazeta Polska interview that Poland has much to compare with countries such as Germany, France, America and Japan, where CSR is part of the national corporate DNA. “The new Government’s Business Constitution will streamline the state’s relationship with business. I’m convinced that when business sees the Government taking action, they’ll spend more time thinking about questions relation to corporate social responsibility”, said Morawiecki.

Many of the 300+ big Polish businesses (including at least 10 state-owned companies) expected to be affected by the new changes have in recent years begun to publish CSR reports. But for those starting from scratch there is much to be done. Companies need to debate and decide a CSR strategy, build a team, establish and measure standards (choosing from a wide array of international measurements such as the Global Reporting Initiative) collate and assess data, engage their employees and, of course, ensure they have a

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specific CSR budget. Energa Group, a recent winner of the Polityka Golden Leaf CSR Award, is a good example of a company that has seized the opportunity, investing in renewable energy, modernisation, employee welfare and consumer education programmes.

By Hanna Dymek-Jara CEO, Questia www.questiapr.pl

More paperwork can mean good business Like many companies, Energa realises that CSR means good business. Firms committed to transparency report better relations with suppliers and government agencies. For big Polish businesses hungrily growing internationally and outside of traditional EU markets, a sustainable development plan is also attractive for investors and shareholders.

It matters to your future employees, too, especially for the Millenial generation who negatively perceive the pursuit of absolute profit at the expense of employees, environment and society. And once you’ve gained a sustainable reputation, it can be highly sticky, which helps in times of crisis or negative publicity.

“For Polish businesses, this new reporting obligation will mean a big step up and culture change, as well as a big opportunity to improve brand reputation” Crucially CSR matters to customers. A report from Statista.com indicates that the proportion of European consumers prepared to pay more for sustainable goods and services has increased from 32% in 2011 to 40% in 2013. In an age of social sharing and the value of social opinion on sales, brands that are switched on to sustainable are getting ahead of the customer expectation curve. Research from Boston University shows that early CSR adopters gain larger market shares and higher brand loyalty.

For Energa, investing in client awareness campaigns leads to less down time and interruptions, impacting on customer retention and productivity.

What does this mean for me?

Poland’s small and medium business community have already got plenty on the to-do list, but the wise ones already have one eye on what Minister Morawiecki has called ‘our personal and collective responsibility to our society and economy.’ Put simply, it makes good business sense to do so. As in so many areas, it also gives Poland’s combined economy a chance to shine on the global stage, something we can all celebrate on the 1st of January, 2017. n

July–August 2016

Advisory

The Brexit.

Yikes.

Wait. Stop. No, I’m not going to rehash what you have certainly by now heard to the point of nausea—that uncertainty is disastrous and that the Brexit was decided by this side or that side, or who exactly is to blame.

What I am going to do is introduce the Central European factor, which (while it sounds palatable and is probably relatively innocent) is not as benign as one might think.

Immediately following the Brexit—and against the background of a long-running exit, a second referendum and special status/backdoor negotiations—the key Western players in the EU implied that they were for a quick divorce. Actually, they more than implied this.

All six original EU members, these being Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg stood together June 26, 2016 with the following statement: “We join together in saying that this process must begin as soon as possible so we don’t end up in an extended limbo period,” said Germany’s Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, as cited by the French wire service AFP. Moroever, European Parliament President Martin Schulz called Cameron’s decision to possibly wait until October to leave ‘scandalous’, saying that he was “taking the whole (European) continent hostage,” the AFP added.

Only German Prime Minister Angel Merkel appeared to dissent, repeating the cautious take on a slow, well-thought out exit process.

Which brings us to the Central European schism. In the days that followed the Brexit, for the most part Central European leaders did not voice the “get out and get out now” mantra seen from the EU original members. Instead the tone was that the Brexit was a failure of Brussels, of bad laws, of the migration crisis of heavyhanded bureaucracy and failed representation.

In fact, while Schulz was calling for Cameron’s head, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban was calling for the head of European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker, blaming him for the Brexit and suggesting that major reforms are necessary.

(Here it is important to note that Juncker could hardly be called Orban’s favorite person, and in fact Juncker once greeted Orban by saying: “Hello, Dictator,” and giving him a light slap in the face.)

On this note, Polish Law-and-Justice leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski—the man who many believe steers both the Polish prime minister and president in the vast majority of decisions—loudly

2016 July–August

By Preston Smith Independent Risk Consultant

lamented the Brexit and put his politicians immediately to work on a plan to reform the union and prevent more exits of the same kind.

Meanwhile, by June 28, a very much ignored meeting had taken place with the leaders of the Visegrad states (Poland, Czechia, Slovakia and Hungary) as well as representatives of Germany and France.

Important to note that this was, in fact, a Central European affair, with the summary statement led and given by a Visegad state member, Czechia and Czech Minister of Foreign Affairs Lubomír Zaorálek.

In fact, the Czech foreign policy chief said he was speaking all of the above during a press conference at the Pragu Černín Palace, with his statement given as follows: “After what we have seen, a bad response would be rapid integration, hasty integration.

And a bad response would be to pretend nothing had happened. We’re ready to continue with integration in places where we all need it urgently – and are able to explain it to the people. “ Now the trillion-euro question: which EU counts more? That of the original members, angered and adamant in their statements for a quick divorce, or that of the Central European members wanting reform and hasty integration? True, this is all the more confusing by the use of the word ‘integration,’ in that it could mean getting the Brexit over and done with to enable closer continental ties or it could simply refer to ongoing integration with the EU as the Central European members are still in transitional periods with regard to legal and administrative matters (and in most cases, currency adaptation).

Here, in fact, nothing is certain—apart from a clear schism, which as in fact always been evident. How this has been historically described (ranging from the new members are the takers, the old members are the givers to “Poland just missed an opportunity to keep quiet”) is now largely irrelevant. The schism exists and will likely grow stronger, and the reasoning behind this is both overt and often quite logical: 1 Brussels is indeed bloated, difficult and hardly ideal with regard to democratic representation.

2 The migration crisis did in fact create nightmarish problems for a number of buffer states even when they attempted to simply funnel migrants north to Germany.

3 Heavy-handed behavior by the EC (and Junckers in particular) may have been justified, but it could not be backed up (see Poland’s tendency to ignore EC demands for changes or even explanations with regard to legal changes and the Constitutional Tribunal crisis).

Continued on page 36

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ADVISORY

The Brexit is one thing, but another schism is on the rise

27

29 2016 July–August

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FDI – Incoming

Air Canada Rouge launches new flights to Warsaw Air Canada Rouge commenced service to its third destination in CEE on 14 June (after Budapest and Prague) with new flights on the 6,931-kilometre link between Toronto and Warsaw.

Flown by the carrier’s 767-300s, services on the city pair will operate thrice-weekly (Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays). Stephen de Boer, Ambassador of Canada to Poland, said of the launch: “I am delighted to see Air Canada Rouge establishing this new connection between Warsaw and Toronto, bringing Canada and Poland even closer. Canada and Poland enjoy comprehensive economic bilateral relations and based on historical shared values this new connection will help continue to deepen the people-to-people linkages.” The city pair is already

served by fellow Star Alliance member LOT Polish Airlines, which offers a nine times weekly service (double-daily on Fridays and Sundays) according to OAG Schedules Analyser data on its 787-8 fleet. Air Canada Rouge

also has a strong presence in Western Europe, serving Athens, Barcelona, Dublin, Glasgow, Lisbon, London Gatwick, Manchester, Nice, Rome Fiumicino and Venice Marco Polo. n

German logistics giant creates 200 new jobs in Bolesławiec Located in Wałbrzych Special Economic Zone, the city of Bolesławiec has attracted its next investor – the German company Rhenus. Due to this project, 200 new jobs will be created in Bolesławiec.

Rhenus is a global logistics company owning 8 warehouse locations and 13 logistic centres

in Poland, that together are able to service 50,000 deliveries a day. Now, the company will build its next logistics centre in Bolesławiec. The investment will have a value of PLN 82 million.

This will be Rhenus’s biggest investment in Poland and one of its biggest in Europe. In total,

100,000 m2 of warehouse area will be developed by Rhenus.

Rhenus is the 10th investor operating in Bolesławiec under Wałbrzych SEZ. Other companies have already invested PLN 235m and created 600 new jobs. Another 25 hectares of investment plots are still available for new investors in Bolesławiec. n

3 tenants in Piotrkowska Economic Activity Zone

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A new player has appeared on the Polish investment map: Piotrkowska Strefa Aktywności Gospodarczej (Piotrkowska Economic Activity Zone). The Zone's first three investors are now beginning their projects. Among the new companies are paper

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accessories’ producer Netuno, Polish automotive company Korona Piotr Koprowski and trading company Jonbud. In addition, in September, a tender for greenfield plot covering 2.2 hectares and located directly along the S8 expressway will be held.

Piotrkowska Economic Activity Zone offers investment areas with attractive lease rates. The monthly lease rent for 10 years period is PL 0.10 net per 1m2. There is an obligation for each investor to create at least 2 new jobs and maintain them for the next 36 months. n

July–August 2016

ENJOY NEW FIELDS OF DEVELOPMENT!

FIELDS - LIMITLESS COLLABORATION Kinnarps’ new modular product series Fields is developed and adapted for active workplaces. With sofas, tables, screens and easy chairs, Fields adapts itself to the user.

Whether you wish to socialise or need to work undisturbed, Fields has a space for you.

„The foundation of Fields is a modular flexible system where it is possible to combine components and add functionality based on needs, context and place. We have created the building blocks and possibilities, from which the architects can continue to create good, functional and stylish environments.” says Olle Gyllang.

Fields is designed by the Swedish designer Olle Gyllang from the Stockholm-based Propeller Design AB. A renowned design agency with extensive experience from the fields of product design, industrial design and design strategy.

Fields’ modular and flexible design erases the boundaries between areas for meetings and working alone and connects the individual with the group, as well as making it possible for all staff to find their own space to work and be happy in.

More at www.kinnarps.com

FDI – Incoming

Canadian company Cyclone opens first factory in Poland Canadian company Cyclone opened a new factory in Rzeszow – an investment worth nearly 15 million Canadian Dollars and for employment of at least 100 people in the innovative aerospace sector in next 4 years.

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The ceremony was attended by Andrew Sochaj, president of Cyclone Manufacturing Inc., Marcin Bosacki, Poland’s ambassador to Canada, Jarosław Stawicki, Deputy Minister of Sport and Tourism, Mirosław Włodarczyk, mayor of Kraśnik, Andrew Maj, starost of Kraśnik, Bogumiła Tuczyńska, finance director of the Mielec Special Economic Zone and councilors of the Regional Assembly. There were also Polish and foreign contractors of the Cyclone Manufacturing Inc. present at the ceremony.

“It would seem that there is no greater satisfaction for an ambassador than a serious investment in his country made by a company from a country of his accreditation. But today my satisfaction is even greater - because the investment from Canada is made by a Pole, educated in Poland, who emigrated to Canada and there made a career, who now returns to his native country and gives an employment opportunity to at least a hundred of people - and in the field of modern technologies.

Congratulations to Mr. Andrew Sochaj!”, said ambassador Marcin Bosacki during the ceremony.

Cyclone Manufacturing has been present on the market for over 50 years. The company produces metal structural parts for the aerospace industry giants from all over the world such as Lockheed Martin, Saab, Embraer, Bombardier, Airbus and Boeing. Cyclone is a privately held company that employs

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nearly 600 highly skilled employees in five modern factories in Canada and Poland.

Kraśnik factory is the first foreign branch of the company.

The investment was possible also thanks to a loan guarantee of Canadian government announced in 2015 during a visit to Poland of

Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

The Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Ottawa, together with the Trade and Investment Promotion Section in Montreal for several years has supported the company with information and encouraged it to invest in Poland. n

July–August 2016

FDI – Incoming

Akiem in $107 million deal with Bombardier for 52 locomotives

France-based rolling stock leasing company Akiem has entered into a framework agreement with Bombardier Transportation for 52 Traxx alternating current (AC) and multi-system (MS) locomotives.

The deal is conditional upon financial closing related to Akiem.

Valued at a list price of approximately $107m, the first batch is also subject to the fulfilment of conditions, with first deliveries expected by next year.

Akiem's CEO Fabien Rochefort said: "We are accelerating our position on German and Austrian national markets, as well as major European corridors towards Sweden, Benelux, Switzerland, Italy, Poland, and Central Europe. Through this successful partnership with Bombardier, Akiem keeps developing services combining performance, proximity, and security to meet our clients' requirements."

The newly signed deal also allows for various technical options, such as the last mile and remote control feature for Traxx AC locomotives.

To be configured for use in 13 countries, the Traxxlocomotives will be fully compliant to new European standards including European Train Control System (ETCS) Baseline 3.

Bombardier Transportation's locomotives, light-rail vehicles, and services president Michael Fohrer said: "We have been working with Akiem since 2011 and we are extremely happy to continue our long-term partnership under this frame contract. This agreement enables Bombardier to consolidate the TRAXX locomotive's presence in some of the most promising rail corridors."

The newly ordered locomotives will be powered by the Bombardier Mitrac control system, which provides safe and energy-efficient traction power for sustainable mobility.

Currently, Akiem has a fleet of more than 350 locomotives operating throughout 13 countries in Europe and North Africa. n

Air Industries to open production facility in Poland Air Industries Group has signed an agreement to open its first overseas facility, a welding production site in Poland, the

Hauppauge company announced.

The aerospace components maker will take about 10,000 square feet within a new 50,000-square-foot

manufacturing plant of Cincinnati-based Meyer Tool Inc., Air Industries chief executive Daniel Godin said. n

FDI Poland Investor Awards “Distinguishing top foreign investors in Poland – and top Polish companies expanding globally”

20 Oct.

2016 33

2016 July–August

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FDI – Incoming Suzohapp Poland is new Manufacturing Hub in Europe Suzohapp is currently expanding its manufacturing footprint in Europe.

34

Having grown its product range in recent years organically through product development and through acquisitions – the focus today is how to best pool the individual product ranges together so that the company knowledge and experience is brought together to one location.

The new Suzohapp production facility in Europe is in Poznan. With over 5,000 square meters this facility is designed for efficient deliveries throughout Europe.

Suzohapp has invested over 500,000 Euros into its state-of-the-art Polish manufacturing site. After being in operation less than a month Suzohapp already employs over 50 staff at the Poznan factory working mainly in production and distribution, and expects to annually manufacture aproximately 100,000 RM5 coin validators and more than 10,000 change machines.

The initial capacity planned for change giver validators is 120,000 units per year.

Marcel Oelen, Managing Director of Suzohapp EMEA explains how important this investment is: “We have consolidated our production strategy throughout the EMEA region. Our investment is aimed at improving quality, productivity and process time, in particular we are strongly focused on optimizing delivery times.

Currently Suzohapp manufactures coin validators and change giver validators, Comestero change machines, laundry cash points and carwash starter systems. n

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3D printer Verashape in EuroPark Mielec Operating since 2013, the 3D printer producer Verashape will set up operations in Euro-Park Mielec SEZ. Another business permit to operate in the zone was isssued to Rado, a company specialising in metal processing.

Verashape will spend about PLN 4,5 million for building a 3D printer factory in Trzebowisko as well as for employing 20 new people. On the other hand, Rado is to invest PLN 6 million to buy a production hall and the equipment for metal extraction from electronic devices.

EuroPark Mielec has already issued 12 business permits in 2016 for companies to operate in the zone. As a result, 250 new jobs will be created and PLN 241m will be invested there. n

Mondelēz in Bielany Wrocławskie Mondelēz International officially began the construction of its new global Research, Development & Quality (RDQ) site in Bielany Wroclawskie. With a symbolic turn of the first shovelful of soil at the groundbreaking ceremony, company executives and local officials marked this important milestone for Poland and the company's RDQ network in Europe.

The R&D facility is expected to open in the first quarter of 2017 and will support new products and technologies for beloved Power Brands like Oreao, Milka and belVita. Apart from office space, the new centre will be equipped with cutting edge laboratories, furnishings and appliances to perform necessary research. According to

the investor, one of the most important factors in favour of this investment is location, ie, Wroclaw, a very important research and development centre in Poland.

The investment will not only boost the company's already innovative global chocolate and biscuit Power Brands, but it is also expected to host 250 scientists, engineers and other specialists.

Mondelez operates in Poland for 24 years; the company offers well-known brands like Milka, Prince Polo, Petitiki, Alpen Gold or Pieguski. The company employs in Poland over 3500 people in seven plants located in Bielany Wrocławskie, Skarbimierz Cieszyn, Jarosław, Jankowice and Płońsk. n

New Investments in Kraków Techno-Park Kraków Techno-Park issued two next business permits. They went to MWM Elektro and GRC Technologie. MWM Elektro will invest at least PLN 8 million and create 5 new jobs in Trzebnia subzone of the Krakow Techno-Park.

The investor plans to build a new production hall to manufacture

mining equipment. Also GRC Technologie got the permit from the zone to build a warehouse in KTP. The company will produce renewable fuels (pellets) and construction materials. GRC plans to spend about PLN 13,5 million on that purpose and to employ at least 35 people. n

July–August 2016

FDI – Incoming

Japanese Ajinomoto in 7 million euro instant noodle expansion In early June, Ajinomoto Poland launched at its factory in Małkinia a unique production line - designed in Japan - for the production of instant soups with noodles in a cup.

With this investment the company has significantly expanded operations in Europe, strengthened production efficiency and increased development opportunities for their food products. The new production line is a major step in the expansion of the factory in Małkinia, with the value of the investment at EUR 7 million.

Launch of a new production line translates into a 2-fold increase in productivity in the factory. Thanks to this project employment at the factory will grow by an additional 80 people, and the number of employees will increase to 300. The

opening ceremony was attended by many important guests, including the Ambassador of Japan Shigeo Matsutomi.

Ajinomoto Poland Sp. o.o. is a manufacturer and distributor of instant soups and pasta dishes.

The company was founded in 1999. Its headquarters is located in Warsaw, while the manufacturing plant is located in Upper Małkinia.

Ajinomoto Poland Sp. o.o. manages brands SAMSMAK, Oyakata, and Yumyum. The annual turnover of the company Ajinomoto Poland Sp. o.o. is approximately 90 million PLN. n

35 2016 July–August

BiznesPolska.pl/EN

FDI – Outgoing

Polish business in Algeria A Polish business delegation headed by deputy minister of development Radosław Domagalski went to Algeria to take part in the series of governmental and business meetings that will open the Algerian market for Polish companies. PAIiIZ was represented there by deputy president Michał Dąbrowski.

During the mission to Algeria, the Polish delegation took part in two forums and B2B sessions. The first one was held in Algiers and coincided with one of the biggest Algerian trade show FIA 2016.

According to deputy minister Domagalski, Algeria is a promising market of Polish products. In his opinion, the similar demographic structure of both countries as well as a good image of Polish companies in Algeria can facilitate the economic cooperation between the two countries. Polish delegation was invited to Algerian Ministry of Industry and Mining as well as the Ministry of Agriculture. “There is no better agri-food machines than those from Poland”, agued deputy minister Domagalski presenting the potential of Polish companies.

On the next day the Polish Algerian forum was arranged in Oran. “We appreciate Polish specialists, said governor of

Advisory Continued from page 27

36

4 Many CEE members have tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of their citizens currently working and living abroad in Britain—which until now was both accommodating and a source of wealth that has often been funneled home to less mobile families.

5 In many countries the British sense of justice, fairness and general order has been idealized. In fact, clients from Poland to Bulgaria have told me that their various legal problems would never happen in London (of course, they might be surprised), and that the courts and legal systems in their home countries are corrupt.

6 Finally, there is history. For many CE leaders, the Second World War was just yesterday, and while

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Oran Abdelghani Zalane. He also mentioned that Polish business delegation comes to Algeria in a perfect moment. “Now the country is diversifying its economy and offers many business incentives for companies”. Over the last two years, Algeria has been implementing a five-year plan of public investments that covers a

in Algeria (CCI) and other expert gathered at the seminar.

Also deputy president of PAIiIZ Michał Dąbrowski, who led the delegation of Polish business to Algeria, appreciates the effect of the mission. “The impressive number of meetings that we had and the opportunity to take part in showed us the great potential

vast range of sectors: construction, mining, energy, industry, medicine and home appliance industries. “This is a big chance for Polish companies”, argued Mouad Aabed, from Oran office of the Trade and Industry Chamber

of Algeria, as well as needs and expectations of both Polish and Algerian businesses. Therefore, a close contact on daily basis seems to be the best way to develop bilateral relationships”, Dąbrowski said. n

the Poles may complain about 1939, the lack of help during the Uprising and Yalta, it certainly was not the British Army that devastated the country and the region.

In short, the new countries are not necessarily fans of the old countries. And once again they do not necessarily share their economic or political interests—even if the PR would state the opposite. Which makes you wonder whether British membership was both the economic and psychological key that held this union together.

At any rate, various new countries are already mobilizing to gain influence while the old countries are primarily worried about getting the UK out. Which means the only certainty when it comes to the EU is in fact uncertainty.

Which is what I promised not to get into.

Which means, for now, over and out.

n

July–August 2016

FDI – Outgoing

Polish companies Go India In the coming years, India is expected to start big investments in its energy sector.

Therefore, the business opportunities for Polish technology companies were one of the topics discussed during the visit of Indian governmental delegation headed by coal secretary, minister Anil Swarup in the Polish Ministry of Development.

“The Indian market is extremely absorbent and prospective regarding mining equipment”, said Michał Dąbrowski.

During the meeting, Mr Dąbrowski presented the offers of Polish mining industry to the Indian delegation. “This offer represents a vast variety of areas in which Polish companies can partner with Indian business”, Dąbrowski argued. “We are very experienced in machinery and mining equipment, innovations for this industry as well as in knowhow that can be transferred from India to Poland easily”, he added.

Dąbrowski also said that due to the long-term focus on India by Polish government, as well as the recent visits of deputy minister of development, Radosław Domagalski-Łabędzki to India, now the negotiations of both sides regarding the implementation of exact projects are very advanced. n

PLN 3 billion for start-ups: Start-In Poland Ministry of Development has presented the new programme for young innovative companies called: Start-in Poland.

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According to Deputy prime minister Mateusz Morawiecki, this will be the biggest start-up accelerating programme in Central and Eastern Europe.

As a part of the Start-in Poland, a company will receive assistance not only in the incubation and business acceleration,

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but also during the further development and international expansion. The Ministry expects that over the next seven years, 1,500 new high-tech companies based on design, IT and engineering solutions will be developed in Poland and ready to compete in foreign markets.

The Start-in Poland programme is open also to large Polish companies, as well as State-owned ones and start-ups. Under the programme the experts will look for Polish and CEE talents, knowhow and innovations that can be implemented within State-owned companies. n

July–August 2016

FDI – Outgoing

Arrinera Hussarya GT supercar debuts in UK The extremely unique and extremely fast Arrinera Hussarya GT supercar has taken a bow at the 2016 Goodwood Festival of Speed.

The Hussarya is the first supercar to come out of Poland and wowed crowds after it first debuted at Poland’s Poznan Motor Show in 2015.

The GT version of the Hussarya is a track-only beast that is powered by a mid-mounted 6.2-liter V8 engine sourced from General Motors that produces 430 horsepower in a body that weighs only 2,755 pounds. All of the power is sent to the rear wheels via a six-speed sequential gearbox.

The car was built specifically for the FIA GT4 championship.

Arrinera plans to produce and sell 3 or 4 units of the GT each year for a price of around $185,000 each.

Each car is ready to race in the FIA GT4 championship straight from the factory. n

39 2016 July–August

BiznesPolska.pl/EN

FDI – Outgoing

Vietnam, Poland expand cooperation Vietnamese National Assembly Vice Chairman Uong Chu Luu met with Polish Deputy Marshal of the Sejm Malgorzata Kidawa-Blonska, Deputy Marshal of the Senate Adam Bielan, Chairman of the Sejm’s Foreign Affairs Committee Grzegorz Schetyna, and Deputy Chairman of the Senate’s Foreign and European Union Affairs Ryszard Majer at a recent business Summit.

Vietnam and Poland should continue expanding cooperation in fields like tourism, education, food processing, and climate change, as they have yet to fully tap their cooperation potential.

Luu affirmed that the Vietnamese State, National Assembly and people continually attach importance to maintaining and developing the multi-faceted cooperation with Poland. Polish parliament leaders agreed that Vietnam and Poland have seen fine development in bilateral relations over the past years, especially in trade and investment.

Poland is currently Vietnam’s leading trade partner in Central and Eastern Europe with two-way trade reaching 761 million USD last year.

The Vietnamese official asked Poland, as an active member of the EU, to maintain support for intensifying Vietnam-EU relations, including the early ratification of the EU-Vietnam free trade agreement, and encouraging the EU to soon recognise Vietnam’s market economy status. These proposals were accepted by Polish parliament leaders.

Regarding the East Sea issue, both sides agreed that all disputes should be addressed by peaceful means, on the basis of international law. They reached a consensus that growing parliamentary cooperation has contributed importantly to fostering the two countries’ bilateral relations, meeting their people’s aspirations and interests.

The two legislative bodies should maintain close coordination at multi-lateral forums such as the

Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and the Asia-Europe Parliamentary Partnership (ASEP) Meeting.

Within his working visit to Poland from June 20-25, Luu also had meetings with Under-Secretary of State at the Foreign Ministry Joanna Wronecka and UnderSecretary of State at the Justice Ministry Lukasz Piebiak, during which they agreed to strengthen cooperation in the diplomatic and judicial areas. n

Japanese push Poles to invest in IT

40

PAIiIZ, JETRO and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan held a seminar on investment opportunities in the IT sector in Japan on 27 June at PAIiIZ Press Centre.

Currently, the Japan External Trade Organization encourage

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foreign investors to enter Japan, especially to the IT sector that is now looking for new technologies in Internet of Things (IoT), Big Data and security of IT systems.

During the seminar information was provided on Japanese economy,

including the IT market, ongoing governmental reforms, as well as the investment incentives and support offered by JETRO for foreign investors. Case studies of effective cooperation with Japanese companies were also presented. n

July–August 2016

FDI – Outgoing

Iran boasts “golden investment opportunities” for Poland Foreign Minister Zarif during the recent Iran-Poland Economic Forum in Warsaw said that the lifting of sanctions against Iran has now presented friendly countries such as Poland with a golden investment opportunity in Iran.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif addressed the Polish-Iranian Economic Forum held in Warsaw, saying “what we expect our economic activists in the private sector to do is to take measures in advancing the two countries’ relations.”

“Iran, with all its geographical advantages, is the most secure country in an unsecure region,” Zarif said. “Fewer countries in the region can hold elections in a peaceful atmosphere by relying on their people. This security presents an investment opportunity for foreign investors.”

Zarif went on to add, “the basis for political and economic power in Iran is the people who will welcome major countries with open arms to have active participation in many economic projects. As a representative of Iranian government, I assure you that banking and economic relations will be soon facilitated for your investment,” Zarif stressed.

Meanwhile, Mohsen Jalalpour, President of Iran’s Chamber of Commerce, who was also attending the forum, said without banking relations, taking full advantage of Iran’s expansive market will not be possible.

“The Prime Minister of Poland should take serious measures in this regard,” he added.

He went on to add that Iranian and Polish firms can participate in joint projects in wood industry, mining, metals, food, motor vehicles and marine industry.

At the end of the forum, 3 MoUs were signed between Iranian and Polish chambers of commerce on investment and energy to boost economic cooperation. n

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FDI – Outgoing

Solar-powered Solliner yacht seeks global buyers Mirosław Skwarek, a cosmetic-jewellery entrepreneur from Gdynia, is a part of the team that came up with the idea of an electric, solar-propelled boat.

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Many people were sceptical about it but they persisted and today sailors from all over the world are buying the Solliners. “We had been thinking about creating a boat that will use the latest technologies and at the same time be environmentally friendly. The boat is easy to operate, so that not only qualified sailors but also regular folks can sail it. It is also suitable for use on every reservoir, including the ones that belong to sailent zones in national parks and natural reserves. Apart from that, we wanted a boat that would not be limited in any way by a battery capacity”, said Skwarek.

Solliner is a small (6.2 metre long) solar-propelled boat. The drive charges during the day and it allows the boat to function for further eight night hours as well.

In case of emergency (on a cloudy day) you can charge your boat using a regular socket. Thanks

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to the solar drive it boasts a zero noise and exhaust emission.

The boat has two energy sources: efficient marine valve-regulated lead-acid (more commonly known as sealed (SLA)) batteries and a photovoltaic cell (a solar panel) that supply the boat with energy up to 1,000 watts. Thanks to it the 2kW electric engine is ready to work for a whole (sunny) day.

“The first one who came up with this idea was Bartosz Puchowski.

He is an engineer, a designer and a constructor, and a technologyfreak above all,” says Paweł Jacheć, the project manager. As a result, an ultra-modern solar boat was created. Thanks to light construction materials, effective energy management and a special shape of the hull, creating surprisingly lot of free space, it can be used both for recreational cruises and for racing.

The roof is also fully adjustable.

The construction of Solliners takes place in Rumia and Gdańsk.

Green Dream Boats, the owner, has already sold 50 Solliners (to customers from Poland, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Holland, Croatia and Montenegro) and there are further orders pending from Western Europe, Dubai, China and even Australia.

One boat costs about 150,000 pln net and the price varies according to which facilities and conveniences a client wants.

“A few of our boats are going be made available to tourists.

They will cruise on Motława River (Gdańsk) and around the Bay of Puck and Chałupy (near Hel). Some of them are going to cruise in Wrocław and Kraków as well. We are extremely proud that so may people have noticed the potential that the Solliners have,“ says Skwarek. n

July–August 2016

FDI – Outgoing

Brainly Acquires OpenStudy Brainly, a multinational social learning network for students and educators, has acquired OpenStudy, a similar, Atlantabased, peer-to-peer study help platform. The combined companies are anticipated to offer students advanced online learning tools, for both inside the classroom and out.

Co-founded by professors from Emory University and Georgia Tech, OpenStudy features a real-time study platform in Q&A format that has reportedly attracted 54 million learners.

Brainly boasts 60 million monthly users across 35 countries and 12 languages. Primarily used by high school and middle school students, Brainly.com and the Brainly app offer platforms to ask and answer questions about math, history, English, biology, chemistry, physics, geography and other subjects.

Brainly is based in Krakow, with U.S. headquarters in New York City.

“With the acquisition of the OpenStudy platform, Brainly has created the best peer-topeer platform for students to follow their curiosity and gain a deeper understanding of a wide variety of subjects along their academic journey,” said Brainly CEO Michal Borkowski.

Both platforms will operate as separately branded entities with their own respective websites and apps, Brainly said in the statement.

Knowledge and data will be shared, and the OpenStudy team will join Brainly, according to edsurge.com.

Last month, Brainly announced a $15 million Series B funding round led by Naspers, intended to accelerate Brainly’s growth globally and expand its presence in the United States.

Specific terms of this deal with OpenStudy were not disclosed.

“Joining forces with Brainly was, excuse the pun, a no-brainer,” said Preetha Ram, CEO and co-founder of OpenStudy, in a prepared

statement. “Our two brands have synergy around one common goal: to enhance the way students learn outside of the classroom.”

OpenStudy’s other co-founder is Ashwin Ram, Preetha’s husband. Together, they created the Open Social Learning concept, with support from Learn Capital, the National Science Foundation and others.

OpenStudy features game mechanics and analytics, real-time interaction and skills assessment engines that provide users with credentials to apply for jobs and internships. n

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Energy – CEE Clean Energy Awards 2016

Winners announced at 3rd annual CEE CLEAN Energy Awards The 3rd annual CEE Clean Energy Awards Gala & Summit was held 9 June, 2016 at InterContinental Hotel in Warsaw, Poland, attracting top executives from clean energy producers, distributors, traders, bankers and financiers from such sectors as energy utilities, wind energy, solar, biogas, LNG and natural gas, WtE, and electric vehicles. These companies, projects, and individuals are leading the dynamic and fast-paced changes in the CEE region’s energy sector.

The 4th annual CEE Clean Energy Awards is set for 8 June 2017. n

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Software/Technology Services Provider

Advisory Services Company

Legal Services Company

JES Energy

PwC Polska

Dentons

Engineering/Construction Services Provider

Waste-to-Energy (WtE) Project

Electric Vehicle of the Year

PBDI S.A.

WtE Krakow – Posco E&C, Ratingen, Engergopomiar

MELEX (Melex Sp. z o.o.)

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July–August 2016

Energy – CEE Clean Energy Awards 2016 Energy Trading Company

Banking/Finance Company

Financing Deal of the Year

Axpo Polska

Bank Ochrony Środowiska S.A.

Polish Sustainable Energy Financing Facility (EBRD)

CEE Clean Energy Investor

Biogas/Biomass Company

Solar Services Provider

China-CEE Investment Cooperation Fund

Poldanor SA

RENA Polska

Solar Energy Company

Wind Services Provider

Wind Energy Company

Caldoris Polska

vortex energy Poland

EDP Renewables Polska

CEE Clean Energy Company of the Year

Clean Energy Project of the Year

ľPGE EO (Renewables Division)

Fortum Power and Heat Polska Multifuel CHP, Zabrze

2016 July–August

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Energy

Poland receives first commercial LNG Cargo The first commercial cargo has arrived in mid-June at Poland’s LNG import terminal, which has been dedicated to the late Polish president, Lech Kaczynski.

Polskie LNG, operator of the terminal at Swinoujscie, announced that the first commercial cargo arrived there June 17 aboard the Al Nuaman tanker from Qatar. It was the first delivery under a term supply contract from Qatargas to Polish state-run importer PGNIG that was signed in March 2010.

The ship unloaded over the weekend and has since departed.

The same ship, which has a cargo capacity of 210,000 m3, was used to deliver cargoes in December 2015 and February 2016 that were used to commission and test the 5bn m3/yr import terminal. Terminal owner Polskie LNG is a subsidiary of state-owned Polish gas grid operator Gaz-System.

An expansion of the terminal’s capacity to 7.5bn m3/yr – equivalent to half Poland's current gas consumption – is underway.

On June 18, the Swinoujscie terminal was dedicated in a naming ceremony to late President Lech Kaczynski.

Poland's Gaz-System is looking at a major redevelopment of its network to enable regasified LNG to be flowed deep into

central Europe. Since the opening of Lithuania's terminal in late 2014, and with Poland's opened late 2015, and the prospect that one could open in Croatia later this decade, there is a stronger possibility than before that LNG could either displace traditional Russian imports in eastern Europe, or prompt Gazprom to keep its prices down in response to competition from cheap spot LNG from the world market.

PGNIG's 1mn metric ton/ yr (1.4bn m3/yr) term contract from Qatargas, however, is indexed to oil prices, and not to cheaper spot gas values.

Last month PGNIG said it also expects Norway's Statoil to deliver a spot cargo in June. n

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July–August 2016

Energy

Ceremony to mark commencement of CHP plant The cornerstone for the new Fortum CHP plant in Zabrze was laid in late June by Lenita Toivakka, the Finnish Minister for Foreign Trade and Development.

Also taking part in the ceremony were Małgorzata Mańka-Szulik, the Mayor of the City of Zabrze, Kazimierz Karolczak, the Member of the Silesian Voivodeship Board and Mikael Lemström, Vice President Production of Fortums' City Solutions division.

Lemström stressed in his speech that the new CHP plant in Zabrze is a key element of Fortum's investment plan for the Silesia region, the total value of which will exceed 1 billion PLN by 2022.

The new CHP plant in Zabrze is planned to start commercial operations by the end of 2018, providing district heating to some 70,000 households in the cities of Zabrze and Bytom.

It will primarily be fueled by refuse derived fuel (RDF) and coal but can also use biomass and a mixture of fuels.

The amount of RDF can be up to 50% of the total fuel usage.

The new plant will replace the

existing purely coal-fired, outdated units in Zabrze and Bytom.

The investment is expected to significantly improve the efficiency of operations and reduce CO2 and other emissions in the area giving good evidence to Fortum’s commitment to the circular economy concept development in Poland. It also fits well

4th Annual

in Fortum's strategy as one the cornerstones of it is providing sustainable solutions to growing cities and urban areas.

Fortum currently has three CHP units and over 800 km of district heating network in Poland, which serve in total 360,000 households in the cities of Płock, Wrocław, Częstochowa, Zabrze and Bytom. n

8 June 2017

CEE CLEAN ENERGY AWARDS 2017 2016 July–August

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Energy

Polish private coal miner sees no miracles as output to dwindle

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Poland won’t avoid shutting down some of its ailing mines as the money funnelled into them by the state-run companies won’t be enough to compensate for stilldepressed fuel prices, according to the country’s biggest private coal producer.

Poland has been draining profitable power producers since 2015 to help shore up loss-making miners. Earlier this year, the country’s three utilities agreed to pour 1.5 billion zloty into Polska Grupa Gornicza, the EU's biggest coal producer, with assurances that more cash injections won’t be required. That helped the company avoid bankruptcy and the cabinet to keep election promises not to close mines.

“Everyone knows that the issue will re-emerge in the next 12 months,” said Michal Herman, the head of PG Silesia Sp. z o.o.

“Again, the source of investment will have to be the power companies, only this time they will need to be more selective, but that’s good. That means that the best mines will survive and the least efficient ones will be closed.”

Coal companies worldwide have endured the worst downturn in decades as a result of stringent environmental rules and a supply glut that sent prices plunging to a multi-year low while pushing some of them, including Czech miner New World Resources Plc, to the brink of bankruptcy.

The Polish government, a vocal defender of coal in the EU, should help the entire industry, for example by lowering the fees and taxes, PG Silesia CEO Herman said. “Everyone is fighting for survival and we are all focusing on what will happen in the next three months and not three years.”

New coal-fired plants The recent uptick in coal prices may not be enough to save Poland’s worst-performing mines as it will impact their long-term contracts

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in 2018 at the earliest, a respite that is needed now, according to Herman. He predicts that staterun mines have only one year to “improve themselves.” At least half of them will make it and coal output needs to slide as new coalfired plants will consume less fuel.

“Eventually the market will find its balance and I don’t believe miracles will happen,” he said.

Herman and Krzysztof Mejer, the deputy mayor of coal town Ruda Slaska, which is home to three of PGG’s 11 mines, see the only rescue for the troubled industry in higher coal prices and taking an axe to costs that are crippling their competitiveness.

Coal puzzle “It’s about cutting production costs,” Mejer said in an interview.

“It will also depend on global prices of the fuel. If they go up, there’s a chance to stabilise the industry. But if the government is complacent about reducing PGG’s debt, the problem will return in three to four years.”

Ruda Slaska, lying at the heart of Silesia region, isn’t afraid of the shift that’s inevitably coming to the mining industry even as PGG’s three mines will merge into one as soon as next year raising the spectre of a decline in the coal output, according to Mejer.

“The mining has been here for more than 200 years and we’ve been through many shake-ups and we’ve seen many mines being closed,” he said. “We’ll survive, it’s just a matter of putting all the pieces of the puzzle in order.” n

July–August 2016

Events

ABSL forecasts 300,000 employees by 2020 ABSL hosted Condoleeza Rice at its annual conference to support the SSC sector.

In Poland there are already 936 service centers, including 676 from abroad, with total jobs in the sector about 212,000 people. “The sector of modern business services has made Poland a recognizable brand and a subject of strategic talks at boardrooms across the globe”, says Wojciech Poplawski, Vice President of ABSL and managing director of Accenture Operations. n

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July–August 2016

Events

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