BizPoland Magazine - March 2013

March 2013 vol. 5 no. 2(33)

Victory in the EU Budget battles… … but all ‘s not quiet on the Eastern Front

FDI News:

City News:

Events:

Uzbekistan beckons Polish companies

Explosive growth of TriCity ports

Poland Outsourcing Awards

Table of Contents March 2013 vol. 5 no. 2(33)

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EU Budget Victory in the EU Budget battles Poland infrastructure fund to start in second quarter 7 Minister: Poland changed the EU narrative on cohesion policy 10 Equities 18 FDI News

(18) Jiangsu Chinese in Warsaw; (19) Uzbekistan beckons Polish companies; (19) Colgate – Palmolive Manufacturing to produce oral rinses; (20) Solvay will build a new plant of silica production in Poland; (22) Polish-Emirates Business Forum 24 City Investment News

(24) Łódź; (25) Gdańsk/Gdynia; (26) Szczecin; (27) Poznań; Bydgoszcz and Toruń; (28)Wrocław; Kraków; (29) Katowice; (30) Eastern Poland 31 Innovators 31 Amazon buys Gdynia-based company behind Kindle ‘text to speech’ 31 Inglot founder passes away 32 Chambers of Commerce News

(32) Korea; Canada; (33) Swiss; Belgium; Britain; (34) Portugal; France; (33) India 36 Poland Outsourcing Awards 36 Winners awarded in 17 categories – Poland Outsourcing and Shared Services Awards Gala 40 Events 40 Miss Polonia 41 Best of retail recognised at EuropaProperty CEE Retail Real Estate Awards Gala 42 Burns Night 43 Business Centre Club Gala

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EU Budget

Victory in the EU Budget battles … and credit upgrades delight Poland’s politicians – but all’s not quiet on the Eastern Front

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The February agreement on the EU budget for the period 2014-20 marks a major political success for Poland yet also for the spending hawks, such as the British government, who pushed for real cuts.

After 18 months of difficult negotiations, EU member states finally agreed on the first-ever real-terms cut in the EU budget. Potential commitments to the EU budget during the 2014-20 will be capped at 1% of EU gross national income. That's equivalent to around €960 billion, representing cuts of 3.5% compared with the current budget. It's also well below the 5% increase proposed by the European Commission.

The Polish delegation returned from Brussels in a triumphant mood. The result was a considerable success for the government. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk described the day the budget compromise was reached as "one of the happiest days of my life. Poland is the biggest beneficiary of the EU. We received €102 billion for the 2007-2013 period and now we are to get €106 billion." Despite EU-wide cuts, Poland will receive more money from Brussels in the coming years - a result most observers viewed as highly-unlikely going into the final round of negotiations.

The country will now have additional means to invest in roads, infrastructure, energy and other projects to fill the development gap between Poland and its western neighbors. The fight over the new budget had pitched net contributors to the west against beneficiaries to the east and south over the past few months, as the big payers insisted that while austerity reigns at state level, the EU budget should also reflect that. The eventual solution looks like a genuine compromise, protecting the development funds so precious to the likes of Poland and the rest of CEE, while cutting less politically powerful beneficiaries who lie outside the “EU club”. The multi-year lobbying efforts of the Tusk government paid off. “Good Polish-German and PolishFrench relations are really helping to get a compromise… [and] not less for cohesion funds.” He was proven to be correct and the overall commitment ceiling of 325 billion euros (Cohesion Funds) gave Poland,

along with Bulgaria, the Czech Republic and Romania, increases in its national cohesion funding.

Of particular symbolic importance for the net contributors was that the ceiling for administrative spending was cut back in the final stretch of the talks (although it will still increase in comparison with the previous budget). The pay and perks of Brussels officials has been the subject of much unfavourable comment in British, German and other countries' press.

"This is a good budget for Poland, but not necessarily for Europe," EU Budget Commissioner Janusz Lewandowski told Polish television on February 9, as he predicted tough negotiations in the European Parliament when it comes to ratifying the budget. "Everyone is eying their neighbours. The Lithuanians show envy about the farming subventions Poland is receiving, the Poles envy Germany. This political envy sometimes outweighs the fiscal vision.”

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www.bizpoland.pl While the budget must be approved by the European Parliament, European Council President Herman Van Rompuy said: "One has to think twice before rejecting this European budget," Van Rompuy warned, "because for the people, for the enterprises, for employment, for youth, for youth employment, for prosperity, the stakes are really high."

Losers The other big loser in the final round of talks was infrastructure spending on energy, transport and telecommunications.

This marked a scaling back of the EU's ambitions, but overall funding for "growth and jobs", which includes research, infrastructure investment and education, received a significant boost compared with the last budget (up by 38%).

In contrast, the largest area of spending--agriculture --suffered cuts. Income support to farmers falls by around 17%, though, controversially for some, it still accounts for around 29% of total spending.

The related category of rural development, environment and fisheries accounts for a further 9% of the total, meaning that agriculture still accounts for the lion's share of the budget, even if it has fallen from around 70% of total spending 30 years

EU Budget ago. The use of agricultural funds has also changed considerably, with much less going towards price supports. The high Common Agricultural Policy payments, heavily tilted towards French farmers, will receive €373.2bn compared with €420.7bn in the 2007-13 budget.

By way of contrast, the level of Cohesion Funds - the second major element in EU spending - actually increased. Distributed amongst poorer member states to help develop infrastructure, the Poles and their allies managed to push the allocation to €325 billion, an increase of €4.5bn from proposals laid out last year. Warsaw was seen as a leader of the group of (mostly CEE) states that has been pushing against the cuts to the budget, with cohesion funding their main worry. Indeed, despite the smaller overall pot, Poland will actually collect more funding over the next seven years, receiving a total of €105.8bn - €72bn in cohesion funds and €28.5bn under CAP. Hungary's overall funding through the period will decrease by 10% from the 20062013 budget to €20.4bn. However, that's a clear bonus for Budapest, which was facing a cut of up to 30% under earlier drafts of the plan. "The main question," according to analysts at Equilor, "is whether Hungary can utilize EU funds more effectively than

it has in the current period." Despite his insistence on continued harsh austerity at home, Czech Prime Minister Petr Necas was also less enthusiastic for the plan, which dropped his country's funding by €6.2bn to offer it €20.5bn to 2020. Under intense pressure at home, the PM still needed however to attempt to paint it as a victory to a largely euro-sceptic electorate. "The negotiations were very complicated and I do not deny that they were also very demanding," Necas said, according to CTK, before claiming that his threats ahead of the summit to veto the budget package helped Prague raise its funding levels. "The veto was meaningful," the PM insisted. However, he also had little choice but to praise the tighter spending plan. "A cut has been made... It is really an austerity financial framework."

Warsaw is pushing to continue the rapid development of infrastructure that started ahead of the Euro 2012 football championships, and has earmarked a new infrastructure fund as its flagship to help stimulate an economy slowing rapidly. This EU budget was particularly important for the country, since it’s the last period when Poland can expect to be a net recipient. From 2020, Poland is expected to be a net payer to the EU budget - and not

Poland infrastructure fund to start in second quarter Poland’s new fund designed to support economic recovery and growth by investing in large infrastructure projects will start operating in the second quarter, a minister told Reuters.

Poland, the largest beneficiary of European Union funds, wants to secure financing for infrastructure investments of up to 500 billion zlotys ($161 bln) until 2020, but is uncertain on how much funding it can secure in the next EU budget.

The fund - Polskie Inwestycje Rozwojowe (PIR) was been flagged already last year. It will use funds from the privatisation of state companies to finance a range of investments, particularly in the energy sector and the building of roads.

Deputy Treasury Minister Pawel Tamborski said the vehicle will act like a development bank, such as the EBRD. He added that Poland would aim to list its shares on the Warsaw bourse and could see the EBRD taking a stake.

The government spent almost 100 billion zlotys ($32 billion) in recent years to

goal at 5 billion zlotys, compared to 9.2 billion zlotys raised in 2012. “Starting 2014 we will no longer be drawing up privatisation income goals,” Tamborski said.

“We should, however, see around 2 billion zlotys flowing in from dividends annually after 2014.”

The fund also allows Poland to raise debt independently, as it will not be counted towards Poland’s borrowing.

The government will also allow its state lender BGK to invest in long-term projects as a debt provider, complementing PIR’s role as an equity partner.

Countries such as Germany and South Korea have also turned to their stateowned development banks to help their Paweł Tamborski, Deputy Treasury Minister economies.

Poland has approved moving minorbuild roads and stadiums ahead of the ity stakes worth 11 billion zlotys in four European soccer tournament last year. state-controlled companies to PIR. These The spending helped Poland remain the include stakes in top Polish utility PGE, only EU member to avoid a recession in the leading bank PKO , insurer PZU, and aftermath of the global financial crisis. chemical group Ciech.

With most assets already sold off, Poland set this year’s privatisation income Source: Reuters

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EU Budget

more than it exports. In a special comment on Poland, the rating firm said structural reforms aimed at tightening the external trade and financial deficit would help the economy and could clear the way for a rating upgrade.

Poland’s A- rating puts it on par with euro-area members Italy and Slovenia.

Poland wins – but Eastern neighbors suffer

its largest recipient, as it is now - after the economy catches up with EU peers.

Cities licking their lips As one can read in regional newspapers, Poland’s city mayors are pleased with the EU budget and are moving quickly to roll out investment plans that had been temporarily on hold. Infrastructure and transportation projects are due to receive higher-priority funding from Brussels.

Rail, tramlines, bus lines, bicycle paths – and any transport means that is green and clean – will be warmly received and cities like Krakow, Poznan and Lodz have already announced plans to accelerate these developments.

Virtual circle: Ratings upgrades

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In the wake of the announced EU budget, Fitch announced that Poland’s debt-rating outlook was raised to positive from stable, citing Poland’s narrowing budget deficit, stabilizing government debt and economic-growth outlook. Fitch kept Poland’s foreign-currency debt grade at A-, the fourth-lowest investment level. The positive outlook indicates an upgrade is more likely than a downgrade or the rating being left unchanged.

“Poland has a solid track record of resilience to the eurozone debt crisis,

despite strong economic and financial links with Western Europe,” Fitch said in its statement. “Medium-term growth prospects are healthy, despite an expected slowdown in 2013 to 1.6 percent on the back of subdued domestic demand.

Polish exporters are well placed to take advantage of the eurozone recovery, and to make inroads into new, more dynamic markets.”

“Fitch’s decision today can be treated de facto as a ratings upgrade, in light of the global economic situation”, Deputy Finance Minister Wojciech Kowalczyk was quoted as saying. “Its impact on our debtservice costs will become visible in the years to come.” The yield on the 10-year government bonds is about 4 percent.

“The Fitch revision comes as a surprise as their tone has been fairly cautious,” said Esther Law, a director of emergingmarkets strategy at Societe Generale in London. “This outlook should also offer reassurance for Polish government debt holders, who are worried about positioning becoming heavier these days.”

Law said she expects “more positive outlook change to come, especially by Moody’s around April.”

Moody's, however, said in late February that it is reluctant to upgrade Poland because the country continues to import

While Poland basks in its warm embrace by the EU, its eastern neighbors will fare worse under the EU’s 20142020 budget plans. Behind the machinations of the budget negotiations lies a new EU retrenchment policy from its eastern borders. The protection of EU Structural and Cohesion funds to the European Union and the gutting of the “Global Europe” spending ceiling, within which the commitments to the Eastern Partnership initiative are housed, demonstrates the increasing disinterest the EU has to further enlargement. It was the non-EU members of Eastern Europe which experienced deep cuts to bring the budget down to the target of 1 per cent of the EU's GDP. The “Europe as a Global Actor” heading which covers the EU’s external activities including pre-accession aid, development under the neighbourhood policy, and humanitarian aid, lost out from an original budget proposal of 72.45 billion euros last July to 58.7 billion euros. To put this into context, the “Competitiveness and Cohesion” heading now constitutes 44.6 per cent of the main EU budget, while the “Europe as a Global Actor” heading comprises just 5.7 per cent of the total funding.

Following the EU Council lobbying, the Commission will now begin internal hearings to decide how the distribution of cuts will affect each programme under the EU’s external headline. The EU has experienced limited success in fostering democracy in Ukraine, Belarus, Armenia and Azerbaijan. The benefits of the Eastern Partnership Funds are thus undermined on all sides and lacking a coherent argument for continued expenditure outside of the EU. Indeed, the focus of the EU has shifted westwards again and the next seven years of the EU budget and the Council have signalled its intent to solidify development in the old Eastern Europe, at the neglect of fostering more development and relations with the new Eastern Europe.

In the meantime, the champagne flows in Warsaw. n

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EU Budget

Minister: Poland changed the EU narrative on cohesion policy Poland changed the narrative that presented the EU’s cohesion policy as something from the past that does not provide solutions to today’s problems, says Piotr Serafin.

Piotr Serafin is Poland’s secretary of state on European Affairs. He previously was deputy head of Cabinet for Janusz Lewandowski, EU Commissioner for Financial Programming and Budget.

He spoke to EurActiv Poland’s Karolina Zbytniewska.

Poland is allocated €105.8 billion under the agreement reached at the level of EU heads of state and government. Jacek Saryusz-Wolski (MEP, Civic Platform) and Bartłomiej Nowak (Centre for International Relations) agree that this budget is “good for Poland but bad for EU”. What is your opinion?

We need to take into account the difficult context, in which the negotiations took

place. It is the context of Europe in crisis, Europe in recession, whose public debt has risen significantly since 2005 when the last budget was being negotiated. It seems to me that in this budget agreement there are many pro-European arguments that will win acclaim also in the European Parliament.

Neither cohesion policy nor agricultural policy are the areas in which there is growth in allocated resources. The real growth takes places in the programmes which are horizontal, where there are no national envelopes. That is why the real growth occurred in research and development [and] Erasmus.

For the first time we also have a financial instrument that will be used to finance energy infrastructure. Until now it has been taking place marginally – the Trans-European Energy Network project had a yearly budget of €20 million for years 2007-2013 while European Economic Recovery Plan also had a small budget.

Therefore I think that in a new budget project there are many arguments in favour of

its approval, especially when recession in Europe is taken into account.

Isn’t it a problem that the commitments were set at €960 billion, €54 billion above the planned payments – the actual sum of money to be spent?

I see the problem with the payments, but I think that it should not be exaggerated. The level of payments is also lower than some member states wanted it to be.

Poland also wanted it to be higher than the current €908.4 billion agreed by the Council.

What solution in this matter will be the best for EU?

I would look for solutions in flexibility, that is, the possibility of moving the unused funds from one year to another. That is the area where European Parliament can play a positive and constructive role.

Coming back to your question whether the budget is good or bad for Europe, I believe that taking into account the circumstances in which Europe is now, it is the best budget possible, with the potential

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EU Budget of altering it especially when it comes to flexibility.

What can be the negative implications if the European Parliament vetoes the budget in its current shape?

Europe without a budget is in a much worse situation than Europe with a budget. Europe needs a budget, especially now, when many countries are fighting the recession or are on the verge of it. That is why we need to create foreseeable conditions for investment, also by community instruments. On a community level the EU does not have too many such instruments at its disposal.

Lack of budget and the scenario of provisional budgets, I think, is a bad scenario because it does not guarantee the predictability of investment, which needs a multiannual horizon.

Will a possible veto from the EP be really constructive and address the elasticity and predictability mentioned before, or will it also be a demonstration of power of the MEPs?

The next weeks will be the time for a constructive debate on how, in this difficult moment in which Europe is now, we can improve the agreement. We must concentrate on how to provide Europe with [predictability] for investment and how to improve the instruments.

It would be really bad if European budget fell victim to the inter-institutional games. I don’t think it lies in EP’s interest.

How can you describe Poland’s net benefits?

During these negotiations we have been stigmatising ‘net’ category – both in negotiations with our partners in the EU and in the internal debates. When it comes to net categories, I can only say that I know five methods of calculating it, and presumably there are more. None of them says anything about the benefits of being a part of the EU. I admit that our contribution to the European budget will be higher than in the years 2007-2013, but it is the proof that Poland is getting richer. It is a fair approach. Richer countries contribute more to the budget and Poland is richer than seven years ago. In the same time the budget agreement, especially in terms of cohesion policy or agricultural policy, is so good for Poland that we do not have any problem with the increase of our contribution.

How big will our contribution be?

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According to our estimations – the EC estimations are more modest – it will be around €30 billion for 2014-2020. It is a bit

more than in a current perspective because the whole budget was reduced. As I said before, we are not happy about it.

MEPs want to review the budget around 2017 if the crisis wanes. Do you agree with that?

If the budget review in 2017 resulted in the bigger budget, I would have nothing against it.

What is essential in planning such a review is, firstly, not to disturb the predictability of investment, especially in the programmes that require a multi-annual horizon. It is important from the point of view of self-governments, companies, R&D units, because it gives predictability.

Budget review cannot lead to the reduction of the budget.

“For the first time we also have a financial instrument that will be used to finance energy infrastructure.”

Secondly, we need to take into account the elections and referendums in member states. Budget debates are destructive and hard and we should not multiply them. The worst instincts appear in them, thus they can be a battlefield of national interests.

I fear that, because of the planned referendums, even if the economic situation improves, it won’t be a better time to discuss the EU budget. On the other hand, it would be a bad idea to become a hostage of the referendum debate in the UK. There will be strict criteria for granting funds, stricter than now. For example, there will be budget implementation reviews in 2016 and 2019. How will we deal with spending the funds, and will we go through these reviews?

We all agree that European budget and cohesion policy should serve to promote growth and increase competitiveness. We don’t have to worry in the areas where criteria of granting the funds constructively regulate the possibility of achieving these goals.

We can argue about the details and I think this will be one of the topics during the negotiations with the EP, especially when we talk about the macroconditionality mechanism in the cohesion policy.

When it comes to this idea as such, also on the European level, we need to adopt some measures so that cohesion policy will serve growth and competitiveness.

I can add that Poland was supporting such an approach and we are possibly the first country to introduce in the current framework the so-called enforceability reserve principle. It means that some of the funds were not allocated and were waiting for the regions which spend their envelopes in the best way. Thanks to it, the best could count on additional funds.

This principle has become a part of current agreement and will be applied in all member states. In Poland it has been applied perfectly so we have no worries here.

When it comes to 2016 review, won’t there be any attempts to reduce the budget and shift some funds to the eurozone budget, which will be operational by then?

I don’t think so. It is still not sure whether the eurozone budget will have been created by 2016. Even if it will have, it will be most probably a modest instrument, oriented towards achieving specific goals connected with contracts to carry out structural reforms.

What is the value of multi-annual financial frameworks is that we programme for many years and we provide security for all investment programmes. The idea of undermining this principle will require unanimity and Poland will not be the only country to oppose it.

How will the possible future accession of Poland to the eurozone change the situation?

From the Polish point of view the question is not if to join the eurozone, but when to do it. Poland does not want to be on the peripheries of European integration but in the centre of it.

Accession to the eurozone should be well prepared – on both sides. Lessons from the crisis should include economic policy, structural reforms introduced in the eurozone candidate countries. Maastricht criteria are not enough.

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www.bizpoland.pl It will be a difficult and lengthy process, the implementation of which will require public support. We should remember that for the last three years there have been only bad news coming to Poland and to the eurozone voters, so the public support has significantly decreased, both in Germany and in Poland. I think that the turning point in the debate about Poland joining the eurozone will be the moment when growth appears. Predictions indicate that it may happen yet in the second half of the year.

What was the key of the successful Polish negotiations?

The Polish negotiation strategy was based on some assumptions. First of all, we needed to act not against but along with EU institutions – with Commission, President Van Rompuy, the European Parliament.

Secondly, we were aware that – especially in terms of cohesion policy – to conclude negotiations on cohesion policy with an outcome favourable for Poland, we needed to change the narrative, which was still present in the European discourse two, three, four years ago, that cohesion policy is a policy of the past that does not provide solutions to the crisis but can even deepen it. The example of Poland proves otherwise

EU Budget and I think that changing the narrative was essential for the atmosphere around the cohesion policy in Europe.

Thirdly, we concluded that the key to the success in negotiations will be the formation of the broadest group of states possible, the so-called coalition of friends of cohesion policy, that will jointly seek a substantial European budget, especially in terms of cohesion policy. We have managed to participate in this front for the last few months.

Budget proportions remained largely the same but they slightly changed. Previously 36% of budget was allocated for cohesion, now – 34%. In comparison, 42% was agricultural policy, now it’s 39%. How will the remaining 5% be spent?

For the Erasmus programme, for research and development. Although the sums allocated for R&D are less than in the Commission’s proposal, they are sill more than in the 2007-2013 framework. We have the Connecting Europe Facility, which was heavily cut, but its most valuable elements remained. The Facility is a breakthrough tool, not only because of money, but also because it will be building a new dynamics of infrastructure investments in the area of energy. They will complete the common

energy market, financing of transport investments will also increase.

What will it mean for Poland and our region?

When it comes to energy infrastructure, I hope Poland will participate in some projects. I think the key issue in the coming years should be breaking the energy isolation of the Baltic states. Connecting Europe Facility should promote it.

We should determine which projects can be used to break the current energy isolation in practice. We think that one of them should be the project of the gas interconnector, in which we are ready to participate. The Commission suggests that such a connection be built between Poland and Lithuania. It would grant us access to gas storage facilities in Latvia. We can also build a LNG terminal in Finland or Estonia.

There is also a chance that we will implement a second phase of the “energy bridge” between Poland and the Baltic states LitPol LINK 1. When it comes to energy, I am confident. I am equally confident when it comes to transport because in this area there are also some advanced discussions going on. These are cross-border road projects and railway projects. We can do it.

Source: EurActiv

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Equities Switchgear and meters producer 4Q earnings in line with expectations Fourth-quarter results of switchgear and meters producer Apator are in line with expectations, Trigon brokerage house wrote in its report. However, the report shows that the market conditions have proven very harsh for the company and the company’s forecasts for 2013 it not very aggressive, Trigon said. In the fourth quarter the company’s revenue rose only slightly. The company met its goal to post full-year net profit of PLN 97 million, with PLN 670 million sales revenues, Trigon said. Apator forecasts its 2013 net profit at between PLN 63 million and PLN 66 million is in line with the broker’s expectations. In last 12 months Apator shares gained almost 43%.

Ukrainian maritime transportation company revenue up by 84% in January KDM Shipping, a Ukrainian maritime transportation company, said its revenue rose by 84% on the month in January, to $ 1.9 million. The volume of the shipped goods increased by 85% on the month in January, to 63,640 tones. KDM Shipping ships goods from Russian and Ukrainian ports to Turkey, Georgia, Italy, Greece and Albania. The company debuted on the Warsaw Stock Exchange in 2012. In last 12 months its shares lost over 17%.

Telephone operator says planned acquisitions pose no threat to 2014 dividend

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Netia, the largest alternative fixed-line operator, said its potential acquisitions planned for this year will not threaten its 2014 dividend, according to CEO Miroslaw Godlewski. Recently Netia said it will assign PLN 128 million for 2013 dividend.

The company hasn’t paid dividends since 2006. Yet on the other hand, Netia just announced that it is searching for new investors.

Analysts expect a 23% annual rise in sales revenues, to PLN 523.1 million, and operational loss of PLN 18.9 million, from operational profit of PLN 236.2 million last

year. The significant revenue growth is due to consolidation of fixed-line telephone company Dialog, analysts say, while poor operational results are due to a 5% annual fall in voice-lines, a 11% fall of ARPU (average rate per user). Because of the poor operational results the company had to set up about PLN 40 million provisioning, analysts said. In last 12 month Netia shares lost almost 34% of their value.

Impexmetal - Non-ferrous metal company reports 4Q net profit fall Impexmetal, a non-ferrous metal company, said its fourth-quarter net profit fell to PLN 8.9 million from PLN 18.4 million in the corresponding period of last year.

Its operational profit fell to PLN 7 million, from PLN 20.1 million a year earlier. In the fourth quarter the company generated PLN 617 million sales revenue, down from PLN 647.3 million a year earlier. For the full year 2012, the company’s net profit fell to PLN 56.4 million, from PLN 104.6 million in 2011, while its sales revenue declined to PLN 2.6 billion, from PLN 2.8 billion.

Tire Internet retailer reports 80% net profit fall

Tire and wheel Internet retailer Oponeo.pl said its full-year net profit fell by 80% on the year in 2012, to PLN 1.46 million, while its full-year sales revenue fell by 21% on the year, to PLN 207.5 million. According to the company’s calculation, in 2012 the European tire distribution market fell by more than 10% which resulted in more severe competition and shrinking margins.

In 2013 Oponeo plans to start sales in the US, to develop distribution in Turkey and the EE and to improve its marketing tools used in Poland.

Agora sees 5%-8% advertising market fall in 2013 Media company Agora forecasts a 5%-8% decrease in the advertising market in 2013.

It also expects a 22%-25% fall in the dailies market, which is the key market for Agora.

According to the company’s forecasts, the advertising in magazines will fall by 13%16%, while TV and radio advertising will decline by 7%-10% and 4%-7%, respectively.

The outdoor advertising will shrink by 3%6% in 2013. The situation will improve in the Internet, expected to gain up to 5% and movie theatres, with possible advertising growth of up to 3%.

Agora swung to a net loss from a net profit in the fourth quarter of 2012, and expects that employment restructuring planned for this year will bring about PLN 18 million of savings. In January, the company completed a process of group redundancies, laying off 247 people. In its financial report Agora added it will continue strict control over all operational costs.

The fourth-quarter net loss of PLN 100,000 is still better than the market consensus, PKO BP brokerage wrote in its daily newspaper. Analysts surveyed

by Polish Press Agency expected Agora to report PLN 4.10 million net loss. In a corresponding period of last year Agora reported PLN 8.9 million net profit. In the fourth quarter the company generated revenues of PLN 309.6 million, down by 7.9% on the year, but slightly more than the market consensus of PLN 305.4 million. Recently the once-powerful media company, Agora has been facing various financial problems, mainly due to shrinking readership base and falling advertising market. In last 12 months its shares lost almost 28%. Its chief executive Piotr Niemczycki resigned in January and the company is looking for his replacement, with Wanda Rapaczynska as interim CEO.

Fire protection systems provider expects sales growth in Russia Mercor, a fire protection systems provider, expects a high sales growth in Russia this year, according to its chief executive Krzysztof Krempec. The company will also focus on strengthening its position in western Europe, Krempec said, adding he wants Tecresa, its Spanish unit, to maintain is present position in the market, while Czech and Slovak unit Hasil will want to increase in market share in the Czech Republic. Mercor also plans to expand its sales in France, Denmark, Sweden and Benelux.

Stock exchange net profit falls by 18.2% on the year in 4Q The Warsaw Stock Exchange fourth-quarter net profit declined by 18.2% on the year, to PLN 20.1 million, the company said. Its operational profit fell by 0.8% on the year, to PLN 26.90 million, on sales revenues 21.7% rise in sales revenues, to PLN 74.1 million. For the full year, the WSE posted consolidated net profit of PLN 106.2 million, down by 20.8% on the year. The full-year net profit attributable to the shareholders fell by 20.9%, to PLN 105.8 million.

March 2013

www.bizpoland.pl Hotel operator to add at least 385 rooms to its network in 2013

Equities few hundred hospitals. Farmacol is the owner, since 2009, of Cefarm Bialystok, a distributor of medicines. In last 12 months its shares gained over 47%.

Real estate developer to start three new housing projects

In 2013 hotel operator Orbis will add at least 385 rooms to its network , the company said. Under the existing agreements, the group will extend its network by four franchise hotels with total 385 room. Two of them - Mercure Piotrkow Trybunalski Vestil and Mercure KrynicaZdroj Resort & Spa - have already opened. By 2014 all new hotels included into the network should operate based on Orbis new strategy: “asset-light”.

Orbis is Poland’s largest hotel operator, managing almost 60 hotels in 25 cities in Poland and 2 hotels in Lithuania. Its hotels operate under Sofitel, Novotel, Mercure, Ibis and Etap/Ibis budget as well as Orbis Hotels and Holiday Inn in Warsaw. In last 12 months Orbis shares lost over 15%.

Real estate developer Gant, together with Futureal, will start three new housing projects, two in Warsaw and one in Wroclaw. The investments, involving a construction of about 750 new flats, will start between March and June 2013. The estimated revenue is at about PLN 277.5 million. It’s quite possible that this year, apart from the above mentioned projects, Gant will start three other ones, but the details are still unclear. Gant is a holding of several dozen SPVs in real estate development and building activity. The building activity is focused on constructing housing units and business premises as well as on selling and managing the built real estates. It is present in seven Polish cities: Warsaw, Wroclaw, Poznan, Gdansk, Krakow, Opole and Polanica Zdroj. In last 12 months its shares lost over 60%.

Broker rises pharmaceutical distributor target price to PLN 41 Brokerage house IDM raised target price of pharmaceutical distributor Farmacol to PLN 41 from PLN 37 and maintained its buy recommendation. Farmacol has been listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange since 1999. Its distribution network covers most of Poland and enables the firm to supply pharmaceuticals and similar products to a few thousand pharmacies and a

2013 March

Kursk Moloko, a Russian unit of dairy producer Milkiland, bought its Russian rival Syrodel for about EUR 2.1 million, Milkiland said. According to Milkiland, initial investments at Syrodel are estimated at EUR 1 million. In 2013 the use of Syrodel `s production capacity is expected to rise to 60% from present 10%. The Netherlandsbased and listed at the Warsaw Stock Exchange Milkiland is a diversified dairy producer operating in Russia and Ukraine, with a wide range of dairy products such as fresh dairy, cheese, and butter. Every day supplies over 500 tons of high quality fresh dairy, cheese and butter to more than 10,000 retail stores across Russia, Ukraine and other CIS countries - from the firm`s 11 factories. In last 12 months its shares lost almost 18%.

Ursus tractor manufacturer-led consortium to supply trolleys Pasta manufacturer expects to swing to net profit in 2012 from net loss

Fashion retailer sales rise by 18% on the year in January Fashion retailer Redan said its sales revenues rose by 18% on the year in January, to PLN 31.6 million. The margin was similar to the one a year earlier. Redan is an owner of popular fashion brands Top Secret, Troll and Drywash as well as a network of discount stores TexitlMarket. In January, the Top Secret, Troll and Drywash brands had 224 own and franchise stores, withe the total size of 35,300 square meters, up by 10% on the year. At the same time TextilMarket had 275 stores with total size of 60,800 square meters, up by 10% on the year. In last 12 months Redan share price lost almost 74%.

Russian unit of dairy producer buys its rival for EUR 2.1 million

Raiffeisen up FMCG distributor target price to PLN 50

A consortium led by Poland tractor and other vehicle maker Ursus will supply lowfloor trolleys for the city of Lublin, Eastern Poland. The value of the deal is PLN 52.8 million. Under the deal Ursus, together with an unidentified Ukrainian company, will deliver 38 low-floor trolleys. The final agreement will be signed after March 2nd.

In last 12 months Ursus share price more than tripled.

Ursus is considering a ten million zloty-plus worth bond issue to finance its expansion plans, the company’s deputy chief executive Karol Zarajczyk said in an interview. The company’s goal is to maintain the same revenue level as well as to expand and to upgrade its offer.

Zarajczyk said that Ursus 2012 full-year results were spectacular, with impressive jump in sales revenue.

Analysts at Raiffeisen Centrobank raised Eurocash - FMCG distributor - target price to PLN 50. They also maintained hold recommendation for the stock. The analysts lowered their fourth-quarter sales revenue forecast to PLN 4.28 billion from PLN 4.62 billion, but raised forecasted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, or EBITDA, to PLN 192 million from PLN 157 million following expected benefits from Tradis consolidation.

In last 12 months Eurocash shares are up by over 57%.

ING Securities upgrades agricultural holding to buy Analysts at ING Securities upgraded Ukrainian agricultural holding Astarta to by from hold and raised its target price to PLN 74.80 from PLN 61.10. In the analysts opinion, after two years of sugar oversupply in the Ukraine, in accounting year 2013/2014 the situation will change dramatically and demand will exceed the supply. Astarta, as the biggest player in

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Equities this market, will be the first one to benefit from the switch.

Footwear company 4Q net profit below expectations – Trigon

Footwear company NG2 (previously CCC) reported fourth-quarter net profit of PLN 55.2 million, down by 15.2% on the year and below the market expectations, Trigon brokerage said. Analysts said that worse than expected results were due to relatively lower gross margin and higher taxes. In the fourth quarter, the company generated PLN 435.8 million of sales revenues, up by 19% on the year, and posted operational profit of PLN 73.1 million, down by 11% on the year. Analysts said worse-than-expected results will likely have a negative effect on the share price. They also point out to slower sales growth dynamics. However, they expect that in 2013 the company will improve its gross margin and thus its bottom line.

In last 12 months the company shares gained almost 29%,

Construction company lowers dividend payout Construction company Unibep will recommend to its shareholders 2012 dividend at PLN 0.10 a share. Last year, the company assigned PLN 4.1 million for the dividend payout. That gave a dividend of PLN 0.12 a share.

Debt trading company improves top line in 3Q, but EBIT below expectations - broker Debt trading company Kredyt Inkaso improved its top line in the third quarter of 2012/2013, but its earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) were below expectations, Trigon brokerage house said. The company revenues rose by 54% on the year, to PLN 29.2 million, its EBIT rose by 3% on the year, to PLN 10.9 million, while its net profit was up by 33%, to PLN 5.7 million.

Based on the third quarter and previous results Trigon estimates Kredyt Inkaso full-year profit of PLN 14 million. In last 12 months Kredyt Inkaso shares lost almost 20% of their value.

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million-worth order portfolio, the daily Parkiet reported, citing the company `s chief executive, Boguslaw Bobrowski.

According to Bobrowski, the already submitted offers imply that in 2013 the company may additional PLN 794 million in new orders. Commenting on expected fourth-quarter results, Bobrowski said that the last three months of the last year held no operational surprises and the only risk is related to a contract in Lodz for PLN 177.5 million. In last 12 months Mostostal Zabrze shares lost over 27%.

company said. The company forecasts that in February coal sales will increase to 5,000 tons and in March to between 25,000 and 30,000 tones. In 2012 coal sales fell by 55% on the year, to 569,570 tones. In last 12 months Sadovaya shares lost over 82% of their value.

Engineering company gets a deal to modernize a copper mine in India A consortium which includes engineering company Kopex will modernize an Indian copper mine Rakha. The company won the deal back in August 2011, but an agreement had never been signed. According to Kopex, it will earn about PLN 158 million for the work done. After the planned modernization, Indian mine will increase its production to 1.5 million tones of copper per year.

In 12 months Kopex shares lost over 42%.

Wine distributor sees double-digit profit growth in 2013/2014 Wine distributor Ambra expects that its profit will increase at double-digit pace in accounting year of 2013/2014, according to the company `s financial director Piotr Kazmierczak. He added that sales should grow in line with the market. Ambra expects that during the second half of its accounting year 2013/2014 its sales will increase by several percent. He added that the dividend should also be higher than the previous one. In last 12 months Ambra shares gained almost 20%.

KBC Securities ups clothing company to buy from hold Analysts at KBC Securities upgraded clothing company Vistula to buy from hold and raised its target price to PLN 1.50 from PLN 1.16, ISBnews reported.

However, in last 12 months Vistula shares lost almost 16%. KBC Securities says the company has a huge growth potential and expect increasing net profit in coming years thanks to improved effectiveness and stable sales expansion, as well as lucrative operations on jewelry market. They add Vistula’s valuation is really very low as compared to its peer group and that, together with solid growth outlook, looks rather promising.

Debt trading company sees doubledigit retail debt market growth in 2013 Presco, debt trading company, expects that Poland `s retail debt market will rise in 2013 at double-digit pace, the company `s financial director Pawel Szejko said in an interview. Szejko added that the company `s 2013 investment will be at the same level than in 2012 and valuations of consumer debt will largely remain the same than last year. Szejko said that smaller rivals might face liquidity problems and didn’t rule out a possibility of taking them over. In last 12 months Presco shares gained almost 58%.

Industrial construction company has order portfolio of PLN 660 million

Ukrainian mining company sells 1,047 tons of coal in January, sees sales growth in coming months

Industrial construction company Mostostal Zabrze has about PLN 660

Ukrainian mining company Sadovaya sold 1,047 tons of coal in January, the

Independent finance and insurance company in deal with Generali InPost Finance, a unit of Integer.pl, an owner of independent postal services operator InPost, signed a deal with insurer Generali. Under the agreement InPost Finance will sell Generali `s insurance policies in its branches and points of sales. InPost Finance expects that in next three years it will become a relevant player on general insurance market. InPost has been operating on Polish market since 2007. The company focuses on electronic financial products such as e-invoices. At present, it has over 100,000 retail customers.

March 2013

www.bizpoland.pl ING Securities maintains buy recommendation for a bookmaker Analysts at ING Securities maintained their buy recommendation for Fortuna Entertainment Group, the largest bookmaker in Central and Eastern Europe Group (in terms of turnover), and set target price at CZK 110, offering 24.86% upside potential. ING expects Fortuna to report good fourth quarter results and that 100% of the company’s 2012 net profit will be assigned for a dividend.

They see the dividend at EUR 0.23 a share that translates into a dividend yield of 6.7%. Fortuna Entertainment Group is the largest bookmaker in Central and Eastern Europe Group (in terms of turnover). Established in 1990 in the Czech Republic, Fortuna transformed itself into a multinational group and extended its operations into Poland, Slovakia and other countries via its internet platform fortuna.win. In last 12 months its shares lost over 16%.

IT company dividend payment yields nearly 8% IT company Macrologic 2012 dividend is likely to be at between PLN 2.00 to PLN 2.50 a share. That would give a dividend yield of between 6.6% and 8.3%. The dividend decision will be made at the company’s shareholders meeting scheduled for March 19. Last year the company’s dividend was at PLN 2.50 a share. The company assigned PLN 4.72 million for the dividend payout, out of PLN 6.1 net profit. In last 12 months the company shares lost over 21%.

IT company struggles with strategy, target price cut by 25% Analysts at Espirito Santo Investment Bank (BESI) maintained buy recommendation for IT company Sygnity, but cut its target price by 25%, to PLN 20.9, due to lower than expected revenues and delays in signing new contracts. On December 6, 2012, Sygnity’s new management board released its strategy for 2013-2015 which, in BESI’s opinion, doesn’t differ much from the one presented in June 2012 by the previous board. The main strategic goals are to increase sales (to an average level of PLN 550 million in 2013-2015), higher profitability and debt reduction.

According to BESI, Sygnity has been undergoing restructuring process since 2007 and often failed to meet its own goals or to meet the market’s expectations. Right now, it’s too early to say if this time it will be different. BESI analysts note that sales, general and administrative costs of Sygnity seem to stabilize. In

2013 March

Equities last 12 months Sygnity shares fell by almost 25%.

Engineering company to focus on China and other foreign markets Engineering company Kopex wants to expand in China and in other foreign markets, PKO BP reported citing the compan’s chief executive, Andrzej Jagiello. Jagiello said that by the end of the first quarter Kopex will release its new strategy. He added that the company keeps recruiting new people, both in Poland and abroad. The company is focused on South American markets, South Africa, China and Russia.

In these countries Kopex plan to expand its production, sales and servicing capacities. Jagiello added that this year the company hopes to sign new contracts in China.

In terms of domestic market, the company plans to build its own coal mine near Oswiecim and has applied for the license expected late 2013 or early 2014. According to Kopex estimated, the mine construction should cost less than PLN 1 billion. In last 12 months Kopex shares lost more than 44%.

Ukrainian coal producer mining production rises by 3.3% in January Coal Energy, the WSE-listed coal producer, said its mining production rose by 3.3% on the year in January, to 139,107 tones. Out of the amount, the power coal production rose by 16.4% on the year, to 124,475 tones, while coking coal production fell by 47.2% on the year, to 14,632 tones. In last 12 months Coal Energy share lost almost half of their value.

Media and fashion group to report single-digit sales growth in 4Q – PKO BP Media and fashion group Empik is expected to show a single-digit sales growth in the fourth quarter in its bookstores Empik and double-digit sales growth in a network of children stores Smyk, according to PKO BP brokerage forecasts. Analysts expect that the gross sales margin remain the same as last year. They forecast Empik’s fourth-quarter net profit at about PLN 55 million and operational profit at about PLN 75 million. In last 12 months Empik share price almost doubled.

Budimex sitting on 1.2 billion pln cash pile.

Construction company Budimex posted strong fourth-quarter results, well above the market consensus, PKO BP brokerage wrote in its daily newsletter. In particular, analysts noted good performance of

its real-estate developing segment that in the last three months of the year generated PLN 197 million revenues and showed operational margin at 11.7%. Very high cash position, at PLN 1.19 billion, was another positive surprise. In the fourth quarter Budimex consolidated net profit rose by 63% on the year, to PLN 109 million, and was by 4% higher than the market consensus. Its operational profit fell by 11% on the year, to PLN 73 million, but was by 9% higher than the consensus. In the last three months of the year Budimex generated PLN 1.5 billion revenues, down by 12% on the year, but up by 43% against the consensus. In last 12 months Budimex shares lost over 24%.

ZPUE cable and power lines manufacturer reports strong results ZPUE is forecasted to show full-year net profit at PLN 29.9 million on PLN 448.5 million revenues, and operational profit at PLN 39.1 million. As for 2013, Trigon forecasts the full-year net profit of PLN 31.7 million, on PLN 476.9 million revenues and operational profit of PLN 57.6 million. Analysts add that in 2012 ZPUE has expanded into new exports markets, increased its production capacity and showed a potential for further takeovers. Over last 12 months its share price on the Warsaw Stock Exchange more than doubled.

Trakcja signs deal with Lodz Urban Railways Engineering company Trakcja - operating on infrastructural construction and energy market - signed a deal with Lodz Urban Railways for PLN 55.2 million. Under the agreement, Trakcja will design and build technical facilities at the railway station Lodz-Widzew, which will become a part of the larger project Lodz Urban Railways.

The work is due to be completed by the end of May 2014. Over the last 12 months Trakcja shares lost half of their value.

Benefit Systems singled out as a “buy” Analysts at UniCredit started to cover Benefit Systems with a buy recommendation and set its target share price at PLN 350. As compared to the current price, it suggests an over 34% upside potential.

In the analysts opinion, the company has huge potential to expand its activity through its MultiSport cards, investing into sports facilities, more aggressive offerings and new product launches.

UniCredit forecasts Benefit Systems to post 2012 full-year net profit at PLN 40.4 million, on PLN 396.6 million revenues. In

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Equities 2013, the net profit is likely to rise to PLN 47.3 million and sales revenues to PLN 476.5 million. Over last 12 months Benefit shares gained almost 67%.

Housing developer hopes to sell 100 apartments per month in 2013 J.W. Construction, one of the largest housing construction companies, hopes to sell 100 new apartments per month in 2013, the company’s economic director, Malgorzata Szwarc-Sroka said. In January J.W. Construction sold 47 apartments, but according to Szwarc-Sroka, the volume should start growing in the coming months. In 2012 the company sold 853 apartments. Szwarc-Sroka added that in 2013 J.W. Construction should generate much better results than in 2012. At the moment, J.W. Construction has about 1,400 apartments to offer with majority being almost finished or to be finished soon. Over last 12 months its shares lost over 42%, dragged down by financial problems in the whole construction sector.

Clothing company optimistic about 2013 outlook Clothing company Vistula is optimistic about its 2013 outlook, said the company’s chief executive Grzegorz Pilch.

Pilch stated he expects Vistula to show one-digit growth in 2013 sales revenues, but warn that the full-year net profit at PLN 18 million might be a difficult target to reach. As for 2012 results, the company is likely to show double-digit sales growth, as planned. One of Vistula units, Deni Cler, is currently restructured, but there is some disappointment related to the jewelry unit W.Kruk’s performance in the fourth quarter. In 2013 Vistula plans to open about 20 new stores - six jewelry stores W.Kruk, seven Vistula, seven under Wolczanka brand and one Deni Cler.

Systems integrator to sign a lucrative deal with power grid PSE Systems integrator Qumak-Sekom submitted the best offer to build an asset management IT system to manage all assets owned by Poland`s power grid Polskie Sieci Elektroenergetyczne SA. Qumak will build the system for PLN 11.96 million and its price was the lowest among four offers. Qumak-Sekom has been listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange since 2007. The company focuses on four strategic areas: business applications, systems integration, intelligent construction technologies and technological support services. Over last 12 months the company shares gained almost 13%.

Coin issuer to post strong 4Q results thanks to gold refining Mennica, Poland’s mint, is likely to post solid financial results for the fourth quarter, Trigon brokerage writes in its report. That’s because rising importance of gold refining segment in the company business - in the fourth quarter Mennica produced 2.3 tones of investment gold, Trigon said. Analysts forecast that in the fourth quarter Mennica generated PLN 710 million revenues and posted net profit of PLN 23 million. As for this year, Mennica is expected to produce 10.5 tones of investment gold, at a forecasted price of PLN 530/oz. Mennica will release its fourth quarter results February 27.

Financial advisory company seen reporting weaker sales data for 4Q Open Finance, financial advisory company, is likely to report weaker sales results for the fourth quarter showing lower sales of mortgage loans, Trigon brokerage says. The fourth-quarter data will also show lower interest in regular saving programs, they add, noting that the abovementioned products offer the highest

margins. However, Trigon expects Open Finance to post solid fourth-quarter net profit of PLN 13 million, up by 35% on the year. That `s because one-offs, including commercial space sale. According to Trigon `s estimates, in the fourth quarter Open Finance generated PLN 1.2 billion new mortgage loans, down by 57.7% on the year. In the whole year of 2012, the new mortgage loan volume shrunk to PLN 6.1 billion, down by 33.2% on the year. The sale of saving products also decreased during last three months of the year. Open Finance will release in annual earnings on March 21.

Business servicing company seen to post 4Q net profit at PLN 1.2 million Impel, a company providing a whole range of business services, is forecasted to post fourth-quarter net profit at PLN 1.2 million, brokerage house Trigon wrote.

That means that for the whole year the company `s net profit will be at PLN27 million. Among Impel `s business units, real-estate servicing and distribution are likely to show better margins, but security segment disappoints. However, the company `s planned acquisitions will strengthen its market position in the coming quarters. Impel will release its fourth-quarter results February 28. Over last 12 months Impel shares gained over 15.5%.

IT company to sign a deal with the National Healthcare Fund IT company and systems integrator Sygnity will sign a contract with the National Healthcare Fund to service its Data Center, Sygnity announced. The value of the deal is PLN 2.79 million and covers 12 month of servicing. The agreement to service the NHF Data Center is another one of this type - after the deal with Polish TV, the statement added. Last

II Wielka Gala

Liderów Świata Bankowości

BANKING FORUM

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March 2013

www.bizpoland.pl week the company announced it won a lucrative deal with the Finance Ministry to build its electronic tax system.Last quarter of 2012 proves good for household appliances company

Equities Clothing retailer reports 19% annual increase in January`s revenues

Retailer`s talks with creditors continue, the company may stay afloat

Footwear and clothing retailer Gino Rossi said its consolidated sales revenues rose by 19% on the year in January, to PLN 19 million. During the same period the sales of footwear brand Gino Rossi rose by 18% on the year, to PLN 10.6 million, while the sales of clothing brand Simple rose by 26% on the year, to PLN 9 million.

Ailing retailer BOMI S.A., an owner of upscale food markets, continues its talks with creditors. The outlook seems to be positive after the creditors agreed to a new share issue, also addressed at the existing shareholders. BOMI’s troubles started in summer last year when the management applied to court for bankruptcy after its banks demanded credit repayment. Over last 12 months its shares lost more than 90%.

Integrated systems supplier in PLN 96 million deal with power distributor

The fourth quarter of 2012 was another good quarter for Amica, household appliances maker, Bank Millennium brokerage said. The analysts expect the company’s fourth-quarter net profit to rise by 44.6% on the year, to PLN 19 million, its sales revenues to increase by 3.5% on the year, to PLN 450.5 million, and its operational profit to be up by 27.2%, to PLN 27.3 million. Analysts note that in 2013 Amica expects a 10% of its sales in Russia, due to larger market share. The company also hopes to expand on Polish market due to new products with higher prices and higher margins. In 2013 Amica plans to increase its oven production capacity by 150,000 pieces a year, to 1.25 million pieces. Bank Millennium has buy recommendation for Amica shares, and a target share price at PLN 67.30. Over last 12 months the company shares gained over 70%.

Construction company in PLN 118 million deal with copper giant Mostostal-Krakow, a unit of construction company Budimex, will build a number of industrial buildings for Poland’s copper giant KGHM Polska Miedz, the company said.

The net value of the deal is PLN 118 million.

The works are to start soon after signing the agreement and the completion is scheduled for May 2015. Budimex is one of Poland’s largest construction holdings. Over last 12 months, which were extremely difficult for construction companies, its shares lost almost 25%.

2013 March

Arcus S.A., integrated systems operator, has signed an agreement with electricity distributor Energa-Operator to provide it with 310,000 of so called intelligent meters. The meters will allow installing an intelligent measurement system. The value of the deal is PLN 96 million. Under new legal regulations, each electric energy user in Poland will need to install such an intelligent meter by 2020. That means total investment of between PLN 7.8 billion to PLN 10.2 billion. Arcus has been listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange since 2007.

Over last 12 months its shares gained almost 56%.

Cereals producer gets buy recommendation Analysts at Bank Millennium brokerage started to cover cereals producer ZPC Otmuchow S.A. with buy recommendation. They also set its target share price at PLN 12.50. Analysts noted that last year’s restructuring of sweets manufacturer Odra Otmuchow, which it took over, will significantly improve the company’s results in 2013. In addition, Otmuchow should benefit from good situation on cocoa and sugar market - the main commodities used for sweets production. In 2013, the company’s net profit is forecasted to rise by 46.1% on the year, to PLN 13.8 million.

Over last 12 months Otmuchow shares gained almost 41% on the Warsaw Stock Exchange.

Engineering company issues bonds valued PLN 149 million in total, restructures debt Trakcja-Tiltra S.A., an industrial construction company, issued three bond series with a total value of PLN 149 million to improve its debt structure, the company announced. The move might give Trakcja shares a necessary boost as over last 12 months they lost almost 48%. The issue took place via private placement.

The goal of the issue was to restructure the company’s outstanding debt. Trakcja wants to focus on its core activity, to complete ongoing orders and to attract new investment, the company said. Trakcja is one of the largest companies operating in infrastructural construction and energy sector. In 2011 it generated PLN 2.14 billion revenues.

Debt trading company buys PLN 55 million-worth debt package in Romania Kredyt Inkaso S.A., debt trading company, has bought a consumer debt portfolio from Piraeus Bank Romania. The total value of the portfolio is estimated at about PLN 55 million. According to the company, the total nominal value of non-performing consumer debts put on sale in Romania is about PLN 2 billion a year. In Bulgaria, the value is estimated at about PLN 1.3 billion.

Kredyt Inkaso provides financial services in preventive debt management and payment monitoring, overdue debt collection, trade in overdue receivables; it also offers factoring and related debt management services.

IT company has 2013 order portfolio of PLN 166 million

Broker expects TV broadcaster to post solid results for 4Q

IT company Sygnity S.A. announced that its backlog for the current year is stable at over PLN 166 million. The data does not include the newest deal from the Finance Ministry for e-tax system of PLN 232 million signed February 1. The order is the largest one in the company’s history.

Sygnity develops advanced IT systems for companies.

Brokerage house Trigon expects TV broadcaster Kino Polska TV to post strong financial results, with earnings before interests, taxes, depreciation and amortization, EBITDA, at PLN 6.1 million, or up by 28% on the year and net profit at PLN 3.6 million, up by 26% on the year. The strong results are due to visible rise in advertising revenues; the broker says and adds the

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Equities market should react positively to the broadcaster earnings. Over last 12 months the share price of Kino Polska TV almost tripled. Trigon estimates that in the fourth quarter advertising revenues were at PLN 4.1 million, which amounts of 15% of all revenues and is a 40% annual rise. For the full year of 2012, the group net profit is forecasted at PLN 14.6 million. Trigon points out the company have no outstanding debt and that in fact has a cash surplus.

Kino Polska has already declared its will to pay 2012 dividend at PLN 0.50 per share.

Group are: soda ash (the second largest producer in Europe) and TDI (number 1 on the Polish market), epoxy & polyester resins, plant protection chemicals and fertilizers, as well as other chemical products which are used in glass, furniture, chemical, food, agriculture and construction industries. Over last 12 months Ciech shares gained over 8%.

with coal mining company Poludniowy Koncern Weglowy to deliver PLN 50.2 million-worth equipment, PKO BP brokerage said in its daily newsletter. In 20 years Famur wants to become the world `s leader on the mining equipment market, the newsletter added, citing the company’s chief executive, Jacek Domagala. Over last 12 months the company’s shares gained almost 47%.

Real-estate developer issues PLN 200 million in 4-year bonds

Retail developer sees opportunity in waste treatment, signs JV with Canadian partner

Real-estate developer Echo Investment S.A. issued 4-year bonds with a total value of PLN 200 million, the company announced. The raised capital will be used for servicing of the company’s outstanding debt. In 2011 Echo Investment generated PLN 406.94 million of consolidated revenues, as compared to PLN 426.4 million generated a year earlier. Over last 12 months the developer’s shares gained 35%.

Real-estate developer to issue PLN 20 million-worth convertible bonds Engineering and construction company sells its unit for PLN 72.32 million Polimex-Mostostal S.A., one of Poland’s largest engineering and construction companies, sold its boiler-making unit Sefako for PLN 72.32 million, the company announced. Polimex has already received PLN 36.16 million as an advance, while the remaining amount will be paid within four months. Polimex said the final price is subject to change depending on financial and operational situation of Sefako, described in the sale agreement. Polimex shares have been under pressure - over last 12 months they lost almost 70%.

Chemical giant to unload some of its assets for USD 13.4 million

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Chemical giant Ciech S.A. has signed a preliminary agreement to sell its 99.6% stake in chemical company ZCh Alwernia for USD 13.4 million, the company announced.

The buyer is Alwernia Invest, a special purpose vehicle owned by chromium compounds manufacturer and distributor Kermas. The agreement is a subject to receiving the market regulator’s consent and paying back about PLN 14.2 million Alwernia owes to Ciech. ZCh Alwernia is a producer of chromium and phosphorus compounds as well as fertilizers. Ciech Chemical Group is one of the leaders in the European chemical market. It comprises more than 40 companies and counts itself among the 50 largest business organizations in Poland. The main products of the

Shareholders in real-estate developer Gant Development S.A. agreed to issue convertible bonds with a value of up to PLN 20 million. The bondholders will get a right to take over ordinary shares with a nominal value of PLN 1.00 a share, issued under conditional capital increase by an amount up to PLN 4 million. Their activity focuses on housing and offices. The company is present in seven Polish cities, including Warsaw, Wroclaw, Poznan, Gdansk, Krakow, Opole and Polanica Zdroj. In 2011 the company generated PLN 279 million of consolidated revenues.

Over last 12 months the company shares lost over 53%. Gant has also recently entered into a deal with Futureal, the Hungary-based developer, to co-develop properties in Poland.

Paper producer buys 50% stake in its Swedish rival

Rank Progress S.A., a property investment and development company based in southwestern Poland, has just signed a jointventure agreement with Waste to Energy Canada Inc. that provides technological solutions for waste materials heat treatment.

Both companies will cooperate in establishing waste materials treatment plants in Poland and in Croatia, in close, longterm cooperation with local authorities.

Real-estate developer to get PLN 23 million from asset sale P.A. Nova S.A., a commercial real-estate developer and general contractor, signed an agreement to sell commercial real-estate for over PLN 23 million. Retail network Kaufland Polskie Markety is the buyer.

P.A. Nova is a provider of comprehensive construction projects. In 2011 it posted consolidated revenues of PLN 174 million.

Gaming company signs significant deal with Sony to enter US market City Interactive S.A., and international publisher, developer and distributor of interactive entertainment products, has received a US license for its game ‘Minesweeper’ in Sony Play Station3 version, the company announced. The license means the game is allowed to be distributed in North America. The debut of the game is scheduled for March 12.

Arctic Paper S.A., the second largest bulky book paper producer in Europe, bought 50% of Swedish paper producer, Rottneros AB, the company announced. During the ongoing share-buy tender Arctic Paper bought shares in Rottneros AB from Skagen Vekst Verdipapirfondet (SVV), its major shareholder. Following the deal, Acrtic Paper will control over 76 million of Rottneros AB shares, or 50.0% stake in the company.

Mining machinery manufacturer in PLN 50 million deal; sets out global ambitions

Producer buys US-based rival for PLN 39.4 million

Famur S.A., manufacturer of mining machinery and equipment, has signed an agreement

PCC Exol SA, a surfactants producer and distributor, completed an acquisition of

March 2013

www.bizpoland.pl US-based PCC Chemax for PLN 39.4 million. Thanks to the acquisition PCC Exol will strengthen its expertise in the area of research and development. It will also get an access to new knowledge and innovative technological solution. PCC Chemax focuses on high-margin surfactants used in various industries, including oil, metal, construction and textile. The company’s portfolio contains over 300 different products. PCC Exol, owned by PCC, is the largest producer of surfactants in Poland and in the region. It offers about 160 products and 300 formulas.

Floor coverings manufacturer wants to unload some of its assets Lentex S.A., floor coverings manufacturer, wants to sell its 19.3% stake in plastics packaging producer Plast-Box S.A. The stake is estimated at PLN 21 million. Lentex S.A. wanted Plast-Box to switch into different type of production, but failed to do so and might acquire Bulgaria-based Devorex instead. Over last year Lentex shares gained over 7%.

Ailing engineering and construction company gets new shareholders Polimex- Mostostal S.A., one of Poland’s largest engineering and construction company that experienced serious liquidity problems last year, has new investors. The company announced that a state-owned Industrial Development Agency currently owns 300 million shares in PolimexMostostal, or 22.48% of the voting rights during a shareholders meeting. Pioneer Pekao Investment Management is another significant investor after acquiring about 74.8 million of shares. PPIM has 5.61% stake in Polimex-Mostostal. Over last 12 months Polimex-Mostostal shares lost almost 70%. Late August Polimex-Mostostal reported it was looking for a strategic investor.

Debt trader buys 485 million pln debt for 85% discount In 2013 Presco Group, a leading company that trades in consumer and corporate debt, will spend about PLN 80 million to buy debt portfolios, said the company’s chief executive, Krzysztof Piwonski. The level of the investment will be thus similar to the one made last year. During three quarters of 2012, the company bought debt portfolio with nominal value of PLN 486 million for PLN 77 million, which was twice as much as in the whole year of 2011.

Piwonski expects than in 2013 the number of to-be-sold debt portfolios will increase slightly leading to lower prices. After nine

2013 March

Equities months of 2012 Presco posted net profit of PLN 13.7 million, on PLN 64.7 million revenues. The company employes 160 people.

Over the last 12 months Presco shares gained over 31%.

Shares still under pressure as construction company wins new PLN 35.96 million order Unibep, a construction company, won an order from Podlaskie voivodship to build new roads, the company said. The value of the deal is PLN 35.96 million. In total, Unibep will build 18.279 kilometers of roads with related infrastructure. Unibep is a construction company operating in housing, industrial and sports-related projects. Apart from Poland, it is also active in Scandinavia and Eastern Europe. In 2011 the company generated PLN 939 million of consolidated revenues. Over last 12 months its shares lost over 9%.

Shares down 70%, fashion retailer says 2013 to be better, with Russia expansion Chief executive at one of Poland’s leading fashion retailers Redan S.A. expects the company to significantly improve its results in 2013, PKO BP brokerage says in its daily newsletter. Bogusz Kruszynski, the CEO, added he hopes the company will post a net profit for the full year. Redan will focus on e-commerce, exports sale and franchise. It also plan to open more stores in Russia than in the Ukraine. Over last year Redan shares lost over 70%.

Polish tire-maker looks to buy European sector firms. Shares up 56% in last 12 months.

Stomil Sanok, Polands leading tire-maker, is taking part in the final stage of negotiations to take over one of European companies operating in automotive industry.

The outcome of the negotiations should be known by the end of the first quarter or at the beginning of the second. The company in question has annual revenues of EUR 100 million. In addition, Stomil Sanok is in talks to take over smaller entities operating in the automotive industry.

In the third quarter of 2012 Stomil Sanok took over French company Rubber and Plastics Systems Sas, which now is being restructured. Over last year Stomil Sanok shares gained almost 56%.

IT system integrator wishes for better margins Sygnity S.A., Poland’s leading IT systems integrator, hopes to significantly improve its results in the first quarter of 2013, said the company’s chief executive, Janusz Guy. Guy said that at the end of 2012 and the beginning of 2013 the company has a good sales mix that translated into better gross margin and closed the year with PLN 100 million in free cash. The present backlog is similar to the one in 2012 when the new order portfolio amounted to PLN 200 million. The CEO added the company is not looking for an investor, but meets with entities that express their interest. For the time being Sygnity has limited its foreign activity, but in the future wants to expand into new markets, especially into Eastern and Southern Europe.

Developer secures 100 million bond financing, set for expansion J.W. Construction Holding S.A, issued PLN 106 million in three-year bonds to roll-over its bonds issued in June 2010, the company said. The company bought back PLN 130 million of bonds and at the moment has PLN 24 million in outstanding bonds. Thanks to the issue and the debt restructuring the developer will be able to start new projects, the company said. It has already received a permit to start housing project in Katowice. It also will start large housing projects in Warsaw and in Gdynia. J.W. Construction is Poland’s largest housing developer, and has been listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange since 2007.

In 2011 the company generated PLN 333 million consolidated revenues. Over last 12 months the company shares lost over 37%.

Construction company will modernize tram infrastructure for PLN 26.29 million ZUE SA will modernize tram lines and related infrastructure in Upper Silesia region, the company announced. The net value of the deal is PLN 26.29 million. The works will last for 20 months. ZUE, based in Krakow, designs and implements construction works for tram and railway infrastructure. In 2011 the company generated PLN 525 million in consolidated revenues.

Over the last 12 months ZUE shares lost more than 14%. n

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Jiangsu Chinese in Warsaw On March 8, 2013, PAIiIZ organizes a business meeting with Chinese delegation from Jiangsu province and representatives of ICT companies. The meeting will take place on 8th March 2013, from 9.30 to 11.30 a.m. at PAIiIZ office in Warsaw (12 Bagatela Str.). If you are interested in taking part in the event, please submit an to: kazimiera. pomianowska@paiz.gov.pl. Participation in the meeting is free of charge.

The following Chinese companies take part in the meeting: Nanjing Putian Telecommunications Co., Ltd., iSoftStone Information System Service Co., td.Group, Jin Sheng Yuan Jian Information & Technology Co., Ltd, Jiangsu Wanho System Engineering Co., Ltd, Jiangsu HopeRun Software Co., Ltd., Design & Digital Technology Services Inc, Wuxi Huishan Software Park Co., Ltd, Zhenjiang Changyuan Information Technology Co., Ltd. Jiangsu province is located centrally on the east coast of the People’s Republic of China. Currently Jiangsu is one of the main trade-investment partners of Poland. Last year Jiangsu rose to second

Irag attracts Polish investors

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On February 18 at PAIZ the "UNIDO Investment growth in Iraq through the development of industrial zones" conference was held. The meeting was one of the points of the program within study visit of representatives of the Iraqi government in Poland.

The delegation included representatives of the governmental institutions of Iraq.

The Polish side was represented by Teresa Korycińska, Director of Support Instruments Department of the Ministry of Economy, Tomasz Ostaszewicz, Head of Bilateral Cooperation and Promotion Department in Ministry of Economy, Grzegorz Gawin, Deputy Director of the Economic Diplomacy Department in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The meeting was organized by UNIDO in cooperation with PAIiIZ. During the meeting, the prospects for the future Polish-Iraqi cooperation in the context of Polish experience in initiating and promoting special economic zones were discussed.

“Poland is the optimistic part of Europe”, said Sławomir Majman, President of PAIZ, expressing the belief that the meeting will be

position among Chinese provinces, after Guangzhou/Guangdong being first, in international trade. The annual turnover summed up to USD 539 bln, while export, mainly the machinery, electronic

and textile sectors, reached USD 312 bln.

Jiangsu investors’ activity keeps rising.

The initial calculation of Jiangsu foreign trade turnover shows 15 per cent growth compared to 2010.

a process of mutual discovery of Poland and Iraq all over again.

Dr Sami Mati Al-Kasspetrous, Deputy Minister of Planning on technical issues presented directions of the Iraqi budget plan to the 2017, stressing that part of this amount will be used for the production of cement, glass and exploitation of oil and the development of industry, archeology and tourism.

Dr Hameed Ali Al-Anbari, a member of the Advisory Council of the Prime Minister of Iraq cordially invited Polish entrepreneurs to visit Baghdad during the next year's fair.

“The meeting will encourage local entrepreneurs to cooperate with Iraq”, expressed Director Korycińska.

Other points of the study visit of the delegation from Iraq include a visit to the Starachowice and Tarnobrzeg Special Economic Zone as well as the Kraków Technology Park.

Swedspan realized as part of its modern and state-of-the-art ultra-thin HDF production complex in the Orla municipality, the Podlaskie region.

Swedspan, an international producer of wood-based panels, which is part of the IKEA Industry Group, has completed the construction of the new Material Development Centre.

The new centre will be one of the most innovative material development facilities in Europe dedicated to the wood-based panels production technology. Currently fit-out works are carried out in the building and the installation of the first machinery has just started. The centre is to be launched in spring 2013.

The development team will consist of 5 engineers. The centre will be developing innovative solutions for the use of wood fibres and production of wood-based boards and panels, and also testing new surfacing technologies (foiling and lacquering). It is planned the cooperation with research institutions both domestically and abroad.

The centre will be equipped with two high precision lab presses for the

Swedspan Polska completes construction of new Material Development Centre The investment - worth a total of EUR 2.5 million - is another investment of

March 2013

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FDI News

Uzbekistan beckons Polish companies Polish Agency for Enterprise Development, in collaboration with the Ministry of Economy and the Trade and Investment Promotion Section of the Polish Embassy in Tashkent is pleased to invite Polish entrepreneurs to participate in the mission to Uzbekistan (Tashkent and Fergana). The mission, led by Andrzej Dycha, Undersecretary

Colgate – Palmolive Manufacturing to produce oral rinses

of State in the Ministry of Economy, will be held on 2-6 April 2013. It is possible to apply for refund of the costs of participation in the mission of the de minimis aid granted by the Ministry. More information on: www.een.org.pl/index.php/ Targi_2/articles/ misja_uzbekistan_ kwiecien_2013.html.

(EEN)

On February 8, 2013 Colgate - Palmolive Manufacturing (Poland) Sp. z o.o. company received permit to operate a business in the Świdnica Subzone. The Company will produce oral rinses. Entrepreneur guaranteed the investment of at least PLN 102.5 million and employ at least 80 employees.

The company plans to complete the investment no later than 31.12.2015.

production of thin boards and sandwich constructions plus a sanding machine, a lab foiling line suitable for various types of foils and glues, as well as a lacquering line of the same width for UV and water-based lacquers. This setup enables the simulation of production conditions in an adequately smaller scale in the laboratory for future oriented product development.

Swedspan’s production complex in the Orla municipality, part of which is the new Material Development Centre, is one of the most innovative plants of its kind in Europe and in the world.

The company operates in Poland for several years. In 2010, the investment of Swedspan, involving the construction of a modern production complex ultra-thin HDF boards, was one of the biggest projects of the Polish Information and Foreign Investment Agency and one of the most important projects in Eastern Poland.

Polish automotive exports During the period from January to November 2012 Polish automotive exports equaled almost EUR 16.49 bln. It is 7.27%

2013 March

less than in 2011. Exports to the EU states (81.82% of whole automotive exports) fell by 9.4 % (90.63% growth dynamics), while exports towards non-EU countries rose by 6% (106.12% growth dynamics).

After first 11 months of 2012, the value of parts and accessories export equaled EUR 6.21 bln, 4.46% more than in analogues period of 2011. Parts and accessories constituted 37.69% of the total automotive export.

The size of abovementioned part of automotive export rose by 4.22% compared to 2011.

88.14% of exported parts and accessories were sent to the EU markets (103% growth dynamics). The export towards non-EU addressees rose as well (116.46% growth dynamics).

Five out of ten main recipient markets have increased. Germany remains the largest recipient (41,32% of the whole Polish automotive exports; 108,99% growth dynamics). Other increased markets include: Czech republic (second position; 7,77% of the whole; 102,54% growth dynamics), UK (forth position; 110,57% growth dynamics), Slovakia (fifth position; 140,89% growth dynamics) and Russia (seventh position; 122,66% growth dynamics).

Councilors of Kielce expand Starachowice SEZ Kielce City Council unanimously decided to extend the Starachowice Special Economic Zone. Now a proposal on the matter will go to the Ministry of Economy.

So far, 6 hectares located on the Olszewskiego Street in Kielce were covered by activity of SEZ. According to considerable interest of investors it was decided to start a procedure that will allow the incorporation of new land for a Special Economic Zone. Kielce Technology Park wants to give additional 6 hectares of land at the disposal of investors - two parcels located on Pakosz street and one on Olszewskiego Street.

At the same time the Park begins efforts to obtain additional money from the Development of Eastern Poland Operational Programme, which will be dedicated to the revitalization of area on Pakosz Street. Director of KPT, Szymon Mazurkiewicz admits that the inclusion of the following areas for SEZ definitely increase the investment attractiveness of the city.

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FDI News

Solvay will build a new plant of silica production in Poland Solvay announced that will invest EUR 75 million in the construction of a new plant in Włocławek with an annual production capacity of 85,000 tons of Highly Dispersible Silica (HDS). The company will produce HDS, including Zeosil ® PREMIUM ®, the latest generation Highly Dispersible Silica, used in the automotive industry for the production of energy-efficient tires.

PREMIUM ® is a unique, patented Highly Dispersible Silica, that allows to reduce fuel consumption up to 7%, while improving other properties of tires.

The plant will be located in the Włocławek subzone of Pomeranian Special Economic Zone, on the Anwil industrial complex, a subsidiary of Polish oil and energy company PKN Orlen. The end of construction is planned for the third quarter of 2014. The new plant, located in central Poland, close to main energy hubs and new highway Warsaw-Gdańsk, will offer logistical advantages to customers in Eastern Europe and Russia. New investment and expansion of the plant in Qingdao (China), will increase by 30% the total capacity of Solvay to produce high dispersion silica.

Dinozatorland in Krakow Kraków Technology Park Management Board issued the first permit in 2013 to operate in the Kraków Special Economic Zone by Dinozatorland Sp. z o.o. company.

Dinozatorland will carry out the project on real property located in the Zator subzone. This is the ninth authorization in the youngest and fastest growing subzone.

The company's offer includes repair and maintenance of transport and construction equipment. Due to reliable and comprehensive services for wide range of customers, the company has developed a strong and very stable position in the forklifts, platforms and mobile trolleys industry. Due to the investment company committed to incur capital expenditures of over 3.3 million zł.

Turkish trade missions for Polish companies

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PAIZ within the promotion program of a general nature is organizing economic missions connected with participation in trade fairs in Turkey: Eurasia Rail,

Yapi Fuari-Turkeybuild, Mining, Natura Resorce and Technology Fair, Izmir International Fair 2013, World Ford International Ford Products & Processing Technologies Exhibition, Cebit Bilisim Eurasia, International Health Tourism Exhibition.

Program of participation of Polish entrepreneurs in the missions and fairs foresees information-promotion activities, participation of Polish companies in the trade fair at the national stand, attendance to a business seminar organized by the PAIZ during the fair, b2b meetings of Polish and Turkish companies on national stand, meeting with representatives of the Turkish economic government.

There is a possibility of funding the participation in the project. The volume of aid for entrepreneurs to participate in the promotion program of a general nature under Submeasure 6.5.2 OP may not exceed 75% of the costs eligible for aid. Companies interested in obtaining a grant must submit an application directly to the Ministry of Economy, Department of Implementation

of Operational Programmes, Plac Trzech Krzyży 3/5, 00-507 Warsaw.

Deadline for submitting applications to the Ministry of Economy for events taking place in April and May ends 30 days before the start of the event. To the events carried out in September, October and November will expire on June 30, 2013.

The project is organized in the framework of the system project "Promotion of Polish economy on the international market" (sub-measure 6.5.1 of the Operational Programme Innovative Economy).

Cargo connection between Poland and China Łódź is the only place in Poland, which has direct and regular railway cargo transports from China.

The train from Czengdu (south-west China) to Łódź runs three times a week and makes 10,000 kilometer route in 15 days, transiting through Kazakhstan, Russia and Belarus.

This connection can strengthen the investment attractiveness of the regions

March 2013

www.bizpoland.pl around logistic centers near Łódź (in Stryków, Piotrków and Bełchatów).

Attractive conditions for investment and a favorable climate for doing business in the province of Łódź also are provided by: convenient location at the intersection of A1 and A2 highways, the Łódź Special Economic Zone and its 44 subzones, relief and exemptions from local taxes, the support system of investment process based on the "one stop shop" formula and the system of financial support for investors using EU funding.

The greatest potential for growth in the Lodz region have such industries as modern textiles and clothing industry, including design, advanced building materials, medicine, pharmacy, cosmetics, energy, with particular emphasis on renewable energy, agriculture and food processing. Innovative projects can be developed in the recently launched ultramodern BioNanoParku.

PAIZ already completed 6 projects In the last month, 6 investors supported

by PAIZ decided to locate investments in Poland. A total of EUR 188 million will be invested creating nearly 2,700 jobs.

Currently PAIZ runs 152 investment projects with a total value over EUR 3.8 billion, which could create 26,900 jobs. Most of the investment comes from the U.S. (45 projects worth EUR 766.05 million, 7,111 jobs planned). It is followed by investors from Germany (17 projects, EUR 525.8 million, 3,504 jobs), the UK (12 projects, EUR 39.9 million jobs in 1,551), China (12 projects, EUR 214 million, 2,053 jobs ), India (6) and France, Belgium, Switzerland and Finland (5 projects).

The first place among the most popular sectors still occupies BPO sector (31 projects, worth EUR 33.05 million, 7,111 declared jobs), just behind the automotive is placed (23 projects, EUR 1,124 million, 6,865 jobs). It is followed by sectors of R&D (15 projects), engineering (11) and ICT (9).

Capital transit and FDI inflows to Poland According to UNCTAD data, foreign direct investment inflow (FDI) to Poland in 2012 would amount to USD 4.1 billion. Prof.

Zbigniew Zimny, UN expert on FDI, explained that the report does not take into account the latest data from the National Bank of Poland. The capital transit also impacts this result.

Professor Zbigniew Zimny said the results of the estimated value of FDI inflow in Poland that was published in January 2013 and admits that UNCTAD failed to include in their report the latest NBP data, according to which the FDI

2013 March

FDI News inflow by November 2012 was USD 5.6 billion. Furthermore, according to professor Zimny this result was highly impacted by one accounting transaction that took place in February 2012 - of value USD 5.2 billion.

The transaction was of the capital transit type. If the capital outflow of this transaction was removed from the NBP data, the level of the FDI would have reached USD 10.8 billion. Based on the FDI inflow in analogous months of the previous years, professor Zimny estimated the inflow of FDI in Poland in December 2012 will reach at least USD 1 billion - summing up the total value of the FDI inflow in 2012 for USD 11.8 billion including the big transaction from the first quarter. The professor says: “This satisfactory result of USD 12 billion was achieved mostly thanks to new investments that provide new vacancies.” He further points out: “The substantial inflow of FDI in Poland in 2012 is also confirmed by the growth of FDI stock in Poland - that raised from USD 198 billion in the end of 2011 to USD 219 billion in the end of 3rd quarter of 2012 (so called international investment position).”

The rankings published by Ernst & Young and Deloitte are also positive. According to Ernst & Young report Polish market is the second most prospective for investments market in Europe. Deloitte’s report ranked Poland 14th in the world and second in Europe (right below Germany) in respect of competitiveness of industrial sector. The agency announces the resumption of counting the inflow of foreign direct investments in Poland.

Lingerie in Paris On 19-21 January 2013, underwear manufacturers from Podlasie presented their products at the most important trade event in the world - at the "Salon International de la Lingerie" (SIL) in Paris.

The second time exhibitors from of Eastern Poland Macroregion took part in the trade mission to the fair, organized by PAIZ. Underwear produced in Eastern Poland is largely exported, not only to European markets, but also to the Arab countries, New Zealand and Japan. Every year, the most important attraction of the event are professional underwear fashion shows prepared by the organizer of the fair. Each of Polish exhibitors had the opportunity to present one of his designs. Over the three days of the fair the shows have been watched by several thousand spectators. At the joint stand of the Eastern Poland following companies were presented: AVA, Gracya, Expose Beauty, Vena, MAT, Gorteks, Axami, GAIA, Tessoro, Kinga, Meva Fashion, Fabio and Miss Fabio.

Automotive industry meets in Wrocław On 17-18 April 2013 in Wrocław the fourth edition of the Moto Idea conference will be held. The honorary patronage over the event took the Ministry of Economy and PAIZ, and BizPoland Magazine is a media sponsor.

Moto Idea is an event of a specific nature which permanently inscribed in the calendar of meetings between representatives of the automotive market in Poland and increasing number of foreign visitors.

This year's event will cover key issues from the point of view of Polish companies and managers: leadership, management and strategy. It will provide new knowledge and groundbreaking ideas, which we hope will inspire the implementation of solutions to increase efficiency and building business value.

Poland to invest 1.1 billion euros in gas piplines: Gaz-System Poland will invest 1.1 billion euros as of 2014 in a gas pipeline network linking a new Baltic LNG terminal at Swinoujscie to its Czech, Slovak and Ukrainian neighbours, Poland’s state-owned gas transmission monopoly Gaz-System said.

“In five years we want to build 940 kilometres of natural gas pipelines to transfer gas from Swinoujscie up to the Czech, Slovak and Ukrainian borders,” Gaz-System spokeswoman Malgorzata Polkowska told AFP. “The investment is worth 4.5 billion zloty” she added of the move, seen as key to boosting energy security by easing the region’s heavy dependence on natural gas pumped in from Soviet-era master Russia.

Gaz-System is building Poland’s first liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal which is to come online in June 2014 with an annual capacity of 7.5 billion cubic metres of gas.

“The new north-south network will allow the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Ukraine to use gas delivered to Swinoujscie,” Polkowska said.

European Union funding will co-finance about a third of the project, she said.

Plans also call for a pipeline from Swinoujscie to Lithuania, a former Soviet republic and EU member which is currently heavily dependent on Russian natural gas.

In 2014, Gaz-System plans to finish a five-year project covering 1,000 kilometres of pipelines connecting the Swinoujscie port LNG terminal to Czech and German gas transmission systems, all of which are worth a total 1.95 billion euro.

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FDI News

Polish-Emirates Business Forum Within the framework of the official visit of the delegation from the United Arab Emirates to Poland, PAIZ organized Polish-Emirates Business Forum. Visitors from the UAE are interested in the development of economic cooperation in energy and agriculture.

The Forum was attended by honorary members of the delegation: HE Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansouri - UAE Minister of Economy, HE Mohammed Ahmed bin Abdul Aziz Al Shehhi - Deputy Minister of Economy, UAE, HE Hamad Buamim - Chairman of the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry and HE Asim Mirza Al. Rahman - UAE Ambassador in Poland.

Minister Al Mansouri pointed out last year’s visit of Prime Minister Donald Tusk in the UAE “Then we got to know the new face of Poland. This visit has opened our eyes to the potential of your countr”.

Both sides emphasized the willingness to strengthen the economic relationship.

“I strongly believe that during today’s forum the entrepreneurs of both countries will get to know potential business partners”, said Deputy Prime Minister Janusz Piechociński. “Our goal is the presence of Polish companies in Dubai”, said the President of PAIZ Sławomir Majman.

During the Forum, in the presence of the Minister Al Mansouri and the Deputy Prime Minister Janusz Piechociński an agreement on cooperation between the Polish Information and Foreign Investment Agency and the Dubai Chamber of Commerce has been signed.

Poland seeks investments from India

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Poland invited Indian investors to explore the emerging business and investment opportunities in the country. The interactive session is a part of road shows Poland is holding on ‘doing business in Poland’ with the participation of a visiting 14-member Polish business delegation, representing aviation, machinery and food processing industries – particularly from eastern Poland.

Polish Deputy Economic Minister Dariusz Bogdan said: “We are the sixth biggest country in the European Union with a working age population of 26.6 million and a strong export performance (135 billion euros in 2011).”

“We are also well integrated with the EU in terms of trade and foreign direct investments,” Bogdan said at an interactive

Jetpad Ship Manufactory LLC Dubai Company, Jetpad Europe LLC Sp. z o.o and EVC-Group.EU Sp. z o.o. signed a letter of intent to run in Poland the production of electric, single watercraft under Jetpad brand. These devices - the world’s first series-produced electric ultralight jet skis - have been designed and developed within Polish - Emirates cooperation.

Program of the visit of the UAE delegation in Poland also includes 1st Meeting of the Polish-Emirates Joint Commission for Economic Co-operation and the opening of

air connection between Warsaw and Dubai operated by Emirates airline.

According to Doing Business 2013 report, the UAE is the second, following Saudi Arabia, country in terms of ease of doing business in the Middle East, and 22nd in the world (before the Netherlands and Switzerland). Polish companies operate in the UAE in sectors of the oil - gas, construction and installation, geodetic services, production of air conditioners, furniture and metal packaging. The number of UAE investments in Poland are rather low. In 2011, the Emirates FDI amounted to about EUR 12 million. n

session with chief executives of Polish and Indian firms here.

The Polish labour market was flexible with educated workforce, which is competitive in wages, Bogdan said.

A recent survey by global services firm Ernst & Young rated Poland as the second most attractive investment destination in Europe for the next three years after Germany and followed by Britain, Russia and France, Bogdan added.

“With sound policies, we have been able to keep our economy stable in terms of inflation, output gap and current account, which is covered by net FDI (foreign direct investment) inflows and EU capital transfers,” the minister told executives at the session, organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI).

According to Polish information and foreign investment agency’s board

member Bozena Czaja, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad) ranked Poland as the sixth most attractive foreign direct investment (FDI) destination worldwide.

The ‘Financial Times’ has listed Poland at the third place globally in quality of processing industry.

“Within Poland, the eastern part is one of the fastest developing area, with lowest labour cost and one of the most eco-friendly regions in Europe. There is a huge potential for road infrastructure development,” Czaja said.

Priority sectors in eastern Poland are food sector, furniture production, metal and machinery, aviation, yacht, tourism and back office operations (business process outsourcing).

Welcoming the Polish delegation, FICCI executive member and Axis Aerospace &

March 2013

www.bizpoland.pl Technologies Ltd. vice-chairman Sudhakar Gande said India was also a huge business opportunity for investors and exporters in Poland.

“You have the knowledge and expertise and we have markets, not just in India but much beyond our borders,” Gande said on the occasion. “Apart from traditional items of trade, both the countries have to collaborate in developing aviation, renewable energy and healthcare facilities in India.”

More companies in Łódź Special Economic Zone On January the 28 another 6 companies received permission to operate in the Łódź Special Economic Zone. The new investment will create 301 jobs. The total capital expenditure declared by six new investors amount to PLN 408 mln. The following companies plan to invest: UMA Investments Sp. z o. o. - located in Kutno Sub Zone invests second time in Poland. The company will build a new production factory, where food products will be manufactured. Iinvestment is estimated of at least PLN 225 mln. The company will create 40 workplaces. Completion of entire project is planned for mid 2015.

FDI News Faller Pharma Packaging Poland Sp. z o. o. - the aim of investment is to run a manufacturing plant in Łódź for pharmaceutical packaging and provide packaging services. The company will invest at least PLN 20,8 mln (till the end of 2015) and should employ at least 35 workers (till the end of 2014).

Rena Łódź Sp. z o. o. - the company will build a new factory in Łódź for the production and assembly of plastic parts for machines used in various industries, including photovoltaics. In regard to the new investment, the Company intends to invest at least PLN 12.9 million (till August 31, 2013), and create at least 10 jobs and maintain employment at the level of 148 employees by the end of 2018.

Pietrucha Sp. z o. o. - it is one of the largest manufacturer of PVC window sills in Europe. The company in Subzone Ksawerów ŁSEZ is to meet new investment involving the expansion of the plant producing plastic products for the construction industry. In regard to the new investment, the company intends to incur capital expenditures within the zone of at least PLN 1.2 million and employ at least six new employees and retain 36 of existing staff vacancies.

MP Production Sp. z o. o. - invests in the ŁSEZ Subzone Turek. The company belongs to a group of Messer Poland - manufacturer and supplier of industrial gases (liquid and compressed), food, medical and specialty gases. The project involves the construction and running the Liquefied Gases Plant including cryogenic air decomposition plant. The Company intends to incur capital expenditures of at least PLN 102.5 million and employ at least 10 new employees.

Intelligent Logistic Solutions Sp. z o. o.

- company will set up in Łódź a modern logistics center and IT center with a server room. The Company's activities will be to provide comprehensive logistics services including warehousing as well as reloading and transportation of goods and provision of IT services and call center services. The Company intends to incur capital expenditures of at least PLN 45 million and employ at least 200 employees. n

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Łódź: Polish extruder sees Lodz of room for expansion Polish family-run vinyl construction products manufacturer Pietrucha has announced it plans to invest more than 1 million pln to expand its plant in Lodz.

A leading national producer of PVC-based window sills and profiles, Pietrucha aims to extend its capacity to make a range of plastics building components at the site in the Lodz economic development sub zone of Ksawerów, according to PAIZ, Poland’s information and foreign investment agency.

The plant, one of two operated by the Blaszki-based company, was built in 2001 and comprises 10,000m² of warehouses, offices and a production hall.

Enlargement will see it creating six more jobs in addition to the existing 36 employees at the site.

Pietrucha, founded by Stanislaw Pietrucha in 1960, has been extruding vinyl window and door profiles since the 1990s at its main Blaszki facility. It also recycles PVC material. The firm says its aim was to create a closed cycle of plastics materials processing.

Today, the company employs a workforce of more than 300. It is now owned by the founder’s son Andrzej Pietrucha who intends to hand over control eventually to his son Jerzy Pietrucha, according to the firm’s website.

Pietrucha also supplies exterior building polyurethane mouldings, XPS insulation panels and furniture vinyl edge banding products. In addition, the Pietrucha group also manufactures vinyl acoustic panels for road screening, PVC sheet piling for civil construction and vinyl bar fencing.

Germany’s Rena Lodz invests in new Polish plant

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Rena Lodz, a German owned manufacturer of plastic components for industrial machinery plans to invest more than €3 million to construct a new production plant in Lodz.

The Polish firm, part of the group Rena GmbH. of Gütenbach, Germany, intends to produce and assemble plastic parts used in machinery for various industries, including photovoltaics, according to PAIZ. Rena Lodz expects to make the investment before September 2013 and the new industrial facility is scheduled to create ten new jobs. Granted a permit for the

project in Lodz Special Economic Zone in January 2013, the company has agreed to maintain a total workforce of 148 by the end of 2018.

Rena, formerly Höllermüller Lodz, has an existing 2,500m² plant in Lodz and employs 200. It has a sister business Rena Poland in Wykroty, which employs 150 and has a 17,500m² operation.

Rena Group supplies production systems for the wet chemical processing of substrates for circuit board and medical technology and for the photovoltaics and semiconductor industries.

Double Tree in Lodz ready to open A four-star DoubleTree by Hilton hotel will open its first location in Poland in Lodz in spring 2013, on ul. Łąkowa, near the former Film Studio (Wytwórni Filmów Fabularnych). Owner is Film Hotel, in turn owned by developer TOYA, which also has properties in Wrocław.

Hospital construction lasts 40 years In Lodz, the Educational and Clinical Center at the Medical University of Lodz has been a “project” since 1974.

The project needs an additional 50 million pln to be completed, and PiS politicians have asked the Minister of Health to resolve the matter. ”We are missing just 5% of the total cost of construction of the center. This money is needed to complete the hospital”, said Boleslaw Piecha, head of the Parliamentary Committee on Health. PiS members from the Lodz region and Marcin Mastalerek and Marcin Witko appealed to the government for financial support of the Medical University of Lodz, which is the investor of the project. ”We request an extraordinary meeting of the Health Committee, which would be held at the Center for Clinical Education in Lodz.

We invite Minister Arlukowicz there says Marcin Mastalerek, head of Lodz Pis (Law and Justice) party. ”I am sure that if it were Gdańsk (hometown of the Prime Minister), the money would be found. But instead Lodz must fight for it”, said Mastalerek. After building the structure of the building in 1974, it fell into disrepair for almost 25 years. In 2004, construction of the facility began anew. So far, nearly a billion zlotys have been invested. The hospital is already partially fitted-out.

March 2013

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Gdańsk/ Gdynia Baltic Convene Fair Almost 100 exhibitors and more than 120 hosted buyers from Baltic Sea countries participated in the first edition of the Baltic Convene Fair - 13 & 14 February 2013 in Vilnius.

Vilnius Convention Bureau set out to create fairs in many ways similar to EIBTM (Barcelona) and Conventa (Ljublana), but devoted strictly to the Baltic Sea countries. Those exhibitors, who decided to get involved (e.g. Gdansk Convention Bureau and Poland Convention Bureau) and hosted buyers, highlighted the event’s advantages - rich educational program, efficient organisation, and a lot of meetings.

Jolanta Beniuliene (Exhibition Director), officially welcomed Convene participants, during the educational program. After her short speech, Paul Kennedy also appeared (Director and Owner of the Kennedy Integrated Solutions and EIBTM and Conventa originator). He talked about new trends in the business meeting industry, significant meaning of the so - called 'secondary cities" and the strength of local and regional events. He also highlighted the case of varied criteria which often play a very important role in the process of choosing the destination, such as accessibility, quality of services, participants safety and innovations. During his speech, Kennedy referred to the meaning of Gdansk, as a great example of a brand revolution - active city promotion (joined effort of Gdansk Tourist Organization and Gdansk Convention Bureau) has helped build Gdansk as an attractive destination, both for tourists and event professionals. During these two days, members of Gdansk Convention Bureau met with more than 40 hosted buyers (e.g. Russia, Lithuania, Estonia, Italy, Germany, UK and Nordic countries). Gdansk and Region stand visitors were mainly asking about the incentive offers (most often connected with sea and amber), accessibility (many of them realised the surprisingly good connection with the rest of the Europe) and conference infrastructure. Unusual and interesting questions also came up - e.g. about incentive offers for the families of conferences participants, the possibility of meeting with Lech Walesa and the most characteristic local cuisine. During first day of the Convene, there was a Welcome reception, during which Vilnius President Artus Zuokas greeted all of the

2013 March

City Investment News participants. Because the second day coincided with Valentine's Day, fair organisers and the Gdansk Convention Bureau representatives prepared a special sweet surprise. Fair participants received gingery cake heart - shaped gifts. "Baltic Convene Fair was a very positive surprise.

Great organisation and very high - profiled hosted buyers programme. The Gdansk Convention Bureau meeting online diary was already full few days after we opened it. I think that the first Convene show was a great event for all exhibitors", said Marta Wisniewska, Convention Bureau Coordinator.

DCT Gdansk appoints new CEO Deepwater Container Terminal Gdansk (DCT Gdansk) has announced the appointment of Maciek Kwiatkowski as the company’s new CEO. He will join the company at the start of April 2013.

Failed competition for the President of the Gdansk port The search for a new president of the Gdansk port, conducted by the Port’s Supervisory Board, has ended without resolution. In the near future the next contest will be announced, with hopes that a new CEO will be in place by late April. Since 13 December 2012 the board is comprised of just one person Jerzy Melaniuk, a former vice president of the Port Authority infrastructure. For the post of President, the Board received 11 applications, and 18 for the post of Vice President of the company. PGA did not disclose the names of the candidates.

One candidate for the seat was Andrzej Bojanowski, from the Gdansk economic development team. Another candidate with strong support was Maria KowalewskaKoska, who has been since 2010 the CEO of Port of Gdansk Exploitation. Both of these candidates have strong connections to the PO party, and some say this is the reason both were rejected.

”Probably, the Supervisory Board had its reasons. It's hard for me to comment on them” says Andrzej Bojanowski. “We have to wait for the next contest announcement. Only after reading the terms and conditions will I decide whether to stand again.”

The position of President of the Port Authority has long been seen as a key party nomination. The former president, Ryszard Strzyżewicz, was a treasurer of PO in Gdynia. He had replaced Stanisława Corę of the PiS party.

The Port in Gdańsk is fully-controlled by the Ministry of Treasury, headed by Mikołaj Budzanowski, which owns 85.7%.

The City of Gdańsk, owns 2% and private individuals own the remaining 12%.

Explosive growth of Tri-City ports driving large investments Nearly 677,000 TEUs via the port of Gdynia and 929,000 TEUs via the port in Gdansk - so many containers of goods were transshipped in the Tricity in 2012. While the economic slowdown is reflected in the results of global transport companies, Tricity ports did well.

“Last year was the best in terms of handling containers in our ports. Together - the port of Gdynia and port of Gdansk trans-shipped about 1.6 million TEUs. And we have very good prospects for this product group - says Janusz Jarosinski, president of the Port of Gdynia. The Port of Gdansk operates two container terminals - Gdansk Container Terminal and DCT Gdańsk. GTK last year shipped 32,400.

The ports have solid connections including feeding of Rotterdam, Bremerhaven and Kaliningrad. However, the driver of the Gdansk port in terms of containers is DCT. Last year DCT handled 896,500 TEUs. The terminal supports large global operator Maersk. Once a week, ships connect Asia with Europe. But that's not all, DCT also supports a weekly Finnish Gulf Service (Gdańsk - Helsinki - Gdańsk) and St. Petersburg Service (Gdańsk - St. Petersburg - Gdańsk).

“DCT Gdansk is the workhorse of the port”, said Jerzy Melaniuk, Vice President of the Port Authority. “In January of this year it’s already over 106,000 TEUs”, adds Boris Wenzel, DCT Director. In Gdynia, the Gdynia Container Terminal (GCT) reloaded almost 268,000 TEUs. Cargo operators, including APL, CMA CGM and Hapag-Lloyd, are handled at the terminal in the weekly calls. Baltic Container Terminal (BCT) in turn reloaded last year nearly 40,000 TEUs, an increase of 13 percent from 2011. The past year was also a

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City Investment News record for rail transport, up 42 percent.

Today, the terminal handles more than 40 trains per week. ”Containers on the track is the future of intermodal transport. Rail transport is becoming viable for distances above 200 km. So the high score in the BCT railway terminal is the result of establishing cooperation with other operators and opening new connections”, says Piotr Frackowiak, BCT Intermodal Manager. “In May of last BCT signed an agreement with an international operator, Baltic Rail company whose connection from Gdynia to Sławków runs two times a week. Among the company's clients are Polzug, which launched a regular line from Poznan to Gdynia. In recent months, BCT has expanded the range of services for handling semi-trailers on railway wagons. The growth is affecting investment decisions of the ports and terminals. The Port of Gdynia is investing 78 million pln to upgrade its Intermodal Rail Terminal. And in the springtime a contractor will be selected for a 125 million pln project, including changes to allow Gdynia to accommodate larger ships.

However, to achieve 15.5-16 meters, the costs can run up to 500 million pln. ”We are looking for opportunities to increase capacity of the port of Gdynia to accept even deeper and longer ships”, says Janusz Jarosiński. “Our primary drawback is immersion, not depth, but also the length of vessels that may affect them.

Our turntable in the inner harbor is only 400 m. We therefore are working on the Naval Shipyard for cooperation.”

Gdynia also invests in terminals.

Gdynia Container Terminal received 23.3 million pln investment from the European Union. Support comes from the Centre for EU Transport Projects. The project includes the expansion of the container terminal, including: construction sites and container storage yards, handling, building refrigerated containers equipment handling, the construction of technical infrastructure for water supply and sewage, electricity grids and the construction of car parks. EU funding also is going to the Baltic Container Terminal BCT. The grant

Szczecin 26

Dutch investor wants to build 22,500-seat stadium ”The City of Szczecin has been in talks for two years with a Dutch investor who is interested in building a new football stadium in Dabie”, said Andrzej Piątak.

The facility would accommodate 22 500

amount is 53.8 million pln, and the total value of the project's eligible costs declared by the BCT is more than 153 million pln. As part of the investment program, BCT will invest by 2015 in equipment, infrastructure and information systems, including purchasing New Shore cranes, and railway equipment. The investment will increase significantly the throughput-capacity of the terminal. It is now at 750,000 TEUs. Implementation of the investment is the first step to achieve in the future transshipments of 1.2 million TEUs. Also the Port of Gdansk is investing in containers.

DCT has won funds from the Centre for EU Transport Projects. Terminal investment

is 50 million pln. The project is expected to cost a total of 177 million pln. Last month, an agreement was signed for the lease of land for the construction of a second container terminal DCT. The new terminal will be located between the ore pier and the existing terminal. Port of Gdansk will lease about 27 ha. The investor is DCT, a company registered in Poland, which belongs to the Global Infrastructure Fund II, a fund managed by the Macquarie Group of Companies, headquartered in Australia.

Construction of the terminal is scheduled to start in 2014, and will last 18 months, and cost more than he investment is 250 million euros.

spectators and its appearance would resemble the Dutch stadium - Eredivisie Roda Kerkrade. Conversations have been ongoing for two years, but now is the first time information has come to light. The creation of the stadium in Dabie involves reconstruction of the existing airport there. Parking spaces would be created,

jobs, and entertainment facilities. More details of the construction of the new stadium are to follow in the coming months.

March 2013

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City Investment News

Poznań Poznan to tap EU money for trams The city of Poznan wants to tap into a new pot of EU money mainly for transportation infrastructure. President Ryszard Grobelny told reporters what the city wants to do with EU funds for 2014-2020. ”We are considering at the moment, two variants of this investment”, Vice President Miroslaw Kruszynski said. The first is the construction of one tram line on the street ul. Wierzbięcice, which would cost 180 million pln (although until recently it was said only about 100 million pln, and then 140 million pln). The second option involves renovation of existing tracks and new tracks – which would consume about 200 million pln. This is not the only tram investment planned by the city. Officials want to extend multiple lines and repairs over a key bridge.

Poznan’s authorities have changed their attitudes towards large investments - largely

Bydgoszcz and Toruń Delcam plc : Delcam Polska opens third office in Bydgoszcz Delcam's subsidiary in Poland, Delcam Polska, has opened a third office in Bydgoszcz to support further growth in sales of the company's CADCAM software in the country. Tomasz Szynka has been appointed manager of the new office.

Bydgoszcz is a major centre for mouldmaking and other types of toolmaking within Poland and so represents an important market for Delcam's design, machining and inspection software. Delcam Polska already has a good number of customers in the region that will now be able to attend training and update courses locally.

The last few months have also seen additional sales and support staff recruited for the head office in Warsaw and for the office in Katowice, bringing the total number of employees to twelve. Further recruitment is planned for this year, following a growing interest in Delcam's software from manufacturing companies in Poland.

President Ryszard Grobelny

National Development Strategy Poland 2030. Third wave of modernity", prepared by the Ministry of Administration and Digitization and adopted by the Council of Ministers. It means that by 2030, Torun and Bydgoszcz will be joined in one area, a so-called national metropolis. Lukasz Niedzwiecki, Deputy Mayor of Bydgoszcz, believes that this approach can pose difficulties. “All subsequent documents are based precisely on the first concept. We are not in a battle to be an independent entity, just so as not to bind us to the power of Toruń.

Here we are fighting not to do something without Toruń, only to rationally divide the money between the two cities. Especially since so far there is no substantive studies

thanks to European Union policy, which looks much more favorably for investment in rail transport. Therefore, the city began to seriously think about building tram lines, which greatly pleased the inhabitants of the area of Naramowice. Vice President Kruszynski also wants to renovate several overpasses that are in such poor condition that they are in danger of closure. Costs would be about 270 million pln, but EU funding is not assured.

The city authorities point out that although most planned investments are for transportation and communication projects, it will also include money on culture, science and innovation, for entrepreneurs and for schools. The president also summed up the period of EU funding for 2007-2013: “The city and the company associated with the city invested a total of 5.5 billion pln, of which about 40 percent was from EU funds.

If this support was not there, we would be able to carry out only a little over half of these projects. It's a big leap for investment”, said Mayor Grobelny.

indicating that the functional relationships linking Bydgoszcz and Toruń have the potential to develop and give concrete economic effects”, he said. Both cities are vying for money from the Ministry of Regional Development by developing a detailed analysis of the functional area of ​​Bydgoszcz and Toruń, the relationship between cities and their impact on each other and the surrounding municipalities and counties. In the so-called “White Paper” of the Ministry of Administration and Digitization, the two cities have to build together an inter-region called "Integrated Territorial Investment."

It would raise additional funds from the European Union by 2020, and implement joint projects.

Bydgoszcz and Toruń together? De facto done By 2030, Bydgoszcz and Toruń will be equally important metropolitan cities. This is the result of the document that was adopted by the government in its strategy "Long-term

2013 March

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City Investment News

Wrocław Palaces and manor houses up for auction As many as 50 historic buildings will be put up for sale this year by the Agricultural Property Agency (ANR), many of which are palaces and manor houses. Many will be at auction for the first time - for others it will be another opportunity to find a new owner.

The Wroclaw branch of the ANR has about 160 objects that could be classified as manor and palace (the highest number among all ANR branches across the country). They are in different states - some are classified as “in ruin”, others devastated after the war with further degradation, and yet some require only minor repairs. The ANR agency

Kraków Deutsche Telekom plans new innovation hub in Krakow Deutsche Telekom is launching an innovation hub in Krakow, to drive partnerships with start-ups. It will the Group's second incubator under the hub:raum brand and will focus on start-ups from southern and central Europe. The innovation hub's first projects are scheduled to begin in the spring, with Telekom providing start-up funds of up to EUR 30,000 for six months as well as access to the group's customer base and technical testing facilities.

Kraków Airport: 14% growth in 2012; new terminal in 2014

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Poland’s second largest city has become an increasingly popular destination for both business and leisure travelers, lured by dynamic economic, as well as by the charms of the city proper (together with the nearby Wieliczka Salt Mines, the entire old town of Kraków was included in the original UNESCO World Heritage Site list in 1978). In fact, over nine million tourists visited the city in 2012, establishing a new all-time high. International arrivals (70% by air) made up a third of this number, a figure clearly reflected in the fortunes of Kraków Airport.

Kraków Airport has historically been the country’s largest regional airport. While this meant handling a meagre 600,000 annual passengers in 2003, Kraków (just as other Polish airports have) has greatly benefited from the country’s accession to the EU in 2004, virtually doubling its traffic within a year (88.6% annual growth in

does not renovate historic buildings; it can only spend their money on work related to the protection of the buildings from destruction. This year, the agency set a goal to sell 12 of its historic buildings. Therefore, it intends to promote more than last year, including at international real estate fair, but also by organizing meetings with developers and media. So far, many investors have hesitated, due to potential troubles in renovating “historic monuments”. Among the manor houses for sale is the manor in Łękanów, which includes a large courtyard, parks and farm buildings.

PKP to sell dozens of real estate properties in the region PKP SA in Wroclaw plans by the end of 2013 to sell several properties in Lower Silesia.

2005) and then once again two years later (93% growth on 2005). While the magic three million passenger landmark was first achieved in 2007, two years of traffic losses then followed. Those were only fully recovered in 2012, when the airport closed the year with a total of 3.44 million passengers (14.1% growth vs. 2011).

Ryanair has 50% of capacity After a prolonged courtship, in mid-December 2012 the launch of a Ryanair base in Kraków was announced. An examination of schedules shows that the additional capacity from two based aircraft will make the low-cost carrier #1 both in terms of capacity (49%) and frequencies (38%). Changes to Ryanair’s offering from Kraków in July 2013 include the withdrawal of Budapest (thrice-weekly in 2012) and introduction of services to Birmingham (daily), Dortmund (4), Gothenburg City (3), Kos (1), Manchester (3) and Cork (3).

Other low-cost carriers also will increase their presence at the airport this summer. easyJet, for which Kraków is the only point served in Poland following its withdrawal from Gdańsk and Warsaw, will offer 14% more seats this summer, as it launches four-weekly flights from London Southend in June. Notably, Kraków is one of the few Polish airports without Wizz Air services, as the airline has a base in nearby Katowice.

Struggling LOT Polish Airlines, which in the 1990s aimed to create a secondary hub in Kraków, has gradually reduced international capacity at the airport, as it has concentrated again on a single hub operation in Warsaw. The most recent cuts involve four-weekly flights to Athens and its daily

PKP SA recently sold a property in the center of Wroclaw for 12.6 million pln. “There is definitely big interest of investors for the property on ul. Sucha in the center of Wroclaw, with an area of ​​1.26 hectares. It is situated in a very attractive and booming area, located at the central railway station, bus station and transport interchange "said a PKP spokesman. He added that the investor will be able to build on the plot a hotel and offices and retail.

Also for sale will be a nearly 1.5-acre property in Legnica, located in the city center near the train station. Railways also plan to sell land with an area of 1.38 ​​ ha in Świebodzice. The property may be used for housing or retail. An undoubted advantage of this location is its proximity to transit routes between Strzegom and Wałbrzych.

service to Paris CDG, effective with the end of current winter season. While the Greek route remains vacant, easyJet continues to provide daily flights to Paris.

Trying to fill the gap left by LOT Polish Airlines’ virtual departure from the international market in Kraków last year was Eurolot, the regional subsidiary of the Polish flag carrier. Services to a number of European destinations were taken up, of which four will not be relaunched in 2013.

The airline continues to operate flights to Amsterdam (6 weekly flights), Zürich (6), Lviv (2), and Dubrovnik (1), and will launch a low frequency service to Varna in Bulgaria.

Sheraton hotel in Kraków for sale The fallout from the demise of Irishman Seán Quinn’s business empire continues with five-star hotels in Sofia and Kraków being put up for sale by the administrator of Quinn Insurance Ltd. Estate agents Jones Lang LaSalle have been chosen as sole agent to sell the freehold interests in the 232-room Sheraton in Kraków in Poland and the 245-room Hilton in Sofia.

It is understood that the administrator is hoping to get about €70 million from the sale, with the proceeds to be paid to the banks and bondholders of Quinn Group as part of a restructuring agreement from a couple of years back.

Quinn bought the hotels in 2006. It is not clear how much he paid, although reports have suggested the Kraków property cost €45 million.

Angus Wade, an executive vice president with Jones Lang LaSalle, described them as two of the “finest hotel investment”

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City Investment News

Katowice Galeria Katowice leased up to 80 percent Developer Neinver has leased about 80 percent of its 52,000 sm retail complex, including a recent new deal for 3800 sm. Tenants include Zara, Reserved, C & A, RTV Euro AGD, Bershka, Stradivarius, Pull & Bear, Oysho, Massimi Dutti, Cropp, House, Mohito, Sin Say, Sephora, Douglas, KappAhl, Solar, Mango, United Colors of Benetton, and iSpot. Neinver said that the largest tenant in the gallery will be Peek & Cloppenburg. The salon offering clothing brands will take 3,800 square meters and three levels of the building. The shopping complex has remaining space for about 200 stores. The second major

opportunities in the region. They also represent “rare opportunities” to acquire market leading hotels, according to Wade.

Krakow wants 11 billion pln from the EU Krakow's City Hall has announced that it wants to obtain EU subsidies for investments worth a total of 11.3 billion pln. Projects for the 2014-20 period will be collected by the city's strategic programs office in cooperation with the Marshall’s office.

In the next budget period, Krakow wants to emphasize transportation, particularly the tram system and a comprehensive network of bicycle paths, with investment costs of about 142 million pln.

Other priorities include cleaner air – and the city hopes to develop a decommissioning program for low-emission sources and develop thermo municipal facilities (565 million pln).

A third major priority in Nowa Huta, the former industrial district located on the outskirts of the city. The city will apply for 2 billion pln for the project "Krakow-Nowa Huta future", the revitalization of the eastern part of the city and the establishment of new economic activities there, with the goal of adding new jobs and making the area an attractive place to live and work.

There are also plans for projects for the development of sports facilities and expansion of recreation and cultural offerings.

tenant will be Multikino, with a 10-screen complex. Galeria Katowice is scheduled to open in fall 2013.

Altus office put up for sale by bankrupcty trustee The bankruptcy trustee of firm Reliz has put up for sale the Altus office building in Katowice, with a mouth-watering starting price set at 260 million pln. Offers are due by 25 March.

The 125-meter high office building is the tallest in Katowice, with 30 floors. It includes a hotel, multiplex cinema, shops

and restaurants and offices. Opened nearly 10 years ago (after four years of construction), the building was built by Mostostal Zabrze Holding, with debt financing provided by Kredyt Bank. The building ownership was taken over by the bank, then sold in July 2003 to Reliz.

The story of the Altus building, then known as the UNI Center, dates back to 1999. After repeated shifting of completion dates, subcontractors could not enforce collection for the work already done.

Now, Altus is up for sale again in a distressed sale.

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City Investment News

Eastern Poland: Bogdan Corporation to supply trolleybuses to Lublin Subsidiary Car Assembly Plant One (Lutsk) of JSC AC Bogdan Motors, part of the Bogdan Corporation, one of the leading Ukrainian automobile producers, in a consortium with Poland's URSUS S.A. has won a tender to supply 38 low-deck trolleybuses to the municipality of Lublin. The report says that the tender bid was accepted on February 20, 2013. The agreement is to be signed on March 2, 2013. Poland's Solaris Bus & Coach S.A. also took part in the tender.

The Bogdan Corporation has not disclosed other details of the project. The corporation promised to present the information when the contract is signed. Corporation Spokesman Serhiy Krasulia told InterfaxUkraine that Bogdan Corporation has to actively look for sales markets in Europe to load the created production facilities, as there is no financing in Ukraine, the state programs on the upgrade of city electric transport do not work, and the state policy of market stimulation is not conducted.

On other hand, the spokesman said, the introduction of a vehicle recycling tax by Russia makes Ukrainian products uncompetitive on the Russian market. "We see a paradox situation – while Ukraine is using the funds of taxpayers to buy old unsafe electric transport in Europe, Europe is ready to buy Ukrainian products, they are as good as European products in technical characteristics, however, the price is lower," he said.

One of the results of looking for partners was a consortium with the Polish company, which will assembly trolleybuses and supply them to the customer. URSUS S.A. produces and sells tractors and agricultural machinery. According to the company, it is the only company in the agricultural machinery segment listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange.

The company has production plants in Lublin, Dobre Miasto, Biedaszki Małe near Kętrzyn and Opalenica.

The industrial assets of Bogdan Corporation include production of cars in Cherkasy with a capacity of 120,000150,000 cars (Lada, Hyundai and cars under its own brand) and 6,000 buses and trolleybuses per year in Lutsk.

NextiraOne wins Rzeszow police contract

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The police headquarters in Rzeszow, after an almost two-year tender, has selected NextiraOne Poland, in the consortium

ZETO Rzeszow, to construct an information distribution system for audio, video, text and alarms in police units in the Podkarpackie region. This includes equipment and network management of regional centres. The contract is for the supply, installation and commissioning of a communication system for IP telephony, info kiosks and multimedia monitors in police units in Podkarpackie. The contract value was set at PLN 14.3 million with a budget estimated at PLN 15 million. The project is co-financed from EU funds.

MPK Rzeszow to sell land for 3 million pln 3 million pln is the asking price for 1.5 hectare plot of land used by MPK Rzeszów.

The carrier has just announced the tender for the sale of land. The plot is adjacent to the blocks of flats at ul. Zabłocie and now serves as an apron for buses. Since the carrier is in the process of building a new depot at another location, this area is no longer needed.

”This is an attractive area, which is suitable even for housing - says Slawomir Krygowski, MPK president. Money from the sale of land will be used for construction of a natural gas bus service.

Białystok stadium first stage to be completed by July The main contractor is the company OHL (Obrascón Huarte Lain) SA, a Spanish firm, and the stadium is owned by the city-controlled firm Bialystok Municipal Stadium.

Structures are developed in Spain, and welded in Bialystok. OHL has had problems meeting deadlines, due to the fact that in

the meantime, two firms from the consortium filed for bankruptcy: Hydrobudowa Poland and PBG. In October 2012, the bankruptcy trustee of Hydrobudowa decided to leave the consortium. The contract for construction is about 206 million pln. The stadium company will issue bonds in the future, to finance the next stage of construction, and a major source of its financing is EU funds from the Regional Operational Programme “Podlaski”. The entire stadium – with a capacity of about 22,500 seats - will be ready in 2014, and will meet tough UEFA standards.

Podlasie Solar Park - the largest solar farm in Poland Amber Energy Production Sp. z o.o. received 13.9 million pln grants from the EU’s Regional Operational Programme for the construction of four solar farms in the Podlasie province with a total capacity of 4 MW. Implementation will begin in 2013 and completion is planned for 2014. Solar farms will be created in the following towns: Kolno, Lipsk i Jedwabne. The project will use more than 9 hectares of land and will produce an-

nually electricity electricity for 2,000 households. The company is waiting for a decision on the award of new grants with a value of about 13 million pln. These funds will be used to build another three solar farms. ”Solar energy is the fastest growing segment of the renewable energy sector in the world.

Currently in Poland there is only one freestanding solar farm with a capacity of 1 MW. Meanwhile in Germany there are solar farms of about 32 000 MW and in Belgium about 3 000 MW. We are the only developed country that does not invest in solar energy and distributed energy - says Przemysław Pięta, CEO of Amber Energy SA. n

March 2013

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Innovators

Amazon buys Gdynia-based company behind Kindle ‘text to speech’ The voice of Kindle now belongs to Amazon.

Amazon says it has acquired IVONA software, a company based in Gdynia that provides the technology for Amazon Kindle features including “text to speech,” in which a computerized voice automatically reads the words of a book aloud.

The purchase price wasn’t disclosed. The deal is sparking speculation that Amazon may be buying IVONA in part to better incorporate its technology into a new smartphone lineup that it’s rumored to be developing.

Kindle VP Dave Limp says in a news release, “IVONA’s exceptional text-to-speech technology leads the industry in natural voice quality, accuracy and ease of use.

IVONA is already instrumental in helping

us deliver excellent accessibility features on Kindle Fire, including Text-to-Speech, Voice Guide and Explore by Touch. The IVONA team shares our passion for innovation and customer obsession, and we look forward to building great products to deliver world-class voice solutions to customers around the world.”

“For more than ten years, the IVONA team has been focused on creating innovative text-to-speech technologies,” said Lukasz Osowski, CEO and co-founder of IVONA. “We are all thrilled that Amazon is supporting our growth so that we can continue to innovate and deliver exceptional voice and language support for our customers.”

IVONA offers voice and language portfolios with 44 voices in 17 languages and more in development. n

Inglot founder passes away

Wojciech Inglot, who founded and ran cosmetics company Inglot that grew into an international success with nearly 400 stores in 50 countries, has died aged 57.

The Polish chemist and businessman died unexpectedly on Saturday after suffering internal haemorrhaging, a friend of Inglot’s and associate of the company, Mariusz Ziomecki, said.

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He was taken to a hospital in Przemysl, the eastern Polish city where his cosmetics are produced, but doctors were unable to save him.

Inglot was born in Przemysl on June 11, 1955, and studied chemistry at Krakow’s prestigious Jagellonian University.

After graduation he began his first chemical manufacturing operation in 1983, when Poland was still under communist rule.

After Poland began its transition to a market economy in 1989, he turned to producing cosmetics, finding success first

at home and then internationally with a range of nail polishes, eye shadows and other products.

Today the Inglot logo can be seen large scale at Times Square in New York and the cosmetics are sold in nearly 400 boutiques and shops in some 50 countries, including Malta.

Recently, Inglot found unexpected success with a breathable nail polish that became a surprise hit with Muslim women.

The enamel, called O2M – for oxygen and moisture – allows air and water to pass through it, unlike traditional varnishes that completely occlude the nail.

Traditional varnishes pose a religious problem for observant Muslim women because of prayers five times a day that require a pre-prayer washing ritual. Islamic scholars have long said water must run over the hands and arms, even the finger nails, leading many women to avoid using polish.

It was developed about four years ago but started to become a hit with Muslim women after an Islamic scholar in November declared that it was permissible under Muslim law because it allowed water to reach the nail. Inglot said in an interview last week that he developed the breathable polish with health-conscious women in mind, and he was taken by surprise by the reception it was getting with some Muslim women.

Inglot is survived by his mother, a brother and a sister. n

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Chambers of Commerce News

Korea Poland – South Korea Chamber supports key sectors From January 2013, the newly-formed Poland-South Korea Chamber of Commerce has begun implementing new projects aimed at the development of the economy of both countries. The main idea is to organize the current projects and help members of the Chamber to resolve the problems of doing business. The Chamber puts an emphasis on information and issuing

an opinion on the functioning of the Polish economy with the Korean economy.

One of the major programs currently implemented in March are renewable energy trade fairs, which will be held in Gweangju from 13 to 15 March and the Seoul Food fair to be held in May in Seoul. These are some of the biggest fairs in Korea. The purpose of the Chamber’s President - Mrs. Bozena Giacchini - is to represent fairs in Korea and improve cooperation with the Minister of Agriculture.

Seoul Food 2013 May 14-17, 2013; Seoul, South Korea

Seoul Food was established in 1983. It is the third largest food industry exhibition in Asia. Every year in May more than 1,450 quality exhibitors and 47,000 visitors come from up to 50 countries. This year Seoul Food will be held from May 14 to May 17.

KOTRA Warsaw would like to invite Polish exhibitors and visitors (potential importers) to participate in this extraordinary event. KOTRA provides the following incentives: Exhibitors and organization services, interpreter, flight ticket refund and accommodation for visitors. Details and more information on www.kotra.pl.

Canada Canada’s Winter business mixer welcomes new Ambassador The annual Polish-Canadian Chamber of Commerce Winter business mixer, with an Arctic theme, was the occasion to welcome the new Ambassador Alexandra Bugailiskis.

The event drew more than 150 VIP guests from amongst Canadian investors in Poland.

Mozów Copper starts drilling program Mozów Copper Ltd, the daughter company of Miedzi Copper Corporation starts in February 2013 its drilling program in Poland.

It will be a next step in the process of investment in Poland which by now was concentrated on reprocessing of existing data, profiling of archival cores and laboratory works.

The first borehole will be initiated in Kije (near Sulechów, Lubuskie Region).

The area belongs to “Mozów” concession.

The drilling process is planned to last ca.

2 months and will be followed by 2 next drillings in the same area. The boreholes will be 2500 meters deep and because they go through localization of potential oil

and gas beds they respect highest security standards exploration drillings.

AECOM expands Europe reach with BP Global Alliance team AECOM has made a significant investment in its Europe business with the acquisition of Lend Lease alliance team serving the BP Global Alliance in Europe. The team manages capital and maintenance projects for BP in Austria, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey and the United Kingdom.

“Lend Lease’s team has an impressive track record and strong reputation. The addition of this team gives us the opportunity to grow our relationship with BP and with other multi-national clients and further strengthens our capability in project, programme and construction management in key countries for us,” said Steve Morriss, AECOM Chief Executive, Europe.

AECOM operations in Poland have been expanded through welcoming on board Polish BP Global Alliance team based in Krakow.

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Chambers of Commerce News

Swiss New Year’s Meeting of the PolishSwiss Chamber of Commerce The Polish-Swiss Chamber of Commerce began 2013 with its traditional New Year’s Meeting. The event took place on the 24th January in Hotel Bristol. With more than 160 guests, the New Year’s Meeting was the biggest networking meeting of the Chamber.

It is dedicated to all members, friends and institutions the Chamber cooperates with.

It was also a good opportunity for new companies to present themselves to other members. This year the host of the meeting was the company Mensys Group. The guest of honour was the Ambassador of Switzerland Mr Lukas Beglinger. During the New Year’s Meeting the guests participated in a presentation of the molecular gastronomy.

Belgium Belgium at Budma - International Construction Fair For years, the Belgian involvement in this Poznan fair has been very active. In 2013 again Belgium had one of the biggest national stands. This year's edition will largely focus on the presentation of intelligent design systems, efficient and low-energy technologies, innovative materials and building systems, as well as integrated control and modern building management.

Speed Business Meeting Belgian Business Chamber hosted a Speed Business Meeting in Poznan, together with„ the Polish-Swiss Chamber of Commerce, the Scandinavian-Polish Chamber of Commerce and the French-Polish Chamber

of Industry and Commerce. Speed Business Meeting is a specific formula of the meeting, during which participants have the opportunity to gain new contacts, find customers, partners, investors etc. It consists of few sessions 8-person tables, each lasting about 15 minutes. During the session, each participant had two minutes for the presentation and exchange of business cards.

Belgian company CFE Polska wins award CFE Polska has been awarded the “Business Fair Play”€Certificate for a fifth consecutive year. In a presentation ceremony held on 7th December 2012 the company was also presented with the special award of the “Business Fair Play”€Golden Statuette. CFE Polska is a general contractor of commercial, residential and industrial buildings, hotels and offices.

“The functioning of a company has a lot in common with construction; a firm foundation

ensures the successful completion of a project and team work is the basis of our success.

Internal relations within a company should be transparent and based on mutual confidence”, said Bruno Lambrecht, CEO of CFE Polska.

The company is currently working on four projects, including GreenWings - a modern office space situated in Warsaw which applies the principles of sustainable construction - as well as the most environmentally-friendly office buildings in Poland.

Belgian Business Mixer – 13 March In March Belgian Business Chamber will organise the Belgian Business Mixer in Warsaw.

The meeting, as usual, will gather the representatives of Belgian companies in Poland and friends of the BBC. It will be a good opportunity to broader your professional network as well as an occasion to spend the evening in good company. The precise venue of the meeting will be announced.

Britain BPCC Business Mixer – February

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Chambers of Commerce News

Portugal Regional expansion of Portugese Chamber In 2013, one of the main priorities of the Polish-Portuguese Chamber of Commerce (PPCC) is to develop activities in the regions. As of now, the PPCC has Regional Representatives in Cracow, Poznan„, Lodz, Lublin, Lisbon and Oporto. The business plan of the regional representations includes organizing different types of events in the regions. First of such meetings in 2013 took place on 5th February in Lublin.

Representatives of the City of Lublin discussed the potential of the region, with its new airport open since December.

JERONIMO MARTINS and the University of Warsaw carry out joint

research. Jeronimo Martins Polska, owner of Biedronka, the biggest retail chain in Poland, and the University of Warsaw signed cooperation agreement within which they will exchange knowledge and also jointly carry out research & development and educational projects. The agreement was signed for a period of 5 years. GLINTT is thinking about entering the Polish energy market with Glintt Energy The Polish branch of the company, founded in 2011 is operating in the health area, but Glintt wants to export also to other sectors. The technology company will negotiate a partnership in the field of energy, with the objective to expand their activity in this growing market. Wind power hits peak to cover half of all electricity production Wind power in Portugal had its most productive day ever in February churning out 85 Gigawatts per hour on a single day and accounting for 54 percent of the country’s electricity consumption that day, according

to statistics released by national grid operator REN. More specifically, with the winds blowing and the turbines turning, they generated some 3,765 Megawatts (MW) and providing the national grid with 51 percent of the electricity being consumed at that time.

This contrasts with the previous Portuguese renewable wind high of 81 GW per hour and 3,702 MW achieved in November 2011.

AMORIM in the Warsaw Metro Amorim provided solutions for the state-ofthe-art Inspiro metro, designed by Siemens to be one of the most efficient and sustainable vehicles of its kind, boasting cuttingedge design. The new Inspiro, which can be experienced first-hand in Warsaw, is one of the most lightweight metro trains currently in existence. Allowing configurations of three to eight carriages, it offers weight savings of around eighteen tonnes based on a six-carriage vehicle.

France Grand Gala of the French Chamber of Commerce In mid-February, the French Chamber of Commerce in Poland (CCIFP) held its annual Gala. More than 300 guests from the Polish and French business community met at the Sofitel Warsaw Victoria, together with Maciej Witucki, President of CCIFP, and top executives of the largest French companies present in Poland.

French investors have so far invested more than 19 billion euro in Poland.

Among the invited guests were Slawomir Majman, President of PAIiIZ, Andrew Arendarski, President of the National Chamber of Commerce, and Sebastian Mikosz, President of LOT Airlines and former Director General of CCIFP in the years 2001 to 2003. The hotel foyer was transformed into the evening in the Paris street from the interwar period, complete with an classic original car from the 20's. There were plenty of famous French songs that dominated in those “flapper” years in the cafes and clubs of Paris, as well as a great dance and acrobatic shows. The whole show was crowned “cancan”. The Gala was attended by representatives of such firms as BNP Paribas, EDF, Orange, Auchan, Air France, Bonduelle, Dalkia, Lafarge, Michelin, Peugeot, Pernod Ricard, KPMG, and Société Générale.

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India India – Poland economic relations deepen The president of PAIZ Sławomir Majman recently met with the Minister of State and Ministry of Foreign Affairs of India, Preneet Kaur. The main topic of the meeting covered the issue of direct foreign investments between these two countries.

India companies are more and more interested in Poland. In 2011 the number of Indian investments in Poland doubled in comparison with this number from 2009. Minister Preneet Knaur said that India considers Poland a good place to invest. Currently PAIZ is supporting six projects from India of total value EUR 71.6 million. The biggest

Chambers of Commerce News investments from India took place in the IT and BPO sectors.

The giant IT company Infosys in 2007 took over the BPO service center from Philips. By the end of 2013 the company plans to increase employment up to 2,000 workers. It will become then the 5th biggest employer in the BPO sector in Poland.

In 2012 in Wrocław the third largest IT company WIPRO of India was established. Two research and development companies, ZenSar Technologies and HCL Technologies (the 5th largest outsourcing supplier in India) opened their branches in Gdańsk and Kraków.

In Września, the UFLEX company from New Dehli built a factory producing plastic packaging - of total value USD 90 million.

It is the biggest production line of foil in the world, that produces annually over 36,000 tons of foil.

The most important Polish investment in India is the “Can-Pack” factory (of total value USD 200 million) that produces cans for beverages. Others worth mentioning are joint-venture production projects are Toruń Manufacturer of Dressing Materials (TZMO), which together with a partner from India established a partnership called Bella India, and the investment of Polmor, which together with its partner from India created a factory producing welding construction for rail vehicles. A most recent achievement of Polish exports to India is the sale of the production line for traditional Indian cheese. The production line was sold by the OBRAM company in Olsztyn and purchased by one of the biggest diary producers in India, the Amul company.

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Poland Outsourcing Awards

Winners awarded in 17 categories – Poland Outsourcing and Shared Services Awards Gala

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At the Awards Gala on 7 February in Warsaw at the Hotel Intercontinental, 17 companies, cities and individuals were distinguished for their exceptional performance. More than 240 guests – including 8 Mayors and Vice-Mayors – attended the Awards Gala and Forum, which singled out Winners from 125 nominations. In a tough competition among world-class firms, the following firms took first place:

Best Employer of the Year – Shared Services

Best Shared Services firm of the year

Credit Suisse

Lifetime Achievement Award

Best Recruitment Firm of the Year

Romek Lubaczewski, PwC

Final Winners:

Green Towers

State Street Services (Poland)

Hays Poland Business Centre Manager of the Year

Scott Newman - State Street Services Best Professional Advisory Services Firm

PwC Best new office development for Business Services

Top CSR initiative of the Year

Top Developer of the Decade

Poza Horyzonty (UBS, Luxoft, Radisson Blu, Miasto Krakow)

Skanska Property Poland

Best University-Business cooperation

Katowice

Say YES! – ASPIRE

Best City of the Year

Top Public Sector Outsourcing initiative

TriCity

“New Government Administration” ARAW/Ministry of Administration

Krakow

Best Employer of the Year – BPO/ Outsourcing

Playsoft

Alexander Mann Solutions

Alexander Mann Solutions

Newcomer City of the year

Best-Performing City of the Decade Most unique services provider Best BPO firm of the year

The inaugural event, MC’ed by Thom Barnhardt of BiznesPolska and Ewa Kotlewska of Onet, attracted lots of international guests, including from the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Canada, Holland, France, Finland, India, Sweden, Norway, Switzerland, Austria and Lithuania.

Firms attending included Accenture, Wipro, HP, Genpact, Dalkia, Luxoft, Tata, CapGemini, Hays, HedgePole, Devonshire, ASPIRE, Domanski, BNP Paribas, ABSL, PS-BPO, Mellon, MAN Accounting Centre, Randstad, Ipopema Business Consulting, Jones Lang Lasalle, World BPO, Itella, Boston Consulting Group, State Street, Credit Suisse, Skanska, PAIZ, Philips, Transparent, UBS, Tieto, EXL, Alexander Mann, Professional Outsourcing UK, Grant Thornton, Connectis, Swede Center, TPA Horwath, Citibank, Echo Investment, and many more.

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Chambers of Commerce supporting the event: British, Canadian, Scandinavian, and American.

Premier Partners and Sponsors: Premier Partners: City of Lublin; Skanska Property Associate Sponsors: City of Kielce; Kielecki Centrum Biznesowe; City of Katowice; City of Krakow Strategic Partners: ASPIRE; ABSL Awards Sponsors: Kinnarps; Antal International; Swede Center; Transparent; Connectis; MyBenefit; HedgePole.

International Supporters: World BPO – USA; Outsourcing Verband – Germany; Professional Outsourcing – UK; EOA – France.

Media Partners: BiznesPolska.pl; BizPoland Magazine; Europaproperty; Harvard Business Review.

Audit Partner: TPA Horwath The date for next year’s event Poland (and CEE) Outsourcing and Shared Services Awards Gala – has been announced: 6 February 2014. n

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Poland Outsourcing Awards

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Poland Outsourcing Awards

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Poland Outsourcing Awards

Next year’s Poland (and CEE) Outsourcing and Shared Services Awards Gala – 6 February 2014 39

2013 March

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Events

Miss Polonia One of the dark-horse finalists, Paulina Krupinska from Warsaw won the annual Miss Polonia contest. Held at the new ATM TV studio, the awards ceremony has gone decidedly more corporate, since being bought by a private Dutch investor in 2012, who is taking steps to attract more corporate sponsors and more TV advertising. This new management would like to bring back a certain style and class to the Miss Polonia event and will support and advance the opportunity of the young candidates in a socially-responsible manner.

Miss Polonia has established a partnership

with the Foundation for Corporate Social Responsibility, whose primary focus is to educate, feed and empower needy Polish children. As a part of the Miss Polonia Volunteer Charity Program, the 20 contestants visited the PromiseLand schools, prepared, packed, and delivered hot meals to the PromiseKids in their hometowns.

The final of Miss Polonia was carried live on TVP2 to an audience of over 4 million people. Corporate partners during the gala were Maciej Zień (fashion designer), La Perla (lingerie), Hyundai, Ghelamco, Roncato, and the hotel Hyatt. n

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Events

Best of retail recognised at EuropaProperty CEE Retail Real Estate Awards Gala

EuropaProperty’s fifth annual CEE Retail Real Estate Awards, which highlighted the best commercial retail real estate companies, retailers, projects and people in the CEE region for 2012, welcomed over 400 top real estate professionals to this year’s event.

Rising above the general malaise in Europe’s retail sector, this year’s ceremony underlined the continued enthusiasm for retail real estate in Central and Eastern Europe, with a broad spectrum of winners collecting accolades for their continued market success.

Award Winners • Entertainment/Leisure Retailer of the Year: Pure Fitness • Big Box Retailer of the Year: Jula • Specialty Retailer of the Year (under 100 sqm) Coffeeheaven • Speciality Retailer of the Year (over 100 sqm) Smyk • Fashion Retailer of the Year (under 200 sqm) Kazar • Fashion Retailer of the Year (under 500 sqm) Mohito • Fashion Retailer of the Year (over 500sqm) Reserved • Newcomer of the Year: COS • Professional Service Provider of the Year: TPA Horwath • Tax and Financial Adviser of the Year: TPA Horwath • Architectural Firm of the Year: Chapman Taylor • Law Firm of the Year: Salans • Property Management Firm of the Year: ECE Projektmanagement

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Highlighting their extensive regional coverage, knowledge and experience, ECE Projektmanagement were this year’s biggest winners, collecting three awards.

Ptak Holdings scooped two awards.

Driving the success of the company is Albert Ptak, the Chairman of the Supervisory Board, who was recognised as this year’s Overall Professional of the Year, as well as seeing his company receive an award for their Ptak Outlet Centre, the largest outlet centre in Poland.

Additional company awards were presented to pbb Deutsche Pfandbriefbank, which was voted Bank of the Year for the second year in a row. Tax and Financial Adviser of the Year award went to TPA Horwath, with the company also taking the Professional Service Provider of the Year award for the first time. Cushman & Wakefield also won the Project Management Firm of the Year award for the first time.

Overall retailer of the Year went to Reserved, who were recognised for their extensive expansion throughout 2012 and the Newcomer of the Year award was received by COS. Other winners for the retailer specific awards included: Pure Fitness, SMYK, Kazar, Mohito and Jula. n

• Project Management Firm of the Year: Cushman & Wakefield • Consultant / Letting Agent of the Year: Jones Lang LaSalle • Bank/Finance Provider of the Year: pbb Deutsche Pfanbriefbank • Investor of the Year: CBRE Global Investors • Developer of the Year: Echo Investment • Factory Outlet Centre of the Year – Ptak Outlet Centre – Ptak - Poland • Retail Project Small: under 15,000 sqm GLA – Dekada Olsztyn – Dekada Realty - Poland • Retail Project Medium: 15,001 sqm to 30,000 sqm GLA - KLIF.DOM MODY – Paige Investments/AEW Europe – Poland • Retail Project Large: over 30,001 sqm GLA – Central - ECE - Slovakia • Overall Retailer of The Year: Reserved • Overall Company of the Year: Atrium • Overall Project of the Year: Central - ECE - Slovakia • Overall Professional of the Year: Albert Ptak – Ptak Holdings

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Burns Night Robin Barnett, HM Ambasador and the team at the British Embassy hosted the annual Robert Burns Charity Dinner.

A Burns Supper is an institution of Scottish life: a night to celebrate the life and works of Scotland’s national bard. Originally started a few years after his death by a group of friends and acquaintances to honor his memory, the suppers are now celebrated annually around the date of his birth.

In Warsaw, it’s an opportunity to celebrate the strong historical connections between Poland and Scotland. Scottish Allan Little, a BBC World Affairs Correspondent, was the “guest of honor.”

The piping in of the haggis was led by the Czestochowa Pipe Band, and Adam Chazanow addressed the haggis in his inimitable style.

The evening’s charity supported the foundation Lepszy Start, which supports a school for autism in Pruszkow.

Diageo donated a bottle of Johnnie Walker Gold Reserve, and the evening’s partners included the British Chamber of Commerce, Caledonian Society and Diageo, and compere for the evening was Martyn O’Reilly. n

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Events

Business Centre Club Gala

The Grand Theatre - National Opera in Warsaw was the venue for the Grand Gala of Polish Business Leaders, hosted by the Business Centre Club. Golden statuettes, considered one of the most prestigious business awards in Poland, were presented at this 21st edition of the Gala. “We’ve been meeting at the theater for 20 years. This will be the best year for Poland”, said the first BCC president Marek Goliszewski. “Seeing the people gathered here today with this initiative, the nominees for the Diamonds and Statuettes, I have no doubt that what I said will become reality”. During the Gala,

special awards were given to three outstanding personalities from outside business, for their contributions to the development of entrepreneurship and a market economy in Poland. A Golden Statuette for efforts at introducing Polish membership to NATO, and thus increasing the confidence of foreign investors, was given to Minister Janusz Onyszkiewicz; for effective reform of the Polish economy and especially for the conversion of heavy industry, a second award went to Janusz Steinhoff; and a third award went to British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who oversaw during his tenure trade

growth between Poland and the UK to £ 6.2 billion and the absorption of Polish workers to work in the UK – as well as for his support of Polish efforts to join the European Union.

Honors were presented by Prime Minister Tadeusz Mazowiecki and Mr. Jerzy Buzek.

T his year awards went to Zbigniew Niemczycki, , Stanisław Łuniewski, Bogusław Miszczuk and Stanisław Kowalski. The Gala hosted nearly 2,000 guests, including some of Poland’s best entrepreneurs and business owners. n

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