BizPoland Magazine, November/December 2015

November/December 2015 vol. 7 no. 3(49) Price: 20 zł

Rzeszów builds on BPO, Aviation and bridges to Ukraine Advisory:

Aviation:

SSCs:

Matraszek on the shifting political scene

Lockheed Martin AlexMann takes control of PZL opens Mielec in Gdansk

Table of Contents City Special –Rzeszów and Podkarpackie:

Nov/Dec 2015 vol. 7 no. 3(49)

Published by: BizPoland Media Group sp.z o.o. ul. Długa 44/50, bud. D, lok 704, 00-241 Warszawa tel.: 022 831 7062 General Manager and Editor: Thom Barnhardt (tb@bizpoland.pl)

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Infrastructure investments bring Rzeszów closer to Europe

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Mayor Tadeusz Ferenc builds on Rzeszow’s strengths

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Lockheed Martin takes control of PZL Mielec

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Poland poised to buy Next-Gen Attack Helicopters

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US, Polish airmen build capabilities, partnership

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Offices in Rzeszow: Aviation and BPO/ITO drives the market

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Warehouse and industrial market in the Rzeszow region

SSC/BPO News

Editorial staff, contributors and columnists: Leon Paczynski, Preston Smith, Steven Foster, Marek Matraszek, Christian Schnell, multiple Chambers of Commerce, more than 10 Polish cities and Special Economic Zones, PAIZ Advertising Sales: Maria Ponomareva (maria@biznespolska.pl) Graphic Design: Sławek Parfianowicz (sparfianowicz.wordpress.com) Distribution of BizPoland Magazine: Direct, controlled distribution via post to international investors in Poland - members of major foreign Chambers of Commerce: United States (AmCham) • Canada (PCCC) • Ireland (IPCC) • Netherlands • Scandinavia (SPCC) • United Kingdom (BPCC)

(22) Nomination open til 30 November for 4th annual CEE Shared Services Awards (23) Alexander Mann Solutions opens in Gdańsk (24) Credit Suisse has cast a pall over 40,000 jobs in the City of London (25) Mexico’s aerospace industry on a global scale

Energy and Renewables News

(26) Poland opens $1 billion Swinoujscie LNG terminal (27) PKN to buy Canadian firm Kicking Horse Energy for $293 million (28) EU’s Energy Union builds momentum

Advisory: (29) Diligent analysis required for successful participation at Auction for renewable energy generators (30) A head up in times of political change (31) The frantic flight from ZUS – all in vain (32) Law And Justice’s Win Heralds A New Politics In Poland

FDI Investment News

(33) New 50 million pln cans plant in Gryfino (34) PLN 214m enter Mielec SEZ (35) Pilkington Automotive in 500 million pln plant

Equities News

(36) MetLife TFI SA wins at CEE Capital Markets Awards

City Investment News

(38) Wrocław, Trójmiasto (40) Łódź (42) Poznań (43) Katowice, Kraków (44) Szczecin

Events

Subscribe to BizPoland Magazine Annual subscribers to BizPoland Magazine (500 PLN) receive our monthly magazine, as well as all our business supplements for free: CEE Shared Services & Outsourcing, City Invest Poland, Wind Energy Poland, Details at subs@bizpoland.pl or call +48-22-831-7062

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(46) Dutch raise 41.900 PLN for Akogo? charity (48) Winners awarded in 16 categories – FDI Poland Investor Awards

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CEE Shared Services & Outsourcing Awards Gala 4 February 2016

At the 3rd annual CEE Shared Services and Outsourcing Awards, held on 5 February 2015 at Warsaw’s Hotel Intercontinental, 26 companies, cities and individuals were distinguished for their exceptional performance. More than 280 guests from 21 countries – including Mayors and Vice-Mayors – attended the Awards Gala and Forum, which singled out Winners from 136 nominations.

Companies that attended included:

Accent, Accent Business Training, Adecco, AFI, Ahlstrom Vilnius UAB, AIG/Lincoln, Allianz Poland, Anis (Romanian IT Outsourcing Assocation), ArcelorMittal Shared Service Centre Europe, ArcelorMittal SSC Europe , Ariston Thermo SSC Romania, ASB Group, ASPIRE, Atos, AVON, Barclays Technology Centre Lithuania, Barona HR, Bridgestone EBS, Bulgaria Outsourcing Association, Buma Group, Bydgoszcz, Caitlin, Capita, CBRE, Ciber, CIMA, Cisco, Citi, Citibank, Coca cola, Coca Cola, CocaCola, Colgate_Palmolive, Colliers, Colliers Romania, Coloplast, Coloplast Shared Services, Comforce, Connectys, Cpl Integrated Services, Cpl Jobs, Cushman Wakefield, CushmanWakefield, CzechTrade, Deloitte, Deutsche Services, DFDS, EDF, Enterprise Estonia, European Outsourcing Association, EY, FINEXA, Fresenius Kabi, FRR, Gartner, GE Healthcare, Germany Trade, Global Remote, Goldman Sachs, Grafton, Grafton and AFI Czech, Grant Thornton, Hays, HB Reavis, HCC, HCL, HDS, Herbalife, HITACHI DATA SYSTEMS (POLSKA), Human Capital, Hungarian Outsourcing Association, Ideal Standard, Indo-Poland Chamber, Infinite, Infinite, Intermedix, Invest Lithuania, Invest Pomerania, Investment and Development Agency of Latvia, IT-Services Hungary, JLL, Katowice, City, Kinnarps, Krakow Business Park, Lexmark International Polska, LINKLATERS, Litewska (Lithuanian Interpreter?), Lodz, City, lublin. eu, Lufthansa, LUMIU, Mann+Hummel, MoneyGram, My Benefit, OKI Systems (Polska, Olivia Business Centre, Olivia Business Ctr, ORANGE POLSKA, Owens-Illinois (O-I), P&G, PAIZ, Pandora EMEA, Perceptive, Perceptive Software, Philips, PKP Intercity, Poland Business Run, Poznan, City, Process Solutions, Professional Outsourcing, PWC, PwC, PZU, QIAGEN, Randstad, Randstad, Randstad Czech, Randstad EMEA, RBS Royal Bank of Scotland, ReadSoft, Regenersis, RWE, SARIO (Slovakia), Savvis, Schneider Electric, SDI Media SSC, Skanska, Skanska Sverige AB, SkyRes, Solgari, Staples, STATE STREET BANK, Tate & Lyle, Teleperformance, Teleperformance Germany, Test HR, ThyssenKrupp, Torus Alchemia, Transparent, Triad, Verita HR, Walter Herz, Wavin Shared Services, Western Union Company, WNS

www.ceeOutsourcingAwards.com

Final Winners 2015 : Top CSR initiative of the Year: Poland Business Run Best University-Business cooperation of the year CIMA and SGH joint study programme in Management Accounting BPO Contract of the Year Global Remote Services (Romania) and Airport of Rome Employer of the Year – BPO CPL Integrated Services Employer of the Year – Shared Services Mann+Hummel Service (Czech Republic) Business Centre Manager of the Year – BPO WNS Global Services Business Centre Manager of the Year – Shared Services BNP Paribas Securities Services Recruitment Firm of the Year Hays Specialist Recruitment

Executive Search Firm of the Year IT Services Firm of the Year – CEE Advisory Group TEST Human Bulpros Consulting (Sofia) Resources IT Services Firm of the Year – Special Recognition Award Poland ASPIRE Atos IT Services Emerging City of the Year – Poland Rzeszów Emerging City of the Year – CEE Kaunas (Lithuania) Best City of the Year – CEE Vilnius Best City of the Year – Poland Kraków General Advisory/Location Advisory firm of the year PwC Poland

BPO Firm of the Year – CEE CPL Integrated Services BPO Firm of the Year – Poland Capita Polska Most Unique Services Provider – Poland Intitek Polska Most Unique Services Provider – CEE Process Solutions New-entrant SSC of the Year GE Healthcare

Real Estate Advisory firm of the year Jones Lang Lasalle (JLL)

Shared Services Firm of the Year – Poland Cisco Global Services Center

Best Office Development for BPO/SSC Sectors Business Garden (Poznan) (Vastint)

Shared Services Firm of the Year – CEE Barclays Technology Center Lithuania

Premier Sponsors:

Premier Partners and Sponsors: WNS, Perceptive Software, Randstad, Transparent, Teleperformance, Human Capital Consulting

Awards Sponsors: Benefit, IT Services, Cushman & Wakefield, Fundacja Rozwoju Rachunkowosci, Kraków Business Park, Skyres Audit Partner: GrantThornton

Associate Sponsors: ASPIRE, Invest Lithuania, Bulgarian Outsourcing Association, HOA, AFI, Trellis, SARIO, ANIS, Invest in Poland, The World BPO Forum, EOA

www.ceeOutsourcingAwards.com

Rzeszów and Podkarpackie

City Special

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Infrastructure investments bring Rzeszów closer to Europe The Podkarpackie region, and its largest city Rzeszow, are set to harvest the fruits of multiple infrastructure investment projects, all aimed to pull the region up economically and boost its global appeal.

Already well-established as a hotspot for global aviation giants, the city is aiming high, and is pinning its development plans on additional sectors like BPO/ outsourcing/Shared Services, and parlaying its proximity to Ukraine into an advantage, not an albatross.

The airport is already growing relatively quickly from a low base, with direct flights to New York and direct cargo flights to Miami.

The aviation industry, the region’s powerhouse, continues to grow strongly.

And the automotive industry, in the shadow of Silesia and Lower Silesia, is cutting its teeth on new projects, and slowly but surely building up a cluster of automotive manufacturers, suppliers, parts and components producers. A single vehicle assembly plant encourages multiple automotive suppliers to set up their factories in the same vicinity. The Polish automotive industry has been largely concentrated near the Polish-German border, where it could easily serve the German market. This has changed as the A4 highway has dramatically reduced the travel time between Germany and Rzeszów.

Rzeszów, situated in the southeast of Poland, a stone’s throw from the Ukrainian border, is growing its economy quickly. While the unemployment rate for the region stands at more than 14 percent, which is above the national average of 10.5, the infrastructure investments are beginning to pay dividends.

First of all, the A4 motorway now reaches Rzeszow, making easy access to the lucrative western European markets. And bypasses to the north and south are underway, furthering boosting Rzeszow’s appeal to logistics firms.

From JLL’s Industrial Market report: “As simple as it may sound, access to a modern road network is a prerequisite to the development of the modern warehouse and logistics market. Only when such is in place can warehouse facilities attract large logistics market players and production companies. This condition has recently been met in the case of two cities in the eastern part of the country, namely Rzeszów and Lublin.”

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Automotive A new initiative in this year is the East Automotive Alliance, an association of automotive companies with factories in and around Rzeszów, with members such as Goodyear metal parts producer Kirchhoff Automotive Polska from Mielec; wheel producer Uniwheels from Stalowa Wola; piston producer Federal Mogul from Gorzyce and Lear Corporation from Mielec. Their intention as a cluster is to share knowledge and build cooperation of companies in the region. Ryszard Jania, president of Pilkington Automotive, the windshields manufacturer, is the president of the Alliance. Together these companies employ 13,000 people with a combined turnover in excess of PLN 6 billion.

The association was created at the initiative of Jania: “We came to the conclusion that despite the fact that the companies that are concentrated in the north of the Podkarpackie region produce different components for cars, they have a lot of common interests. These can be related to production

technologies, organizing working processes or quality and environment management systems. Some of these things we can do together and as a result more effectively. There are also a certain number of fields that need to be researched. We will also be looking at logistics and transportation issues, both internal and external. Certainly, over time we will find other areas where synergies are possible.”

Logistics and distribution centres Rzeszow is considered underdeveloped on the Polish industrial landscape. At the end of Q4 2014, 32,000 sqm of industrial space came onto the local

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Rzeszów and Podkarpackie

Cover Story

market with a further 26,000 sqm under construction and 18,000 sqm vacant accounting for a vacancy rate of 12.28 percent. The industrial supply and demand levels in the Rzeszów area are quite low, resulting largely from the region’s incomplete road infrastructure as the A4 highway and its interchanges are still under construction. The lack of good road connections hampers the growth of the logistics sector and slows down deliveries. This is one of the reasons why there are few currently active developers in the area delivering class A industrial space onto the market. The first class A multi-tenant park project has only recently broken ground near the Rzeszów-Jasionka airport, which began international operations in 2007. Demand for industrial space has come so far only from manufacturers requiring stand-alone BTS buildings for warehousing and manufacturing.

Waimea Holding SA plans to begin implementation in late 2015 of its investment Waimea Cargo Terminal Rzeszów-Jasionka. The modern multi-modal terminal will be an integral part of the infrastructure of Rzeszów-Jasionka Airport Park. The cargo terminal which meets the highest global standards will provide comprehensive support for air freight.

The facility, the Waimea Cargo Terminal RzeszowJasionka, has an area of 5310 square meters, and will

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be built on the 2-hectare site located in the territorial scope of the international airport Rzeszow-Jasionka, which is a full capacity terminal supporting all types of air cargo transport, cargo planes both in technology of ULD loading units and traditional ones.

An important advantage of the project is its unique location at the access road to the airport in Jasionka near Rzeszow, the road No. 869. By the end of 2015, the provincial road No. 869 (Jasionka - Rudna Mala) is to be expanded so that it will run parallel to the A4 and it will connect the Node Rzeszow West and the Node Jasionka, enabling easier and unobstructed access from the roads A4 and S19 to the airport.

The multimodal Waimea Cargo Terminal RzeszowJasionka will meet all requirements for handling of goods. The scope of services will include full support for all kinds of goods, including dangerous shipments and perishable shipments. The cargo warehouse equipped with modern equipment, including x-ray equipment for screening of consignments, will offer high quality handling of airfreight, and in the future also its transfer to rail transport. The facility will also have refrigerators and freezers, special equipped warehouses for the storage of food products. The building will function as a high-class air-conditioned office space for the needs of shippers, customs agencies and customs offices. The investment is part of

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Rzeszów and Podkarpackie

Cover Story a program of revitalization of areas around airports and expansion of services at the airport in Rzeszow.

At the turn of the year will be selected the general contractor and the construction of a terminal will begin, the opening of which is scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2016. The investor starts negotiations with the Board of Rzeszów-Jasionka Airport for the provision of ground handling of the Waimea Cargo Terminal. Financing of the investment will be provided from Waimea Group’s capital, corporate bonds and bank loans. The project has been designed by the architecture studio, AD ARCH Studio.

Waimea Holding is planning implementations of multimodal projects both in Poland and abroad in places where it is possible to build such facilities. Multimodal terminals, as nodal points of cargo handling and changing means of transport, as well as places of concentration of service activities, are becoming in the international transport chains the most preferred destination for location of distribution and logistics functions. They offers simple and low-cost solutions at the market of

“Rzeszów-Jasionka” Airport The Airport “Rzeszów-Jasionka” is a regional airport in south-eastern Poland. Last year, it handled over 600 thousand passengers and 1100 tons of cargo. This year’s statistics of the airport point to a continuation of increasing number of passengers (approx. 6 per cent till the end of August) and cargo (by more than 250 percent) compared to 2014. From the airport in Jasionka within existing regular services, you can now go to Frankfurt (2 times a day on weekdays), Warsaw (4 flights daily), London (12 weekly connections to Stansted and Luton Airports), as well as Edinburgh, Manchester, Bristol, East Midlands, Dublin and Oslo. Connections are offered by the Polish Airlines LOT, Lufthansa, Ryanair and Czech Airlines. Seasonal charter destinations in 2015 are Bulgaria (Bourgas), Greece (Heraklion) and Turkey (Antalya). Currently, one of the most important operational investments in Jasionka is raising the category of the ILS navigation system from I to II and the investment is implemented jointly with the Polish Air Navigation Services Agency. The ILS System of Category II allows to perform approaches with visibility up to 30 meters (i.e. the decision height) and visibility along the runway to 350 meters. The current ILS system in Jesionka of category I allows landing, when the above ratios are respectively 60 m and 550 m •

for trans-shipment of goods transported in various combinations, by train – ship – plane – car.

Another developer is Panattoni, which is now building its Panattoni Park Rzeszów, which will eventually offer over 38,500 sqm of modern industrial space located next to the airport. It is also being built in close proximity to the A4 highway.

The final section of the highway from Rzeszów East to Jarosław is now being built by Budimex and Strabag, with construction nearly finished.

The aviation business and the automotive business are driving most of the industrial traffic.

Panattoni is one of the first to develop warehouses speculatively in the area because they already have links to the area and to Pilkington Automotive Poland. Currently, it is expanding the Pilkington factory in Chmielów. The project will add 21,000 sqm to a 35,000 sqm production hall, which was also built by Panattoni. The factory, which is located within the Tarnobrzeg Special Economic Zone EURO-PARK WISŁOSAN, will total around 90,000 sqm on completion.

The Pilkington factory is one of the largest investment projects of the year and its extension project is also receiving financing from the European Regional Development Fund.

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the national and international transport. In the near future, a network of multimodal terminals may become one of the most important locations

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Build it and they will come Rzeszow’s next 10 years of growth will be built on the backs of BPO/business services, aviation and automotive, and its proximity to Ukraine. While its location in the southeast of Poland has been its economic disadvantage to date, the combination of vastly improved ground transport, technology and air travel are the foundations for its future growth and warm embrace from western European and global giants in the fields of aviation, IT and business services. n

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Mayor Tadeusz Ferenc builds on Rzeszow’s strengths Interview with Mayor of Rzeszów What is different about Rzeszów in 2015 compared to 2012?

If you asked anyone who had left our City just for one year, if he had noticed any changes - the answer would be a resounding Yes. There’s always something being built here - new roads, buildings, apartments etc. Our City budget grows each year, and now it comes to more than $350 million. We are spending this money wisely, for example, since 2012 we have created new bike paths, roads, 2 new bridges (one of them is the second highest bridge in Poland), we implemented a huge public transport system for the city of Rzeszów and its surrounding areas, and many other projects. In 2014 companies like Mobica, Randstad and Reslogistic invested in our city. It is worth mentioning that the city’s outsourcing potential had been appreciated during CEE Shared Services & Outsourcing Awards 2015, where an International Jury consisting of CEOs and Managers of companies such as Skanska, Deloitte, PwC, Aspire and Vastint awarded Rzeszów with the prestigious title “Emerging City of the Year 2015 - Poland”. Also, this year, one of the world leading consulting companies – Deloitte - decided to set up a service center for the Central European region in Rzeszów. Deloitte announced that it will hire more than 200 employees and many more in the longer perspective. The newly-created Deloitte Shared Service Center will be the first of its kind located in Central Europe. We feel proud that Deloitte chose us among many other European cities.

In connection with the next EU financial budget for 2015-2020, Rzeszów has very ambitious investment plans. Can you tell us about the most significant urban and infrastructure projects?

Within the perspective of 2014-2020 Rzeszów intends to implement measures related to: smart and innovative city, the improvement of living conditions and public safety by investing in health infrastructure, developing social protection, supporting the senior policy, social housing, and also implementation of environmental projects that reduce emissions.

The priorities of the city in particular are the construction of roads, improvements to public transport, regeneration, social infrastructure and environmental protection. The plans are largely a continuation of the 2007-2013 financial perspective. The planned investments are characterized by a wide range of impact at the regional level, and having an impact on people’s lives all across the province.

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The estimated value of all projects in the 2014-2020 perspective comes to 3.3 billion PLN. As for the most significant urban and infrastructure projects we should highlight these: • Development of the Public Transport System in Rzeszów- estimated value 200 million PLN • Expansion of public transport system in Rzeszów - estimated value of 77 million PLN • Integration of different forms of public transport in Rzeszów (Rzeszów Communication Centre) the estimated value of 200 million PLN • Rzeszów Urban Railway - the estimated value of 220 million PLN • Rzeszów Suburban Fast Train - 10 million PLN

Rzeszów and Podkarpackie

Interview

“I see Rzeszów as a European center and world leader in the aerospace industry. The city is the only place in the world outside the US where engines for the F-16 are manufactured.”

Additionally, the infrastructure projects concern the building of the southern beltway of Rzeszów at a cost of more than 600 million PLN as well as the northern beltway at a cost of 200 million PLN. Those are just a few projects among many others.

What is your idea of the image of Rzeszów in Poland and Europe?

My image of Rzeszów would be of the only city in Poland which tied its future to technologies and is consistently implementing this strategy.

I see Rzeszów as a European center of ‘United Technologies Corporation’ – a world leader in the aerospace industry as well as a major center of ‘Aviation Valley Association’. The city is the only place in the world outside US Middletown, where engines for the F-16 are manufactured. Since many years, the IT industry is also playing an important role in the city’s life. One out of 10 IT specialists in Poland graduated from Rzeszów. The biggest Polish,

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Rzeszów and Podkarpackie

Interview and one of the biggest IT companies in Europe Asseco Poland S.A. was founded and still has its headquarters in our city. I want this process to be continued and make our city not only one of the most modern cities in Poland, like it is today - but also one of the best European cities to live in.

What is the investment potential of Rzeszów and the unique ways the city council has encouraged investors?

“The key task is to help Ukrainian investors in Poland and Polish investors in Ukraine”

In order to attract new investors, Investor Relations Office was established two years ago. Within this office, there is a “one–stop-shop” approach, where a potential investor can stay in touch with one person only (in most cases Investor Relations Office adviser), who knows the specifics an industry, for example, BPO/SSC or Aviation industry and its needs. This person also represents the company not only in the City Office but also in local business institutions. The potential investor may also count on co-financed training courses for future employees, income tax PIT/CIT exemptions, assistance in obtaining permissions or with meetings with business partners in the City. We also help them with getting to know particular regional authorities as well as finding adequate office spaces in the city.

Investor Relations Office facilitates in establishing contacts with Universities and Career Offices e.g. adjusting classes to the future employer’s needs.

Rzeszów is home to nine universities, currently educating more than 60,000 students. At this point, it is important to highlight the fact that, according to Eurostat, Rzeszów is the European leader in number of students in relation to the number of city residents with 275 students per 1,000 residents.

University of Rzeszów, Rzeszów University of Technology, University of Information Technology and Management, and the School of Law and Administration are the foremost universities in Rzeszów.

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a positive image of Ukraine in Poland and Poland in Ukraine as well. Ukraine is a big European country with more than 45 million people, and that is a huge market for our companies. Recently, we observe more and more Ukrainian companies interested in moving their main offices to Poland, especially from the IT industry. Rzeszów – as a close Ukrainian neighbour - is likely to become their best choice for relocating their businesses.

The proximity of Rzeszów to Ukraine has its advantages and disadvantages. What are the opportunities and risks for Rzeszów of its proximity to Ukraine?

For many years Rzeszów has been working to develop Polish-Ukrainian economic and cultural relations.

The key task is to help Ukrainian investors in Poland and Polish investors in Ukraine. Furthermore, while having three Partner Cities in Ukraine: Lviv, Lutsk and Ivano-Frankivsk, our City tries to create

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Rzeszów is a relatively small city in Poland. What are your recipes to boost the attractiveness of Rzeszów for both residents and investors? Is Rzeszów able to attract people from other regions and what do you need to do to make it happen?

I wouldn’t say that Rzeszów is a small city in Poland, of course it is not one of the biggest ones, but with almost 200,000 citizens and 116 sq. km area (still growing) it is better to call us a medium-sized city. It should be emphasized that in order to attract young people from other regions, Rzeszów’s universities continually adapt their curriculum to the current market situation in the country. University of Technology is the oldest school in Poland that educates civil aviation pilots and offers a degree in astronautics. University of Rzeszów offers innovative fields of study at the Center for Innovation and Transfer of Natural Sciences and Engineering Knowledge and the Center for Microelectronics and Nanotechnology. This year, the University of Rzeszów has also launched a new major in Medicine.

The School of Law and Administration houses the most modern forensics laboratory in Poland and an electronic shooting range. Its Center for International Education runs an Image Processing and Virtual Reality Processing Laboratory equipped with a 3D cave and a laboratory simulating the stock exchange. Rzeszów universities provide students with highly-qualified faculty, as well as a modern and professionally equipped on-campus housing.

In addition, universities have stated their willing-

Also, this year, one of the world leading consulting companies – Deloitte - decided to set up a service center for the Central European region in Rzeszów.

ness to launch new fields of study, strictly dedicated to the needs of the SCC/BPO sector. Our city is considered to be one of the best places to live in in the entire country. People who live here enjoy good health, a strong education system, high employment and free high-speed internet. The city is known for

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its intimate atmosphere and beautiful town square full of cafes and restaurants.

The city and region is doing well attracing investments in the Aerospace and Aviation sectors. What are the prospects for the further development of this industry in the coming years? What does Investor Services Center do to ensure that new investors find a sufficient number of qualified employees?

In 2014, we established an Investor Relations Office in order to provide comprehensive support for investors wishing to start their business in our city.

We offer incentives designed to encourage investment in the capital of Podkarpacie and, in coopera-

tion with universities, develop special courses to educate more employees for companies in given sector. Just to give an example: Aviation Valley initiated CEKSO, an organization associating 6 vocational technical schools in the Region. The aim of CEKSO is educating potential employees of industrial companies in Podkarpackie, mainly CNC operators.

Another crucial initiative is the Aeropolis Science and Technology Park, established near Rzeszów.

The Park is another asset that attracts investors from high-tech branches. It is worth mentioning that University of Information Technology and Management is the second in Europe and the only school in Poland offering an English-language degree in “Air Traffic Management.” Through

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establishing the Aviation Valley Association, our region was provided with very favorable business surroundings. Potential investors immediately can have access to developed systems, educational resources and the recruitment process can be much easier here due to numerous and experienced workers. The region has many universities, with Rzeszów University of Technology as a leading one. Production costs are highly competitive, and potential employees are highly-skilled with strong work ethics. Foreign companies can also explore the possibility of EU financial support in their development strategies. EU funds are dedicated in particular for Regions like Podkarpackie, which has

Rzeszów and Podkarpackie

Interview

innovation and technological development in its strategy.

What large companies have invested in Rzeszów in recent years? Are they satisfied with the choice of this location, collaboration with the city and do they plan further investments?

Among many BPO/SSC companies that Investor Relations Office was holding talks with during this year – the biggest one was Deloitte. One of the leading consulting companies decided to form a service center for the CEE region in Rzeszów. It will be the first of its kind located in Central Europe.

Another company that decided this year to locate its branch in Rzeszów was Mobica Ltd – a leading

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Rzeszów and Podkarpackie

Interview provider of software engineering, testing and consultancy services. Another large company that invested in recent years was MTU Aero Engines Polska. With 7,500 employees, MTU Aero Engines is one of the largest engine manufacturers in the world. The company is the world’s largest independent provider for the maintenance of civil aircraft engines. Mr. Richard Maier from MTU stated that they are more than satisfied with their investment in Rzeszów where they have been able to fully implement their ideas in their entirety. It has taken less than a year for them to establish the site and construct the building, MTU has also kept within the planned budget. They have been developing,

I think that the shared services and outsourcing sector stands a great chance of becoming one of the pillars of Rzeszów’s economy, next to the aerospace and IT industries producing, assembling and repairing sophisticated engine components here since April 2009. The criteria affecting their decision for investing in Rzeszów were the attractive infrastructure, the availability of qualified personnel, excellent interregional transport connections and an attractive financial package. As well as these factors: Presence of the “Podkarpackie Science - Technology Park” which will result in establishing a customer and supplier network. This concentration of technologically demanding production facilities also attracts appropriately qualified people from the local universities. They have been actively supported in the implementation of their plans by both regional and national authorities.

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it comes to attracting new investors from the BPO/SSC/ITO sector to Rzeszów. This concerns especially modern, class A office buildings that meet the highest international technical criteria and environmental standards – and yes, I not only expect, but I am sure that more and more office spaces are being and will be built in our city. This year SkyRes Warszawska - modern multi-surface Class-A building located in Rzeszów has been completed. The building was designed in accordance with the newest standards, creating office spaces providing optimal work conditions especially for the BPO, SSC, IT sector which have an unlimited potential of young educated people in Rzeszów.

Other Class-A office buildings are being built here so I do not hesitate to say that Rzeszów no longer lacks Class-A office spaces.

Can you indicate the three greatest strengths of the city, which can convince investors to choose Rzeszów?

1. High level of education – According to Robert Schuman Foundation, Ranking of Learning Cities - Rzeszów achieved remarkable results in the category of “Most educated professionals in the country”. The city received 92.5 points out of 100 possible, ahead of all examined cities. The authors of the ranking emphasize that Rzeszów is a leader in overall number of students per 1 thousand inhabitants (275 – by far the largest in Poland). As many as 33.5% of the workforce in the city have higher education.

2. Young people - Half of the population of the province is younger than 33 years old and average age of Rzeszów citizens is 39 years.

3. Infrastructure and safety: Rzeszów is one of the cleanest and safest cities in Poland with an international airport “Rzeszów-Jasionka” and A4 motorway connecting the Region with western Europe. Here it is possible to work in the most modern industrial companies and enjoy the unpolluted, delightful and attractive environment of the Region in your free time. n

The City of Rzeszów certainly lacks Class A office space. Do you expect more office development in the coming years, and will this help attract more SSC/ BPO investors to Rzeszów.

I think that the shared services and outsourcing sector stands a great chance of becoming one of the pillars of Rzeszów’s economy, next to the aerospace and IT industries, in the perspective of two years. We see huge potential for outsourcing and shared services in Rzeszów. Right now, the biggest challenge is creating an awareness among BPO/SSC/ITO companies that Rzeszów is a city that meets their expectations and is ready to accommodate their business. It goes without saying that dynamic development of the local commercial real estate market is extremely important when

BiznesPolska.pl/EN

November/December 2015

Rzeszów and Podkarpackie

Special Economic Zone

14

Lockheed Martin takes control of PZL Mielec Lockheed Martin, the country’s biggest defense contractor, closed in early November on its purchase of Sikorsky, the storied helicopter manufacturer based in the United States.

Consequently, PZL Mielec is now controlled by Lockheed.

Lockheed Martin paid $9 billion to United Technologies Corp. for the Sikorsky division, which UTC sold because its profit margins and growth potential were not as high as some of the company’s other divisions.

Sikorsky has about 15,000 employees around the world.

The demand for commercial helicopters has been hurt by the downturn in the oil and gas industry as more than three-quarters of Sikorsky’s commercial craft were used to ferry workers and supplies to offshore oil platforms or remote drilling locations on land. Sikorsky laid off 720 people in the U.S. where commercial helicopters are built, and the labor reductions also hit Poland, another major manufacturing center for Sikorsky.

Lockheed has said it has identified $150 million in savings as a result of the merger, either from squeezing costs out of the supply chain or, eventually, through the “consolidation of footprint and head-count.” Lockheed has a reputation for reducing its workforce through retirement and attrition rather than layoffs, analysts say.

In early November, representatives of Lockheed Martin, met with the team from PZL Mielec.

Sikorsky, and thus also PZL Mielec, will be incorporated into the department of Lockheed Martin Mission Systems and Training (MST), who in the past worked with the manufacturer of helicopters for, among others, presidents of the United States.

In Mielec under the slogan “A bright future – together”, a meeting was held between the management of Lockheed Martin and the Polish management team at PZL Mielec. egarding the acquisition of Sikorsky by Lockheed Martin, Chairman of the “Solidarity” PZL Mielec Marian Kokoszka said: “We expect this new deal with the world’s largest defense company will increase our chances of acquiring new technologies, expanding the range of manufactured equipment, and thereby broadening markets”.

He added that it is no secret that - with the change of government - PZL Mielec hopes

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that the decision by the previous government to choose Airbus Helicopters’ offer over Sikorsky Aircraft in a tender for multipurpose helicopters for the Polish Army will be reversed. Following the rejection by the government of the PZL Mielec and Black Hawk helicopter tender, the company began a voluntary redundancy scheme in summer, which led to a reduction of nearly 500 people.

Chinese deal rides on back of Polish aerospace technology Poland-based Aero AT Ltd., Jiangsu Aero AT Aviation Technologies and Changzhou National Hi-Tech District entered into an investment agreement on October 30, 2015 whereby the aircraft manufacturer will build a facility for producing the six-seat M-20 Mewa business jet in Changzhou Konggang Industrial Park. The manufacturing facility encompasses a total investment of US$150 million, including an initial registered capital of US$60 million.

In May 2013, Aero AT (Jiangsu) Aviation Industrial acquired Poland’s Aero AT Ltd. outright, becoming China’s first private general aviation firm to own a foreign fully-assembled aircraft maker wholly.

In April of this year, Aero AT (Jiangsu) Aviation Industrial bought the entire collection of intellectual property for the M-20 Mewa business jet from U.S.-based Sikorsky Aircraft’s subsidiary in Poland.

After several trips, Aero AT (Jiangsu) finally decided to set up its fully-assembled general aircraft manufac-

Special Economic Zone EURO-PARK Mielec was the first Special Economic Zone created in Poland (1995). It spreads over 1,496 hectares and is located in 28 sub-zones. Among the largest employers are companies such as Lear Corporation Poland II, Polskie Zakłady Lotnicze, KIRCHHOFF POLSKA, BURY, BORGWARNER POLAND , MTU Aero Engines Polska, Firma Oponiarska DĘBICA, Zelmer Pro, BRW. Main branches: aerospace, automotive, metal-working and plastics processing. Over the last 20 years, Euro-Park MILEC has attracted 7 billion PLN of investments, created 30,000 jobs, and issued 320 business licenses.

turing facility, especially outfitted to produce the M-20, in Changzhou Konggang Industrial Park. The M-20 Mewa is a twin-engine, six-seat, light-duty business jet constructed using advanced metal digital processing technology. In addition to the approval received in 1982 for operation in Europe, the aircraft has received air worthiness certificates from the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Airservices Australia. The M-20 Mewa is widely used for private business travel,

November/December 2015

air rescue, short-distance cargo hauling and mail transport as well as twin-engine instrument flight training and specialized military flights. The first M-20 Mewa is expected to roll off the production line at the facility in 2017, followed by 50 aircraft annually starting in 2018.

Changzhou Mayor Fei Gaoyun said at the signing ceremony, “Changzhou is an important modern manufacturing and logistics hub in China’s Yangtze River Delta area. Changzhou National Hi-Tech District, which houses Changzhou

International Airport, a national top-ranked open port, is primarily engaged in the manufacturing of fully-assembled aircraft, aircraft upgrading and maintenance as well as logistics and general aviation operations. The city of Changzhou will assist Aero AT in developing the new facility into a key general aviation manufacturing hub in the Yangtze River Delta area and the wider east China.”

Cyclone to produce parts for aircraft Cyclone, a Canada-based company set up by Polish immigrants to Canada 50 years ago, is setting up a major production plant, which will be incorporated in the Euro-Park Mielec Economic Zone.

The firm produces parts for the aviation industry for such giants as Bombardier, Lockheed Martin, Airbus, Saab, Embraer and Boeing.

Cyclone’s operations in Krasnik have been, exceptionally, incorporated into the economic zone Euro-Park Mielec. Krasnik as a city now includes two economic zones: Mielec and Tarnobrzeg.

“Formalities were quickly taken care of”, says Bogdan Adamkowski, President of Cyclone Poland. “It’s good news for us that we can be included in the economic zone.”

Inclusion of Cyclone’s operations was helped by a May meeting with Deputy Prime Minister

2015 November/December

Janusz Piechociński and Cyclone’s owner Andrew Sochaj, who convinced the authorities that the company will expand faster and increase employment more if included in the Mielec zone.

Meanwhile, the renovation of the Cyclone factory is nearly complete, and will lead to the production of wings and aircraft doors for Bombardier, Boeing and Airbus.

Rzeszów and Podkarpackie

Special Economic Zone

How Aviation Valley put Poland at center of map for global aviation giants Soviet legacy The cluster of aviation firms in Podkarpackie, which pre-dates World War I, partially owes its success to the Soviet strategy of concentrating industrial production in defined areas. Added to the mix is a large dose of Polish technical and engineering know-how, and a recent injection of capital and world-class best practices from global aviation firms.

The first state aircraft manufacturing plant was the PZL - State Aviation Works established in 1928 and replaced the former Central Aviation Workshops. World War II completely damaged the operating Polish aircraft industry, which resulted in the necessity of its reconstruction from the very beginning. This process was commenced with establishment of a network of plants named WSK – Transport Equipment Manufacturing Plant, which manufactured the equipment and machineries used in different transport sectors (from bikes to helicopters and airplanes). The following plants were established:

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Rzeszów and Podkarpackie

City Special

16

WSK Warsaw (on the basis of the former PZL) constructing sports, training, agricultural and mul­titask airplanes (among others the most popular PZL 104 – Wilga and PZL 106 Kruk).

WSK Świdnik established in 1951 on the basis of the Podlaskie and Lubelskie Aviation Manufac­turing Plants (in 1958 the company launched the construc-

AugustaWestland, GE and VacAero. UTC has now been sold to Lockheed Martin, which via subsidiary Sikorsky Aircraft, owns PZL Mielec and Goodrich.

tion of Mi-1 and Mi-2 helicopters under the Soviet license; since 1980 – construction of W-3 Sokół and parts to passenger airplanes Ił and An).

WSK Mielec (on the basis of PZL Mielec works), which manufactured the An-2 airplanes, MIG-14 and MIG-17 jet airplanes under the Soviet license and since the sixties. its own training airplanes – TS- 11 Iskra and M-15 Belfegor (the only agricultural jet airplane in the world and the only jet biplane).

WSK Kalisz established in 1946, manufacturing different engines to MIG-15 and MIG-17 jets since 1952.

Despite construction of agricultural airplanes, the other Polish specialization in this time was manufacturing of gliders in the Special Experimental Workshops (SZD) in Bielsko – Biała.

Fast-forwarding to the early 2000s, and Polish aviation manufacturing firms – after a strong performance from 2003 to 2008 – hit a bump as the global crisis in 2008-2009 slowed world-wide aircraft orders. Several global aviation manufacturing firms participated in privatizations, with the strongest presence being that of UTC,

plants are located in southern Poland (Bielsko – Biała, Małopolskie Voivodeship), in Wielkopolskie Voivodeship (Kalisz, Wielkopolskie Voivodeship, Bydgoszcz, Kujawsko – Pomorskie Voivodeship) and in Pomorze (Tczew).

The Polish aviation sector is strictly related to the global aviation industry, so global trends influence the Polish market.

Approximately 90% of production is exported.

While the manufacture of parts and components has driven the sector’s growth in Poland, companies intend to move up the value-chain, and recent initiatives in engine design and research confirm this strategy. Aviation is one of the most innovative sectors in the Polish economy, due to companies’ large expenditures on R&D, cooperation with research centres, and participation in international projects.

The advanced level of processes used in the Polish aviation sector is best illustrated by the participation of Avio Polska and GE EDC (Engine Design Center) in the development of the innovative jet engine GEnx, which will be used in the state-of-the-art Boeing 747-8 and 787 Dreamliners. Polish participation in such

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Size of the sector The Polish aircraft industry is situated in 90% in Eastern Poland. Outside this region the aircraft industry

November/December 2015

projects should increase owing to the subsidy of the National Centre for Research and Development, which will invest Euro 75 million in years 2013-17 in scientific research for the aviation industry. (Source: PAIZ) And Poland’s technical universities continue to turn out well-trained graduates. Nearly 11,000 engineers graduate yearly, including about 650 graduates in aviation studies.

Over 13 years of action of the Aviation Valley, several initatives key to the development of Polish aviation sector and its visibility on a global scale, as well as for economic growth of south-eastern Polish and attract global investments to the Polish aviation companies. The following are the most important ones: • Creation of a Center for Advanced Technology AERONET - Aviation Valley, aimed at developing cooperation between companies of the cluster and Polish research centers.

• Creation of a Comprehensive Education Support System for “Aviation Valley” • Creation of the Polish Technology Platform for Aeronautics, which is the equivalent, and a strategic partner of the ACARE - Advisory Council for Aeronautics Research in Europe.

• Carrying out technology foresight for the Polish aviation industry • Partnership in key research project PKAERO -New technologies for the aviation industry “with a range of nationwide partners.

• Creation of Poland’s first national sectoral research program INNOLOT • ⦁Creation and continuous development of innovative regional chain of subcontractors in “Aviation Valley” • Development of Podkarpacki Park of Science Technology AEROPOLIS, dedicated to the aviation industry and investors in this sector.

• Creation of networks airlineclusters European Union - “Wings for Regions” and EACP - “The European Aerospace Clusters Partnership.

• Establishment of the Council of Small and Medium Enterprises “Aviation Valley” and the SME Cluster Cooperation Groups • Establishment of a Commission of New Technologies “Aviation Valley” • Partnership with Podkarpacki Business Club in the area of Purchasing Group • Creating and updating the Regional Innovation Strategy, Regional Development Strategy and the Strategy of Brand Promotion Sub-Carpathian Region.

• Cooperation with airlines to launch new international and domestic routes to the Rzeszow – Jasionka airport.

• Definition of smart specialization Sub-Carpathian Region, in cooperation with regional authorities, Podkarpacka Innovation Council, and the EU. • Creation of the Polish Cluster of dual-use technology, bringing together SMEs and acting under the auspices of “Aviation Valley”

2015 November/December

The two largest enterprises from eastern Poland – WSK PZL Rzeszów and PZL Świdnik – account for nearly 38% of the total turnover for the sector, and if one includs the third and fourth largest players – Pratt&Whitney and PZL Mielec – the share percentage goes up to more than 50% of turnover for the entire industry.

In addition to the global firms, Polish SMEs from the region are also important, including among others Aero-Kros, Aero AT, Margański&Mysłowski i Wytwórnia Konstrukcji Kompozytowych (Composite Constructions Manufac­turing Plant) Andrzej Papiorek. They are for the most situated in the Podkarpackie Voivodeship and around Bielsko – Biała.

Select success stories WSK Rzeszów Contractual work for foreign manufacturers constitute currently the main source of revenues for WSK Rzeszów. The largest Polish manufacturer of aircraft engines elements is owned by American corporation United Technologies Corp. The Rzeszów enterprise has been involved in assembly of engines for F-16 and is currently recognized as one of the best manufacturing plants within UTC corporation, based on manufacturing quality, timely delivery and health and safety. Tinplate components manufactured in Rzeszów, precise casts or gears are installed in the majority of the aircraft engines that are branded with the Pratt&Whitney logo.

PZL Świdnik In January 2010 the privatization of one of the remaining helicopter manufacturing plants of the PZL Świdnik was formally signed.

The enterprise was purchased by the Italian and British helicopter behemoth Agusta Westland, which has been already cooperating with the plants in Lublin for 13 years. The fuselages of the majority of the Italian helicopters constructed in Poland will continue to be supplied from the PZL Świdnik to the AW plant in Europe. The manufacturing plant has been also gaining profits from the sale of other aircraft components. Cooperation commissions from Airbus, Eurocopter, Latercoere and other significant companies from the USA and Great Britain continue to account for the lion’s share of production.

Goodrich Since the early last decade, the Goodrich aircraft corporation has been manufacturing aircraft sub-units in its manufacturing plant in Krosno. 100% of its products are exported, and the manufacturing techniques apply the most advanced technologies for landing gears.

The sub-units manufactured in Krosno are used in the production of the landing gears for the entire Boeing family, including Boeing 777 and F-16 fighters. Also, all new operating Gulfstream jets and two types of short-distance passenger airplanes of the Canadian Bombardier land on the landing gears manufactured in Krosno.

Aircraft sub-units have been also exported to Japan for many years.

PZL Hydral S.A. In late December 2010, the company was privatized via a sale to Hamilton Sundstrans. The company specializes in the manufacturing of components and sub-systems for aircraft engines, and employs about 500 people.

MTU Aero Engines In May 2009 the newly-established manufacturing plant of the German MTU Aero Engines, the world-leading player in design and production of aircraft drives, was launched. The firm specializes in the manufacture of low-pressure turbine blades for aircraft engines.

Hispano Suiza With a plant located in Sedziszow Malopolski, the firm employs more than 600 people, and manufactures toothed wheels for gear cases and structural components for aviation turbo-ventilator engines.

Rzeszów and Podkarpackie

City Special

17 BiznesPolska.pl/EN

Rzeszów and Podkarpackie

Aviation and Aeronautics

Poland poised to buy Next-Gen Attack Helicopters A decision by Poland, potentially one of the first users of the Apache AH-64E, is expected sometime in early 2016. “The Apache is more than just a tactical asset to a nation’s armed forces,” said a spokesman at Boeing.

“It is a deterrent against enemy attack. The Poles know it, and they live in a dangerous neighborhood, which is why they have demonstrated such high interest in the AH-64E.” Following an extensive re-vamping of the AH-64D, Boeing has now developed the nextgeneration of this well-known attack helicopter into the newest AH-64E variant.

The operational capabilities of the platform have been significantly enhanced in the latest variant

of the Apache, which Boeing representatives offered up in briefings held at Kielce’s annual Defense Expo. The Apache is competing against several other competitors for a tender for a new Polish at-

“In a fair fight, the good guy has a 50 percent chance of losing, and that is not the way the U.S. Army goes to war.”. tack helicopter. Other bidders for this contract are the AgustaWestland/Turkish Aerospace Industries T129 and the Airbus Helicopters EC665 Tiger.

“The Apache is a proven system that has seen several wars,” said a spokesman at Boeing. “Moreover, it was designed from its origins to fight a protracted conflict in this part of the world–central Europe. Moreover, it has been purchased more often by those nations that have a near-term or close proximity threat than any other model.”

“The U.S. Army had this system designed with the philosophy that they do not believe in a fair fight,” said the spokesman. “In a fair fight, the good guy has a 50 percent chance of losing, and that is not the way the U.S. Army goes to war.” Currently nations in the region that operate versions of the AH-64 include Egypt, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE. Although 200 E models have been delivered already to the U.S. Army, Boeing continues to work on advanced derivatives to keep the platform relevant out to the year 2060. Right now, there are Apaches operating in the militaries of the U.S. and 13 other nations. n

Bulgaria selects Poland for MiG-29 engine overhaul Bulgaria’s defence minister, Nikolay Nenchev, and his Polish counterpart Tomasz Siemoniak have signed an agreement covering the overhaul of Bulgaria’s RAC MiG-29s.

18

According to the agreement, Poland’s WZL-4 military aviation works near Warsaw would overhaul six Klimov RD-33 engines, with four to be completed within six months of delivery and the others after another four months.

The programme cost is more than €6.1 million, and Nenchev says the price asked by Poland for the major repair of each RD-33 was €600,000 lower than the unit price asked by RAC MiG.

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Poland also offered a shorter repair time, and will cover the costs of transporting the engines.

Within 20 days of signing a contract, Poland would also lend two RD-33s to Bulgaria for temporary use, enabling another of its MiG-29s to be able to perform air defence missions.

The Bulgarian air force currently has only four MiG-29s in an airworthy condition, but as a result of the support arrangement, this will be increased by a further three by April 2016.

In August 2014, the Polish and Bulgarian defence ministers signed a letter of intent that established the legal framework for a future agreement on the overhaul of the latter’s MiG-29s by the WZL-2 military aviation works in Bydgoszcz. n

November/December 2015

US, Polish airmen build capabilities, partnership The 86th and 182nd Airlift Wings participated in bilateral training with the Polish air force during Aviation Detachment 16-1 in support of Operation Atlantic Resolve at Powidz, Poland, from Oct. 12 through Nov. 6.

C-130s from both wings and nearly 150 personnel took part in the flying training deployment, which focused on maintaining joint readiness, while building interoperability.

“It’s important for us to work together and reach a similar level of training,” said Polish air force Col. Mieczysław Gaudyn, 33rd Air Transport Base commander. “It’s also important for us to build this friendship and

brotherhood, to be able to count on each other and show the world our partnership is strong.”

Working side by side, U.S. and Polish airmen completed a variety of training objectives, including realistic night vision goggle training, fighter intercept training and aircraft commander upgrade qualifications.

“This is my first time working with C-130Js and Polish pilots,” said U.S. Air Force 1st Lt. Katie Maglia, 182nd AW C-130H Hercules pilot. “It has been great for me to see all the processes and learn how to fly together. It has been good interacting with everyone. There’s a lot of camaraderie, and a little friendly competition, but at the end of the day we’re all Hercules pilots.”

The Polish C-130E Legacies were able to take part in large formations with the U.S. Air Force C-130 Hercules and C-130J Super Hercules; training that isn’t normally available to them.

“One of the goals of the AVDET is to be able to fly our C-130s with the Poles in a formation seamlessly,” said U.S. Air Force Capt. Chris Deans, 37th Airlift Squadron C-130J Super Hercules pilot. “Flying in formation allows us to get mass on a drop zone. If there’s ever an exercise or operation when we need each other, we’re able to integrate and fly together.”

In 2011, the U.S. and Poland signed a memorandum of understanding, establishing a U.S. Air Force aviation detachment in Poland. Since 2013, U.S. military aircraft and personnel have participated in rotational deployments to Poland, performing the basis of an enduring partnership. n

Rzeszów and Podkarpackie

Aviation and Aeronautics

Lockheed secures contract to install JASSM on Poland’s F-16s After jumping through the required regulatory hoops, Lockheed Martin says it has a foreign military sales contract in hand for integration of its “JASSM” cruise missiles for Poland’s F-16s.

Poland is the third international customer for the Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM) after Australia and Finland.

The US State Department has approved the sale of an initial 40 missiles to Poland, according to a notice to Congress in 2014, and the total value of the transaction including test and training rounds and support services is estimated at $500 million.

Poland operates 36 F-16Cs and a dozen twinseat F-16D trainers, and Lockheed’s initial contract convers integration activities for the baseline JASSM weapon including software updates.

Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control’s director of strike systems Alan Jackson said

2015 November/December

in an interview that Poland’s Ministry of Defence has expressed interest in JASSMER, although no international sales of the newer version have been approved yet.

Jackson say the two versions are 85% common with the same form and fit on the aircraft, but the mission planning software is different given the extended range. So if the two software loads were installed on Poland’s jets now, any future transition to JASSM-ER would be much easier.

“F-16 is getting a software upgrade right now, so if there’s other configurations of JASSM to roll in, now’s a good time,” Jackson says.

Lockheed has been producing JASSM since the late 1990s, and has secured orders for 2,106 missiles across 12 production lots. The company says it has delivered 75 of 160 extended-range missiles ordered by the US Air Force, and the weapon was recently fielded on the Boeing B-1B. n

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Rzeszów and Podkarpackie

Office market

Offices in Rzeszow: Aviation and BPO/ITO drives the market The total existing office space in Rzeszow exceeds 75,000 sqm with another 30,000 sqm of new office space under construction. The most impressive example is the building Skyres being developed by local developer DevelopRes. This is the first office building of its class and scale in Rzeszow, and will have approximately 20,000 sqm of leasable space.

Approximately 40% of the office space in Rzeszów is located in older, revitalized buildings, as exemplified by the CONRES office building. We also have some examples of buildings constructed for specific needs of corporates such as Polfa and Asseco.

The BPO/SSC sector in Rzeszow is represented by at least 30 companies, including companies from BPO, ITO and R&D, of which half are foreign investments. Of these, 9 can be classified as BPO centers, and 5 as ITO/ BPO and R&D centres. We are seeing a growing

Krzysztof Misiak Partner, Head of Regional Cities Offices Department, Cushman & Wakefield

interest from companies in Rzeszow’s Research and Development sector (R & D), which attracts very good calibre of educated and experienced engineers. In 2014, three significant companies opened offices in Rzeszow: Randstad (HRO), Mobica (ITO) and Reslogistic (TSL). The aviation sector continues to attract global aviation industry giants, including United Technologies Company, MTU AeroEngines, Borg Warner Turbo Systems, Goodrich Aerospace Poland, Pratt & Whitney, HeliOne and McBraid. What is interesting in that not only are these companies setting up manufacturing facilities, but most of the companies are also developing significant research and development centres.

Recent years have seen the very dynamic development of the IT sector, mainly thanks to companies like Asseco Poland SA (which has its headquarters in Rzeszow), OPTeam SA, ZETORzeszow and SOFTSYSTEM n

20 BiznesPolska.pl/EN

November/December 2015

Warehouse and industrial market in the Rzeszow region Rzeszow and the area’s warehouse market is growing very fast. In Q3 2015, the region’s warehousing space increased by 50,000 sqm. to a level of 224,000 sqm. This pace of 25,000 sm of new space compares to only about 10,000 sqm in Q3 2014. The vacancy rate was only 6.7% (15,000 sqm), a big fall versus 12.3% recorded at the end of September 2014.

In the third quarter, at least two major projects were completed by CushmanWakefield: The first phase of Panattoni Park Rzeszów with an area of ​​ 28,500 square meters. The investment was located near the A4 motorway and S19 expressway, as well as in the vicinity of the international airport Rzeszow Jasionka and Special Economic Zones. The park will have only Class A warehouse space in the region. Moreover, Panattoni has expanded via “Build-To-Suit” for Pilkington Automotive in Tarnobrzeg by a further 21,000 sqm. to a planned 67,000 sqm. Additional BTS facilities

Wojciech Dachniewski Senior Negotiator, Industrial Department, Cushman & Wakefield

by Panattoni include for the company Zelmer, with a facility of 32,500 sm located in Rzeszów.

A further two projects are underway: East A4 Logistic Park 1, belonging to Waimea Holding, is developing the first stage of a 7200 sm project Waimea Logistic Park Korczowa. The target space of ​​the building will be 50,000 square meters. Completion of the first stage is planned for Q1 2016. This park is located next to the A4 motorway, near the border crossing between Poland and Ukraine in Korczowa at the foot of the Carpathian mountains. Another building under development is the second phase of Panattoni Park Rzeszów with an area of 17,700 square meters.

The full project plan is for a total of 46,000 sqm.

Another project in development by Waimea Holding is “Waimea Cargo Terminal RzeszówJasio nka”, a modern multimodal terminal with an area of 5,300 square meters. It will form an integral part of the infrastructure of the airport “Rzeszów-Jasionka”, with construction planned to start in Q4 2015 n

Rzeszów and Podkarpackie

Logistics

21 2015 November/December

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SSC/BPO News

Nomination open til 30 November for 4th annual CEE Shared Services Awards Nominations - in 26 categories - are still open for the 4th annual CEE Shared Services and Outsourcing Awards Gala - set for 4 February, 2016 , at Warsaw’s Hotel Intercontinental. Final Jury Members and Forum Speakers will be finalized by 27 November.

In December, the Jury will receive the full list of all Nominations, to be ranked, resulting in the Short-List to be announced in mid-December.

These “Short-Listed” firms move on to the final vote (3 Febuary), to be cast at the Jury Dinner one night before the CEE Shared Services and Outsourcing Awards Gala – set for 4 February 2016.

This year, the Forum will add additional “site visits”, with 3

centres planned: a world-class SSC/CoE; a global BPO centre; and a leading-edge R&D centre.

Attendance at these site visits is limited and will be on a firstcome, first-served basis. In this 4th year, a large number of SSC execs from the CEE region are expected, including Romania and Baltics again, plus newcomers from Slovenia, Serbia, and Ukraine, and a strong group as usual from more than 12 Polish cities, as well as Hungary and Czech Republic. Media partners in the CEE region, UK, Scandinavia, France, and Germany – and the continued support from multiple investment agencies across the region – will again support the Awards and Forum. n

Ciklums opens office in Trójmiasto Ciklum, one of the biggest IT companies located in Ukraine, decided to open the office in Trójmiasto.

By 2016, the investors plan to hire over 130 in Poland.

Ciklum is a global IT company with Scandinavian roots and more

than 13 years of experience in IT outsourcing, with its offices in 15 locations: Ukraine, Belarus, Denmark, Sweden, Israel and USA. The company’s development centres hire more than 2,500 programmers and service customers in 31

countries. Now they expand their business with opening development centre in Trójmiasto. The company develops solutions for business and provides business consulting services. (Invest in Pomerania) n

HCL supports IPF to launch digital lending biz in Poland

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IT services provider HCL Technologies has supported International Personal Finance (IPF) to launch its digital lending business in Poland.

HCL helped IPF to create the hapipozyczki IT platform to provide online loans to consumers and attract new customers via digital channels.

The digital transformation program has enabled IPF to reduce its application-to-loandisbursement cycle to 15 minutes through a new digital lending platform powered with real-time analytics and process accelerators.

“While our Polish presence was growing, the business was mindful

BiznesPolska.pl/EN

of increasing competition, particularly from online lenders,” said Doug Kleppen, IT director, IPF. Rahul Singh, president, Financial Services, HCL Technologies, said HCL’s BeyondDigital Business Unit delivers digitalization services to Fortune500 / Global100 companies. n

November/December 2015

SSC/BPO News

Alexander Mann Solutions opens in Gdańsk Alexander Mann Solutions, which provides recruitment process outsourcing services, has selected

of a pilot project. In May, Alexander Mann Solutions opened in Gdańsk a regional branch, as-

Gdansk as its next global service center location, which will eventually employ about 300 people in the HR sector.

The company’s decision was taken after the successful completion

sisting the company in the field of recruitment and mobilization. Six months of activity showed that the Tricity market has the potential to deliver the planned development and access to skilled labor.

The new company will create jobs for people in the broad area of HR: recruitment and talent management, and administrative support.

“So far the local sector of business services does not have a business that runs on such a scale in the field of recruitment process outsourcing. AMS’s decision to open a new Center in Gdansk shows how many workers in the region have the necessary qualifications for these demanding, but at the same time very attractive recruitment projects carried out for AMS clients all over the world”, said Marcin Grzegory, project manager for the BPO/SSC sector at Invest in Pomerania. n

25-26th November 2015 The Westin Hotel, Warsaw

BE A PART OF

THE FUTURE www.konferencjaeuropower.pl 23

2015 November/December

BiznesPolska.pl/EN

SSC/BPO News

Credit Suisse has cast a pall over 40,000 jobs in the City of London As of October 2015, anyone

Citing the need to reduce its ‘fixed cost base to a lower “break even point”, Credit Suisse is shunting 1,800 of its 4,200 support jobs out of the City of London. That’s 43% of the total.

That’s a lot.

“There’s a lot of pressure to cut costs and upgrade systems in order to improve margins.”

Some support jobs are safer than others. Credit Suisse said that 2,400 of its London support roles will always have to be based in the City because they require ‘co-location’ alongside front office staff. Which jobs are these? A quick look at who Credit Suisse is hiring in London now suggests that senior risk managers, business controllers, programme managers and advisory lawyers all need to be close to revenue generators. Meanwhile, jobs for junior risk analysts, data analysts,

has Chester; Citi has Dublin and Belfast; UBS (also) has Poland and Goldman Sachs has recently begun moving technology jobs to Warsaw, although has long been locating support roles in Mumbai and Salt Lake City.

“Credit Suisse has been slow,” says the recruiter. “It’s one of the few banks still to have a large settlements function in London.”

Credit Suisse’s Wroclaw job advertisements suggest middle office jobs are already being moved out of London: 36 of its vacancies in Poland are for junior compliance-related roles; 86 are related to risk.

If other banks do the same, jobs in London’s finance industry could be in for a battering.

Nearly 65% of Credit Suisse’s London staff work in support roles. The CityUK said there were 143,600 people working across banking in London in the first half of 2015. If all banks employ support staff in the same ratio as Credit Suisse and they choose to follow Credit Suisse’s strategy for lowering their ‘break even points’, the implication is that 40,000 jobs could go.

Klaus Woeste, a partner at EY who specializes in helping banks manage changes stemming from regulatory and structural pressures, predicts that rival banks will be doing the same as Credit Suisse, and soon. “I would expect similar announcements to come from other banks in the course of the next year,” says Woeste.

and financial controllers are being advertised at the bank’s lower cost Polish office. The executive assistant to the EMEA head of compliance will even be based in Poland, offering support remotely. Poland is clearly the place to be – 146 of Credit Suisse’s shared services vacancies are located there, compared to 48 in London.

On one reading, Credit Suisse’s movement of jobs out of the City of London is long overdue.

Although the bank has had its ‘Wroclaw Center of Excellence’ in Poland since 2007, recruiters say it’s been slow to make the most of it. Other banks are said to be further advanced with the near-shoring and offshoring process: J.P. Morgan has Bournemouth and Glasgow; Morgan Stanley has Glasgow; Deutsche Bank has Birmingham; Bank of America Merrill Lynch

Where does this leave support staff in London? One recruiter says he’s already receiving CVs from Credit Suisse’s settlements division: “They’ll have to find new jobs on the buyside or at brokers and custodians. These jobs no longer exist in banks in the City.”

Longer term, recruiters and insiders say remaining employed is all about adding value or seeking out jobs that can’t be shifted away for regulatory reasons. “If you’re working in reconciliations on vanilla products, this can be done anywhere,” cautions one operations professional. “I used to work in cash management with hedging – this is complex and needs to be close to the front office. Similarly, trade support and anything regulatory-related will most likely stay in London.”

Source: EfinancialCareers.com

working in a support role in an investment bank in the City of London has good reason to feel apprehensive.

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November/December 2015

SSC/BPO News

Mexico’s aerospace industry on a global scale Mexico is a country that offers high-flying services and recently has sought the best possible solution to diversify their industrial activity with special attention to the aerospace sector, one of the fastest growing areas in the country. Thanks to the geo-economic proximity to the most important markets of the world, Mexico offers a trade and growth potential which makes it even more attractive due to a vast network of free trade agreements with more than 44 countries.

The Mexican aerospace industry comprises companies that manufacture, maintain, repair and design systems and components for commercial and military aircraft. The country manufactures such products as turbines, fuselage components, landing gears, harness, cables, audio-visual systems and insulation panels, among others. Similarly, it offers maintenance service of turbines and supports. The strategy of the Mexican Government is to develop the sector so it can serve the complete cycle of an aircraft from design and engineering, by maintenance to recycling.

The goal seems to be very realistic and achievable considering the competitiveness of the Mexican market. Apart from the strategic geographic location, due to the experience in the automotive and

electric-electronic industries, Mexico can offer an advanced manufacturing and infrastructure platform, which optimizes supply chains and common support programs. Also, the country takes pride in the highest number of graduates of engineering, manufacturing and construction in the Americas which are 110,000 students per year. According to the UNESCO’s data from 2012, Mexico had 26% more graduates per capita of such programs than the United States. The country has also the greatest number of universities and research centres that focuses on innovation projects in the industry, with the Aeronautical University in Queretaro. Mexico is also one of the few countries that signed a Bilateral Aviation Safety Agreement with the Federal Aviation Administration. And last but not least, in terms of manufacturing costs, the country is approximately 21% more competitive than the United States.

In this context it is important to bring out that this new economic opportunity for Mexico comes from the current economic situation in more developed countries.

Some important budget cuts in the United States have pushed several companies to look for more competitive options. Among the companies that contributed to

the Mexican aerospace development are Bombardier, Eurocopter, Labinal, Honeywell, Goodrich Aeroestructures, General Electrics, Hydra Technologies, Doncasters Group, MD Helicopter, ITR, Frisa and Tyco. It’s worth mentioning that Hydra Technologies has developed the first unmanned plane constructed with Mexican design and technology. Totally, in 2014, 302 aerospace companies and support entities were registered in Mexico, most of which have NADCAP and AS9100 certificates.

They employ more than 45,000 high-level professionals and are located mainly in the states of Baja California, Chihuahua, Jalisco, Nuevo León, Querétaro, Sonora, Coahuila and Yucatán.

Without any doubt, Mexico is a global leader in the sector: in 2014 its export was of 6,366 billion dollars. Between 2004 and 2014 an annual average growth exceeded 17%. As noted in the graph below, its imports achieved 5.416 billion dollars witch gave a positives trade balance for Mexico in 2014.

The growing number of investment projects has turned Mexico into one of the most competitive destinations for the aerospace sector, and its increasing development of design and engineering capacities has also enabled it to attract high-value projects.

25 2015 November/December

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Energy and Renewables News

Poland opens $1 billion Swinoujscie LNG terminal The new LNG-import terminal at the Baltic port of Swinoujscie is preparing to receive its first cargo from Qatar before year-end.

Swinoujscie LNG has initial regasification capacity of 2.04 million tonnes a year (mta), enough to meet a third of Poland’s annual gas needs. The terminal’s operator, state-owned Polskie LNG, wants to secure more supply contracts to push the terminal to close to its full capacity of 5 billion cubic metres by 2018.

The flagship project aims to end Poland’s dependence on gas piped from Russia to meet its energy needs and to allow it to supply LNG to neighbouring Ukraine, Lithuania, Slovakia and the Czech Republic.

It features an unloading jetty, two storage tanks and a

regasification train. Commercial deliveries will start next year, two years later than planned.

Terminal operator Polskie LNG expects the terminal to reach full utilisation from 2018, once cross-border infrastructure is in place. It says that there is also scope to expand the plant to meet half the country’s requirements.

Analysts estimate that total LNG demand in the Baltic States and Poland stands at 6-7mta.

In October Polskie LNG agreed a contract with Qatargas to provide two cargoes for cooldown and start-up. Poland signed a 20-year contract with Qatar in 2009, committing national utility company PGNiG to buy 1mta a year.

“The gas, which will arrive now, will not be burnt ... It will be gradually pumped into the

distribution system,” Treasury Minister Andrzej Czerwinski said.

“The real, automatic gas distribution will happen in the second quarter of next year,” he added.

Poland consumes nearly 16 billion cubic metres of gas a year, most of which is imported from Russia’s Gazprom via pipeline. n

Poland signs deal to bring gas to Baltic states Poland has signed a deal to build the first gas pipeline connecting the Baltic states to the EU energy market. The pipeline will integrate EU and Baltic energy markets and reduce dependence on Russian gas.

The 558 million euro gas pipeline will end the energy isolation of the Baltic countries by connecting the gas markets of Poland and Lithuania, the European Commission.

“Today we have done much more than bringing the energy isolation of the Baltic States to an end. We have brought the region further together,” European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said.

The 534-kilometer Gas Interconnector Poland-Lithuania (GIPL) will be backed by a 305 million euro investment from the European Commission, which has set out the goal of creating an integrated European gas market and ensuring members have multiple supplies of energy. Once the GIPL is built, it will connect the Lithuanian, Estonian and Latvian gas network with the EU. The pipeline is scheduled to be completed by December 2019 and will eventually connect to Finland through a feeder line from Estonia. The starting capacity

will be 2.4 billion cubic meters a year from Poland to Lithuania, and 1 billion cubic meters per year from Lithuania to Poland.

The deal reached between the leaders of Poland, Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia comes amid rising concern over dependency on Russia for gas. The countries have increasingly voiced concern over aggressive Russian actions in Ukraine and along NATO’s borders and what it could mean for their security, especially as Moscow has not been shy using energy as an economic and political card in the past. n

Poland may stop producing coal until at least 2018

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Poland is considering to stop coal production at several of its mines until at least 2018 in an effort to help prices by reducing a global oversupply, while trying to keep state operations afloat and avoid job cuts.

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The conservative Law and Justice party (PiS) is considering merging the country’s top power firms — PGE, Tauron, Enea and Energa.

“Personally I think Poland needs one big power company,”

said Grzegorz Tobiszowski, responsible for coal issues.

He added the move would likely face scrutiny from the European Union over antimonopoly regulations.

November/December 2015

Energy and Renewables News Poland’s troubled coal mining sector became a focal point ahead of the recent parliamentary election, as the outgoing government failed to rescue the troubled Kompania Weglowa (KW), the EU’s biggest coal miner.

According to Eurostat data, around 83% of energy consumed in Poland is produced from black and brown coal, while in the rest of the EU the average is 28%. With UN climate negotiations in Paris coming up in December and the EU committing to cut greenhouse gas emissions

by 40% on 1990 levels by 2030, Warsaw has been under significant pressure to reduce that figure.

Currently, around 10% of the country’s energy needs are met by renewables (the average in the EU member countries is twice as high, at over 20%) and only 4% comes from natural gas and oil (while in the rest of the EU it is 25%), mostly imported from Russia.

Due to technological underdevelopment, the productivity of Polish mines is very low, with 648 tonnes

of coal produced per worker per year while in the worst US mines it is more then 2,000 tonnes.

Despite that, Polish producers continue to invest billions in modernizing their coal-fired plants or in building new, more efficient ones. At least four new coal-fired power plants are expected to come on line by 2019, as the country faces a deficit of around 8 gigawatts of capacity starting in 2020, once the EU’s Industrial Emissions Directive kicks in. n

PKN to buy Canadian firm Kicking Horse Energy for $293 million Poland’s top refiner, the state-controlled PKN Orlen, has launched takeover bids for Canada’s Kicking Horse Energy and Nasdaq-listed

FX Energy, worth a total of over $300 million.

PKN currently buys most of its oil from neighbouring Russia and these deals would expand its own exploration and production activities. It already runs one such upstream business in Canada after it bought TriOil

Resources in 2013 and has said it wants to seize potential takeovers opportunities as low oil prices force rivals to sell assets.

According to PKN, valued at 27.7 billion zlotys on the Warsaw Stock Exchange, the takeovers will raise its deposit base by 38 million barrels of oil equivalent (boe), or 76 percent, to 88 million boe.

“In line with our strategy in the upstream segment we’re aiming at achieving a production potential of 6 million boe a year in 2017,” PKN Chief executive Jacek Krawiec said.

PKN has offered Kicking Horse’s shareholders 4.75 Canadian dollars for each share in an all-cash deal, valuing the firm’s equity at 293 million Canadian dollars ($225 million), and putting the enterprise value at C$ 356 million.

It also offered FX Energy shareholders $1.15 in cash for each common share and $25 for each preferred share, valuing the firm’s equity at $83 million. PKN

announced a tender offer for FX Energy at the end of October.

Kicking Horse, an oil and gas explorer, produces around 4,000 boe a day from its Albertabased unit. Its market value on Canada’s TSX Venture Exchange stands at C$199 million.

Besides U.S. producing assets in Montana and Nevada, FX Energy has concessions around Poland, partly co-owned with Poland’s state-controlled gas group PGNiG. Its curret market value equals $59 million.

PKN, which runs a refining and gas-station business in Poland, Lithuania, the Czech Republic and Germany, has not yet produced oil at home. It has been trying to build a foothold in shale gas but its efforts have so far come to naught.

The group plans to delist both takeover targets and finalise the deals in the first quarter of 2016. n Source: Reuters

RWE opens two new onshore wind farms RWE Polska, part of German energy group RWE, has completed two wind farms in Poland with a combined capacity of 45 megawatts (MW), bringing the company’s total capacity in Poland to around 240 MW. With the addition of the 17-MW Opalenica wind park in Poznan and the 28-MW Nowy Staw II park, which is an extension to the 45-MW Nowy Staw

I wind farm, RWE now has 8 onshore wind farms in Poland.

Coal still dominates power generation in Poland, with 90 percent of the country’s electricity coming from coal-fired plants. Poland’s total installed capacity, including coal-fired power plants, amounted to around 38 gigawatts (GW) at the end of 2014, while wind farm capacity stood at 3.8 GW.

2015 November/December

But a new auction scheme set to be launched from January 2016 to replace the current subsidy scheme of so-called green certificates is creating some optimism among renewable groups, RWE said. The new rules will allow plants that have started operation by the end of 2015 to choose between the new and old subsidy schemes.

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27

Energy and Renewables News The German company described Poland as a market with “fantastic wind conditions and great local acceptance for renewables”. RWE has

so far developed projects under the green certificate scheme, and is now preparing to take part in the upcoming renewable energy auctions.

RWE also said it had launched a 16 MW solar plant in Hungary earlier in October, marking Hungary’s biggest solar facility. n

PGE moves into solar power with 600-kW facility Polish power group PGE Polska Grupa Energetyczna SA opened its first photovoltaic (PV) power facility, a 600-kW installation at Gora Zar in the southern part of Poland.

The company said the project is part of its efforts to gradually diversify its generation sources.

Currently, PGE produces 12% of its energy from renewables, noted chief executive Marek Woszczyk.

It is now adding solar to its hydro and wind power operations.

The solar farm consists of 2,400 solar panels of 250 W and is expected to generate at least 550 MWh gross per year. The investment in the project is only PLN 2.8 million, including a PLN 624,000 grant from the Regional Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management in Katowice.

PGE recently generated its first power from the 76-MW Resko II wind farm, while the 90-MW Lotnisko and 12-MW Kisielice II

wind projects are scheduled to be brought online by the end of 2015. The three wind farms will lift the company’s installed wind capacity to 529 MW. PGE is investing PLN 1 billion in wind energy assets in the current year alone.

The company also said it continued with its first offshore wind farm project, for which it announced a tender in August for the performance of environmental research. n

EU’s Energy Union builds momentum

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The EU’s Energy Union has already seen several concrete achievements when it comes to Europe’s energy infrastructure. Several were singled out in a recent speech in November

have access to at least 3 different gas sources. CESEC held its first summit in February 2015 and in July, the participating countries already put forward a rigorous

by Vice-President for Energy Union Maroš Šefčovič at the Energy Infrastructure Forum in Denmark, including: Central Eastern and South-eastern European Gas Connectivity (CESEC) is a key initiative to ensure the creation of a truly cross-regional competitive energy market in Central and South Eastern Europe and to make it possible for every country to

implementation of the most crucial gas infrastructure projects.

Malta-Italy electricity Interconnector was inaugurated in April, bringing Malta’s level of inter-connection from 0% to 35% and contributing to the diversifying Malta’s energy mix. This project is very well-appreciated by the government and the Maltese population, including the fact that the project was supported by

BiznesPolska.pl/EN

the European Energy Programme for Recovery, with EUR 20 million.

Key energy infrastructure projects in South-West Europe was established in June 2015. It is focused on breaking away the isolation of the region and building the missing cross-border links to better plug the Iberian Peninsula into the internal energy market.

Electricity interconnections between Lithuania and Poland.

In October, Poland and Lithuania signed an agreement to connect their gas pipelines, therefore ending the isolation of the Baltic region from the rest of continental Europe.

This was also a project of common interest which enjoyed financial support from the Connecting Europe Facility, with EUR 295 million. The fact that all three Baltic countries, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, agreed to contribute to the costs in Poland - demonstrates the exceptional regional impact of this project. In December 2015, the electricity interconnections between Lithuania and Poland and Lithuania and Sweden will become operational. These new power interconnections will make it possible for the Baltic States to fully participate in the Nordic electricity market. Similarly to their gas infrastructure, the Baltic countries will now enjoy integration into continental Europe. n

November/December 2015

Advisory

by Christian Schnell cschnell@solivan.pl

The existing renewable energy support scheme, a green certificate scheme with a quota obligation on retailers, will be closed by end of this year for new entries, but will continue until the end of the 15-year support period. The new auction support system, which provides a technology-neutral bidding scheme for contract for difference premiums concerning RES-E generators with at least 500 kW installed capacity or feed-in tariffs for RES-E generators with 40 kW to 499 kW installed capacity, will enter into force at the beginning of 2016.

The first auction is expected by end of June 2016, but the Regulatory Office URE will rather not publish the date before end of March 2016.

Investors are currently preparing for successful auctions, especially wind farm investors. As the amount of fully permitted projects substantially exceeds the bid amount and a competitive approach of bidders is likely, diligent analysis of the wind farm project is required. With a high bid price the project will not be competitive, and with a too-low bid price the project cannot be financed and constructed, so the bid bond amounting to PLN 30.000 per MW installed capacity would be lost, and therefore the project blocked for seven years.

Although large onshore-wind installations will face strong competition for renewable support in technology neutral auctions, the contract for differences premium mitigates regulatory risk and will provide to lower financing costs, higher debt-equity ratios and lower ROI expectations of investors. Furthermore, bidders are limited in their bid price to a technology specific reference (ceiling) price which avoids oversupply and windfall profits (no pun intended!), so that midterm political acceptance of the support system both at Polish parliament and EU Commission is high likely.

For the time being, the Polish government has not been able to agree with the EU Commission further measures for parallel investment support for RES generators. We assume, that if implemented at all, additional RES support next to the auction system will be limited and may provide only preferable loan schemes, whereas direct investment grants will rather not be achievable.

However, the long term calculation of technologyspecific profile costs, yield and grid curtailments, of balancing costs and the expected wholesale revenue after 15 years of operation, i.e. for the remaining life span of the RES generator, provides for a more professional approach of investors. The requirement to deliver at least 85 percent of the offered production in 3-year settlement periods is a challenge especially for wind farms, so that investors have to take care about detailed risk and yield analysis to avoid later pitfalls.

Wind farm investors will face the following new challenges while preparing for the auctions and while operating the project afterwards: • technology profile risk, i.e. the risk to sell energy for less than the market average which is basis for settlement of the contract for difference premium,

2015 November/December

• risk of over-performing of the wind farm exceeding the offered volume at auction, so that no contract for difference premium can be achieved for this part of energy production, • risk of under-performing of the wind farm, i.e. that the produced volume in a three-year settlement period is less than 85 percent of the volume offered at auction, so that a penalty payment occurs,  the risk of self-marketing energy without support after the 15 year support period until the end of project life, i.e. 25 years in case of a wind farm, • long term costs for balancing, i.e. shifting the balancing obligation to a professional service provider for adequate consideration, • risk of negative prices at wholesale market during a period of at least 6 hours which cancels the right to settle the premium for the given period.

To assess these risks, Solivan, anemos wind consultants and enervis energy consultants have published a market report which shall enable investors and financing banks to understand the methodology that is necessary to evaluate RES projects in detail and to find a general basis for financial modeling half year before the first auction is expected to take place. The first part of the report gives an introduction to the new RES auction scheme in Poland. It points out the timeline for the implementation of the law and gives an overview of the implications on renewable energy projects, especially wind farms and photovoltaics.

Special attention is given to the prequalification requirements for any RES project to take part in the future auctions. In addition, the report provides detailed information on the auction process and the total cap on RES expenditures and expected changes in other legislation such as planning and building law that will have a strong influence on renewable energy projects.

The second part of this report addresses wind yield estimation and associated risks in the auction (offered generation volume). The impact of uncertainties in the calculation and the methodology of long-term wind speed forecasts are described. A further focus is the calculation of the probability of exceeding the minus 15 percent criterion, which is part of the penalty regulation in the new Polish RES legislation. The third part of the report gives an introduction to the Polish power market. It analyses the existing generation portfolio and historic prices on the day ahead market as well as on the market for balancing energy. In addition, the assumptions on future development of the sector for the power price forecast are presented. After that the methodology for calculation of profile costs of renewable energy sources is explained in detail. To give a statement about the future development of profile costs of RES in Poland the results of the power price forecast are combined with long-term wind data to create pictures of the future market value atlas for different wind turbine technologies and sites. The report can be ordered at info@enervis.de. n

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ADVISORY

Diligent analysis required for successful participation at Auction for renewable energy generators

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Advisory

A head up in times of political change So the Polish political tides have turned.

Time for a reset, a reboot, a return to the

ADVISORY

mid-2000s.

30

Uh oh.

That seems to be the opinion of many, if not most, in Polish business—and this could be putting it mildly when it comes to the new Law-andJustice (PiS) reality and the local and international press. Promises of taxes on supermarkets/ retail and banking plus a possibility of returning to more regulation to combat corruption a la what was seen in the middle of the last decade.

Scary stuff, eh? Or is it? Or in other words: what does this mean for you?

First, we must remember that every government is a product of the previous government. Second, here are a few predictions and observations that, depending on your sector, may be worth a head scratch.

• Companies dealing heavily with the public sector need to take an honest look at political relationships and prepare as best they can. Yes, business goes back to relationships. No, I do not mean that every public sector contract is the product of a bribe. That said, this government just like every government before it will jettison former representatives of the last government. In short, Civic Platform-linked persons will be out. New players will come in, and they will indeed have their own political connections and personal futures to worry about. This may be somewhat negated by the fact that Poland 2015 is not Poland of the 1990s or Poland of first decade of the millennium.

In other words, if a business is going well, the more pragmatic appointments may indeed see this and stick to said pragmatism instead of attempting to brown-nose for the future. In a number of sectors this would indeed be the smart play. In others—if we are to be objective—inside deals especially at local/municipal levels were neither ideal or efficient, so a cleanup process may be the best option here anyway. At any rate, sectors I would worry about include logistics connected to the state and energy.

If I need to spell it out, think trains and anything attached to the energy grid.

• Real estate may very well suffer the same issues as in the past—but there could be an upside as well. The first time around the anti-corruption drive scared the willies out of public servants. This de facto meant no decisions and delayed projects (especially, but not only retail). That said, the long list of complaints that reached my ears over the

BiznesPolska.pl/EN

By Preston Smith CEE Consulting Group; preston.smith@ceecg.com

past eight years were of another vein. Yes tenders were rigged. Again and again. Likewise, politicallyexposed persons/PEPs became the subject of local investigations. Depending on what may come down the pipe, the new government could either plunge real estate into “no decision limbo” or, if much less aggressive, into an era of slightly increased competition and fair play.

• Ecological issues. Let’s be honest: when it comes to forests and waterways, Poles were rightly seething.

While chopping a tree likely to crush your house in a storm could result in massive paperwork or even a PLN 100,000 fine, side deals for national forests were cut (no pun intended) seemingly at will. Here let me give you a hint: if you see a new highway built with one hundred meters of forest cleared on each side of the highway for no apparent reason, it’s time to ask a few questions. Likewise, if you see your city undergo “park renovation,” which effectively means wanton destruction of all established trees with no clarity on the company or tender involved, somebody just made a killing. A safe bet would be that those days are over. Those buying forested land with the intention of building a factory, business or even a house thus may be in for a shock. Likewise, those with old-boy agreements regarding waste levels and enforcement may be in for a shock as well. Don’t expect a lot of sympathy here. From anyone.

• Finally—and paradoxically—this new era could actually benefit the Fourth Estate. While the former government managed to largely avoid scrutiny for at least the first few years of its term in office, this government will be under the magnifying glass from day one. Yet a few major Polish publications (which I will not be foolish enough to name) played their favorite horse for far too long. This can be seen in the advertising content (or soon to be lack of it) that was basically the equivalent of daily, weekly and monthly government subsidies. Hence the fact that such publications could continue to exist with abysmal readership and equally abysmal advertising revenue from the private sector. Hint, hint: advertisers want more than political gossip—and they prefer that to be limited to the front of the magazine so they can advertise alongside “safer” and more informative stories in the middle.

My prediction? There are a couple of powerhouses in particular that may keep up the vitriol, but they also will consider more informative, honest coverage. Or they will simply collapse under their own subjectivity.

Worth a head scratch, I hope. But as far as the last point is concerned, don’t expect a lot of sympathy there either. n

November/December 2015

Advisory

There is advice doing the rounds on social media on a regular basis on how hard-up, self-employed businesses can avoid Polish ZUS. There is often a discussion by a panel of experts - such as tinkers, tailors, soldiers and sailors – who end up content at having agreed a strategy with obvious perils involved, apparently oblivious to the fact that they are discussing potentially criminal conduct. I don’t recall ever seeing people reliant on this team of experts for an on-line diagnosis of a potentially crippling illness, but potentially crippling tax practices seem to be fair game.

I do have the utmost sympathy for the plight that some of these businesses face. The ZUS cost for self-employed people is a flat rate amount based on deemed profits of PLN 2,375.40 per month for social security and PLN 3,104.57 for health insurance. That doesn’t look very much, but unlike with employment income, a self-employed business has to pay both employer contributions of 20.74% as well as employee contributions of 13.71%, so the social security cost is more than twice as much as an employee would pay on the same earnings. For many businesses the fixed ZUS cost is extremely generous, but for many more it is disproportionally expensive and unjust. It’s no wonder that they are looking for a way out.

The most popular suggestion doing the rounds on social media appears to be to operate in Poland

By Steven Foster Process Solutions www.ps-bpo.com Steven.Foster@ps-bpo. com

The cost of compliance with the tax regimes in both the UK and Poland is going to take a consider-able chunk out of your ZUS savings. using a company registered in the UK. It’s cheap, simple to run, not a smelly jurisdiction and there’s no need to worry about Polish ZUS. What’s more, UK limited companies and limited partnerships are the vehicles of choice for the world’s money launderers, arms dealers, mafia families, oligarchs and dictators, so obviously they are a trusted and respected way to do business.

Under Polish law there is no ZUS on fees paid to company directors for acting as directors, so if you take your UK company profits in your capacity

2015 November/December

as a director, you can safely ignore Polish ZUS. It seems like a great idea – what could go wrong?

Well, let’s start with corporate income tax (CIT).

Since the UK company will be wholly managed from Poland and will be operating exclusively out of an office in Poland, all its profits are deemed to arise in Poland for CIT purposes. That’s OK, I hear you say, because the objective is to avoid ZUS, not tax.

However, the cost of compliance with the tax regimes in both the UK and Poland is going to take a considerable chunk out of your ZUS savings. Also, there are no more deductions for the cost of using your home as an office, using your car, your flight to Tenerife for a marketing trip or any other costs in your name unless those costs are documented by lease, travel logs or whatever other paperwork is appropriate, all of which will throw up yet more tax complications and compliance cost. Just to make it more difficult for you, if your company profits are variable from month to month and if you are in the habit of taking all company profits as remuneration, you will risk having those profits restated for tax purposes. In a typical armslength relationship a company would expect to pay a reasonably fixed employee or director cost per month, so if your earnings vary as the company’s profit varies, you will appear to be deliberately avoiding any taxable profit in the company, which can get you into trouble.

Next we have to think about VAT. Most businesses can safely ignore VAT if the value of their turnover does not exceed PLN 150,000 p.a. This does not apply to consultants and advisers, so if you are a consultant and you are not VAT registered, you are already in deep trouble. However, if you are billing your customers from a UK company then the VAT regime applies to all taxable activity, not just to consultants. Just to make matters worse, it’s the Polish VAT system which applies, rather than the UK system, so it is of course much more expensive to deal with. Your VAT compliance costs will eat another big hole in your ZUS savings and, if your customers are not also VAT-registered, the VAT cost itself will swallow up any remain ZUS saving which you were hoping to cling on to.

Just to round off the list of your troubles, you may like to know that, as a fully self-contained Polish business operated by a UK company, you will be deemed to be operating your UK company through a Polish branch, which is required to be registered in the National Court Register (KRS). The CIT and VAT record keeping and compliance issues discussed above mean that your hard-won ZUS savings would all be handed over to me. However, once we are into the realms of KRS registration, you now have to start paying a lawyer as well.

Happy trading! n

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The frantic flight from ZUS – all in vain

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Advisory

ADVISORY

Law And Justice’s Win Heralds A New Politics In Poland When opposition Law and Justice (PiS) won a landslide victory in the parliamentary elections of 25th October with 38% of the vote and obtained an absolute majority in Parliament, it represented more than just a simple election upset. By winning big, demoralising the hitherto ruling Civic Platform (PO) party, and finally eliminating the post-communist Left from parliament, PiS leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski has reshaped the political scene for possibly years to come.

The most striking thing about the victory of Law and Justice was that it won a plurality of votes in every single social and geographical category. The reasons for the PO’s loss are legion – voter fatigue with the PO, a badly conducted campaign, the negative snowball effect of the loss of the Presidency in April by Bronislaw Komorowski. Most important however was the real sense of frustration among the population that despite economic growth and EU funds, the benefits of this growth were not trickling down to the average man. Moreover, especially among the young, there was a feeling that the rapid social advancement that many experience when working in the West, is not available to them at home where bureaucracy, local cliques and increasing petty-to-large scale corruption deny many

By Marek Matraszek CEC Government Relations

Poland has experienced a political earthquake that has little precedent and which will have major policy implications both home and abroad

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merit-based opportunities. In this sense, Jaroslaw Kaczynski’s PiS party tapped into deeper feelings of the population that could not be countered by the PO’s campaign theme of a future that would be “better, sunnier, happier” under their governance.

The sense that PiS represents more than just a narrow social interest but has tapped into a broader stream of national sentiment is important to PiS leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski, who has long dreamed of establishing a political party that would be truly “one nation” in the UK Tory or European Christian democrat sense. Hence the lack of hostile rhetoric in the campaign, which had Beata Szydlo – now the new Prime Minister, and perceived as a moderate – as its face to the voter. And Kaczynski has also been magnanimous in victory, holding out olive branches of cooperation towards other smaller parties in parliament, albeit not to the losing Civic Platform. Kaczynski’s ambition is not only to push PO to the left and hopefully thereby marginalise it,

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but to construct a two-thirds constitutional majority in Parliament that would allow him to change the current constitution in a way that would make future rule by the left more difficult to achieve.

That plan, however, is for the longer term. In the short to medium-term, PiS will set about governing with a single-party government for the first time since 1989. Assisted by a loyal President, and also dominant in the Senate, there are few limitations on the party’s agenda. This can be seen in three broad categories. The first is that of the economy, or rather the broader relationship between the economy and the citizen, which PiS see as a single project. Here, PiS has announced moderate and technocratic specialists to key portfolios, such as Mateusz Morawiecki as Deputy PM and Minister of Development, Pawel Szalamacha as Minister of Finance and Anna Strezynska as Minister of Digitalisation. These and other names are reassuring to bankers and analysts, fearful of PiS election spending promises, that at least there will be a measured approach to spending goals with no major short-term risk of a budget deficit crisis.

A second set of nominees are middle-tier ministries which are staffed with loyalists to Jaroslaw Kaczynski himself, rather than to Beata Szydlo.

In key ministries such as State Treasury, Energy, Environment and Infrastructure the state plays an important role in regulatory affairs and trade union interests are strong – here, the goal is to ensure social support for PiS’s ambitious economic plans of redistributing wealth both inside the country, and also redirecting the stream of EU funding into projects and social groups that form the backbone of the party’s national electoral base.

Finally, Jaroslaw Kaczynski managed to install in key ministries that control the judiciary, intelligence services and uniformed services his closest loyalists – Mariusz Blaszczak in Interior, Antoni Macierewicz in Defence, Mariusz Kaminski as Coordinator of Intelligence Services, and Zbigniew Ziobro as Minister of Justice. Kaczynski remains committed to purging the political and institutional system of ex-communists, secret police collaborators, and corrupt officials connected to the criminal underworld.

Without such a purge, he sees his broader social and economic goals as being impossible to achieve.

Poland has experienced a political earthquake that has little precedent and which will have major policy implications both home and abroad, and for the first time in his political life, Jaroslaw Kaczynski has the political instruments at his disposal to make his political, social and economic vision a reality. n Marek Matraszek is the Chairman of CEC Government Relations. He can be contacted at mm@cecgr.com

November/December 2015

FDI Investment News

New 50 million pln cans plant in Gryfino Polish packaging manufacturer Invento is opening a production plant for PET beverage cans in Gryfino (northwestern Poland), as it looks to increase production of an innovation that is patented in around 90 countries. The production and storage hall area covers 10,00 sq m. The plant will produce innovative PET cans. In addition, the equipment also allows for the production of beverages.

The maximum annual production capacity of the plant is 160 million units can and approximately 100 million drinks.

The investment will be approximately PLN 50 million. In

the coming years, the further expansion of the plant is planned.

Invento is a manufacturer of innovative worldwide packaging – the transparent PET can, which is compatible with existing filling lines for aluminium cans. However, it is possible to design new custom shapes and sizes according to customer’s request. Invento also provides private label services, which encompass the manufacturing process of packaging, preparing and filling of drinks, as well as labelling and delivery of the finished product in customer’s PET can. Invento holds world-wide patents on its technologies. n

PAIZ lands 9 new investors in tour of United States The latest PAIZ mission in the autumn to the US included visits to 9 cities, including Miami, Philadelphia, New York, Boston, Chicago, Minneapolis, Silicon Valley, Seattle, and Salt Lake City.

Headed by director Iwona Chojnowska-Haponik, the investment delegation from PAIZ was promoting Poland in the US as a reliable and attractive investment partner and a good location for American companies. PAIZ experts took part in negotiations with American business institutions, decision makers and potential investors from sectors such as finance, business services and with those that are interested in establishing R&D centres in Poland.

As a result of the talks, nine American investments have been added to PAIZ’s portfolio, of which five investors would be entirely new investments in Poland. According to

Chojnowska-Haponik, those recently acquired investments from the US will bring an additional 1,500 new jobs to Poland.

America remains the largest investor in PAIZ’s portfolio. Currently, the Agency is

supporting over 30 investment projects, including Solarwinds, which has received a public grant in Poland and is establishing a strategic R&D centre in Kraków where about 300 new jobs will be created. n

Poland Manufacturing PMI goes up According to Markit Economics, the Poland Manufacturing PMI climbed to a new high reaching 52.2 points, which is the best result of the last three months.

Polish industry is now influenced by both output and new orders boosted by a recovery in

2015 November/December

export growth. Manufacturing employment increased for a survey-record twenty-seventh consecutive month but firms remained cautious with regard to purchasing activity.

The PMI rose to 52.2 in October, from September’s 12-month low of

50.9. This signalled the strongest improvement in manufacturing business conditions since July, and extended the current sequence of overall growth of the sector to 13 months. That said, the strength of the upturn remained weaker than the trend shown throughout the first half of 2015. n

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FDI Investment News In brief Faurecia builds new factory In Legnickie Pole, Faurecia opened a production plant of automotive accessories. Due to new investment, Faurecia will create 175 new jobs. The company has been present in Legnica SEZ since 2001 where it owns two factories. The total employment of Faurecia in Poland reaches 800 people.

New investor in Legnica Special Economic Zone Atlas Copco Poland Ltd. will invest nearly PLN 5 million in the Legnicz SEZ, with plans to open a modern service centre of mining equipment for clients from Central Europe, including Poland, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Romania.

The announcement ceremony for Atlas Copco coincided with the introduction of the Polkowice Community as a new member of the Lower Silesia automotive cluster that is run by Legnica SEZ. In Polkowice area, such companies as Volkswagen Motor Poland, SITECH and Sanden Manufacturing Poland are already operate.

New investment in Kostrzyńsko - Słubska SEZ At least PLN 18 million will be invested by TVG in Kostrzyńsko Słubska SEZ. TVG is to build a ventilation components’ plant in the zone and plans to equip the object with a machine park. The company plans to create 90 new jobs.

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Limestone producer in PLN 21m expansion in Łódź SEZ Nordkalk will invest PLN 21 million to expand its production plant in Sławno Subzone of the Łódź Special Economic Zone.

The investors will create 30 new jobs within the project. Under the investment, the company will build a production facility, warehouse and logistic infrastructure, expanding the already existing plant and increasing the production capacity. Products made of limestone by Nordkalk are used in construction, agriculture and other sectors. n

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PLN 214m enter Mielec SEZ Mielec Special Economic Zone has issued 8 new business permits, with an expected total value of PLN 214.8m, leading to more than 30 new jobs in the zone.

Lubella will be the largest new investor, with an estimated investment of PLN 87 million. The investor will build a new production facility and warehouse and create 30 new jobs in its pasta factory.

The second biggest new investment will be provided by aviation company Cyclone

Polska that for PLN 30 million will build a factory of aircraft accessories for Airbus, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Bombardier in the Kraśnik “sub zone”.

The third biggest investment within the zone will be provided by MW Lublin that plans to establish an innovative production line of car wheels spending PLN 21m and creating 21 new jobs.

Since the beginning of 2015 Mielec SEZ has already issued 26 investment permits. n

Six new investors and more than 200 jobs in the Łódź SEZ In the headquarters of the Łódź Special Economic Zone, 6 investors formally announced plans to invest in the zone, with a total of PLN 230 million and creation of

more than 200 new jobs.

Food manufacturer Vandemoortele Poland Ltd plans to hire as many as 61 employees.

The company intends to launch a new plant in Kutno and produce there mainly frozen bread.

Mecalit Poland Ltd, which has already received a third permit to operate in the zone, is investing another PLN 12 million. The new investment project involves the extension and expansion of production capacity in Łódź. The company will create at least 20 new jobs.

The new investment of Wirthwein AG consists of extension of its plant in Łódź. The company specialises in the production of plastic parts for home appliances, electrical and automotive industries as well as for the railway sector. Wirthwein intends to invest at least PLN 16 m illion and employ at least 48 employees.

New permits were also released for Chipita Poland, which will develop a plant in Tomaszów Mazowiecki, and Scanaqua and Ambro Logistics. n

Elplast to expand Polish pipe factory Polish manufacturer Elplast+ sp. z o.o. is planning to expand the output capacity of its plant in JastrzębieZdrój in Silesia. The company produces plastic pipes and other components with the use of polypropylene, PBT and polyethylene.

Under the plan, the firm is to invest some 2.3 million euros at the factory which is located in the Katowicka special economic zone (KSSE). The company says it will maintain the production facility’s current workforce of 162 employees, as well as create new jobs in Jastrzębie-Zdrój.

The Polish company produces its output with the use of granulates

supplied by LyondellBasell, Borealis, Sabic, Dow Chemicals and Total, according to data released

by Elplast+. Elplast+ is owned by two local businesswomen, Anna and Teresa Pawelak. The company says it has been active in the Polish plastics industry for more than 25 years. The firm’s factory in Jastrzębie-Zdrój is ISO 9001 and 14001 certified, and it is operated by a workforce of some 170, according to the latest figures released by Elplast+.

Locating its project in the special economic zone will provide Elplast+ with preferential tax treatment at least until 2026. n

November/December 2015

FDI Investment News

Pilkington Automotive in 500 million pln plant Panattoni Europe, Poland’s leader in the industrial property market, has completed works on one of the largest and most modern investments in the country. It involved the construction of a new manufacturing plant which will make innovative automotive glass for Pilkington Automotive Poland Sp. z o.o. The facility has been erected in Chmielów, at the Tarnobrzeg Special Economic Zone EURO-PARK WISŁOSAN, and it totals approx. 90,000 sqm, of which as much as three quarters were developed by Panattoni Europe. The opening ceremony took place on 12 October 2015.

The development of a modern automotive glass manufacturing plant of Pilkington Automotive Poland worth half a billion zlotys was planned for 2011-2015. It is the second Pilkington factory in Poland and it will make glass for the world’s largest car manufacturers. The facility will also make glass products for trucks. Panattoni Europe was involved in several stages of the construction project and finally developed as much as three quarters of the 90,000 sqm facility. Apart from building the warehouse and manufacturing hall totalling 56,000 sqm, the company also acted as a general contractor, delivering a 10,000-squaremetre manufacturing hall.

As the general contractor, Panattoni Europe additionally built a manufacturing hall, which will house a production line making innovative automotive glass. The

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facility takes up approx. 10,000 sqm and construction works proceeded under quite extraordinary circumstances, as the manufacturing hall was built while the plant was operating at full capacity.

The factory of Pilkington Automotive Poland is now the most modern facility of its type in Poland and one of the most modern worlwide. It is equipped with innovative process lines for making windscreens, installing additional windscreen elements, for truck glass manufacturing and glass encapsulation. The final stage of the investment ended with the launch

of a process line for manufacturing tempered side windows, including the line for installing additional elements onto laminated side windows and side windows with hydrophobic coating. Armed with the new technologies, Pilkington Automotive will be able to double its capacity in Poland. The investment into the construction of the Pilkington Automotive Poland plant has created a total of 1,100 new jobs for local inhabitants, e.g. from Tarnobrzeg, Chmielów and Nowa Dęba.

The Pilkington Automotive Poland plant in Chmielów is situated within the Tarnobrzeg Special Economic Zone EURO-PARK WISŁOSAN. The investment project was executed under the Innovative Economy Operational Programme, Measure 4.5 “Support for investments of vital importance for the economy”, cofinanced by the European Regional Development Fund. n

In brief Pomeranian SEZ gets bigger On 6 October, the government increased the area of the Pomerianian Special Economic Zone by 181 hectares. Due to new investment land, it is expected that more than 1500 new jobs will be created in the zone and investment in this area will exceed PLN 850 million. Now the Pomeranian Zone covers 2040 hectares.

Among companies that have recently decided to invest in the Pomerania SEZ are: Akomex (producer of packaging), Pinguin Foods Polska (food sector), Ciech Soda Polska (chemical industry), Steico (wood sector), and Boryszew Components Poland (automotive industry).

Together, the five companies will create more than 300 new jobs and maintain the already existing 1,343 jobs as well as invest PLN 255 million.

New investor in Nowa Sól The company ElectropoliGalwanotechnika intends to invest in Nowa Sól. The investor declares to invest at least PLN 50 milion, and to hire at least 100 employees. The project involves building a new production plant, where anti-corrosion coatings will be mainly applied. The subzone Nowa Sól belongs to the Kostrzyn Special Economic Zone. The project of ElectropoliGalwanotechnika is the 285th permit issued in the area.

New investor in Starachowice SEZ The Management Board of the Starachowice SEZ welcomed a new investor in the Końskie subzone. The new investor, Edyta Knap, will launch logistics and storage services for the producers of the ceramics industry in the region. The value of the project amounts to PLN 450,000. The company is to employ at least 16 people. Starachowicka zone has issued already 162 permits, thanks to which the companies created 6696 new jobs. n

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Equities News

MetLife TFI SA wins at CEE Capital Markets Awards Interview with Tomasz Adamus, President of Board at MetLife TFI S.A. MetLife – American Equity has been named Fund of the Year at the annual CEE Capital Markets Awards.

What distinguishes this fund on the market?

American Equity has been carefully designed to achieve long-term rates of return higher than the broadly-based S&P500 index. The Fund’s recent performance has been better than that of any other fund on the Polish market, due to several factors. The first was the selection of best-in-class foreign funds, whose managers have been able to generate long-term positive alpha (profit from active management) or match benchmarks as closely as possible while keeping fees significantly below average. The second key factor that allowed us to achieve such high rates of return from MetLife American Equity was the decision to give greater weight to growth companies, ones that have been growing noticeably faster than the market in recent years.

Does the same investment philosophy guide MetLife in designing all global funds of funds?

Yes, the principles that guide us in building our funds of funds are universal. The first is to take the benchmarks that define a product very seriously. We avoid the practice of changing the fund’s profile in pursuit of higher rates of return. We want our clients to know, for example, that they will not find shares of US companies in an Asian equity fund. The active part of the portfolio is composed of funds that invest in specific regions or in companies of a specific type. This gives us the ability to overweight Indian shares in MetLife Chinese Equity or MetLife Asian Equity, or to allocate more funds to growth companies in MetLife American Equity. This is another reason why our global funds are now at the top of their peer group. We also approach currency hedging with caution. During the last year and a half, expecting the US currency to strengthen, we resigned from the use of hedging, which generated additional profits from all of our investment funds, benefiting our investors.

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What are the plans for further development? On what funds MetLife wants to focus in the future?

At the moment we are working on several projects. We intend to increase the number of funds in the composition of our umbrellas, so that our customers will have access to a full cross-section of the markets that we believe to be particularly attractive. The new products will be both Fundsof-Funds and funds managed by us, which will

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broaden the range of products offered to investors interested in assets denominated in Polish currency.

A significant part of MetLife TFI assets is currently invested in money market funds. Do you see your clients allocating more of their assets in equities in the coming months?

MetLife is primarily an insurance group, and we find it entirely natural that our clients invest largely in safe asset classes. This tendency is also strengthened by a general reluctance to invest in equity, due to a sideways trend on the Polish stock market, lasting for several years and especially

November/December 2015

Equities News present in large companies. Nevertheless, we are optimistic about our rates of return from the stock market. In the current environment of exceptionally low interest rates we expect greater demand for assets in this class. At the same time, however, we will also offer products enabling our clients to achieve slightly higher profitability on the debt market.

Finally, we believe that Polish and European shares are relatively cheap.

What is your general view of the Equities markets and its valuation right now (particularly in light of the rather long duration of the current 6 year Bull market)?

A bull market in the US has indeed lasted for six years now, but in Poland and Europe it has not been so noticeable. Interest rate hikes keep getting delayed in the US, and we believe that even on that market we may still have another two good years ahead of us. In the 1990s, share prices kept rising for a full decade, so it is not impossible that we are observing a similarly long cycle now, especially with the most expansive monetary

policy in history. Finally, we believe that Polish and European shares are relatively cheap.

Tell us about MetLife’s equity options for the Polish market and how you see their performance in the coming months.

At the moment we offer equity funds in every market segment. MetLife SME Equity has been our top-performing product over the last year, ranking among the best funds of this kind. This was also one of the few funds on the market that did not report significant losses during the recent correction. On the other hand, funds based largely on WIG20 have not been doing so well, mainly because of the downturn in the financial and energy sectors, which pushed the valuations of these companies down. We believe that as we pass from preelection uncertainty to specific economic policies, the prospects for profits will look better. We are especially optimistic about the chances of share prices increases in the SME sector, particularly the new technology companies. It is precisely in this sector—for example, the dynamically growing Polish producers of computer games—that we see opportunities for above-average growth in the coming years. n MetLife TFI S.A. has been operating since 2004. It offers 19 sub-funds, diversified in terms of risk and geographical coverage. It provides services to approximately 28,000 clients and manages assets worth PLN 1.3 billion.

FDI Poland Investor Awards 20 October 2016

WWW.FDIPOLANDAWARDS.PL 2015 November/December

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City Investment News

Wrocław Major road development to link Lower Silesia with Poznań A significant infrastructure project - “S5 - Good Investments’ Direction” - aims to boost investment activity along the S5 road. The project’s partners are the Ministry of Economy, Special Economic Zones and local authorities.

The project will help create new jobs and develop cities and towns located near the S5 expressway, which will link Lower Silesia (Dolny Śląsk) with Wielkopolska and then with the national road system of northern Poland. “We invite

investors everyday to visit areas along the expressways. Questions about the road access are one of the first to be asked by potential investors. Due to projects such as “S5 - Good Investments’ Direction”, we can guarantee the best conditions for business” said Monika Gąsiorowska, director of Regional Development Department at PAIiIZ. At present, the most important task will be the involvement of special economic zones (Legnicka, Wałbrzych, Kamienna

Góra, Kostrzyn - Słubice and Pomeranian) to prepare a list of attractive investment locations along the route. The land must be equipped with developments ready to be leased by SMEs. The zones, in cooperation with local governments, will take care of the infrastructure (roads, equipment, networks).

The entire Lower Silesia section of the new expressway in the direction Poznan will be ready by the end of 2017. n

Trójmiasto Port of Gdansk spotlighted in Chinese media In late October, the Port of Gdansk was visited by a delegation of Chinese media representatives who came to Poland at the invitation of the Polish Information and Foreign Investment Agency, to provide the Chinese public with some information about Poland, its economic situation and prospects for the future, says PGA. As part of their several-day visit to the country, the journalists who took part in the programme also stopped by at the largest Polish port - the Port of Gdansk. As they pointed out, their presence in Gdansk was not purely by chance.

The guests’ main area of interest was the activity of the port, its development plans, expansion of transshipment capacity and projections for the future.

There was particularly huge interest in the most extensive investment programme in the history of the port, including its expansion in the Gulf of Gdansk - i.e. the construction of the Outer/ Central Port, on which conceptual work began no more than a few months ago.

The main objective of the guests was to collect extensive material on Poland and the key projects which may have a significant

impact on the further development of the Polish economy, in order to prepare a series of reports and articles in the press for the Chinese public, including readers of widely read newspapers such as Jiefang Daily, China Business News that the People’s Daily.

After several hours at the port, the guests were taken on a trip around the Deepwater Container Terminal, where they gained a valuable insight into the operation of the largest container terminal on the Baltic Sea and could observe the terminal expansion project at its already advanced stage n.

Port of Gdansk planning huge investment programme

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The Port of Gdansk in Poland says it plans to invest in excess of PLN 800 million over the next five years.

The investment programme will see wide-ranging improvements made in the Inner and Outer Port, and will be partly funded by European Union funds, with more than half

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to come from Port of Gdansk Authority SA’s own budget.

Some investments are already underway, such as the expansion of the intermodal container terminal at the Szczecinskie Quay, which by the end of this year. Investment work is also in progress at the Oliwskie Quay, which will be thoroughly modernized both on land and in water.

The port still has many planned investment projects for the future, but among them the two largest in terms of scope are the modernization of the fairway in the Inner Port and the road and rail networks in the Outer Port.

The first project, worth nearly 500 million PLN, will include the reconstruction of 16 quay

November/December 2015

City Investment News sections at the Inner Port with a total length of 5.8 km and the deepening of the port channel in order to improve navigation

in this part of the port. The outcome of the investment will be a 90m wide fairway in the Inner Port with a depth of 12m.

In the so-called Kashubian Channel, navigation conditions will be slightly different with a track width of 75m and a depth of 10.8m. n

DCT Gdansk improves the quality of services Recently DCT Gdansk has taken a number of measures in order to improve the quality of service level at the terminal, the company’s press center says. In response to requests and opinions of terminal’s clients expressed in the survey, one of the improvements which is now being implemented is the extension of opening hours at the gate complex. It will be open from 2 p.m. on Sundays, starting from the 8th of November 2015. It will certainly facilitate and speed up the process of gate service.

Another action aimed at eliminating the uncomfortable situations for drivers when there is too much traffic at the parking area, is to shorten the permitted parking time to 2 hours.

Port of Gdansk throughput up 13.5% in 9mos 2015 In January-September 2015, Port of Gdansk handled 26,776,000 t of cargo (+13.5%, year-on-year), the stevedoring company says.

Transshipment of grain fell by 3.7% to 1,150,753 t, transshipment of general cargo and timber was flat, year-on-year, at 7,483,533

t, other bulk cargo (aggregates, sulphur, ore) – up 1.9% to 8,463,945 t, coal – up 28.4% to 3,573,439 t, liquid fuel – up 29.3% to 11,127,320 t.

The port of Gdansk is a major international transportation hub situated in the central part of the southern Baltic coast. Besides handling bulk cargoes (oil, coal, metal ores) the port provides a number of line services linking it with the ports of the Baltic Sea and Western Europe (primarily ferry, construction and ro-ro lines). In 2014, the port handled 32,277,558 t of cargo. n

Saab signs deal with Naval Shipyard Gdynia Saab has stepped up efforts to position itself for Poland’s naval modernisation programme by signing a Letter of Intent (LoI) with Gdyniabased Naval Shipyard S.A. The partnering agreement is specifically intended to strengthen Saab’s standing for the Polish

Ministry of National Defence’s planned Orka submarine programme. The Orka programme envisages the procurement of three new submarines to replace its four Kobben-class boats and the single Project 877E submarine ORP Orzel.

Saab’s Kockums business is one of a number of submarine builders chasing the Orka programme. Rivals include Germany’s ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems and France’s DCNS. Naval Shipyard S.A. is a key shipbuilding and ship repair partner for the Polish Navy. n

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City Investment News

China International Marine Containers invests in Gdynia China International Marine Containers Ltd. (CIMC) is a world leading company from China, which has over 60,000 employees and over 300 member enterprises in Asia, North America, Europe, Australia. CIMC activity covers more than 100 countries. Now the company expands its operations and establishes semitrailers manufacturing facility in Gdynia.

As a result of the activities coordinated by Invest in Pomerania since November 2014 it was decided to set up a CIMC trailers factory in Gdynia. An important role in the investment process was played by the Pomorskie Office in China, which began negotiations with the company and handed over the lead to Invest in Pomerania.

The new CIMC production facility is located in the main industrial area in Gdynia. The location has been chosen due to several factors. Firstly, the big advantage was the proximity to the port and good transportation links.

Secondly, the important factor was the closeness of the target markets and – as seen globally the strategic location of the region.

The company CIMC was established in 1980 in Shenzhen as a joint venture of China Merchants

Group and the East Asiatic Company. Since 1994, CIMC has been listed on the Stock Exchange in Shenzhen. Due to the fact that the company was built upon strong, international foundations and it was effectively managed, CIMC quickly turned into a global supplier of logistics and energy equipment that occupies a leading position in many sectors of the global economy. One of the leading

areas of CIMC activity is the manufacturing of vehicles for logistics industry, which the company began in 2002 as CIMC Vehicles (Group) Co. Ltd. As a result of the dynamic development, CIMC produces more than 1,000 kinds of trailers, semi-trailers, trucks, vans, cement mixers, tank wagons and their components. Now the company has decided to expand its operations to another location. n

Łódź AIM Solder Reveals Full-Line Manufacturing Facility in Europe

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AIM Solder, a leading global manufacturer of solder assembly materials for the electronics industry, announced the opening of a full-line manufacturing facility in Łódź.

AIM’s new European facility will now offer locally made solder paste, bar solder, cored and solid wire, liquid flux, cleaners, adhesives, and underfills. This fully-staffed facility will also provide sales support and customer service alongside AIM’s unparalleled technical support.

AIM has recently added a number of highly qualified individuals

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to its sales and technical support teams in the European region.

The addition of a full-line manufacturing facility increases AIM’s direct presence in Europe to support the growing demand for its products there. The consolidated manufacturing and increased capacity this new facility brings will further strengthen AIM’s commitment to its growing customer base in Europe.

“We are very pleased about the opening of our newest facility in Europe,” said David

Suraski, Executive Vice President, Assembly Materials Division.

“This investment in Europe, in addition to recent expansions in Mexico, United States and Brazil, are further proof of AIM’s dedication to continually expanding its global footprint.”

Headquartered in Montreal, Canada, AIM Solder is a leading global manufacturer of assembly materials for the electronics industry with manufacturing, distribution and support facilities located throughout the world. n

November/December 2015

City Investment News

New Łódź Fabryczna railway station welcomes first train The special Investment Express train is the first train travelling

through the tunnel which leads to the new Łódź Fabryczna railway

station. This first special journey was organised by PKP Polish Railway Lines SA (PKP PLK) for the project investors and journalists. Technical tests are planned for the end of this year, while the station opening is scheduled for the fall of 2016. Currently, the contractor is installing traffic control devices, ventilation, drainage and security systems.

The railway station will be the main component of a multi-modal transport junction which will connect agglomeration and conventional railway, long-distance buses, city public transport and private car transport in the city center.

The station is situated 16,5 m underground accommodates four platforms. In the entire investment (tunnel and station) 12,5 km of tracks are installed.

The total value of the project is PLN 1.75 billion. PKP Polish Railway Lines SA has signed an agreement to co-finance investments from EU funds.

Works are carried out by Torpol-Astaldi-PBDiM-Intercor Consortium. n

Offices and retail units above Łódź station Xcity Investment, the development arm the Polish State Railways (PKP), plans on developing a EUR 155 mln mixed-use complex on land at Łódź Fabryczna railway station. The underground station’s concept allows

for providing commercial space above the station in the future. Xcity will seek for an investment partner for the 3.4-ha project, which could include offices, hotels as well as retail and services units, along with

an underground car park. The total commercial area of the planned project is estimated at 77,500 sqm, with investment amount estimated at EUR 155 mln. The project is planned to be started in 2017. n

Łódź opens tram extension A extended and modernised Route 10 of the Łódź tram network was inaugurated on October 31. The first tram on the new route was a Bombardier CityRunner, as the Pesa Swing trams ordered for the main east-west axis will only be delivered in December.

The 4·5 km extension with eight stops runs east from Lermontowa to Olechów, serving a district with more than 20,000 inhabitants. Two bridges have been built along ul Rokicińska to enable easier

2015 November/December

pedestrian access to a tram stop in the road median.

The remaining 12 route-km of Route 10 has been modernised in stages over the past 15 years.

Most recently, the 6 km section from ul Kilińskiego to ul Augustów was rebuilt by Mosty Infrastruktura under a 239m złoty contract awarded in 2014.

Further changes have taken place in the city centre where the east-west route meets the main north-south route, which was itself modernised between

Helenówek and Chocianowice under an earlier 281m złoty project. Mickiewicza and Kościuszki stops have been rebuilt as one stop called Piotrkowska Centrum.

Furthermore, the junction between the east-west route along Al Piłsudskiego and the north-south route on Al Kosciuszki has been remodelled, allowing north-south services to be diverted to the shared four-platform stop and then routed along ul Piotrkowska to rejoin the current route near ul Żwirki. n

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City Investment News

Poznań Fitch affirms City of Poznan at ‘A-’; outlook Stable Fitch Ratings has affirmed the rating of the City of Poznan’s Longterm foreign and local currency Issuer Default Ratings (IDR) at ‘A-’. The rating affirmation reflects Fitch’s unchanged view that the city’s strong performance will be maintained over the medium term, providing adequate debt service.

The ratings reflect Poznan’s sound operating performance, moderate direct debt, high selffunding capacity, a well-diversified local economy and a stable regulatory regime. The ratings also factor in the city’s high contingent liabilities.

KEY RATING DRIVERS: Fitch expect the city will maintain its sound operating performance and post operating margins of 13%-14% in 2015-2017. Fitch assume that the new administration will actively seek investments for the city, to help expand the local tax base and provide higher tax revenues. Fitch projections include an increase in current spending by an additional 2%-2.5% of total operating expenditure in 2016. Fitch assume that these are one-off cost adjustments and the city will continue with its policy of cost restraint. Poznan’s capital expenditures are forecase at PLN1.9bn in 2015-2017 or 19% of total expenditure on average, i.e. a similar level to 2010-2014.

Major projects are likely to be focused on infrastructure (roads), the waste incinerator plant and public

2014 and below the average debt maturity of seven years. The city is exposed to fairly high contingent liabilities stemming from public sector entities debt.

Poznan’s economy is well-diversified across sectors, supporting revenue growth and resulting in gross domestic product per capita being 2x the national average. Services dominate the local economy as they produce 73% of gross value added and employ 79% of the local workforce. At end-August 2015, Poznan’s unemployment rate was the lowest among Polish cities (2.7%) and far below the national average (10%).

RATING SENSITIVITIES: The ratings could be upgraded if the City of Poznan improves its operating margin to above 15% on a sustained basis accompanied by contained net overall risk growth and an upgrade of the sovereign rating (A-/Stable). A downgrade could result from sustained deterioration of the operating margin below 10%, or a significant rise in direct debt leading to the city’s debt payback ratio exceeding 10 years (2014: 4.9 years).

KEY ASSUMPTIONS: Fitch expects the city to continue exercising operating expenditure restraint and to manage the budget prudently over the medium term. Fitch assumes that the city will continue to receive EU funds to co-finance its investment programme. n

transport. The city’s capacity to self-fund investments is high, with capital revenue (mainly EU grants) and the current balance covering most of its capital expenditure. This should reduce new financing needs.

Poznan’s debt is on a downward trend since 2011, when it represented 77% of current revenue.

For 2015-2016, Fitch expect that Poznan’s operating balance should comfortably cover projected debt service by at least 1.2x (including planned premature redemption) or 2.0x excluding it. The city’s debt payback ratio (debt-to-current balance) should stabilise at five years in 2015-2017, similar to

PKP Polish Railway Lines announces PLN 2.6 billion worth tender

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PKP Polish Railway Lines (PKP PLK) has announced a two-stage tender for the modernization of E 20 Sochaczew-Swarzędz section, part of Warsaw-Poznań railway line. The value of the project exceeds PLN 2.6 billion and includes the modernisation of 230 km of line, 10 railway stations, ensuring a comfortable, fast and safe journey. This is one of the

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seven projects financed under EU’s Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) financial instrument.

On the modernised section, train movements are expected to double to 500 trains a day. PKP PLK investment will also increase safety and will reduce journey times by several minutes. In addition to the modernisation of 230 km of line, works will also include

the rehabilitation of Łowicz, Kutno, Koło, Konin, Podstolice stations and Leonów, Mysłaków, Kutno-Azory, Konin Zachód railway stops. Also three new local traffic control centers will be built Łowicz, Kutno and Konin.

For 2016 – 2023, PKP PLK will carry out PLN 67 billion investments included in the National Railway Programme. n

November/December 2015

City Investment News

Katowice Polish coal miner KW needs $188 mln by end of March Poland’s troubled coal miner Kompania Weglowa (KW) needs 700 million zlotys by the end of March next year to survive, CEO Krzysztof Sedzikowski said in late October.

Rescuing Kompania Weglowa, the European Union’s biggest coal producer, has become a major political issue. The government wanted a number of state-run firms to invest in Kompania Weglowa but none was keen on making a risky investment in the loss-making miner ahead of the election.

Sedzikowski said the statecontrolled miner has to curb investment and secure prepayments for coal to be sold in future. “By the end of the first quarter we will need 700

million zlotys in order to function normally,” the CEO said.

“Talks with banks and financial institutions on securing 700 million zlotys as soon as possible continue and we hope the negotiations will conclude positively,” Sedzikowski said.

As part of the restructuring plan, Kompania Weglowa has been slashing its coal stocks, selling coal below its production cost, which has also hurt other local coal miners such as the privately-held Bogdanka.

KW has reduced its coal stocks to 1.8 million tonnes from 5.9 million at the end of first quarter of 2015. KW’s 2015 output target is 26.4 million tonnes with 5 million tonnes due to be exported. n

Kraków Guidewire among 13 new entrants on Kraków market in 2015 Guidewire Software, Inc., a provider of software products to general insurers, announced the establishment of a new Regional Development Centre in Krakow. It will be the 6th Guidewire development centre globally (remaining five are located in California, Dublin, Pennsylvania, Tokyo and Toronto).

“The concentration of talented software development professionals in Poland is a major attraction for us”, said Ali Kheirolomoom, chief product officer, Guidewire Software.

Guidewire Software, founded in 2001, is a provider of software products that help the general insurance industry transform their operations and respond to rapidly changing business needs.

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Guidewire InsuranceSuite provides a complete set of applications to support insurers’ core operations: underwriting, policy administration, billing, and claims management. The company also provides data and analytics products as well as a portfolio of digital products.

Apart from Guidewire there are 12 other companies that decided to enter Kraków market this year. That suggests that in 2015 Kraków is even more popular as a location than in 2014 when it witnessed 12 new entrants.

Krakow Airport expands terminal and extends duty free space Krakow Airport has opened an expanded terminal as it aims to modernise the airport, increase passenger capacity and provide improved services.

“The launch of the new passenger terminal in late September marks the completion of the first phase of the airport’s expansion,” said Urszula Podraza, the airport’s spokesperson and head of its PR department.

“The remaining works will be completed in mid-2016, and, after this is done, the airport’s old and new parts will be integrated, providing a total of 56,000sq m, which is four times the surface that was available prior to the expansion works.”

In total, the investment is valued at PLN412 million. The new section of the terminal, which comprises 33,000sq m, features Aelia Duty Free stores and a food court, totalling some 1,500sq m. n

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City Investment News

Boosted capacity at Krakow Airport “After the modernisation works at the airport are completed, there will be a new commercial area with a total surface area of over 3,600sq m.

There will be ten food outlets and 15 stores there,” Podraza said.

Krakow Airport is located less than 11km from Krakow, Poland’s second largest city with a population of more than 760,000. In total, there are about 7.9 million people living within a 100km radius of the airport.

The launch of the latest development follows the release of improved results. In September, Krakow Airport handled 407,365 passengers, an increase of about +9% compared with the same month last year. This marked the best September in the airport’s history, as well as its 11th consecutive month of increased passenger volume.

In the first nine months of this year, the airport was used by close to 3.23 million passengers, up +9% compared with the January-September

2014 period. With the project’s completion, Krakow Airport is aiming to increase its passenger capacity to about 6.5 million passengers per year, with the possibility to further increase this to up to 8 million passengers per year. Some of the Polish airport’s most-used connections include flights to Malta, UK, Spain, Switzerland and the Netherlands.

The airport is operated by local firm MPL Kraków-Balice which was set up in 1996 and is jointly owned by Poland’s state-owned airport management company PP Porty Lotnicze, the regional authorities of Malopolska, and the municipal authorities of Krakow and Zabierzow. n

Szczecin Greencarrier Freight Services opens distribution hub

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Greencarrier Freight Services has expanded its presence in Poland with the opening of a 1,000 sq m distribution hub in the major port of Szczecin.

The Scandinavian logistics specialist will initially use the facility to handle imported wine for its new client Oktan Wines, but Szczecin has the capacity to offer the full range of transport and warehousing services to a wide range of clients.

Greencarrier Freight Services managing director for Poland, Arkadiusz Prejna, says: “The Polish market is extremely competitive so Greencarrier is delighted to have won the Oktan Wines contract. Oktan sells about 250300 different wines from many countries, so we will be handling containers arriving at the port from Argentina, Chile and South

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Africa, as well as loads arriving by road from throughout Europe.”

Oktan offers European products from Spain, Germany, Bulgaria, Portugal, Hungary, France, Czech Republic, Georgia and Italy. Its customers include the biggest Polish chain stores, boutique shops, restaurants and hotels as well as a growing number of online sales.

Rafał Malawski of Oktan Wines says: “We have been in the Polish market since 2008 and are always looking for ways to improve our service to our customers and to be more cost-effective. We have been impressed by Greencarrier’s ability to react quickly to our changing demands and we feel the team we are working with will offer a high quality, reliable service.”

Greencarrier Freight Services has been operating in Poland since 2012, offering the full range of

transport and warehousing services – sea, air, road and rail – from a variety of locations. Its main office is in Warsaw, with a 5,000 sq m facility nearby in Dąbrówka. It also handles sea freight at the port of Gdynia and has a road freight and cross-docking facility at Katowice.

As well as the new facility at Szczecin on the Baltic Sea, Greencarrier is also opening a road freight operation at Poznań. The developments are part of its continuing strategy to expand its presence in Central and Eastern Europe.

Grzegorz Sas, Greencarrier Freight Services Project Manager for Szczecin, is confident the site will soon attract more clients.

“Szczecin is ideally located to handle goods flowing between Scandinavia and Poland as well as for the deep-sea markets.” n

November/December 2015

Events

Dutch raise 41.900 PLN for Akogo? charity

On Saturday 12 September, the traditional Charity Rijsttafel ball, organised

the over 300 guests were the Ambassador of the Netherlands and Indonesia in Poland and the Ambassador of Poland in the Netherlands.

In line with tradition, during the Charity Rijsttafel ball, dozens of famous Indonesian dishes were served, made from richly-coloured ingredients of varying degrees of

by the Netherlands-Polish Chamber of Commerce, was held in to support Ewa Błaszczyk’s “Akogo?” foundation.

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During a raff le 41.900 PLN was gathered to support the foundations children that are in a coma or in minimally conscious state. The charity ball took place in the InterContinental Hotel in Warsaw and among

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November/December 2015

Events spiciness, such as spring rolls, fish and marinades. This year’s exquisite menu was put together by chef Richard Matulessy from the Netherlands. the musical attraction of the evening was an appearance by the American soul singer – Jimmie Wilson, singer Kasia Laska and Marcin Patrzalek, winner of this season’s final of Jake Vision’s talent show Must Be The Music.

The main sponsors of the evening were Clip Logistics and event organiser Syzan. Just as in previous years, the eventsponsors provided special prizes for a charity raffle for the guests, including intercontinental air tickets, a year free energy for your house and VIP tickets for a match between BorussiaDortmund and Bayern Munchen.

The “Akogo?” foundation The aim of the ”Akogo?” foundation, which was set up in 2002, is to help children with severe traumatic brain injury (who are in a coma). The foundation built and started operating the “Alarm Clock” clinic – Poland’s first model medical centre for the treatment and rehabilitation of children in a coma (in 2013). The clinic works with the Children’s Health Centre (Centrum Zdrowia Dziecka) in Warsaw. Co-founder and president of the foundation is the film and theatre actress Ewa Błaszczyk.

The Netherlands Polish Chamber of Commerce, which was established in 1997, plays an significant role in the business community in Poland – acting as an advocate and leader for Dutch business interests in the country. The Chamber offers its 200 members exposure in our business community, a strong networking base and opportunities for professional development. You can find the Chamber weighing in on important legislation and political activity that may help or harm local businesses. We work directly with political leaders to sustain a productive and profitable business community. n

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Events

Winners awarded in 16 categories – FDI Poland Investor Awards

At the FDI Awards Gala on 15 October in Warsaw, 16 companies were distinguished for their leadership and direct investment in Poland. The independent Jury of 24 Commercial Counselors from Embassies (as well as Country-specialist Desk officers, Ambassadors, and Inward Investment experts) voted to award the following companies.

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Their decisions were based not only on the amount of investment and number of employees in Poland, yet also on the firm’s innovativeness, strategic importance to the Polish economy and leadership within its industry.

UK Ambassador Robin Barnett gave the keynote address, opening the Awards ceremony with wise-words about the importance of attracting foreign direct investment, and the benefits to Poland of investment coming from all corners of the globe.

Nearly 150 top executives attended from a wide range of

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industries including Aviation, Manufacturing, IT, Transportation, Retail, Consumer Goods, Real Estate development, BPO/ Outsourcing and Pharmaceuticals – and from more than 23 countries.

In a tough competition (89 firms were nominated) among world-class firms, the following firms took first place:

November/December 2015

Events Top U.S. Investor of the Year: Amazon

Top Benelux Investor of the Year: Raben Group

Top Japanese Investor of the Year: NGK Ceramics Polska

Top Korean Investor of the Year: LG Electronics Mlawa

Top Canadian Investor of the Year: VacAero Top Scandinavian Investor of the Year: Fortum

Top Indian Investor of the Year: Essel Propack

Top UK/Irish Investor of the Year: Polski Bus (Souter Holding)

Top DACH Investor of Year (Germany, Austria, Switzerland): Immofinanz Top French Investor of the Year: Lacroix Electronics

Top Taiwanese Investor of the Year: Tex Year Europe

Top Iberian Investor of the Year: Mota-Engil Top Chinese Investor of the Year: China CEE Investment Cooperation Fund

Top CEE (Central East Europe) Investor of the Year: Lode

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Events Top Special Economic Zone (“Strefa”) of the Year: Wałbrzych Special Economic Zone “INVEST - PARK”

Top Polish FDI Investor of the Year: Bury Technologies

The 3rd annual event, MC’ed by Thom Barnhardt of BiznesPolska and BizPoland Magazine, and Karolina Pietrzak, attracted a multitude of international guests, including from the United States, Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, China, Japan, Taiwan Germany, Austria, Holland, France, Portugal, Finland, Sweden, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia, Malta, Panama, and Greece.

Firms attending included Expanscience Laboratories, Panattoni, Baxters, KIG, Essel Propack, Grafton, Malopolska Development Agency, TPA Horwath, Fortak&Karasinski, Karmar, LGE, Kostrzewa PR, European Investment Bank, Raben, Kinnarps, Powisle Park, AECOM, Costa Coffee, Fortum Power, Deloitte Advisory,

China CEE Fund, CryoExpress (Air Liquide), ICBC Bank, Bury Technologies, JETRO, Air France, Miller Canfield, CEC Govt Relations, Bilfinger Mars Offshore, KL Gates, CEE Consulting Group, Wprost, PolskiBus, UPS, Zafran Group, Philips, Skanska, ASUS, Mazars, Schneider Electric, Tesco CE Innovation, Lacroix Electronics, Amazon, Puro Hotels, Liugong Dressta Machinery, Polsko-Chinska Rada, Wprost, Schavemaker, and many more. n

FDI Poland Investor Awards 20 October 2016

WWW.FDIPOLANDAWARDS.PL

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