Polish Market No. 4 (210) / 2014

PU B LISHED SIncE 199 6 No.4 (210) /2014 :: www.polishmarket.com.pl

inSide:

innovation touriSm SCienCe energy

jerzy Starak

Chairman of the SuperviSory Board of polpharma Sa .

Contents

4 /2014

6 7

From The President’s Press Office From The Government Information Centre

28

Jan Bury, Chairman of the Program Council of the Innovation Forum; “Each participant of leaves the Forum with good impressions, and carries them on”

Our Guest

8 9 10

Prof. Michał Kleiber, President of the Polish Academy of Science; Innovation is a synergy of knowledge, entrepreneurship, thoughtful regulations and universal culture of supporting human creativity Katarzyna Kacperczyk, Undersecretary of State in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; The image of Poland is improving steadily

Prof. Władysław Bartoszewski, the prime minister’s commissioner for international dialogue; Dialogue - the keyword

30 34 36 40

Katarzyna Sobierajska, Undersecretary of State in the Ministry of Sport and Tourism; A comprehensive approach to innovation in tourism Gold Certificates of Polish Tourist Organization Bogdan Sadecki; Changes - more and more innovations in Polish regions and cities Rafał Rosiejak, Director of the Conference Center of PL.2012 +, a company managing the National Stadium in Warsaw; Warsaw’s showcase is teeming with life

Science

Innovation - Transport

12 14

44 50

16 18

Polpharma invests in biotechnology Innovatively, interdisciplinarily, globally Professor Tomasz Szapiro, Rector of the Warsaw School of Economics (SGH); A school to return to...

Ewa Mańkiewicz-Cudny, President of the Polish Federation of Engineering Associations; Innovations and ... history

Patryk Mirecki; Advanced technologies in Polish skies Marcin Haber; What matters is the lowest cost, not the lowest price

Innovation - IT

51 52 54

Poland needs to gain a digital momentum to develop faster Jerzy Bojanowicz; Broadband Poland Mirosław Godlewski, CEO of Netia SA; An attractive Internet services provider

Crystal Dragon of Success

20

Marcin Haber; Knowledge, intuition and a lot of luck – this is what makes the perfect manager

Innovation - Tourism

27 28

Energy

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Maciej Grabowski, Minister of the Environment; A growth plan for the Polish energy sector

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Michał Machlejd, President of Dalkia Warszawa; Complex technological and IT solutions in heating

The 5th Innovation Forum in Rzeszów Tadeusz Ferenc, Mayor of Rzeszów; Innovation through cooperation

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www.wbgroup.pl

ul. Poznańska 129/133, 05-850 Ożarów Mazowiecki, tel.: +48 22 731 25 00, fax: +48 22 731 25 01, e-mail: info@wbgroup.pl

Contents

58 Poland’s role in the future of the nuclear energy 59

Prof. Konrad Świrski, Institute of Heat Engineering at the Warsaw University of Technology, President of Transition Technologies SA; Only extremists always know the “yes” or “no” answer

Finance

61

Prof. Małgorzata Zaleska, a member of the National Bank of Poland’s Management Board; A quarter-century and a decade in the Polish banking sector

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Marcin Haber; To be able to swim you need to learn first

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Prof. Hermann Simon, Chairman, Simon-Kucher & Partners; Opportunities for Poland and Polish companies

70 72 73 74 75

Cultural Monitor Maciej Proliński; The poet of photography Maciej Proliński; London Symphony Orchestra comes to Warsaw Barbara Kubielas and Anna Sikorzak-Olek; Music for living Maciej Proliński; A flurry of love songs for spring

Events

76 77 78

The 14th Telecommunications and Media World Symposium 7th International Conference “Innovation and women’s creativity: design as an opportunity for SMEs and regions” The 2nd Congress of Exporters - Poland is an agri-food export leader

Food Industry

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Adam Cichocki, President of BRAD Consulting and BRAD HR Services; The chance for democratization of Ukrainian business

80

Bożena Skarżyńska; Polish meat tradition

The 12th edition of the Pearls of the Polish Economy got started

International Relations

66

more information:

A new form of global dialogue

www.perlygospodarki.pl

Culture

68

Jerzy Starak - more than a businessman

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Editorial

S

pring has struck a note of optimism in Poland’s economy. Yet another leading global player, Morgan Stanley, raised its forecast for the Polish economic growth by 0.3 pct. points to 3.5% of GDP in 2014 and by 0.6 pct. points to 4.2% of GDP in 2015. Why? “The production is already higher, and it looks like that corporations are going to increase investment spending if only they become convinced that macroeconomic outlook is getting brighter,” bank analysts say, adding that Poland does already regularly achieve either a surplus on the current account or a small deficit fully bridged by the inflow of foreign direct investment. And that greatly improves the prospects of balancing the budget.

“If we want to take seriously the

necessity of reindustrialization of Europe, we will need to give up the dubious ambition of leading the world in “saving the climate” and to focus the EU’s innovation more on the improvement of industrial technologies able to enter the market in a natural way and not with multibillion subsidies”.

Therefore, compared to the global economy overview, the situation of Poland seems to be quite good, even appealing to investors. How does it look like from the domestic perspective, which is full of perhaps not dark clouds, but certainly major problems to be considered and solved? And, importantly, our sovereignty in the decision-making process is quite limited.

Sometimes it is worth planning something seeing further than the tip of your nose, as evidenced by the European Energy Community (EEC) programme initiated two years ago by Jerzy Buzek and Jacques Delors, and covering 27 EU countries and 9 others, including Ukraine. Today, when the European Union began to realize the lack of energy security, it proves to be on the trend, although probably still needs some concretization. Fortunately, in a few weeks’ time leading incumbents in Brussels will change. With the departure of the EU’s Commissioner for Climate Policy, Poland’s contribution (i.e., another veto against the current doctrine of “throwing trash onto the neighbour’s property”) will be able to be more constructive. Even the reconstruction of cross-border connection with the Ukrainian nuclear power plant in Vinnytsia would

perfectly correspond with the EWE, CEF, Eastern Partnership, in addition to helping Ukraine and increasing Poland’s energy security threatened already in 2015 by peak power deficit.

It happens that the decision-making problems currently facing Poland and the EU are multi-related. Going further, it should also be noted that before the energy security of Europe is strengthened by shale oil and gas (and their imports from the U.S.), Europe will lose to America its chemical industry including Poland’s fertilizer production. It would also mean a new wave of job losses, something that Europe can no longer afford.

If we want to take seriously the necessity of reindustrialization of Europe, we will need to give up the dubious ambition of leading the world in “saving the climate” and to focus the EU’s innovation more on the improvement of industrial technologies able to enter the market in a natural way and not with multi-billion subsidies.

The same applies to energy technologies, including clean coal technology. Poland is often pointed to as a “lobbyist of dirty coal power”, but Germany too derives more than 50% of energy from coal and builds new plants. Of course, it does not necessarily mean “dirty power”. Even Poland, which is much poorer, carries out research on new technologies - efficient combustion in power plants, coal gasification in deposits, etc. The largest Polish research programme funded by the state budget (over PLN 400 million) is targeted precisely at energy technologies. This year, an Australian company, one of the world leaders in coal gasification, has obtained a concession to work in Poland.

Contrary to commonplace opinions and rankings, Poland is not an a Cinderella in terms of innovation. True, Polish statistics of innovation and patent implementation still look modest. However, according to Oxford Economics’ report for HSBC, Poland is quickly climbing to the top of the global rankings of high technology in 2000 it was ranked 21st and in 2013 it was already 14th ahead of such countries as India, Brazil and Turkey. While previously Polish R&D was underdeveloped and R&D investment was low, the current rapid rise is mainly due to the entry of foreign capital in the production and hi-tech industries. The report suggests that Poland will produce more and more on its own, that technologies will be increasingly created at home and Poland will climb up in the rankings of the largest “high-tech” manufacturers. In the years 201420, Polish exports of such goods are to grow by an average of 8.6%, and in 2021-30 by 5.5%, which is a much higher growth rate than those predicted for almost all Western countries. ::

Krystyna Woźniak-Trzosek Editor-in-Chief President Rynek Polski Publishers Co. Ltd.

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President

President of Poland on a visit to Turkey

P

resident Bronisław Komorowski and his wife Anna paid a two-day official visit to Turkey. The President of Poland met with President of Turkey Abdullah Gül. Both leaders talked mainly about the mounting crisis in the Crimea. At a joint press conference Mr Komorowski and Mr Gül stressed the importance of the 600th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries. Bronisław Komorowski said that in the centuries-old history of the PolishTurkish relations there were as many as 575 years of peace and good neighbourhood. He expressed satisfaction that the celebrations will give rise both in Poland and in Turkey to a number of events promoting good bilateral relations, as well as cultural and economic achievements of the two countries. He also noted that the fact that the two countries belong to NATO is conducive to a good Polish-Turkish cooperation. “We want to work together in the European Union, we also want to build the closest possible cooperation in the bilateral system and between our economies,” he stressed. He expressed the belief that the economies of both countries are today growth engines of Europe and of the whole region. President Komorowski thanked Turkey for its support to Polish efforts to join NATO 15 years ago. “We want to do a hand’s turn now giving our full support for Turkey’s European aspirations,” he said. ::

President visits Hungary

“

The Poles and the Hungarians are connected by their NATO membership and interests within the EU,” President Bronisław Komorowski said on Saturday in Eger, where he joined Hungarian President János Áder to celebrate the Day of Hungarian-Polish Friendship.

In a briefing with Polish journalists, President Komorowski stressed that the brotherhood of arms and interests was what connected Poles and Hungarians in current times, while “the old rule that direct Polish-Hungarian relations are generally filled with good feelings also holds true.”

Bronisław Komorowski said that the Polish-Hungarian friendship should also be enriched by economic cooperation. He emphasised that this partnership had seen excellent progress lately and that Polish and Hungarian companies could draw on the friendship between their nations to achieve economic success that held benefits for both Hungarians and Poles.

“It is a new version of friendship - one coupled with a hope for a common and better future,” the President declared.

The Day of Hungarian-Polish Friendship has been celebrated since 2007, when it was established by the Parliaments of both countries. The celebrations are held in turn by Hungary and Poland. ::

President of Estonia on a visit to Poland

E

stonia’s President Toomas Hendrik Ilves and his wife started a three-day visit to Poland on March 18. The visit began in the morning with the official welcoming ceremony in the courtyard of the Presidential Palace in Warsaw. Then the presidents talked to each other before holding a joint press conference. After the visit in the Presidential Palace Mr Ilves laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. In the afternoon the President of Estonia met with Speaker of the Polish Parliament Ewa Kopacz, Speaker of the Senate Bogdan Borusewicz, and the Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski. In the evening the Estonian presidential couple took part in the official dinner at the Presidential Palace offered by Bronisław Komorowski and his wife Anna. Next day Mr Ilves met with Prime Minister Donald Tusk. Earlier, the President of Estonia participated in the Polish-Estonian Economic Forum. On that day he also visited the Warsaw Rising Museum and the University of Warsaw where he delivered a speech. On the third day of the visit the Estonian President went to Gdańsk where he laid a wreath at the Monument of Solidarity and visited the exhibition “Roads to Freedom” at the Museum of Solidarity and the Gdańsk Science and Technology Park. The wives of the Presidents paid a visit on March 18 to the “Budzik” Clinic in Warsaw, and on March 20 visited the World Hearing Center and the Special Schools Complex “Dać Szansę”. ::

Komorowski – Biden meeting

”

We are closely linked to the United States, and we would like to be so even more, both in the area of ​​security policy and direct Polish-American relations,” Bronisław Komorowski stressed at the meeting with the media. “We have an absolutely convergent views and assessment of the situation in the Crimea, and of the Ukrainian-Russian relations. We share the same concerns and the same hope that by demonstrating the solidarity of the whole western world we can stop the course of events taking place beyond the eastern border of NATO and the EU,” he said. He added that Poland backed up the U.S. hard course in the face of a possible danger and it will consistently take a similar stance in the European arena. “The U.S. readiness for the joint strengthening of the role of Article 5 of the Washington Treaty, as NATO’s building block, fully responds to Poland’s needs and the Polish point of view as regards the future of the Atlantic Alliance,” said the President. “My strong expectation is that we will find a common voice and a common position for the forthcoming NATO summit in Wales,” he added. The Polish President thanked the United States for being unambiguous over the security issues with a special regard to the CEE region. He added that many other aspects of security policy were discussed, including the strengthening of the defense capability of Poland and NATO. ::

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Prime Minister

Prime Minister of the Czech Republic on a visit to Warsaw

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onald Tusk and Bohuslav Sobotka discussed on Wednesday March 5, 2014 the situation in Ukraine, as well as on energy and transport issues. “We have agreed very similar positions for the upcoming European Council that will be devoted to the situation in Ukraine,” Prime Minister Tusk said. He expressed hope that Poland, the Czech Republic and other EU countries would speak with one voice on Ukraine. He stressed that the nonconsent is crucial for the violation of sovereignty and integrity of Ukraine. Some other European topics were raised too, including road and gas connections between Poland and the Czech Republic. Environmental protection was also on the agenda with measures being declared to improve the air quality of the environment in Silesia and Moravia. This is the first visit of the Czech Prime Minister in Poland since his swearing-in on January 29, 2014. He was accompanied by the ministers of the environment, industry, and trade and transport who held parallel meetings with their Polish counterparts. ::

Donald Tusk talks with European leaders about the situation in Ukraine

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rime Minister spoke by telephone with David Cameron and Angela Merkel about the escalation of tensions over the situation in the Crimea.

The Polish Prime Minister talked to the German Chancellor also. In particular, a possibility was considered of convening an extraordinary European Council meeting devoted to the situation in Ukraine. Prime Minister Tusk invited leaders of all the political forces in Poland and experts to discuss Ukrainian issues. On Monday morning the National Security Council will meet. ::

Tusk – Klitschko meeting

P

rime Minister Donald Tusk talked in Dublin to Vitali Klitschko, President of the Ukrainian party “Stroke”. Mr Klitschko thanked the Polish Prime Minister for his support to Ukraine and Ukrainians in the international arena and for the assistance to the people injured on the Maidan.

According to Mr Klitschko, the Polish road to freedom and economic success should be an inspiration and a role model for changes in Ukraine. Vitali Klitschko stressed that in the early 1990s Poland and Ukraine took off from the same level, and Poland evidently succeeded, while Ukraine needs to follow Poland’s example. During the conversation Donald Tusk presented the results of the EU summit in Brussels, where EU leaders decided that the political part of the Association Agreement with Ukraine will be signed as soon as possible, even before the May elections in the country. A decision was also made to suspend talks with Russia on visa liberalization and a new Agreement on Partnership and Cooperation. ::

Tusk – Merkel meeting

O

n Wednesday, March 12, a meeting was held between Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel and Prime Minister of Poland Donald Tusk. The main topics of the meeting were support to Ukraine and cooperation on energy and climate issues. That was directly related to the cooperation at European Union level. An important element in the context of a common energy market is the gas market. Prime Minister Tusk mentioned the possible option of U.S. gas imports to Europe. Prime Minister Tusk and Chancellor Merkel also stressed the possibility to quickly sign the political part of the Association Agreement with Ukraine. This could take place already during the upcoming European Council meeting in Brussels. Energy cooperation with Ukraine was discussed too.

Mr Tusk stated that he talked with Angela Merkel about the financial assistance for Ukraine. The issue was also raised of organizational assistance, including the creation of a common mission bringing together Poles and Germans. Such a mission would be intended to repair Ukraine’s financial system and ensure effective spending of aid funds. Prime Minister Tusk announced that EU foreign ministers will discuss the implementation of the next portion of sanctions against Russia. These will also be subject to the European Council meeting due next week. ::

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Our Guest

Innovation is a synergy of knowledge, entrepreneurship, thoughtful regulations and universal culture of supporting human creativity Prof. Michał Kleiber

C

alls for innovation have become in recent years the most commonly formulated economic demands in Poland. Everyone who understands how important innovation is for Poland’s future sustainable and competitive economy - politicians, central government and local governments, scientists, entrepreneurs, potential investors and members of the banking sector - agrees on that point. It is obviously good that motivations are so widely declared for pro-innovation activities. This makes it easier to overcome the still existing economic shortcomings - such as a fear of taking business risks or disbelief in one’s own intellectual potential - largely caused by the imperfect regulatory system, limited awareness of globalization threats and insufficient ability to cooperate for the common good.

The undisputed fact is, however, that in the last quarter-century we have made tremendous progress as far as factors determining stable economic development are concerned. We know in particular that among many other challenges we are faced with the challenge of raising enterprise innovation to achieve higher competitiveness, which is absolutely crucial. What do we know today about innovation in of Polish enterprises? Fortunately, we have long realized that it will not be improved by even the best-functioning R&D sector if alone, nor by individual entrepreneurs’ activities, by regulatory efforts conducted separately in different ministries - of economy, science, education, development and administration, by the involvement of the banking sector even if it were much higher than before. What, then is, the secret of innovation in the economies that we are striving to become part of?

The answer is the effective, broad coordination

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of a wide variety of activities leading to synergy.

All weaknesses and barriers should be eliminated altogether - the innovation system turns out to be as good as its weakest link!

The list of issues to be covered by such consistent action is long: (a) establishing an education system with a strong focus on developing creativity and cooperation skills, lifelong learning with an attractive and wide offer of knowledge supplementing or even changing careers, improving governance of universities and increasing flexibility in shaping curricula and their internationalization, (b) understanding the role of research as a magnet keeping the brightest young people away from looking for attractive opportunities abroad, and as a key factor in improving the quality of university education and a source of innovative ideas, (c) strong political and administrative measures to improve regulations, business climate in general, and business innovation in particular, (d) laying the groundwork of the country’s industrial policy, enabling effective support of innovative businesses in strategic areas of the economy where it is easier to replenish private funds with money from the national budget and the European Union, (e) disseminating widely-understood culture as an important element in building social creativity and creating a positive climate for the development of human talents.

Right from the beginning of the political transformation in Poland, we have made active attempts to systemically modernize the economy. And we have had a lot of success, though often paid for high. In a spectacular way we managed to increase the number of those studying at universities while also struggling to maintain or even improve the level of education offered. We have introduced

a very modern and highly competitive research framework and invested significant resources from European funds in the construction of modern laboratories and equipment, although shortcomings in funding both from the national budget and from the business sector still limit the development of truly innovative research. The Polish parliament adopted a number of legislative solutions to support innovative entrepreneurship, but chronic budgetary constraints make it difficult to launch a fully effective support system from venture capital in the process of marketing innovative products and services.

The effectiveness of the industrial development policy is hindered by the extremely difficult challenges facing the Polish energy sector, largely dependent on not-easy-to-predict EU regulations on greenhouse gas emissions.

Regardless of the dilemmas outlined above, the list of achievements of Polish scientific institutions and innovative companies is long and instructive. Our achievements in the area of ​​information and communication technologies, new materials, aerospace, pharmaceuticals, molecular biology, chemistry, or apparatus supporting space exploration are significant internationally and prove the validity of our global aspirations. These achievements confirm our widespread belief that we are living in Poland an important and fascinating moment in history, with a possibility to fulfill individual and collective aspirations to the extent which was an impossible dream for many past generations of Poles. We know that in order to make these dreams come true, we must consistently pursue actions based on the belief that our future mainly depends on ourselves, and that the best guarantee for Poland’s sustainable development is innovation. ::

Our Guest

The image of Poland is improving steadily Katarzyna Kacperczyk, Undersecretary of State in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, talks to Marcin Haber.

Appreciating Radosław Sikorski’s conduct on Ukraine, Czech newspapers called him the new leader of Europe. Do you think that such a picture of the Minister of Foreign Affairs may have a positive effect on the perception of Poland or will it only affect its regional reputation?

Minister Sikorski, but also the Polish government have been praised by the leaders of other countries for their efforts to resolve the political crisis in Ukraine. Poland’s role in the de-escalation of the conflict is recognized by foreign media, too. Minister Sikorski is a person whose commitment to these vital issues is conspicuous. Poland is seen by many today as an expert in Eastern European affairs. It is very important, especially in the context of the European Union and in relations with our partners. pm

Do you believe it may have an impact on the global image of Poland?

I think so. I would like to stress, however, that Poland’s image is improving steadily. The brand Poland is rated increasingly high. Poland is seen as a country of rapid development and innovation. That largely translates into how Poland is perceived in geostrategic terms.

At the same time, it should be clear that efforts taken over the past few years have also largely improved our image. I can give two examples that proved Poland to be a modern pm

country. The first is our presidency of the European Union - that is when European leaders, but also the citizens of many countries had an opportunity to see the leap forward we have made in the past 25 years. Another example is the Euro 2012, which brought tangible results in terms of interest in Poland, including growth of tourism.

At a recent meeting between Prime Minister Tusk and Vitali Klitschko, the latter said that in the early 1990s Poland and Ukraine started off from almost the same level, and now Poland is far ahead. What in your opinion is the Polish economic development due to?

There is a whole set of factors and elements that have contributed to the fact that Poland has achieved such a great success. This also shows how much Poland gained from EU membership and how much Ukraine can do if it gets closer to the EU. The success we have achieved in the last 25 years is owed to successive governments and consistent reforms made first when preparing for EU membership, and then when implementing various EU regulations. The success of these 25 years is primarily the success of the Poles and Polish society, their perseverance and forbearance.

Reforms are never easy. Transition from a centrally planned economy to a market economy was a very big challenge. We have shown, pm

however, that we are consistent, hardworking and enterprising.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is strongly committed to cooperation with the Polish Information and Foreign Investment Agency (PAIiIZ). Both institutions work together to encourage foreign investment in Poland. How do you assess your cooperation so far?

This is a very good cooperation. Indeed, we support PAIiIZ, both in the ministry and through our foreign contacts, in its efforts to attract investments to Poland. We also cooperate with PAIiIZ for the promotion of Poland as an attractive investment destination. In the near future, we are going to co-organize a number of events, including trade missions to Africa. The cooperation is beneficial to both parties, especially that PAIiIZ is organizing programmes GO Africa and GO China, so here we have much to share. Of course, our cooperation is a derivative of the very good cooperation with the Ministry of Economy and an increasingly better coordination of various initiatives. We also attempt to build a broader platform for cooperation with the involvement of other ministries - of the environment and of state treasury - as they are able to show success and attractiveness of Poland. :: pm

4 /2014 :: polish market :: 9

Our Guest

Dialogue – the keyword Prof. Władysław Bartoszewski, the prime minister’s commissioner for international dialogue, talks to Ewelina Janczylik-Foryś.

them under various pretexts. Some accept the invitations, others have consistently refused to do so. He sees and certainly regrets that. It is not about his personal ambitions, because he has been legally elected as president. It is about the importance of the Polish state and what it has achieved.

I think that the experience of the recent days in Ukraine – we are talking at the end of February, 2014 – prove just how much the president is committed to dialogue. President Bronisław Komorowski had many telephone conversations with Ukrainian President Viktor Janukovych and tried to exert a commonsense influence on him. After all, it was the only kind of influence he could have. His efforts were noticed and recognized in many countries. My daily foreign press reviews gave me great satisfaction that the president’s activity plays a positive role in forming opinions and the perception of politics.

Professor, how do you assess the present situation in Ukraine?

It seems to me that every effort should be made, including using Poland’s prestige, to stress that what is happening in Ukraine is the best warning that one should come to agreement before it is too late. We, in Poland, have managed to carry out a bloodless revolution, but in Ukraine such a totally bloodless revolution is no longer possible. Polish people should particularly appreciate the way we have chosen and the things we have achieved because over the past 25 years we have become a reputable European country in economic, scientific and cultural relations with other nations. All this shows that Poland has achieved success – not by accident, but through good will, effort and patience on the part of many Polish people in coping with the consequences of the changes, which are now called “the Balcerowicz era.” Personally, I did not have much opportunity to observe the developments of these first years

because I served then as Polish ambassador in Vienna and tried to build Polish-Austrian relations. This is when the Austrians invested in Polish tourist infrastructure, built the Sobieski Hotel in Warsaw and opened in Poland Raiffeisen Bank branches. The Austrians were already aware that it gives you prestige to be present in such a reliable country as Poland. This way of thinking – that positive facts should be created – will always convince someone. And in this sense, any contribution made by Polish people is important.

pm

Prof. Władysław Bartoszewski with the Pearl award for promoting patriotic values

Speaking about freedom, it is worth noting that we will be celebrating this year the 25th anniversary of the June 4, 1989 elections when Polish people defeated communism in a peaceful and democratic way – at the ballot box.

This issue is particularly close to President of Poland Bronisław Komorowski. He would like this anniversary to unite all Polish people. The president is one of those who regret that there are such visible and diverse divisions among Poles. I observe his work and see how much he is doing to bring together people who have different political views and come from different circles. The president invites pm

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From the left: Krystyna Woźniak-Trzosek, Prof. Władysław Bartoszewski, Ewelina Janczylik-Foryś, Błażej Grabowski

Let us talk now about Polish-German relations. There is still the problem of Germans expelled after World War II, a problem which causes tensions in our relations with Germany.

The 25th anniversary of the free elections of June 4, 1989 is the first example that Germans and other nations perceive this change very well. In March, I will be holding important high-level talks with the Federal Republic of Germany. I can see from our talks so far that the Germans respect the realities and respect the wise decisions taken by bank directors. They also respect our ability to come out of economic crises, something at which the German economy has not been quite successful after the credit crunch at the other side of the Atlantic. The Germans are aware that pm

Our Guest this year will be the commemoration of the fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9, 1989.

This is closely associated with Poland. The Berlin Wall would not have fallen if it had not been for the long activity of the Solidarity trade union in Poland.

The year 2014 is indeed a year of anniversaries, which encourage, or even force, us to think. I hope that those who are always dissatisfied and say that the situation in the country is bad and that this is a consequence of a bad policy will also be forced to think.

Obviously, no policy can be flawless. But neither is there a country in Europe where only one party governs. This proves that pluralism is necessary and that one should be able to work with other people, also those who think differently.

Prof. Władysław Bartoszewski receives the Pearl award for promoting patriotic values from Krystyna Woźniak-Trzosek

the negative economic repercussions came to Poland from Germany.

The year 2014 also marks another two anniversaries important for Poland – the 15th anniversary of the country’s entry to NATO and the 10th anniversary of its entry to the European Union. Polish people can be proud of what they have managed to achieve.

Indeed, the anniversary of our EU entry is in May. And we have been a NATO member since March 1999. But it is worth noting that these international anniversaries coincide with our domestic anniversaries – the 70th anniversary of the Warsaw Rising on August 1 and the 75th anniversary of the outbreak of World War II on September 1. I would pm

like to add that German Chancellor Angela Merkel attended the ceremonies commemorating the 70th anniversary of the outbreak of the war in Gdańsk on September 1, 2009.

Taking part in those commemorations, as a Pole who remembers the Poland of that time, I was very moved. I belong to the old generation, for whom the year 1939 means not only a record in a book, but personal experience.

I think that the 25th anniversary of the 1989 free elections and the Warsaw Rising anniversary will both be important signals.

The latter is an example of tragic loneliness in the world. This phenomenon – of tragic loneliness, helplessness and death in the face of the world’s indifference or pact, has repeated itself many times not only in Europe. For Germany, an equally important development

Young people need authorities and heroes.

The older generation of people who fought for freedom and democracy are departing.

What should be done for the young generation to remember about the victims, value their country and respect authorities.

I have a liking for young people, who have the duty to preserve the memory of historical developments, the young who come to events, meetings and conferences with me.

This does not give them any material benefits. They simply want to listen to what I tell them. Old people are obliged to bear witness and continue to cite the noble examples of people, like late Ryszard Kaczorowski, who was loyal to the scouting and patriotic ideals of his youth throughout his life. This is edifying. :: pm

Photos: Łukasz Giersz

4 /2014 :: polish market :: 11

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Polpharma invests in biotechnology

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olpharma is the largest Polish drug manufacturer and the leader of the Polish pharmaceutical market. It is one of the world’s 25 leading generic companies, with a turnover of around USD 1 billion. The Polpharma Group consists of 5 production plants in Poland and leading local producers in Russia and Kazakhstan. The company employs more than 7,500 employees. About 400 professionals work in 6 R&D centres, providing approx. 30-40 new products annually. The company’s portfolio includes about 600 products and further 200 are in the development phase. In 2013 Polpharma won the Award of the President of Poland in the category “Innovation”. It also took first place in the list of the most innovative large companies in Poland, compiled by the Institute of Economic Sciences under the Polish Academy of Sciences.

With nearly 80 years of experience in research on generic drugs, Polpharma has made ​​

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a strategic decision to expand into development and production of biopharmaceuticals.

The world market for biologics is now estimated at around USD 160 billion, taking into account only drugs already marketed. Forecasts predict its further increase to the value of about USD 200 billion in 2020.

Biologics - in contrast to chemical drugs obtained from chemical synthesis - contain substances produced by living organisms (like bacterial, yeast and mammalian cells).

Their main advantages are a favourable safety profile and high efficacy, particularly in the case of serious diseases such as cancer or immune-mediated diseases (rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis). The major obstacle to their widespread use is high price. For this reason, biological drug therapy remains unavailable to many patients.

Polpharma decided to start research on biological drugs with biosimilar medicines, which fully meet the safety profile

and pharmacological properties of biological drugs already registered and marketed.

The development of biosimilars is shorter and cheaper than it is the case with innovative biologicals. Thus, the company - thanks to a lower price - will be able to provide more patients with access to modern therapy.

Science

The first step of Polpharma in the area of​​ biologics was the construction of a modern laboratory in the Gdańsk Science and Technology Park. It is the largest facility of this kind in Poland, equipped with the highest quality equipment and world-class technologies. At the end of 2012 Polpharma complet-

“This is a very important step that will speed up the development of our company. Thanks to a lower price, biosimilars, which will be the fruit of our cooperation, will give many seriously ill people access to effective therapy.” ed the first stage of the project. Research facilities were opened in the space covering the area of ​​approx. 600 sq. m. that will enable the development and optimization of protein production. Labs were also launched to enable accurate assessment of the quality of

products and the development of modern analytical techniques. The total area of almost 2,400 sq. m. will include pilot production installations according to GMP standards. Its final commissioning is planned for mid-2014.

In order to accelerate research on modern biosimilars and to expand opportunities for their development, production and commercialization on a global scale, Polpharma has teamed up with the German strategic partner - Strüngmann Group, which has many years of experience in the field of biologicals.

The partnership will allow both partners to share costs and risks, in addition to guaranteeing equal rights to future drugs.

“This is a very important step that will speed up the development of our company.

Thanks to a lower price, biosimilars, which will be the fruit of our cooperation, will give many seriously ill people access to effective therapy. The establishment of a joint venture is for us also the starting point for a possible wider cooperation with the Strüngmann Group also in the field of innovative biologics,” says Jerzy Starak, President of the Board of Polpharma. ::

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4 /2014 :: polish market :: 13 POLISH MARKET YOUR BUSSINESS COMPASS.

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Innovatively, interdisciplinarily, globally

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t a time when the Polish medical service is facing a lot of difficulties, a shortage of financial resources and insufficient funds for scientific research and development, there is the World Hearing Center, working and prospering perfectly in Kajetany near Warsaw. It is a unique institution on an international scale. It is a place of scientific research, innovative diagnostic and treatment methods. The Center provides comprehensive care for patients with congenital and acquired hearing, speech, voice and balance disorders. There are over 18,500 medical procedures and 200,000 outpatients consultations performed here yearly and about 70 hearing improving surgeries daily. The center is equipped with unique medical devices, educational, scientific and specialist materials, enabling the training of specialists from around the world in several medical

Asked whether we want to be the only such institution in the world, I say NO. The progress in medicine and effective cooperation in science is possible only with a network of such centers,

Prof. H. Skarżyński and his team performing BAHA 4 ATTRACT surgery

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says Professor Henryk Skarżyński.

ultramodern 3-Tesla Magnetic Resonance Imaging scanner examination

fields, clinical engineering, physics, acoustics, biocybernetics, speech therapy, education and the psychology of hearing. This allows for setting new directions of research in those areas.

Only in the first year, the Center hosted 6 international scientific courses and symposia. As a result, over 180 young doctors from all over the world were trained. Moreover, 20,000 doctors participated in online sessions of live surgery broadcasts.

In less than two years, the World Hearing Center proved that it fully deserves to be described as a modern institution. Here, innovation means primarily a contemporary application of telemedicine and the development of numerous research programmes of diagnostics, treatment and rehabilitation of hearing, voice, speech and balance organs on an unprecedented international scale.

“Of particular note is the activity of the Bioimaging Research Center (NCOB), which is an integral part of the World Hearing Center, and at the same time is the first such place in Poland and one of the few in the world where research is carried out with the maximum use of the advantages of functional magnetic resonance imaging techniques and electroencephalography, due to simultaneous

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measurement of fMRI-EEG, says Professor Henryk Skarżyński, the founder and director of the World Hearing Center.

The NCOB brings together an interdisciplinary team of experts: engineers, neuropsychologists, physicists, and radiologists, whose main task is to use advanced biomedical imaging methods in order to study the structure and function of the brain. Projects are carried out in cooperation with other research and academic institutions in the country, including the Warsaw University of Technology, University of Warsaw, Marceli Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, and abroad, including the Brigham Young University (Provo, UT) and Human Science Center at the University of Munich.

The NCOB is provided with the MAGNETON TRIO TIM System, which is an ultramodern 3-Tesla (3T) Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scanner. The Center is also equipped with a highly specialist Neuroscan system for registering EEG signals thanks to a special 64-channel cap. The EEG system is designated to work in a strong magnetic field.

This innovation allows for project performance in the field of the brain mechanisms, auditory functions and higher cognitive processes such as the language, attention and emotions. It is the only center in the world where research in cortex functions in patients with partial deafness is conducted.

“The team of the World Hearing Center has implemented a number of innovative solutions in science, education, and clinical

World Hearing Center in Kajetany

activities. For scientific purposes, we created unique research units, equipped with an advanced and hi-tech devices. The Center attracts expert teams. This is a new and wellequipped workplace for both experienced professionals and young ambitious people”, says Professor Skarżyński. “The main area of our research is partial deafness. The implementation of research and scientific works is supported with an IT system of processing sensory screening tests. The system is based on an open standard data e-exchange

and other database systems”, adds Professor Skarżyński.

The innovation of this institution also lies in the organization of work and investing in the development of science. The Centre implements numerous projects, pioneering scientific and clinical programmes, the results of which set new standards in therapeutic medicine. As one of the first in the world, Polish patients have access to the latest and most advanced medical technology.

“Since the opening of the World Hearing Center in Kajetany, I have initiated three pioneering surgical programmes of implantation of new types of hearing implants: CODACS, BONEBRIDGE and BAHA 4 ATTRACT SYSTEM. Patients understand and appreciate it. This is why they choose us. They come from all over Poland, and also from abroad”,– says Professor Skarżyński.

The World Hearing Center is a world institution not only in name. It is the place where the highest number of hearing improving surgeries is performed daily.

“Asked whether we want to be the only such institution in the world, I say NO. The progress in medicine and effective cooperation in science is possible only with a network of such centers,” says Professor Henryk Skarżyński. ::

Specialists from all over the world attend Window Approach Workshop.

4 /2014 :: polish market :: 15

Science

A school to return to...

Rector of the Warsaw School of Economics (SGH) Professor Tomasz Szapiro talks to Maciej Proliński.

Professor, would you say that the Polish scientific and academic community has enough influence on the quality of public debate on Polish science? A few years ago the Minister of Science and Higher Education told “Polish Market”: “Poland deserves a Harvard of its own.”

Harvard – 600 million dollars a year, SGH – 60 million. Both Universities have 12 thousand students. Harvard – 250 academics and 1,200 support staff, SGH – over 500 academics, including more than one hundred foreign-language teachers, and less than five hundred administrators and support staff. In Harvard they don’t teach every student two foreign languages in the course of their studies, as we do at SGH. Good employment prospects after graduation – that’s where we can really compare. We provide this for a tenth of the funds, while they need only half our academic staff, but with five administrative support employees per one academic, compared with our one to one.

We don’t stand comparison in terms of publishing volume in reputable academic and scientific journals, the sheer amount of funds obtained from the private sector and donors, or the statutory framework regulating those areas. Minister Kudrycka’s statement referred specifically to that. She used the comparison comment to appeal to higher-education institutions to provide funds – increase spending, change their employment structure, and put emphasis on innovative research and the commercialisation of results. pm

pm

...including funding and promoting science?

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Underfinancing has been a serious problem here for decades. After all, science can’t flourish without investment, without money – a certain amount of funds must also go to the people who practise science. If a new scientific field appears, but with low pay, then creative people will stay out of it – it will not attract them. They will find a place to pursue their passions elsewhere, where the pay is better.

Science should provide not just intellectual satisfaction, but also financial reward. Finally, there’s no good education without scientific research, and vice versa. Polish higher-education institutions take part in various debates on these subjects – from community and local-government forums to those within the Conference of Rectors of Academic Schools in Poland (KRASP) headed by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education. Our ambition is to raise the perceived significance of how intellectual capital affects economic development and to make people understand the damage done by underfinancing science and the insufficient cooperation between the private sector and universities. Clearly, steps have been taken in the right direction, as initiated a few years ago by Minister Kudrycka.

How far-reaching have they been?

In my opinion, science-funding reform has been crucial. Today, public money for research projects is dispensed by committees independent of the Ministry. The National Science Centre, as an external agency, distributes the funds for basic research, and the National Centre for Research and Development allocates funds for applied research at the implementation stage. Both institutions base pm

their decisions on scientific, not administrative, criteria. They are transparent – you can easily see online which centres have received how much funds. This system is becoming established and it’s leaving behind the various teething troubles it grappled with. Independence is an important factor in this area, because it is the scientists who know better than civil servants or politicians which projects hold the most potential and opportunities for global success.

Is the independence of higher-education institutions the only way to achieve success?

Independence, high-quality teaching and being open to the world – these ingredients definitely make a good recipe for success. However, Polish higher-education institutions must also be open to the needs of the business environment – companies and students. It is also vital that we are moving away from standardising the curricula and running a strict list of majors at the Ministry, so that higher-education institutions select their own specialisations, monitor the needs of their local labour markets, and take advantage of their own outstanding scientists and academics. Another important area of change involves opening up to international partners, foreign students and prominent scientists, who, I believe, will be coming to Poland more and more often, to teach and conduct research. Strong competition, high ambitions and readiness to work hard are the most important factors in raising quality, or pursuing what I call “innovation in science”. pm

Science

We are halfway into your first term as Rector of SGH. You took over the post as a man of science with enormous experience. “We are starting to build the new structure of the school – an association of three independent schools – with clearlydefined areas of interest and effectiveness,” you said during your inaugural speech in 2012, referring to your plan to develop SGH by establishing a School of Business, a School of Economics and a School of Public Policy. What is this strategy aiming at?

The oldest school of economics in Poland and among the leaders in Europe simply needs a well-defined package and a clear message to everyone who needs us. That is why we chose those, and no other, names for our units to consolidate the previous ones. The School of Business will teach managers of big corporations, but also small and medium-sized enterprises. The School of Economics – analysts in the public and private sector. The School of Public Policy – managers operating in the public sector and those who will work to regulate this sector. The new schools will be significantly more autonomous and will share the financial responsibility for their fields of study. These changes are aimed at increasing the research potential and the capacity to procure funds for research, while consistently improving the quality of studies and the efficiency of managing the entire institution.

We will start the academic year 2014/2015 under the new organisational structure, and in 2015/2016 students will be subject to greater supervision of the Schools after their first year of studies. pm

Today the Polish market has top-quality managers (in international corporations and companies of various sizes). Is this also true of our public sector?

Public policy is a very stable source of jobs globally. Where, for example, the financial=services sector demonstrates considerable volatility, the demand for management in the public sector remains steady. In Poland most people are interested in working for the private sector. People often say that the problems with such areas as healthcare or transport are caused by the shortage of good public-sector managers, who are well prepared for working in the market economy.

We want our School of Public Policy to provide thoroughly-educated staff. SGH is seen as a robust centre for financial education. The School of Public Policy is going to help the education market realise that there are other professions which offer high salaries and pm

satisfaction. We have the potential to meet this demand.

Polish higher-education institutions, to put it mildly, are not exactly leaders in international rankings. How can we change this? Can SGH become competitive on the European market in the future?

We started by comparing Harvard Business School with SGH. They are part of the same global economy, and yet they remain completely non-comparable in the rankings!

Polish journalists and politicians often bring up the “Shanghai Ranking”. In this ranking, which appears in so many comments, even though it is obviously not the only one available, a single criterion rules out hundreds of universities for years. It is the number of Nobel Prize Winners working at a given university. Well, this is not the most advantageous criterion for us, and catching up is extremely difficult in this area. Let’s also not forget that we’re not direct competitors on the same education markets – American universities don’t have branches in Poland, even though the demand for education, including commercial education, is stable. pm

Does it mean that we are behind in science, but much better in teaching?

That’s right. The good Polish universities teach students who find jobs – both in this country and abroad. There’s a growing number of foreign students, which is an achievement, considering the fact that we’re not in the part of Europe that can attract students with highly-varied propositions. This is also true for Warsaw... We have only an indirect influence on the world around us. What can we do? We can definitely create new elite inter-faculty studies, increase student exchange, provide more classes in English, introduce internal education-quality-rating systems, develop teaching based on innovative computer networks and mobile technologies, and create a brand-new science centre in collaboration with business. It is my conviction that the restructuring of SGH will eventually improve our results in international rankings. pm

What are SGH’s most popular lectures?

You might be surprised. Lectures aren’t really part of any major here. Finding a free place in the Children’s University of Economics that operates at our school has been the most difficult. It is an economic-education project addressed to fifth- and sixth-graders from primary schools. The lessons begin in March and end in June. Admission is free and there are 160 places for young students. pm

The programme is co-financed by the National Bank of Poland. The thematic area is designed in such a way as to allow young students to learn the basics of how the economy and economic phenomena work in real life.

During our classes we answer such questions as “where does the money come from?” and “what are banks for?”

Coming back to the “mature” academic community; in brief – why is it worth studying at SGH, considering the extensive educational options available in Poland?

Our School of Economics provides education which is specifically tailored to the labour-market requirements – with the best researchers and specialists in all economics-related fields. SGH has for many years provided top class specialists, including analysts, whose knowledge and skills are highly valued on the labour market. This is guaranteed by an ambitious and modern curriculum and extensive academic research conducted in house. The academic research results in over 1.5 thousand publications by SGH employees each year – in the form of books, monographs, handbooks, and articles. It’s worth emphasising that Bachelor’s Degree studies begin with sessions attended by all firstyear students. Later, when the students know the basics and have grasped a range of programmes, they choose their course of studies and specialisation. The individual course of studies is limited only by the curriculum requirements – for example, certain subjects are obligatory in finance and they can’t be replaced with, say, a marketing course - and organisational factors – for example we are unable to organise lessons for just two students. This leaves a lot of choice to students as regards to classes and lecturers. SGH also provides a few dozen postgraduate-study programmes for graduates of various higher-education institutions who have, in most cases, already begun their professional careers, and would like to extend their skills to increase their attractiveness on the labour market. In today’s globalised world you can’t be an economist without being proficient in a foreign language. We provide our students with two obligatory foreign-language courses – not general, but based on the vocabulary of the profession. What else? People used to say “I passed my secondary-school-leaving exam and moved on to graduate from a university” Today, believe me, people come to SGH as children and later return to it many times in their lives. :: pm

4 /2014 :: polish market :: 17

Science

Innovations and ... history People having related occupations, similar professional interests want to meet on neutral ground in associations. “When it comes to engineers’ associations, 2015 will be a special year for us,” says Ewa Mańkiewicz-Cudny, President of the Polish Federation of Engineering Associations (FSNT-NOT), editor-in-chief of the “Przegląd Techniczny”biweekly, in an interview with “Polish Market”.

FSNT-NOT brings together engineers who work towards innovations. Can you present the Federation’s activities in this area?

Now, we all understand it, but it was not so at the beginning of the transition period in Poland, and therefore FSNT-NOT and well as “Przegląd Techniczny” felt that the most important task is to increase the prestige of the engineer’s profession so that - as Polish President Bronisław Komorowski said at the jubilee ceremony of “Gold Engineer of Przegląd Techniczny 2013” - “Mr. Engineer” expression be a confirmation of social respect and importance of engineers.

We wanted to incorporate engineers in improving economic innovation. We debate pm

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it at subsequent Congresses of Polish Engineers, especially at the 18th one, which took place in Poznań, two years before Poland’s accession to the European Union, under the theme “Technicians closer to the market.” It was decided then to create within FSNT-NOT a dedicated body that will conduct a programme of targeted projects for small and medium-sized enterprises as ordered by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education. It is because after more than 10 years of transformation, we already knew that SMEs constitute building blocks of the economy. But businesses did not have funds for the implementation of innovations. Today it is better, because we have technological credits, and the Federation has the right to review applications for it and de minimis aid.

In the years 2002-2013, we signed three agreements with the Ministry and started to help SMEs by organizing competitions for targeted projects. After presenting the idea to launch new products and implement new technologies, and receiving a favourable opinion on the application, a company had to find a scientific institution to conduct necessary research. These included research institutes, universities and scientific units, including private ones.

In 2013, we completed a third agreement with the Ministry. A total of PLN 204 million was allocated to entrepreneurs who deployed 650 solutions. Those applying for our assistance (and making good use of it) were mostly foundries, agricultural machinery and construction equipment producers and rock- mining companies. A special merit is due to producers of machinery for the agrifood industry, which include a lot of medium-sized enterprises producing machines “walking” through swamps, injecting - instead of pouring - slurry into the soil or lawn mowers hoeing weeds.

I would add that examining an application, from its filing to the settlement, took an average of 3 months. That is because we have so many experts: the Federation brings together 39 engineering associations from various industries, from those traditionally associated with technology (mechanics, electromechanics, construction) to the Polish Association “Dachy Zielone” (“Green Roofs”).

Since 2014, the programme has been entrusted to the National Centre for Research and Development (NCBR). A tripartite agreement was signed by the Ministry, NCBR and FSNT-NOT, but it is too early to talk about details, because the European Commission has not approved yet the method for spending funds in 2014-2020 proposed by Poland.

Since the 18th Congress, which entrusted FSNT-NOT with a task to encourage innovation, we have organized an annual Engineering Forum. It is attended by entrepreneurs mainly beneficiaries of targeted projects or those eligible to apply - and research institutes. Subsequent editions were dedicated to: optoelectronics, mechanical devices, foundry, farm machines, materials engineering, rock mining and construction machines. The Institute of Mechanized Construction and Rock Mining, the Industrial Institute of Agricultural Engineering, and the Institute of Foundry were particularly active.

The 24th Congress of Polish Engineers (2011) revolved around three main thematic areas: transport, energy and innovation.

Our experts evaluated the effects of spending funds in the framework of the Operational Programme “Innovative Economy 20072013”. They were not very good though. We found it was a mistake to put a greater emphasis on formal criteria than real technical effects translating into economic effects.

Next year, the 25th Congress of Polish Engineers will be organized jointly with the

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Conference of Rectors of Universities of Technology, Engineering Academy in Poland and the Main Council of Research Institutes. We have also invited the Polish Chamber of Commerce to work with us, as we want entrepreneurs to get involved: chief executives or those in charge of new implementations.

I would add that since 2003 NOT Innovation Centre has been fully operational.

2015 will be a year of anniversaries!

We are planning celebrations of the 200th anniversary of the establishment by Stanisław Staszic of the Warsaw Scientific Society, which included a technology-dedicated department; the 180th anniversary of the establishment by Józef Bem of the Polish Polytechnic Society in Paris; and last but not least the pm

“In Poland, the

‘Gold Engineers’ have succeeded, but we lack legal solutions to motivate people to be creative, to take risks without incurring consequences if they happen to fail.

”

70th anniversary of NOT. It should be stressed that the latter was a sort of a continuation of the prewar Polish Federation of Engineers and Polish Federation of Technicians. NOT is the result of a grassroots initiative aimed at establishing a single organization of engineers and technicians. In 1990, it evolved into the Federation of Engineering Associations and contributed to Poland’s economic transformation. We remember that when it was decided then that the economy can only be healed by privatization, without innovations and implementation of new solutions. On the other hand, engineers themselves quickly understood that technical knowledge must be complemented by law and economics. Many of them completed further studies, such as MBA. The research showed that 75% of large and medium-sized companies’ chief executives are engineers.

How many members does FSNT-NOT have?

For five years, their number remains stable - about 110 thousand. Once there were more than 300 thousand, but then belonging to NOT was well seen in the large stateowned companies. Today such industrial giants are gone, and any associative activities have been done away with in companies. Before the World War II, state authorities really cared about the opinion of such organizations as the Association of Polish Electrical Engineers (SEP) and the Association of Polish Engineers and Mechanical Engineers (SIMP), which gathered less than 1,000 members, so we decided to be an egalitarian organization, bringing together people with knowledge and experience.

2015 will also mark the 110th anniversary of the construction of the House of Technology in Warsaw. A tender for its construction was announced by “Przegląd Techniczny”, Poland’s oldest (from 1866) engineering magazine, only six days younger than the British “Engineering.” Since its inception, the magazine was directed at the engineering community, and not just at technical organizations.

Its subject matters were not limited to presenting inventions, but it was also engaged in economic and social affairs. After the cancellation of the first tender, the second one was won by Jan Fijałkowski, an architect. Perhaps we rightly complain about investment project now dragging on for years because only two years passed from the announcement of the first tender for the House of Technology to its completion. It is worth noting that the Association of Technicians in Warsaw took out a loan for its construction and it was repaid thanks to contributions of Polish engineers. pm

The building is beautiful, and how do engineers visiting it feel?

They still feel underestimated by the government, although the situation has changed for the better since the beginning of the Polish transition period. It is now known that there will be no innovative and competitive economy without engineers. Therefore, in 1994, “Przegląd Techniczny” decided to present and reward outstanding Polish engineers. Engineers are eligible to apply for the title of “Gold Engineer of Przegląd Techniczny” with typical technical background, including innovations, patents, implementations, and with a successful track record in a market economy.

For 20 years there were more than 300 winners, many of whom participated in the transformation of the Polish economy. Therefore, President of Poland, when taking the pm

patronage over the ceremony of awarding the titles of “Gold Engineer,” included it in celebrations of “25 Years of Freedom.”

Polish engineers are creative. I have been to London recently, where Poles are involved in rebuilding Blackfriars Bridge, an old railway bridge from the Victorian era in central London that is going to be the world’s largest solar bridge, and in the construction of a new metro line, running under the existing one. They are responsible for designs, construction, supervising, which confirms their high professional level.

In Poland, the “Gold Engineers” have succeeded, but we lack legal solutions to motivate people to be creative, to take risks without incurring consequences if they happen to fail.

Not only engineers are creative.

At the 25th Congress, we want to show innovation of our young people. For 40 years, we have organized the Technical Knowledge Olympiad, promoting remarkably talented students, and for 6 years the contest “Young Innovator,” in which students participate starting from primary school. Laureates are presented at international innovation exhibitions in Geneva, Brussels and Suzhou (China), where they have taken first places. This proves the innovative potential of young, something that we support.

Every two years we organize the nationwide competition “Master of Technology FSNT-NOT,” reactivated in 2011, in which we reward specific implemented solution: a technology, a machine etc. and therefore the winners are teams, often interdisciplinary ones. The “Master of Technology” is similar to the Teraz Polska promotional emblem that is also awarded by a Foundation to innovative projects.

We have also started to organize the Stanisław Staszic “Innovation Laurel” competition for products, technologies, services and innovative solutions. Awards are presented by sectors to individual companies.

FSNT-NOT includes the Association of Polish Inventors and Innovators, which promotes Polish inventors at international exhibitions, and the Polish Union of Associations of Inventors and Innovators acting among the youth.

Our experts sit on monitoring and steering committees operating within Marshal’s Offices. We regret that although the prestige of engineers and engineering organizations is growing - as evidenced by the fact that we are invited to various opinion leaders’ and advisory bodies - there is not a single engineer in the Prime Minister’s Economic Council. :: pm

4 /2014 :: polish market :: 19

Crystal Dragon of Success

Knowledge, intuition and a lot of luck – this is what makes the perfect manager

On 17 March the Sobański Palace in Warsaw hosted the Crystal Dragon of Success Gala organised by “Polish Market”, which honoured renowned managers who are contributing to the outstanding development of their companies and, consequently, to the growth of the Polish economy.

The gala also featured handing out The Dragon’s Claw awards for the best designs, products and services.

Marcin Haber

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he presentation of the crystal statuettes was preceded by a debate titled “Competitiveness in business – who has a chance of succeeding?”, with a view to identifying the key characteristics of a good manager. Opinions on the issue were given by President of KGHM Pol-

Jarosław Chałas, Bożena Lublińska-Kasprzak, Monika Piątkowska, Herbert Wirth

ska Miedź Herbert Wirth, Bożena LublińskaKasprzak, President of the Polish Agency for Enterprise Development (PARP), Zuzanna Kalisiak, Chancellor of the Polish Open University, Monika Piątkowska, Member of the Board

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of the Polish Information and Foreign Investment Agency (PAIiIZ) and Jarosław Chałas of the Chałas and Partners Law Firm. The participants presented a valuable insight of interest to managers from Poland and abroad.

The image of the perfect manager that transpired from the discussion was a young, welleducated person, bold and willing to take up challenges, and, as the discussion members emphasised, skilful at team management. The key task of a good manager is thus to manage the work of the team in a smart and responsible way.

Herbert Wirth, President of KGHM Polska Miedź, pointed during the debate, to intuition as one of the factors essential to achieve success. In the field which President Wirth deals with, apart from personal traits, highly innovative solutions are also needed.

“As far as new technologies are concerned, I couldn’t agree more. A modern company, even one with a traditional profile such as KGHM, representing the traditional-industry sector, cannot compete on today’s international market without innovative solutions. With that in mind, for the last few years

Krystyna Woźniak- Trzosek, Bożena LublińskaKasprzak, Rafał Baniak, Herbert Wirth

KGHM has been working on a completely new robot which will replace the coal-mine-face worker. In this way some heavy-labour job positions are no longer available, while new job opportunities are arising for young and well-educated people, as the robots need to be skilfully managed. I myself am a strong supporter of materials engineering and I believe this is a path to be followed.” President Wirth also commented on the company’s expansion into world markets: “From our perspective, we are experiencing pressure as to the vision of the company’s future. If we are to focus on the mining industry, we feel up to the task and would like to make use of our

Crystal Dragon of Success The Crystal Dragon of Success statuettes were presented to: Jolanta Augustyniak OSG Tomasz Bogus Bank Pocztowy SA Juliusz Braun TVP Marek Durlik The Central Clinical Hospital of the Ministry of the Interior in Warsaw Mariusz Gazda SKOK Wołomin Marcin Herra The National Stadium Paweł Jarmużek Przedsiębiorstwo Handlowe A-T S.A. Janusz Jarosiński Zarząd Morskiego Portu Gdynia S.A. Małgorzata Kołakowska ING Bank Mateusz Morawiecki BZWBK Paweł Olechnowicz Lotos Jan Pamuła The Kraków Airport Katarzyna Rutkowska AC S.A. Dariusz Sapiński Mlekovita Andrzej Siezieniewski Polish Radio Henryk Skarżyński The World Hearing Centre in Kajetany Wojciech Szpil Totalizator Sportowy Sp. z o. o.

Alicja Wiecka SAS Institute Herbert Wirth KGHM Piotr Wojaczek The Katowice Special Economic Zone Jarosław Zagórowski Jastrzębska Spółka Węglowa SA

expertise in other parts of the world. And why do we feel pressure? Because we are working on only one deposit in Poland, whose mining is difficult and expensive. We believe that innovation is the way to mitigate the risk of losing our competitive edge”.

After the event we also talked to Professor Henryk Skarżyński, the founder of the World Hearing Centre in Kajetany. The Professor was distinguished by the jury not only as a renowned specialist in his field, but also as an excellent manager. The Professor commented on one of the conclusions put forward by the participants in the discussion with regard to the factors contributing to success in business.

During the debate it was mentioned that success is primarily the province of young people. In medicine, however, it is required to present a level of knowledge possible to attain only after reaching a certain age. Pro-

Zuzanna Kalisiak

fessor Skarżyński stated that “There is room both for the young and the experienced. In medicine, understood in broad terms, young

people can find their place in research, implementation and introducing innovative measures in the form of new technologies. It is easier for them to make contacts with the business community, to draw their attention to science and to bring the world of science closer to business. However, in medicine in the clinical sense, one has to go through certain steps. Here I mean specialisations and scientific degrees which make it possible for specialists to attain independence in terms of decision making, responsibility and acquiring knowledge necessary to practise the profession. I like to refer to myself primarily as a physician, then again as a physician, and finally as a researcher who makes use of studies to provide new services with an improved quality in the future. The managerial element is somewhat in between, allowing me to pass smoothly from my superior’s decision to the role of the doctor who follows his instructions. Today, medicine constitutes a significant part of the economy, still being grossly underestimated. It overlaps with the pharmaceutical industry, with the production of state-of-the-art equipment, and a whole range of, so to speak, space technologies applied in medicine. It can be claimed that today engineering would not develop without medicine, and medicine would not progress without engineering. This association points to how much we depend on our environment, including the business environment. I’m glad that we are perceived in the same categories as typical representatives of corporate management.”

Jolanta Augustyniak

Tomasz Bogus

Juliusz Braun

Mariusz Gazda

4 /2014 :: polish market :: 21

Crystal Dragon of Success

Marek Durlik

Dragon’s Claw statuettes for the best products were awarded to: Arcus for Arcus Kyocera MDS

Piotr Wojaczek

Jan Pamuła

The Arcus Kyocera MDS system manages and optimises processes associated with documentation workflow in a company, which results in the reduction of costs associated with these processes. The software performs very well when used for remote settlements and, due to the function enabling the allocation of costs, it streamlines settlements of particular departments or even individual peo-

Michał Gembal

ple, tasks or projects. The software platform, supported by effective device solutions, enables easy management of an entire machinery stock. Most devices have an in-built cost settlement mode, enabling a quick remote change of access and authorisations to use specific functions, and they also enable the specification of printing limits.

Henryk Skarżyński

The European Leasing Fund for flexible leasing

Within flexible leasing, it is not the leasing provider but the client who decides on the amount paid in a given month. In extreme cases it is possible to lower the payment to only one zloty, or double the standard amount.

Thanks to this, the leaseholder has an opportunity to correlate leasing fees with the actual use of the fixed assets under lease. The fee can be changed by the client through the Portal KlientEFL website. The lessor’s consent is not required, nor is it necessary to sign an annexe to the agreement. The client can change the amount of the fee six times a year.

Capital24.tv

Capital24.tv – a new face on online television, created by journalists and businesses. Each company can create a free-of-charge account and add information about them. It is a perfect tool for sharing information with people interested in business, serving not only as

Tomasz Sańpruch

a source of news and knowledge, but also of inspiration. It is one of the first models granting access to content based on a Creative Commons licence, which means that everybody can copy it at will, and local media are especially eager to do so. In addition, there is the Capital24.tv television agency with its sister companies in Poland, France, the United Kingdom and Republic of South Africa. The agency creates content for enterprises, i.e. corporate, marketing and training videos, and also films for the purposes of PR divisions.

The Euler Hermes Insurance Company for CAP

Radosław Kuczyński Andrzej Siezieniewski

22 :: polish market :: 4 /2014

CAP is an innovative solution new to the Polish market - a type of a receivables insurance policy providing clients with additional insurance coverage (TOP UP COVER) for sizeable transactions associated with high risk, which require supplementary support and go beyond standard models of protection.

Crystal Dragon of Success

Wojciech Szpil

Bogdan Wiesiołek

The solution enables acquiring new clients and consolidating the relationships with the existing ones.

BiznesAlert.pl

The BiznesAlert.pl portal, which has operated since spring 2013, is a website publishing the opinions of experts, entrepreneurs and politicians in the fields of the power industry and infrastructure. It focuses primarily on the gas and electricity markets, road-construction engineering, the rail sector and the armaments industry. Every day at least sixteen comments are published, the considerable majority of which are obtained by the editorial staff, which consists of individuals with long-standing experience and knowledge of economy-related matters. The por-

Piotr Lewaciuk

items purchased online. InPost parcel lockers provide retail sellers with time savings and considerably lower delivery costs. Clients who use the services of online shops are guaranteed an unrivalled level of comfort. Using InPost services makes it possible to avoid having to go to the post office with a receipt and waiting in queues – all that is needed to collect a parcel is a telephone number and a code. Due to the efficient logistics, as many as 98% of the parcels are delivered the next day after sending, and users pay less for delivery than in the case of courier services. InPost parcel lockers are becoming the favourite delivery system for users all over the world – they are present on 20 markets in the world, and in the next 3-4 years the company will expand to both Americas and Asia. The Integer.pl Corporate Group, the owner of InPost Paczkomaty, also owns InPost, the largest private post-services provider, and InPost Finanse, an independent finance and insurance company.

Alicja Wiecka

Herbert Wirth

GoldenAdvice.pl for consulting services

Michał Spychalski

The company provides professional and innovative business development services for the B2B sector and professional services in

tal is published by the Jagiellonian Institute, and among the partners of the medium are the Polish Chamber of Commerce, the ISBNews website and specialist portals such as CIRE and Wysokienapiecie.pl.

Marcin Herra

InPost for the Paczkomaty parcel lockers

InPost parcel lockers are the largest global network for sending and collecting parcels 24/7 in an individually selected location, without having to wait in queues. For a few years the revolutionary lockers have provided customers with the highest-possible level of logistics services serving the delivery of

24 :: polish market :: 4 /2014

Anna Stasiak-Apelska

the field of process and cost optimisation for clients, including property and life insurance, taxes, law, bulk shipments, operating and financial leasing, and car fleet management.

Crystal Dragon of Success

Katarzyna Rutkowska, CEO of AC SA talks about the success of the company she manages You earned the title “Crystal Dragon of Success” awarded to the best managers.

What does success mean for you?

The title and the presence among such distinguished managers is a great honor. Working with AC gives me a great sense of satisfaction and joy with the objectives I pursue.

I believe that what I do makes sense and it can be considered a success. pm

Your company has customers all over the world on dozens of foreign markets. What makes for such a demand for your products?

We are Poland’s leading (with an over 50% share of the market) and world’s major manufacturer of high quality gas installation systems for STAG cars, and electronic components and wire harnesses for the automotive industry. Our products are gaining recognition on more than 40 foreign markets. We operate on all continents, wherever business development conditions are suitable - a favorable ratio of oil and LPG prices and proper autogas fueling infrastructure.

We are among the world leaders in the field of LPG manufacturing technology and LPG advanced products. Our implementations meet pm

global standards of quality and safety as confirmed by international approval authorities.

Reliable, versatile and a good quality product, backed by skillful trade policy, is the key to a strong presence on the global market.

Much is said about the fact that companies in Poland still spend not enough funds on research and development. How does it look like in your company?

We operate in a competitive market, stimulated by technological innovations. That is why we have established, in 2012, our own modernly equipped R&D Center, the construction of which was co-financed by the EU. Every year, we spend over 3% of our turnover on R&D. The innovation of AC’s products is ensured by a highly qualified and experienced team of about 50 engineers from the fields of electronics, automation, mechanics and IT. Thanks to them, we systematically introduce new products with innovative technological solutions. Every year, the Division of Research and Development conducts dozens of R&D projects, the vast majority of which goes to serial production and sales. Our R&D strategy has always been to ensure that our products are based on modern engineering pm

solutions whose performance, functionality and reliability serve our customers.

What are your plans for next year?

In 2014, we would like to strengthen our position on the markets where we are already present, and to venture into new foreign markets. This will be facilitated by the introduction of a new complete autogas installation, which has been prepared to respond to the market needs. The constant modernization and expansion of the product portfolio is another important area of our strategy. :: pm

Tomasz Bogus, President of the Board of Bank Pocztowy SA You have been given the title of the Crystal Dragon of Success, which is awarded to the best managers. From a little institution, irrelevant for the competition, Bank Pocztowy into a formidable competitor under your leadership. What did you manage to successfully achieve in the past few years?

In 2009, I and my team had an opportunity to create a strategy for Bank Pocztowy, which has been till today consistently, and most importantly of successfully, pursued.

As a result, the number of our customers has increased since 2010 from 490 thousand to more than 1.4 million. At the same time, we have been a leader in the number of customer accounts newly opened. The effectiveness of this strategy is also confirmed by the net profit, which was only 6 million in 2009, and by the end of 2012 attained PLN 45 million, a record-beating amount in the bank’s 20-year history. It was also possible owing to pm

a dynamic development of the project of creating a branch network within Poczta Polska.

These are now more than 250, and by the end of 2015 the figure will have been 360.

I am glad that the postal banking model that has proved successful all over the world can be effectively implemented in Poland.

The strategic partnership of Bank Pocztowy and Poczta Polska, and hence the possibility to use postal network to sell financial services, is an important competitive advantage.

Consequently, Bank Pocztowy can be reached not only through the Internet and phone, but also - in post offices - by customers from the small villages.

I would like to thank for the award for the best manager and, even though it is an individual distinction, I consider it a reward for the whole Bank Pocztowy and the confirmation of the rightness of the direction we have chosen. I believe that success will encourage us to work even harder. We are currently

working on a new strategy for the years 20142017, and I hope it will mark another step towards the dynamic development of Bank Pocztowy. ::

4 /2014 :: polish market :: 25

Crystal Dragon of Success

The event was held under the auspices of:

The Amber Room Restaurant, was set up on the initiative of Jan Wejchert. Earlier, it was referred to as the Crystal Room and was available only to members of the Polish Business Round Table Club. In order to fully utilise the potential of the place, it was decided to provide access to the restaurant for all people, not only to the members of the club. Since its opening to the public, the restaurant has won a number of awards and distinctions. Every year it is recommended by the Michelin Guide, which awarded the restaurant with the symbol representing four spoons and forks. This year no other restaurant in Poland has received this distinction.

Voda Naturalna Sp. z o.o. is the producer of Voda Naturalna, the first Polish premium spring water, and also the functional water named Voda Collagen, the first spring water in Poland with the addition of collagen. The plant producing Voda Naturalna, located near Muszyna, has received the HACCP certificate for the production of spring waters and nonalcoholic beverages.

Powiśle Park is a company managing the Na Powiślu Apartments – a luxury-housing estate located at the junction of Kruczkowskiego and Ludna Streets in Warsaw, 5 minutes away from Trzech Krzyży Square. It is surrounded by three parks. Na Powiślu is a complex of six-floor residential buildings with elegant reception desks and underground parking lots, featuring 139 apartments with an area of up to 140 square metres each.

Specifically for clients seeking large spaces, the apartments are designed in such a way as to enable the joining of two neighbouring flats. The project’s assets are top-quality materials, large, wooden windows boasting a high sound absorption rate and rooms with a height of up to 3 metres. The buildings are also equipped with innovative heating and air-conditioning solutions, allowing individual temperature adjustment. The air conditioning is based on ice water produced in the gas-trigeneration system supplying the housing estate. The solution has been used in a number of cities in the world, among others, Paris, Sydney and New York. The complex is also equipped with its own water-treatment station. The prospective residents will have a concierge at their disposal. There will also be a garden and a secure playground. The estate is provided with a surveillance system and fully adapted for the disabled. The prices of the apartments range from PLN13 thousand to PLN23 thousand per square metre. ::

Rita Schultz, Błażej Grabowski, Krystyna Woźniak –Trzosek, Bożena Lublińska-Kasprzak, Rafał Baniak, Mariusz Gazda

26 :: polish market :: 4 /2014

Krystyna Woźniak- Trzosek

Rita Schultz

Helena Matuszewska , Ewa Wałecka

Innovation Tourism

The 5th Innovation Forum in Rzeszów On May 27-28, 2014 the 5th Innovation Forum will be held in the Microelectronics and Nanotechnology teaching and Research Centre, University of Rzeszów.

T

his year’s Innovation Forum will deal with widely understood tourism. The innovative tourism sector is constantly evolving and opens opportunities for growth. Tourism is considered one of the biggest industries in the world - it provides 255 million jobs and generates 9% of GDP per year. In the European Union tourism is the third most important area of economic ​​ and social activity, right behind the trade and distribution, and construction sectors. It is no different in Poland. Polish tourism enterprises employ about 300 thousand people. It is worth noting that the tourism industry is still expanding, despite the ongoing economic crisis, and while providing job opportunities for young people, it helps fight unemployment. Tourism is also a key sector of the Podkarpackie province. The region has much to offer - not only natural resources, beautiful views and nature in its pure form, but also towns attractive for tourists. However, in order to keep up with the changing market, it is essential to introduce innovations and continuous improvements. Therefore, it is so important to ponder on innovation in Polish tourism, on what benefits it brings to the economy and whether the economy is sufficiently prepared to meet the demands of the sector. The Innovation Forum will provide an opportunity to analyze the tourism market in Poland, as well as to assess innovative technologies that have emerged in recent years in this area and challenges facing it. In addition to discussion on sources of innovation and types of innovation activities in tourism, panel discussions will also be organized on topics such as the hotel industry and spa tourism.

This year’s Innovation Forum will already be held for the fifth time. All the previous editions met with great interest. Panel discussions will be held with the participation of business people, researchers and politicians, as well as special guest lectures and presentations on practical application of innovative solutions. The previous editions dealt with innovations in areas such as energy, natural energy sources, aviation, communication, computer sciences, medicine and the automotive industry. Issues were also raised of intellectual property rights, the role of clusters as well as the importance of R&D. Leading themes of particular editions of the Innovation Forum are selected in such a way as to address current events in Poland and the Podkarpackie region. The Innovation Forum is a platform for the exchange of ideas and experience among researchers, entrepreneurs, local governments and politicians. The clash of different views on issues related to tourism may result in an even more dynamic development of the sector.

aviation industry. This is evidenced by the fact that 90% of Poland’s aviation industry is concentrated in the region. Podkarpackie is also a region of young and enterprising people who, thanks to entrepreneurship incubators and EU financial support, can make money running their own businesses, while developing their interests at the same time. The universities in the province adjust their education programmes to labour market needs, offering curricula such as: aerospace, materials engineering or mechatronics. Rzeszów the capital of the Podkarpackie province - is a city that is friendly in every respect. Well connected to the rest of the world, the cap-

Rzeszów and the Podkarpackie province An additional advantage of the Innovation Forum is its location. Podkarpackie is a special region on the map of Poland and Europe, where modern technology meets pure, unspoiled nature. It is here that the global oil industry was born, where many outstanding scientists, artists, writers and politicians come from. It is a place whose economic advantages have been recognized by global companies that decided to invest here. The driving force behind the region’s economy is the

ital of the region is a rapidly developing city, which is an economic, scientific and cultural centre of south-eastern Poland, a kind of a leader among Polish eastern cities, which makes it an ideal place to host the 5th Innovation Forum. ::

4 /2014 :: polish market :: 27

Innovation Tourism

Innovation through cooperation

Tadeusz Ferenc, Mayor of Rzeszów talks to “Polish Market”.

What does the promotional slogan “Capital of Innovation” mean to Rzeszów?

Innovation is for Rzeszów and Podkarpackie province a great opportunity for development. Today no one says with disbelief that it is exaggerated any more. Over the past few years, innovation has appeared in almost all areas of our lives. This is also confirmed by previous editions of the Innovation Forum, which was devoted to the latest technologies, including those that are used every day in aerospace.

Innovation is not created by public officials. What we do is trying to provide conducive conditions. Innovation is created primarily at universities - in academic centres. Then, also in factories and other production sites. It is no accident that Rzeszów is at the heart of “Aviation Valley”, where equipment and components used in the most modern technologies are manufactured. Suffice it to mention world’s tycoons such as WSK PZL Rzeszów producing engines for F-16, MTU Aero Engines, Goodrich Aerospace Poland, Hamilton Sundstrand, BorgWarner Turbo System and many others. pm

But innovation is not only huge production sites and the latest technologies.

Of course, we look at other areas of life, too. First of all, we have set up a Special Economic Zone “Dworzysko”, which is being developed. We hope that there will be a few thousand jobs created in a few years’ time.

There is much interest in building factories in that place.

Interest in science is already inoculated with the youngest population during classes pm

28 :: polish market :: 4 /2014

of the Children’s University of Technology and the Children’s University. We have created a Regional Modern Manufacturing Technology Transfer Centre, where young people learn on modern CNC machines. Curricula are tailored to the needs of entrepreneurs investing in the city. We are at the stage of implementing the project “Building an inclusive public transport system in Rzeszów and the surrounding area”, aimed at a comprehensive solution to the public transport problems in Rzeszów through the integration of different modes of transport and increased participation in public transport of vehicles that meet the highest environmental standards.

We are extending our broadband network “Resman” so that people in the whole city have access to free Internet.

Finally, in shopping malls we have created what is called Citizen Service Points, where

you can get most of the administrative matters sorted out. The city’s information points are also available to residents in hypermarkets, and the Telecommunication Residents’ Call Centre is fully operational.

What makes Rzeszów an attractive place to invest in?

First of all, aviation traditions formed during the prewar period and highly qualified staff. We also have a giant academic centre with 60 thousand students, which - as per 1 thousand inhabitants - puts us in the first place in Europe. Through the A-4 motorway, S-19 expressway, E-40 railway and the International Airport Rzeszów-Jasionka we are connected to all over the world. The city has also good conditions for leisure, sport and recreation. :: pm

Innovation Tourism

“Each participant leaves the Forum with good impressions, and carries them on” Jan Bury, Chairman of the Program Council of the Innovation Forum, talks to Marcin Haber.

For many years, you have been involved in the organization of the Innovation Forum in Rzeszów. Why is it so important in your opinion ?

The Innovation Forum in Rzeszów is one of the most important scientific, business and political events in the Podkarpackie region. Almost two thousand participants attended the four previous editions. Among the issues addressed was energy, communications, automotive industry, robotics, ICT, medicine, nanotechnology and clusters.

We attract annually to Rzeszów many personalities the world of science, politics and business. Apart from the fact that they participate in the panel discussions and listen to lectures and presentations, they simply talk to each other. It is a natural tool of promotion for the city and the region, and Rzeszów is after all the capital of innovation. Where, if not in Rzeszów, should we talk about innovative technologies, economic development, research and science? Each participant leaves the Forum with good impressions and carries them on.

This year we have gone even further and, along with the 5th Innovation Forum, we are organizing the 1st Tourism Forum of the Carpathian States. It will be attended by representatives of government, public institutions, organizations, academia and tourism entrepreneurs from the Carpathian countries. That is yet another aspect of promotion not only of the Podkarpackie region and Rzeszów, but also Poland. pm

pm

As you mentioned, this year the Forum’s leading theme is tourism. What innovations can be observed in this industry?

Tourism is an extremely interesting industry. Nowadays, it requires an innovative approach, too. For the residents of our province it can be a profitable sector of the economy, the flagship one next to the aerospace industry. The Podkarpackie province has an enormous cultural wealth, and it is using it.

The province needs new impulses for development. Apart from the aviation industry, we focus on improving life quality. Tourism will be considered very broadly during the Forum: rural tourism, medical tourism, recreation, care for the elderly and finally organic food. The region with its unique natural values​​, landscapes and unpolluted environment is open to discussion and developing specific solutions.

The innovative tourism sector is constantly evolving and opens opportunities for growth. Tourism is considered one of the biggest industries in the world - provides 255 million jobs and generates 9% of GDP per year. In the European Union tourism is third most important area of econom​​ ic and social activity, right behind the trade and distribution and the construction sectors. It is no different in Poland. Polish tourism enterprises employ about 300 thousand people. It is worth noting that the tourism industry is still expanding, despite the ongoing economic crisis, and while providing job opportunities for young people, it helps fight unemployment.

How important is for the Polish economy the implementation of innovative solutions in various sectors?

Let me give you an example. During the 4th Innovation Forum we talked about the pm

space sector, arguing that Poland’s accession to the European Space Agency mean that it is something that simply needs to be discussed. Several months later members of the Polish parliament - from different parties submitted a bill on the establishment of the Polish Space Agency. More than one third of all MPs agreed on that project, which was created in the parliamentary working group on space. The Polish Space Agency will allow a rapid development of the economy. This is a good example of how discussion, exchange of ideas and opinions may actually lead to concrete solutions. This year, we have also set ourselves such a goal: we will talk about tourism in various aspects, but we hope that we will come up with concrete ideas as to the development of the tourism industry in Poland. ::

4 /2014 :: polish market :: 29

Innovation Tourism

A comprehensive approach to innovation in tourism Katarzyna Sobierajska, Undersecretary of State in the Ministry of Sport and Tourism, talks to Marcin Haber.

This year’s Innovation Forum in Rzeszów will be devoted to tourism. What are key innovative solutions in this industry?

Speaking of innovations, we first think about new technologies. But that is not all. Indeed, the use of new technologies, especially information and communication ones, can be seen in innovation categories, provided that they are a carrier of fundamental change in a company’s product line, its approach to the customer, or management strategy. A mere use of a new technology in the form of a small “gadget” is not innovation.

Let’s also be aware that innovations are many more aspects and should be considered comprehensively. There can be talk about product innovation, management innovation, promotion innovation. Innovations are not always noticeable by the customer - they can be implemented in the way the company is managed without being apparent directly to the customers, but they have a huge impact on the final value of an innovative product or service.

Here are some examples of innovation in tourist services: a new line of services or a new service concept, a new concept of cooperation with the customer, a new distribution system, or a new approach to human resources and skills of employees, as reflected for example in recruitment, evaluation, retention, etc.

It should be stressed that innovation covers all scientific, technical, organizational, financial and commercial activities, which pm

30 :: polish market :: 4 /2014

actually lead to or are intended to lead to innovation. Some of these activities may be innovative by nature, while others are not new but are a necessary step towards implementation. Examples include trainings, market preparation, acquisition of external knowledge or capital goods.

Innovative solutions in tourism will be the topic of the 5th Innovation Forum, which will take place on May 27 and 28, 2014 in Rzeszów.

We will look at innovations from different angles. We will begin with a plenary session devoted to the sources and limits of innovation.

Then, parallel panel discussions will allow in-depth reflection on innovation in public policy, in hotel industry, health tourism, in the creative sector, what is called the meetings industry.

Tourism, although it has not been mentioned in the new EU financial perspective for 2014-2020 as a thematic objective, it will fall under some of them, namely due to its interdisciplinary nature.

In the period 2014-2020, most of the funds will be allocated to the development of innovation and support for small and medium-sized enterprises, including tourist ones.

Therefore, some of the debates will address funding possibilities for innovative tourism projects.

How does the Ministry of Sport and Tourism support the Polish tourist industry?

There are several possibilities for supporting the tourism industry. Undoubtedly, the pm

most important issue is financing tourist activities, including in particular those relating to the wider promotion of Polish tourist attractions.

On January 8, 2014, the Council of Ministers adopted a package of documents regarding the new EU financial perspective: the Partnership Agreement and 6 national operational programmes. The Partnership Agreement underlines the importance of the tourism sector for the economy, contributing to GDP at the level of 5-6%. It was also mentioned that, according to the forecasts of the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), Poland is facing the prospect of the tourist sector development (from PLN 72.7 billion in 2011 to over PLN 120 billion in 2022).

The Ministry of Sport and Tourism aims to provide support to tourism from the structural funds in the years 2014-2020. For two years, we have been involved in the work on the new EU financial perspective 2014-2020.

Representatives of the Ministry participated in the preparation of the Partnership Agreement and operational programmes 2014-2020, both at the national and regional level.

We hope that the implementation of projects in the tourism sector will be possible under four national operational programmes, including two marketing ones. Also other national programmes are currently being prepared in the framework of cohesion policy, which will back up tourism projects, such as the European Territorial Cooperation and the European Neighborhood Instrument.

Innovation Tourism For many years, the Ministry of Sport and Tourism has announced open tenders for the execution of public tasks in the field of tourism. In 2014, the priority tasks are: 1. Supporting the development of competitive and innovative tourism products 2. Shaping tourist space 3. Activities promoting domestic tourism 4. Training and development of tourist staff

Tourism for the best thesis in the field of tourism economy, consultative meetings and exchanging information on changes in the law.

In addition, we are working to protect consumers of tourism services, which will contribute, in the long run, to increasing confidence of customers towards providers of tourist services and will improve the situation on the tourism market.

Have recent events in Poland (Presidency of the EU and Euro 2012) contributed significantly to the development of the Polish tourism sector?

In the past years, we have seen a lot of things happening in the world, which has clearly affected the Polish tourism sector. In the years 2007-2012, a very important impulse for the development of hotel infrastructure in Poland was UEFA European Football Championship Euro 2012 and preceding it, in the second half of 2011, Poland’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union. The organization of conferences and meetings had a positive impact on the demand for hotel services. For that reason, the years 2007-2012 were a period of investment in the sector. On the other hand, the restriction in crediting capital-intensive investments prevented realization of many projects. In 2012, 1,040 collective accommodation facilities were commissioned in Poland, i.e. 49% more than in the previous year. These included 388 hotels, pm

This year’s project initiatives were selected regarding the Baltic Sea, Eastern Poland and Carpathians, as well as those associated with the 10th anniversary of Poland’s membership in the EU. The amount of public funding planned for the tasks in the field of tourism in 2014 is PLN 2 million as allocated in the budget.

In addition, the tourism industry can benefit from horizontal business support programmes. These will include instruments under the Enterprise Development Programme, prepared by the Ministry of Economy.

The Ministry of Sport and Tourism attempts to improve the business climate in tourism through, for example, government programmes related to the reduction of administrative burdens. We constantly work with the industry by organizing trainings with regard to the law on tourist services, educational activities, like for example an annual competition of the Minister of Sport and

representing a 37% increase compared to 2011.

At the same time, 890 building permits were given for 1,900 collective accommodation facilities, which means that investors continue to anticipate favourable market conditions for the hotel industry.

Compared to 2009, the number of foreign tourists increased in 2013 by 33% and that of foreigners coming to Poland by 34%. It should be emphasized that this was a period covering preparations for Euro 2012, and the year after the championships characterized by the so-called “Barcelona effect.”

The enhancement of Poland’s tourist attractiveness, being the result of the organization of Euro 2012, may contribute in the coming years to a further increase in the number of foreign tourists visiting our country. The “Barcelona effect” is set to be stronger than assumed in the most optimistic scenarios. It is associated with Poland’s higher-than-expected advancement in the ranking of national brands in 2012. The increase of Poland’s brand value amounted to 75% from USD 269 billion to USD 472 billion, which also translates into good performance of inbound tourism in 2013.

Surveys conducted in 2013 found that foreign tourist inflow to Poland went up 7% (15.8 million), and the number of foreigners coming to Poland in 2013 increased by approx. 9% and reached the level of 72.3 million. ::

4 /2014 :: polish market :: 31

Innovation Tourism

Rzeszów - a city with a large

R

potential for innovation

zeszów is the largest economic, scientific, educational, cultural and administrative centre of south-eastern Poland. Is a metropolitan city, the capital of the Podkarpackie province, the seat of the diocese and the judiciary. It also serves as an aviation, IT, chemical, commercial, construction and services hub. It is a booming city of young and enterprising people.

The University of Rzeszów, the Rzeszów University of Technology, as well as six private universities educate a total of 60 thousand students in more than 60 fields of study. Rzeszów universities provide highly qualified staff and professional scientific and educational base, and curricula adapted to ever growing needs of industries and the labour market. The intellectual potential of the residents, strong ties with the aviation industry and information technology, as well as prewar traditions associated with the Central Industrial District (COP) make Rzeszów a high-tech hub. The city is a perfect base for the development of the aerospace industry, which is one of the main factors of the development of an innovative economy.

The city has more than 22 thousand enterprises supported by more than 800 financial and business-like institutions, including significant Polish and foreign companies as Asseco Poland, Polimarky, D.A. Glass, Marma Polskie Folie.

It is already for several years that the city has pursued its investment strategy using the regional potential and eliminating development barriers based on smart specialization, which is in line with the new EU financial perspective and related development directions of the Podkarpackie province defined by the Regional Innovation Strategy (RIS) 2014-2020 for Smart Specialization. Regional smart specializations:

32 :: polish market :: 4 /2014

aviation, astronautics, life quality, IT and telecommunications are competitive advantages of the city, based on which Rzeszów has a chance to further develop and build the image of a smart city.

The innovative potential of the city finds its confirmation in the international ranking of “Smartest Cities 2013,” carried out by the University of Vienna, in which Rzeszów was ranked 19th among 908 European cities in terms of social capital and 1st among Polish cities.

What distinguishes Rzeszów is its active cooperation with innovative clusters, such as “Aviation Valley” - comparable to “Silicon Valley”: Association of Aerospace Industries Entrepreneurs, Podkarpackie Informatics, Plastics Cluster “Poligen,” Life Quality Cluster “Podkarpackie Country”, Podkarpackie Renewable Energy Cluster.

Currently, the city’s priority is to develop the Special Economic Zone “Rzeszów-Dworzysko.” The Local Development Plan “RzeszówDworzysko” provides for the creation of a Science and Technology Park, and the land allocation for the region’s key industries, logistics centres, warehouses, stores, public and commercial services.

The SEZ “Rzeszów-Dworzysko” is situated in the north-western part of the city. The zone’s area extends between the international E 40 motorway in the south, and the E 30 GermanyPoland-Ukraine railway in the north. Its advantage is also that it is located near the A4 motorway and the S 19 expressway in close proximity to the International Airport Rzeszów-Jasionka, which offers direct air connections to many European cities. Ultimately, the SEZ will cover about 450 hectares.

The city meets key requirements to be considered a favourable investment location. Welldeveloped transport infrastructure enables

efficient communication within the city and convenient access to other major cities in the country and abroad.

Additional factors distinguishing the city is safety, aesthetics, care for the environment, good quality of life and friendly environment for entrepreneurship development.

Among recent projects that have significantly influenced the future investment strategy of Rzeszów is the Rzeszów-Gainesville (USA, Florida) partnership programme launched in February 2013, and an agreement on mutual cooperation and promotion between international airports Rzeszów-Jasionka and Miami signed in November 2013. Economic cooperation will be developed between Rzeszów and U.S. and Latin America’s markets, including launching freight cargo Rzeszów-Miami and thus the creation of a logistics centre in Rzeszów.

There will also be promotional and cooperation projects between universities and in medical circles. An important event with the participation of the Governor of Florida Rick Scott and Poland’s ambassador to the U.S. Ryszard Schnepf will be Polish Cultural and Business Week in Gainesville scheduled for September 2014.

The above-described advantages of the city, as well as the hotel and conference infrastructure developed in recent years, the proximity to attractive recreation and tourism areas, and above all, specialized know-how in the field of regional specialization make Rzeszów set to become a business tourism and tourist traffic distribution hub. The Innovation Forum, which takes place in Rzeszów since 2010, will certainly be an important event and a special factor highlighting the innovative approach of Rzeszów to various areas of life. ::

www.erzeszow.pl

Innovation Tourism

The Rzeszów University of Technology – the incubator of innovation

T

he Rzeszów University of Technology is the leading innovator in Podkarpackie province. It boasts more than 50 protected inventions and almost 80 solutions that are poised to be granted protection.

A high technological level of the inventions is confirmed by numerous awards won at international exhibitions in Geneva, Seoul, Brussels, Sevastopol, Cluj-Napoca and Warsaw. The list of achievements includes about 60 awards in 2010-2013. The following inventions have won awards recently: “Retention gully” (Eco-innovations in environmental protection 2013), “Innovative technology for wastewater treatment in sequencing batch type reactor” (Eco-innovations in environmental protection 2013 and Eco-inspiration

2013), “Miniature control and navigation system for airborne platforms”(gold medal at the Brussels Innova). Some of the solutions developed at the Rzeszów University of Technology have been already used in industry.

The Rzeszów University of Technology, as one of the twelve institutions, has been granted the title of “Innovation Incubator” in a competition organized by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education. This will enable the expansion of the university’s activities in the area of technology transfer.

Only in 2013 the Rzeszów University of Technology performed almost 400 services, mainly for industry, including large companies such as WSK PZL- Rzeszów SA , BorgWarner Poland Sp. z o.o., Mostostal Warszawa SA, Skanska SA, ICN Polfa Rzeszów SA, Zelmer SA, as well as small and medium-sized enterprises.

The Rzeszów University of Technology is a member of a consortium of the Centre for Advanced Technology Aeronet - Aviation Valley (www.aeronet.pl) focused on activities related to design and testing of aviation constructions and drives, computer and telecommunication systems, materials engineering, modern manufacturing techniques in the aerospace industry or aerodynamics.

The university’s Materials Research Laboratory for Aviation Industry is equipped with equipment often unique in Europe. It is

accredited by the National Aerospace Defence Contractors Accreditation Programme (Nadcap), a global organization establishing common standards for the conduct of special processes and standards for testing procedures in the aerospace, defense and in other related industries. The laboratory’s management system is in compliance with PN-EN ISO/IEC 17025 and SAE AS 7003 and confirmed by the Performance Review Institute (PRI). ::

For detailed information please refer to the university’s Center for Innovation and Technology Transfer.

The current offer for the industry is available at:

www.citt.prz.edu.pl/btt/ www.prz.edu.pl

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Innovation Tourism

Gold Certificates of Polish Tourist Organization

E

very year, the best new and innovative tourist products are awarded Gold Certificates of the Polish Tourist Organization. The holders of these certificates are successful in the consistent implementation of innovative development programmes, and thereby in raising the quality and attractiveness of services offered. The competition has been organized for ten years. Applications are subject to a strict selection by the jury composed of experts – tourism practitioners. Certificates not only recommend the best and most beautiful places in Poland, but also suggest leisure opportunities and guarantee high quality of tourist services. It should be pointed out that the Polish Tourist Organization cooperates in this respect with regional and local tourist organizations, supporting the creation, permanent development and promotion of tourist products. So far Gold Certificates have been awarded by the Polish Tourist Organization to: the Silesian Route of Industrial Heritage, Augustów Canal - Papal Trail, Manufaktura Łódź, Woodstock Station Festival, Eagles’ Nests Trail, Małopolska Wooden Architecture Route. They are all worth taking a closer look at.

Pieniny (almost 50 buildings). The Wooden Architecture Route, comprising mostly old religious buildings, is an extremely attractive tourist product. It is also a model example of sustainable tourism insofar as it extends tourist products in rural areas and contributes to the diversification of tourism in the region.

The Eagles’ Nests Trail (Gold Certificate 2012) is one of the most picturesque trails in

Poland. It owes its name to the ruins of castles and fortresses that were ordered to build

by King Casimir the Great in the 14th century on inaccessible rocks reaching approx. 30 m in height. The trail passes through two provinces: Śląskie and Małopolskie, beginning in Kraków and ending in Częstochowa. The uniqueness of the route resides in the diversity of terrain and a very rich natural heritage of the Kraków-Częstochowa Upland. The Eagles’ Nests are known for their romantic nature and beautiful location. Some of them are beautiful, well-preserved ruins, while some other have been restored. The Castles

The Wooden Architecture Route (Gold Certificate 2013) – tourist car trail, con-

sisting of 251 unique wooden buildings: picturesque churches, bell towers, orthodox chapels, old Polish manors, wooden villas, open-air museums and rural and small-town buildings. The route’s most interesting buildings include four churches enrolled in 2003 on UNESCO’s List of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage Sites: in Lipnica Murowana, in Dębno Podhalańskie, in Sękowa and in Binarowa. The route is divided into four picturesque trails suggested as worth visiting: around Kraków (over 50 buildings), around Tarnów (40 buildings), around Nowy Sącz and Gorlice (over 100 buildings) and the route running through the Orava, Podhale, Spis and

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The Woodstock Station Festival (Gold Certificate 2011) is a huge summer festival organized in Lubuskie province, usually in late July and early August in Kostrzyn on the Oder. Its 17th edition took place from August 4 to 6, 2011. Woodstock is faithful to the ideas of “love, friendship, music,” stop the violence, and stop drugs. It is dedicated to thanking volunteers and donors of the Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity. In ad-

dition to musical concerts, an important element of the festival is now the Academy of the Finest Arts. Once again, Woodstock was recognized as one of the safest places in Poland.

The Manufaktura arts, shopping and leisure complex (Gold Certificate 2010)

is an extraordinary showcase of Łódź – a place with a rich history which entered the 21st century with impetus. It is admired by Łódź residents, willingly visited by inhabitants of

Ogrodzieniec and Bobolice are teeming with life, just like in the old times. Interesting exhibitions and historical events are organized there. The Eagles’ Nests Trail offers much not only for the soul, but also for the body, promoting an active way of spending free time (hiking, cycling, horse riding, climbing and cave penetration).

Innovation Tourism

Photo: Jadwiga Koniecko

other parts of Poland, and proudly shown to foreign visitors. The main goal of the undertaking is redevelopment of the 19th century industrial area. Following redevelopment, post-industrial buildings were given new functions in respect of culture, entertainment, services and commerce. Manufacture was supposed to form union between the past and the future, to combine history and modernity, giving rise to new quality.

Augustów Canal (Gold Certificate 2009)

is Europe’s unique waterway built in the first half of the 19th century and the biggest civil engineering project of the Polish Kingdom.

It is one of the longest artificial waterways in Poland and one of the most interesting examples of Polish hydrological engineering and construction art. Its biggest attraction is the cruise route on which Pope John Paul II embarked in 1999. The route goes through the Augustów Forest, numerous lakes, Czarna Hańcza river and the canal itself. Going on a cruise is a good idea for all those who need some rest in the bosom of nature and a moment of reflection. The tourist product is addressed both to groups and individuals. Organizers propose several-day canoeing with

overnight stays. There are numerous riverside hostels and campsites on the entire route, which are perfect accommodation for canoeists.

The Silesian Industrial Heritage Route (Gold Certificate 2008) is a car, signposted,

thematic regional trail, including sites associated with industrial heritage. It is composed of more than thirty selected sites having

exceptional historic and architectural value, which witnessed the industrial revolution in the 18th century. The numerous sites scattered throughout the region remind visitors of the past times. The route is an unusual tourist attraction: mines and tunnels, breweries, roundhouses, forges and factories with the accumulation of unique plants and equipment. In a word, astonishing real “pearls of the art.” :: ADVERTISEMENT

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4 /2014 :: polish market :: 35

Innovation Tourism

Changes - more and more innovations in Polish regions and cities Innovation and cooperation are key success factors in the development of modern cities and regions.

However, these processes are going on against a background of strong regional differences. The Polish innovation’s weakness is mainly about the quality of the research system, the transfer of scientific achievements to business and the lack of cooperation between individual sectors.

Bogdan Sadecki

I

nnovare (Latin) means “to create something new.” The most common definition of innovation highlights that “innovation is the process of transforming the existing capabilities in new ideas and putting them to practical use.” It is simply any alteration that improves something, gives it a new quality, or allows you to create a new product or service. According to the Central Statistical Office (GUS), innovation is the implementation of a new or significantly improved product, service or process, a new organizational method or a new marketing method in business practice, workplace structure or external relationships.

Products, processes and organizational and marketing methods do not have to be new to the market on which a company or a city operates, but they must be new at least to that entity itself. No need for them to be developed by that very entity, because it can be done by another one, like for example a scientific research institute, an R&D centre, a university, etc.

The Operational Programme Innovative Economy provides yet another definition, which says that innovation means the

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introduction of a new or significantly improved solution with regard to goods or services, processes, marketing or organization structures.

Innovation can be considered at the level of a company, city, region, country, even at the level of the world, with ever higher requirements as to how new the change is. The definition of innovation is extremely broad.

Innovative phenomena are dynamic. Innovation is the ability and motivation of entrepreneurs to conduct scientific research with a view to improving and developing production, as well as searching for new solutions, ideas or concepts. Innovations in economy are aimed at creating new products, improving technology, increasing efficiency and market competitiveness.

Innovation in regions In 2012 Poland’s expenditure on innovative investment projects amounted to PLN 14.4 billion - almost 23% more than a year earlier.

It is a record beating result. At the same time, the number of entities that continuously or

expediently conduct research and development activities increased by 23.1%.

Poland systematically and consistently strives to create a knowledge-based economy, which is due to its strategy of competitiveness building. The economic potential of Poland is appreciated by foreign investors, as evidenced by the steady inflow of foreign capital to locate in Poland manufacturing plants, service centres and R&D facilities.

The most important factors indicative of Poland’s attractiveness as a place for investment are competitive economy, high-tech industry and qualified staff. Poland has recently become the CEE region’s leader in terms of the number of business service centres (more than 400): Business Process Outsourcing (BPO), Information Technology Outsourcing (ITO) and Shared Service Centres (SSC). The number is also increasing of regional R&D centers, which are of strategic importance for multinational corporations. It is an outcome of favourable macroeconomic conditions for R&D operations in Poland, available investment incentives (grants and tax exemptions offered with a view to attracting foreign capital).

Intimate holiday and tourist resort, picturesquely located on the Krutynia trail, surrounded by Masurian woods and the river

www.nowymost.pl Holiday-tourist centre ”PERŁA KRUTYNI” in Nowy Most phone/fax + 48 87 423 60 45 mobile: +48 605 046 605 e-mail: rezerwacja@nowymost.pl

Innovation Tourism

The strengths of Poland’s R&D sector are also a modern R&D infrastructure, which is largely financed from the EU funds, increasingly qualified human resources, a high level of enrollment and the development of cooperation between business and science.

In 2012 more than 800 business innovation centres operated in Poland, according to a report by the Polish Agency for Enterprise Development - PARP - prepared by experts of the Association of Enterprise Innovation Centres Organizers. These included: technology parks, technology incubators, business incubators, technology transfer centres, business angel networks and local and regional loan funds.

The areas of the Polish economy with high growth that fall partly within technologies identified by the European Commission as Key Enabling Technologies (KETs) will be the main drivers of innovative processes, products and services in the coming years.

These include: nanotechnology, biotechnology, photonics and micro-and nanoelectronics, including semiconductors and advanced materials.

amount to promote innovation in enterprises and R&D activities. There will be companies with a significant R&D, implementing the most innovative products. “Traditional industry will not “fall out” of the zones, but will benefit from less intensive aid than so far. Enterprises, which have so far performed “simple” production will be urged to invest in more advanced solutions,” stresses the Deputy Minister of the Economy.

According to Eurostat, the percentage of Polish industrial enterprises which in 20082010 introduced innovations related to products or methods of operation amounts to 7.9%, while for service companies it stands at 5.1%.

In SEZ an entrepreneur can obtain a tax exemption (CIT or PIT), a plot fully prepared for investment at a competitive price, help in completing formalities related to the investment, as well as an exemption from property tax in some communities. Income tax exemptions granted in the zones are called regional public aid, which is aimed to accelerate the development of the EU’s economically weakest regions by supporting new investments and job creation.

Special Economic Zones need more innovation

Innovation strategies are not implemented correctly

Tax incentives will still be available for businesses in special economic zones. They may, however, be lower than before depending on the region. In addition, entrepreneurs will have to be more innovative.

“The European Union has set out a new regional aid map, and we have to change it in Polish regions accordingly. This will apply to EU funds, but also any assistance from the state budget. As of July next year, the public aid will be lower in some regions than it is currently, which means smaller tax deductions until 2026,” says Ilona Antoniszyn-Klik, Deputy Minister of the Economy.

There will be more changes in the functioning of special economic zones - the selected areas where economic activity may be conducted on preferential terms. Today, companies operating in Poland’s 14 SEZs are exempt from the 19% CIT tax. In 2026 they will cease to operate on the existing concessional basis, and in the meantime they have to adapt to global trends. Companies operating in SEZs, as well as those outside the zones, will be eligible for funding under the “Smart Growth Operational Programme 2014-2020.” The programme’s budget is approx. EUR 8.6 billion, including a significant

Experts from Deloitte, a consultancy, believe that Polish regions have well-prepared innovation strategies, but they do not put them into practice effectively. Most province marshal’s offices are only beginning to support business-science cooperation. Regional innovation strategies have been in existence in Poland for almost ten years. However, most regions are in the early stages with regard to their implementation. Each region can boast good initiatives that can be followed in other regions, according to Deloitte.

Polish regions are still far away from the European innovation leaders, that is the Western European and Scandinavian countries. Poland’s best region in this respect is Mazowieckie province, but it ranks among European average innovators. The rest of the country’s regions are modest innovators.

The weakness of Polish innovation is the quality of research, and above all the ailing transfer of scientific achievements to business and the lack of cooperation between particular sectors. Low social capital, which in turn leads to excessive bureaucratization, is also a barrier to innovation growth. It is not money but partnership between various stakeholders that guarantees successful implementation

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of innovation. Regions that managed to establish cooperation between business and science have been successful. Marshal offices in most cases are just beginning to create an effective system of connecting entrepreneurs and science. Innovation strategies are already well-prepared plans, but they are often not effectively implemented.

Money for innovation Łódź wants to get a big piece of the pie The vast amount of EUR 80 billion is to be divided under the EU’s Horizon 2020 programme. The Łódź province wants to get a big piece of the pie. The programme is the largest one in the history of the European Union - it promotes research and the use of innovation in industry. The entire amount is to be spent in the next seven years in the whole European Union.

The programme is directed mainly at public institutions, companies, universities, but it is also open to individuals, research teams, public and private institutions, the aim being the realization of research and innovation projects. The resources can be allocated to the creation of new jobs, the use of innovation in production and research.

“Here opens the possibility to reach for EU funds in the new financial perspective. We want to popularize that programme so that many people and businesses of Łódź can use it. In the previous financial perspective, 1.2% of similar funds flowed into the region’s universities and several companies,” says Witold Stępień, the marshal of the Łódź province.

Marcin Bugajski, a member of the board of the Łódź province, notes that under the Horizon 2020 programme entrepreneurs will be able to receive more funding - up to 70% of total spending - than under other programmes.

In Łódź there are two contact points to facilitate applying for money by providing information on how to submit applications.

The Regional Contact Point at the University of Łódź will support people or institutions by offering individual consultations, as well as a wide range of training courses, workshops and information days about the programme.

The Regional Contact Point together with the Marshal’s Office will conduct informational and promotional activities aimed at establishing regional partnerships ready to cooperate within the framework of Horizon 2020 projects. The first competitions will be conducted later this year. ::

Innovation Tourism

1 July 2014 to the day marks the third anniversary of the launch of the largest breakthrough investment in infrastructure in Poland – the viaTOLL system.

Marek Cywiński – managing director at Kapsch Telematic Services, the company that built and now manages the system talks to Rita Schultz to build those gantries, which is not an easy task given the Polish administrative environment. Someone had to guarantee the effective distribution of devices and someone had to “write” the system from the programming side. There are many such elements which together create the viaTOLL system…

So you put together an efficient team and achieved the impossible in 8 months – is there anything that you and your team could have done better?

From the start of the system launch we were aware that for a time we too would be learning its specifics. Looking back I could probably name a number of issues that from our point of view could have been resolved in a more effective or less stressful manner.

But I must say that we achieved our goals: we completed the implementation on time, and we’re delivering planned revenues. This is an accomplishment of everyone involved in the project, both on our side as Kapsch Telematic Services, our partners, and the General Directorate for National Roads and Motorways who commissioned the system. pm

Looking back at those three years, could you tell us briefly what were the most challenging moments in designing, launching and operating the viaTOLL system in Poland?

I think the most challenging element in the process of creating the electronic tolling system in Poland were time constraints.

For viaTOLL it was just 8 months. We started basically from nothing, bringing in only our global expertise and tested technology.

Keep in mind that examples from other countries show that effective implementations on similar road networks may take much longer. Another piece in the puzzle was acquiring the best specialists on the market to rise up to the task.

Signing the contract we naturally understood what kind of responsibility we were taking on and what deadline we were agreeing to. With such complex projects, 8 month is not a lot of time at all. I am under the impression that many still fail to understand how complex a system we’ve managed to build. Public awareness is currently focused on elements such as gantries and the viaBOX devices; these are of course important elements without which the system would not exist, but that’s not everything. Someone had pm

Can we therefore assume that by deciding to build an electronic tolling system we’ve caught up with Europe?

I will risk a claim that in this respect, we’ve even gone ahead of Europe. The idea of paying for road infrastructure electronically is being strongly promoted and required of member states by the European Commission. The target is for every carrier in the near future to be able to travel all over the continent with one onboard unit and pay one invoice. The interoperability of the Polish system (compatibility with other systems and operators) has been confirmed in April 2013 after a series of technical tests. We were the first to announce our readiness in this respect. pm

It is a grand idea, but we still have several tolling systems in Poland.

That is true. At the time when concessionaire contracts were being signed, the idea of electronic tolling was still in its infancy, and replacing stickers with viaTOLL was difficult to anticipate. The situation could be improved through legislation that is currently being discussed by the parliament. We have stated on multiple occasions that we are ready to extend our system to cover the concession sections. I think we can expect such a development in the near future, and it will undoubtedly make things easier for everyone. pm

What are Polish road users to expect in the near future?

Certainly the extension of the tolled road network. Everything depends on the tempo of construction and commissioning of new sections of expressways and motorways. As part of our contract with GDDKiA, we’re informed each time about any plans to extend electronic tolling to new sections, and we build the system infrastructure there. On the other hand, the road authority is working to implement the National Traffic Management System, and if we overlay that on the existing viaTOLL system, within several years we will have a complete tool to significantly contribute to road safety and reduced travel times.

An entirely different issue is the recent media discussion about “freeing” the motorways. We’re talking here about moving away from manual tolling to electronic tolling on motorways. This solution would be advantageous both for the state treasury (reduced costs), and for drivers – removing the tolling gates means convenience and reduced travel time. :: pm

4 /2014 :: polish market :: 39

Innovation Tourism

Warsaw’s showcase is teeming with life Rafał Rosiejak, Director of the Conference Center of PL.2012 +, a company managing the National Stadium in Warsaw, talks to Maciej Proliński.

Built for the UEFA Euro 2012 Football Tournament, the National Stadium in Warsaw is a beautiful showcase of Polish sport and the capital city of Poland. In the public debate many experts say, however, that it is too cost-consuming. Why do we need such a stadium, they ask, given that we are quite a poor nation, with many problems systemic. What is your opinion?

Since the beginning of 2013, immediately after the Euro 2012 tournament PL.2012 + became the operator, of the National Stadium. It has changed its image and definitely broadened the scope of activities taking place there. Remembering that the final of the European Football League tournament in 2015 will be held at the National Stadium, that our pm

football team plays here a few matches a year, it should be noted that the stadium is today an open place for people - for economic, business, or cultural events. Let me just remind you that in 2013 it was visited by 1,300,000 guests. These are facts, not declarations. Surveys show that the National Stadium, even if it is pretty new in the landscape of Warsaw, is today one the most recognized brands in the capital. It harbors a huge potential: place, people and really huge possibilities of using space around it. I think that last year we proved that the stadium is a lively showcase of the capital, and not a deserted memento after Euro 2012. Now our task is to prove that it can be operational 365 days a year.

The key issue is that of its profitability.

Acquiring a title sponsor may help a lot.

Can you already reveal something in this matter?

The National Stadium was designed as a multi-purpose arena. We want it to amortize itself by the end of 2014. We are very close to achieving this goal. This is due to the new strategy of selling products and services, as well as to reducing the maintenance costs. This year, we want to follow this path.

Financial results for 2013, which will soon be announces by the company’s management, will show a solid performance and a significant positive difference as compared to the budgets planned. Of course, a lot of work is still ahead of us. As far as a title sponsor is concerned, PL.2012 + have been looking for partners since last year, but only a few companies in Poland meet a requirement of a minimum annual revenue of PLN 10 billion. Several large Polish companies expressed their interest, but at the moment I cannot disclose any further details. pm

The National Stadium is primarily associated with sports events. And what can it offer when it comes to conference infrastructure, very rich, modern and attractive in Warsaw today?

Business tourism in Poland today is very profitable. Poland is a country in which large conferences and congresses are organized.

It is the most economically viable branch of tourism in Poland. Polish conference centres and hotels are today among the most modern in Europe. For many years, nothing was done is that segment, and once major capital pm

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Innovation Tourism

flows came, facilities were build according to the latest technologies. The National Stadium can be today such a “flagship” for Warsaw, a place where large conferences can be held. An example can be the World Climate Conference (COP19) in November 2013, or the upcoming (May 2014) Annual General Meeting of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). Please remember that at least a few countries always seek the right to organize such events. And we compete with cities such as Berlin or Paris. The National Stadium is our most important asset in such international tenders. This is what makes the difference compared to what can be seen today on the map of conference venues in Poland. Our idea is to cooperate with other facilities in Warsaw, such as Expo 21, MT Polska, and hotels to develop a common and coherent product of the city with regard to various congresses and conferences.

Is the cooperation between the city and the stadium - the partners that create the image of Warsaw - coming along well in your opinion?

Warsaw needs to build its recognizable image - a strong brand that cannot exist in isolation from the places, buildings or events that are associated with our city. Yes, our cooperation with the city is coming along very well. The stadium is a member of the Warsaw pm

Tourist Organization, and is one of its most important players. Warsaw Convention Bureau, representing the city of Warsaw and responsible for promoting the capital as a destination for business tourism, and the National Stadium come together during the industry’s major trade fairs in Barcelona or Frankfurt.

We show there our products - as a conference venue and office space to let. Beside the pitch, the stadium offers approx. 15,000 metres of office and commercial space.

The National Stadium has a conference centre for 2,000 people, 65 business boxes, the largest of which can accommodate 100 people, a grandstand for 58 thousand people and a cinema hall for 130 people. It also has 1,800 parking spaces and storage areas. One of its assets is certainly excellent transport connections with the entire city.

And how does the cooperation with business partners look like?

This year, PL.2012 + signed two important contracts with corporate partners: with Kompania Piwowarska, under which Poland’s largest producer operating in the brewing industry has become an official sponsor - supplier of beer in the most popular site in Poland, and with TRIAS Venue & Event Support, which is now the official technology partner of the stadium. TRIAS will be responsible for the provision of services related to pm

the implementation of multimedia equipment, lighting and sound for events held in the stadium.

The hit of the winter season was “Zimowy Narodowy”- the largest ice rink in the country. Will it be continued?

Over 100 thousand people visited the ice rink at the National Stadium. We thank them for these wonderful seven weeks of winter. We are extremely pleased that our ice rink proved to be a hit. Over 47 days, taking 256 turns, our guests have spent 330 hours skating and borrowed 24 thousand pairs of skates. For sure, this project will be continued. I can also announce that between September 5 and 7 we will fix a giant swimming pool on the stadium for the Indoor Windsurfing World Cup 2014 that will be held in Warsaw. We have already started ticket sales and PL.2012 + is the main organizer and promoter of this immense event. A swimming pool 90 m long and 33 m wide will be filled with three thousand cubic meters of water! Visitors are welcome at the National Stadium throughout the year- for business meetings, football matches, skating, or windsurfing.

And soon for the Wind and Water Fairs, the Warsaw Book Fair and the Picnic of Polish Radio. :: pm

4 /2014 :: polish market :: 41

Innovation Tourism

Puławy naturally

www.um.pulawy.pl

T

he Czartoryski family heritage, Poland’s largest plant producing nitrogenous fertilizers and chemicals, and five research institutes are not only distinctive features, but also important assets of Puławy - a town with al-

most 50 thousand inhabitants situated in the north-western part of the Lubelskie province.

Over a few centuries Puławy grew from a small fishing village at the crossing of the Vistula into a modern, prosperous town. There

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has been a particularly rapid development in the past 10 years, when - thanks to effective applying for EU funds - more than 30 investment projects have been completed worth over PLN 290 million. Capital expenditure per capita exceeds the provincial average

by nearly 50%, while EU funding per capita amounts to PLN 5,460.

Among the major investment projects cofinanced by the European Union is a modern football-athletics stadium with full technical facilities. Owing to its construction, Puławy gained an impressive sports and leisure complex, beautifully situated on the edge of the forest, with two full-size football pitches, a fifty-meter outdoor pool and mini water park. The Vistula shore was also developed.

The part of the town located on the Vistula was given a completely new face - a boulevard was created and a river port adapted to perform tourist and recreation roles.

The Puławy Science and Technology Park, which deals with research into new technologies and helps their transfer to manufacturing processes, is aimed to develop broader cooperation between science and business. Several companies already offer innovative solutions, and some other will be operational in the coming months. Thanks to EU funds, streets, new roads and urban spaces have been upgraded.

All these undertakings, not just investment ones, are pursued in line with the slogan “human city” so as to make Puławy a better, more comfortable, and friendly place to live. They are appreciated by inhabitants, but also by external entities, granting the city numerous awards and honors (the “Teraz Polska emblem,” the Super Local Government title). In addition, from year to year Puławy becomes increasingly attractive for tourists with restored monuments and interesting hiking trails for walking and cycling, good accommodation and catering facilities.

Welcome to Puławy! ::

Puławoaktywni

Katowice bets on culture and industry meetings Katowice has long ceased to be a city of coal and steel. Thanks to investment projects launched a few years ago the capital of Upper Silesia is becoming before our very eyes Poland’s leading centre of culture and business tourism.

In the very centre of the city, next to the famous Spodek Sports Hall, an entirely new district called the Culture Zone is being developed. Apart from Spodek it will be composed of three major buildings: the International Congress Centre, a new seat of the National Symphony Orchestra of the Polish Radio and the new Silesian Museum. They are all located on the site of the former Katowice mine.

The total value of these projects, including the reconstruction of the road system, is more than PLN 1 billion. Their implementation is possible thanks to the support from EU funds.

The International Congress Centre will be the largest facility of that kind in Poland.

The multi-purpose building will make it possible to organize events gathering 10,000 people. Together with Spodek a giant conference complex will be developed able to accommodate up to 21,000

participants. The centre is scheduled to be inaugurated early next year.

The cost of the project is PLN 321 million. The investor is the city of Katowice.

Ultimately, the facility will be managed, like Spodek, by a specialized company.

The capital of Upper Silesia is today one of the most important cities in Poland in terms of the number of conference events and corporate meetings. According to a report on business tourism market, over 6,000 business meetings were organized last year in Katowice. They brought together more than half a million people.

Later this year, a new seat of the National Symphony Orchestra of the Polish Radio will be opened. The facility will have two concert halls. The bigger one will be able to accommodate 1,800 people. Made of birch wood it is going to be Poland’s best concert hall in terms of room acoustics. Symphonic music of all

kinds will be played there, including with an expanded orchestra, a 120-member choir and organ accompaniment.

The smaller hall is designed for 300 seats. The cost of the project amounts to PLN 265 million. The investor is the city of Katowice.

The new Silesian Museum is a project of the Silesia Marshal’s Office. Located on the site of a former mine, it makes use of tens of metres under the ground.

The exhibition space in the main building exceeds 6000 m2. In addition, there are also lecture halls and conference rooms, a reading room, collection warehouses, ateliers, conservation and photography studios. In the former engine room a restaurant will be opened. A closed shaft has been converted into a vantage point.

The cost of the project exceeds PLN 320 million. Its opening is planned for next year.

Innovation Transport

Advanced technologies in Polish skies Although the level of innovation in Polish industry leaves much to be desired, which is reflected in the country’s still low rankings in EU league tables, we continue to develop advanced aviation technologies. Due to their advancement they require adequate funding (EU Operational Programme Innovative Economy), and cooperation between state institutions, industrial plants and research units. They largely originate from the Aviation Valley, Polish Technology Platform for Aviation (PPTL) or regional associations (e.g. Wielkopolska Air Cluster). In recent years the most famous research and development project, financed like many other such initiatives from the EU funds, is InnoLot. Patryk Mirecki

InnoLot InnoLot programme aims to fund research and development work on innovative solutions for the aviation industry. It was created as a result of an agreement between the National Centre for Research and Development (NCBiR), subordinate to the Ministry of Science, and a group of aerospace associations

representing PPTL. The programme’s budget amounts to PLN 500 million, with the share of the associations being 40% and the remainder financed by NCBiR under the Operational Programme Innovative Economy.

InnoLot is directed at research consortia whose leaders are entrepreneurs responsible for obtaining what is called technology demonstrators set out in the annexe to

the agreement. The programme is scheduled for implementation in the years 20132018. Thanks to InnoLot, the development of aviation in Poland will be based on the domestic research sector, while increasing its competences to the global level. The programme should also contribute to the longterm growth of the sector’s competitiveness by developing, demonstrating and offering new products and manufacturing processes. It is also supposed to lead to an additional reduction in harmful emissions (CO2, Nox) and noise compared to technologies from 2000. Furthermore, InnoLot is expected to improve safety and comfort of aircraft. The implementation of the programme is based on R&D facilities owned by the consortium that brings together all key industrial and research partners from the aviation ​​ sector. The results of the work carried out in 2013-2017 will be presented in the form of the technology demonstrators. As part of the InnoLot programme, the following main demonstrators are being developed: an innovative propulsion system, an innovative helicopter/rotorcraft and innovative aircraft.

Innovative propulsion systems (ISN) Requirements set for future motors/air propulsion system show that these will be more efficient devices with low environmental impact. In addition to traditional propulsion

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Innovation Transport

systems based on gas turbines, innovative systems will also be developed using unconventional configurations and alternative fuels.

The ISN main demonstrator should meet the requirements of other subsystems working at a higher temperature and pressure. The development of all components of the ISN technology will allow to integrate them into a new generation of air propulsion systems by 2020.

Innovative helicopter/rotorcraft The future helicopters and rotorcraft, which have other than conventional construction schemes, will have to be characterized by greater efficiency and reduced emission of harmful pollutants in order to meet the growing expectations of users and higher environmental standards. The need to reduce emissions will also increase demand for the use of unconventional configurations of propulsion systems and alternative fuels. The Technology Readiness Levels (TRL) provided for in the proposals submitted under InnoLot should make it possible to integrate the analyzed solutions into a new generation of helicopters/ rotorcraft by 2020.

Innovative aircraft The current aircraft design methodology in Poland is based on technologies and construction solutions developed in the 1980s and 1990s. Meanwhile, the latest trends move toward unmanned vehicles and “optional pilot” technologies that allow to decide on the use of the aircraft depending on the type of flight operations. Projects carried out under InnoLot will include, the use of nanomaterials and composites for structural components of the airframe, the development and application of modern manufacturing methods for airframe construction elements, the implementation of 3D methods in the design and management of the configuration of aeronautical products.

PLN 180 million in funding The NCBiR has told “Polish Market” that so far PLN 180 million in funding has been awarded to twelve projects carried out under InnoLot (nine contracts have been signed already to the amount of PLN 100 million). These projects include, advanced manufacturing

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techniques of gear units, airframe construction elements, aircraft structures using block structures and incremental methods, advanced foundry technologies, advanced manufacturing techniques for aircraft engine blocks, a propulsion turbine, advanced highly efficient low-pressure turbine, a helicopter with retractable chassis and a power supply unit controlling on-board and ground equipment. The winning projects will also deal with advanced manufacturing techniques of tools for material removal processing of units with complex geometry, and hybrid propulsion technologies of light or unmanned vehicles.

Not only InnoLot R&D aviation-related projects are also supported under other NCBiR programmes i.e., Initech, Technology Initiative, Lider, Innotech, Applied Research Programme, Tech Demonstrator and the EU Operational Programme Innovative Economy. The total value of all funding contracts signed by the end of 2013 amounts to PLN 634 million.

The NCBiR has also reported that within the ongoing EU financial perspective a competition will be organized in May 2014 under the Operational Programme Innovative Economy (Measure 1.3 - Development Projects).

Aviation-related projects will be able to apply for funding too. The competition’s cash pool has not been determined yet. In turn, in 2014-2020 resources for science, research and development will be distributed as part of the Smart Growth Programme. According to recent estimates, the EU will allocate to it PLN 19 billion (funds will be managed by the NCBiR). Currently, the NCBiR is not pursuing, in cooperation with international partners, any initiatives aimed at supporting R&D aviation-related projects.

The example of PZL-Świdnik PZL-Świdnik, which is part of both the Aviation Valley and PPTL, can serve as an example of how the practical implementation of modern technologies looks like in the Polish aviation industry (outside programmes like InnoLot). The company has told “Polish Market” that since its acquisition by AgustaWestland (AW) in 2010, it has been consistently taking steps to become a helicopter sector leader and to develop a stable and promising business. These steps include the introduction of changes to the whole organization, including

processes and procedures, the implementation of major investment projects, as well as the transfer of know-how and technology from AW, which results in the formation of new products and development of capabilities of PZL-Świdnik in terms of design and production. In 2010-2012 AgustaWestland invested PLN 300 million in world-class infrastructure (facilities and production equipment), while in 2013-2015 it plans to spend PLN 335 million on new investment projects in the Świdnik plant. A lot of resources, both financial and human, have been engaged to ensure that PZL-Świdnik meets the highest quality standards.

Today, the company claims to be the largest and most advanced manufacturer of composite structures in Poland. It specializes in the production of aircraft components for most AW aircraft. Since 2011 the involvement of the Świdnik plant in the implementation of the static and endurance tests of AW aircraft structures has continued to increase to eventually cover the components of the latest models of AW (AW169 , AW149 and AW189).

Currently , the company carries out the test programme of AW609 TiltRotor – a convertiplane that can take off and land like a helicopter and fly like an airplane. In PZL-Świdnik a completely new chassis excellence centre is being created. The Świdnik plant will be responsible for the design, development and production of chassis for all AW aircraft, starting with the most technologically advanced AW609 TiltRotor .

Having access to cutting-edge technologies, PZL-Świdnik carries out projects such as unmanned air system SW-4 Solo RUAS/ OPH (Rotary Unmanned Air System/ Optionally Piloted helicopter), which was designed on the basis of a proven, lightweight helicopter SW-4, thanks to Poland’s first unmanned aeronautic system SW-4 Solo. PZLŚwidnik intends to take a leading position in the growing market of unmanned vehicles.

The company is also involved in the development of AW149 - the latest generation military helicopter in its weight category. It can meet the current and future needs of the Polish army and constitutes an offer in the tender called by the Polish Ministry of Armed Forces for the supply of 70 multi-purpose helicopters for the army. Donato Romanelli, the company’s chief financial officer, said: “We have made a commitment to ensure the investment continuity in PZL-Świdnik to further expand the capabilities of the company and strengthen its position in the global aviation industry”. ::

KRAKÓW AIRPORT

- THE BIGEST POLISH REGIONAL AIRPORT

k ra kowa i r p o r t . p l

Innovation Transport

More than PLN 210 million worth of EU funds for Gdynia port projects!

The year 2013 was a record year for the Port of Gdynia for many reasons- including the largest amount of cargo ever handed in the Port’s 91-year history, the best result in the group of general cargo, or the greatest number of agreements signed for financing investment projects out of EU sources with the funding exceeding PLN 210 million.

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Photo: Port of Gdynia Authority S.A./T.Urbaniak

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hese record results can undoubtedly be attributed to the Port Authority’s considerable investment activities, which help Gdynia to maintain a solid competitive position among Baltic Sea ports. In the years 2003 - 2013 the Port of Gdynia Authority S.A. invested about PLN 763 million in the port’s expansion and modernization (including about 77% in the Port’s infrastructure). Out of the invested amounts about PLN 687 million came from own funds, that is from the Port Authority’s revenues and privatization of the Port’s companies, and about PLN 76 million from EU funds (EU Cohesion Fund, Norwegian Financial Mechanism). The investments planned for the years 2014-2016 will total another PLN 737 million.

The end of 2013 was extremely positive for the Port of Gdynia. The Port of Gdynia Authority SA achived success in its long efforts to gain an additional PLN 210 million of EU money under the Infrastructure and Environment Operational Programme for further development of the port infrastructure.

The Port of Gdynia Authority SA and the EU Centre for the Transport Projects signed the agreements for co-financing the following projects: 1. “Reconstruction of the Intermodal Rail Terminal in the Port of Gdynia”. The total cost of this project is approximately PLN 96 million. The construction works will be carried out in the years 2014-2015. The implementation of the project, located in the Western part of the Port of Gdynia, will put into order the track system and increase the handling capacity in terms of the size of containerised units to be handled.

2. “Reconstruction of the Swedish Quay in the Port of Gdynia”. The total planned cost of the project to be carried out in the years 2013-2015, is PLN 85.7 million. It will include reconstruction of the quay together with road-rail access, and construction of an installation collecting sewage from ships. The construction works will allow the mooring of PANAMAX type vessels.

3. “Development of the Bulgarian Quay in the Port of Gdynia” . The total cost of the project, with its implementation extended over the period 2013-2015, exceeds PLN 101 million.

The project aims to increase handling capacity in the Western part of the port.

4. “Infrastructure of the Road and Rail Access to the Eastern Part of the Port of Gdynia”. The total cost of this project is

approx. PLN 112 million. This project is of paramount importance for the unblocking of the whole road system in the Eastern part of the Port of Gdynia. Furthermore, its vital element is to prepare the rail infrastructure in the area of the Polish Quay (2nd zone) for intermodal services. The project also contains elements of the car parks infrastructure for vehicles headed for the port terminals.

The investment projects implemented thanks to EU funds are an important element of the development plans set out in the development strategy of the Port of Gdynia. Serving the growth of transshipments of various transport groups, they are also an excellent example of environment-friendly development. ::

Innovation Transport

What matters is the lowest cost, not the lowest price A conference entitled “Public procurement market of the construction industry and the EU funds 2014-2020” was held in the Lubomirski Palace, the seat of Business Centre Club, on March 7. Among those present were Krzysztof Kwiatkowski, President of the Supreme Audit Office (NIK) and Adam Szejnfeld, Member of Parliament. The Public Procurement Office, PKP and General Directorate for National Roads and Motorways (GDDKiA) were represented too. All the participants agreed that the criterion of the lowest price was not always the best solution.

Marcin Haber

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The conference was attended by: Marek Goliszewski, President of the Business Centre Club Krzysztof Kwiatkowski, President of the Supreme Audit Office Adam Szejnfeld, MP, Chairman of the Parliamentary Sub-Committee on Amendments to the Public Procurement Law Dariusz Piasta, Vice-President of the Public Procurement Office Tomasz Rudnicki, Deputy Director General of the General Directorate for National Roads and Motorways (GDDKiA) Aleksander Wołowiec, Member of the Board, Director for the Preparation of the new Financial Perspective PKP Polskie Linie Kolejowe SA A crucial issue is to clarify the notion of abnormally low price. President of the NIK, Krzysztof Kwiatkowski stressed that it is extremely important from the point of view

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of the audit bodies that the full definition is established so that the contracting party can choose the best product at the lowest cost. It is important to note that it is about the best product. In the bidding process it does not necessarily mean taking the cheapest bid. Kwiatkowski also claimed that since the amendment of the Public Procurement Law contracting institutions, tenderers and audit bodies have already been richer in experience and ready to reamend the law and practice by introducing elements that would eliminate irregularities occurring previously.

Photo: Ryszard Baranowski, BCC

xperts shared their points of view on public procurement through the prism of the new EU financial perspective 2014-2020. The main conclusion that can be drawn from the discussion is the pathology in the approach that prevails in tenders. So far, the main criterion that determined the choice of a contractor was the lowest price. Adam Szejnfeld argued that it is a very short-sighted approach, because what eventually matters is the cost of a project and not its price. The cost involves its operation and maintenance.

Speakers agreed that the cheapest bids are often much more expensive in the long run.

Adam Szejnfeld: “In fact, it is neither law nor procedures but the fear of being charged that make for the practice, so specific for Poland, of choosing offers based mainly on the price criterion. If there was no such a mentality, legal provisions would not have to be changed, and it would be enough to improve practices. What should be done is to give those contracting the courage to set different conditions in tenders, and to give a clear signal to audit bodies that the legislature wants to settle tenders otherwise than through the prism of the price. If

we do that, I cannot imagine that the level of concern on the side of the contracting institutions and the level of suspicion on the side of audit bodies will remain as high as it is now the case. Everyone should understand that the legislature gives a clear signal that changes are expected in this respect. It is the economic performance and not price that should be the main criterion for the settlement of tenders. The price can be a criterion for reproducible services and products, that is when several products have the same quality and the same parameters. The law currently in force gave rise to a kind of a psychosis, a fear of charges. When the legislature changes the rules and imposes the obligation on the customer to prove that the outcome of the contract was based not only on the lowest price

“It is the economic

performance and not price that should be the main criterion for the settlement of tenders.

”

but was also most cost-effective, and orders them to examine bids for abnormally low prices, it will be a signal, not just a legal one. It will affect the psychological context too. Audit bodies will change their attitude, and the general approach to procurement will change alike.” ::

Innovation IT

Poland needs to gain a digital momentum to develop faster

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he Ministry of Administration and Digitization was formed on 18 November 2011. Prime Minister Donald Tusk decided to set up a new ministry with “digitization” in its name because the government’s strategy provides for the acceleration of the country’s development through a digital momentum.

Digitization should be considered comprehensively without confining it to computerization and e-services. Digital skills, especially the use of digital tools in interpersonal relations and in decision-making at various levels, are equally important. Thanks to digitization we can build together a better state – one that better serves its citizens.

E-services and network The basic IT tasks involve e-services and access to network infrastructure. The Ministry seeks to ensure that citizens are at the core of these solutions. There are more and more e-services, and they are created in various institutions, including local government’s.

We want them to become citizen-friendly.

At the moment, efforts are underway to improve the operation and appearance of ePUAP (Electronic Platform of Public Administration Services), as well as to increase the range of e-services provided by local governments.

A number of legal obstacles have already been removed (the amendment to the Act on Computerization). We want the e-services to be fully operational so that each citizen can refer to his or her personal income tax return that has already been filed to change it or accept it. This is possible since tax systems already have necessary information.

Poland is also Europe’s largest construction site in terms of infrastructure. These huge investment projects (45 thousand km of network) are run by local governments and coordinated by the Ministry. Almost 17 million people already have access to broadband (30 Mb/s) internet. This year, the coverage will be extended by a further 2 million to reach 25 million people by the end of 2015. By 2020 everyone should be able to get connected to high speed internet, while half of the households will most likely use the internet of at least 100 Mb/s.

Active citizens, open government At the same time, the Ministry carries out projects supporting digital skills of Poles, such as the “Digital Poland’s Lighthouse Keepers”.

Owing to that initiative, volunteers have introduced 150 thousand people into the digital world. We are also preparing programmes to promote digital literacy of citizens - at elementary intermediate and advanced level - under the upcoming European financial perspective until 2020. Moreover, we support the use of various forms of consultation and create opportunities for all those interested to have their say in key debates such as the Internet freedom (ITU forum, global internet governance), personal data protection in Europe and access to information in the public sector.

An active approach to digital issues has already been noticed. According to Prime Minister Donald Tusk, it has even become the Polish hallmark in Europe. This was possible because the administration did take seriously the voice of citizens on ACTA, launching a digital dialogue with stakeholders. As a result, we know and we can more than administrations in other countries. Experience related to the development of the information society allows us to take a different look at the traditional tasks of administration. The modern state does not have to limit itself to helping national and ethnic minorities, but it can also use the potential to promote diversity.

The Ministry attempts to draw upon a new potential while looking for better ways to cooperate with churches and making it easier for citizens to make decisions on the financial support for churches and religious associations.

Efficient administration, well-organized assistance Most services are provided to citizens by local governments. The latter are also the country’s largest investor. In order to make good use of this potential, local governments cannot just focus on computerization of services. They should have tools for cooperation,

conveying information, consulting projects or legal acts. That is the Ministry’s mission.

In parallel with local governments there are also central government bodies established locally (in individual provinces). The Minister of Administration and Digitization supervises provincial governors (voivodes) and thus oversees all the services provided to citizens so that they are served better.

Matters concerning prevention and assistance in case of disasters and catastrophes also fall within the competence of central administration. Digitization makes it possible to make good use of the fast flow of information and grassroots organization, especially if relief campaigns are accounted for not in terms of the money spent, but the number of people who have been helped. The Ministry works systematically to assist people affected by floods, wind storms and heavy snowfalls. The ability to cooperate and coordinate steps at all levels of government could be seen recently, as aid was usefully organized for Ukraine and Ukrainian people residing in Poland.

Digitization means also effective emergency notification (phone number 112). The Ministry has ensured that the number is operational across Poland and calls for help are handled by well-trained operators in Emergency Call Centres. Thanks to the unification of the system, the waiting time was shortened – it takes an average of 10 seconds before the call is dealt with. Previously, in a distributed system, the average waiting time was 28 seconds.

Arguably, digitization allows to achieve synergy in various fields – from purely technical issues, through projects changing human behaviours (participatory democracy, staying connected to the world of culture, reducing risks associated with digital exclusion) to the resources generating the economic value added. Poland’s development is therefore faster: it is easier to catch up with more advanced economies, as well as to face up to the challenges of a globalized world. :: (Statement of the Ministry of Administration and Digitization)

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Innovation IT

Broadband Poland Jerzy Bojanowicz

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As a result of the programmes to be implemented in 2014-2020 every Pole will have by 2020 access to broadband internet (30 Mb/s) and 50% of households with a speed of at least 100 Mb/s”, said Prime Minister Donald Tusk at a conference that followed the meeting of the Council of Ministers on January 8. The ministers adopted three documents defining how funds for digitization – not only for developing infrastructure and services, but also for promoting digital literacy among Poles – from the EU as well as from other sources will be used until 2020. The programme, the cost of which is estimated at about PLN 17.3 billion, including a large part of investments by private operators, will be coordinated and supervised by the Minister of Administration and Digitization. In addition, over EUR 1 billion from EU funds will be allocated for the development of Internet in approx. one-third of municipalities under the Operational Program Digital Poland.

Currently, 44.5% of Polish households have access to Internet with a speed of at least 30 Mb/s. In the Czech Republic the figure is 98%, in Romania - 87%, and in Slovakia - 75%. The EU 27 average is 53.8% , and the target set by the European Digital Agenda until 2020 is 100%. “Contrary to stereotypes, Poland is not lagging behind Europe in terms of digitization,” says Rafał Trzaskowski, the Minister of Administration and Digitization.

Poland’s share of digital economy in GDP is comparable to France’s or Germany’s. Warsaw or Kraków have a better Internet coverage than many cities in Germany or France.

The key areas of digitization for 20142020 to be supported by EU funds are defined in the Operational Programme Digital Poland and include: high-speed Internet access, e-government and open government, promote digital literacy among the public. The second document is the National Broadband Plan, which sets out in detail how broadband

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Internet will be made available to every Pole.

The expansion of e-government and citizenfriendly e-services have been provided for in the National Programme for Integrated Information Technology.

The largest construction site in Europe 2.0 Digital Poland Operational Programme will support government bodies in the creation and development of new electronic services such as e-government, e-health, e-courts, e-procurement and e-culture. Its implementation will cost EUR 2,255.6 million. It aims at supporting ICT, in particular the three priority axes: universal access to high speed internet (1,020.28 million), e-government and open government (1,032.7 million) and promoting digital literacy among the public (135.0 million). It is worth noting that - apart from Digital Poland - EU funds for the development of e-services, content digitization and promotion of digital literacy in schools will also be available under Regional Operational Programmes.

Until recently Poland was said to be the largest building site in Europe. It was, of course, in the context of the construction of motorways and expressways. Currently, the Ministry of Administration and Digitization reports that Poland is Europe’s largest construction site in terms of broadband network. In fact, the construction is underway of more than 44 thousand km of network under the 2007-2013 financial perspective, including 26,500 km under the Regional Operational Programmes and the Operational Program Development of Eastern Poland covering the provinces: Lubelskie, Podlaskie, Podkarpackie, Świętokrzyskie and Warmińsko-Mazurskie.

At the same time, the Polish Agency for Enterprise Development (PARP) will subsidize, under Priority II of the Operational Programme Development of Eastern Poland - Innovative Economy - Measure II. 1 “Eastern Poland’s Broadband Network”, the construction of the broadband network covering Poland’s Eastern provinces, a project worth approx. PLN 60 million.

Eastern Poland’s Broadband Network is the largest ICT project funded by the European Union. Over 10 thousand kilometres of waveguides and more than one thousand local distribution frames will allow telecom operators to offer broadband services in their regions, reaching 90% of households and 100% of public institutions and businesses in Eastern Poland. The owners of the infrastructure built as part of the project will be local governments. The extensive waveguide infrastructure will also enable the provision of new generation services - NGA (Next Generation Access). The total cost of these projects is estimated at approx. PLN 1.4 billion.

In April 2013, the European Commission approved funding for all five projects that come under Eastern Poland’s Broadband Network for which EUR 300 million were allocated (approx. EUR 255 million under ERDF and EUR 45 million from local budgets). Brussels also gave its green light for these projects to benefit from public assistance as it was stated that their implementation will not breach competition on the telecommunications market.

Many companies are involved in the creation of Eastern Poland’s Broadband Network.

For example, last February Orange Polska signed with PARP 8 contracts for network construction (the amount of co-financing is approx. PLN 9 million). After completion of the project, scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2015, high-speed internet will reach about 37 thousand households.

Innovation IT

E-government and open government These are the projects of national importance, preferring the labour market, insurance and social security benefits, health, economic activity, justice and the judiciary, presentation and sharing of spatial data and statistics, science and higher education, taxes and duties, administrative matters, particularly civil ones, procurement, security and emergency notification, agriculture and rural development. Support will be directed primarily at administration bodies. The priority is, of course, the development of e-government and citizen-friendly e-services. EU funds will primarily go for the administration and its subordinate bodies that carry out nationwide projects in areas such as e-government, e-health, e-courts, e-procurement and e-culture.

The programme has been prepared by the Ministry of Administration and Digitization in close cooperation with other ministries and public bodies, which will be involved in its implementation. The project will ensure cooperation between the existing and new ICT systems while eliminating duplicate functionalities. It will also involve local government bodies with account taken of their know-how. This axis covers specific objectives: improving availability and quality of public e-services, enhancing digital efficiency of public institutions and increasing access to and use of public sector information.

The priority axis “Promoting digital literacy of the public” refers to the conduct of extensive training and counselling activities, and those popularizing the use of digital technologies and active participation in digital culture. They will be directed at groups with different levels of digital literacy, with

particular attention to people at risk of digital exclusion. Support will also be offered to the most talented students in the ICT-related fields.

The specific objectives of the axis are “e-integration and e-activation to increase the activity and quality of the use of the Internet”, since as many as 32% of adult Poles have never used the Internet. Therefore, the programme will be focused on the group at risk of digital exclusion - older people (50 +), the disabled, pensioners and retirees, living especially in rural areas and small towns. For this purpose, support is planned for local institutions such as libraries and community centres where digital activity centres will be set up and trainers will teach IT basics and how to use the Internet in everyday life. Innovative initiatives, including those suggested by non-governmental organizations, will be supported too.

“Stimulating the potential of talented computer programmers to increase the use of digital solutions in the economy and the administration” is also noteworthy as an objective, as it is intended to exploit the potential of gifted students in the field of ICT. Some support will be provided for students (interdisciplinary teams of students) developing innovative products (services) to be used in the social and business sphere or in public administration, while the social or economic problems to solve will be determined by the operator of the competition with the participation of renowned experts and practitioners.

150 Mb/s Cellular telephone operators systematically increase the country’s coverage with mobile Internet. An example can be Cyfrowy Polsat and Plus which are the first in Poland - and one of the first in the world - to have commercially deployed LTE (Long Term Evolution

- standard for wireless data transmission and successor to 3G systems) at a frequency of 1800 MHz using channel bandwidths of 20 MHz. They are the first in the world to offer the speed of 150 Mb/s and modems of category 4 including, Huawei MediaPad 10 FHD. Owing to a regular expansion of base stations 66.7% of Poles (or nearly 26 million people living w 10 thousand towns) are today covered by the LTE network managed by Cyfrowy Polsat and Plus, and more or less 99.6% of the population (38.5 million people) is within the range of HSPA/HSPA. “Constructing such an LTE coverage in such a short time was a huge challenge. It is a major success that was possible thanks to hard work of many committed people. As a result, we are far ahead of the competition, and we do not intend to stop there,” says Jacek Felczykowski, Managing Director of Technology in Polkomtel. “We still need to customize the network to meet the growing expectations of customers and to implement a number of actions aimed at maintaining the highest level of services. The next steps for the further coverage will largely depend on the result of the auction for the 800 MHz frequency,” he adds. No wonder that last January, at a Mobility Trends gala, Cyfrowy Polsat was awarded a statuette Golden BELL in the category “Mobile Internet of the Year 2012”.

It should be noted that while in 2010 Eurostat calculated the ICT share in Polish GDP at 3.3 %, this year, analysts say, the digital economy is likely to account for more than 5% of Polish GDP. On the other hand, a report by Deloitte finds that if Poland boosts the country’s broadband coverage to about 86%, as in the case of the UK, GDP would increase by 3%, which would also bring new jobs. And we caught up with the leader - Norway, if the unemployment would fall by 270 thousand people. ::

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Innovation IT

An attractive Internet services provider “Netia has broken subsequent barriers in access to the Internet: transfer limits, low bit-rates, a necessity of signing long-term contracts with the dominant operator and high prices. Owing to our activities, Poland is one of the most attractive markets for Internet customers in Europe,” says Mirosław Godlewski, CEO of Netia SA, in an interview with Jerzy Bojanowicz.

Your website says that “Netia SA is one of the largest and fastest growing telecom operators in Poland.” How would you justify it?

Such a statement is justified by our growth over the past seven years, since we have increased the scope of operations 2-3 fold for most of the parameters: from income through the number of services to the number of customers. We have 2.9 million households within our network and as many as 4.3 million within the Local Loop Unbundling. We have nationwide coverage for services based on regulated access. The strength and brand recognition have been enhanced too.

We are also distinguished by the financial performance and reinforced position in the fixed telephone business segment, which many said will cease to exist. And because such services cannot be offered forever, we are working on solutions that go far beyond the traditional fixed-line telephony.

We have also contributed to the formation of Poland’s fourth mobile operator - P4 (Play).

Then, our advertising slogan was: “Freedom of choice”. Today it is “Gigafreedom” to emphasize a wider choice of new opportunities, such as television services, launched less than two years ago, that register the fastest growth on the market. This year, we will offer our subscribers recording TV programmes on our drives.

The dynamic growth occurred after the abandoning of a capital investment in P4 and the acquisition of Tele2 Polska, Dialog Group and Crowley. We are also the largest consolidator on the local market of broadband operators: since 2007, we have made more than 40 acquisitions of networks/Ethernet operators, and in 2013, we acquired part of the network of a former cable operator Aster in Warsaw and Kraków.

Over the years, an average-sized, alternative, business-oriented provider of fixed telecommunications services, which we were at the beginning, the company has become one of pm

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the major players in the field of on-line services, with sustainable income, and making synergistic use of its assets, brand and nationwide coverage. We are the second ISP in Poland. In 2013, we had a 12.7% share in the fixed broadband market and an 18.8% share in the fixedline market.

On March 31, the company introduced two business divisions: dedicated to individuals and to business customers who generate 40.5% of our revenue, making up 57.1% of EBITDA and 58.6% of Adjusted Operating Free Cash Flow.

To meet their specific needs, we are continually expanding our infrastructure and creating new services.

What is the length of your optical fibre network?

Infrastructure is developed slowly but consistently. We try to reach out to new areas. Out of approx. 14 million households in Poland, some 11-12 million are connected to the fixed access network, but unfortunately often outdated one, with a bit rate of 1 Mb/s, which is why we focus on its modernization towards 30 Mb/s. Over the past two years, we have spent on it hundreds of millions zlotys and today two thirds of our network have already met standards of the “Digital Agenda for Europe until 2020.”

We use about 10,980 km of backbone network, including approx. 3580 km of our own, and about 16,000 km of fibre optic metropolitan network, including 13,500 km of our own.

In 48 largest cities we have urban fibre optic infrastructure.

With modern optic fibre, enabling high throughput, we reach 169,000 households. The construction of such infrastructure is supported by funds available under the Operational Programme “Innovative Economy.” For example, in 2011, we completed the project “Development of a regional broadband network of Telefonia Dialog in the Łódzkie province.” With pm

more than PLN 7 million we built almost 240 km of fibre optic distribution network, which ensured access to the Internet and television services to almost 700 small and medium-sized enterprises and more than 60,000 people, including more than 3,000 in rural areas. The “Construction of Dialog broadband telecommunications network in the Dolnośląskie province” is being implemented under the Regional Operational Programme for the Dolnośląskie province for the years 2007-2013. More than 260 km of access and distribution fiber optic network is being constructed that allows access to the Internet to over 87,000 people, including more than 24,000 living in rural areas. In seven towns Passive Optical Network and 6 Wimax stations are being built. The value of the project is PLN 16.3 million.

Our service FOTON, that is access to very high-speed Internet (up to 50 Mb/s or 100 Mb/s based on the technology) is already available to 1.3 million households, including in Wrocław, Łódź, Białystok and Tczew.

What are you preparing for business?

Customers are most interested in maintaining a constant, high level of service (Service Level Agreement), and therefore reliability close to 100%. In fact, in the telecom business, one thing is certain: one day something will surely break down, so it is important to react promptly and have redundant links.

As regards services going beyond traditional telecommunications, we are poised to launch, with Vidyo, an American company, Netia Vidyo Anywhere - an advanced multilateral videoconferencing service in HD, available on smartphones, tablets, PCs and TV sets. We will also offer solutions protecting against mass attacks by hackers and viruses, as well as integration of a fix telephone, GSM, Lotus Notes, and e-mail into a single system. :: pm

Energy

A growth plan for the Polish

energy sector

Maciej Grabowski, Minister of the Environment

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e are meeting here today to consider what should be the Polish way to achieve sustainable growth. I would like to focus on three areas, which are interconnected, although they belong to different policies.

The first of these is climate policy, which has been our focus at the Ministry of the Environment over the last few weeks. Climate policy is a bone of contention in Poland, so we might say that we are now in the process of implementing the objectives set within the European Union until 2020, the so-called 3 x 20. Europe is already engaging in a lively discussion on what to do after 2020. At the moment, the European Commission is stretching this perspective until 2030. We might say that we have been implementing our previous climate objectives rather smoothly. Now is the second year of the climate and energy package and the wholesale energy prices have slumped to a level that makes investing in new capacities unprofitable. CO2-emission prices are falling and the development of renewable energy sources is on the right track for achieving the EU 2020 objective. Also, the objective to increase energy efficiency, although not binding, has been implemented

by Poland. In short, we are achieving the objectives, while incurring lower expenditure than many people expected a few years ago.

This does not mean, however, that we should approach the discussion currently starting in Europe with a laid-back attitude. It might be that right now Prime Minister Donald Tusk is presenting the Polish standpoint regarding the European Commission’s proposal until 2030 at a European Council session. [...] Even

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though Europe is going through yet another wave of economic crisis, and industry has began voicing its scepticism towards some climate and energy policy objectives, the trend is clear and unfaltering. Climate policy has become part of the landscape. We are working hard to manage our policy in a way that will separate our economic growth from increased emissions and energy consumption, while taking into account the specifically Polish circumstances. We have managed to do just that over the last 25 years, but I am convinced that we have particularly benefited from a certain advantage of being “underdeveloped”, which might not be enough in the future. We will pursue this goal also through developing renewable energy and improving energy efficiency. Our actions are consistent with those of other European countries, but we also have our own path. We have a programme to develop nuclear energy, which is only being developed by some European countries. We have also decided to develop shale-gas extraction in Poland, which is an extremely difficult task. We had to persuade our colleagues in Europe that our search for and, later, the extraction of shale gas would be conducted with particular respect for environmental protection. That is what I would like to stress at this point. Shale gas can help us reduce emissions and improve our energy security, but it can also speed up our economic growth. We are currently in the final stages of building the regulatory environment that will enable investors to accelerate the process connected with shale gas. It needs to be mentioned that Poland is the European leader in this field. Other countries with such plans are far behind.

The second area is waste reform. I am aware that there is still much to be done when it comes to improving waste management. We are currently fine-tuning the reform that we initiated a year ago and implemented in mid-2013. We want it to take on an even better form, leading to a more extensive use of waste as a resource. This is just the beginning of the road towards a new wastemanagement system, but I hope that it will soon become a strong element in our sustainable growth.

Thirdly, our partnerships with other entities constitute the most concrete and fast-yielding programmes that we are participating in. I am thinking of the KAWKA programme, which involves eliminating emissions from low chimneys, but supports energy efficiency growth, and fosters the development of distributed renewable-energy sources. The programme’s first edition cost PLN 121 million, but the second edition will have PLN 280 million at the participants’ disposal from the National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management. Our investments are not just for adapting to more-stringent standards, but also for supporting research and development in the field of innovation. I am thinking mainly about the GEKON – the Generator of Ecological Concepts – a programme which has the huge budget of PLN 400 million, and which will support the development of Polish technologies, and co-finance scientific studies that will ultimately lead to a low-carbon economy. ::

Statement from the 2nd Forum on low carbon economy

Energy

Complex technological and IT solutions in heating

Michał Machlejd, President of Dalkia Warszawa, talks to Marcin Haber.

Dalkia Warszawa manages the largest district heating network in the European Union. Does such a large project require using extremely innovative solutions?

Our network is indeed the largest one in the European Union. Its length is over 1700 km, with many substations and other devices that allow the transfer of heat to customers.

Managing such an infrastructure requires using increasingly complex technological and IT solutions. This is due to the fact that we are a distributor of heat in Warsaw and we have to cooperate with its producer - PGNiG Termika. For this reason, we need tools that allow to minimize transmission losses and increase benefits to customers. pm

Do you cooperate with research institutes or universities in developing solutions to improve network performance?

We have launched two projects that are already in the implementation phase. The first project consists in rebuilding plural substations into individual, which is run in cooperation and with the financial support of the Swiss-Polish Cooperation Fund. It consists in a complete makeover of outdated substations.

Many of them are in very poor condition, which results in large water and heat losses. Owing to this project we want to somehow “get the counter closer” to the customer. In fact it often happened that 40 buildings were settled by a single substation, that is by one counter. Now, each building will be settled individually, and customers will be able to better adapt consumption to their needs.

While carrying out this project, we will replace many kilometres of outdated network which is in poor condition. All these investment projects will cost PLN 115 million and will be completed in 2016. pm

The second project, which is poised to be launched, is typically innovative, and its aim is to improve the network’s performance. The project is called “Intelligent District Heating Network” and consists of several components. After its implementation we will be able to automatically control a large number of substations, which will independently adjust their parameters to the needs. Automated control over the individual elements of the network also allows - at the right time of the day or night - to minimize heat losses. Pumping stations’ automation will also be optimized. To make it all function properly we will launch the repository of data and IT systems that will manage this complex organism. The project is likely to be cofinanced by the National Fund for Environmental Protection and will be completed in the next three years.

Do you think that the current geopolitical situation in Eastern Europe and the cooling of diplomatic relations with Russia is likely to increase the prices of energy?

I see no particular hazards when it comes to the current situation in Ukraine. Reducing gas supplies may cause certain consequences. But I approach this optimistically. The crisis, which was triggered by Russia, might result in Europe’s even greater independence from Russian gas and legal changes concerning the export of shale gas from the United States. Consequently, gas may be cheaper, which will also impact Russia. The decision on shale gas may be a repetition of the Ronald Reagan strategy who - by increasing oil production in the Arab countries and reducing its price on the world market - cut off the possibility for the former Soviet Union to finance the arms race.

You mentioned the Swiss-Polish Cooperation Fund. Does Dalkia, outside such funding, benefit from EU funds too?

The National Fund for Environmental Protection, that supports us in the development of Intelligent District Heating Network uses funds from the Swiss-Polish Cooperation Programme, not from the EU. As far as we know given the new EU financial perspective, EU funds for the energy sector will be somewhat limited. Support will go primarily to reducing carbon dioxide emissions. The EU creates certain barriers, which makes the situation unclear. The Polish District Heating Chamber, of which Dalkia Warszawa is a member, wanted these criteria to be strictly determined, transparent and friendly so that we can receive funds.

Is it going to bring Europe closer to nuclear energy again? Should Germany refrain from phasing out their reactors?

I see no reason to continue giving up nuclear energy in Germany. In France most of the energy is based on atom, like in other countries bordering Germany. In this situation, any failure in the neighbouring country will have a real impact on Germany. From pan-European policy perspective this decision is a bit strange. Poland, along with nuclear policy, should more intensively explore shale gas. Legal issues and problems of companies that have obtained licenses for exploration are common knowledge. We also need to complete the construction of the LNG terminal and avail ourselves of a real energy mix which will guarantee energy security and lower energy prices. ::

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Energy

Poland’s role in the future of nuclear energy

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uilding the first nuclear power station in Poland is a challenging task.

Its importance to many aspects of economy and social life cannot be overestimated: the need for energy, the necessary increase of environmental consciousness, the appearance of new technologies and - especially – new levels of engineering safety, or the jump in the need for high-skilled workers and specialists, to name but a few. While the technology would have to come from outside of Poland, it will improve not only our energy balance, but also the general capacity of our research and industry, participating in the process.

But this is not enough: we must look beyond the proven solutions available today and take an active part in the development of technologies that will determine the directions in the next twenty or even forty years. And, despite the lack of public recognition, such participation is already taking place. Below, we will provide two examples that show how the future of the nuclear energy will look like – and how the Polish research community is participating in the related endeavors.

High Temperature Gas-Cooled Reactors – a way to low-emission economy & energy security The High Temperature Gas-Cooled Reactors (HTGRs) offer significant benefits which make this technology worth implementing on a broader scale. Most importantly, they can reduce Poland’s dependence on imports of natural gas. Scientific establishments from Poland are involved in research in this field and coordinate European projects aiming at the implementation of HTGRs. Ordinary nuclear reactors are cooled and moderated by light water. This feature limits the temperature of steam, which is produced, to about 270°C. The High Temperature Gas-Cooled Reactor (HTGR) represents a completely different approach. Using graphite as moderator and helium as coolant allows achieving much higher temperatures. Current designs can provide 550°C and tests have been made in which helium temperature of 950°C has been achieved.

550°C steam can find many applications in energy consuming industry. Chemical industry is one example. Chemical plants currently use fossil-fired boilers for their steam supply. The replacement of these boilers by nuclear

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reactors would reduce the consumption of fuels and dependence on imported natural gas. This has to be put in context, that fertilizer chemical industry in Poland is responsible for 15% of the nation’s natural gas consumption, 2/3 of which is imported. HTGRs can, therefore, become an useful tool in reducing our country’s dependence on imported gas and, at the same time, reduce harmful emissions.

HTGR design also offers significant safety benefits. Due to low power density of the core, its high thermal capacity and good thermal conductivity of graphite, the possibility of meltdown can practically be eliminated. This is also facilitated by the special kind of fuel, made of small (~0.4 mm in diameter) kernels of uranium dioxide embedded in ceramics. These small kernels can sustain very high temperatures without breaking and releasing fission products. The overall safety of the design allows reducing exclusion zone around the reactor and thus placing it nearby of the heat consuming industry.

In Poland, the AGH University of Science and Technology and the National Centre for Nuclear Research (NCBJ) are two examples of research centres involved in studies of HTGR physics. These establishments, together with other institutions, participate in the “HTRPL” project, funded by The National Centre for Research and Development (NCBiR) and being a part of a strategic research programme. The project is aimed at investigating suitability of HTGRs for Polish industry, and it is very important that among the participants are many representatives of the industry.

More importantly, the Polish research community plays a leading role in the initiatives on the European level. The Nuclear Cogeneration Industrial Initiative – Research (NC2I-R), has the goal of preparing an European HTGR demonstrator. The NC2I-R is funded by the European Commission as it sees HTGRs as a viable tool for decreasing harmful emissions and securing the energy supply of European industries.

It was therefore mentioned in the EU’s Strategic Energy Technology Plan as one key lowemission technology: “The first co-generation reactors could also appear within the next decade as demonstration projects to test the technology for coupling with industrial processes”.

It is a significant recognition of Poland’s capabilities that the NC2I-R project is coordinated by the National Centre for Nuclear Research.

Nuclear fusion – the ultimate energy source Apart from fission-based technology, the word scientific community develops an alternative technology for sustainable energy source based on fusion science. It promises almost inexhaustible supply of energy – but poses much bigger scientific and technical challenges. While HTGR technology is envisioned in practice in the next 10-20 years, the fusion power generation requires a longer term vision. And such vision does exist, embodied in very concrete programmes and activities.

An important milestone of that development is ITER – the large-scale fusion infrastructure dedicated to prove the viability of fusion as an energy source. The infrastructure is constructed in France by international partners: the EU, United States, Japan, Korea, China, India and Russia. ITER is expected to produce 500 MW of power with an energy gain factor of 10. The successful operation of ITER will open the way to the construction of DEMO - a demonstration fusion power plant. To construct DEMO in a reasonable timescale, aside from the operation of ITER, a parallel programme of materials testing is needed. To this end the International Fusion Materials Irradiation Facility (IFMIF) is being developed in a joint project in the framework of the Broader Approach (BA) Agreement between the EU and Japan.

The National centre for nuclear Research with other Polish Institutes and Universities actively participates in fusion studies within the EuroFusion Consortium led by the Institute of Plasma Physics and Laser Microfusion. In 2013 the Polish scientific community expressed its interest in locating IFMIF-like infrastructure (Early Neutron Source) in Poland. Based on the long experience in installation of high-tech research devices for a wide-range of projects, especially particle accelerators, the National Centre for Nuclear Research declared its willingness to contribute to the design and construction of ENS and coordinate the full process of deploying ENS infrastructure in Poland. Such development would mean the establishment of a truly “worldclass”, high-impact infrastructure in our country and significant contribution to the process of turning “brain drain” into “brain gain”. :: For more information contact Kajetan Różycki, PhD <kajetan.rozycki@ncbj.gov.pl> (on HTGR) or Jacek Rzadkiewicz, PhD <jacek.rzadkiewicz@ncbj.gov.pl> (on ENS).

Energy

Only extremists always know the “yes” or “no” answer Prof. Konrad Świrski from the Institute of Heat Engineering at the Warsaw University of Technology, President of Transition Technologies SA, talks to Marcin Haber.

For a start, I would like to ask in general: does Poland need a nuclear power plant?

That question cannot be answered in one sentence. Only extremists always know the “yes” or “no” answer. The key question here is what should the Polish energy mix be like.

And that, unfortunately, depends on the situation both in Poland and the European Union, which is sometimes unpredictable. A variety of alternative strategies can be applied based on the input data. If the data changes, the mix will be consequently quite different. Therefore, there is no clear answer to this question. Two similar solutions can be found, and it may be that in 10 years the second one proves to be better. pm

And in the current context of cooling relations with Russia, and the likely increase in gas prices?

It is an element that brings another uncertainty. However assuming that, as has been the case recently, the European Union is pushing the cause of the climate package and reducing carbon dioxide emissions, Poland must reduce its dependence on coal. It is not possible to maintain the current level of coal-based energy production, and reduce pm

CO2 emissions at the same time. Therefore, we need to introduce another fuel: gas or nuclear power. So we can either further increase our dependence on gas supplies from Russia, because we still do not have shale gas, or we can build a nuclear power plant. I always say that, paradoxically, the ecological pressure from the European Union to reduce CO2 emissions and boost “green” energy prompts Poland to go in for nuclear power.

You are talking about CO2 emission limits. Do you think that in the existing political and economic market situation the European Union will withdraw from such restrictive limits?

The situation has greatly changed recently. Of course, no decision has been made yet, but it seems to me that priority will be given to security over climate policy. In this context, Poland will find it even easier to veto bills tightening emission standards. Europe will be looking more closely at the security of supply, diversification of supply and alterations to the generation structure so as to be less dependent on other countries, especially Russia. This does not change the fact that Poland needs to build its own power plants pm

to become less dependent on imported raw materials from countries that may threat it politically or may wield energy as a tool of political pressure. Politics and climate cross each other.

Do you think that Germany could return to the atom and stop phasing out reactors?

Please note that this is planned for 2020. In a year or two a lot can still change. Of course, it should be remembered that Germany puts a very strong emphasis on renewable energy, and there is a very strong industrial lobby in that sector. In Poland the approach is that the environmental lobby are the people who want to live in the pure world. In fact, those who want to invest in renewable resources are just as economically brutal as those who build coal or nuclear power plants. It is business as usual. They are lobbying for such solutions that will bring them most profit. Germany and the whole of Europe are somewhat at a crossroads. On the one hand, Europe would like to be so pure and ecological, on the other hand such a policy does not produce superb economic results. The original assumption was that Europe will come up with technologies that the rest of the world pm

4 /2014 :: polish market :: 59

Energy

will then buy. Meanwhile, it turned out that the world does not want to get European technologies, but builds them on its own. Consequently, Europe runs up costs of energy and gives away industry.

Let’s get back to the recurring issue which is the safety of nuclear power plants. Is nuclear power safe?

Greenpeace has recently put out an entire campaign based on one study. Unlike most of the critics, I read it. It is a very decent paper, which takes into account scenarios of the most serious failures as provided for by major reactor manufacturers. These scenarios are anticipated firstly to determine the probability of such occurrences, which is extremely negligible, and secondly to examine what needs to be further improved so that these scenarios never materialized. The main problem highlighted in the study is power failure. If the reactor is left without power, and hence without cooling, an accident such as in Fukushima may happen (with older generation reactors). The reactor’s meltdown leads to the release of radioactive substances. These analyzes are carried out in order to equip the new generation reactors with systems that are intended to prevent meltdowns.

If there had been a reactor of new generation in Fukushima, nothing like that would have happened. The probability of extreme situations is therefore extremely small if we have to deal with situations we are accustomed to.

The Fukushima accident took place because phenomena occurred for which Japan was not prepared. Tsunami waves were greater than anyone would have expected. The problem is not technology, but unpredictability. pm

But manufacturers of the latest generation reactors claim that in extreme situations, when failure occurs, the affected area does not exceed the radius of 800 metres around the plant.

Yes, in nuclear power plants there are people working every day and areas around such complexes are inhabited. You cannot create hysteria around nuclear power plants. Every human activity is somehow dangerous.

Dioxins, poisons, dangerous compounds in food… all the stuff you do not pay attention to in your daily life. Appropriate safety standards and procedures are followed in nuclear plants. No one puts a hand into the fuel tank, no one unauthorized is allowed inside. If we talk about emergency situations, they are under control. Such situations occur in each industrial facility and it is nothing strange.

The scale of such incidents in nuclear energy is small, I would even say that the extremely pm

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small (except, as I mentioned, for the situations we have not had to deal with yet. Never, for example, have military operations been pursued on the territory of a country with nuclear reactors. Nobody in their right mind could have predicted that atomic complexes may be bombarded or intentionally destroyed, because it is comparable with the use of nuclear weapons.

And what about the storage of spent fuel?

This is something that needs to be considered and agreed at the point of signing a contract. The amount of nuclear waste is not large. Usually, contracts pertain to both the construction of the reactor and the disposal of radioactive waste. Some suppliers commit themselves to provide fuel and then remove spent rods. pm

Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced substantial incentives for companies interested in exploration of shale gas in Poland. Is shale gas an alternative to nuclear power?

It depends on whether there really are shale gas deposits and whether they are easily accessible and economically viable. So far 52 drillings have been performed, which is not even a pilot number. These are only preliminary drillings. In order to estimate deposits some 200-300 drillings are required, and then, for commercial purposes, further expansion to 2,000-3,000 drillings. By comparison, in the bed of Marcellus in Pennsylvania (USA) 10,000 drillings were made, and the local shale gas would be enough to cover Poland’s domestic demand. As you can see, a large amount of drillings is necessary to extract shale gas, and what we have today is not optimistic. It looks as if “easy” (economically viable) deposits have not been reached.

The Prime Minister’s decision is determined by the political situation to let in investors quickly and to reduce the dependence on Russia. Of course, if we had such deposits as the United States and if they were readily available, Poland’s energy strategy would be based on shale gas. For now, however, it does not look so: a mere 52 drillings and the skeptical attitude of foreign companies give rise to many doubts. The problem for investors was not only bureaucracy, but the first drillings were not encouraging either. pm

We are talking about the protests against the nuclear power plant. Just imagine the scale of the protests that would accompany the extraction of shale gas! There are already protests with 52 drillings, and we need about 3,000 so that it is profitable. I do not know

if you imagine 3,000 places in Poland where neighbours agree to drillings, taking into account that the extraction of shale gas may pollute the environment. The problem is that there is no technology neutral to the environment. Even renewable energy is not inert. Wind turbines and photovoltaic panels need to be produced out of something. Storage of such materials is problematic too. Each technology generates some waste. There is really no good choice, each of these elements brings some negative effects.

The first Polish reactor is scheduled to be operational by 2024. The analyses show that the lifetime of such a reactor is 60 years. What will happen to the power plant afterwards, that is in 2084?

Please look at what is going on in Germany.

The so-called decommissioning is carried out - the plant is dismantled and the surrounding area is revitalized. That is the case of any production facility. The same is done with a chemical factory or a coal-fired power plant.

Typically, an old plant is disassembled and a new one is built in its place. pm

What do you think about the public discourse on nuclear energy?

I am a bit surprised that the discussion gravitates to such extremes. Please note that when guests are invited to a TV programme, those are always listened to who say that “you cannot build it because it kills” or “it will save Poland.” Nobody listens to the arguments of the opposing party, and nobody does approach the issue rationally. And the worst, I think, is the fact that, to support one’s thesis, selected sentences are quoted of an article or something that bears the hallmarks of a scientific paper. It is said a study was prepared by great institutes, preferably foreign ones, which points to the incredible things. It is a foul. It is like in car crash tests that show dummies fly out through windshield because they are not wearing seatbelts. Imagine that I take the results of these tests and go around saying that I want to prohibit the production of these cars because they kill people. Much the same is done in the nuclear industry. Manufacturers present heavy crash scenarios precisely to say that it will not happen. The calculated probability of such accidents is equal to a comet crash. The discussion is held in no context and therefore we pass by a number of serious problems. For example, when you buy an expensive car, you hire an expert to see if it works properly. When you build a plant at a cost of several billion, you should do the same by spending some money on the preparation and evaluation of bids. :: pm

Finance

A quarter-century and a decade in the Polish banking sector Prof. Małgorzata Zaleska Małgorzata Zaleska, a member of the Management Board of the National Bank of Poland (NBP), professor at the Institute of Banking and Insurance, Warsaw School of Economics, and Vice-Chair of the Committee on Finance, Polish Academy of Sciences.

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n 2014 Poland will celebrate many round anniversaries. Suffice it to mention the 25th anniversary of the democratic transition and the 10th anniversary of Poland’s accession to the European Union. With respect to the financial sector, it is worth noting the 20th anniversary of the deposit guarantee scheme and that of the creation of the National Depository for Securities, one task of which has been since 2001 investor compensation. Accordingly, it is a good occasion to consider how the Polish banking sector was evolving under the transition period and how it dealt with competition after Poland joined the EU. The transformation of the Polish banking sector, and that of the entire economy, began in 1989 when nine commercial banks were set up, which took over the branches of the NBP network. In the same year the President of the NBP, upon consultation with the Minister of Finance, approved the creation of further eight commercial banks, including one with foreign capital. Thus, at the end of 1989, there were already 25 commercial banks and almost 1,700 cooperative banks.

Earlier, the Polish banking sector was dominated by NBP that performed not only a function of the central bank, but also that of a commercial bank, including maintaining accounts of most companies and giving them loans. Furthermore, in cooperation with other banks, NBP drew up a loan plan, subject to approval by the Council of Ministers.

The process of building a modern, solvent and profitable banking system lasted for years, while a marked improvement in financial results and stabilization only came in 2004. In the earlier period (1992-2001), Polish courts declared bankruptcy of six commercial banks and 132 cooperative banks. In

addition, financial problems of some banks resulted in them being consolidated or taken over by foreign capital. What caused problems, including the bankruptcy, was a low quality of loan portfolios for which reserves were created that generated costs and led to losses. As a result of these transformations, the number of commercial banks dropped from 87 (maximum) at the end of 1993 to 41 at present, and cooperative banks from 1,700 to 571 at the end of last year.

Despite their decreasing number, banks gained strength. In fact, over the transition period the Polish banking sector grew faster than the wider economy. In 1995 assets of the Polish banking system accounted for 49% of GDP, and at the end of 2012 the figure was already 85%. Moreover, in the years 19932013, the own funds of banks operating in Poland increased more than 40-fold, which contributed to a significant improvement in their solvency. It is worth noting that the cooperative banks’ capital got boosted, which was due among others to the EU Accession Treaty’s provisions requiring affiliated cooperative banks to reach the capital threshold of EUR 1 million by the end of 2007, and not by 2010 as originally envisaged by Polish regulations.

It should be mentioned that not only banks operating in Poland grew in strength.

In 1996 the assets of the biggest Polish bank (PKO BP) were 30 times smaller than those of the then world’s largest bank (HSBC). And at the end of 2013 the assets of PKO BP were almost 50 times smaller than China’s ICBC, which is currently the world’s largest bank (and 42 times smaller than HSBC’s ranked second largest). The above shows that we failed to catch up with other global banks in terms of size, which means at the same time

that no banks were established whose assets would exceed the country’s GDP. The Polish banking sector is thus fairly well diversified, and its five largest banks account approx. for 45% of the entire sector’s capital.

Moreover, it should be noted that for the past ten years the Polish banking sector has been fully open to European competition and have become increasingly profitable. To illustrate the situation, one can make a comparison of the Polish banking sector with the sectors of nine countries, which joined the EU together with Poland. Such an analysis shows that banks in Poland, without lowering the security level, clearly improved their profitability. While ten years ago Hungary had the highest ROA (2.3%), and Poland the lowest (0.5%), currently the Polish banking sector is ranked first (1.2%).

What needs to be highlighted is an exceptionally good financial condition of the Polish banking sector over the ongoing crisis period. It is certainly partly thanks to the management of the banks, as well as to the financial stability scheme created over the last quarter-century.

But the Polish banking sector has also been exposed to some problems recently. Suffice it to mention the impact of the global financial crisis on the interbank market and ownership transformations, as well as the excessive boost of foreign currency mortgage. Although the Polish supervision authorities did take relevant steps quite early, still about half of housing mortgage are foreign currency loans (in mid-2008 these accounted for a record 70%).

In conclusion, it should be stated that while the Polish banking sector had both its ups and downs over the past 25 and 10 years, positive developments were far more superior. :: 4 /2014 :: polish market :: 61

Finance

To be able to swim you need to learn first On 27 February “Polish Market” held a debate in the Warsaw Hyatt Hotel under the patronage of the Polish Agency for Enterprise Development (PARP). Entitled “Financial education and development of small and medium-sized enterprises”, the debate was attended by representatives of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Development, Polish Agency for Enterprise Development and other invited experts. The participants came to the conclusion that it was necessary to educate people and make them develop an entrepreneurial mindset.

The debate was held under the auspices of PARP - the Polish Agency for Enterprise Development.

Marcin Haber

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t was the first in a series of educational debates organized this year by “Polish Market” and aimed at supporting people interested in starting their own business or already running one.

“Polish Market” wants to set expertise directions, facilitate skillful moving around in finances, and stress the importance of education and knowledge acquisition by entrepreneurs.

Iwona Wendel, Undersecretary of State in the Ministry of Infrastructure and Development, argued that it was extremely important from the point of view of public administration to open up to the requests of entrepreneurs and support them doing business. She also drew attention to the fact that business-related institutions should somehow take entrepreneurs “by hand “, showing them the right way round and growth

Iwona Wendel

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opportunities. Minister Wendel stated that in the 2007-2013 EU financial period more than 176,000 jobs were created, in the vast majority in small and medium-sized enterprises. The biggest challenge, she said, is to encourage micro-entrepreneurs, who had set up their businesses in the previous financial period, to continue their operations. Another factor of development is about overcoming the lack of confidence in public administration and in other entrepreneurs. Trainings are important too. The time has passed when companies hired low-skilled employees. They should turn to specialized institutions to order specific trainings tailored to their needs.

Michał Bańka, Ph.D., Director of PARP’s Department of Business Environment Institutions Support, said that the study carried out by the Polish Bank Association, the Polish Confederation of Private Employers Lewiatan and PARP showed that Polish entrepreneurs are still very reluctant to resort to external funding. This is mainly due to insufficient knowledge and ignorance of instruments such as the possibility of using EU funds. “Over 60% of businesses have never used loans or repayable capital,” he said.

As he pointed out, there is a clear gap in Poland between entrepreneurs who have gone in for external funding and those who have

Finance not taken such an opportunity yet. The former are very open and willing to reach for funds to finance their future investments.

The latter are still largely mistrustful. PARP is actively working to change such skeptical attitudes. Solutions are being developed to help fresh entrepreneurs venture into the market, solutions that, Bańka stresses, American, German or British PARP counterparts are envious of. “Education of entrepreneurs should find its place in the new financial perspective 2014-2020,” he summed up.

Magdalena Dulczewska, President of the Micro Fund, which specializes in financing enterprises employing up to 9 workers, stressed that the biggest problem for the Fund is to reach out to entrepreneurs. In Poland a model is still functioning of borrowing money from other individuals. According to Dulczewska, Poles usually borrow money from family members or close friends rather than from financial institutions. “Only small and medium-sized enterprises turn to banks that already have the necessary knowledge. What we are doing is trying to reach out to these micro-entrepreneurs,” said Dulczewska.

“It is necessary to train entrepreneurs on a much larger scale than before,” pointed out Ada Kostrz-Kostecka, Ph.D., a financial consultant. A person starting a company needs to know not only that they can use EU funds by submitting an application, but also where to look for detailed information and what tangible benefits they can get out of it. Raising entrepreneurs’ awareness is crucially important. Unfortunately, there is a small chance that this can be done without outside help.

And here the media have a major role to play in the educational process.

to obtain funding. The barrier for such businesses is bureaucracy, dozens of applications to be filed and hours spent at public offices.

Hence the attitude referred to by Magdalena Dulczewska: micro-entrepreneurs would rather borrow a small amount of money from a family member and spend their time making money instead of waiting in line somewhere to get a subsidy.

The debate was attended by: 1. Iwona Wendel, Undersecretary of State in the Ministry of Infrastructure and Development 2.Michał Bańka, Ph.D., Director of PARP’s Department of Business Environment Institutions Support 3. Magdalena Dulczewska, President of Micro Fund 4. Ada Kostrz-Kostecka, Ph.D., financial consultant 5. Kinga Celińska, President of OptyWay 6. Tomasz Sańpruch, editor -in-chief, Capital24tv 7. Rita Schultz, Managing Editor of “Polish Market”

Photo: Wojtek Rosegnal www.eventphotographers.pl

Michał Bańka, Director of PARP’s Department of Business Environment Institutions Support: “We know that there are the so-called ordered specialties at universities and that entrepreneurship is taught in high schools and even middle schools. The question is who will educate these students? Universities adjust how much teaching staff it needs to the number of students taking into account such factors as the demographic low. Given that 60-70% of the teaching staff have never gone beyond the walls of the university, have never worked in business, how can it have sufficient skills to transfer expertise?

In Poland we have a very good result in terms of the number of enterprises, with over 1.7 million businesses. Most of them (95-97%) are micro-enterprises. Medium-sized and large companies already are counted in thousands so this is a huge quantitative leap. In my opinion, it points to the fact that we are a very enterprising nation.”

Ada Kostrz-Kostecka

The participants stressed that it is vitally important that Polish people are provided with financial education as early as possible and accustomed to finding their way round in the world of finances, and that entrepreneurs are aware of the need to further educate themselves and their employees. ::

Another important aspect was highlighted by Tomasz Sańpruch, editor-in-chief of Capital24TV. In his opinion, Polish micro-entrepreneurs, for example taxi drivers, prefer to spend time working than looking for ways

The debates organized by “Polish Market” will be held on April 24, June 24 and September 18. The theme of the upcoming one will be “Financial education: Awareness of insurance”.

CONSULTING - advisory activities carried out by specialized organizations and independent experts.

ECONOMIC ACTIVITY - business activity (construction, trade, services, etc.) conducted on one’s own for profit.

SMALL BUSINESS - an enterprise that hires fewer than 50 employees and generates an annual turnover not exceeding EUR 10 million or an annual balance sheet not exceeding EUR 10 million.

MICRO-ENTERPRISE - an enterprise that hires fewer than 10 employees and has an annual turnover not exceeding EUR 2 million or annual balance sheet not exceeding EUR 2 million.

NASDAQ - the world’s largest OTC market organized and supervised by the National Association of Securities Dealers.

NEWCONNECT - an organized stock market of the Warsaw Stock Exchange, conducted outside the regulated market as an alternative trading system.

ENTREPRENEUR - a person with creative properties, discovering and introducing new solutions making for the potential gain.

MEDIUM ENTERPRISE - an enterprise that hires fewer than 250 employees and has an annual turnover not exceeding EUR 50 million or an annual balance sheet not exceeding EUR 43 million.

START-UP - a company or a temporary organization designed to search for a business model that would ensure its development.

Start-ups usually have a short history, are under development and are actively seeking new markets.

VENTURE CAPITAL - a form of joint venture designed to finance risky innovations.

4 /2014 :: polish market :: 63

Finance

Opportunities for Poland and Polish companies Hermann Simon, Chairman, Simon-Kucher & Partners

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ccording to the global manufacturing index, issued by Deloitte and the US Council on Competitiveness, Poland is the second best country in manufacturing in Europe, only Germany is better. But are Polish companies exploiting their outstanding manufacturing competencies when it comes to exports? According to Poland’s statistical agency, the four most important export goods from 2004-2011 were cigarettes, grain, coffee and eggs. Polish exports grew by 1201% for cigarettes and 722% for coffee during these years. Perhaps with the exception of cigarettes, these most important Polish export goods are not product categories that rely on sophisticated manufacturing competencies and high value-added.

Grain and eggs are agrarian raw materials, even roasted coffee is close to a commodity. The no. 1 destination for Polish exports is Germany with 26%. Since 2004 Polish exports have grown by x%. While this looks like an excellent performance a large part of the exports, even those to Germany, originates from extended workbench work (verlängerte Werkbank), which means that the Polish share in the value chain is confined to manufacturing. Innovation takes place mostly outside Poland, and the innovator typically gets a much larger share of the added value than the pure manufacturer. In 2011, the European Patent Office awarded 32,605 patents to applicants from European countries.

Of those patents 13,583 come from Germany, 2,531 from Switzerland and 1,491 from Sweden – but only 45 from Poland. On a per capita basis this translates into 331 patents per 1 million is for Switzerland, 167 for Germany, 164 for Sweden, but only 1.2 for Poland. This is a clear indicator for the vast gap in the level of innovation.

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“According to Poland’s statistical agency, the four most important export goods from 2004-2011 were cigarettes, grain, coffee and eggs.”

What are the conclusions and recommendations for Poland and Polish companies?

1. The manufacturing competitiveness of Polish companies is excellent.

2. The export portfolio does not fully reflect

these manufacturing competencies. Polish companies could manufacture and export more sophisticated products in addition to agricultural commodities and products with low value added. The Polish export portfolio needs substantial trading up.

3. Manufacturing alone and especially extended workbench work do not suffice to get a sufficient share of the value added. The biggest share usually goes to the innovator.

4. Therefore, Poland and Polish companies have to radically improve their innovativeness. This requires much higher investments into R&D, but also better qualification and education.

5. Innovation is more than technology. Pol-

ish companies must learn to establish their own market presence in important markets, especially in Germany. This includes the building of strong international brands. The lack of international marketing know-how is an impediment and Polish companies should seek advice when they internationalize.

Poland has made huge progress over the last years. It has become top in Europe in manufacturing. It has to enter now a new stage in its development. It has to become much more innovative, rely less on workbench work and professionalize its international marketing. ::

Finance

The chance for democratization of Ukrainian business Adam Cichocki, President of BRAD Consulting and BRAD HR Services, evaluates the current situation in Ukraine and tells Maciej Proliński how Poland should get involved in economic aid to Ukraine.

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RAD Consulting and BRAD HR Services have many customers in Poland and abroad. We operate as a group offering not only advisory services, but also managers able to deploy new solutions. What distinguishes us is not only the transfer of managerial knowledge, but interim management of companies or their particular areas. BRAD Consulting is primarily a group of consultants with extensive experience in change management, work culture transformation and sustained productivity growth. Many entrepreneurs believe that investments in people mean above all costs. We want to show them that a lasting change must be supported by an incentive system and good skills. On the other hand, you cannot invest in skills without showing people how to operate efficiently.

I have a double approach to what is happening now in Ukraine. In a political sense, it is no secret that the situation is dangerous.

Economically, however, it creates some opportunities. Already the Orange Revolution in 2008 brought in Ukraine changes in attitudes and behaviours of entrepreneurs. Many companies went bankrupt. An “easy” economic growth was restricted, including accidental careers and businesses. Ukrainians know today that they need to invest in people, in new technologies, and finally, in business transparency.

In recent years, Ukrainian business has certainly got a yellow card. Many companies were forced to carry out reliable audits, to restructure, to look for savings. That is all very good and creates an opportunity. A 45-million dynamic nation may well use it, because actually no “total hole” will arise there.

Ukraine’s importance lies in its huge potential. Yet, the question remains open who will

make use of that potential. The EU? The latter is for Ukraine not only an opportunity to accelerate economic growth, but also a chance for business democratization. In Poland we have huge human resources expertise, and a lot of experience, practical knowledge and numerous contacts. And the biggest problem for Ukraine today is not only finances, but the way the country is to be governed. Let’s remember: current political problems are largely rooted in the economic situation. Over the 20 years of independent Ukraine an average Ukrainian has not made profit out of liberty, on the contrary they have got an enormous sense of injustice... The Maidan is therefore a kind of social activation and explosion of problems that piled up over the years.

It should be stressed that the eastern markets, and the Ukrainian market in particular, are burdened with an extremely deep deficit of managers. That gap can be bridged by Ukrainian students studying at Polish universities. It is a great potential and still untapped. But Polish managers are welcome too. On the Polish market there is currently a surplus of managers aged over 40 years who have gone through international companies and witnessed the transition process in Poland. They could now sell their experience to Ukrainian companies. And Poles are valued and mentally closer to Ukrainians than, say, Germans.

Food industry, retail sector, new technologies, marketing, logistics - these areas harbour the growth potential and opportunities.

For example, we have recently recruited for the Ukrainian market a marketing director for a large commercial chain, a mushroom production technologist and a sales director of a dairy group. There is a huge market demand for advisory services in Ukraine. And

for us it is a perfect opportunity to transfer experience and offer consulting services and products, which Ukraine still lacks. Today, I would base Ukrainian management on Polish staff in the first place, and then I would gradually replace it with Ukrainian nationals, as it was the case with American companies operating in Poland in the 1990s.

To sum up, I would say that, based on what I read it, seems to me that it is going wrong.

However, as I go there and meet people, the reality is much more friendly. You cannot give up contact with that part of the world. Let me repeat: there is a tremendous potential in Ukraine both in terms of human resources and economy. ::

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International Relations

A new form of global dialogue On May 21-23, 2014 the 7th Astana Economic Forum and the 2nd World Anti-Crisis Conference will be held in Astana, Kazakhstan.

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he Ambassador of the Republic of Kazakhstan to Poland, Erik Utembayev, invites European businessmen to participate in this extraordinary event. The Astana Economic Forum, as every year, brings together global minds in search of possible solutions to cur-

Nursultan Nazarbayev, President of Kazakhstan

rent economic, financial and social problems. It will be a synthesis of a permanent discussion on the virtual platform G-Global

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founded at the initiative of President Nursultan Nazarbayev. G-Global is a multifaceted platform created to connect the global community in development of recommendations for current global challenges.

As part of the forum the International Exhibition “ Kazakhstan Investment Expo 2014” will be held at the Palace of Independence in Astana. The Kazakh market harbors a huge potential for economic cooperation and foreigners, including Poles, are encouraged to invest. First Polish investments, such as Polpharma’s production plant, are likely to be followed by new ones. Kazakhstan counts on joint projects in sectors such as agriculture, mining and machinery construction, petrochemicals and chemicals. There are also great prospects for companies from the green energy sector, because Astana relies on energy-saving technologies in preparation for Expo 2017.

Regional cooperation is extremely important too. The Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan in Warsaw, together with the Polish provincial marshals and Kazakh officials, is preparing the Regional Forum, which will present business opportunities and bilateral economic projects.

The Forum in Astana will also discuss the development of the banking system, as well as the issue of global financial governance in the era of global integration processes.

A voice from Poland is extremely important here. After all, it is Poland that proved that the national currency can be stable even in difficult crisis times.

Astana Economic Forum is an annual dialogue platform for discussing and addressing the global challenges. Forum has no precedents in terms of its scope and level in the entire Eurasian region and it takes

well-deserved leading positions in the world in terms of coverage of affected subjects and development of ideas.

The Forum is aimed at mutually beneficial cooperation, assistance in attracting investments, development of social sphere and introduction of innovations.

The Forum serves as a tool to create the necessary conditions for social and economic progress of the Republic of Kazakhstan, develop cooperation between scientific, public and business circles, as well as to search for ways and tools to ensure the long-term stable development of the world economy.

The main organizer of the Forum is the Eurasian Economic Club of Scientists Association which brings together scientists and practitioners, global thinkers, politicians, heads of international organizations, research centres and business representatives from 120 countries.

The Association was established on the initiative of President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev in 2008 as one of the first international instruments for making decisions to overcome the global financial and economic crisis.

The first Forum was held in 2008 and in a short time following the recognition of the world community it was granted the status of one of the most influential international platforms for discussing the issues of rehabilitation and development of the world economy and financial system.

Within six years the Forum was attended by over 30,000 delegates from 140 countries, including 17 Nobel Prize winners, more than 100 heads of transnational corporations, over 200 Ministers and political leaders, 50 heads of international organizations, more than 30 current and former heads of States

International Relations

and government, representatives of major research centres, as well as 2500 representatives of the global media.

The scope, relevance, institutional and investment potential of the Forum and its influence are on plank of constant growth. In the last two years, the Forum was attended by more than 20,000 delegates and in the last 6 years 193 memoranda and agreements for

“The most important event held in the framework of the 6th Astana Economic Forum in 2013 was the first World Anti-Crisis Conference, initiated by the Republic of Kazakhstan jointly with international organizations, in particular with the support of the UN General Assembly.” the total sum of USD 11.2 billion were signed.

At the same time the Eurasian Business Congress, the world PPP Centre and Astana club of Nobel Prize laureates, the only club in the world uniting Nobel Prize laureates for expert and scientific recommendations on the development of the world economy, were established.

Since 2009 recommendations for G20 countries focused on the development of global economy became the main traditional outcome of the Forum and important scientific contribution to the ongoing efforts aimed at reforming the global financial architecture.

In 2012 the recommendations of the Astana Economic Forum were presented at the Plenary Session of the United Nations General Assembly and received high praise from the UN Secretary General Mr. Ban Ki-moon,

the President of the 66th UN General Assembly Mr. Al-Nasser and the Mexican presidency of the G20.

Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Mexico, Mexico’s G20 Sherpa Lourdes Aranda Bezauri noted in her speech that the Recommendations of the Astana Economic Forum will be handed over to the President of Mexico and considered by the Mexican presidency at the G20 summit in Los Cabos.

The most important event held in the framework of the 6th Astana Economic Forum in 2013 was the first World Anti-Crisis Conference, initiated by the Republic of Kazakhstan jointly with international organizations, in particular with the support of the UN General Assembly (the UN resolution 67/197 International financial system and development dated December 21, 2012).

The World Anti-Crisis Conference was held on the level of ministers of finance, economy and heads of central banks. The major result was the adoption of the Astana Declaration and the principal directions of the World Anti-Crisis Plan Project for the UN member states.

An intellectual and scientific base for such a large-scale project is the G-Global infocommunication platform (http://www.groupglobal.org). Since July 1, 2013 leading international organizations, research centres and about 4 million users from 190 countries have been elaborating proposals to ensure a balanced development of the world economy (published about 10,000 reports and research papers, as well as 30,000 expert reviews and comments).

According to the data of the ratings agency Alexa.com monitoring more than 40 million websites around the world, the G-Global info-communicative platform is the most popular scientific and research portal in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and is one of the 70,000 most visited Internet resources in the world.

The 7th Astana Economic Forum and the 2nd World Anti-Crisis Conference will be held on the level of ministers of finance, economy and heads of central banks of the UN member states and will take place in 2014.

Following the results of the 2nd World Anti-Crisis Conference held in the year of the 70th anniversary of the Bretton Woods agreements, it is planned to adopt the Project of the World Anti-Crisis Plan for the UN member states.

The Eurasian Economic Club of Scientists together with the Committee on Renewal of the Bretton Woods are holding a series of outreach events around the world including the USA, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Austria, Peru, Italy, Switzerland, Australia and other countries for development and discussion of recommendations to the Project of the World Anti-Crisis Plan.

In addition, it is planned to organize regional plenary sessions as part of the annual meetings of the Board of Governors of the Asian Development Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the African Development Bank. The main outcome of these meetings will be the adoption of the Project of the World Anti-Crisis Plan at the regional level. :: 4 /2014 :: polish market :: 67

Culture

Jerzy Starak more than a businessman

Jerzy Starak, President of the Board of Polpharma SA, belongs to a wide group of Polish entrepreneurs who, while doing business, are able to share success with others. Both through the Starak Family Foundation and Polpharma’s operations, he supports important social, scientific, educational, cultural and charitable initiatives.

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n line with the vision of Jerzy Starak, Polpharma carries out many projects in the field of education, preventive care and healthy lifestyles. The company’s motto is “People Helping People”.

In cooperation with Caritas Polska Polpharma runs the programme Strefa na Zdrowie (Zone for Health), which allows free cardiac and ophthalmic exams and other specialist medical advice to older people from small towns, where access to healthcare services is particularly difficult. In 2013, the company also put out an educational campaign Ciśnienie na Życie (Pressure for Life) which

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was aimed at preventive cardiology promotion with 200,000 blood pressure measurements being taken. The company transferred 1 zloty to the Healthy Heart Clinic in Zabrze for every blood pressure measurement. In 2014 heart age tests, something unique in Europe, are carried out as part of the campaign.

In 2001, Polpharma’s Scientific Foundation, which is the largest private institution in Poland funding research projects in the field of pharmacy and medicine, was established on the initiative of Jerzy Starak. The Foundation has so far conducted 12 competitions for research projects funding in

which 60 grants were awarded totalling approx. PLN 16 million. The Foundation also runs a scholarship programme for graduate students of medical universities. So far 4 editions of the programme have been organized and 27 scholarships were awarded to talented young researchers.

Jerzy Starak is also the founder of the Starak Family Foundation, which aims at supporting and promoting talented young people. The Foundation’s brainchild is Spectra Art Space - an experimental space dedicated to contemporary art - that was established on the premises of Polpharma at 6 Bobrowiecka

Culture Street in Warsaw. The project, modelled after the renowned international practices, provides for the coexistence of art and business.

Regular workshops, symposia and lectures on contemporary art are held here for employees, visitors and customers. The Spectra Art Space also features works by young artists supported by the Starak Family Foundation’s project Soon. ::

Biographical note: Jerzy Starak, President of the Board of Polpharma SA and the owner of the Polpharma Group, a leader of the Polish pharmaceutical market; shareholder of Herbapol-Lublin SA and Zakłady Tłuszczowe Kruszwica; founder of one of the first Polonia’s companies Comindex. In the first half of the 1990s he introduced to Poland renowned companies: Bols, Sanofi, Nutricia and Colgate-Palmolive. He is a member of the Polish Business Council, a Honorary Consul of

Kazakhstan in Poland, President of the Supervisory Board of the Polish Employers’ Association of the Pharmaceutical Industry. In 2003 he was awarded the Knight Cross of the Polonia Restituta Order, and in 2013 the Officer’s Cross of the Polonia Restituta Order for outstanding contribution to the development of the Polish economy, as well as for social and charitable activities.

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Cultural Monitor

Interesting films, great classics and fascinating jazz - these are some of the highlights in the spring issue of Cultural Monitor.

Recommendations by Maciej Proliński.

“Miłość” (Love) directed by Filip Dzierżawski – Agora - DVD

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documentary by Filip Dzierżawski telling the story of five exceptionally-talented Polish musicians and friends who for over a decade formed Miłość (Love), an avant-garde jazz ensemble with double-bass player Tymon Tymański, saxophonists Mikołaj Trzaska and Maciej Sikała, pianist Leszek Możdżer and the late Jacek Olter, whom we lost much too soon. During one and a half hours, we explore the meanders in the friendship and passions shared by these, once young, people, leading from the joy of creation and success to conflicts and disappointment… 10 years after Miłość broke up, its former members meet up again. Recalling the old times and the band’s fortunes, they try to make some new music and write another chapter in the story of their group…

The film does not offer simple answers, suggestions or intricate psychological portraits. The artists, so different from each other and full of contradictions, yet aware of their own value, are bold enough to look in the mirror and into the camera. The jury of the 53rd Kraków Film Festival, awarding Dzierżawski’s documentary with the “Złoty Lajkonik” award, stressed this was “a story of a generation coming of age in the turbulent times of the Polish transformation”. A true observation, but “Miłość” is, first and foremost, a story of music. Music which once was, and – despite the film’s sad closing – still is, and will always, be there!

“Być jak Kazimierz Deyna” – (To be like Kazimierz Deyna) – directed by Anna Wieczur-Bluszcz – Agora – DVD

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he directing debut of Anna Wieczur-Bluszcz marks her noteworthy entrance into Polish cinematography. While not revolutionising this area, she has still succeeded in delivering a unobtrusive story of a sensitive boy from a provincial town.

Occasionally echoing the Czech sense of humour and the narrative style of American indie films, the picture joins the circle of successful recent debuts. The year is 1977.

In the qualifying round for the World Cup Tournament in Argentina, Kazimierz Deyna at the Silesian Stadium scores a goal against Portugal from a corner kick, opening the way to the World Cup to the Polish team.

Somewhere else at the same time, the protagonist is born and named Kazimierz in honour of the great footballer. The film spans two decades – during the system transformation and the subsequent period of a sovereign Poland. Wieczur-Bluszcz convincingly conveys the atmosphere of those times. More importantly, she proves that to be like Deyna does not always mean to achieve a measurable success in sport…

Leif Ove Andsnes - “The Beethoven Journey; Piano Concertos Nos. 2 & 4” - Sony Classical – CD

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eethoven, an illustrious pianist, composed an extensive body of piano pieces. Out of his seven instrumental concertos, five were written for the piano and orchestra, and have entered the regular concerto repertoires. The artistic career of Norway’s Leif Ove Andsnes, dubbed by New York Times “a pianist of magisterial elegance, power, and insight”, is chiefly founded on performing and recording the music of Beethoven. The “Beethoven Journey”, a project launched a few years ago, is a result of Andsnes’ collaboration with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra from Berlin, one of the most renowned orchestras in the world.

“Piano Concertos Nos. 2 and 4” form the second part of this musical adventure. Not only does Andsness play the piano, but he also conducts the orchestra. Combined, their style is characterised, just as it was with the great German composer himself, by an exquisite scale of variations, impressive in the mastery of modern sound structures, its excellent form and impeccable logic.

Nikolaus Harnoncourt - “Mozart: March in D Major K. 335, Serenade in D Major K. 320 “Posthorn-Serenade” & Symphony in D Major K. 385 “Haffner-Sinfonie” – Sony Classical – CD

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ozart, a synonym of the excellence of the classical style, interpreted by an Austrian conductor and one-man institution, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, together with Concentus Musicus Wien. This time Harnoncourt, known for his stylistically-diverse renditions of Mozartian music, the use of “sound speech” effects, and a peculiar musical rhetoric, reached out to two central compositions from Mozart’s ‘middle period’. His interpretations are unique.

The virtuoso performance by excellent musicians and the highly-individual phrasing manner achieved by the conductor make this record truly stand out. It is wonderful that nowadays there are orchestras conducted by such great talents. No wonder then that new recordings are still emerging. What’s important is to capture the sense of these crystal clear and astonishingly-beautiful melodics, the power and maturity of music that has been charming us for over 200 years now. The Austrian maestros have done it again.

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4 /2014

Cultural Monitor

Cultural Monitor – April 2014

Motion Trio – “Polonium” - Warner Classics, Parlophone Music Polska – CD

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nother delicacy for musical gourmets. One of those marvellous “journeys” of the Polish accordion trio back to the origins of, this time Polish, and modern, music. An album featuring Polish composers – Witold Lutosławski, Krzysztof Penderecki, Wojciech Kilar, Henryk Mikołaj Górecki and Marta Ptaszyńska (a piece written especially for the Motion Trio) – faithfully displays the potential of the accordion, and, by exploring its new sound, creates a new musical quality for this instrument. A ‘mission impossible’, one might say, but our virtuosos have accomplished it ‘beyond borders’ and beyond average… Their “Polonium” merges into a fine, absorbing and moving whole. It would be hard to distinguish any particular composition, as all are beautiful and sophisticated, requiring concentration from both artists and listeners. And if we use concentration as a starting point, the record will reveal how much it has in store. A special guest on the record is Leszek Możdżer, a pianist who performed the solo part of Górecki’s Harpsichord (Piano) Concerto op. 40.

Artur Dutkiewicz – “Prana” – Pianoart - CD

Uri Caine - “Szpilman” – Narodowy Instytut Audiowizualny (The National Audiovisual Institute, NInA) – CD

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rtur Dutkiewicz – a brilliant Polish jazz pianist called “the Ambassador of Polish Jazz” (as a reference to his many performances abroad), following his recent solo projects, has released a trio-ensemble record. In Sanskrit, “Prana” denotes the life force manifested in enthusiasm, joy and creativity.

And such are the new compositions by Dutkiewicz, with the reservation that they seem toned down, rather than “wild”… Classical and rooted in the past, but also novel, swinging, very jazzy and elegant. They will definitely appeal to those who cherish nostalgia or objects crafted with subtlety and style. The sounds generated by the trio are captivating (with Michał Barański – double bass and Łukasz Żyta – percussion). Interestingly, Dutkiewicz, despite his broad musical range, chooses to remain reserved – but compensates for this by filling every single note with warmth. Summing up – truly mature jazz. Some themes could last a bit longer, though…

Czesław Niemen – “Dziwny jest ten świat” (Strange is this world) – Polskie Nagrania – CD

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olskie Nagrania has inaugurated a series of remastered albums of Czesław Niemen – a legend of the Polish musical scene. “Dziwny jest ten świat” was the first long-play

by Niemen and the Akwarele band, recorded back in 1967. Today considered a gem of Polish popular music, it is the first album to be awarded the Golden Record (Złota Płyta) in 1968. The remastered version has been released on CDs and analogue media and features the original graphical layout. The CD has additionally received a detailed booklet with text content (in Polish and English) by Piotr Chlebowski and Władysław Pawelec’s photos taken while the first album was being recorded. It’s beyond all doubt that the audience in Poland regards Niemen as a cult figure. Czesław Niemen (1939-2004), as we remember him from his first album, was still a ‘big beat’ artist at the time, able to perfectly unite “black and white” and, what’s more, do it in a nearly-raw form. This unique debut, already magical in 1967, has preserved its universal captivating power.

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he Szpilman-themed programme created by the jazz trio of the pianist Uri Caine came into being as a special project during the 2013 Tzadik Poznań Festival. It centres around the person and work of Szpilman as an established composer, composer of classical music and many unforgettable songs which have permanently entered the cultural history of the 20th century. Marek Edelman, the last leader of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, once said “Szpilman is a symbol of all those who survived, because each survival was only possible owing to dozens of improbable and miraculous chances”. And such are his songs – cherishing life in its every aspect. Who wouldn’t know pieces like “Nie wierzę piosence” or “W małym kinie?”. This is a really interesting project which drew me in from the very start and is still keeping me captivated and delighted. How? By intriguingly combining traditional, though nevergrowing-old, elements (smash-hit, neat compositions!) with an unpretentious and freely-improvised “present-day attire”. Formally, Caine’s interpretations have somewhat departed from their original versions, but have nevertheless retained all that is essential – joy, energy, swing, wisdom, and, at the right moments, genuine emotion.

Krzysztof Ścierański – “Night Lakes” – Polskie Radio (Polish Radio) – CD

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his long-awaited album of a virtuoso of the bass guitar, and here also of a solo electric guitar, comprises a collection of instrumental compositions which Ścierański wrote in recent years, plus two songs: “Petite Fleur”, the album’s opener featuring Regi Wooten, and the closing piece, “Ołów”, with vocals by Grażyna Łobaszewska. The whole is characterised by beautiful guitar melodies enriched with input from trusted musicians from Ścierański’s band, who truly put their heart in every sound. All tunes form an amusingly-ordered, yet diversified, mixture of carefully-selected, rhythmic and melodic themes. The musicians deftly move around in this clear, sound landscape. And the end result is a feast for the ear.

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Culture

The poet of

photography

Maciej Proliński

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he Royal Castle in Warsaw hosted in March an exhibition of previously unknown photographs by Edward Hartwig, one of the most outstanding Polish art photographers. Entitled “Mist and Colours,” the exhibition enchanted the viewers with its special atmosphere and the artistic skills of the photographer. The list of his artistic achievements and exhibitions is long as is the list of the prestigious collections which keep his works. Suffice it to say that his works were displayed in Padua in 1975 as part of an exhibition of the world’s 10 most outstanding photographers – “10 Great Art Photographers of FIAP.” Edward Hartwig (1909-2003) was one of the most excellent photographers of the 20th century. Born in Moscow, he dedicated his entire life to photography, continuing the family tradition started by his father, Ludwik Hartwig, who had run one of the most reputable photo ateliers in Moscow. But Edward Hartwig also pursued his own artistic passions associated with painting, graphic arts and theatre. Thanks to his thorough education in graphic arts and photography, including studies at the Institute of Graphic Art in Vienna under the guidance of Prof. Rudolf Koppitz, coupled with his artistic passion and unusual imagination, Hartwig was not only able to exploit all the capabilities offered by photography but also set new trends, expanding the borders of imagination and technical skills. Without digital image processing technology, he made works combining

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graphic art, painting and photography. Few artists can so excellently combine the documentary function of photography with the play of imagination.

Hartwig was helped by his thorough knowledge of new techniques and trends in art, and his fascination with painting. Thanks to this passion, he was able to use light in such an unusual way in his photographs. The artist’s experimentation with light earned him the nickname “mist-maker,” as an allusion to his avocation for this kind of effects. However, his artistic interests were wider. There was no subject Hartwig would not undertake.

But some of them attracted his special interest. These included landscapes, especially the old traditional themes like his “Willow Trees” series, subtle and mysterious nudes, and theatre photographs.

Prof. Andrzej Rottermund, the director of the Royal Castle, said at the official opening of the exhibition on March 3: “He is the artist who brings the strongest associations with art photography for my generation. His individual style shaped our tastes and imagination. A contemporary art exhibition at the Royal Castle is an exceptional event. But Hartwig deserves to be in this place.”

The 150 works the visitors to the Royal Castle had an opportunity to see in two of its rooms were a moving cross-section of Harwig’s art – from the times before World War II to the 21st century and from landscapes to portraits, nudes and abstract compositions.

He has always amazed the viewers with his works resembling prints, their synthetic form

and contrasts of black and white. Some of the photographs simplify compositional elements, emphasizing nature’s rhythms, others move towards abstraction or a figurative, almost poster-like, symbol. His collages inspired by landscapes and Chopin’s music stimulate imagination and emotions. In turn, his portrait photographs and nudes reveal his theatrical talent. The exhibition put the spotlight on this brilliant artist again. It proved that art is the best way of communication among people and nations. :: Photo: Edward Hartwig - from the collection of the Pro Memoria Foundation

Culture

London Symphony Orchestra comes to Warsaw A very special concert will be held at Warsaw’s Grand Theatre - National Opera on May 23.

The theatre will host the London Symphony Orchestra playing great compositions by Johannes Brahms and Gustav Mahler.

London Symphony Orchestra; photo: Alberto Venzago

Maciej Proliński

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When preparing the 2013/2014 season, we have consistently pursued the main guidelines on which our management of the institution is based: creating a repertoire of the highest standards and indisputable artistic value,” says National Opera director Waldemar Dąbrowski. It is easy to share this hope with the management of the institution while announcing the numerous events scheduled for this season.

The London Symphony Orchestra is regarded as one of the leading orchestras in the world. Founded in 1904, it is the oldest of London’s philharmonics. It was set up by a group of musicians who left the Queen’s Hall Orchestra because of a change in the rules governing musicians’ work with the orchestra. For the first forty years the London Symphony Orchestra operated like a cooperative, with profits shared at the end of each season. The 1930s and 1950s were difficult for the Orchestra as it lost popularity to new London philharmonics. But in the 1960s it recovered and strengthened its leading position and has kept it until today. As a selfgoverning institution, it selects conductors with whom to work. Among the conductors the orchestra has worked over the years are some of the most outstanding figures. It has organized many festivals devoted to great composers, like for example Berlioz, Mahler

and Bernstein. Since 1982 the Orchestra has had its seat in the Barbican Centre in the City of London. Since 1912 the Orchestra has made recordings, has regularly appeared on radio and television and has played soundtrack music for over 200 films. One can also hear it in computer games and music programmes aboard planes. The Orchestra’s patron is British Queen Elisabeth II. Since 2007 the chief conductor has been Valery Gergiev while Sir Colin Davis has been president of the Orchestra. Daniel Harding and Michael Tilson Thomas hold the posts of first conductors. Harding will lead the Orchestra at its concert in Warsaw. The audiences will be treated to Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 1 in D-major and the Violin Concerto in D-major Op. 77 by Johannes Brahms.

Although an artist’s greatness is not always seen in their earliest works, this is not the case with Malher (1860-1911) – his full talent is already reflected in his very first symphonies.

The Symphony No. 1 has been designed as a great five-movement symphonic poem entitled “Titan.” The premiere was in 1889, but seven years later the composer changed his mind and converted the poem into a symphony with a typical structure by removing the second movement entitled “Blumine.” Mahler’s correspondence from that time indicates

that the third movement was inspired by the well-known children’s picture entitled “The Hunter’s Funeral.” The final movement brings back many of the themes from the preceding movements to lead them to a climax - one of the grandest in the history of symphonic repertoire.

Brahms (1833-1897) composed the Violin Concerto for his friend Joseph Joachim, an outstanding violinist. The composition abounds in very difficult fragments. “I will send you a few bars for the violin,” he reportedly wrote encouraging Joachim to work with him on the concerto. Despite support from an outstanding violinist, the work is tremendously difficult. Critics have even called it a “concerto against the violin.” Of course, the composition is not merely a display of skills or a catalogue of difficult violin tricks. It is a composition with an orchestral dimension.

The violin, built into the dense fabric of orchestral accompaniment, has to use a nonstandard language to be capable of being heard. Pablo de Sarasate refused to play this concerto, saying: “I will not be standing alone at the centre of the stage with the violin in my hand listening to the oboe play the only melody in this composition.” But these days this is what every reputable violinist dreams about. This dream will come true in Warsaw for Leonidas Kavakos. :: 4 /2014 :: polish market :: 73

Culture

Music for living Barbara Kubielas and Anna Sikorzak - Olek talk to Maciej Proliński.

Plans have concretized this year to organize a harp competition in Warsaw in memory of Victoria. What can you already say about it?

A S-O: It will be a competition about which our harp community has been thinking for a long time. It is going to become a permanent and regular event in Poland, held every two years. What do we know already? We have the dates: November 26-30, 2014, which is very soon. We have the promise from three world-famous harpists to join the jury (alongside Piotr Moss, a composer). The competition is open to all Polish harpists from Poland and abroad, as well as to foreigners studying in Poland that meet the following conditions: Kids Category (primary school pupils), Juniors Category (middle schools and high pm

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schools students), Seniors Category (students and graduates born on or after November 26, 1984). The submission deadline for the competition is September 30, 2014. It is organized by the Association “Harp for Children”, which has for several years been promoting Celtic and classical harp music education among children and youth, and popularizing the instrument in Poland. The competition programme will surely include works by Polish composers. We, the Poles, have wonderful literature, for example, two recently found solo works by Feliks Nowowiejski or very good “harp starring” pieces of music

by Maciej Małecki and Witold Lutosławski.

And it is worth remembering that the harp’s current shape was fixed 200 years ago by none other than a Polish engineer from the court of Prince Kazimierz Ogiński. We would like the competition to be high-profile, and above all to support young talents and enable them to further develop and learn. Most of the competition’s events will be held at the Karol Kurpiński State Music School (PSM) in Warsaw. We are still looking for venue for the final audition. We would also like to invite a world harp jazz star to stage a special concert so that contestants and harp fans can hear other harp tones, and there are many of them from baroque through contemporary music to jazz. I need to stress that our competition is the first of its kind in Poland. The largest one takes place in Israel, the main prize being a harp. It would definitely be a dream of our competition’s winner... It is also ours...

You are interviewed for a magazine that shows that the gap between the economy and culture should not be too big.

How will art and patronage coexist during the competition? It is after all about awards too...

BK: We already have a special purpose grant from the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage. All those who wish to support us can do it using the account number of the 1st National Harp Competition - Victoria Jankowska in memoriam: 66 1020 1068 0000 110 202 495 034 PKO Bank Polski SA. Many pm

Victoria Jankowska – fot. M. Moćko.

A year ago, the news went around Poland of a double murder at the Philharmonic in Jelenia Góra. The accidental victim was Victoria Jankowska, a harpist and a final-year student of the Frederic Chopin University of Music in Warsaw. What was Victoria like?

Barbara Kubielas - Victoria’s mother: In February 2013, just before her tragic death, Victoria gave a flute and harp recital that inaugurated the Lutosławski Year in Mexico. She was a final-year student of the Frederic Chopin University of Music in Warsaw, where she studied at the class of Prof.

Urszula Mazurek. In addition, she had graduated in Polish studies from the University of Warsaw. She wanted to continue studies and to be an ambassador of Polish culture. She performed with many orchestras including the Sinfonia Iuventus and Toruń Symphony Orchestra. Her great passion was harp and orchestra work. She wrote poems too. Perhaps one day I will manage to collect and publish them...

Anna Sikorzak-Olek, an outstanding Polish harpist and founder of the Association “Harp for Children”: It is difficult to combine Polish studies and music, and Victoria really succeeded in it. She was an active person of many talents. pm

thanks for every gesture of support. We are still looking for private patrons. In fact, much depends on people who manage the institutions concerned. Whether they understand the importance of music... And this is after all a essential for the younger generation’s general education. Music is what constitutes us, something that makes us want to be better.

You only need to be aware of that.

Harp is a mysterious instrument in orchestra and its secrets are revealed in many works. For example, in chamber music of Debussy, or the legendary Górecki’s Third Symphony there is nothing but harp. “Harp is for music what music is for living,” Carlos Salzedo, a virtuoso of the instrument, used to say. May that be the punch line of our conversation?

A S-O: It happens in the orchestra that the strings of harp pick up the vibrations of other instruments... On the other hand, even if harp plays only one chord, it does increase the vibrations of others. And without that chord the soundtrack is no longer full... Nothing in the orchestra can replace harp. Harp accompanies poetry, voice, flute and many other instruments. Composers are afraid of it sometimes because they do not know how it works. Sometimes, therefore, harpists create music that vary in terms of successfulness. Sometimes composers work with harpists to such an effect as Tchaikovsky or Debussy... :: pm

Culture

A flurry of love songs for spring He has performed at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan under the direction of Claudio Abbado, and has added splendour to sporting events at great football stadiums, but he also likes to perform popular songs in between. This spring, Marek Torzewski, with his orchestra and choir, will be giving more than ten concerts in Poland. He will be promoting his already platinum-certified album “L’Amore”, on which he performs the greatest hits from sunny Italy – the songs that have been known across the world for dozens of years.

Maciej Proliński

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ince 1986 Torzewski has lived in Belgium. Having graduated from the Voice Department at the Ignacy Jan Paderewski Academy of Music in Poznań (1983), he was a soloist in the Teatr Wielki in Łódź between 1983 and 1986. He made his debut at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan in 1985 under the direction of Claudio Abbado. In 1986 he emigrated to Belgium to become a soloist at the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels (until 1991). Between 1992 and 2003 he performed as a soloist on various opera stages, including in Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, and other countries. He is a winner of the Jan Kiepura International Vocal Competition in Krynica in 1984. In 2009 he was awarded the Polish Market Honorary Pearl for “building the singing image of Poland around the world.”

“When I was 24 I went to La Scala on my first contract there. Ruggero Raimondi, Katia Ricciarelli, Claudio Abbado – they were all performing there at that time! That was the absolute pinnacle of opera. And one day, all of a sudden, a 24-year-old lad from Poland finds himself among all those superstars. In terms of opera, mine was only a kindergarten age.

But I was captivated, because the stars didn’t let me feel, even for a moment, that I was too young and knew less than them. Not for a single moment,” recounts the Polish singer.

The professional activity and passion of Marek Torzewski has for years extended beyond the esteemed opera stages – not just in his motherland, but also in other European countries and overseas. The “L’Amore” album,

which features hit Italian love songs (including “Quando Quando”, “Volare”, “Che Sara, Sara”), fits this image perfectly. This project is also a special way of saying thank you to the tenor’s wife, who works as an actress and manager – Barbara Romanowicz-Torzewska – and his vocally talented daughter Agata.

“One reason for recording this album was the 25th anniversary of my wedding with Barbara, which we celebrated quite recently. We’re both romantic-minded people, we love Italy – it was the first country we visited together. I wanted this album to be a gift for my wife, daughter, and myself. I also wanted to share the pulsating energy of this music and the scent of the sea, sun, and love it provides. The album features fifty- and sixtyyear-old songs that have lost nothing of their popularity. My line of work can’t be planned in all details. I’ll sing as long as it brings me pleasure and as long as I keep feeling that I still have something to show – an audience.

I just want to be good at my job. The truly great achievement is to have a wonderful family. Life has its ups and downs. Even if at some point I have to retire, I know who to turn to,” he said.

What are the feelings surrounding this nationwide tour with such a selection of songs?

“Polish audiences are demanding but kind. Wonderful positive energy fills the air during our concerts – I feel it in the audience, but also among the people working around this project. I get the feeling that we’re all one big family. And that’s not just some exalted speech,” declares Torzewski.

When asked about the significance of musical culture in promoting Poland, and about whether we have already done our homework in this department, which would seem both natural and momentous, he answered: “Culture has always needed support. On the other hand, it is equally important to motivate those people who would like to become patrons of the arts to stay on this important path. Actually, the distance between the economy and culture shouldn’t be too large, as culture needs constant support and attention from the economy, and the economy would not be the same without a bit of cultural inspiration. I’m no economist, but I have lived in Belgium for years, and I have travelled a lot, and I know that other countries realised this much earlier.” ::

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Events

The 14th Telecommunications and Media World Symposium

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n 19-20 March 2014, Westin Hotel hosted the 14th edition of the Telecommunications and Media World Symposium. This year’s event centred around the 3K’s: Konwergencja – Konkurencja – Konsolidacja (Convergence – Competition – Consolidation).

Rafał Trzaskowski, Minister of Administration and Digitization

The conference was officially opened by Minister Rafał Trzaskowski, who stressed that in order to be effective digitisation in Poland required three elements: investing in fast broadband networks, continuing the development of e-services for citizens and entrepreneurs, and promoting digital literacy skills.

Some of the topics addressed on the event’s first day included cooperation between competitors on the telecom & media market and the issue of consolidation – is it more of a fashion or an actual need? The panellists – Mariusz Gaca (Orange Polska), Cezary Albrecht (T-Mobile Polska), Jacek Niewęgłowski (P4) and Andrzej Abramczuk (Midas) were quite clear about this – since each business aims to grow on a global scale, it will seek cost synergies, higher investment levels and a broader scope of business. Capital consolidation is a prerequisite for cooperation and the introduction of novel solutions, in a manner that reflects global models.

The first day concluded with a debate on the place of Poland on the digital map of the world. As we could hear, the successful digitisation of our country chiefly requires investment in fast broadband networks, the promotion of digital skills and the continued development of e-services for businesses and citizens.

The second day of the symposium was devoted to a debate on “Big Data”, led by Michał

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Kobosko (Project Syndicate), with Minister Michał Boni, Andrzej Klesyk (PZU), Zbigniew Jagiełło (PKO Bank Polski) and Ireneusz Piecuch (Poczta Polska). The debaters reflected on the problem of the imbalance between privacy and freedom on the one hand and the need to process business data on the other. At the same time they made an observation that, while being a substantial challenge, data processing can offer opportunities as regards improving the quality and effectiveness of the country’s functioning.

The Symposium’s closing discussion concerned the impact of media use on the business model, with changes in how media are used as its leading theme. The participants – Juliusz Braun (Telewizja Polska), Aleksander Kutela (HBO Poland/HBO Europe), Beata Mońska (an expert on the media sector), Maciej Stec (Polsat TV), Xawery Konarski (the Traple Konarski Podrecki i Wspólnicy Law Office) and Grzegorz Tomasiak (Wirtualna Polska) – all agreed that it was the end media-user that determined any changes on this market. They also expressed the belief that the age of media was definitely not over.

THE 16TH GRAND GALA OF THE GOLDEN AND CRYSTAL ANTENNAE The 16th Grand Gala of the Golden and Crystal Antennae was organised alongside the symposium. It featured a presentation of the most prestigious awards in the telecom & media sector for 2013. The Gala was officially opened by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Economy Janusz Piechociński.

Marcin Prokop acted as the host and Zbigniew Wodecki performed in the entertainment section of the event.

The Golden Antennae of the World of Telecommunications award winners by category: • 2013 Man of the Year - Zygmunt SolorzŻak, President of the Supervisory Board, Polkomtel – for the transaction that led to the emergence of the largest media and telecommunications group on the Polish market.

• 2013 Company of the Year – EmiTel – for the digitisation of electronic media, the rapid development and consistent building of goodwill, as facilitated by efficient project management.

• 2013 Product of the Year – The Regional Warning System – Telewizja Polska – as an example of using digital television services in innovative ways – to ensure public safety and to protect the life, health and property of residents.

• 2013 Event of the Year – Introducing the Nju Mobile package onto the market – Orange Polska – for an innovative business model representing a breakthrough on the telecommunications market.

• 2013 Corporate Social Responsibility The “Help Measured in Kilometres“ project - T-Mobile Polska – for a modern CSR programme which involves the general public in helping children with disabilities regain their motor skills.

• 2013 Telecommunications Sector Solutions Provider – The Backbone Network Centre in the Podkarpackie Province – Huawei Polska – for a great leap towards IMS VoIP technologies. Thanks to the project co-financed by the European Union, 97% of the Province’s residents now have access to the latest telecommunications technologies.

The Crystal Antennae of the World of Media award winners by category: • 2013 Man of the Year - Michał Boni – for measures aimed at increasing Poland’s telecommunications potential.

• 2013 Company of the Year – Legimi – for establishing the first virtual library in Poland, which makes reading more comfortable than ever.

• 2013 Corporate Social Responsibility – The Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity Foundation – for the bold and determined pursuit of high communication standards in the public sphere.

• 2013 Event of the Year – Launching the DAB+ digital audio broadcasting – Polskie Radio. The Committee saw it as an impulse for the technological evolution of the radio market in Poland, reflecting the global trends in radio.

• 2013 Best Thematic Channel - Discovery Channel – selected by Internet users in a ranking on Interia.pl.

• 2013 Best News Channel - TV Republika– selected by Internet users in a ranking on Interia.pl. ::

Events

7th International Conference “Innovation and

Photo: Robert Graff

women’s creativity: design as an opportunity for SMEs and regions”

From left: Roma Skuza, Bogna Polańska, Ewa Lewek, Paweł Kaźmierczyk, Michał Piernikowski, Ewa JanczukowiczCichosz, Ewa Gołębiowska

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n March 20-21, 2014 the 7th International Conference “Innovation and women’s creativity: design as an opportunity for SMEs and regions” was organized by the Polish Patent Office on the premises of the Warsaw Stock Exchange. The confer-

Iwona Wendel

ence was attended by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy Janusz Piechociński, Undersecretary of State in the Ministry of Infrastructure and Development Iwona Wendel, Deputy Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization Wang Binying and President of the Warsaw Stock Exchange Adam Maciejewski. First Lady Anna Komorowska graced the conference with her honorary patronage.

In his inaugurating speech Janusz Piechociński highlighted the fundamental importance of innovation for social and economic development and the need to make best use of the creative potential of Polish people whose technical solutions are necessary for Poland to build a modern knowledge-based economy. A special message to the participants of the conference was addressed by Minister of Science and Higher Education Prof. Lena Kolarska-Bobińska.

“Prominent experts from Poland and abroad, entrepreneurs, representatives of engineering and art universities, business organizations and designers meet to discuss the role of design in the development of regions and businesses,” she said.

The issues discussed during the conference included the possibility for entrepreneurs to obtain financial support for business innovation under programmes of the new EU financial perspective, cooperation between designers and SMEs and the enhancement of communication between these sectors for more effective implementation of design. The result of such a cooperation will be innovative, functional and attractive products and services which are characterized not only by an original form, but also comprehensively address the needs of the user, including

ergonomics and ecology. Creating such products and services is one of the determinants of innovative economy.

Innovative products and services characterized by innovative design significantly affect the quality of life, build a company’s position both domestically and globally as well as create the image of Poland abroad.

The formation of such innovative products is only possible with the effective cooperation of all parties involved: designers, entrepreneurs and local government institutions. For this reason, a large part of the conference was focused on the conditions to build lasting relationships between these sectors to ensure efficient implementation of design.

During the conference entrepreneurs and designers had an opportunity to exchange ex-

Janusz Piechociński

periences, to diagnose the causes that hinder their effective cooperation, as well as to identify the necessary financial, legal and educational moves, which would help greater use of industrial design and implementation of innovative solutions in SMEs. They were also discussed the possibilities for entrepreneurs to obtain support for business innovation in design within the framework of public-private partnership. ::

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Events

The 2nd Congress of Exporters – Poland is an agri-food export leader

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he 2nd Congress of Exporters of the Agri-Food Industry was held on March 5 at the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. Deputy Speaker of the Lower Chamber of the Polish Parliament, Eugeniusz Grzeszczak and Former Minister of Agriculture Stanisław Kalemba were the honorary patrons of the event.

The congress was preceded by handing in

by Minister Kalemba of Distinctions of Honour Services to agriculture. The laureates of these prestigious agri-food awards were leading entrepreneurs from dairy, fruit and meat industry, as well as individuals and institutions that distinguished themselves in the field of Polish agriculture and export of its products abroad.

The key - and perhaps most awaited by those present - moment was the speech of Minister Stanisław Kalemba in which he stated the position of the Polish government towards the African swine fever virus, something that had completely blocked the pork trade between Poland and its Eastern partners. Poland plays in that case a very important role of a buffer between the countries of the European Union, where no incidence of ASF was detected, and those east of Poland, where the virus is present.

Minister Kalemba stressed a thriving cooperation between the Polish Exporters Association and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. “We have been pursuing your efforts for a couple of years. There is nothing artificial in it: you do not create buzz but you solve specific problems. The fact that the agri-food sector reached last year exports worth almost EUR 20 billion is surprising not only in Poland but also in Europe. When I meet with my fellow ministers abroad, they ask me how we do it in Poland that we have such an export growth? And it should be pointed out that only in one year the exports increased by more than EUR 2 billion. There is no other sector in the Polish economy with such an export growth. This way, the idea is coming true that farming and the agri-food sector is Poland’s great treasure.

I would like to thank all the people involved

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Laureates of Distinctions of Honour “Meritorious in Farming”

in this sector: farming, processing, slaughtering, trade, export, companies, agencies, institutions... Their operations have a major impact on the sector’s condition. Many thanks also to the media, so numerously represented at today’s congress, because they play a major role in informing the public about the qualities of Polish food, not only in Poland but also abroad, something I had many opportunities to find out.

The previous year was very successful, now we have some problems - problems we should talk about because they are important. They are primarily associated with African swine fever virus. There is no fault on the side of Poland (neither manufacturers nor farmers nor the administration bodies) here. But it is a phenomenon that the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development is most preoccupied with today. We make all attempts to best address it, which is not easy because there is no vaccine against ASF. Two infected wild pigs diagnosed with ASF in our country moved in from Belarus. These cases were recorded at a distance of up to 3 km from the border. The problem dates back to January 20. The first case of the virus was recorded in Lithuania that is within the European Union. Consequently, Russia put a ban

on imports of pork from the European Union. Now talks are underway to restore the imports. Yesterday I had discussions, today I spoke with Commissioner Tonio Borg, tomorrow I will be at a meeting in Brussels discussing the matter with Commissioner Dacian Ciolos. In fact some 80% of my efforts are currently aimed at solving problems related to ASF. Polish pork exports have also been suspended to China (its largest importer), Japan, and Korea. This is the biggest problem not only for agriculture, but for the whole Polish economy. And it is no longer a problem dealt with by the Ministry of Agriculture only. We have funds to take action, but still it is not easy because it cannot be solved in a day or a week. Fortunately, the two cases of infection have did not spread. Hundreds of pigs are constantly being examined in vulnerable areas. Representatives of the European Union and the World Organisation for Animal Health highly appreciate what we are doing to protect ourselves against ASF”.

The speech of Minister Kalemba was followed by a panel discussion. Those gathered in “Wzorcownia” hall discussed measures intended to promote agri-food exports and prospects for the development of this sector. ::

EXECUTIVE CLUB

European Executive Forum 2014 LEADERSHIP IN NEW REALITY 10 -11 April 2014 Sheraton Hotel, Warsaw

LEADERS OF: • BUSINESS – DANIEL VASELLA • SCIENCE – CHARLES HANDY • POLITICS – PAT COX

The challenges of modern leadership Top trends in management Place of Europe in the World

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Food Industry

Polish meat tradition Bożena Skarżyńska

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series of events linked by the motto “Easter – the Meat Holiday – Polish Tradition” has been successfully organised for over ten years. The Easter season abounds in events relating to Polish customs, and also promoting our home meat and its products. In the past, before the initiative gained its current shape, only countrywide cured-meat contests were organised in various categories under the auspices of the Association of Polish Butchers and Producers of Processed Meat (SRW RP). Since that time, the thematic scope of the events has been substantially expanded.

The project’s originators believe that during Lent, the concept of a meat-based diet gains in popularity. Of all Polish festivities, Easter is especially associated with meat. This tradition dates back to the times when Catholic Lents were strictly observed, and town and village populations celebrated Christ’s Ascension by consuming fatty and highlycalorific dishes believed to be sources of vital energy during the spring equinox.

In the 18th and 19th centuries, holiday tables could not do without ham, sausages and various types of meat and its products made from poultry, pork and beef. Following this tradition, and recognising the need to revitalise the key functions of the human organism after the winter period, for this year the SRW RP has also planned events of promotional and educational nature, under the “Easter – the Meat Holiday – Polish tradition” project.

Photos: Bożena Skarżyńska & the STAMPA Agency

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During the “Gardenia” Fair held in Poznań on 1 March, a campaign entitled “Stół Wielkanocny” (The Easter Table) was run, featuring a presentation of the traditional, Polish Easter table filled with holiday dishes, and with a special artistic and cuisine layout. Guests could take part in many contests, see entertainment shows and, of course, have a taste of Easter dainties.

The Poznań International Fair once again featured Cured-Meat Contests and Certifications for the traditional meat produce of the Wielkopolska region. The jury comprised experts from Poznań’s universities, and meatprocessing technologists. There was a separate board composed of consumers who, however, paid their main attention to the look and taste of the dishes. As assessed by Prof.

Włodzimierz Dolata, who presided over both committees, the products presented this year, carefully examined by the jury, could boast top quality and excellent taste, besides following traditional recipes. This time, several dozen exhibitors put 105 products on display, all of which received good or very good grades.

On 5 April, “Easter – the Meat Holiday – Polish Tradition” will arrive in the Old Market in Poznań, where, after the fashion of other promotional events organised there earlier by the same organisers, it will take the form of an art and cuisine show, held as a separate part of the Easter Fair. The Fair is being organised by the Poznań City Hall. This stage in the series will not only include a presentation of an Easter table filled with meat dishes, but

also performances, contests and workshops in filling traditional Easter baskets brought to church on Holy Saturday.

On the same day, 5 April, in the evening, one of the sports facilities on the Malta Lake in Poznań will host the annual meeting of breeders, manufacturers and traders from the meat industry. During this 6th meeting, the leading manufacturers of the Easter cured meat of the year 2014 will be announced.

Finally, to conclude this year’s series, 7 April is the planned date of an Easter briefing for foreign and Polish journalists. The conference will feature a holiday table laden with food, in addition to special entertainment attractions.

The whole event is to promote Polish meat and cured meat in the Easter menu in Poland and abroad, which, in the current situation, so difficult for Polish industry, is a major obligation of breeders and manufacturers, including the Association of Polish Butchers and Producers of Processed Meat.

To sum up, it’s worth adding that over the last few years the “Easter – the Meat Holiday – Polish Tradition” series has been financed from the Pork, Beef, and Poultry Promotional Fund. ::

of the institute of Physiology and Pathology of hearing

The World Hearing Center is a modern specialized hospital providing The Center provides its patients with the comprehensive medical care at the highest quality level in the fields of otolaryngology, diagnostics, conservative and surgical treatment and audiology, phoniatrics, rehabilitation and biomedical engineering, rehabilitation of: and the superbly equipped research, education and conference congenital and acquired malformations of the external, middle center conducting wide scale of research and educational activities and inner ear, addressed to specialists from Poland and other countries. The Center hearing, speech and balance disorders of different etiologies, is one of the leading medical institutions in the field of hearing disorders disorders of the mouth cavity, throat and larynx, treatment, running, among others, one of the largest hearing implant disorders of the nose and paranasal sinuses, programs in the world and performing 15,000 to 18,000 surgical sleep disorders. procedures yearly.

World Hearing Center: employs the team of highly qualified and experienced specialists, is a global leader in terms of the number of performed otorhihas the state of the art medical equipment and instrumentation, nolaryngological surgeries (about 60–70 daily – the highest number offers comfortable conditions of hospital stays, in the world in this specialty) and the number of outpatient uses the most modern telemedical solutions providing consultations (over 200 thousand consultations per year), remote consultations within the first in the world National is the place where the unique and highly specialized medical Network of Teleaudiology. procedures are performed performing, including reconstruction surgeries of congenital defects of outer ear, treatment of the The team of the Institute of Physiology and Pathology of Hearing profound and partial deafness with various hearing implants, and its individual employees are the winners of numerous phonosurgeries, endoscopic sinus surgeries using the image- international and national awards.

-guided surgery, and many others, Kajetany, 17 Mokra St., 05-830 Nadarzyn, Poland • sekretariat@ifps.org.pl • www.ifps.org.pl