Polish Market No.11 (264)/2017

P U B L I S H E D S I n c E 1 9 9 6 No. 11 (264) /2017 :: www.polishmarket.com.pl

“customers expect simple, fast and user-friendly solutions”

Pearls of the Polish economy ........................ higher education ........................ finance

Przemysław Kończal

President of the Board, santander Consumer Bank

Faculty of Management University of Warsaw

The world is changing fast We educate managers to be ready for the future We have highly praised international accreditations confirming the quality of education: CEEMAN, 5 PALMS, AMBA, AASBI We have the longest record of teaching Management in Poland We are No.1 in the national faculties of economics ranking We win in international rankings of business universities. The Eduniversal ranking: - Master's degree in Marketing – 1st place in Eastern Europe - Master’s degree studies in Finance and Accounting were ranked 2nd place in Eastern Europe - Master’s degree studies in Human Resource Management – 2nd place in Eastern Europe - Master’s degree in Business Consulting – 7th place in world ranking - GlobalMBA Studies – 2nd place in Eastern Europe - International Business Program (in English) – 3rd place in Eastern Europe - Executive MBA Studies – 2nd place in Eastern Europe

Our graduates are in a group of specialist which is most wanted by employers Our studies: BACHELOR AND MASTER (full-time, part-time) in fields of: - Management - Finance, Accounting and Insurance - International Business Program – Master’s studies in English DOCTORAL (full-time, part-time) - in management sciences - in economic sciences - in finances POSTGRADUATE (part-time) – over a dozen of courses www.wz.uw.edu.pl rekrutacja@wz.uw.edu.pl

Innovative commodity and energy capital group Enea Group is a vice-leader of the Polish power market as regards electricity generation. It manages the complete value chain on the electricity market: from fuel, through electricity generation, distribution, sales and customer service. It is responsible for safe supplies of energy to 2.5 mln customers.

Distribution network of the Group covers 20% of Poland. Thanks to it Enea supplies energy to residents of the western and northwestern part of the country. 15% of the electricity generated in the country comes from its power plants.

www.enea.pl/en

ONTENT

6. From The President’s Press Office 7. From The Government Information Centre

28.

PRZEMYSŁAW KOŃCZAL, President of Santander Consumer Bank: THE ABILITY TO FIND OUT WHAT CUSTOMERS NEED IS THE KEY TO SUCCESS

30. MAŁGORZATA SZTURMOWICZ, Idea Bank Board Member: OUR GUEST

8. BEATA SZYDŁO, Prime Minister of the Republic of Poland 10. STANISŁAW KARCZEWSKI, Speaker of the Senate:

POLAND A WESTERN COUNTRY WITH AN INSIGHT INTO THE EAST

THE MAIN FACTOR MOTIVATING WOMEN TO SET UP A BUSINESS IS AMBITION AND A SEARCH FOR SELF-FULFILMENT

31. PETER NIKLEWICZ, Warsaw Stock Exchange London

Representative: POLAND AWARDED DEVELOPED MARKET STATUS,

BY FTSE RUSSELL

32.

12. PROF. PIOTR GLIŃSKI, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister

KRZYSZTOF KALICKI, President of Deutsche Bank: COSTLY REGULATORY TSUNAMI

13. WITOLD WASZCZYKOWSKI, Minister of Foreign Affairs:

34. ENTREPRENEURSHIP AT ITS BEST 37. KAROLINA TOKARZ, President of the Management Board

of Culture and National Heritage POLAND BRAND

PEARLS OF THE POLISH ECONOMY 14. 15 Years of the Pearls of the Polish Economy 18. WALDEMAR DĄBROWSKI, Director of the Grand Theatre – The National Opera

19. PROF. MICHAŁ KLEIBER, Vice-President of the European

Academy of Sciences and Arts: PEARLS OF THE POLISH ECONOMY A WAY OF EFFECTIVELY PROMOTING POLISH ACHIEVEMENTS

20. PROF. HENRYK SKARŻYŃSKI, Director of The Institute of

Physiology and Pathology of Hearing: PEARLS OF THE POLISH ECONOMY AND HONORARY PEARLS - PROOF THAT OUR WORK AND ACHIEVEMENTS ARE RECOGNISED

21. PROF. LESZEK RAFALSKI, Chairman of the Main Council of the

Research Institutes, member of the Progress Award Committee: PEARL OF INNOVATION FOR THE BEST

22.

PROF. TOMASZ SZAPIRO, SGH Warsaw School of Economics: ON THE ABSURD AND PERFECTION

23. PROF. TOMASZ KUSZEWSKI, PROF. TOMASZ SZAPIRO:

THE BUSINESS SECTORS IN THE 15TH EDITION OF THE PEARLS OF THE POLISH ECONOMY RANKINGS

24.

RANKING OF THE PEARLS OF THE POLISH ECONOMY

and Managing Director, PROMAG S.A: TOWARDS THE DIGITISATION OF LOGISTICS

HIGHER EDUCATION 38. PROF. ALOJZY NOWAK, Dean of the Faculty of Management, University of Warsaw: POLAND’S NO.1

40. PROF. STANISŁAW MOCEK, Rector of Collegium Civitas University: INNOVATIVE TEACHING METHODS

41. AN ENGINEER IS THE MANAGER OF THE FUTURE INFRASTRUCTURE 42.

ROBERT WOLTER, Vice-President of the Board, Wizja Multimedia: WE ARE READY FOR NEW TRENDS

43. AGATA SITKO, Group AV: PASSION TURNED INTO PROJECTS 44. JAN FILIP STANIŁKO, deputy director, Department of

Innovation, Mininistry of Economic Development: INDUSTRY OF THE FUTURE PLATFORM IN POLAND IN 2018

46. DARIUSZ KRAWCZYK, Polnord President : TO CARRY OUT

OBJECTIVES, TO DEVELOP THE COMPANY, TO IMPROVE THE RESULTS

48. THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY TO FACE BIG CHALLENGES AS WORK ACCUMULATES IN THE COMING YEARS

52.

MIECZYSŁAW TWARÓG, President of the Board of the Association of Polish Exporters: POLISH EXPORTERS ASSOCIATION STRATEGY – ACTIVITIES AND RESULTS

MIEJSKIE ZAKLADY AUTOBUSOWE -a company with a green mission

WWW.MZA.WAW.PL

EVENTS 54. THE EUROPEAN SME CONGRESS LIBERATES THE BUSINESS SECTOR 56. NEVADA GOVERNOR VISITS BETAMED S.A. MEDICAL CENTRE 58. EUROPEAN BUSINESS CLUB POLAND GALA AWARD CEREMONY 2017 CULTURE

65. MACIEJ PROLIŃSKI: LONGING AND LOVE IN A NEW SONG BY STAN BORYS 66. MACIEJ PROLIŃSKI: THE STRENGTH OF POLISH FOOD INDUSTRY 70.

PAWEŁ KRAJMAS, President of the Board of the “Polish Ecology” Association: GOOD POLISH ORGANIC FOOD!

74. AGNIESZKA KRĘGLICKA, restaurateur: GOOD PRODUCT: EVERYONE’S A WINNER

60. CULTURAL MONITOR 62. TADEUSZ DESZKIEWICZ, President of Polskie Radio RDC (Radio dla Ciebie SA): RADIO STATION PROMOTING POLISH CULTURE

77. ECONOMIC MONITOR

64. PRZEMYSŁAW MROZOWSKI PH.D., Director of the Royal Castle in Warsaw: AN IDENTITYBUILDING SYMBOL FOR POLISH PEOPLE

Cover: PRZEMYSŁAW KOŃCZAL, PRESIDENT OF SANTANDER CONSUMER BANK Photos on issue: www.shutterstock.com

11/2017 Publisher: Oficyna Wydawnicza RYNEK POLSKI Sp. z o.o.

(RYNEK POLSKI Publishers Co. Ltd.) President: Krystyna Woźniak-Trzosek Vice - Presidents: Błażej Grabowski, Grażyna Jaskuła Address: ul. Elektoralna 13, 00-137 Warszawa, Poland Phone (+48 22) 620 31 42, 652 95 77 Fax (+48 22) 620 31 37 E-mail: info@polishmarket.com.pl

Writers/Editors: Maciej Proliński, Jan Sosna, Janusz Korzeń, Jerzy Bojanowicz, Andrzej Kazimierski, Janusz Turakiewicz Translation: Sylwia Wesołowska-Betkier, Agit, Rafał Kiepuszewski Contributors: Agnieszka Turakiewicz Graphic design: Godai Studio Agnieszka Charuba, Joanna Wiktoria Grabowska

Editor-in-Chief: Krystyna Woźniak-Trzosek

Sales: Phone (+48 22) 620 38 34, 654 95 77

Deputy Editor-in-Chief: Ewelina Janczylik-Foryś redakcja@polishmarket.com.pl Marcin Haber m.haber@polishmarket.com.pl

Marketing Manager: Magdalena Koprowicz m.koprowicz@polishmarket.com.pl

DTP: Godai Studio www.godai.pl Printing: Zakłady Graficzne TAURUS – Roszkowscy Sp. z o. o., www.drukarniataurus.pl Circulation: 8,000 Oficyna Wydawnicza RYNEK POLSKI Sp. z o.o.

Nr KRS 0000080385, Sąd Rejonowy dla m.st.

Warszawy XII Wydział Gospodarczy Kapitał zakładowy 80.000,- zł.

REGON 011915685, NIP 526-11-62-572 Published articles represent the authors’ personal views only. The Editor and Publisher disclaim any responsibility or liability for their contents. Unso-licited material will not be returned. The editors reserve the right to edit the material for length and content. The editors accept no responsibility what-soever for the content of advertising material.

Reproduction of any material from this magazine requires prior written permission from the Publisher.

Editorial

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

FOR THE FIFTEENTH TIME WE HAVE THE HONOUR OF PRESENTING THE PEARLS OF THE POLISH ECONOMY – AN ANNUAL RANKING OF THE MOST EFFICIENT POLISH COMPANIES. FOR THE TWELFTH TIME OUR PUBLISHING HOUSE IS AWARDING POLISH MARKET HONORARY PEARLS TO PROMINENT PERSONALITIES AND INSTITUTIONS WHO ARE POLAND’S AMBASSADORS IN THE AREA OF ECONOMY, SCIENCE, CULTURE, THE PROMOTION OF POLISH TRADITION AND NATIONAL HERITAGE AND SOCIAL VALUES. 15 years ago we struck up a partnership with research teams, first at the Polish Academy of Sciences, and then the SGH Warsaw School of Economics, to assess the efficiency of Poland’s largest companies. Models and computing procedures specially designed for this purpose have yielded rankings that attract the interest of the worlds of science, business, politics and media. Developed by the Department of Analysis and Support Systems of the Institute of Econometrics at the SGH Warsaw School of Economics, the latest method of compiling the ranking is based on the analysis of a company’s financial condition in four dimensions: financial liquidity, efficiency, profitability and indebtedness. The selection of indices enables the analysis of the company’s current situation (static analysis) and of the way in which the company makes use of available resources. Based on this assessment process, the ranking of companies is obtained.

To make the process objective, companies are divided into two groups: Grand Pearls with over PLN 1 billion of revenue and Large Pearls whose revenue is within the PLN 100 million – 1 billion bracket. They are further classified according to five sectors: food and agriculture, raw materials and processing industry, consumption – industrial sector and services. An additional procedure has also been introduced to pinpoint "Pearls of the financial sector" among the Pearls of the Polish Economy.

Among the many Polish economic rankings, the Pearls of the Polish Economy ranking has always occupied a special place. Instead of rating companies on the basis of a set of simple criteria (e.g. revenue size, capitalisation and number of workers), this particular ranking is focused on the best use of all available resources. Even though we have always been convinced that this is the right way to measure economic performance, in Poland’s present economic situation this form of analysis seems to hit the jackpot. Let us take a look at a few examples. Since the fall of communism in 1989, Polish business took it for granted that manpower would always be freely available. In fact, Poland became a net exporter of manpower. But this pool appears to have run dry. Polish companies are faced with the painful fact of labour shortages.

According to the global Grant Thornton study, 60% of large and medium-sized companies in Poland regard this as their number one stumbling block. Japanese firms are the only ones facing worse labour shortages (76%.) So unless companies increase work efficiency, at the macroeconomic level Poland can expect its inflation to spiral, interest rates to rise etc.

The same holds true about making use of capital, especially in terms of finances. Due to measures introduced in the wake of the global financial crisis, macroeconomic excess liquidity has not only made companies less keen to engage in non-financial investments but has also lowered investment efficiency criteria at the level of individual companies.

The conviction that the state will always provide a safety buffer has proved to be an illusion.

How are these phenomena reflected in the Pearls of the Polish Economy ranking? It does not just demonstrate that Poland’s remarkable economic progress, compared to other European countries, is the result of Polish companies’ ability to optimise their development to match available resources. It also indicates in what sectors of the economy these processes are the smoothest. Our ranking thus serves as a map which every businessman and investor will find useful.

This year’s ranking results will be made public at the Pearls of the Polish Economy Gala ceremony which will take place at the Great Assembly Hall of Warsaw’s Royal Castle on November 24. It will be attended by hundreds of representatives of the world of business, politics, science and culture. Honorary Pearl awards will also be presented at the gala event. Behind these awards lies the conviction that genuine business success cannot be achieved in isolation.

The chances of success grow and its effects become long-lasting only in a multidimensional community. This has been our conviction right from the first edition of "Polish Market" more than twenty years ago.

11/2017 polish market

5

President

THREE SEAS' GOALS IN LINE WITH EU'S GROWTH CONCEPT "The Three Seas initiative's goals that focus on infrastructure development and catching up with Western Europe go hand in hand with the EU's growth concept", Polish President Andrzej Duda said after a meeting with his Bulgarian counterpart on October 5.

Bulgarian President Rumen Radev was officially welcomed by the Polish Head of State at the Belvedere Palace in Warsaw earlier in the day.

At a press conference after the meeting, President Duda talked about cooperation between Poland and Bulgaria within the regional Three Seas infrastructure cooperation initiative. In this context, he referred to the initiative's July summit in Warsaw, with a guest appearance by US President Donald Trump.

"It was a very important event for us, the Polish people, but I hope also for Central Europe. I hope that as well as very good political cooperation in the future it will also translate into tangible infrastructural projects that can be carried out in our part of Europe", President Duda said.

"The key goal of the Three Seas initiative is to develop the infrastructure of Central and Eastern Europe ‘at an accelerated pace’ in order to ‘catch up with the western part of the EU as quickly as possible’," the President added.

"I believe this goal goes hand in hand with the general principle of EU growth, seen as the development of States that aims to ensure an equal level of infrastructure development and equal living standards", Mr Duda said.

The Polish Head of State also said that the future of the EU had been the main topic of his talks with President Radev. He added that Poland and Bulgaria shared "the same and unequivocal" stance on the migration crisis.

Both Presidents were present at the Polish-Bulgarian Economic Forum in Warsaw. President Duda stressed that the foreign expansion of Polish enterprises was a priority issue in his foreign policy, and pointed to broad prospects for closer cooperation between Poland and Bulgaria, especially in investment, infrastructure projects and innovation. He remarked, however, that this would require "deep change", especially as far as the elimination of transport hindrances was concerned. Mr Duda noted that in 2016 Bulgaria's economy had posted its first budget surplus since 2008, and a 3.5% growth rate, with unemployment down to 7%. He also mentioned the fast rise in Bulgarian exports to Poland, and recalled that in 2016 Polish-Bulgarian trade was 10% up on the previous year, topping EUR 1.5 billion.

Mr Radev appealed to Polish entrepreneurs to invest in Bulgaria and to cooperate with local companies. He stressed that his country had achieved economic stability in the preceding years and pointed out that, owing to its location, Bulgaria was not only a gateway to European markets, but also a door to Asian and African ones.

POLAND’S PRESIDENT MEETS THE PRESIDENT OF THE EBRD PRESIDENT AT THE ARRAIOLOS GROUP’S MEETING President Andrzej Duda attended a meeting of the leaders of 12 European countries affiliated with the Arraiolos Group in Malta on September 14 and 15. The President was accompanied by First Lady Agata Kornhauser-Duda.

In addition to Poland’s President, participants in the Arraiolos meeting included the Presidents of Malta, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Italy, Portugal, Latvia, Germany, Hungary and Finland. The meeting was closed to media coverage.

PRESIDENT: POLAND BACKS TURKEY'S EUROPEAN AMBITIONS "Poland has continued to support Turkey's EU bid, acknowledging the country's huge importance for European security," Polish President Andrzej Duda told a joint press conference with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Warsaw on October.

"Poland has continued to support Turkey's efforts to join the European Union, as Turkey has had these aspirations for

6 polish market

President Andrzej Duda and Suma Chakrabarti, President of the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development, met at the Presidential Palace in Warsaw on September 11.

Present at the meeting was also Paweł Mucha, Deputy Chief of the Office of the President of the Republic of Poland.

The EBRD is an international financial institution established in 1991 to support the development of a new political and economic order

in Central and Eastern Europe after the end of the Cold War. EBRD’s shareholders include 65 States, the European Union, and the European Investment Bank. Following EBRD’s expansion into Asia and Africa in recent years, 36 Member States now have beneficiary status. Poland is one of the leaders among these, in terms of the loans received from the EBRD. Over 25 years of its existence, the EBRD has committed a total of more than EUR 105 billion for 4,500 projects.

many years. I also talked very honestly with Mr President about this issue", President Duda said.

Mr Duda added that he had also spoken with Mr Erdogan about Turkey's internal situation "after the tragic, dramatic events, after the attempted coup that took place in Turkey last year".

"It was a very honest talk, a long talk with Mr President. I keep on stressing that I hoped Turkey's and the EU's paths would continue to lead in the same direction, and that membership, Turkey's full membership of the EU, would be the ultimate result of this common direction", President Duda said.

The Polish President recalled that Turkey's integration efforts had formally started in 1963, stressing the country's geopolitical, economic and military importance.

Prime Minister

PRIME MINISTER BEATA SZYDŁO: POLAND EXPECTS A COMPROMISE ON POSTED WORKERS "Poland is expecting a compromise on amendments to the Posted Workers’ Directive. Current proposals are unacceptable to us,” stated Beata Szydło, after a meeting on September 19 with Prime Minister of Estonia Jüri Ratas.

The Head of the Polish Government pointed out that she was expecting compromise solutions as far as the issues of migration and posted workers were concerned. “I have presented the Polish Government’s position. We are expecting a compromise. Poland will endeavour to achieve it. The EU Presidency’s will is to reach an agreement,” said the Prime Minister. She also added that the proposals in respect of posted workers were unacceptable.

The Prime Ministers of the two countries also discussed issues related to security which are of great importance to the region. “We expressed our views on the Zapad-2017 (West2017) military exercise, we talked about the threats related to cyber security, and we touched on the issue of the situation behind our eastern border and in the Baltic Sea region,” said Prime Minister Szydło. She also remarked that there was a need for very strong cooperation between Poland and the Baltic countries. Most of all, the region's security was the most important interest of the countries. As the Prime Minister said, she also talked with Mr Ratas on infrastructure, i.a. on Rail Baltica. “We arrived at the conclusion that this form of cooperation between Poland and the Baltic countries is of great significance, and we would like to continue our joint efforts as part of this project,” the Head of the Government added. Finally, she asserted that Estonia was a very important partner to Poland.

PRIME MINISTER BEATA SZYDŁO AT THE EC MEETING: FIRST WE NEED TO ADDRESS THE EU'S MOST PRESSING ISSUES, SUCH AS MIGRATION AND NORD STREAM 2 “The Polish Government stressed from the very beginning that it was crucial to strengthen the external European (EU) borders, and cooperate with third countries which are affected to the greatest extent by the problem of the migration wave,” said Prime Minister Beata Szydło during a two-day European Council meeting in Brussels (19-20 October).

The Head of the Government stated that one of the topics addressed during the talks was the European Union’s migration policy. " The meeting was an opportunity to discuss the advancement of implemented actions aimed at tightening the control on external borders,” said the Prime Minister.

According to Beata Szydło, changing the approach to the implementation of the migration policy has begun to produce the expected results, because everyone agreed that the external dimension had reduced the migration pressure.

“Further work on the investment project (Nord Stream 2 – ed.) has threatened the energy independence of the whole of Central and Eastern Europe, and has compromised the energy security of the region,” stressed Prime Minister Szydło. As she said, she called for accelerating legislative and legal work concerning the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline.

PRIME MINISTER BEATA SZYDŁO: THE JOINT POSITION OF WARSAW AND BUDAPEST ON SECURITY AND MIGRATION CRISIS MANAGEMENT

11/2017 polish market

Photos: premier.gov.pl

“I thanked the Prime Minister for a good and strong Hungarian Presidency within the Visegrád Group. It is a format of great significance to us. It provides an area of the closest cooperation possible in our part of Europe,” said Prime Minister Szydło, after a meeting with Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Orbán, who was on an official visit in Poland on September 22.

“The meeting was dedicated to discussing plans related to the EU agenda for the upcoming weeks and months. We also talked about the future of the Visegrád Group. We agreed that it was a format of great importance both to our countries and to our region,” said Prime Minister Szydło.

“Warsaw and Budapest confirmed a joint position on such key issues as security and ways of resolving the migrant crisis. The road which our Governments decided to take has turned out to be the right one. We acknowledge the rulings of European courts. However, in our actions we must be guided by the security of our citizens,” stressed the Head of the Polish Government. “We support the activities of the European Union for countries affected by the greatest migration pressure, and actions in respect of counteracting the original sources of migration,” she added.

Viktor Orbán said that the economic cooperation between Poland and Hungary was very successful, and would develop further. “We would like to initiate several large-scale Polish and Hungarian projects of high economic importance. The remaining V4 countries are welcome to join us,” said Mr Orbán.

The Head of the Hungarian Government stressed that Poland was one of the most successful European Union countries. He praised Poland for the good results achieved in the fields of the economy, culture and science. “It can be said that the European Union would be much poorer without Poland. Poland’s economic performance is the driving force for the entire Community,” he said. He pointed out that the European project would not have been so successful without our region.

7

Our Guest

LETTER TO THE ORGANIZERS AND PARTICIPANTS IN THE 15TH PEARLS OF THE POLISH ECONOMY GALA

Prime Minister of the Republic of Poland Warsaw, November 24, 2017 Ladies and Gentlemen, For fifteen years now "Polish Market", in partnership with scientists from the Warsaw School of Economics, has honoured Polish business leaders with the Pearls of the Polish Economy award. It is a true honour to join the select group of companies which record the best business results and whose activities are geared toward supporting home-grown economic potential and toward boosting the country’s prestige in international markets. May I ask all those assembled for the 15th Pearls of the Polish Economy Gala Ceremony, and especially those presented with awards during the event, to accept my words of respect and sincere congratulations.

I would like to thank entrepreneurs gathered at the Royal Castle for their share in our country’s economic success. The sum of energy you have put into its building is impressive. Without your creativity, determination and dynamism, the Polish economy would not develop just as rapidly and effectively. Without your involvement, its success would not translate into better living conditions for Polish people.

The activities of the award winners are not limited to the sphere of the economy. Getting involved in corporate social responsibility in the sphere of science, culture and the national heritage, you have embarked on a mission of ambassadors of supreme Polish values. May I extend to you my words of thanks for these activities.

Ladies and Gentlemen, we are all working for a common cause. We want Poland to be an economically strong, innovative country which successfully competes on world markets. I hope that we will head in this direction together. Without your support, without the participation of Polish entrepreneurs, which is key in this process, this goal cannot be achieved.

8 polish market

Let me convey my appreciation to the initiators of the award, the team of the "Polish Market" monthly. May I congratulate you on your longstanding endeavour in promoting Polish companies, products and services, which raises our country’s prestige in the world.

I would like to ask the Laureates of the Pearls of the Polish Economy awards to accept my compliments.

I wish to extend my greetings to all those gathered at the Royal Castle. I trust that our joint effort will strengthen the lasting and dynamic development of our country and that pride and satisfaction with the successes of our Homeland will be shared by all Poles.

Respectfully yours, Beata Szydło

Our Guest LIST DO ORGANIZATORÓW I UCZESTNIKÓW XV GALI PEREŁ POLSKIEJ GOSPODARKI

11/2017 polish market

9

Our Guest

POLAND

A WESTERN COUNTRY WITH AN INSIGHT INTO THE EAST STANISŁAW KARCZEWSKI, Speaker of the Senate Mr Speaker, during last year’s Pearls of the Polish Economy gala ceremony you spoke at length about how important it is to promote Poland abroad and how much Polish entrepreneurs are contributing to the country’s economic success. This hasn’t lost any of its topicality.

Poland’s promotion abroad and offering support to Polish entrepreneurs to help them use their ideas and initiatives to invest in foreign markets, is a key to this country’s success. The prestige of the Polish state enables entrepreneurs to win acclaim in foreign markets. A country’s prestige is built by its diplomacy. If Polish diplomacy is strong, it will be easier for us to strengthen our position on the international arena. To carry out their mission, Polish diplomats should talk to businessmen. They should create a good climate for Polish investment and the expansion of Polish entrepreneurs to new markets. Economic relations are an important area of present-day international relations, both on the bilateral and multilateral level. Economic diplomacy is a special kind of the state’s diplomatic activities. The Senate also has a role to play in it. When I travel on foreign visits, and when Polish senators do, economic co-operation is always on the agenda of our talks. Visits by Polish parliamentarians are often accompanied by business missions. This is a positive dimension where Politics and business meet.

Visions of diplomatic missions presented by candidates for the post of ambassador are assessed by the Senate Foreign PM

10 polish market

and European Affairs Committee also in terms of Poland’s economic promotion abroad.

As the Speaker of the Senate you feel responsible for the Polish diaspora also known as the Polonia. According to Poles living abroad, what needs to be done to promote Poland even better?

I feel responsible for Poles resident in the East and West.

That is why I am working for funding to be increased to take better care of them. If Parliament approves higher budget spending for this purpose, 33% more funding will be available amounting to a total sum of PLN 100 million. The Senate maintains links with Poles in the East and with the Polonia in the West. These are very different communities which have different needs we try to respond to. Poles in the Vilnius area (of Lithuania ed.) expect something different from us than Poles in Kazakhstan. The needs of the Polish Americans are still different. We adjust forms of support to respective needs. In all those places Poles are generally well perceived as those who make a contribution to the development of local societies. The better expatriate Poles fare abroad, the better for Poland as this enhances the country’s image beyond its borders. Meanwhile, Poland’s successes boost the image of expatriate Polish communities. Poles who live abroad must have a strong sense of national identity. This makes them feel confident in their PM

Our Guest

lives and affects their attitude toward their homeland.

Members of the Polish diaspora pointed to this fact themselves during consultations conducted by the Senate after funding for Polish communities abroad was transferred back to it from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Expatriate Polish organisations in the East and West highlighted the need for Poland to support broadly conceived Polish education in foreign countries: the teaching of the Polish language, courses, workshops, educational stays in Poland and the shaping of patriotic postures. The sense of belonging to a nation helps Poles abroad maintain their links with their homeland. Forging business relations strengthens these links even further. The Senate wishes to involve the Polish diaspora in events held in Poland. For two years now I have organised the Polonia Forum as part of the Economic Forum in Krynica. There Polish entrepreneurs, scientists and journalists living abroad have an opportunity to establish links with Polish business and the academic community.

They have a chance to be in a place where the key roads of business, culture and politics in this part of Europe cross.

The promotion of Poland in foreign countries is synonymous with the brand Poland programme. How can the potential of the Polish diaspora be used to enhance the implementation of the programme?

The brand Poland transforms Polish national values and historical experiences into economic success and boosts the country’s image. Poland is part of the West but it understands the East very well. Poles are dreamers but they make their dreams come true in a pragmatic way through diligent work. Faced by adversity and challenges they get mobilised and find innovative solutions. The dark days of subjugation by foreign powers and the bleakness of communism taught Poles to question the status quo and strive for change with optimism. Thanks to these national traits Poland can now be proud of its spirit of enterprise, its art and its sports records. That’s also the reason why Poles are successful abroad. These individual successes of expatriate Poles translate into Poland’s overall success. A number of Polish products are now symbols of good quality and excellent design in foreign markets. In the eyes of the world, we are no longer just coal and food exporters. We are increasingly becoming a normal country of the developed West.

These are our strengths. The brand Poland promotes them successfully. The Polish diaspora strengthens Poland’s image throughout the world. At the same time, the success of the brand Poland brings benefits to the Polish diaspora.

Our compatriots living abroad play an important role in the field of economic diplomacy, both by attracting foreign direct investment to Poland and facilitating access to foreign markets for Polish entrepreneurs. Expatriate Poles have direct business links to almost all markets of the world. They have the experience of working together with administration in their countries of residence. They are also familiar with the way to do business there. Polish entrepreneurs interested in developing their activities in foreign counties should first get in touch with our compatriots who already live there. This should make it easier for them to get started. I know that this is already happening. In turn, Polish entrepreneurs operating abroad should involve members

POLAND IS PART OF THE WEST BUT IT UNDERSTANDS THE EAST VERY WELL. POLES ARE DREAMERS BUT THEY MAKE THEIR DREAMS COME TRUE IN A PRAGMATIC WAY THROUGH DILIGENT WORK.

PM

of the local Polish diaspora. Working for a Polish company operating in a foreign country will surely boost the image of a Pole living abroad. The promotion of Poland and the brand Poland programme are inseparably tied together. It is worth stressing at every opportunity that the capabilities of Polish people are Poland’s greatest strength. That is why I believe that it is our duty to use the potential of the Polish diaspora to promote Poland. As the Speaker of the Senate I would like to invite Poles living in the East and West to come up with ideas regarding start-ups. These would be implemented under the "Made in Poland" logo.

Of late you have held a number of meetings with representatives of other countries, including the speaker of the Armenian Parliament, the parliamentary speaker of the Republic of Korea and the Turkish president. What’s the common denominator of these meetings?

Diplomacy is now pursued through different channels, including parliamentary channels. That’s the common denominator. Poland has interests in various countries. Parliament provides backing to state policies and makes sure that Poland’s voice is heard. Korea is a key trade partner, a leader in modern technologies. Relations with Korea are important for Poland’s modernisation programme. Now, next to the United States, France and Britain, Turkey is a NATO country which is strategically positioned in the region. Good relations with Turkey will help Europe settle the crucial problem of migrants, and work out a future model of the European Union. These are all vital issues. Poland’s interests require that they should be discussed through different channels. When it comes to Armenia, Poland has historic links with it which go back 650 years. In pre-WWII Poland the city of Lvov (now in Ukraine ed.) was the seat of the Armenian church. Now Poland intends to keep options open for Armenia to become integrated with EU in• stitutions.

PM

11/2017 polish market

11

Our Guest

PROF. PIOTR GLIŃSKI, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Culture and National Heritage Dear Laureates of the Pearls of the Polish Economy and Honorary Pearls awards, The promotion of the Polish market and Polish products is an activity that we all, as Poles, need these days and for which we are infinitely grateful to you. The commitment of those who undertake the difficult task to make Polish brands, and consequently brand Poland, well-known in the world is an excellent example of and inspiration for the patriotism that we greatly need, a patriotism which in this case manifests itself in the positivist principle of grassroots work. It is especially worth appreciating because it requires consistency, determination and hard work while at the same time often being quite unspectacular and facing many adversities. Each of you, laureates honoured at the 15th Pearls of the Polish Economy Gala, is living proof that this great positivist current in Polish patriotism, requiring daily commitment and hard, often arduous, work for common good, is not a kind of an ancient ideal, but still a valid point of reference complementing coherently the other great current in Polish patriotism – the romantic one.

We live in the times when the dogma, once unshakeable, that capital has no nationality has collapsed. It was a false dogma, but it had farreaching consequences. With the assertion that money was blind to national ties there was no particular reason to distinguish and emphasize the national component in business. This was coupled with another narrative – unfortunately not accidental and equally false - that Poland was too weak to strike out for self-reliance and successfully and sovereignly compete in the economic and cultural sphere, a narrative that Polishness should be diluted with Europeanness rather than strengthened.

This kind of unusual restraint, to say it mildly, towards the heritage of one’s own national community was the wall through which we had to break through with this pro-Polish and pro-community message. “Polish Market,” the organizers of the Pearls of the Polish Economy Gala, did just that – promoting for many years (this year’s Gala is already the 15th one) those who promote economy – and not economy in general, an enigmatic one, but the Polish economy. They understood that this attitude underlies our national interest in a broad sense.

The continuity and durability of the undertaking, which honours individuals and institution who deserve to be shown to the world and used to build the reputation of Polish-made products, merits special emphasis. The organizers of the Gala understand that business activity is an important, but not sole, component of an economy. To function efficiently and ensure as much prosperity to the citizens as possible, it needs close relations with native tradition, social and cultural values, and science.

To show appreciation to the people who build a positive image of Poland through their commitment in these spheres as well, the organizers award Honorary Pearls. This year’s Honorary Pearls laureates deserve exceptional respect because you work in the most difficult domains. It is usually difficult to translate your achievement into parameters, calculate a value added for it or assign measurable criteria to it. But it is not difficult to assert firmly that without your work Poland and Poles would have no other measurable and tangible values added. All of you do something great for us – you show to the world that Poland, a country with a fascinating history, great national tradition and very rich culture, is returning to the place given to it by the effort of the past generations who created this history, tradition and culture. This is the primal thing in relation to economy. An economy with such strong foundations has an open road to success.

12 polish market

Our Guest

POLAND BRAND WITOLD WASZCZYKOWSKI, Minister of Foreign Affairs

A

t a time of progressing globalisation, foreign policy is increasingly focusing on protecting Poland’s economic interests. We need to closely follow and actively participate in global initiatives that determine the development of global trade and capital investments.

The greater the role a state plays in international economic relations and the more attractive it becomes as an investment destination and a potential investor, the stronger its political standing is. Poland’s geographical location, which was a source of many problems and conflicts in the past, can and ought to be its asset. Geographically and culturally, Poland lies between the North and the South, the East and the West.

Successes in economic cooperation are due in no small measure to a country’s image.

A successful country is one that consistently builds its position by drawing on its accomplishments and whose citizens are dynamic, creative and working to generate its economic potential. Such country is seen as an attractive and reliable partner. The state has a natural duty to support economic interests where it plays the leading role, which applies to relations with other states. For this reason, the economy has become a priority area for the Polish diplomacy.

Our aim is to align the promotion of the Polish economy with many other aspects of foreign policy, such as consular policy, cooperation with the Polish community abroad

and development cooperation. We want to integrate these areas as much as possible and thus achieve synergy. This means that we should also work together with other ministries, business organisations and local governments, also as part of the local government and civic dimensions of our foreign policy.

We note with satisfaction the rising interest expressed by Polish companies in expanding to overseas markets, including markets that carry higher political and economic risks.

We are prepared to respond to this growing interest by intensifying our diplomatic efforts.

In this regard, our assistance in reaching out to partners from Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Latin America is of key importance. In this context, it is worth noting that the map of Polish diplomacy is also being rewritten in response to the changing international environment and the emergence of new challenges. We reopened our embassy in Senegal in 2016. This year, we opened our diplomatic missions in Tanzania and Panama, as well as consulates in Houston and Belfast. The Consulate General in Chengdu, China, another Polish mission in Asia, is now in the second year of its operation. We are planning to restore permanent diplomatic presence in the Philippines.

Many states resort to country branding, using or deliberately creating their country brands. The Inter-ministerial Group for Promoting Poland Abroad, an auxiliary body of the Council of Ministers, is tasked with developing a consistent concept of brand Poland to

be carried out in coordinated fashion by the state administration.

In July 2016, the Inter-ministerial Group for Promoting Poland Abroad established a Task Force for Brand Poland. The Task Force is composed of representatives of ministries and their subordinate units, as well as experts on promotion and branding and other fields. In October 2017, the Task Force adopted a document Brand Poland – Concept and recommended it to the Inter-ministerial Group for Promoting Poland Abroad for adoption.

This document and the Strategy for Responsible Development stipulate that state and local government administration at all levels and the institutions they oversee should carry out their promotional and marketing measures under one common sign – brand Poland while adhering to the same communication rules.

A new system of promoting the Polish economy is also being developed. The Polish Investment and Trade Agency S.A. is establishing its foreign trade offices to facilitate direct contacts between entrepreneurs (business to business - B2B). The Ministry supports these offices through its economic diplomacy efforts. We seek to ensure a better legal environment for business, to effectively protect the rights and interests of Polish companies abroad and to promote Poland as a reliable trade and investment partner.

You are welcome to contact us directly in Warsaw or through our diplomatic missions abroad.

• 11/2017 polish market

13

Pearls of the Polish Economy

15 PEARLS OF

YEARS OF THE

THE POLISH ECONOMY At the Pearls of the Polish Economy Gala at the Royal Castle in Warsaw on November 24, 2017, the results of the Pearls of the Polish Economy ranking will be announced for the fifteenth time. Its methodology was drawn up by economists from the SGH Warsaw School of Economics. For twelve years now, the announcement of the ranking’s results is accompanied by the Honorary Pearls award ceremony. The awards are granted to the most eminent personalities in the field of the economy, culture, science, social and patriotic values whose attainments, experience, prestige and integrity make them true ambassadors of Polish values. This ceremony is part and parcel of the mission "Polish Market" magazine has been consistently implementing for more than twenty years now by promoting Polish economy, science and culture all over the world.

14 polish market

"

Polish Market" magazine is a compendium of knowledge about this country, its economic capabilities and the wealth of its culture. The monthly has been published without interruption since 1996.

The measure of success of this unique project unmatched on the Polish publishing scene is the fact that it has won the confidence of and recognition within Polish and international business circles, diplomacy and those who professionally deal with business promotion at home and abroad. "Polish Market" works closely together with the Office of the President of the Republic of Poland, the Office of the Prime Minister, government ministries and agencies.

The mission of "Polish Market "is to promote brand Poland,

companies operating in the Polish market and their managers. The magazine is a guide to the Polish market, its investment opportunities and a source of information on the development of individual regions which foreign businessmen who already operate in Poland or are about to take the plunge find very useful. "Polish Market" also spotlights those who, through their work and commitment, build Poland’s positive image on the international arena.

"It is my great satisfaction that over all these years I have been able to share with you good news about the Polish economy, without sweeping the problems it had to face under the carpet. They say that economic growth largely depends on human potential. May I point out that "Polish Market" blazed the trail by announcing

Pearls of the Polish Economy the coming of the ‘Era of Man’. That is why for a number of years now we have been awarding the Honorary Pearl prize to outstandingly gifted people who build our history. Each year we also award prizes to companies which have proved themselves by being the most efficient and dynamic, and not just in terms of their high profits. After all, there are those companies which do not own factories and do not spend an awful lot, but which come up with some exceptionally innovative ideas. We are trying to be a firm like that, but we also grant awards to such firms, not just during our annual Pearls of the Polish Economy Gala, but also during other events organized by 'Polish Market’," Krystyna Woźniak– Trzosek, President of the Rynek Polski Publishing House and Editorin-Chief of "Polish Market" said at the publisher’s 15th anniversary gala ceremony held at Teatr Wielki - Polish National Opera in 2011. Her remarks are still valid six years on.

For the fifteenth time already, at this year’s gala ceremony the results of the Pearls of the Polish Economy ranking will be announced.

The event is organized by "Polish Market", while each Pearl is awarded on the basis of a questionnaire sent out to more than 2,000 of Poland’s largest companies. Until 2014 the replies were processed and the ranking was compiled by experts from the Institute of Economics of the Polish Academy of Sciences, based on a computerised method that enabled an objective appraisal of each company’s economic performance. As of 2014 the Pearls of the Polish Economy ranking has been drawn up using a method developed by the Department of Analysis and Support Systems of the Institute of Econometrics at the SGH Warsaw School of Economics. Successive rankings were compiled in 2015, 2016 and this year.

It is worth noting that the questionnaire companies are invited to fill in is free of charge, which highlights the impartiality and reliability of the ranking. It covers companies whose overall revenue coming from business operations in the previous year amounted to: at least PLN 100 million (Large Pearls) and over PLN 1 billion (Grand Pearls). An algorithm developed by scientists of SGH Warsaw School of Economics ranks companies with the use of international auditing indices. [Its methodology is presented separately in the latest edition of "Polish Market".] The announcement of the results of the ranking is one of the most important events in the Polish business calendar. The gala ceremony brings together political, business and academic elites along with representatives of the world of Polish culture.

For twelve years now the announcement of the winners of the Pearls of the Polish Economy ranking is accompanied by an award ceremony during which Honorary Pearls are presented to eminent personalities and institutions whose professional achievements, experience, prestige and integrity make them genuine ambassadors of supreme Polish values.

Many Poles still remember the times of communist propaganda, which painted a rosy picture of economic success, while in fact the country was nothing but Europe’s backwaters. Few Polish citizens at the time dared to be successful. We now live in a country where ambition, competition and success are appreciated both in private and professional lives, notably in business.

Honorary Pearls in the field of the economy are awarded precisely to those who are the most ambitious, competitive and successful.

Honorary Pearls in the field of science do not just celebrate the achievements of Poland’s greatest scientists who are now guiding lights for younger research workers. They also provide an opportunity to examine the conditions in which Polish science operates.

The arts, and notably music, are quite rightly described as the best showcases of Polish culture. The list of winners of Honorary Pearls in the field of culture shows that Polish artists are involved in a very fruitful dialogue with the outside world.

In the past few years Honorary Pearl awards went to Wiesław Rozłucki, Jan Kulczyk, Zygmunt Solorz-Żak, Mateusz Morawiecki, Michał Sołowow (business), Prof. Henryk Samsonowicz, Prof.

Maria Siemionow, Prof. Henryk Skarżyński, Prof. Jan Lubiński, Prof.

Mariusz Jaskólski (science), Wojciech Kilar, Małgorzata Walewska, Urszula Dudziak, Janusz Olejniczak, Włodek Pawlik (culture), Ryszard Kaczorowski, Jan Ołdakowski, Jerzy Koźmiński, cardinal Henryk Gulbinowicz (promotion of Polish tradition and patriotic values), Janina Ochojska, Jerzy Owsiak, Irena Koźmińska, Rafał Sonik (promotion of social values).

"Polish Market" has also awarded Special Honorary Pearls. The recipients were Sławomir Skrzypek, engineer, economist, Warsaw deputy Mayor 2002–2005, and President of the National Bank of Poland 2007–2010, who was tragically killed in the Smoleńsk air disaster in April 2010; Prof. Henryk Skarżyński, an eminent surgeon and trailblazing otolaryngologist who has developed innovative diagnostic and treatment methods for hearing disorders and rehabilitation; Prof. Jerzy Buzek, Solidarity trade union veteran and Polish Prime Minister 1997–2001, MEP since 2004, President of the European Parliament 2009 – 2012; Prof. Michał Kleiber, former President of the Polish Academy of Sciences, and as of 2017 President of The European Community on Computational Methods in Applies Sciences (ECCOMAS) and Waldemar Dąbrowski, Director of Teatr Wielki – Polish National Opera in Warsaw, who happens to embody the ideas behind all the Honorary Pearls, both in terms of culture, business, knowledge, sensitivity, patriotism and visionary thinking.

Because of its round anniversary, this year’s Pearls of the Polish Economy Gala ceremony promises to be quite exceptional. Over the years, the Honorary Pearls Chapter selected the award’s distinguished winners whose attainments and successes make brand Poland shine even brighter. This year, in consultation with some of the Honorary Pearl winners, the Board of the Rynek Polski Publishing House has decided to change the rules according to which persons and institutions are nominated for the prize. We invited the laureates to submit nominations for the award. In the field of the economy, the title of the Honorary Pearl 2017 goes to Pearl award winners that have participated in the ranking for the past fifteen years, invariably placing high on the list. That is why this year’s Honorary Pearl awards go to KGHM Polska Miedź S.A., BSH Sprzęt Gospodarstwa Domowego Sp. z o.o., Cyfrowy Polsat S.A., Mondi Świecie S.A., Budimex S.A., PKN Orlen S.A. and Lotos Group.

"Polish Market" will present all the winners in a special edition of the magazine which will be published after the gala ceremony.

•

11/2017 polish market

15

THE WINNERS OF THE RANKING 2002-2016

Fifteen years ago Krystyna Woźniak- Trzosek,

editor-in-chief of “Polish Market,” initiated cooperation between the monthly and scientists – professors of economics. The result is research into the condition of Polish enterprises published in the form of the Pearls of the Polish Economy ranking. The Pearl of the Polish Economy title is granted on the basis of the special criteria and methodology developed by scientists of the Decision Support and Analysis Unit at the Institute of Econometrics Warsaw School of Economics. For a company to take part in the ranking, it has to generate annual sales of at least PLN100 million (Large Pearls), or over PLN1 billion (Grand Pearls). The first Gala of the Pearls of the Polish Economy was held during the Economic Forum in Krynica Zdrój. Since 2005 the Pearls of the Polish Economy Galas, organized by the English-language economic magazine “Polish Market,” have been held at Warsaw’s Royal Castle.

Laureates of the Pearls of the Polish Economy

2004 2006

Laureates of the Pearls of the Polish Economy

2012 Laureates of the Pearls of the Polish Economy

2015

Laureates of the Pearls of the Polish Economy and Honorary Pearls

2016

Winners of the Large Pearls. From left: Katarzyna Rutkowska, Krystyna Woźniak-Trzosek (Polish Market), Janusz Steinhoff, Prof. Marek Rocki (Rector of SGH), Stanisław Karczewski(Speaker of the Senate), Marek Kiersznicki and Dariusz Bobko

Winners of the Grand Pearls. From left: Krystyna Woźniak-Trzosek, Janusz Steinhoff, prof. Marek Rocki, Stanisław Karczewski, Ewa Kryj,Jarosław Tyc, Andrzej Szary

Winners of Pearls for Financial Services. From left: Krystyna Woźniak-Trzosek, Janusz Steinhoff, prof. Marek Rocki, Stanisław Karczewski, Łukasz Kalinowski, Arkadiusz Przybył

Pearls of the Polish Economy

WALDEMAR DĄBROWSKI, Director of Teatr Wielki – Polish National Opera This is already the fifteenth time "Polish Market" has awarded distinctions to those who contribute in a unique way to the contemporary landscape of Poland by encouraging its growth and marked presence in today's world.

While always a form of recognition, an award is also an excellent way to draw everyone’s attention to a person, institution or initiative, in order to stress their qualities, or to present them as a source of inspiration. This is because the essence of any activities undertaken around a concept which goes beyond one's self-interest is encapsulated in their positive impact on economic, social, or cultural life…

The visionaries of business are those who not only multiply a company's assets, but are also able to inspire other talents, become a role model for the next generation, promote the development of individuals or whole regions – in short, those who truly understand the mechanism behind the shaping and synergising of talents.

The idea for this Award, and I find this especially important, is also inclusive of people not affiliated with business or economic life as such. The Honorary Pearls of the Polish Economy go to those who, crossing the borders of science, medicine and art, not only co-create a positive image of Poland, but also work towards developing a chain which is indispensable for this image, and which links together material and spiritual values that complement and reinforce one another.

To me, as Director of the National Opera, who has had the honour of receiving this prestigious distinction myself, the Pearls awarded to people of culture are very special, in that culture constitutes an inalienable part of the national identity, an element which, as Poland’s history has frequently shown, becomes the strength of the Nation, not (only) during periods of prosperity, but perhaps mostly in times of crisis; it is the element which helps us survive, keeps us united, and preserves our traditions to be built on by future generations. It is also our most important – and most beautiful – characteristic that determines our individuality in a world of ever-intensifying globalisation.

We remember and think about it especially as we are about to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Poland’s independence.

It is not by accident that the title Pearl of the Polish Economy evokes the image of a charismatic decoration, eagerly sought after by the noblest, and one which receives special recognition and never ceases to amaze us. This award expresses recognition for the beauty of an idea, concept, vision, and, finally, a work of art, which can come in the form of both an artistic creation and a phenomenal managerial thought.

Let me congratulate this year’s winners on being so successful, and wish them promising outlooks for the future. I would also like to congratulate the "Polish Market" monthly - for which this is the 20th anniversary this year – on two decades of strong presence in the Polish economic, social, and political sphere, and the effective promotion of our country's image. Thank you for all your good work. I am certain there is a wonderful time ahead for you.

18 polish market

Pearls of the Polish Economy

PEARLS OF THE POLISH ECONOMY

A WAY OF EFFECTIVELY PROMOTING POLISH ACHIEVEMENTS PROF. MICHAŁ KLEIBER, Vice-President of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts

T

he numerous initiatives aimed at promoting Poland abroad include actions which have successfully contributed to this mission, which is extremely important to our future, by promoting our economy, culture and science, based on the best practices in this field. The "Polish Market" magazine, which has been creating a positive image of Poland worldwide for over 20 years, is one of such elements in Polish promotional initiatives. One of the activities of "Polish Market’s" editorial staff which is particularly worth noting and deserves appreciation is the Pearls of the Polish Economy Gala, organised every year at the Royal Castle in Warsaw since 2002, during which the results of the prestigious ranking of the best Polish companies are announced. The ranking does not involve any costs for the entities applying for this prestigious title. There are also no hidden costs for further promotional activities run by the companies when using the logo publicising the distinction.

Various achievements by our companies are evaluated, including the amount of revenue, efficiency, growth and good financial standing. The choice of indicators facilitates a comprehensive analysis of both the current situation of the company and its development prospects, and each of the considered aspects is based on numerous strictly defined indicators. The assessment is carried out on the basis of questionnaires, and the position in the ranking depends only on the calculated values of economic indicators. The credibility of the adopted competition procedure makes the Pearls of the Polish Economy a distinction which is highly respected by entrepreneurs, and the Gala has become a prestigious event which has gained popularity in the worlds of business, culture and science.

The Pearl Galas are also accompanied by the award ceremony for "Polish Market’s" Honorary Pearls granted by a special Committee to the most outstanding individuals and institutions operating in the fields of economy, science and culture, and promoting patriotic and social values, whose achievements make them true ambassadors of our country.

By publishing the ranking results in "Polish Market", information on the winners reaches a substantial group of the magazine’s readers. The list of "Polish Market" subscribers includes Polish embassies and their Trade and Investment Promotion Sections, members of the Government and Government agencies responsible for promoting Poland internationally, industrial and commercial chambers, trade-fair organisers, and the most important government agencies, economic associations, and research institutes. "Polish Market" has accompanied Polish delegations during numerous events concerning the key international interests of our country, such as Poland's admission to NATO, the negotiations on Poland's accession to the European Union, sessions of the European Council, and various meetings during the Polish EU Presidency. The magazine has been presented during “Polish Days” in various European countries; since 1998, it has been engaging in the promotion of our country in all World EXPO events and international COP Climate Conferences.

In taking the opportunity presented by the 15th edition of the Pearls of the Polish Economy ranking, I would like to thank all those involved in this extremely valuable initiative for their determined work, and wish for further successful actions in the field of the consistent promotion of Polish success stories, with a particular attention to honouring our best entrepreneurs’ achievements, which are of great significance to the future of our country.

• 11/2017 polish market

19

Pearls of the Polish Economy

PEARLS OF THE POLISH ECONOMY AND HONORARY PEARLS - PROOF THAT OUR WORK AND ACHIEVEMENTS ARE RECOGNISED PROF. HENRYK SKARŻYŃSKI, Director of The Institute of Physiology and Pathology of Hearing

I

t is a great distinction for me to receive a Special Honorary Pearl, and to join the renowned awardees, exemplified by Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, Professor Jerzy Buzek, Professor Michał Kleiber and Rev. Cardinal Stanisław Dziwisz. This award is a source of pride for me, and proof that our work and achievements are recognised by various communities. When, 25 years ago, in 1992, we applied a cochlear implant for the first time in Poland, and in this part of Europe, enabling a deaf person to enter the world of sound, our achievement had a great resonance in the media. Then I realised the gravity of the issue we had raised and the hopes that surged because of that. Today, in the World Hearing Centre in Kajetany, we perform

approximately 60-70 hearing-improving surgeries per day, the biggest number in the world. Within the last 20 years I have implemented over 150 various new medical technologies, original clinical solutions, which have formed the basis of “the Polish method” in the global science.

I would like to sincerely thank the Jury for this award, and also for recognising the massive scale of the issue, with a growing number of people experiencing various problems with hearing, which is the basis of interpersonal communication in contemporary society. Our current position in science and medicine makes it possible for Polish patients to be among the first in the world to benefit from cutting• edge technologies.

Prof. Henryk Skarżyński, Waldemar Dąbrowski and Prof. Michał Kleiber, laureates of the Special Honorary Pearls

20 polish market

Pearls of the Polish Economy

PEARL

OF INNOVATION

FOR THE BEST

PROF. LESZEK RAFALSKI, Chairman of the Main Council of the Research Institutes, member of the Progress Award Committee, talks to Dorota Jarocka.

The Progress - Pearls of Innovation awards will be granted for the seventh time as part of the annual Pearls of the Polish Economy ranking. What is so unique about the Pearls of Innovation award?

The award is granted for talent, creativity and research passion, without which there would be no new technologies or innovative solutions ready to be applied in the Polish economy. Pearls of Innovation go to institutions, research units and individual inventors whose work, research and innovative solutions have an impact on the quality of every person’s life because they are applied in environmental protection, health care, transport, security and safety, and other spheres. The award is conducive to promoting and popularizing innovative activity in the economy. It points to an inextricable relationship between science and business and the need for them to work together.

PM

What factors determine the success of innovative undertakings?

In my view, the biggest asset of a business or research unit is human capital. It is people who are the most important basis for innovation. Their ingenuity, talents and passion are the underlying factors behind success. Good cooperation between the scientific community and business is very important because it determines the final result in the form of developing, implementing and applying innovations on the market. Of course, success also depends to a large extent on the financial resources available for projects carried out by scientists. Scientific potential alone is not enough - it is also necessary for the state and businesses to increase financial outlays on science and research.

PM

PM

You have mentioned good cooperation between science and business as a factor

behind the success of innovative projects.

What is this cooperation like at present?

Today, scientists are well aware that they need business for their inventions to see the light of day. And entrepreneurs know that they will be competitive on the market only if the solutions they propose incorporate innovations discovered in the process of scientific research. Cooperation between science and business should involve presenting each other’s expectations and capabilities and learning from each other. Only then can a truly innovative environment be created.

In Poland one can notice measures taken which have a positive impact on the development of this cooperation. A good example is the law on support for innovation. It makes it possible to classify costs of research and development activity as tax deductible expenses for the purpose of income tax. This concerns both scientific research and development work, irrespective of their outcome.

It is a very favourable provision because research on new solutions often involves risk for both researchers and businesses. Another measure taken to support the development of enterprise and innovation is the Constitution for Business, a legislative package designed to thoroughly reform economic law. It is to come into force in 2018.

The winners of the Pearl of Innovation award prove that Poland has many talented and creative scientists whose innovative solutions find application in the economy.

Meanwhile, our country still lags behind other European countries in innovation league tables.

One should remember that a country’s innovation performance depends on many factors, like for example the level of state funding PM

for research. It should also be stressed that what is important in the case of many sectors is introducing not so much innovative solutions as less obsolete ways of production.

If we implement ready solutions and improve them we are also innovative.

I represent 114 research institutes which conduct scientific research to make the Polish economy more innovative. The institutes employ 13% of Polish researchers, but are responsible for 34% of the scientific achievements of all scientific units in Poland and 84% of practical applications of their research findings. This shows that the research institutes are highly efficient in the process of conducting scientific research and implementing new solutions.

If one looks at the research work carried out in laboratories of our institutes and at the inventions, solutions and improvements to existing materials and technologies one has the impression that things are not that bad when it comes to Poland’s creative potential leading to an improvement in innovation performance.

What should be done to make the situation even better?

Contemporary research achievements are rarely a product of an individual genius. In most cases, they are a result of joint work by a group of specialists and research teams.

This is why at the earliest stage of education – in the kindergarten and elementary school we should teach children innovative thinking oriented at team work, effective communication, creativity and shaping thinking horizons. At present, young people should be aware that innovation is a necessary thing due to omnipresent competition. This, in turn, requires some flexibility and adapting oneself to changes taking place in the surrounding • world.

PM

11/2017 polish market

21

Pearls of the Polish Economy

ON THE ABSURD AND PERFECTION PROF. TOMASZ SZAPIRO, SGH Warsaw School of Economics

W

henever I think about rankings, a volume of surreal satire entitled "In the Fumes of Absurdity", written by Julian Tuwim and Antoni Słonimski some one hundred years ago, comes to mind. This association might seem far-fetched. But inside this volume you will find an Alphabetical Index of Days of the Week, Months and Seasons. According to the index, which comes in the form of a ranking, autumn precedes spring and summer, which is followed by winter. The alphabetic order of the seasons based on the letter each word starts with is indeed absurd compared with reality. Equally absurd is the alphabetical order of the numbers one, three and two.

Makes you think, doesn’t it? Order within a set of elements depends on the criterion you pick. In other words, you can arrange the elements very differently based on different criteria. Compared to reality, a seemingly correct formal order may turn out to be absurd.

Two other things come to mind. One is a nagging question whether rankings make sense at all, and who or what purpose they serve. Now, if you assume that compiling a ranking does make sense, the question remains how to compile it to prevent surreal humour from creeping in?

The first question – what rankings are for can be answered indirectly. Apparently they

22 polish market

must be of some use since there are so many of them around. After all, before we make a decision, we do check which spot in various rankings a particular school, university, company, bank, marketing agency, and finally a product occupies, whether it is a cosmetic product or a credit card. Entire countries, their economies and their football teams are neatly ordered in one ranking or another. Of course, it is not difficult to arrive at a direct answer either but it seems to be complicated and tiresome to read. So for the time being, let us put it aside, or rather include it in our answer to the second question. And that is how not to end up with absurd results. We face that risk when – lacking insight into a particular field – we fail to cope with an uncertain future and the complexity of processes we can and should understand to be able to take the right decisions.

For non-specialists, one answer is to consult a rating, an orderly list of groups which has been pre-arranged for us. Intuitively, a rating can be illustrated as a podium in a volleyball match. Teams standing on the podium are arranged according to the colour of their medals, i.e. their place on the podium. But within particular teams, no additional order is imposed. Similarly, when all that matters is that we want to buy semiskimmed milk, we do not pay attention to how much it costs, who produced it and what

packaging it comes in. This often happens in practice. Firms are grouped in line with earlier defined standards of reliability and professionalism. In this case, companies do not compete against each other, but they are measured against the standard of perfection.

Increasingly, only experts are able to compare and communicate to the general public their assessments of the mission of individual companies, their international orientation, inventiveness, details of production processes, hidden costs, the way they meet customers’ needs and their ability to respond to economic crises and breakthroughs. Unfortunately, the lingo used by experts is often hermetic, so various specialist rankings tend to baffle the general public. That is we tend to compare rankings, or rather the institutions that compile them.

A professionally compiled ranking is a win-win proposition. The consumer and the investor is able to minimise risk and uncertainty. Companies either have their image boosted, or receive an impartial signal that some things need improving. The signal points to the general area where corrections need to be made. Companies also receive strategically vital information about positioning. The media play their part responding to the needs of their audiences and readers, which also translates into market success.

•

Pearls of the Polish Economy

THE BUSINESS SECTORS IN THE 15TH EDITION OF THE PEARLS OF THE POLISH ECONOMY RANKINGS PROF. TOMASZ KUSZEWSKI, PROF. TOMASZ SZAPIRO

A

rating is an evaluation of companies in terms of their management quality. Companies were assigned to one of 4 rating groups – Master, Professional, Standard, or Promising. This assignment was based on the threshold values of certain indices describing various aspects of their business performance. These indices were then used to develop company rankings within each rating group. For instance, if the company’s performance were assessed as above the highest threshold for a specific aspect of its business management, the company was assigned to the highest rating class, or Master Class, for that aspect of management. The ranking was developed on the basis of final index values. As a result of this procedure, performed for each sector and rating class, companies were assigned numbers on the ranking list. The associated methodology was as follows.

1. A candidate for the Pearls of the Polish Economy ranking is a company based in Poland. The ranking focuses on companies’ business performance in 2016, or in the financial year ending after 30 June 2016.

2. The qualification procedure for the Grand Pearls category compares the performance of companies whose net sales in the financial year (preceding the ranking date) were at least PLN1 billion. The Large Pearls category compares companies whose net sales were more than PLN100 million.

3. Companies which qualified for the ranking are further sub-divided into management sectors, based on the Polish Classification of Activities. Companies are assigned to specific sectors on the basis of their declarations on their so-called core business. The sectors include: - Food & Agriculture

- Raw Materials & Industry - Consumption & Industry - Finance - Services 4. The classification of companies relies on the analysis of performance indicators which describe the financial standing of companies in relation to four aspects, namely Financial Liquidity, Business Efficiency, Profitability, and Debt. These indicators facilitate the assessment of the current situation of each company (statistical analysis), their growth prospects in the immediate future (dynamic analysis), and the use of their available resources. The evaluation of each business performance aspect is based on the consolidation of multiple indicators. Therefore, the procedure first produces consolidated (partial) indicators which measure each business performance aspect, and then uses these to calculate the final rating.

5. The ratings and rankings in each sector include the companies whose performance (reporting categories) in the financial year, taken into consideration when developing indicators which are the basis for calculating consolidated indices, is not lower than 10% of the average performance in that reporting category, as computed for all companies admitted to the qualification procedure for a given sector.

6. The ratings of companies in each sector are given when a minimum, or threshold, number of companies per sector is achieved.

The rankings of companies in each sector and rating class are given when a minimum, or threshold, number of companies per rating class, is achieved.

In 2014, the “Pearls of the Polish Economy” ranking was carried out on the basis of a method developed by scholars from the Decision Analysis and Support Department of

the Institute of Econometrics at the SGH Warsaw School of Economics. Subsequent rankings took place in 2015 and 2016. Observations made during those three years facilitate the first recap. It is not easy, however. The rules adopted by the editorial office of the "Polish Market" monthly state that companies register for the ranking voluntarily, and complete a special survey. As a result, different groups of companies competed in the 20142016 rankings. Moreover, the Grand Pearls and Large Pearls rankings do not differentiate between companies with regard to their business sectors. The third ranking is a list of companies from the financial services sector, but it includes only banks and insurance companies. Therefore, the ranking results must not be used for the standard analyses of candidate companies in relation to their business growth rates and management efficiency, because the data for the consecutive years are not uniform.

However, the first 10 companies in 20142016 rankings can be subject to interpretation. If a company has been ranked on top over a three-year period, this can be clearly interpreted as a remarkable achievement in terms of its growth rate and management efficiency. In the Grand Pearls ranking, such companies include Miejskie Przedsiębiorstwo Wodociągów i Kanalizacji w m.st. Warszawie S.A. (the municipal water and sewerage company in Warsaw). In the Large Pearls ranking, the Top Ten include AC joint-stock companies and Zarząd Morskiego Portu Gdynia (the Gdynia seaport administration) and ADECCO Poland sp. z o.o. In the financial services sector, the ranking leaders over the whole analysed period have been Metlife TU na Życie i Reasekuracji S.A., Santander Consumer Bank S.A., Bank Zachodni WBK S.A., and Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego.

• 11/2017 polish market

23

grand peARLS

Higher Education

24 polish market

peARLS No.

Name of company

Score

1

ORLEN POŁUDNIE S.A.

98

2

NOWA ITAKA SP. Z O.O.

95

3

TOTALIZATOR SPORTOWY SP. Z O.O.

94

4

ORLEN PALIWA SP. Z O.O.

93

5

KOLPORTER SP. Z O.O. SP.K.

91

6

ASSECO POLAND S.A.

90

7

GRUPA BUDIMEX

86

7

RONAL POLSKA SP. Z O.O.

86

8

BRENNTAG POLSKA SP. Z O.O.

78

9

KRAJOWA SPÓŁKA CUKROWA S.A.

73

9

GRUPA KAPITAŁOWA PCC ROKITA

73

10

GRUPA KAPITAŁOWA CCC S.A.

72

11

GRUPA ALUMETAL

71

11

VOLKSWAGEN MOTOR POLSKA SP. Z O.O.

71

12

MONDI ŚWIECIE S.A.

70

13

GRUPA CAN-PACK S.A.

67

14

ANWIM S.A.

63

14

GRUPA KAPITAŁOWA KGHM POLSKA MIEDŹ S.A.

63

15

GRUPA KAPITAŁOWA AB S.A.

62

16

AMICA S.A.

59

16

GRUPA KAPITAŁOWA SPECJAŁ

59

16

SITECH SP. Z O.O.

59

17

CNH INDUSTRIAL POLSKA SP. Z O.O.

58

18

BSH SPRZĘT GOSPODARSTWA DOMOWEGO SP. Z O.O.

56

18

ROBERT BOSCH SP. Z O.O.

56

19

GRUPA KAPITAŁOWA LOTOS S.A.

55

19

OPERATOR GAZOCIĄGÓW PRZESYŁOWYCH GAZ-SYSTEM S.A.

55

20

GRUPA MLEKOVITA

54

20

ORANGE POLSKA

54

21

GRUPA KAPITAŁOWA COMARCH

53

21

FAURECIA WAŁBRZYCH S.A.

53

21

IMPEL S.A.

53

22

FCA POLAND S.A.

52

22

MIEJSKIE PRZEDSIĘBIORSTWO WODOCIĄGÓW I KANALIZACJI W M.ST. WARSZAWIE S.A.

52

23

GRUPA PSB HANDEL S.A.

51

24

ELEKTROBUDOWA S.A.

50

24

LUBELSKI WĘGIEL BOGDANKA S.A.

50

25

ENEA S.A.

49

25

SPÓŁDZIELNIA MLECZARSKA MLEKPOL

49

26

NEXTEER AUTOMOTIVE POLAND SP. Z O.O.

48

27

GRUPA KAPITAŁOWA CYFROWY POLSAT S.A.

47

27

GRUPA KAPITAŁOWA KONSORCJUM STALI S.A.

47

27

TRW POLSKA SP. Z O.O.

47

28

HURTAP S.A.

46

28

PHUP GNIEZNO SP. Z O.O. HURTOWNIA SP.K.

46

28

UNIBEP S.A.

46

29

AGORA S.A.

43

29

FIRMA OPONIARSKA DĘBICA S.A.

43

30

GRUPA KAPITAŁOWA COGNOR

40

31

GRUPA KAPITAŁOWA PELION S.A.

39

32

OSADKOWSKI S.A.

38

33

JASTRZĘBSKA SPÓŁKA WĘGLOWA S.A.

35

34

FLEXTRONICS INTERNATIONAL POLAND SP. Z O.O.

33

35

INNOGY POLSKA S.A.

32

36

GRUPA KAPITAŁOWA KGHM METRACO S.A.

30

Higher Education

No.

POLISH ECONOMY

Name of company

Score

1

TRASKO-INWEST SP. Z O.O.

145

2

AC S.A.

136

3

PETRAX SP. Z O.O.

121

4

WIELTON S.A.

101

5

GRUPA CIECH

96

6

ADECCO POLAND SP. Z O.O.

87

7

ZARZĄD MORSKIEGO PORTU GDYNIA S.A.

83

8

HOCHLAND POLSKA SP. Z O.O.

82

9

ATAL S.A.

79

9

WAWEL S.A.

79

10

HOCHTIEF POLSKA S.A.

77

11

FAURECIA GORZÓW S.A.

73

12

EKO-OKNA S.A.

71

13

SBS SP. Z O.O.

69

14

PROMAG S.A.

67

15

FAURECIA LEGNICA S.A.

66

16

FABRYKA FARB I LAKIERÓW ŚNIEŻKA S.A.

64

16

LEASINGTEAM GROUP

64

17

AMS S.A.

63

18

GRUPA KAPITAŁOWA NOVOL SP. Z O.O.

62

19

SERWISTAL SP. Z O.O.

61

20

BOWIM S.A.

59

20

GRUPA KAPITAŁOWA BOWIM

59

21

ROBYG S.A.

58

22

GRUPA KAPITAŁOWA APATOR S.A.

57

22

INTERKADRA SP. Z O.O.

57

23

GRUPA GPEC

55

23

LERG S.A.

55

23

POLSKI HOLDING NIERUCHOMOŚCI S.A.

55

24

FAURECIA AUTOMOTIVE POLSKA S.A.

54

24

LUVENA S.A.

54

24

PRZEDSIĘBIORSTWO HANDLOWE A-T S.A.

54

25

GRUPA KAPITAŁOWA ERGIS

51

25

RAFAKO S.A.

51

26

MIEJSKIE PRZEDSIĘBIORSTWO WODOCIĄGÓW I KANALIZACJI S.A. W KRAKOWIE

50

27

AMPLUS SP. Z O.O.

49

27

KORPORACJA BUDOWLANA DORACO SP. Z O.O.

49

27

MIEJSKIE ZAKŁADY AUTOBUSOWE SP. Z O.O.

49

27

PCC EXOL S.A.

49

27

ZAKŁADY MAGNEZYTOWE ROPCZYCE S.A.

49

28

SELENA FM S.A.

48

29

SPOŁEM POWSZECHNA SPÓŁDZIELNIA SPOŻYWCÓW W KIELCACH

46

29

GEFCO POLSKA SP. Z O.O.

46

29

GRUPA KAPITAŁOWA MOSTOSTAL ZABRZE HOLDING S.A.

46

30

INSTAL KRAKÓW S.A.

44

31

EUROPEJSKI FUNDUSZ LEASINGOWY S.A.

43

31

INTROL S.A.

43

32

SPÓŁDZIELCZA MLECZARNIA SPOMLEK

42

33

PRZEDSIĘBIORSTWO BUDOWY KOPALŃ PEBEKA S.A.

41

34

PRZEDSIĘBIORSTWO WIELOBRANŻOWE EBUD - PRZEMYSŁÓWKA SP. Z O.O.

40

35

KOLEJE MAZOWIECKIE - KM SP. Z O.O.

36

35

PRONAR SP. Z O.O.

36

36

ZUE S.A.

34

large peARLS

of the

11/2017 polish market

25

Financial SeRviceS

Higher Education

No.

Name of company

Score

SANTANDER CONSUMER BANK S.A.

268

1

BANK ZACHODNI WBK S.A.

268

2

RAIFFEISEN BANK POLSKA S.A.

267

3

AVIVA TOWARZYSTWO UBEZPIECZEŃ NA ŻYCIE S.A.

263

4

BANK PEKAO S.A.

256

5

BANK HANDLOWY W WARSZAWIE S.A.

246

6

IDEA BANK S.A.

245

7

POWSZECHNA KASA OSZCZĘDNOŚCI BANK POLSKI S.A.

241

8

BANK GOSPODARSTWA KRAJOWEGO

227

9

BANK BGŻ BNP PARIBAS S.A.

226

10

EURO BANK S.A.

218

11

CREDIT AGRICOLE BANK POLSKA S.A.

217

12

POLISA-ŻYCIE TU S.A. VIENNA INSURANCE GROUP

208

13

DEUTSCHE BANK POLSKA S.A.

207

14

METLIFE TOWARZYSTWO UBEZPIECZEŃ NA ŻYCIE I REASEKURACJI S.A.

206

15

UNIQA TOWARZYSTWO UBEZPIECZEN NA ŻYCIE S.A.

189

16

BANK POCZTOWY S.A.

182

17

GRUPA WARTA

180

18

STU ERGO HESTIA S.A.

131

19

INTERRISK TOWARZYSTWO UBEZPIECZEŃ S.A. VIENNA INSURANCE GROUP

130

20

UNIQA TOWARZYSTWO UBEZPIECZEŃ S.A.

127

21

COMPENSA TOWARZYSTWO UBEZPIECZEŃ S.A. VIENNA INSURANCE GROUP

118

22

STU NA ŻYCIE ERGO HESTIA S.A.

109

23

COMPENSA TOWARZYSTWO UBEZPIECZEŃ NA ŻYCIE S.A. VIENNA INSURANCE GROUP

90

1

The editors of “Polish Market” would like to thank all the Patrons and Media Partners for their help in organising the Gala of the Pearls of the Polish Economy.

Strategic PatronS:

PartnerS: tecHnical PartnerS:

Honorary PatronS: Senate Speaker; deputy prime miniSter, miniSter of Science and HigHer education

26 polish market

media PartnerS:

organizer: editorial Board of „poliSH market” ranking comPlited by: deSicion Support and analySiS unit, inStitute of econometricS, WarSaW ScHool of economicS

Higher Education

11/2017 polish market

27

Pearls of the Polish Economy

THE ABILITY TO FIND OUT WHAT CUSTOMERS NEED IS THE KEY TO

SUCCESS

PRZEMYSŁAW KOŃCZAL, President of Santander Consumer Bank, talks to "Polish Market".

Financial institutions, and mainly banks, must face up to a very interesting phenomenon. Poles are among the world’s most active followers of new technological banking solutions. They love to make contactless card and mobile payments.

By following these trends, in what way is Santander Consumer Bank tailoring its offer to the Polish market and customer?

Compared to West European markets, the offer of the Polish financial sector addressed to individual clients appears relatively up to date. Of course, that’s the consequence of the relatively short history of the market economy and of the dynamic development of banks in Poland. Within just a few years they had to catch up with what institutions in other countries took decades to build. On the one hand, we thus have an interesting offer for clients which is constantly being expanded to include new solutions. On the other hand, Poles are ready to use these solutions. Some of the banks have based their model on introducing novelties and that’s how they try to attract customers. However, our experience shows that the key to success is the ability to find out what customers need and to satisfy their needs at the right place and in line with their expectations. Each year some 1.5 million Poles use Santander Consumer Bank products. About a third of them are those who are first in contact with our brand. For years we have been successfully implementing our strategy of being as close to our customers as possible by offering consumer loans to enable large numbers of Poles to make purchases in PM

28 polish market

standard shops or e-shops. This frequent and close contact with our customers allows us to update our products and processes in line with their expectations, also by introducing technological innovations. We are currently working on a number of financing support projects regarding both brick-and-mortar shops and, above all, e-commerce. This year we have introduced an innovative split screen call centre app which enables the customer talking to a consultant to also read the terms of the offer and the details of the agreement. Within the near future the customer will also be able to sign the agreement in this way.

Customers expect simple, fast and user-friendly solutions. Various forms of payment, including using a credit line, should be built into the shopping process without creating any hurdles. This is a major challenge for banks because they need to take into account regulatory considerations which sometimes prevent solutions from being as simple as customers expect them to be. Those players who are able to reconcile the two, and be cost-effective at the same time, not only stand a chance of beating fintech solutions, but can also expand their client base and reach satisfying financial results. I guess that the confidence several million Santander Consumer Bank customers have placed in us is the best proof that we are part of this group of banks and we intend to keep it that way in the future. The fact that we have reached the top spot in the Pearls of the Polish Economy ranking shows that our efforts are appreciated by the market.

Poland’s economic performance has turned out to be better than originally expected. However, experts stress that GDP growth is mainly fuelled by consumption.

Can you see an improvement in terms of lending activity? Does Poland’s economic growth translate into the bank’s improved results?

Economic indicators are good indeed.

Growing consumption is largely caused by falling unemployment, growing real wages and the 500+ programme of benefits (addressed to families with more than one childed.) Of course, lending enhances consumption growth. However, for a longer period of time the banking sector has observed declining interest in consumer loans for relatively lowvalue amounts. This is due to the growing proportion of cash purchases and the mounting scale of activity by loan companies that reach clients who - for various reasons - are unable to obtain loans offered by the regulated banking sector. Adding to that is what is known as the convenience effect. Loan companies, which are not subjected to the same regulations as banks, are able to make the approval process faster and less formalised, though at the cost of high interest. This does raise concern, especially because some of the customers of the non-banking sector seem to have drawn too many loans. According to Credit Information Office statistics, the number of customers who have drawn more than ten loans each has been growing for the fifth quarter in a row. At the same time more and more customers are seeking higher consumer PM

CUSTOMERS EXPECT SIMPLE, FAST AND USER-FRIENDLY SOLUTIONS. VARIOUS FORMS OF PAYMENT, INCLUDING USING A CREDIT LINE, SHOULD BE BUILT INTO THE SHOPPING PROCESS WITHOUT CREATING ANY HURDLES.

loans. A large proportion of the financial market focuses on this particular segment.

It is an open question what the long-term consequences of this situation for the banking sector will be. On the one hand, unless the regulatory environment changes, one can expect a further expansion of loan companies which can only be taken on by those banks which have a good market standing and are able to maintain high efficiency even in the low-end segment. On the other hand, taking into account optimistic news about Poland’s economic performance we can expect the average loan size to grow, which will mean more intense competition in the segment of customers seeking higher loans.

Together with Polish cross-country skiing champion Justyna Kowalczyk you have launched the Santander Health Academy.

How did this idea come about and how do you intend to develop it?

Justyna Kowalczyk has been the Santander Health Academy Ambassador right from the start, that is the spring of 2016. It is an excellent example of how the prestige, and the whole load of positive emotions surrounding Poland’s most acclaimed winter sports athlete, can be used to promote an active lifestyle.

Nordic walking, around which we have built the Santander Health Academy, is an amazing sport in a number of ways. It enables participants to fulfil their ambitions, for instance in the Polish Nordic Walking Cup, of which we are the main sponsor. It is also an excellent fitness solution for people of all ages seeking PM

a sport which will be safe to practise from the medical point of view. The scale of our business activities is a perfect starting point for an ambitious social campaign meant to promote active recreation. We have reached several hundred thousand of our customers with information about the Santander Health Academy. Millions of Poles have found out about it from mass media. In the past two seasons more than 10,000 took part in free Nordic walking courses run in dozens of places by professional instructors. Sports icons such as Justyna Kowalczyk, Tamara Arciuch and Bartek Kasprzykowski, who have been this year’s Academy Ambassadors, successfully support our strategy in this respect.

We want the third season of the Santander Health Academy to attract even more participants than the previous editions. Before then we are keeping our fingers crossed for Justyna Kowalczyk in one of the most exciting moments in her career. She is to enter the Olympic race on February 25. We are all counting on her success.

In what way do CSR activities help boost brand recognition and build the image of institutions such as Santander?

Becoming involved in helping others, just like skilful risk management or keeping abreast of customer needs, is part of Santander Consumer Bank’s DNA. I can say this with full conviction, for to reach this point has taken us a few years during which we sought directions and initiatives that would fit in with our crew’s convictions. Naturally, we can see PM

Pearls of the Polish Economy

the positive impact of undertakings such as the Santander Health Academy, Run for New Life which promotes Polish transplant medicine, Run for Breath meant to offer support for those afflicted with incurable cystic fibrosis and the Wannado sports festival, for the bank’s image and brand recognition. But for us the value lies not so much in brand popularity ratings but in the fact that each of the initiatives Santander Consumer Bank supports is launched in answer to socially vital issues.

Besides partnerships with several organisations that promote an active lifestyle and use sports as a platform to raise public awareness of specific issues, within the bank we are working to build commitment to good causes among our crew. We have launched a charity grant programme whereby employees can support local initiatives of their choice. Through payroll giving we enable donations to nongovernmental and charity organisations. Last but not least, we try to raise funding for good causes while carrying out our daily duties.

For the third time in early January we will launch a 20 Zloty for a Loan campaign, as part of which the bank gives up a part of its profit margin. The funding goes to pro bono undertakings. Considering the scale of our operations, sizeable sums of money are raised.

Managing an excellent team which is behind the success of the most effective bank in Poland is a source of particular satisfaction.

The ability to positively influence our environment and to support the community within which we operate at the same time takes this • satisfaction to completely new levels.

11/2017 polish market

29

Pearls of the Polish Economy

THE MAIN FACTOR MOTIVATING WOMEN TO SET UP A BUSINESS IS AMBITION AND A SEARCH FOR SELF-FULFILMENT. MAŁGORZATA SZTURMOWICZ, Idea Bank Board Member, talks to “Polish Market.”

The stereotyped view that work in finance is men’s domain still persists in Poland.

But, being one of the youngest female members of the board in the Polish banking sector, you prove this opinion false.

When I was promoted to the Board of Idea Bank I joined a group of four men. Actually, they worried if I would manage more than I did. After the first quarter of my work they were positively surprised with the results and realised that I would manage in this position. This situation is perhaps an answer to the question why women account for a mere 12% of board members of companies listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange. Men may not trust women’s competence, on the one hand, while women do not have enough confidence to apply for high positions, on the other.

PM

Does this mean it is more difficult for women to become established in business?

Men are self-confident, have better negotiating skills and are go-getters. Let’s say it: they are more effective in the fight for jobs.

However, leaders’ competencies are evolving as the shape of organizations is changing.

As a result, room for women is being created because people have started to attach importance to such traits as emotional intelligence, the ability to build a firm based on values, and communication skills - the ability to bring together various groups of interest. And these are women’s natural traits. Many of us have been born with them.

PM

PM

As a board member in a financial institution, you often meet entrepreneurs. According to the Deloitte report “Women’s Labour and Entrepreneurship – The Potential to Be Used in Poland,” women have

30 polish market

a problem with setting up and running a business, even if they would like to do so and have the motivation. The reasons are a lack of money (58%), administrative procedures (32%) and the fear of failure (24%). Based on your experience, do you agree with these findings?

Women are often afraid to invest their financial resources, work and commitment in undertakings where risk is involved. The best example may be one’s own business. Research conducted by Idea Bank shows that women, to protect themselves in case of failure, usually finance their first business from their own resources or money borrowed from the family.

In contrast, men have no qualms to back their apartment to get a loan. But there is one myth I would like to debunk. It is widely believed that women set up their own businesses because they want to be able to divide time between family and work duties in a flexible way. Our research shows that the main factor motivating women to set up a business is ambition and a search for self-fulfilment. The potential for managing time flexibly is of secondary importance.

Is it women who put restraints on themselves and overestimate their competencies?

My experience shows that these are very frequent situations. The main reason behind such behaviour is a lack of self-confidence, which is women’s intrinsic personality trait: “I do not know if I fit in with the job, I do not know if I will manage.” A good example is the selection of job offers. A man will send his CV when he meets 50-60% of the qualifications required in the PM

job announcement while a woman meeting 90% of the requirements will still be asking herself whether she is a competitive candidate.

We, women, should remember that when applying for a job we will never meet all the requirements. What is important in a career is the right attitude and readiness to learn. This way of thinking brings us closer to success.

How do you reconcile your work and private life? How is your day organized?

As every mother, I have better and worse days. I have three children and a timetable written on a large sheet of paper hangs in my kitchen. Mornings, when the children have to be brought to school and kindergarten, are the biggest logistical challenge. I am on my feet since 5:30 a.m. and I usually appear in the office before 9 a.m. I like early mornings – it is the moment of the day which I have exclusively for myself. I try to be a “high-calorie” mother, spending with the children as much time as possible. I know these are the moments when we discover the world together and children do not have their own “separate agendas” yet, as it will be the case in a few years’ time. Also, I am a lucky woman – I have a fantastic husband who supports me, which means that these family duties are divided between two persons. At work, I fall into the hurly-burly of meetings – there are many people who want to discuss various issues and I am aware that without these consultations they will not be able to move further with their work. I try to make sure that the door to my room is always open so that anyone can drop in with a short question. I try to spend the evenings actively to calm down my head and I am learning not to check my • mobile every hour.

PM

POLAND AWARDED DEVELOPED MARKET STATUS, BY FTSE RUSSELL In September 2018, Poland will be reclassified as a Developed Market, having been on the Watch List for possible reclassification from Advanced Emerging since September 2011. FTSE Russell, a leading global index provider, owned by the London Stock Exchange Group, recently announced the results of its Annual Country Classification Review. Poland’s upgrade places it together with 24 other countries including United Kingdom, Canada, USA, Germany, France, Japan and Australia.

Peter Niklewicz, Warsaw Stock Exchange London Representative

O

n 29 September 2017, FTSE Russell announced the results of its annual classification of countries, with the decision becoming effective in conjunction with the FTSE Global Equity Index Series semi-annual review in September 2018.

FTSE Russell formally reviews country classifications within its FTSE Global Equity Index Series (FTSE GEIS) once a year in September, incorporating ongoing country classification research and feedback from independent external advisory committees to designate markets as developed, advanced emerging, secondary emerging or frontier.

The review is conducted in view of the regulatory environment, infrastructure and quality of the capital market, the depository and clearing system, as well as the status of the derivatives market. Mark Makepeace, CEO of FTSE Russell, commented when announcing the decision: “Congratulations to Poland and Kuwait. The authorities in these countries have worked hard to achieve their promotions.”

FTSE Russell indices are an important benchmark for leading global asset managers such as Vanguard, Blackrock, Charles Schwab and many others. For 30 June, 2017, the combined total assets under management (AUM) invested in passive index tracking funds which are based on FTSE and Russell indexes was over USD 3 trillion. The reclassification will result in Warsaw Stock Exchange listed companies moving from FTSE indices of emerging markets (e.g. FTSE Emerging All Cap) to FTSE indices of developed markets equities (e.g. FTSE Developed All Cap Ex-US).

So far this year, the performance of the Polish equity market has been buoyant. The Warsaw Stock Exchange (GPW) index WIG stood at 64,290 points at the end of September 2017, representing an increase of 37% year on year, and placing it amongst the best performing markets in Europe. The total value of trade in equities on the GPW Main Market was PLN 20 billion in September 2017, representing an increase of 11% year on year.

•

Pearls of the Polish Economy

MAREK DIETL, PRESIDENT OF THE WARSAW STOCK EXCHANGE (GPW) MANAGEMENT BOARD: “The FTSE Russell upgrade of Poland to Developed Market status represents an acknowledgement of the progress of the Polish economy and capital markets, and is a major step in our development. What is even more impressive is that Poland is the first Central and Eastern European economy to achieve promotion.

Warsaw continues to prove itself as an ever-growing financial hub for investors, market participants as well as domestic and international companies.

Poland has all the features of a developed market, including secure trading and post-trade services, as well as advanced infrastructure. GPW uses a state-of-the-art trading system and its listed companies meet the highest standards of corporate governance and disclosure requirements.

Furthermore, the dynamic development of the Polish economy represents a good argument for investing on our market by international investors. FTSE Russell is a leading index provider, whose indices are used by the world’s leading investment banks, largest equity funds and depositary banks.

FTSE Russell’s decision to upgrade the Polish market to developed status should bring significant opportunities to local companies. We’re waiting for our country’s weighting in the developed market index, but Poland should expect significant inflows from developed market funds. I think it’s also worth remembering, that we will be at the start of our developed markets journey. This initial weighting is just the beginning for the Polish market.

Poland remains classified as an emerging market by MSCI, which in turn places our market in a sweet spot, expanding the range of investors potentially interested in the Polish market. Both emerging and developed investors will be able to invest in Poland.

I’m a fan of sports, and I’d describe this upgrade as Poland gaining promotion to the equities Premier League. Of course there are differences in expectations between emerging market and developed market investors, and it’ll be a challenge for our companies to break through with the latter. But no doubt, this upgrade is an opportunity to attract new investors to Polish equities and a huge chance for the whole market. As the Warsaw Stock Exchange we are ready to take these opportunities.”

11/2017 polish market

31

Pearls of the Polish Economy

COSTLY

REGULATORY TSUNAMI KRZYSZTOF KALICKI, President of Deutsche Bank, talks to Marcin Haber about his assessment of the present economic situation in Poland and its impact on the banking sector, and Deutsche Bank’s activity in the area of corporate social responsibility.

Poland’s economic growth is higher than predicted. The data provided by the government are confirmed by experts. Is the situation indeed so optimistic?

The economic growth is indeed faster than expected, but one should remember that it is a short-term phenomenon. In the long run, if investment does not rise markedly this growth will be slower. It is also important to remember that our high growth looks quite modest when put against that of developing countries, with which we should compare ourselves. The problem is not just the pace of economic growth, but also its drivers. At present, one PM

32 polish market

can see clearly that the economy is driven by consumption.

This results in a number of economic phenomena which may pose a threat to economic growth in the future. In the first half of the year investment increased by a mere 0.3% while consumption growth in the second quarter reached 4.9%. The imbalance between consumption and investment, coupled with slightly weaker foreign trade figures, is disquieting. The trade balance and current account balance are not as favourable now as they were a few months ago. In my view, the declining ratio of savings to GDP is also a dangerous situation. In other words, as a society we are

Pearls of the Polish Economy oriented at consumption and think little about our future.

Moreover, our national debt continues to increase both in nominal terms and as a per cent of GDP. If we fail to stabilize this ratio we may come close to the 55% threshold where we will be obliged by law to take steps to bring discipline to the budget.

A fall in unemployment is certainly a favourable phenomenon. The measures taken by the government to downsize the informal economy have brought positive results in the form of increased receipts for the national budget.

A full assessment of these measures will be possible when the taxman starts paying outstanding VAT refunds from the budget to businesses. Then, we will be able to see the net outcome of the government’s fight against the informal economy. Another phenomenon requiring a cautious look is that nominal interest rates have started to go down below the inflation rate. The inflation target for 2018 has been set at 2.3%. Given the present central bank rate, this may result in negative interest rates in real terms and consequently have an adverse impact on savings growth in Poland. Meanwhile, we need savings to prevent a further indebting of the economy.

What is the impact on the banking sector of the market situation you have described?

Surprisingly, the economic growth is not being translated into any significant increase in demand for loans. Lending activity is weak compared to the economic growth - it is merely at the level of nominal GDP growth. One reason is a fall in investment, leading to decreased demand for long-term and medium-term loans. Demand for working capital loans is higher. We are increasingly speaking about settlement backlogs, overdue payments and delays in payments between businesses. This may be a result of political uncertainty, which always influences decisions to take out long-term loans. The higher the uncertainty, the slower the pace of investment growth and the higher the increase in margins and spreads. The banking sector has a problem with equity growth. If banks do not accumulate more equity they will not be able to increase their lending for the economy. It is difficult to say today whether the slowdown in lending activity is a problem on the demand side due exclusively to the political uncertainty, or also a problem on the supply side with banks being unable to meet demand for credit because of regulatory burdens. The burdens on the banking sector are very high. They result from an additional tax imposed on banks, contributions to the Fund for Assistance to the Indebted, high costs of the Banking Guarantee Fund and the need to cover the costs of bankruptcy of credit unions (SKOK). A prospect - very dangerous, in my view – of transferring money to borrowers who have taken out mortgage loans denominated in foreign currencies is also looming. Paradoxically, as the zloty has strengthened and exchange rates among the Swiss franc, euro and dollar have changed, people who have taken out loans in a foreign currency now have lower debt service costs than those who have taken out zloty loans. The costs which may result for the banking sector are gigantic – they may exceed PLN10 billion. The situation would be dangerous because several banks could start reporting losses. One must not act impulsively in this matter. One has to be aware that PM

the money which banks have at their disposal belong not only to investors, but also depositors. Incautious action on the part of the government may lead to instability of the banking sector or even a panic on the market.

You have mentioned the “bank tax.” It was a hot topic at the time of our last year’s conversation, but today there is little talk about it. It seems that banks have reacted to it very calmly.

Nothing of the kind. The media went silent on the issue probably because it is not “in vogue’ to sympathize with “bankers”. The 19th-century perception of the banker acting aggressively for their own benefit is well established.

But today banks’ equities are very dispersed - banks have many investors. What is taking place in the sector now is an attempt to consolidate after all the blows which the sector has received recently. When we look at the situation of banks in Poland compared to financial institutions in our region as a whole it turns out that the Polish banking sector has the lowest returns on equity and assets even if the banks have the same net interest margin, that is net income from interest. Although normal banking business develops in keeping with the sector’s practice, the public burdens imposed on our sector mean that our return on equity is 20 to 30% lower than elsewhere in the region. The same is the case with return on assets. A costly regulatory tsunami makes the situation in the sector even more difficult.

PM

Let’s talk about another kind of investment. I mean investing in young talent. Deutsche Bank supports the “Views” (Spojrzenia) Competition designed to help young artists present their works to wider audiences. Why do you support young artists instead of, say, exhibitions of well-known artists?

I remember the discussion we had around 2001 with the Supervisory Board. We deliberated then what we, as a bank, could do for Polish culture. We came to the conclusion that the situation of young artists attempting to come out of the shadow and show their works to larger audiences is the most difficult. Support for contemporary art is one of the pillars of the bank’s corporate culture. For more than 30 years Deutsche Bank has cooperated with museums and art fairs, granting awards to rising talents and promoting them. Our bank has always been an institution introducing new products, new solutions and new technologies.

PM

So the choice to promote new talents was quite natural.

We wanted to promote artists who are at the vanguard of Polish art. We decided to support those aged up to 36. We established cooperation with the Zachęta National Gallery of Art and decided to organize this competition as a biennial – every two years. Our experience shows that winners of our competitions very often went on to show their works in Venice, Zurich, Berlin and London. Many of them have made a name for themselves in the world.

“Views” is not our only initiative in the area of corporate social responsibility. We also support the “Golden Voices” contest for novice opera and operetta singers. Winners of this contest are successful on stages throughout Poland and on international stages. We are glad that we can support young Poles not only locally, but also internationally.

• PM

11/2017 polish market

33

Pearls of the Polish Economy

ENTREPRENEURSHIP

AT ITS BEST

As an important partner and employer in the Polish economy, Mondi Świecie focusses on sustainable development for the future

M

ondi Świecie can look back upon an eventful history. The company was founded in 1961 as a pulp and paper mill. Production started in 1967, with the manufacture of unbleached cellulose, before bleached pulp and viscose pulp were also introduced. A number of successful investments, modernisation measures and capacity expansions contributed substantially to the growth of the company. In 1999, Mondi Świecie stopped producing viscose pulp. Since then, the focus has been on packaging papers. Mondi Świecie is now the largest containerboard mill in Europe and is among the 50 biggest companies in Poland. Six paper machines produce high quality containerboard grades from virgin and recycled fibres. The company’s product portfolio includes Kraft, Semi Chem and Recycled paper grades as well as technologically advanced containerboard products with enhanced humidity resistance serving industries such as food & beverage packaging, industrial packaing, luxury packaging or heavy duty packaging.

SUSTAINABLE STRATEGIES AND INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGIES “Mondi Świecie is a centre of containerboard excellence for various reasons,” explains Maciej Kunda, Managing Director Mondi Świecie SA. “On site, we have the largest production capacity in Mondi’s containerboard business segment, we are cost competitive because of our backwards integration of pulp and we offer a broad range of high quality paper grades. Having these prerequisites allows us to react quickly to changing customer demands and challenging market requirements.”

Mondi Świecie has an annual production capacity of 680.000 tonnes of pulp and 1.580.000 tonnes of containerboard.

Among the paper grades produced at Świecie are the recently optimised semi-chemical flutings ProVantage Fluting Aqua and ProVantage Fluting Fresco. Due to their increased strength and improved moisture profiles, both can be used to produce strong fruit and vegetable packaging.

Further product upgrades, investments and innovative technologies have contributed to the company’s success. For instance, in 2009, the paper machine ECO7 for lightweight, recycled testliners and flutings was commissioned – a milestone in the history of Mondi Świecie and, at that time, the biggest

34 polish market

investment project the Polish paper industry had seen in more than 30 years.

In line with Mondi’s corporate philosophy, the paper mill is heavily oriented towards sustainability. Great emphasis is placed on the environment, safety and effective interaction with local authorities, NGOs and the community. Mondi Świecie has successfully completed a SEAT (socio-economic assessment toolbox) project in compliance with Mondi Group standards. This involved monitoring key aspects of sustainability, particularly impact on the local environment and perceptions among the local community.

The projects “Green Świecie I and II” exemplify best practice in green mill management. Maciej Kunda comments: “Sustainability is an important part of Mondi’s DNA and these investments have contributed to our corporate commitment to sustainable development. They have enabled us to reduce ongoing maintenance costs, improve energy efficiency, curtail CO2 emissions and achieve full electricity self-sufficiency at the mill.”

“Green Świecie” didn’t just foster sustainability. As part of the project, Mondi also further adapted its portfolio in line with customer requirements – for instance, the company improved the quality of ProVantage Kraftliner, which is now also available in lower substances and takes customer demand for lightweight packaging into account. In addition, Mondi Świecie modernised ECO7 within the scope of “Green Świecie” so that the paper machine can now process virgin fibres for the first time. In particular, producers of food and beverage packaging, heavy-duty and industrial packaging as well as luxury packaging are now benefitting from the paper grades produced on ECO7.

50 YEARS OF MONDI ŚWIECIE

The company recently celebrated its 50th anniversary together with customers, guests from the corrugated board industry, community representatives and Mondi top management.

The theme of the event, “50 years – the best to come”, corresponds with the belief that sustainable site development – as has been the case at Mondi Świecie since the early 1990s – is the best philosophy. The company intends to maintain this course throughout the coming years and to transform chal• lenges into chances.

Celebrating 50 years of Mondi Świecie We thank our customers for the excellent partnership!

Founding of the cellulose and paper mill Celuloza Świecie in Poland

1961

Dissolving pulp plant

1967

Start-up of 5 PMs

1970-1976

Transformation into joint stock company

1991

THE BEST TO COME

2017-2015 Green Świecie I & II PM4 modernisation

IN TOUCH EVERY DAY www.mondigroup.com

2012 Mondi acquires the remaining minority interest

2009-2008 ECO7 start-up on 1 September 2009

1997 Mondi becomes majority shareholder (60%)

Economy

V

MEDICINE

36 polish market

Pearls of the Polish Economy

TOWARDS THE DIGITISATION OF LOGISTICS Digitisation and its associated new technologies have been the talk of the town for at least several years now. But as much as Western European businesses have long been investing in the smart integration of the physical and digital worlds, their Polish counterparts are only now starting to take an interest in this area. This is a good sign, as, with no process digitisation in place, they might find it difficult to stand up to the demands of fierce market competition. We talked about the challenges faced by Polish businesses in the field of logistics 4.0 with Ms KAROLINA TOKARZ, President of the Management Board and Managing Director, Promag S.A. What’s in it for businesses when it comes to process digitisation?

Digitisation, and associated technologies such as automation, the AI-backed Internet of Things, augmented reality, cloud computing, and “big data”, are all bound to change the face of the world, in its both business and social spheres. These technologies will affect many industries, and our approach to business. With a shortage in the workforce, we will have to do away with human workers and delegate most manual work to robots – a huge challenge for everyone, technology- and organisation-wise.

According to the concept of logistics 4.0, devices and products communicate with each other in real time, and all processes are managed and optimised by IT systems. This results in high efficiency, the high speed of operations, completed deliveries, the elimination of errors, and, as an added benefit, low operating costs.

To give you an illustration, racks with stacker cranes do not need light or heat, so they can work in a dark and unheated warehouse. And with automated storage systems, the same space can accommodate more goods, opening up the possibility for smaller warehouses, which translates into lower costs of construction and maintenance, and reduced tax burdens.

PM

What factors stand in the way of digitisation in Polish companies?

We are certainly not in a position to expect that warehouses in Poland will catch up over the PM

next few years with highly developed countries, and undergo full digitisation. Each year, however, the situation keeps on improving – the number of investment projects is growing, and managers are increasingly aware that these solutions must not only be deployed to generate the demand-determined efficiency of processes, but, in the long run, to bring about substantial cost reductions.

One of the main obstacles which still make it difficult for Polish companies to fully explore digitisation is the misconception that you have to put in heavy expenditure early into such an operation. We have noticed that this hesitation to invest among our clients stems largely from their insufficient knowledge of new and constantly developing technologies. In consequence, we find it hard to persuade potential investors to accept them as the best available solution. This is why we have decided to launch the Promag Warehouse Technology Centre, to offer everyone first-hand experience of how this all works in practice. As the first such facility in Poland, designed specifically with logistics in mind, it has exhibition, conference, and training sections. This year, already for the third time, the Centre has hosted a forum event intended to encourage a debate on the future of Polish intralogistics. The headline for this year's meeting of logistics managers was “Warehouse 4.0 – The digital integration of processes in intralogistics”.

What kinds of solutions do companies primarily choose to invest in?

According to a study by the Polish Logistics Managers Panel, the solutions which local companies are especially likely to pursue at the moment include AS/RS automated storage zones, automated internal transport systems, and automated order completion systems. All of these operate on the basis of integrated IT solutions.

PM

What can Promag offer its customers as regards new technologies?

Promag S.A. offers solutions such as autonomous trolleys, a dense storage system with the AutoMAG Shuttle trolley and the AutoMAG MOVER transfer trolley, racks with warehouse stacker cranes, lift and carousel racks, and multilevel transport and commissioning systems based on platform designs, in which completion routes are planned by customised algorithms, and finally palletising systems utilising industrial robots, integrated with conveyors and packing equipment. Our products and services are superior in that they involve the integration of all devices and their management systems across storage, completion, transport and palletising processes – they can be integrated with each other or with third-party manufacturing or distribution systems. Most of these solutions are presented for our clients at a multimedia/hands-on demonstration entitled “The Warehouse of the Future” at the Promag Ware• house Technology Centre.

PM

11/2017 polish market

37

Higher Education

POLAND’S

NO.1

The Faculty of Management of the University of Warsaw has once again won the A rating for its academic achievements.

The assessment of academic institutions was conducted by the Committee for the Evaluation of Academic Units.

That’s right. Yet another time the Faculty of Management of the University of Warsaw has received the A category for its academic achievements. I am very pleased with that because this places us among the best faculties of management and economics in Poland. On the one hand, it testifies to the high level of research conducted at the faculty. On the other, is shows that the results of this research are published in renowned scientific journals. Quality research serves the development of the discipline but it also forms the basis for the good quality of education we provide. The faculty has nearly 6,500 students.

The high level of teaching has a direct bearing on the quality of future management cadres. I am satisfied with the prospect of Poland having better and better managers who will be able to compete with the graduates of best business schools in Europe.

Our research and teaching personnel does not just offer a good level of education and consulting but is also strongly involved in research projects both at home and in foreign countries. In this way what is now known as an ecosystem is created which consists in high-level research, sound education and expert consulting services offered to a number of firms. Graduates of our faculty are professionally very active. Among them are government deputy ministers, a member of the Monetary Policy Council, many supervisory board and board of directors members in PM

PROF. ALOJZY Z. NOWAK, Dean of the Faculty of Management, University of Warsaw, talks to “Polish Market”.

38 polish market

large companies. All this has contributed to the faculty’s high position in the evaluation. It spells excellent prospects for the future, both in terms of research, teaching responsibilities and business and financial considerations.

In the Perspektywy magazine ranking of higher learning institutions, the University of Warsaw has won the title of the best Polish university. In the management category, studies at the University of Warsaw Faculty of Management placed at number two, second only to the SGH Warsaw School of Economics. Since for the past few years your faculty has occupied such a high spot, not just in the Perspektywy ranking but also in other international rankings, are you still going to try so hard to improve the education system even further?

Yes, the University of Warsaw is regarded as Poland’s number one university. It is also worth noting that among Polish universities it occupies the highest positions on the Shanghai list of the world’s 1,000 best universities. The Faculty of Management is part of the University, so by definition it benefits from its brand but it also adds a lot to it. A few days ago the Faculty of Management won the Rzeczpospolita newspaper ranking of Polish faculties of economics and management. We are on our way to obtaining the most prestigious accreditations in Europe and in the world.

Our students win some of the most prestigious scholarships and competitions and our academics are invited as visiting professors to renowned European, American and Asian universities. All of this speaks volumes about the quality of research work and education at PM

Higher Education the faculty and about the ambitions of both the staff and students. Mention must also be made of the good work administrative workers, librarians and auxiliary workers put in.

I am very happy that it all works so well. After all, it doesn’t matter what you teach but how you do it. It doesn’t matter what kind of work you do but how well you do it. So when it comes to the way the faculty works and the way it fits into the whole university, I have never asked myself whether to keep trying so hard and improve the system. But since the question was asked, let me give you an answer.

Yes, I do feel like trying harder and improve the system further, both in terms of teaching, research and the way the faculty operates. There are several reasons for it. Firstly, we want to remain in the lead, while our Polish and foreign competitors aren’t resting on their oars. The only chance to maintain a high position in rankings is to press ahead and improve the system of teaching and research studies. This attracts both great research workers and very good students. You can then be sure of the results. Secondly, I believe that good workers and students can be found everywhere. Yet when there is no good system of fishing them out and building their capabilities, your competitive advantage becomes less. And we want to be competitive.

Thirdly, competing on the international arena gives me personal satisfaction and shows that this faculty can be as good as any other, anywhere on the planet.

What’s your assessment of minister Jarosław Gowin’s education bill known as the Constitution for Science?

It is worth noting that the proposed changes in the Constitution for Science have been consulted with academic environment. It is also very positive that we see a comprehensive proposal for solving many problems of the present system of higher education. However, I have mixed feelings about of the some changes proposed by Minister Gowin. It envisages a large-scale centralisation of universities. Under it, the rector nominated by the university council and elected by the senate, would receive considerably more powers. I won’t go into the way the council is to be appointed and where its members will come from. I would just like to say that power within a university would rest with the university council, senate and rector. So far it has rested with the senate, rector, dean and faculty councils. Universities are complex institutions. Sometimes their structure is not straightforward. It is thus hard to imagine that even the most competent rector would be able to manage all the entities in terms of education, research, administration PM

and finances. And that’s the way it’s supposed to be like. It’s true that the bill gives considerable independence to universities but not to existing basic units, i.e. faculties. The University of Warsaw has fared so well because, among other things, it has been largely decentralised.

Faculties were in a position to take key decisions concerning their development. The rector and the senate essentially acted in an advisory and controlling capacity. Based on the example of this faculty, I can say that this solution has been the best possible one. As a result, the faculty is doing very well financially, it has modern, excellently equipped teaching facilities. It is scoring very good results both in terms of its teaching and research responsibilities, proof enough of which are the aforementioned ratings and positions in rankings.

By definition I would like existing solutions to be kept, with the exception that the authorities should create development opportunities for several elite universities which should be able to compete at least on the European scale.

In the case of this faculty, there is one more issue. We are undergoing a process of several international accreditations which are necessary for international recognition, verification of teaching curricula and ultimately, improved competitive advantage of our graduates on the international labour market. One of the accreditation requirements is the academic, financial and administrative independence of faculties. The proposed bill places major constraints on this system by handing over powers to the university’s central authorities. I am afraid that in the existing system, a number of faculties of management and economics, and possibly other faculties of social studies as well, will be deprived of the possibility to receive international accreditations.

That would be a sore loss.

Last April you opened a Santander Universidades workshop at the faculty. What’s its purpose?

The opening of a Santander Universidades workshop at the Faculty of Managememnt is meant to deepen collaboration between the faculty and the Santander Universidades Foundation. Students have access to the latest technologies and banking operation methods used by the Santander Group. They can gain this knowledge both at the workshops at the faculty or at Santander bank branches during internships and work placements. On its part, the Santander Group has access to our best students who can become their employees or can work with them in another capacity. The Group can influence the way the students are educated by suggesting various courses and seminars as well as specialised lectures. You PM

AFTER ALL, IT DOESN’T MATTER WHAT YOU TEACH BUT HOW YOU DO IT. IT DOESN’T MATTER WHAT KIND OF WORK YOU DO BUT HOW WELL YOU DO IT.

can say that this is a good example of a twoway relationship between theory and practice. It is worth mentioning that Santander Universidades offers financial support to our students and young research workers by funding scholarships and covering the costs of participation at international conferences.

This autumn the chapter of the Entrepreneur of the Year competition has invited nominations for this award. It is an initiative launched under the patronage of the Dean of the Faculty of Management to promote the spirit of enterprise, innovation and CSR. The Faculty of Management is very interested in shaping enterprising and innovative postures among our students who are soon to become gainfully employed. Our hope is that the faculty’s graduates become not just employees but also employers. To achieve this, students must be educated in the spirit of enterprise and innovation. Hence the idea of the Entrepreneur of the Year 2017 competition proposed by my colleague and deputy Prof.

Beata Glinka together with her team and colleagues from the University of Warsaw Centre of New Technologies. I trust that this competition is going to develop. I also hope that, as a result, apart from promoting the idea of enterprise and innovation, it will also help to tighten co-operation between the Faculty of Management, entrepreneurs who are faculty graduates, the Centre of New Technologies and students of other faculties who dream about setting up an innovative business of their own.

At the same time, we would also like to make students aware of corporate social responsibility as well as the moral and ethical side of business. We want to highlight their social and economic role in society.

• PM

11/2017 polish market

39

Higher Education

INNOVATIVE

TEACHING

METHODS

PROF. STANISŁAW MOCEK, Rector of Collegium Civitas University, talks to "Polish Market".

Could you outline the goals that guided those who set up Collegium Civitas University?

The university was set up on the initiative of a group of Polish Academy of Sciences professors, from the Institute of Political Studies.

Particular credit for this goes to Prof. Jadwiga Koralewicz, the first Rector and now President of the university, co-author of the book ‘You Can’ which was published to mark the 15th anniversary of Collegium Civitas University.

This name is the motto which we want to instill in our students, and which we keep reminding ourselves of in our day-to-day activities.

Ours is a model of a modest-sized university which values quality over quantity, and diversity and scale of operations over profit. In spite of changing circumstances, we have decided to carry on our mission, which is to shape future leaders of public life as best we can, to prepare them for key professional positions in state and local administration, the media, social studies centres and analytical centres.

Twenty years on, we know that it was worth building a brand which today opens up bright international career prospects for our students and graduates. Since we enjoy a high standing at home and abroad, for many years we have received offers of joint projects from partners in Poland and other countries. Young people from dozens of countries come to study at the Collegium Civitas University, also as part of international student exchange programmes.

This is one of our strengths.

PM

Could you say that you have already achieved your goal?

Clearly a lot remains to be done. But Collegium Civitas University is an important opinion-forming centre whose experts are well known thanks to their presence in Polish and foreign media. We implement the PM

40 polish market

concept of a university perceived as a centre of dialogue, public debate and social discourse stemming from the application of knowledge and experience of people in the field of social sciences, political sciences, international relations, diplomacy, security, management, new media, journalism, culture and the arts.

The aim is, above all, to enable students – apart from taking part in the teaching process - to develop their passions and interests.

What achievements are you particularly proud of?

For a number of years we have scored major successes in terms of the quality of teaching and adjusting to market needs, building modern teaching curricula, providing services to students, animating student life, securing European Union funding for development in the university’s various spheres of activity, co-operation with the business environment, administration, media and non-governmental organisations, carrying out research at national and international level, continuing education and internationalisation according to the highest standards adopted in European and English-speaking countries.

PM

In what way is Collegium Civitas University developing its international dimension?

In the past year we secured funding for international teaching programmes and the international Horizon 2020 project as part of a partnership involving more than ten European universities, including the University of Manchester. At the same time we are signing agreements with leading British and American universities to launch double degree programmes. These universities are Anglia Ruskin University and West Virginia University.

For several years now summer schools and study PM

visits have been organized together with leading US universities. A unique social innovation project has been implemented in cooperation with the University of Northampton and the University of Iceland. The Ministry of Science and Higher Education has decided to finance our efforts to obtain the international Association of AMBA accreditation.

How does the Collegium Civitas University shape up in comparison with other Polish universities?

We occupy high places in rankings and prestigious competitions. We rank sixth in the Perspektywy ranking of private universities.

Our sociology and international relations faculties top the ranking of such faculties at non-public universities. In the same ranking we occupy a prestigious third spot among all Polish universities in terms of internationalisation.

In the national ranking organised by the Premium Brand Foundation, Collegium Civitas University emerged as a winner in terms of brand recognition and media image.

According to a study of how well graduates fare on the job market, carried out by OPI under the supervision of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education, the international relations and sociology faculties of Collegium Civitas University rank second and third in terms of average earnings of these faculties’ graduates employed in Mazowieckie region.

PM

What are your future plans?

In the age of globalisation we are facing more and more serious challenges. One of our strategic goals is to maintain the position of a modern university with a high level of internationalisation which introduces innovative teaching methods and attracts students from various regions of the world. • PM

Higher Education

AN ENGINEER IS THE MANAGER OF THE FUTURE

M

odern management requires not only the knowledge of concepts and methods, but also operationalisation assisted by new technologies. Industry 4.0 solutions based on cyber-physical systems require those involved in creative processes and related services to be competent in a wide range of fields, including technology, economics, psychology, sociology and the law. ‘How to do it?’ is the question engineers approaching management problems ask themselves.

For more than sixty years engineering management specialists have been educated at Poznan University of Technology. This marks the continuation of work started in the 1920s by Karol Adamiecki, Zygmunt Rytel, Edwin Hauswald, Piotr Drzewiecki and Stanisław Bieńkowski at Warsaw University of Technology and Lvov University of Technology. Successive generations of students learn about the intricacies of science, effective work and the shaping of flexible, efficient labour systems. The Faculty of Engineering Management at Poznan University of Technology was founded in 2010 when the earlier Institute of Engineering Management was expanded. The faculty carries on the longstanding tradition of seeking practical ways of resolving problems faced by industrial plants. It is worth noting that majors offered by the faculty are among the most popular study courses at the university. Its graduates are very much in demand on the labour market.

The faculty has about 2,000 students. Its teaching curriculum is tailored to meet the requirements of the Polish and foreign labour markets. It offers bachelor’s and master’s degree courses (both in full-time and part-time) in three fields of study: engineering management (also available in English), logistics and safety engineering.

The bachelor’s degree course in logistics complies with the Euopean

Logistics Association standard. This enables its graduates to seek the European Senior Logistician certificate.

Faculty of Engineering Management graduates are well versed in economic realities, technology, company management, innovative projects, production management, logistics, ergonomics, quality engineering, design of safe work systems, design of management systems and IT support, marketing, business strategies, communication, the latest trends in the economy and economics, as well as entrepreneurial team work.

The Business Council plays an important role in updating teaching curricula. The representatives of more and more companies are invited to join it. The Council provides assistance in drafting teaching curricula and mapping out directions for improving teaching results, onthe-job training of students, backing the initiatives of science clubs and providing recommendations for the best graduates of the faculty.

Since 2010 the faculty has conducted doctoral studies in the field of management and production systems. The courses encompass both economics and technology since the faculty is authorised to offer degrees both in management and machine design and exploitation.

For a number of years the faculty has also been conducting postgraduate courses. These include company management, work and safety, training of science and vocational school teachers, production and logistics management, public private partnership and public procurement, technology and communication training, project and business project management, innovative management, product development, purchasing and supply management and professional counselling and enterprise.

Both in teaching and research, one of the faculty’s strengths are its laboratories. The oldest Laboratory of Ergonomics and Professional Risk is operated by a team of six specialists, each holding a title of the European Ergonomist. The IT Laboratory was set up in the 1980s.

Since 2010 the Laboratory of Simulation and Optimisation of Logistics Processes Socilapp (FlexSim) has been developed.

The Faculty of Engineering Management participates in the European SOCRATES/ERASMUS programme. Under agreements with 19 foreign universities, some 50 students of the faculty study abroad each year, while 14 of the faculty’s research workers teach at foreign universities. Since 2010 a large number of foreign students from about twenty countries have taken up bachelor’s and master’s degree courses as well as pursued doctoral studies at the faculty.

In 2012 the Faculty of Engineering Management received the TÜVRheinland Education Quality Certificate compliant with the PN-EN ISO 9001:2009 standard. Following a reassessment in 2017, TÜV SÜD renewed the certificate.

•

www.fem.put.poznan.pl 11/2017 polish market

41

Innovation

ROBERT WOLTER, Vice-President of the Board, Wizja Multimedia, talks to "Polish Market."

WE ARE READY FOR NEW TRENDS

You are a leader in a very demanding audio-video project market which relies not just on creativity but also technology. What is the key to maintaining the leading position?

This market requires a lot of care. I suppose that apart from hard work and commitment, we have one unique feature which makes what we do bring great results. It’s passion. Many of us have been working in this branch for years now. Apart from the experience we use, we also put our hearts into our work. What’s more, we don’t just do our best to predict what’s coming and take into account changing trends but we often also come up with new solutions. We set new trends. A good case in point are the latest projects for two televised festival productions.

PM

You offer comprehensive services in the preparation of permanent displays and installations in public utility buildings, museums, sports facilities and shopping malls. Is there a common denominator to all these different areas? In what ways does your approach differ?

That’s right. Our range of services is very broad. This is because we have very different clients. This forces us to constantly come up with new ideas, to use the latest technological solutions and to be creative all the time. Each client and project requires an individual approach. We must find out about their needs and expectations and work out the best solutions. This concerns all our clients.

PM

In this branch, is it enough to use standard solutions or does every implementation need to be prepared from scratch?

It’s hard to use the same solutions time and again because they soon lose their appeal. That’s why we can’t be set in our ways. Each client asks for a unique and exceptional project, implementation and stunning final result. For this reason, each of our projects is prepared from scratch, starting from the design stage right down to implementation.

PM

Are there limits to creativity? Or are the limits only set by equipment and budget?

The only limit to creativity is our imagination. Nothing can hold us back when we want to come up with something new, even if at the outset it seems impossible to achieve. ‘It can’t be done’ isn’t part of our vocabulary.

PM

42 polish market

We work with small budgets and big budgets. Each time we try to pick the right solutions and media. You don’t always need to have vast amounts of equipment and resources to achieve your goal. Sometimes it can be done with the use of very modest solutions. But using them in the right way can make a good impression, giving audiences an unforgettable experience. That’s what creativity is all about.

Are you planning to expand your activities? Are there areas of special interest to you?

Just like any other company we plan our development and we want to expand into new areas. We are currently working intensively in several new directions. For TV productions and events we will be introducing holographic technology to make them more attractive. We intend to develop the permanent installations department. Our dream is to have more and more attractive multimedia installations in Polish towns and cities. We want to take our longstanding experience in television and events out into the streets, to put up displays on building facades, in building interiors and inside institutions. We design and implement multimedia and lighting solutions with the use of the latest LED technologies for buildings and various facilities. Such solutions are now affordable for many companies and institutions, which means that there are more and more of our installations around. I believe that this trend is about to take Poland by storm. As a company we are ready for that.

• PM

Innovation

PASSION TURNED INTO PROJECTS

AGATA SITKO, Group AV, talks to "Polish Market."

You are a leader in a very demanding audiovideo project market which relies not just on creativity but also technology. What is the key to maintaining the leading position?

Our team is a group of people who implement their projects with passion. Each project is very important to us irrespective of its size.

We make it a point to advise our clients in selecting solutions and technologies.

PM

You offer comprehensive services in the preparation of permanent displays and installations in public utility buildings, museums, sports facilities and shopping malls.

Is there a common denominator to all these different areas? In what ways does your approach differ?

What we offer is addressed to a wide range of customers. We offer solutions for business, museums, shopping malls, sports facilities and control centres. Each group of clients requires an individual approach where attention is paid to different details. A museum as a partner is interested in creativity, evoking emotions through the right selection of media. A business partner wants solutions to be user-friendly and functional. No matter what kind of client we talk to, what matters is our knowledge of the latest solutions and our experience which enables us to offer reliable solutions. We offer comprehensive services. It covers both project preparation, installation and servicing.

PM

In this branch, is it enough to use standard solutions or does every implementation need to be prepared from scratch?

Each project is a one-off concept, which means selecting the right technologies. Our PM

intention is to make our projects innovative and unique. Of course, it is crucial to be familiar with technology, the possibilities of its use and the ability to combine different media. Naturally, there are set models and procedures we need to follow in preparing our projects. But each solution applied in a project must be reliable and it must be selected to fit into the designed space.

PM

Are there limits to creativity? Or are the limits only set by equipment and budget?

I guess, in terms of creativity it’s like in any other field of activity. We constantly come across new ideas and solutions. Sometimes the solutions are very simple but the ability to arrange them in a certain way makes the installation unique. Museum projects we implement require plenty of creativity. We need to work with a wide range of consultants. Business projects are not just conference rooms but also showroom designs whose aim is to showcase the entrepreneur’s products and services in an innovative way.

• 11/2017 polish market

43

Innovation

INDUSTRY

OF THE FUTURE PL ATFORM IN POL AND IN 2018

T

JAN FILIP STANIŁKO, deputy director, Department of Innovation, Mininistry of Economic Development

he fourth industrial revolution offers a unique opportunity for the Polish economy to increase productivity and to better position Polish companies in global value chains. We stand a chance of rapidly catching up with the highly developed countries. At the same time we are aware of the threats a passive approach toward world trends poses. Following the lead of the most highly industrialised economies, we design institutional solutions meant to stimulate the transformation of Polish industry.

That is why we are building a new entity: the Industry of the Future Platform. With the use of a rich assortment of tools, its aim is to assist the transformation of the manufacturing sector to enable it to reach what is described as the Industry 4.0 level.

A draft bill on the Industry of the Future Platform Foundation providing for the implementation of the government Strategy for Responsible Development was submitted to public consultation in October. In the bill the idea of the new foundation is proposed to provide the legal and organisational framework for the Platform, which is to be financed on the basis of a mixed system. Initially, the funding will come solely from a state grant to gradually introduce commercial funding. Ultimately, the Platform is expected to pay its own way out of revenue generated through services it will provide to industry.

The Industry of the Future Platform is to help in the transformation of Polish industry both in terms of supply and demand. On the one hand, it will stimulate demand for 4.0 technologies through making entrepreneurs more aware of new challenges and through a wide range of consulting and implementation support services. On the other hand, the Industry of the Future Platform will act as a market integrator, which means not just matching suppliers with potential customers but also integrating suppliers of solutions. The latter function will enable those who design solutions in particular narrow fields to work together to build complex technologies, thus generating higher added value thanks to services offered by the digital platform. Through a set of its own digital tools enabling, among other things, simultaneous design the Platform will also boost innovation process both in terms of technology and products offered by Polish firms.

A very important part of the Platform’s activities will be support in the development of 4.0 competencies. Through competence

44 polish market

centres, the Platform will conduct training both for entrepreneurs and vocational school teachers. At the same time it will contribute to the education system through specialised working groups which will bring together research workers, educationalists and entrepreneurs. The aim of these groups will be to draft and update teaching curricula both for universities and secondary schools offering education in particular fields of industry.

We also want the Platform to become a meeting place for industry, decision-makers and the academic community, a channel of public communication where individual participants could work jointly on legal regulations, standardisation and cyber security, which will be crucial in the process of industrial transformation.

We currently carry out preparatory work whose aim is to build competencies and tools which will enable the Platform to become fully operational as soon it is officially inaugurated. In conjunction with three universities of technology we have launched the Industry 4.0 Leadership Workshop programme with the aim of educating Platform cadres. We are also planning to launch a digital tool preparation project in partnership with leading research centres.

A crucial aspect of preparatory work is to make the Platform’s activities part of the European Union’s strategy for industrial transformation. The strategy is based on the development of local ecosystems whose focal points are what are known as Digital Innovation Hubs (DIH). These bring together local competence centres, R&D centres and business-related institutions to offer comprehensive services to entrepreneurs to assist them in their transformation efforts. We want the Industry of the Future Platform to help such hubs to emerge in Poland, to promote them and to support their competencies on the national and cross-border level. We also want the Platform to generate demand for DIH services. We are currently working on an operating model in this respect.

The Industry of the Future Platform is to be formally launched once the legislative process is completed. This is expected to happen in the first quarter of 2018. Until then,the Ministry concentrates in its work on market integration, finalising the operating model and training of cadres.

•

Infrastructure

TO CARRY OUT OBJECTIVES, TO DEVELOP THE COMPANY,

TO IMPROVE THE RESULTS DARIUSZ KRAWCZYK, Polnord President, talks to "Polish Market".

Polnord has been around for forty years now. In a sector which is as demanding as this one, it is undoubtedly a major achievement.

Over this period of time, what has been your toughest challenge?

The history of Polnord proves that Polish brand stands a good chance of facing up to strong foreign competitors both in terms of technology and image. The construction sector is indeed a demanding one because the verification of the product takes a very long time. Especially in case of firms such as Polnord which has carried out a number of investment projects, it is very easy to verify the quality of work and materials by visiting one of the housing estates that were built years ago. At the same time, in the construction sector, just like in other industrial sectors, a constant technological race is on. It is not just that trends in architecture change. New materials are also introduced.

Innovations cause customers’ expectations to rise. What used to be standard in the sector five to ten years ago is no longer enough. Customers expect better and better quality of fittings and shorter construction time. On the other hand, construction companies must increase their profit margins. This is the biggest challenge not only for Polnord but also for any other developer. One example of Polnord investment projects which follow current construction trends is the premium segment Rezydencja Brzozowy Zakątek in the Wilanów district.

Apartments built there feature smart home technology. It will enable residents to remotely control access to their apartment, temperature and lighting. I am sure that within a few years such solutions will become standard in the majority of housing estates built in Poland.

PM

another milestone is the crucial Company Strategy for the years 20162019 of which I was the initiator.

Does your responsibility to the shareholders drive the company’s development? Maybe in the property development market you need a little bit of risk?

Responsibility before the shareholders is an additional source of motivation. However, in day-to-day managerial work it doesn’t really matter that much whether you manage a company which is listed on the stock exchange or not. In both cases the goal is the same: to carry out objectives, to develop the company and to improve the results. The differences can be noticed only when you begin to analyse assessment criteria of particular undertakings. In the case of a company listed on the stock exchange, the criteria include not only financial results but also share price, which varies considerably on the Warsaw Stock Exchange. In the case of a developer, the investment cycle lasts more than two years. This is how much time needs to elapse between the start of investment project preparation and the moment ownership is transferred to the buyer in the form of the notary deed. Only then is the developer allowed to include the value of the transaction in the company’s financial records. Stock market investors, especially those investing modest sums of money, tend to be impatient and demand instant profit. Nervous moves, changes in the stockholders structure frequently PM

What were the milestones in the company’s development in the past four decades?

I would single out the firm’s debut on the Warsaw Stock Exchange and Polnord’s participation in the construction of Miasteczko Wilanów, an investment project which is well-known not only among Warsaw residents. The stylish, modern housing, which is easy on the eye, makes the estate one of Poland’s most modern neighbourhoods. It is harmonious in terms of its architecture. Before the project got off the ground, in 1999 Polnord joined the rank of public limited companies by making its debut on the Warsaw Stock Exchange.

Three years later the company was among the founding members of the Polish Developers’ Union. Those two events made a major impact on the company’s development and on the Polnord brand. Since its shares became available on the regulated market, the company assumed a number of responsibilities including the need to publish information that makes it credible in the eyes of investors and customers who seek a reliable developer to buy an apartment of their own. Yet PM

46 polish market

Brzozowy Zakątek Residence

Infrastructure of the present situation in a very effective way.

Record sales achieved today will be translated into good financial results the moment buyers who are currently signing agreements receive their notary deeds. At the same time we are getting ready for the time when the present property development boom comes to an end.

In the currently implemented Polnord Strategy, we predict that falling demand may become noticeable later this year. If it does happen – and for the time being there are no signs that it will – Polnord will be prepared for leaner years.

What are Polnord’s main advantages on the Polish property development market which is very competitive?

Next to forty years of experience, one of our main strengths is one of the biggest banks of undeveloped real estate holdings. This is why we can be very choosy when we buy new holdings.

The lack of land available for property development is a major headache for many developers, especially during a construction boom. We are also constantly on the lookout for new sites but we are choosing from among the very best offers. We are only interested in lots in attractive locations whose legal status is clear, and where the building permit is available. One example is a plot of land we have purchased in the coastal zone in the Gdańsk district of Stogi where we will build holiday apartments.

PM

THE 40 YEARS HISTORY OF POLNORD PROVES THAT POLISH BRAND STANDS A GOOD CHANCE OD FACING UP TO STRONG FOREIGN COMPETITORS BOTH IN TERMS OF TECHNOLOGY AND IMAGE Dariusz Krawczyk, Polnord President negatively affect the share price, even though the moves actually lead to improved results in the future. Instead of consciously taking investment risks, we prefer to rely on experience and our knowledge of particular segments. Our offer very well fits the needs and expectations of those seeking an apartment in a definite market segment in Poland. We know what types of housing units will be in demand in particular locations. We are present in all major markets.

We implement investment projects in Warsaw, the Tri-City of Gdańsk, Gdynia and Sopot, as well as in Szczecin, Łódź, Wrocław and Olsztyn.

We build and sell flats based on the Polnord Strategy for the years 2016-2019. As a result, two quarterly sales records in the company’s fortyyear-old history have been set this year. In the

first nine months of the year we sold more flats that in all of 2016.

Can this level of sales be maintained, or was it the result of the simultaneous completion of several investment projects?

The property development market in Poland is currently experiencing a boom. It has lasted long enough for analysts to look out for the first signs of a slowdown. One of the most important factors which work in favour of both those buying and selling property are record low interest rates. On the one hand, credit is cheap.

On the other, it is hard to find a better investment for capital than real estate. Both these factors cause apartment sale levels in Poland to remain high. Polnord is taking advantage PM

Is Polnord also involved in investment projects outside Poland?

As far as foreign investment projects are concerned, we are present in Scandinavia through the KB Dom company which belongs to the Polnord Group. KB Dom has the technology to produce modern prefabricated concrete elements whose use considerably shortens the construction period and makes it possible to reduce the size of building crews. The production technology applied at the KB Dom factory near Żarnowiec is based on the use of the latest precision computer and laser tools. Prefabs may be associated with communist-era concrete high-rises whose construction quality often left a lot to be desired. KB Dom prefabricated concrete elements come from a completely different technological era. Buildings constructed with their use are impossible to distinguish from those built based on traditional technology. Proof of this is their popularity and the appreciation KB Dom prefabricated elements have won among the Scandinavians who are known for their high expectations when it comes to quality and good workmanship. Polnord Group prefabricated solutions are also used in the construction of the first estate in the Mazowieckie province built as part of the ‘Home+’ programme in the Warsaw satellite town of Pruszków.

• PM

11/2017 polish market

47

Construction

THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY TO FACE BIG CHALLENGES AS WORK ACCUMULATES IN THE COMING YEARS Delays in implementing key infrastructure projects have affected the performance of construction companies in 2016, and will continue to affect their business in the years to come.

Source: Deloitte

I

n the first half of 2017, the ten largest construction companies listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange recorded a slight, i.e. only a 2%, increase in sales revenue in comparison to the corresponding period of 2016. The revenues of the largest 15 construction companies in Poland in 2016 fell by nearly 3% year on year. This was the result of rescheduling key infrastructure projects under the European Union’s new Financial Framework 2014-2020 to 2017-2018. According to experts from the consulting company Deloitte, who prepared the “Polish Construction Companies 2016 – Major Players, Key Growth Drivers and Development Prospects” report, the delays in key infrastructure projects have led to more-intense competition on the construction market, and will cause excessive work accumulation in 2018-2020, generating additional risk factors for the industry, and pressures on contract margins.

As expected, after a period of increased construction output in 2014-2015, 2016 saw a slowdown in construction and assembly. As a result, the total revenues of the fifteen largest companies fell by over PLN 53 million, i.e. 2.7% in relation to the revenues achieved in 2015.

"The slowdown in the upward trend on the construction market was primarily caused by delays in announcing new tenders relating to large infrastructure projects co-financed under the new EU Financial Framework 2014-2020. However, a revival and upturn was observed in the construction industry as early as in late 2016 and 2017”, said Maciej Krasoń, Real-Estate and Construction Industry Leader in Poland and Central Europe at Deloitte.

NO CHANGE IN THE TOP THREE

The Budimex Group led Deilotte’s ranking, which covered the 15 largest construction companies in Poland in 2016. It achieved revenues of PLN 5.6 billion (an 8.5% increase year on year). The second company was Skanska S.A., with revenues of PLN 3.8 billion. The Austrian company Strabag came in third, like in previous years, but experienced an 11% fall in revenues in comparison to the previous year, with total revenues

48 polish market

of PLN 3.4 billion. Two new companies made it into the ranking: Mostostal Zabrze Group and Mirbud Group.

After 2015’s significant rise in the WIG Construction index, 2016 was a period of slowdown. This was connected with the overall decrease in construction and assembly output. As at the end of 2016, the total market value of the ten largest construction companies listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange was PLN 9.7 billion, PLN 1.7 billion higher than in 2015. In percentage terms, the increase in their market capitalisation was 21%. This resulted from the increased market capitalisation of the PBG Group, which followed the signing of an agreement with creditors and the completion of bankruptcy proceedings. If the PBG company had been excluded, the total market capitalisation of the listed entities included in the ranking would have fallen by 2%. Budimex remained the leader in market value among construction companies as at 31 December 2016. Its market capitalisation made up over 50% of the total capitalisation of the ten largest companies listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange and included in Deloitte’s ranking.

In early 2017 the WIG Construction index rose by 20%. This resulted from an increase in construction and assembly output, and the rate at which new large infrastructure projects were being announced. “On the other hand, the poorer performance of construction companies in 2017 than expected by investors and analysts damped the enthusiasm of investors, leading to a downward trend in the WIG BUD index in the second half of this year. 2017 will most likely not be a time of intensive construction projects, as a major part of the contracts are being implemented in the design-build system. This means that the construction stage of projects and the time when revenue data comes in will be delayed by as many as 12 to 18 months from the date of contract award decision,” said Łukasz Michorowski, Director in Audit & Assurance at Deloitte.

The current build-up of tender procedures will result in a large number of construction projects in 2018-2020, which might lead to higher prices for construction materials, and problems with finding qualified workforce.

Infrastructure

EU FUNDS FOR ROAD AND RAIL CONSTRUCTION

The number of bankruptcies in the construction industry in the analysed period fell by 16% – from 160 in 2015 to 135 in 2016. Last year financial difficulties were mainly experienced by construction companies dealing with road and water supply infrastructure. In the first half of 2017, a 19% increase in the number of bankruptcies was recorded in comparison to the first half of 2016. Delays in starting infrastructure projects might have been one of the underlying reasons.

As noted by Deloitte’s experts, the rate of growth and the further development of the industry will largely depend on how effectively the 2014-2020 Financial Framework funds will be used. This will be vital, especially in the road and rail sectors, as the residential, office and retail sectors have fared well over the years. The total funds allocated to Poland under the EU’s 2014-2020 Cohesion Policy has been EUR 82.5 billion. The programmes which provide the most funding to infrastructure projects are the Infrastructure and Environment Operational Programme (EUR 27.4 billion) and the Eastern Poland Operational Programme (EUR 2 billion).

In the road and rail construction sector, the period between the second half of 2016 and mid-2017 saw a large number of construction tenders co-financed with EU funds announced by the General Directorate for National Roads and Motorways and PKP PLK (Polish Railways). Construction companies restocked their project portfolios in a relatively short period of time, putting their free resources to use. “Fighting for contracts and taking full advantage of operating capacities might lead to lower margins, which could Item Company be observed in the first half of 2017 in the performance of the 1 Grupa Budimex main companies specialising 2 Skanska S.A.1 in rail contracts,” said Paweł 3 Grupa Strabag2 Sadowski, Director in Financial Advisory at Deloitte.

4 Grupa Polimex-Mostostal

DIVERSIFIED BUSINESS AND FOREIGN EXPANSION One of the challenges to be faced by the construction industry will be to reduce workforce supply, and the increasing pressure on wages. The number of construction employees is currently much lower than in 2009-2012, which was the time of the preEURO 2012 upturn. The average employment level in the construction industry in 2009-2012

50 polish market

5

Grupa PBG

6

Grupa Erbud3

7

Grupa Mostostal Warszawa

8

Grupa Trakcja

9

Grupa Unibep

10 Grupa

was about 450-480 thousand, in comparison to 390 thousand in the period 2016 – first quarter 2017. The average yearly remuneration in the construction sector rose at a higher rate than the national average in the first quarter of 2017 (+5.5% vs. 4.3%).

Large construction groups operating in Poland are also present on foreign markets. However, their volume of sales abroad is small. At face value, the average revenue on foreign operations for the largest companies was PLN 187 million, a PLN 29 million increase compared to 2015. This means a 19% increase in relation to the previous year.

The export operations of Polish construction companies focus on neighbouring markets, mainly Eastern Europe, but also Scandinavia and Germany. For entities which provided such information among the largest construction companies included in the ranking, the proportion of foreign revenue to total revenue was over 8.5%, and was nearly 1.5 pct.points higher than in 2015. “In the coming years, construction companies will, on the one hand, focus on taking maximum advantage of the increased number of projects being generated by the inflow of EU funds, and, on the other, look for opportunities to ensure long-term growth after 2020,” stressed Maciej Krasoń. “It is already apparent that Poland’s construction companies are looking for growth opportunities on foreign markets, and will be trying to diversify their operations by developing new skills, such as modernisation projects in building construction and maintenance projects in the infrastructure segment. Still, the key component for them is the completion of large projects being implemented under the current Financial Framework.”

•

e

e

CD CD

e e e e

PORR4

11

Grupa Elektrobudowa

12

Warbud S.A.

2015

Nominal change

Percentage change

5 572 290

5 133 994

438 296

8,5%

3 793 600

4 430 900

-637 300

-14,4%

3 423 635

3 847 423

-423 788

-11,0%

2 668 221

2 548 575

119 646

4,7%

1 987 014

1 798 815

188 199

10,5%

1 789 776

1 715 418

74 358

4,3%

1 403 102

1 275 431

127 671

10,0%

1 381 173

1 329 180

51 993

3,9%

1 249 239

1 242 860

6 379

0,5%

1 109 738

1 294 204

-184 466

-14,3%

971 480

1 242 830

-271 350

-21,8%

930 435

1 106 860

-176 425

-15,9%

8

CD

Mota - Engil Central Europe S.A.

8

792 312

759 624

32 688

4,3%

786 886

949 576

-162 690

-17,1%

773 993

760 816

13 177

1,7%

Total

28 63 2 894

29 43 6 50 5

-803 611

-2,7°/o

Average

19 08 860

19 62434

- 53 574

-2,70/o

15 Grupa Mirbud

8 New company in the ranking

Revenue in

2016

e

13 Grupa Mostostal Zabrze 14

Revenue in

8Rise

eFall

No change

Construction

11/2017  polish market

51

Infrastructure

POLISH EXPORTERS ASSOCIATION

STRATEGY – ACTIVITIES AND RESULTS

MIECZYSŁAW TWARÓG, President of the Board of the Association of Polish Exporters

52 polish market

T

he Polish Exporters Association devotes a lot of attention to the analysis and assessment of exporters’ opinions concerning conditions in which they currently operate. Among these opinions, constructive initiatives geared toward overcoming economic difficulties prevail. In particular, this concerns new ideas that could be implemented in practice, and which are the subject of activities undertaken by the Polish Exporters Association. The organisation brings together more than 300 exporters from all sectors and regions of Poland. It also works in partnership with more than 5,000 companies. A series of meetings, and in particular annual congresses and programme conferences of the Polish Exporters Association, provide a venue for discussions on realities faced by Polish exporters in groups of 250-300 entrepreneurs and experts. Conclusions from such meetings are passed on to the government, namely the Ministry of Economic Development, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Agriculture, the two houses of Parliament, chairmen of regional assemblies and other institutions. The 16th Congress of Polish Exporters on November 23, which will be devoted to the prospects of Polish companies’ expansion to foreign markets within the government Strategy for Responsible Development, will be one such occasion.

Based on the analysis of the current state of the Polish economy, on the initiative of the Polish Exporters

Association a Strategy of Export-oriented Development of the Polish Economy has been drawn up. It dovetails with measures undertaken by the ministries of economic development and agriculture and other government ministries.

No-one needs convincing that, next to internal demand, exports are the driving force behind economic development both in Poland and other countries. Precisely for this reason export-oriented measures should be the focus at all levels from the cabinet to government ministries to local administration to self-government bodies. While exporters are perfectly aware of the lucrative opportunities awaiting them in foreign markets, they do need all forms of support at home from all those mentioned above. This goal is served by the export development policy and – in the long term – the strategy of innovation-oriented development of the Polish economy. To fully reflect Poland’s interests and exporters’ needs, it should provide answers to at least two questions: what sectors should be developed with exports in mind and what markets are to be give priority in the nearest future. Suggestions contained in the Polish Exporters Association strategy provide answers to these two questions. Priority sectors include the furniture, automotive, electronics, aviation, agricultural, food processing and biotech industries, as well as IT and telecommunications services. When it comes to priority markets, these include China, India, Vietnam, Mexico, Algeria, Brazil and the United Arab Emirates.

Infrastructure Exporters highlight the need to streamline the system of export-oriented measures in terms of support instruments, promotion and other measures. This view is shared by the Polish Exporters Association. In terms of promotion in foreign markets, pride of place goes to the activities of an expanding network of foreign trade offices run by the Polish Investment and Trade Agency. They promise to be particularly helpful for small and medium-sized companies and those keen to strike up partnerships in a definite market for the first time.

Poland has an impressive export potential. Its exports are diversified. It increasingly satisfies the interests and requirements of foreign customers. Not surprisingly, 70% of Polish exports end up in EU countries. This concerns both mechanical and electrical appliances, motor cars and other vehicles, chemical, metallurgical products, agricultural products, foodstuffs, textiles and furniture. Demand for a wide range of goods and commodities in export markets remains high. This also holds true about food products.

The favourable exchange rate of the Polish zloty against the euro and the US dollar is beneficial for Polish exporters while making labour costs in Poland attractive to foreign investors. A number of foreign companies have announced their intention to launch production and invest in Poland.

Their products will also increase the volume of Polish exports. The export-oriented economic development strategy provides for an increase in the value of Polish exports by 2020. Taking into account all the aforementioned factors, this goals appears realistic.

The strategic goal of the Polish Exporters Association is to help maximise export growth as one of the forces driving the development of the Polish economy. The mission of the Association is to represent the interests of exporters in dealing with state administration and local government bodies, as well as with national and foreign organisations. The priority of the Polish Exporters Association is to support Polish companies in their foreign expansion within the Strategy for Responsible Development. The Association’s aim is also to pursue activities to enhance the development of the Polish economy and its competitive edge on foreign markets in terms of innovation and exports.

The Polish Exporters Association actively works to boost the exports of Polish products which are in considerable demand in foreign markets. Pride of place here goes to the steady growth of exports based on new technologies and know-how. Poland has a large pool of young and highly educated cadres, as well as developed R&D facilities, which should be used more effectively. Export growth will to a large extent hinge on the better use of national assets and natural resources.

The Association’s support for entrepreneurs, state administration and local government in order to achieve higher export growth is fully compatible with the Strategy for Responsible Development.

The Polish Exporters Association expects Polish exports to grow further to reach the level of EUR 230-240 billion by 2020. Food and agricultural exports are to account for EUR 32-35 billion of that figure. To achieve this level of exports, the existing economic potential should be put to a maximum use, along with new export-oriented investment projects implemented through public procurement and other undertakings.

EXPORT GROWTH WILL TO A LARGE EXTENT HINGE ON THE BETTER USE OF NATIONAL ASSETS AND NATURAL RESOURCES.

The Association does its best to meet the needs and expectations of exporters. It also undertakes activities to create conditions in which exporters can operate more effectively. To this end it is vital to introduce new systemic solutions to boost exports and to shape a positive image of Polish goods and commodities in foreign markets.

The Polish Exporters Association is determined to step up its activities to assist companies venturing into new markets within the Strategy for Responsible Development.

This will help companies to focus on priority export markets that show the biggest promise.

It will strengthen the activities of economic diplomacy in countries regarded as long-term priority markets for the development of Polish exports.

It will enable the concentration of resources for the promotion of sectors which have the best export growth potential.

The Polish Exporters Association aims to help exports grow through working in partnership with companies, banks, financial institutions, government and local government bodies and other institutions. This will enable a better use of manufacturing, promotion, marketing, HR and R&D potential to give a new quality to foreign expansion plans of Polish businesses within the Strategy for Responsible Development.

The Association provides assistance in Polish business promotion, which should focus both on EU and non-European markets in the global value chain.

The Polish Exporters Association will support the creation of national companies along existing recognised brands such as Orlen Group, Grupa Azoty S.A. and KGHM, as well as of strong clusters, corporations, groups of manufacturers, co-operatives and joint stock companies. The point is to concentrate resources to accelerate the development of such sectors as the extraction and processing of raw materials, chemical industry, furniture industry, electrical engineering and food production (dairy, meat, fruit and vegetable processing).

The Association provides answers to exporters’ needs in terms of information, promotion and export-oriented instruments.

The Polish Exporters Association is the organiser of the Business Journalist of the Year 2017 competition, among whose winners is "Polish Market" Editor-in-Chief Krystyna Woźniak - Trzosek.

• 11/2017 polish market

53

Events

THE EUROPEAN SME CONGRESS LIBERATES THE BUSINESS SECTOR Cooperation with the US State of Nevada, a common transport tariff in the Silesian Metropolis, and noemission buses, are the outcomes of the three-day meeting in Katowice. The European Congress of Small & Medium-Sized Enterprises has for the seventh time pushed the economy towards development.

T

he 100 events organised during the 3 days at the International Congress Centre in Katowice were attended by approx. 6000 participants from 30 countries. During the Congress there were opportunities to meet representatives from China, the USA, Iran, Belarus and Croatia, to view the products and services offered by the Business Expo Fair exhibitors, and also to get advice from such bodies as the Social Insurance Institution and the District Employment Office.

“We have been promoting the slogan ‘Science, business, local government – together for the economy’ for years, with the emphasis on the word ‘together’, believing that cooperation between the three sectors drives positive changes,” says Tadeusz Donocik, President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Katowice. “Therefore, we are pleased not only with the high attendance level at this year's Congress, but also with the fact that we had the opportunity to host representatives of all these groups, including from abroad.”

The leitmotif of this year’s edition of the Congress was the liberation of business, which, as claimed by speakers and experts, largely depends on innovation in the form of company management, recruitment, technology and cooperation. Innovation should also be present in law, financing, and the entire business environment which impacts on its development.

It is also a way of thinking, which can be acquired during the numerous inspiring meetings and talks at the Congress.

“The Congress is a forum for exchanging thoughts and for the transfer of knowledge – reliable, practical, and, most of all, helpful in the everyday challenges taken up by entrepreneurs,” said Tadeusz Donocik, President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Katowice, the Organiser of the Congress. “In order to keep this promise, we invited experts from various fields, and also ministry representatives.”

The world of politics during the Congress was represented by, among others, Jarosław Gowin, Stanisław Szwed, Jerzy Kwieciński, Jerzy Buzek, Janusz Steinhoff, Barbara Dolniak, Monika Rosa, Gabriela Lenartowicz, Borys Budka, Mirosława Nykiel, Jacek Wilk, Marshals of the Śląskie and Małopolskie Provinces, representatives of metropolises, and Mayors of Silesian cities. The meetings were supplemented with the perspectives of the representatives of the scientific community, including the Rector of the University of Silesia Andrzej Kowalczyk and the Rector of the Silesian

54 polish market

University of Technology Arkadiusz Mężyk. Among the guests thanks to whom the business-oriented point of view could be clearly heard were Tadeusz Zagórski, Ryszard Florek, Andrzej Arendarski, Cezary Kaźmierczak and Tomasz Styczyński.

Governor Brian Sandoval and Minister Jarosław Gowin signed a letter of intent providing for combining innovative ecosystems from Poland and Nevada.

In his speech opening the SME Congress, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Science and Higher Education Jarosław Gowin said: “Poland's successes after 1989 are to a great extent owed to Polish entrepreneurs, their dedication and hard work, innovativeness and effective management.”

The deputy prime minister talked about the obstacles frequently faced by entrepreneurs on their paths to success. Red tape, unclear regulations, tax chaos and the unfavourable approach of some public offices are only some of these. The minister emphasised that supporting Polish companies was one of the major pillars of this Government's activities. It's time for innovation.

“From the perspective of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education, I can also see that the precondition for Poland's next civilisation leap and for consistently raising the quality of life of Polish citizens is the development of science and research. We are not going to build a strong economy without innovative technologies and products which could be marketed by Polish enterprises,” explained Jarosław Gowin.

Events COOPERATION WITH THE STATE OF NEVADA

The meeting between Deputy Prime Minister Jarosław Gowin and Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval was a huge success. During the Congress they signed a letter of intent providing for combining innovative ecosystems from Poland and Nevada. Thanks to the programme to be created on its basis, Polish technological start-ups will be able to participate in the acceleration programme on the US market, using the services of institutions and mentors from Nevada associated with them. The cooperation between the Ministry of Science and Higher Education and the State of Nevada is a pioneering example of cooperation between the Polish and US administrations.

Nevada, with its experience in making the economy-development strategy innovation-oriented, is one of the States with which Poland is planning to cooperate more closely. Of particular interest might be the achievements of companies from Nevada in creating autonomous systems for unmanned aerial vehicles and ground vehicles, innovative water technologies, including water management areas, and novel solutions in the field of competitive electronic games.

THE SILESIAN METROPOLIS – WHAT’S NEXT?

The form and role of the newly created Silesian Metropolis has been discussed numerous times, but at the Congress the issue emerged for the first time. The debate with the participation of Wojciech Saługa, Marshal of the Śląskie Province, Jarosław Wieczorek, Governor of the Śląskie Province, Kazimierz Karolczak, President of the Management Board of the Silesia Metropolis, Marcin Krupa, Mayor of Katowice, and Krzysztof Lewandowski, Deputy Mayor of Zabrze, has resulted in formulating specific postulates. The issue of transport and joint activities in this field were also raised during the talks. Additionally, Kazimierz Karolczak announced a common transport tariff, involving buses, trams and trolleybuses. From 1 January 2018 the services will be available to the residents of the entire Metropolis at reduced prices. A breakthrough also occurred in the sphere of financing – in line with the findings of the European Investment Bank, preferential investment loans will be available not only to the largest cities but also to smaller municipalities.

THE FUTURE OF TRANSPORT

The cooperation between science, local government bodies and the business sector is manifesting itself in the “No-Emission Public Transport” programme. During the 7th Congress the representatives of the National Centre for Research and Development stated that they would be announcing a tender for prototyping a no-emission bus. The programme participants, i.e. 23 Polish cities, and the Municipal Union of Transport of the Upper Silesian Industrial Region (KZK GOP), associating 29 communes, declared that they would be purchasing approx. 600 vehicles.

No-emission buses are just the beginning. The discussions during the congress also included future mobility. The future of transport aims towards electrification, as emphasised in the recent EU directive which contains a provision that every building with at least 10 parking spaces should have its own electric-vehicle charging station.

Marcin Krupa, Mayor of Katowice, said: “The goal of local government is to develop all types of activities for the benefit of the community creating it. We are discussing sustainable transport, and one of the most important elements is to persuade residents to choose public transport over their own cars. However, this transportation needs to be at an appropriately smart level, so that the public will also become smart enough to use it”.

SPECIAL SERVICES

The Congress also created an opportunity to recapitulate on the activities of enterprises, institutions and local government bodies, conferring the title of Honorary Member of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Katowice to the District Employment Offices in Katowice, and also rewarding local government bodies for their special contribution to the

development of small and medium-sized enterprises within their jurisdiction. In addition, a competition run by the District Employment Office in Ruda Śląska was completed ‒ for the fourth time, enterprises were granted awards for their debuts and successes in business after 5 years from launching their activities.

Krystyna Woźniak-Trzosek, receives Honorary Badges for Services to the Śląskie Province.

Under the European SME Congress, on the second day of the event, the Śląskie Province Assembly organised a session on the development of entrepreneurship. During the Assembly session representatives of the business sector designated by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry were awarded Honorary Badges for Services to the Śląskie Province. The Golden Badge was received by Krystyna Woźniak-Trzosek, President of the Management Board and Editor-in-Chief of the "Polish Market" monthly.

She received the honour from Stanisław Gmitruk, Speaker of the Śląskie Province Assembly.

Golden Badges were also presented to Jerzy Łoik, Andrzej Malinowski, Witosław Wasilewski and Andrzej Kowalczyk. Silver Badges were given to Jan Bondaruk and Izabella Żyglicka.

The Badges are awarded to people who have contributed to the economic, cultural and social development of the Province with their lifelong achievements, or the fulfilment of their duties in Silesia.

Marshal of Śląskie Province Wojciech Saługa emphasised the significance of EU support for the development of SMEs. “The instrument which the Śląskie Province has at its disposal to effectively support the process of intensifying cooperation between science and business is funds from the Regional Operational Programme. The Regional Operational Programme for the Śląskie Province (RPO WSL) has made available over EUR 0.5 billion for strengthening scientific research, technological development and innovations, and for increasing the competitiveness of SMEs. Furthermore, a sum of nearly EUR 96 million has been allocated to measures aimed at raising the competences and skills of employees in enterprises, and almost EUR 35 million on creating favourable conditions for self-employment. The funds designated for improving the energy efficiency of entrepreneurs amount to EUR 33 million,” he explained. • 11/2017 polish market

55

Events

NEVADA GOVERNOR VISITS BETAMED S.A. MEDICAL CENTRE

A

visit to Poland by Nevada governor Brian Sandoval in October was a result of American-Polish trade missions. He was accompanied by Kristopher Sanchez, Director of International Trade for the State of Nevada, Governor's Office of Economic Development, John Petkus, honorary consul of the Republic of Poland in Nevada and Senator Anna Maria Anders, Secretary of State for International Dialogue at the Office of the Polish Prime Minister.

Governor Brian Sandoval with Beata Drzazga

The governor’s official visit to Poland started on Monday October 16. Brian Sandoval took part in Nevada Day at the SGH Warsaw School of Economics, during which the university signed a co-operation agreement with the University of Nevada, Reno.

56 polish market

Then, governor Sandoval met with President of the Republic of Poland Andrzej Duda.

The Polish president and the governor of Nevada discussed co-operation in the field of innovation and economic co-operation.

The province of Silesia was another point on governor Sandoval’s itinerary. He took part in the Congress of Small and MediumSized Enterprises at the Congress Centre in Katowice. He also made a longer stopover at the headquarters of BetaMed S.A. in Chorzów.

The meeting at BetaMed S.A., which took place on October 18, was described as an important point on the governor’s agenda because this medical centre is the first Polish company to launch a branch in Las Vegas called BetaMed International. "For now I’m finding out about the US market and its needs.

I wonder whether to focus on home care, social services, medical care, nursing, rehabilitation or maybe all of these at once", said Beata Drzazga, who was the first in the world to receive the title of the Nevada Business Ambassador for her services in the fields of co-operation and promotion of the State of Nevada.

Beata Drzazga is not just the founder and owner of BetaMed S.A., she is also the Director of the American Polish Chamber of Commerce in Las Vegas and of the Polish American Chamber of Commerce of Nevada in Poland.

Operating on the international arena, Beata Drzazga helps companies from Poland and other countries of the world to establish links with companies in Nevada. "I’m very happy. I was waiting for this moment for Nevada to see what I do here in Poland and what BetaMed – the first small fruit of my mission – looks like. That’s what I intend to do in Nevada in the future," Beata Drzazga said.

Governor Sandoval pointed out that several small businesses from Poland already operate in Nevada and that they are doing pretty well. "Beata could serve as an example for them, just like she serves as an example in Poland," he noted.

At the end of his stay in Poland, the Governor of the State of Nevada visited Warsaw, accompanied by BetaMed S.A. President Beata

From left: Brian Sandoval, Beata Drzazga and senator Anna Maria Anders

Drzazga. During this brief visit they called on Minister of Finance Mateusz Morawiecki and were received at the US Embassy in Poland. The last point on the agenda was a visit to IGT System Test Center in Warsaw.

This was not the first time Governor Brian Sandoval visited Poland. He was here two years ago and now he says he will return as soon as he can. "I can’t wait to be here again.

The more I see here, the more I realise how strong ties and friendship connect me with people in this country. I would like these good relations to become even stronger. I’ll do what I can to make it happen," governor• Sandoval emphasised .

Events

EUROPEAN BUSINESS CLUB POLAND GALA AWARD CEREMONY 2017

F

or the third time the European Business Club Poland – at the official Gala Award Ceremony – honoured individuals and companies which in a particular way contributed to the development of entrepreneurship, economy, local governments and charity activities, science, culture and sport as well as those who achieved success on the European and global scale.

The chapter of the Awards of the European Business Club Poland, composed of outstanding representatives of business, science and sport and chaired by Professor Elżbieta Mączyńska, the President of the Polish Economic Society and member of National Development Council established by President of the Republic of Poland, awarded the honorary prizes, as follows: Main award VICTORIA EUROPAE 2017 (EURO-

PEAN VICTORIA):

Mateusz Morawiecki, the Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Economic Development and Finance, in recognition of his special contributions and achievements in creating conditions for the development of the Polish economy and increasing its importance in the international arena.

ENTERPRENEUR MAGNUS 2017 (OUTSTANDING ENTREPRENEUR): Beata Drzazga, the President of BetaMed S. A., for building the biggest in Poland professional and patient-friendly medical company Beta Meta S. A. providing home and clinic medical care for the chronically-ill and aged people as well as for outstanding managerial achievements.

BENE MERITUS 2017 (HIGHLY DISTINGUISHED): Senator Lidia Staroń for taking up and solving difficult problems of Polish entrepreneurs, defending their good name and initiating changes in Polish law.

The team of ski jumpers composed of Maciej Kot, Dawid Kubacki, Kamil Stoch and Piotr Żyła for setting world-class standards in team ski jumping, making the name of Poland famous all over the world and building positive social emotions.

58 polish market

TV Polonia for popularizing the Polish economy abroad and unique achievement in building national pride among the Polish community world-wide.

SIGNUM TEMPORIS 2017 (SIGN OF THE TIMES): The Praski Port for the bold implementation of the architectural and urban development project “Praski Port – a New Generation City” which will transform Warsaw into a modern capital of the 21st century.

Walkrys Security Sp. z o . o. for diligence and professionalism in providing full service for exclusive hotels and luxury apartment buildings.

PRO FUTURO 2017 (FOR THE FUTURE): The Warsaw University Song and Dance Ensemble “Warszawianka” for unique achievement in promoting Polish tradition and culture.

Whisbear® (Firma Szumisie) for creativity and the innovative project Whisbear® (Szumisie) meant for babies as well as for boldness in winning international markets.

PRO PUBLICO BONO 2017 (FOR SOCIAL ACTIVITY): Priest Jacek Stryczek for creating the Polish national project “Noble Parcel” (Szlachetna paczka) to help impoverished families and longstanding activity for people in need.

Stanisław Karczewski, the Speaker of the Senate of the Republic of Poland, and Ryszard Czarnecki, the Deputy Chairman of the European Parliament, were the honorary patrons of the Gala Ceremony.

The honorary institutional patrons were the Ministry of Economic Development, the Polish Chamber of Commerce, the Polish Agency of Innovation and Commerce, the Polish Economic Society, Employers of the Republic of Poland and the Union of Enterpreneurs and Employers.

Deutsche Bank was the patron of the Gala and the Konarczuk Meat Factory (Zakład Mięsny Konarczuk) was its sponsor.

The European Business Club Poland Gala Award Ceremony was held at the Olympic Centre in Warsaw on 28 October, 2017.

The ceremony was conducted by journalist Przemysław Tarkowski, the winner of the Bene Meritus Award 2015, Highly Distinguished. The place of the Gala itself caused that the artistic programme performers were talented young people: 14year- old Oliwia Szydłowska who presented a dancing programme and the Youth Orchestra of the Tadeusz Wrześniak Glassworks.

•

November 23rd-24th 2017 The Westin Warsaw Hotel

innovation digitalization technologies

`if`h=ebob

]

FinTech & InsurTech Digital Congress

FinTech & InsurTech Congress

insurtechcongress.pl

Cultural Monitor

CM – November 2017 THIS MONTH’S CULTURAL MONITOR REVOLVES AROUND POLISH DEEP AND TOUCHING CINEMA AND STYLISTICALLY DIVERSE MUSIC. MACIEJ PROLIŃSKI RECOMMENDS NEW FILM AND ALBUM RELEASES.

CINEMA “PTAKI ŚPIEWAJĄ W KIGALI” (BIRDS ARE SINGING IN KIGALI) – DIRECTED BY JOANNA KOS-KRAUZE AND KRZYSZTOF KRAUZE; DISTRIBUTION: KINO ŚWIAT It is the last joint film made by award-winning directing couple Joanna Kos-Krauze and late Krzysztof Krauze, who died in 2014. It is an intimate story about trauma seen through the prism of relations between two women in Poland in the 1990s. A Polish female ornithologist conducts research into the declining population of vultures in Rwanda. When the genocide begins she saves the life of a young Rwandan woman who is a daughter of her associate, a member of the Tutsi tribe. The ornithologist takes the women to Poland. Jowita Budnik and Eliane Umuhire are brilliant in their roles – both received awards at the 52nd Karlovy Vary International Film Festival and the 42nd Polish Film Festival in Gdynia. The actresses not only take great care in building their characters, but also render the unique relationship between each other with great purity, subtlety and energy. They look for a catharsis, liberation from the past, but at the same time pay a very high price for it. This wise film came to me in our present very aggressive and primitive times and offered me some reflection over our humanity and a ray of metaphysical hope.

“PEWNEGO RAZU W LISTOPADZIE” (ONCE UPON A TIME IN NOVEMBER) – DIRECTED BY ANDRZEJ JAKIMOWSKI; DISTRIBUTION: KINO ŚWIAT Andrzej Jakimowski, one of the most important artists in Polish cinema, winner of a Golden Lion and special award in Venice for his film “Sztuczki” (Tricks), comes back with a new film. Inspired by real-life events, it is a moving story of a Warsaw family on the eve of a huge patriotic demonstration in 2013 held to commemorate the Independence Day. This time, Jakimowski has asked Agata Kulesza, an unquestionable Polish film star, to play in his film. The actress is accompanied on screen by Grzegorz Palkowski, Jacek Borusiński, Krzysztof Kiersznowski and Edward Hogg, the unforgettable Ian from Jakimowski’s previous film, “Imagine”. What is well noticeable to viewers of his recent film is the autonomy of the main characters: Mother, Marek and Koleś (a little mongrel dog). Besides, one would like to repeat here after Kieślowski: “Be careful, other people live beside you.” This has also been captured in the film and is worth remembering even in the most ordinary moments. Another thing that touched me in this film was that roofs “play” here so prominently for the first time since Wojciech Marczewski’s “Escape from Liberty Cinema.” Additionally, since the first frames it is evident that the director is Jakimowski. And at the end of the film I had no doubts that it invites reflection just like Jakimowski’s all other films – ascetic, but open and getting under the skin.

“TWÓJ VINCENT” (LOVING VINCENT) – DIRECTED BY DOROTA KOBIELA AND HUGH WELCHMAN; DISTRIBUTION: NEXT FILM A touching and remarkable animated film which reminds viewers about Vincent van Gogh’s art and at the same time tells them about his unhappy, but full of passion, life and about his mysterious death. Dorota Kobiela and Hugh Welchman have written the screenplay and directed the film. It was first shot as a conventional film with actors, scenery and a green box studio. After the film had been edited, a group of over 100 specially trained painters, working in studios located in Poland and Greece, transferred it, frame after frame, onto canvases. Each canvas was then photographed and the pictures were turned into an animated film. In some cases, it took as much as a week to make one second of the film. It has attracted great interest throughout the world. It has been invited to numerous festivals and sold to distributors in dozens of countries. This comes as no surprise. The film truly and quite intentionally shows that “only our pictures tell everything about us.” Watching this story and paintings made by master Vincent may undoubtedly be an attempt to undergo a special kind of initiation.

60 polish market

Cultural Monitor “WOJCIECH MŁYNARSKI. PIOSENKA FINAŁOWA” (WOJCIECH MŁYNARSKI. FINAL SONG) – DIRECTED BY ALICJA ALBRECHT; DISTRIBUTION: BEST FILM The artistic work of Wojciech Młynarski (1941-2017), one of the greatest poets of Polish song and author of over 2,000 lyrics, is inimitable. What controlled his work was always the artist’s internal conviction that what he was doing was right, honest and warm. “Wojciech Młynarski. Piosenka Finałowa” is a documentary and the last, very personal, interview with the artist. The film is complemented by 30 remarks from family members and those who worked with him and for whom he worked. The result is a portrait of an unusual artist and a man wrestling with human weaknesses. And again – the film and its protagonist intentionally ask us whether - in the history of our world of “excess and shortage at the same time,” a world which is now increasingly moving towards ridiculousness - art has ever been “dependent”. It seems that “the mysterious independence” is its main sense, dimension and measure, something born out of love and requiring no arguments to defend it, a prayer or the flight of Icarus, discovered and appreciated immediately or after many years, something above individual biographies, private wounds of artists, the time when one has been born, the behaviour of friends and enemies, and above the role of patrons.

ALBUMS WŁODEK PAWLIK – “SONGS WITHOUT WORDS” – PAWLIK RELATIONS – CD

Włodek Pawlik’s winning streak continues. On his seventh solo album, Pawlik - one of the most important Polish jazz musicians, pianist and composer - is inspired by his favourite jazz and pop standards, which he transforms in his own way into intimate, modest and very sophisticated piano improvisations. From the first sounds of Simon & Garfunkel’s “The Sound of Silence” to the last nostalgic piano phrases, which close this musical journey with George Harrison’s “Something”, we have to do with a hypnotic pleasure of communing with music full of noble simplicity and peace. It is a sublime, atmospheric, not excessively virtuosic and very valuable album. The “Songs Without Words” performed by Pawlik take us to the highest level of performing art, exposing the full beauty of these compositions.

MAREK NAPIÓRKOWSKI – “WAW-NYC” – AGORA – CD

It is the latest album of Poland’s top jazz guitarist and composer. Outstanding Warsaw and New York musicians have taken part in the recording, including two who have worked with Napiórkowski on his previous albums: his collaborator of many years, outstanding and sought-after bassist Robert Kubiszyn, and Clarence Penn, a New York drummer who appeared on Napiórkowski’s album “UP!” released in 2013. For the first time Napiórkowski has met on his artistic road pianist Manuel Valera. Another surprise is the presence on the album of Chris Potter, one of the most outstanding saxophonists.

The album, recorded by a select group of musicians, contains sophisticated music – catchy and full of inner tensions. It is beyond doubt that the musicians are real virtuosos who combine a strong sound and mind-boggling displays of instrumental craftsmanship. Sometimes they move towards simplicity and calm. They are entirely comfortable not only with a riveting tempo, abrupt rhythm changes and passionate passages, but also calm and warm impressions. It is an excellent, modern and stylistically very diverse jazz. Strongly rooted in the tradition of electric playing, it is fresh and at the same time Polish and intercultural.

LIDIA POSPIESZALSKA – “PODRÓŻE NA CHMURZE” (JOURNEYS ON A CLOUD) – WYTWÓRNIA MUZYCZNA MTJ – CD

The Pospieszalski family is the most famous music clan in Poland. One can hardly count the number of music projects – from avant-garde jazz, rock, folk, film and theatre music to songs and large stage projects – in which the Pospieszalski brothers have taken part, especially Marcin and Mateusz. And recently they have been joined by the younger generation, including Marek, Łukasz, Mikołaj, Franek and Szczepan. “Podróże na chmurze” is the second album of Lidia Pospieszalska, Marcin’s wife. It contains songs composed and arranged by the singer herself, except for two compositions she has composed with another person. The music production is the joint work of Lidia and Marcin. Apart from band members who regularly play at their concerts, the album features outstanding guest players, including Frank Parker, Jerzy Mazzoll, Jarosław Bester, Mateusz and Marek Pospieszalski and the Smykowisko violin quartet. The lyrics have been chosen carefully. Most of them are poems written by Grzegorz Żak. The result is an album speaking from the soul. The endearing melodies, inspired by jazz, funk, classical music and folk music of various cultures, coupled with wise words and conscious performance have produced a subtle, but at the same time very energetic, album pulsating with rhythm. The artists’ jazz lyricism, play and music skills are unequalled. One has here nostalgia and the truth of folk motifs. In folk culture, universal reflection often has the form of sing-song. It is able to capture the whole human being in a single phrase, as Father Tischner has remarked. The primal elements of such music, still do not need, as one can see, music expression other than this archetypical one. Thanks to it, one can set out on a journey different from any other.

11/2017 polish market

61

Culture

RADIO STATION PROMOTING

POLISH CULTURE TADEUSZ DESZKIEWICZ, President of Polskie Radio RDC (Radio dla Ciebie SA), a regional station of Polish Radio, which broadcasts in Warsaw and Mazowieckie province, talks to Maciej Proliński.

You have been a media man for several decades. When you look now at the Polish media market, which is so divided, do you think it still explains the world to us or does nothing more than manipulate us?

Today, the Polish media market is very diverse – you have public media, commercial media – private ones – and the Internet. And I think that contemporary media indeed do more to help us discover reality than to impose a single schematic picture of it. Another matter is of course the presence of these strongly marked divisions. This year, 40 years have passed since I started my journalistic career. So I have lots of experiences, very diverse ones and from various periods, and I am looking with concern at the present divisions, including those on the media market. The paradox is that these divisions exist even where it seems there is no room for differences. I mean that artists, for example, are judged on the basis of their political views rather artistic abilities. I am liberal when it comes to this – it does not matter to me what views people have. This is what democracy is about. And this is why people with different views work with me at the radio station. The only thing that matters is how they express their views. If these views are articulated in an inelegant manner, to put it mildly, then I condemn such persons. There is so much aggression on the media market at present. I do not remember ever seeing this kind of aggression in the past, not even in the darkest times in our history. I greatly deplore it because I would like everyone to be able to express their views, but do it with some PM

62 polish market

style. I have recently taken part in a discussion about artistic freedom. During the discussion a musician tried to persuade me that nothing should constrain artistic freedom.

And I do not agree with that. I am absolutely on the side of Prof. Piotr Gliński, minister of culture and national heritage, who believes that we should not allow ourselves such “complete freedom” when public spending is involved, for example in a theatre. I mean the freedom which intentionally violates the rules of social coexistence, ethics and good taste.

Why don’t great artists need to do it and have never needed to do it? It is because only losers have to create scandals.

Exactly. I more and more often wonder whether – in the history of our increasingly ridiculous world of “excess and shortage at the same time” - art has ever been “dependent” in some way. It seems that “independence” is the sense, dimension and measure of art. I mean the “mysterious something” born out of love, but requiring no arguments to defend it.

Culture is an element in which we are born, develop and fulfil our life. We regard our life as decent when we have a sense of completeness, which is impossible to achieve without culture. Culture has always been independent, but sometimes had to camouflage its independence more than at other times. This is why I sometimes miss the old sketch comedies because they required an intellectual effort from the performers to say something, but not do it straightforwardly. It was an intellectual effort on the part of audiences PM

Culture as well. At present, as we have freedom and democracy and everyone may express their opinions, one would only want for both artists and commentators to show brilliance, for example a brilliance of talent.

is good that there are awards. This is one of the reasons why we have become a patron of the “Polish Market” Gala – to promote the difficult mission that your editorial team has pursued for years.

Polish Radio is undoubtedly one of the most important Polish brand names. In this context, it is worth mentioning the somewhat forgotten notion of mission in the sphere of culture. How does RDC pursue this mission?

What we call mission, and what is elite, is not necessarily treated as such by the listeners. When I assumed the post of president of RDC I decided to change it to become a radio station promoting mainly Polish culture – from entertainment to serious art. As it turned out, I hit a bull’s eye. Programmes which seem to be difficult for ordinary listeners are listened to and get great public response if they use accessible language. I am convinced that our station has now become a leading cultural programme on our media market.

What else? We organize concerts in the Agnieszka Osiecka Studio. Among the artists who have recently sung there are Janusz Radek, Nula Stankiewicz and Ewa Bem. We are the main media partner of the Polish Royal Opera, a new institution in Warsaw made up of outstanding musicians, conductors and singers thrown out ruthlessly from the Warsaw Chamber Opera. Additionally, we specialize in something that other media do not do. Every weekend our broadcast van goes to a different city in Mazowieckie province to promote interesting events. After all, many events not less interesting than in the capital city are held in these places. We want these valuable events to start “living in a broader waveband.” A recent event of this kind was a concert marking the 80th birth anniversary of Edward Stachura (1937-1979), a prematurely deceased brilliant poet and prose writer. We broadcast the concert from the Culture Centre in Grójec. Here we come to another of our basic assumptions, which is promoting regions. For years all these regions around Warsaw, like for example Radom, Siedlce, Ciechanów, Ostrołęka, Płock and other cities from which we broadcast our programmes, were insufficiently appreciated. On the other hand, we do not limit ourselves only to events held in Mazowieckie province. We also tell listeners about the world from a broader perspective – Polish and global. With our fast lives these days, radio has to accompany us. At the same time, it has to accompany all these cultural, social and political events. We spend a lot of time in a car, stuck in traffic jams for instance, and in a car we can only listen to the radio.

Is it difficult to plan the RDC schedule? Could you name but a few of your flagship programmes?

I have always wanted this radio to be attractive to people to want to listen to it, also when doing something else.

Our flagship programmes are connected with Polish culture personalities. The programmes are prepared and conducted by stars of our artistic market, starting with operetta singer Grażyna Brodzińska to legendary singer Stan Borys to rock musician Piotr Klatt.

We are now preparing new programmes which will be conducted by Janusz Józefowicz, a well-known and muchliked director and choreographer. Jacek Wan, a journalist and traveller, conducts a very popular series entitled “Between the East and West.” We have also acquired, and discovered as a radio journalist, former presenter Conrado Moreno. He conducts his programme with great refinement. The topics of most of our programmes are associated with culture, history and social problems. Here I would like to draw your attention to our very popular programme series conducted by outstanding journalist Elżbieta Uzdańska. Our programmes promoting young entertainers and classical musicians deserve special notice. We promote graduates of Polish universities of music who have no other place to show their talent.

In many cases, the result is the first recording of their music. Since autumn this year we have broadcast Gary Guthman Monday Jazz Club concerts from a jazz club in Wawer, outside Warsaw. Our listeners have an opportunity to relish diverse jazz music programmes. The artists have been chosen by the trumpet virtuoso himself – Gary Guthman is the host, composer, vocalist and the main showman at the concerts. They enjoy great interest. We receive many signals and e-mails that we are listened to, via our Internet player, not only throughout Poland, but also in many other European countries and even in Argentina and the United States.

The credit goes to our outstanding radio people who conduct the programme with great refinement and in impeccable Polish. This is our biggest asset.

PM

The idea that art is Poland’s best showpiece has determined the activity of “Polish Market” for years. So we are allies in this respect. Is this the reason why RDC has decided for the second time to be a patron for the Pearls of the Polish Economy Gala?

In fact, distance between economy and culture should not be too big because culture greatly needs constant support and attention from business while business can always do with a bit of cultural inspiration. Besides, culture is a part of economy, a very important one and measurable. The Gala shows excellently that in the business world one should remember about such things as the promotion of culture. Awards are a bridge between the two worlds. It PM

PM

And what about finding a job at RDC? I suppose not every journalism graduate can join the team. And not everyone has the ability at all to become a radio person.

Graduates increasingly often appear at our station as trainees. We hope to pick out some new talents. Radio will certainly teach them humbleness because at our radio station these young people have a chance to meet true masters of the trade, learn from them and work with them. We offer them the crème de la crème. Among the music journalists we have Roman Rogowiecki, Bogdan Fabiański, Paweł Bobrowski and Marek Wiernik, among history journalists Wojciech Marczyk, among commentators Grzegorz Chlasta and among feature journalists Elżbieta Uzdańska.

But we are constantly on the lookout for new talent.

This is why we have recently launched our own RDC Media Training Centre where we help not only journalists, but also other people who do not feel confident when speaking publicly.

• PM

11/2017 polish market

63

Culture

AN IDENTITYBUILDING SYMBOL

FOR POLISH PEOPLE PRZEMYSŁAW MROZOWSKI PH.D., Director of the Royal Castle in Warsaw, talks to Maciej Proliński.

The Royal Castle in Warsaw is a place where history meets the present day.

I suppose no-one needs particular encouragement to come and visit it.

The castle is a symbol that builds the identity of the Polish nation. Destroyed by Nazi Germany on Hitler’s orders, it was painstakingly rebuilt after the second world war. Of course, it is one of the most crucial places in Polish history. It is home to a unique art collection. Those visiting the castle are introduced to Poland’s complex past. We pursue educational activities through which visitors can find out more about how to live in harmony with themselves and with the outside world. I reckon that each museum needs to be largely a research institution, for research lies at the core of every human activity. That’s how we have operated for the past forty years. We study the past of the castle, its environment and its art collection. Museums are now not just about historical research, or collecting works of art and artefacts. They are also meant to develop a set of relations, a broad cultural environment for the historical landmarks they are housed it.

Our cultural programmes are thus rich and varied. We hold music events. We bring out a number of publications which complement our activities in a meaningful way. Naturally, we mostly focus on the reign of King Stanislaus Augustus Poniatowski in the second half of the 18th century.

PM

PM

How do you rate the castle’s joint undertakings with Poland’s other royal residences? Together with the King John III Sobieski palace museum in the Warsaw suburb of Wilanów and the Royal Łazienki Palace museum, the Royal Castle is doing a lot to make culture more accessible to the general public. Thanks to your joint initiative, November is a month of free admission to the three museums.

64 polish market

This year for the sixth time the royal residences will be open to the public free of charge throughout November. People need to be encouraged to make culture part of their lives. This is a perfect way of doing it.

This year, together with the other royal residences, we have also mounted an exhibition entitled "John III Sobieski. A Polish King in Vienna." It was on show at the Belvedere Gallery in Vienna’s Winter Palace from July to November. The exhibition showcased King John III Sobieski not just as a military leader who defeated Ottoman Turks in the battle of Vienna in 1683 but also as a father, husband, art lover and sponsor. I believe the exhibition proved a success.

The revitalisation of the Lower Gardens has got underway in the castle grounds.

This marks another stage following the opening of the Upper Gardens in 2015.

The castle and its surroundings are thus becoming even more attractive to visit.

Let’s talk about restoration work on the royal gardens.

The re-creation of the Lower Gardens will complete restoration work of the castle compound which began in 1971. We are aware that the opening of the entire garden complex to the public is keenly expected. In the 19th century the gardens which descend in terraces down the Vistula river escarpment were designed by Jakub Kubicki. The gardens were devastated after the fall of the 1831 November Rising against Russian rule. A comprehensive restoration plan was implemented before the outbreak of the second world war under the eminent architect Adolf Szyszko-Bohusz. The gardens were again destroyed during the war, but their design was captured on pictures of Royal Castle ruins. Some of the trees planted before the war have survived to this day, but very little of the layout has been preserved.

Now the Lower Gardens are being brought PM

back to their original splendour according to a design by the Ogród, Park, Krajobraz owned by landscape designers Jakub Zemła and Tomasz Zwiech. The revitalised gardens will surely make the view of the Warsaw Old Town sitting on top of the Vistula river escarpment even more attractive, as seen from across the river. Work on the Lower Gardens is to be completed by spring 2019.

What exhibitions to be mounted at the Royal Castle in 2018 are you looking forward to the most? Surely, some of them will be devoted to the one hundredth anniversary of the regaining of independence by Poland following the end of the first world war.

We feel it is our duty to join in the one hundredth independence anniversary celebrations. This is clearly the most important Polish anniversary this century. We intend to mount a large-scale exhibition entitled "The Signs of Freedom". It will be devoted to Polish national identity in the 1863-1989 period, and will focus on works by eminent Polish painters. Some of their works actually turned out to be prophetic. Among the showcased artists will be Jan Matejko. Curator Łukasz Kossowski is hoping the exhibition will make Polish visitors think about their past, present and what they would like the future to be like.

PM

I asked about your plans for 2018, but as of November 15 you will no longer serve as director of the Royal Castle.

It’s too early to take stock of my work at the castle. I have tendered my resignation, but I’m not saying goodbye to the place. It would be like saying goodbye to my professional life.

After all, I have spent it at the castle since 1988 when I started out as curator of the Arts Centre down to my responsibilities as castle director. I must say I’m looking back on my career with satisfaction.

• PM

LONGING AND LOVE

Culture

IN A NEW SONG BY

STAN BORYS

STAN BORYS - a real icon of Polish pop music, singer, composer, actor and poet, and the awardee of the 2016 Polish Market Honorary Pearl in the field of culture – has just recorded and publicised his new song “Samotność mego serca” (The Loneliness of My Heart) which foreshadows his new album.

Maciej Proliński

L

ast year Stan Borys celebrated his 75th birthday, and the 55th anniversary of his artistic work.

He started his career in 1958, performing in Rzeszów theatres.

In 1965 he co-founded the legendary band Blackout, and in 1968 joined the Bizony band.

He began his solo career in 1969, launching his first album. Between 1975 and 2004 he lived abroad, first in Chicago, and then in Toronto and Las Vegas. Since 2004 he has been living partly in Łomianki near Warsaw, and partly in Las Vegas. In 2006 he joined the Wrocław band Imię Jego 44 (His name's 44). “He is a real legend of Polish pop music, who is like good wine, the difference being that wine needs to be put aside to mature, whereas Stan continues to be extremely active and hard-working,” said Tadeusz Deszkiewicz, President of the Board of Radio Dla Ciebie, introducing Stan's performance at a special jubilee concert in the Polskie Radio Concert Studio in Warsaw, in 2016. “Whatever they call me ‒ a legend or an icon ‒ I keep singing and recording albums. I couldn't do without it. I know that when I'm singing from the bottom of my heart, people can feel my soul. I have recently gone back to my old song “Ikona” which was composed for me by Bogusław Klimczuk back in the 1970s. Its lyrics, inspired by the 16th-Century legend, were written by Tadeusz Urgacz.

The song speaks of Jurij who is flying across

Bieszczady, and then rising up into the sky so that no one can see him. My life seemed to be the same. When I “flew out” of Poland to America in the mid-1970s, I was seen by no one.

I was far away, in the sky... I hardly believed I would be coming back, as I had closed all the doors behind me,” said Stan Borys in a special interview for "Polish Market" (No. 10/2016).

“I think that the fact that I still work in Poland must be due to my substantial achievements.

Travelling round the world, I share my artistic achievements, and, in fact, spread my passion. I continue to derive much pleasure from it, at the same time deriving a sense of fulfilment and mission. People who listen to me often enquire about Poland, and they sometimes remember the Polish language. I get the impression that what I tell them makes them interested in our country. They are likely to pass this message on and visit Poland, which will give them a chance to learn more about us and take this forward. This gives me much joy. In order to stand out, and to live off music and my voice in America, while singing for 20 years in American clubs, I had to learn 150 songs in English by heart. However, while in Poland, I have not recorded any album in English yet. Maybe I'll do it one day. When we ‒ my partner Ania and I, who also lived in New York for 25 years ‒ listen to Polish singers who launch their careers in Poland and prefer to sing in English, although they can't speak this

language well, we look at each other and smile knowingly. These people clearly think that if they make their debut with an English song in Poland, they will have a great international career. In such events, I tend to say “Sing me a song in Polish and I'll tell you if you can really sing,” explained the artist. Last year the awardee of the Polish Market Honorary Pearl in the field of culture added splendour to our Gala with his unique performance, including some of his own songs. This year he has recorded and publicised - so far on the You Tube channel his new (and invariably Polish) song “Samotność mego serca” (The loneliness of my heart) which foreshadows a new album. The lyrics were written by Jan Kazimierz Siwek and the music was composed by Mariusz Dubrawski who has recently pursued a continual cooperation with Stan Borys. “This song matches my life story very well. It re-creates the atmosphere of the longing and love of all those Polish people who, back in the 1980s, would come to Chopin airport and look at the planes...” said the artist. “Our intent is to launch this song as early as in November as a radio record single announcing the whole new album. We have started searching for sponsors.

In this matter a lot depends on people managing certain institutions and on their understanding of music. Admittedly, music is what drives us to be better,” concluded Stan • Borys.

11/2017 polish market

65

Culture

THE STRENGTH OF POLISH CULTURE! An economy needs leaders among entrepreneurs who can build strong and recognisable brands. However, Poland still does not have a brand of which we could be proud worldwide. We keep forgetting that we have had, and still have, a considerable asset. This is our artists (and their works). We can astonish the world thanks to their extraordinary talents; in fact, the world sometimes reminds us of this capital, and often shows it as a great discovery, even to us.

Maciej Proliński

W

e can do without a lot of fields of life somehow, but... not without culture!

It seems that culture’s principal sense, dimension and measure is a mysterious “independence” (not only during the communist times, the times of partition, or during wars). It is something born out of love, but without the need to justify or defend .... Prayer or Icarus’s Flight (the notions are often not mutually exclusive) were discovered and appreciated immediately, and sometimes many years later. It is something reaching beyond biographies, the creator’s fate (very often personal “cracks”), beyond the time the works were created, beyond the conduct of allies and destroyers, and finally beyond the considerable role of private, state or church patrons (not instrumental in terms of creativity).

Even if we take a closer look at the unfortunate time of the People's Polish Republic (1945 - 1989), despite its closed borders, our isolation from the world, despite the ideological bubble, despite the ideology's pseudo-artistic representatives, who are willing to showcase their lack of talent in every epoch, despite censorship (a contradiction of free thought, free actions, but also of the self-censorship of the conscious artist), and also despite the caricature verification committees (which attempted to hold meetings and interviews and finally assess “who was an artist and who wasn’t”), and finally, despite countless other limitations – in terms of finance, products, productions or technology – there are numerous acclaimed Polish artists who created

66 polish market

their works in the second half of the 20th Century. There is usually a work of art, effort, talent, a road, or a testimony behind their names ... When I think of a given artist’s name, a specific work of art comes to my mind. From the story of the most sublime niche and avant-garde works, to popular entertainment.

Polish music has long been occupying a prominent place in the world, particularly in Europe. It is enough to recall the largest Polish international contemporary music festival, “Warsaw Autumn”, for many years the only festival of its kind in Central Europe, which was initiated in 1956 by two outstanding Polish composers: Tadeusz Baird (1928 1981) and Kazimierz Serocki (1922 - 1981).

This music, both contemporary and early music, should find its place on the international stage. We surely ought to promote it better, in order to make more visible both good Polish ensembles and great Polish composers, often forgotten by Poles themselves. Polish music is currently being represented internationally mostly by excellent opera singers such as Aleksandra Kurzak, Andrzej Dobber and Mariusz Kwiecień, which is something we should be happy about.

Perhaps thanks to their position on the international opera stage, we will be able to introduce our excellent repertoire, which we have, and of which we should be proud.

After the awarding of the 2016 Nobel Prize in Literature to Bob Dylan, a bard and icon of contemporary American culture, some Poles expressed the view that Wojciech Młynarski (1941 - 2017), a poet and icon of contemporary

Culture attentive and hearty Polish songs, also deserved such a distinction. His works aptly demonstrate the meaning of songs flowing from Poland.

Polish jazz has always occupied a high place. The beginning of the jazz movement in Poland dates back to the mid-1950s. At the time, an extraordinary talent appeared on the Polish jazz stage, who left his mark on the musicians cooperating with him, currently pillars of Polish jazz (Tomasz Stańko, Michał Urbaniak and Zbigniew Namysłowski), and on the work of the subsequent (still excellent) generations of Polish jazz musicians.

It was Krzysztof Komeda (1931 - 1969), the greatest legend in Polish jazz. His music reflected the development of this music in our country, and it was an echo of various trends and influences of world jazz. His music still marks the path for other musicians to follow.

The Polish film operators Janusz Kamiński and Sławomir Idziak have been greatly popular in America for years. Over recent years, Polish auteur cinema has been presented at the most notable international festivals. The number of Polish films screened in cinemas abroad and placed in regular distribution is increasing. Despite the fact that Poland is not a leader in the field of cinema, the greatest strength of Polish films as early as since the 1950s is their individualism, and its original and artistic form. Moreover, these films can give hope even in the most dramatic circumstances. We are currently drawing hope from the world of Polish films created by such great directors as Wojciech Smarzowski and Andrzej Jakimowski, although they differ in terms of style.

Włodek Pawlik performing during the Gala of the Pearls of the Polish Economy There is currently a great demand for the works of Alina Szapocznikow (1926 - 1973). The artists’ works were appreciated as early as the 1950s, when she started creating in a characteristic style which consisted of a play on form. The key to interpreting her works is ... her life - concentration camps, devastating diseases, and on the other hand her beauty, her will to survive and her passion for creating!

Recent years have been marked by a series of successful exhibitions in the most prominent galleries in the world, and the high prices her works have been reaching in auctions. The success of Szapocznikow’s work was sealed with a monograph exhibition entitled “Sculpture Undone 1955-1972” at the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 2012. Such 20th-century artists as Władysław Hasior (1928-1999) and Tadeusz Dominik (1928-2014) surely deserve such international “posthumous rediscovery” of their works.

POLISH MUSIC HAS LONG BEEN OCCUPYING A PROMINENT PLACE IN THE WORLD, PARTICULARLY IN EUROPE.

"Polish Market" has featured interviews with the greatest representatives of contemporary Polish art. The representatives of classical music presented in our magazine included Elżbieta Penderecka and Krzysztof Penderecki, Henryk Wojnarowski, Jerzy Maksymiuk, Staś Drzewiecki and Partrycja Piekutowska. The world of film music was represented by Jan A. P. Kaczmarek, and Piotr Salaber. Jazz and popular music was represented by i.a. Włodek Pawlik, Tomasz Stańko, Wojciech Waglewski, Katarzyna Gaertner, Waldemar Malicki and Maryla Rodowicz. We talked to ambassadors of Polish theatre and film, including Krystian Lupa, Jerzy Grzegorzewski (1939-2005), Krzysztof Warlikowski, Andrzej Wajda (1926-2016), Jerzy Kawalerowicz (1922-2007), Jerzy Hoffman, Mariusz Grzegorzek, to art historians, like for example Zofia Gołubiew and Andrzej Rottermund, and finally to such acclaimed designers as Andrzej Tomasz Rudkiewicz and Tomek Rygalik.

For a dozen years, in our “Cultural Monitor” section, we have been presenting an overview of new releases (mainly film and music), cultural events, concerts, festivals, and premieres taking place in Poland which are often internationally renowned. Our editorial staff was supporting such events as the La Folle Journée festival, Warsaw Summer Jazz Days, and the Ignacy Jan Paderewski International Festival, as media partners.

Every autumn, during the Gala at the Royal Castle in Warsaw, we announce the results of the prestigious “Pearls of the Polish Economy” ranking.

The announcement of the results is accompanied by the award of Honorary Pearls to prize-winners selected by a specially appointed committee featuring persons who have gained status and the public’s esteem. The Honorary Pearls are awarded in the following categories: economics, science, culture, and the promotion of Polish tradition and patriotic values. The Pearls are granted to people who are ambassadors of the most dominant Polish values, who are outstanding visionaries in their fields, who have the courage to challenge stereotypes, and, through their stance and activities, work for the common good by building our history and contributing to our national heritage.

Our first Honorary Pearl in the field of culture went to Wojciech Kilar (1932 - 2013) one of the most brilliant Polish composers. In subsequent years, numerous outstanding figures of the world of music have earned Pearls, promoting Poland professionally and through their creative work from Japan, New Zealand, through all European countries to the USA and Africa. The Pearls were granted, among others, to opera singers: Małgorzata Walewska, Bernard Ładysz, Marek Torzewski and Marcin Bronikowski. The representatives of the world of classical music enjoying our Pearl included Janusz Olejniczak, pianist, Henryk Wojnarowski, Head of the Warsaw Philharmonic Choir, the Sinfonia Varsovia Orchestra, the “Camerata Silesia” Ensemble of Singers from the City of Katowice, and Jerzy Maksymiuk, composer and conductor.

We also granted our cultural Pearl to jazz singers Urszula Dudziak and Anna Maria Jopek. We also need to mention such ambassadors of Polish art honoured with our Pearl as Włodek Pawlik, jazz composer and pianist, Jerzy Stuhr, one of the most popular Polish film and theatre actors, and Mirosław Bałka, one of the most outstanding contempo• rary sculptors.

11/2017 polish market

67

Food Industry

GOOD POLISH

ORGANIC FOOD! The Polish Ecology Association is starting the 12th year of its activity. Do you think that your biggest success to date has been the promotion of organic food by raising public awareness?

Indeed, raising public awareness has been our greatest success. Organic food is now present in so many stores, while 11 years ago its quantities were so small one could not even measure them. Questions were being asked then: “What is organic food? How does it differ from regular food?”

PM

What is the difference, then?

The topic of organic food primarily includes two aspects. First, we respect consumers by selling them pure, which means free of chemical additives, and good products. Second, we respect the environment, by producing food in a way which respects the soil. We do not use fungicides, insecticides, herbicides or synthetic fertilisers.

All this takes place under full supervision from farm to fork. This is the safest type of food there is; there are so many inspections, it is impossible to cheat!

PM

“The organic food market is not as easy as the conventional food market.

It is the farmers who choose to whom they want to sell their products, and quality and trust are of the essence.

This is really a peculiar market, which, however, facilitates the creation of extraordinary products”, PAWEŁ KRAJMAS, President of the Board of the Polish Ecology Association, established in 2006, tells Ewelina Janczylik-Foryś.

70 polish market

How do you check individual producers? How do you know that they really produce organic food?

Certificates are given after inspections by certifying units. They are valid for one year only. Farmers must take appropriate care of the soil - the conversion period during which the soil “rests from conventional cultivation” is important. They must raise their animals in PM

the appropriate conditions, and, if they slaughter them, it should be done only under the supervision of a veterinarian. This is also the case when it comes to the production of cured meat and cheese – everything is supervised. The most special example in this regard is provided by beekeeping, in which a 2-kilometre radius around the apiary must be free from any conventional fields used for the cultivation (and thus the application of agricultural chemical agents) of, for example rape. In general, if a farmer meets all the requirements applying to organic food, a certificate is given.

Consumers’ awareness is growing, but, ultimately, they are constrained by their budgets, and, when faced with the choice of organic food versus cheaper regular food, they, unfortunately, opt for the latter.

At present, we are dealing with conventional and organic production. There are two markets and two types of foodstuffs. They are grown in different fields, are processed under different engineering procedures, are sold in different stores or placed on different shelves; they are, furthermore, marked in a different way and subject to different legal regulations!

So far, being green has brought to our minds only the environment and correct waste sorting. This is a big mistake!

After all, healthy food is equally important. If we can educate future customers as early as at the pre-school level, we will have a generation of conscious consumers.

PM

Food Industry

Nowadays, mainly mothers of small children and parents pay attention to healthy food. In our opinion, teachers and educators also have an important role. We cooperate with many primary schools, and eagerly organise educational lessons, as well as tell children about natural food. I must say that the awareness of the availability of organic products among children is very high. They know the markings of organic food and the meaning of food preservatives, colours, etc.

When it comes to prices, please note that organic products are becoming cheaper. Several years ago, their prices were much higher. This is more valuable food, “denser in nutrients”, which means not so “diluted”, if we can make such a comparison.

And what is the awareness among restaurant owners?

This is our biggest problem. We have been negotiating with restaurant owners for years to even try introducing our Polish products onto their menus. Some chefs take shortcuts, searching for stable product supplies, which is not always the case with organic produce. In all honesty, in organic production we also take into account cultivation which depends on weather conditions. Cooks often fail to make diversification their advantage, and see such diversification as a drawback. The seasonality of products is something remarkable. The diversification of products is our advantage!

PM

Cooking has been in fashion recently. Food fairs are celebrating their successes. How do you promote good Polish food abroad?

We are running campaigns in countries outside the European Union, such as Singapore, Japan and the USA. Of course, we are also searching for new markets for our products. Moreover, cooperation with our international partners teaches us a lot. We take note of worldwide improvements and trends. This is how we know the standing of Polish organic food, and what we can do to further promote it. I have participated in fairs in China several times already. This market is booming! We show our members the real image of the eco world.

We promote good Polish food by cooperating, among others, with universities (especially the Medical University of Warsaw), catering schools, and even theatres! Each year we organise 60 events in Poland and abroad. All our members, both regular and contributing, share the same passion. I am sure that creating such an effective organisation as the Polish Ecology Association would not have been possible without its members. Despite the many internal discussions and differences, we must and want to find common ground to achieve the common goal – the promotion of Polish organic food.

PM

PM

72 polish market

A free trade agreement with Canada (CETA) is “temporarily” (which can also be understood as “conditionally”) in force. There are many reservations about this agreement, raised especially by organisations connected with food production. What is your opinion on this matter?

WE PROMOTE GOOD POLISH FOOD BY COOPERATING, AMONG OTHERS, WITH UNIVERSITIES (ESPECIALLY THE MEDICAL UNIVERSITY OF WARSAW), GASTRONOMIC SCHOOLS, AND EVEN THEATRES!

We do have some reservations about this agreement.

The Association is in favour of protecting the Polish market. Selling Polish products in Poland is not so easy. However, I can see a big advantage in the discussion revolving around CETA. I am glad that now we are talking about Polish food, including organic food. This allows us to raise public awareness. The commotion in the media has created many arguments for the case for organic food. Owing to this, we have succeeded in drawing people’s attention to several problems: poor food quality, consumers’ not reading labels, and their being oblivious to the content of foodstuffs. We believe that the supply chain, from the producer to the consumer, should be as short as possible.

Why do Polish producers have problems orienting themselves on the Polish market?

Polish trade is dwindling. Buyers who work for foreign corporations choose products imposed by corporations – these are not necessarily products of Polish origin.

This creates a task for the press and the media, to encourage consumers to choose Polish products. A patriotic attitude is important in promoting good Polish organic food.

One should note the trends in Europe, where every country pursues its own interests. This is quite common now, but the members of the Association have been raising this topic for 11 years already. We are restating the importance of our local market. If economic patriotism had been inculcated in children from an early age by all institutions, then Polish producers would not have had to seek out new markets abroad.

• PM

Infrastructure

5-6/2017 polish market

73

Food Industry Together with her brother Marcin, restaurateur Agnieszka Kręglicka runs a network of Warsaw’s highly recognised restaurants such as Chianti, Opasły Tom and El Popo. In conversation with "Polish Market’s" Marcin Haber, she talks about Forteca (the Fortress) – a venue of meetings, events and a food market in one. She also discusses her ideas for business development and her philosophy of running a restaurant.

Historically, a fortress is associated with an inaccessible and tightly guarded place where visitors are not welcome. Yet several years ago you and your brother decided to change this perception.

When it comes to the name, the choice was quite accidental. The fort we bought in 2000 had several names. First it was Fort Vladimir, finally the Fort of the Legions. The name was a bit of a problem because it was hard to explain where the place was and how to get there. Instead of the Fort of the Legions, drivers ended up in the similarly sounding Warsaw suburb of Legionowo. Among themselves we started calling the place Forteca and the name stuck.

I reckon the name is not final and that it may change one day. But now, a bit ironically, we invite people to the Fortress.

PM

This place has one more interesting feature. Different people associate it with different things.

Those living in the neighbourhood, mothers with children who take a walk in Traugutta Park and those who are not tied to a nineto-five job, associate Forteca with a specialty market where once a week they can buy topquality foodstuffs. But I’m convinced that wedding organisers, firms and people looking for a place to hold a wedding ceremony or another big ceremony, associate Forteca with a venue of unforgettable events. We also perceive it mainly as a place where you can organise events. All of our family occasions such as round anniversaries, company events which we hold every two years, are organised at Forteca. So it’s mainly a fun place. However, it also offers filmmakers some fantastic scenery, including dungeons which you can visit with a guide.

PM

Your activities clearly go in two directions.

How does your firm operate right now?

We now have two parallel and equal operations. One is a very stable restaurant business, PM

74 polish market

GOOD PRODUCT:

EVERYONE’S A WINNER

which includes five restaurants: two Greek tavernas Santorini and Meltemi, an Italian restaurant Chianti, where we are holding this conversation, Mexican El Popo and Opasły Tom (Fat Tom/Fat Volume) in which resident chefs reinvent Polish cuisine. The other branch of our business are three event venues: Arkady Kubickiego at the Royal Castle, Forteca in Traugutta Park and Klub Bankowca (Banker’s Club.)

Our catering also operates outside these venues. We organise receptions in places selected by customers, mostly in Warsaw, but also outside Poland.

What was the thinking behind the Forteca market? As you mentioned, it attracts a specific clientele...

Our in-house joke is that the market was set up just for fun. But actually, it reflects our approach to farming. We take care to support sustainable, seasonal local food production.

PM

The market has become something of a showcase for your suppliers. On the one hand it shows customers what products are used in your restaurants. On the other, your competitors can also benefit.

That’s right. A number of Warsaw restaurants proudly say they buy products at our market. We have nothing against it. When more and more restaurateurs buy quality products, there’s a chance that more naturally grown food will become available. That’s our goal. In my book, hiding suppliers’ names from your competition is not part of ethical business. The same goes for sharing recipes. There’s no point saying it’s a chef’s secret. The creative process happens during the preparation of every single dish. It is also about the relationship with the person you cook for. It’s not something you can literally carry from one restaurant to another.

It’s a fleeting experience, and it’s quite unique.

To make the idea of the market a reality, the support of local farmers was very important to PM

us. The market has been around for five years now. At the time we were setting it up, we noticed that following a period of fascination with imported products in the 1990s, the time had come to save what was very precious and what was fast disappearing – good, organic farming.

We are now more aware of this fact.

So those having a meal at one of your restaurants can be transported to Greece, Italy and Mexico with food cooked with Polish ingredients?

Of course, they can. Locally grown vegetables are more flavoursome than imported vegetables. Naturally, some of the products such as feta cheese, kefalotiri and filo pastry must be original and we import them from Greece.

But seasonal Polish tomatoes and cucumbers available from June to the end of August are excellent. Nothing can beat them. Outside the summer season, it’s good to try lesser known Mediterranean cuisine from the interior: not just the caprese, horiatiki and salade nicoise we know from holidays in the Med. There’s plenty more to choose from. Once we used to offer particular countries’ flagship dishes, now we prefer a more adventurous approach.

PM

The irony about Italian cuisine is that everyone tends to believe they know all about it. The moment of surprise comes when they actually sit down to their Italian meal at your restaurant.

Yes, I reckon that in cooking there’s room for everything. You can be nonchalant when you cook at home. You can also take an orthodox approach to classic or regional dishes. As long as you cook well, as long as you use fresh products, and as long as you cook at all, everything goes.

PM

How do you select your suppliers?

We don’t have a specific rigorous system. We just rely on good relations with suppliers and PM

Food Industry

mutual trust. The relationship between the restaurateur and the supplier is based on mutual benefits. We get good produce and suppliers can be sure that what they have produced will be purchased. It is in the interest of both sides that the product is of top quality because this keeps the relationship going. Our suppliers share our values. We like to keep in touch with them, to know what the situation in the fields is. We then have a feeling that we take part in the creation of good food in a more complete way. Ordering products from firms where you only deal with the head of sales is not quite as thrilling.

So everyone can become one of your suppliers, right?

We are open to all those who approach us with a good product. We enthusiastically give novelties a try. It doesn’t always translate into permanent relationships. Sometimes, relationships come to an end in a natural way. In the restaurant business, economics also matters. Both sides must be happy.

PM

Can you feel the ambience of your restaurant at the Forteca market?

The market is unpretentious, friendly, but more spontaneous than the restaurants. We sell some of our products at the market. First it was pastas and ravioli from Chianti. Now there are more products, including roast meats, salads and marinated pumpkin. Santorini also has its own stand. You can buy gyros, which has become a market hit. Some customers come on Wednesday specially to lay their hands on it. There’s also a vegetarian version prepared with mushrooms from Dąbrówka and aubergines from Pan Ziółko. When fresh, edible nasturtiums are in season, I’m sure it’s the prettiest gyros in town.

PM

world trends are. Perhaps we will venture into special diets to expand our business. We watch our guests and we try to adjust to their needs. Now we offer more vegetarian dishes.

It’s a sign of the times.

Another of our ideas is an organic farm we have set up.

We are currently learning the ropes but it would be great to serve wine from our own vineyard at our restaurants.

So you want to be self-sufficient?

It wouldn’t work. It’s a completely different scale. But we do want to see what it’s like to grow your own food and how much effort it takes.

PM

Advertising your restaurant dishes as cooked entirely from your own produce could be very enticing for customers.

It would. But I don’t think it’s possible given that the list of products ordered for the chef runs into hundreds of items. We already use a few products we grow ourselves, including buckwheat and rye flour, which is a nice touch, but nothing to brag about. I always admire those who create a product from start to finish. One of the market stalls is run by the Jastrzębie Kąty fish farm. They are carp breeders. I’m impressed that they grow their own grain they use to feed to fish. They look after the fish, they kill it and process it into fish balls, fish burgers, soups and sausages. They also sell fresh and smoked fish. When I get food which has been produced in this way, and I know the people who did it, I know it’s going to taste delicious.

PM

You have mentioned your development plans. Are you facing any hurdles?

Sometimes it’s prosaic things like the lack of parking space next to Forteca. There is a car park in front of the nearby sports stadium but it’s reserved for the police during matches. The city doesn’t want to allow us to use it on Wednesdays for those who come to shop at the market, which is a pity. Forteca lies in central Warsaw where there’s great demand for quality food. I’m convinced that the people of Warsaw should have somewhere to buy good, fresh food. The lack of parking space makes it very difficult.

• PM

We’ve been talking about your restaurants, market and events. Where do you see possibilities to develop your firm? After all, a restaurant is a project that is fairly difficult to develop. You need to open new ones, which doesn’t seem the best solution…

We are watching the market. We can see the growing popularity of home delivered food or what are known as diet boxes. Now the trendiest words in catering are ‘convenience’ and "deliveries". This does not mean, however, that we have readymade projects we want to introduce. But we realise what the PM

11/2017 polish market

75

MEDICINE

November 23rd-24th 2017 The Westin Warsaw Hotel

BLOCKCHAIN DIGITAL WORLD aI & MACHINE LEARNIN

FinTech & InsurTe

FinTech & InsurTe

fintechdigitalcon

W ciągu 70 lat działalności PROCHEM S.A. stał się wiodącą polską spółką inżynierską, projektującą i realizującą złożone inwestycje w różnych sektorach budownictwa.

Wykorzystując bogate doświadczenia, konsekwentnie udoskonala nowoczesne metody oraz wprowadza innowacyjne narzędzia pracy. Stosowanie wyspecjalizowanych rozwiązań i nowych technologii jest gwarancją wysokiej jakości usług. Dzięki temu PROCHEM znajduje się w czołówce najnowocześniejszych rm inżynierskich.

Zdobyta przez 70 lat specjalistyczna wiedza i doświadczenie to potencjał, który Spółka wykorzystuje dostarczając swoim Klientom najlepsze rozwiązania.

PROCHEM S.A. e-mail: prochem@prochem.com.pl www.prochem.com.pl

P U B L I S H E D S I n c E 1 9 9 6 No. 11 (264) /2017 :: www.polishmarket.com.pl

“customers expect simple, fast and user-friendly solutions”

Pearls of the Polish economy ........................ higher education ........................ finance

Przemysław Kończal

President of the Board, santander Consumer Bank

BUDUJEMY DOBRE RELACJE

OD 40 LAT KSZTAŁTUJEMY ARCHITEKTURĘ POLSKICH MIAST. OD 40 LAT REALIZUJEMY MARZENIA KOLEJNYCH POKOLEŃ POLAKÓW.

POLNORD - SPÓŁKA AKCYJNA NOTOWANA NA GIEŁDZIE PAPIERÓW WARTOŚCIOWYCH, OD 1977 ROKU REALIZUJE INWESTYCJE MIESZKANIOWE W WARSZAWIE, GDAŃSKU, GDYNI, SOPOCIE, ŁODZI, OLSZTYNIE, SZCZECINIE I WROCŁAWIU.

www.polnord.pl