WBJ #39 2011

Should the newly adopted 2012 draft budget be ignored until after the elections?

Polpharma is on the verge of an z∏.800 million takeover of Polfa Warszawa

Germany has agreed to an expansion of the euro-zone bailout fund’s powers

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WWW.WBJ.PL

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VOLUME 17, NUMBER 39 •OCTOBER 3-9, 2011 . z∏.12.50 (VAT 8% included) . ISSN 1233 7889 INDEX-RUCH-332-127

REAL ESTATE

Since 1994 . Poland’s only business weekly in English

Outlook uncertain

Lokale Immobilia

COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

It’s anyone’s guess what Poland’s new government will look like after the October 9 elections. But one thing is sure: Polish politics is about to get a whole lot more interesting

• Expo Real guide • Warsaw office market • Commercial financing 16-27

6, 11, 12-13

A guide to Polish business and industry

Przewodnik po polskim biznesie i gospodarce

Commercial Real Estate Developers Retail 28

News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2-4 Poland News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6 Europe News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7 Industry News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9 Opinion & Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . .11 Cover Story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12-13 Interview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14-15 Lokale Immobilia . . . . . . . . . .16-27 The List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28 Markets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29 Arts & Culture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30 Classifieds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31

SHUTTERSTOCK/¸UKASZ MAZUREK/WBJ

In this issue

Polish real estate in focus

Eastern woes

Is Warsaw set for a boom in skyscraper building? Find out in Lokale Immobilia’s special 12-page Expo Real edition 16-27

Eastern Partnership members failed to accept an EU declaration condemning Belarus’ human rights record

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NEWS

www.wbj.pl

z∏.4.35 is the euro to z∏oty exchange rate that the Ministry of Finance says it would consider satisfactory at the end of this year.

z∏.35 billion is the budget deficit forecast that the government approved last week.

53.3% is the debt-to-GDP ratio forecast in the proposed budget.

405 million

With the z∏oty dropping like a rock against global currencies in late September, the National Bank of Poland intervened in currency markets – a rare move – using some of its foreign reserves to buy z∏oty and shore up the Polish currency’s value, albeit temporarily.

Before the intervention, the Polish currency had reached its lowest level against the euro in over two years.

The sharp weakening that the z∏oty has seen of late is, by most economists’ reckoning, unjustified in view of the country’s relatively strong fundamentals. Marek Belka, president of the NBP, has said it’s likely that speculators were fueling the z∏oty’s fall, and that’s why the central bank stepped in. “We want to make [speculation on the z∏oty] more difficult

and risky,” Mr Belka told local media, warning speculators that the NBP could intervene at any time. He added, however, that there was no specific target that the bank would look to defend.

Polish policymakers are keen to protect the z∏oty because a weak currency would make interest payments on public debt denominated in foreign currencies more expensive and would also pose inflationary problems. Poland would automatically have to implement austerity measures, including a hike in VAT, if public debt reaches 55 percent of GDP. The NBP has €64.3 billion in foreign exchange at its disposal, as well as a flexible credit line of over €20 billion from the IMF. As long as global markets remain volatile and the z∏oty is

under pressure, all eyes will be on Mr Belka to see if and when he decides to make another intervention.

Largely because of the NBP’s work in successfully balancing the risk of inflation against promoting economic growth in the wake of the 20082009 global economic crisis, Mr Belka was recently awarded the title of “2011 Central Bank Governor of the Year for Emerging Europe” by the Emerging Markets website (emergingmarkets.org).

Before his appointment as governor of the National Bank of Poland in mid-2010, Mr Belka was director of the IMF’s European department. From May 2004-October 2005 he served as Poland’s prime minister.

is the number of metric tons of CO2 the government aims to get permission for Poland to emit for free, in accordance with the EU’s new climate package.

Quote of the Week “The governments don’t rule the world.

Goldman Sachs rules the world.”

Self-proclaimed “attention seeker” Alessio Rastani on BBC News during a rant in which he prognosticated global financial doom. Mr Rastani was interviewed by the BBC as a financial expert. It was later revealed that he was a middle-class day trader with a less-than-successful record.

Figures in focus Life's a beach (for some) Long outbound holidays as a percentage of total holidays taken, selected European countries (in 2010) 80 70 60 50 40

Gareth Price

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Fiat to cut jobs

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Film frenzy Between October 7 and 16, hundreds of films will screen at the 27th Warsaw Film Festival, many of them with their directors in attendance. WBJ.pl has selected a few must-sees for those film enthusiasts who will have to attend after working hours.

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Source: Eurostat

Company index A.T. Kearney ..............................25 Futureal ......................................26 Oriflame ....................................25

DATELINE 3

EXPO REAL

Event:

At this year’s annual real estate expo consultants, banks, investors, expansion managers, towns and economic regions meet to make new contacts and do deals.

Location: Munich exporeal.net

Aberdeen Immobilien

Ghelamco ......................20, 22, 25 Peter Nielsen & Partners ..........6

Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH

GlaxoSmithKline ........................16 PKN Orlen ..................................25

16

Globe Trade Centre..............20, 25 PKO BP ......................................25

Actavis ..........................................9 Goldman Sachs............................2 PL.2012 ......................................23

October

Real budget after election In response to doubts regarding the government’s forecast of GDP growth in the 2012 draft budget, Finance Minister Jacek Rostowski urged the public to wait until after the upcoming elections on October 9.

The government will then be in a better position to assess the risks to economic growth posed by global turmoil, when a new cabinet may amend the draft budget.●

On WBJ.pl

Ro m

In October, 435 workers at the Fiat plant in Tychy will be laid off, reported Gazeta Wyborcza.

According to Bogus∏aw CieÊlar, a Fiat Auto Poland spokesperson, the decision was “dictated by a significant drop in orders from foreign markets, where almost 98% of the company’s production is sent.” The Fiat Auto Poland plant in Tychy already had to shut down operations on the last two Mondays of September.

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Sp

Poland’s state-controlled Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego (BGK) sold a large amount of dollars on September 29, a move which immediately resulted in an appreciation of the z∏oty, media reported. This followed joint intervention on forex markets by BGK and the National Bank of Poland a week earlier. According to analysts, the latest move suggests Poland’s authorities are constantly monitoring the situation on the currency market to protect the z∏oty against speculators.

Marek Belka

ria

State intervenes in market

Numbers in the News

lga

Rumors that Spanish lender Santander is in bilateral talks with Belgium’s KBC regarding the acquisition of the latter’s Polish arm, Kredyt Bank, appear to be true, reported Rzeczpospolita.

“Information that Santander is interested in acquiring banks in Poland is true,” Alfredo Saenz, head of the Spanish bank, reportedly said. KBC will now wait till the end of this month for a binding offer from Santander. “

IN THE SPOTLIGHT

Bu

Santander confirms Polish interest

OCTOBER 3-9, 2011

COURTESY OF THE INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND

2

AEW Europe ..............................27 gowebtrade.com ........................29 Polfa Warszawa............................9 AGK ............................................17 Grupa Capital Park ....................22 Polish State Railways ................21

13-15 XVII POLISH YOUR MONEY FINANCIAL FORUM 2011 Event:

The event hosts debates, conferences and seminars on international financial markets.

Location: Palace of Culture and Science, Warsaw twojepieniadze.com.pl

Alma ..........................................16 Grupa Fonciére Euris ................27 Polpharma ..................................9 AMW ..........................................26 Grupa PHN ................................20 Polski Holding Farmaceutyczny ......9 Arterium Korporatsiya ................9 Harbin Pharmaceutical Group ........9 Pull & Bear ................................16 Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego ......2 HB Reavis ..................................18 Real ............................................27 Bank Pekao ..........................25, 27 Hines Polska ..............................16 RREEF ........................................16 Bank Zachodni WBK..................27 Hochtief Development Poland........22 Santander ....................................2 Bayer ..........................................16 Ihelicopter ..................................30 Saturn ........................................16 BBI Development NFI................20 ING................................................6 Skanska Property Poland..........22 BMW ..........................................16 J.W. Construction ......................17 SMG ............................................23

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CORPORATE BOND MARKET CONFERENCE

Event:

This event bills itself as the largest seminar on the bond market in Poland.

Location: Warsaw Stock Exchange, Warsaw gab.com.pl

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PRCH RETAIL AWARDS

Event:

At this event the Polish Council of Shopping Centres will announce the winners of the PRCH Retail Awards 2011.

Location: Warsaw prch.org.pl

17-19 POLAND AND CEE – MUNICIPAL AND GOVERNMENT PROJECTS Event:

This event includes a series of workshops and lectures to promote local projects in Poland and Central and Eastern Europe.

Location: InterContinental hotel, Warsaw.

18-19 NUCLEAR POWER POLAND 2011 Event:

In this third edition of the forum, the issue of nuclear power safety will be the main topic of discussion.

Location: Courtyard by Marriott Warsaw Airport,Warsaw topconsult.nazwa.pl/nowa_tcct/

Budimex ....................................24 Jones Lang LaSalle ..................24 SMG/KRC................................6, 12 CA IMMO ....................................22 KBC ..............................................2 Starbucks ..................................16 Caelum Development ................26 KGHM ........................................12 Tauron Polska Energia ..............25 CB Richard Ellis ..................22, 25 Kredyt Bank ................................2 TMR ............................................18 Chimpharm ..................................9 Leapfrog ....................................30 TNS-OBOP ................................12 CMS Cameron McKenna ..........24 Lehman Brothers ......................29 Tristan Capital Partners ............27 Colliers International ................25 LUX MED ....................................10 UBM............................................22 Crowley Data Poland ................12 Massimo Dutti............................16 Vantage Development ................17 Cushman & Wakefield ........20, 27 Mayland Real Estate ............26, 27 Vertano Real Estate ..................27 DEGI International ....................16 Mermaid Properties ..................25 Walt Disney ................................16 Deutsche Bank ..........................16 Mid Europa Partners ................12 WSE ................................12, 17, 24 Dolcan ........................................17 Nanu Nana ................................16 X-Trade Brokers ECE Polska ................................16 Netia ..........................................12 Dom Maklerski SA ....................29 Ferrovial Agroman ....................24 Octava NFI..................................24 ZF Adamed Pharma ....................9 Fiat................................................2 Orco Property Group..................20 ˚abka..........................................12

NEWS

www.wbj.pl

PM wants more Polish babies Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk spoke last Tuesday about the importance of children for Polish society, stressing that his Civic Platform party (PO) was strongly pro-family. In his speech he said he wanted Poles to have more children, or a “minimum of two.” The PM also stated that women who want to have children should not be burdened about worries related to the economy.

Smolensk forgery investigation Poland’s Internal Security Agency (ABW) has been unable to identify those responsible for forging agency documents linked to the April 2010 Smolensk plane crash. Maciej Hunia, director of the ABW, said in September 2010 that notes pertaining to a conversation with Andrei Mendierej, a witness who filmed the crash, had been altered. ●

OCTOBER 3-9, 2011

Euro-zone crisis

Euro zone lurches forward with crisis-fighting measures The euro-zone bailout fund is closer to being expanded, while the financial sector could be hit with a new EUwide tax A major step was taken to expand the powers and enlarge the size of the euro-zone bailout fund last week, when the German parliament voted in favor of the move.

The vote puts the currency bloc one step closer to rolling out a broader bailout fund for overly indebted countries. Finland’s parliament has already approved the measure, meaning the fund’s powers will be expanded if six other euro-zone countries give their approval over the next few weeks.

The new procedure, which was accepted by euro zone leaders in July, would bring the lending capacity of the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) up to €440 billion.

Back in July, however, Greece appeared to be in need of less help than it is now, and should larger

Council chief Herman Van Rompuy and others in Warsaw before heading to Paris to speak with French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

‘Baptism of fire’

COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

4

Angela Merkel won a huge political victory with the German parliament’s acceptance of the enlarged EFSF economies requires assistance, many economists say even the enlarged amount wouldn’t be enough.

Moreover, the chances of the fund becoming even larger are remote since German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who expended considerable amounts of political capital on getting the vote through parliament, promised last week that

Germany would not commit itself to vast and unlimited liabilities.

As WBJ went to press, Greek ministers were holding talks with EU leaders to arrange the delivery of a new €8 billion tranche from the bailout fund to ensure Greece avoids bankruptcy in October.

Prime Minister George Papandreou met European

Greece is being forced to implement deficit-reduction measures as a condition of aid and last week successfully passed an unpopular new property tax, the proceeds of which will be used towards paring down debt.

Shortly after the law was passed, President of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso delivered his annual State of the Union address, saying that the crisis was the “greatest challenge” in the European Union’s history.

Mr Barroso also called for deeper integration in order to avoid crises of a similar magnitude occurring in the future.

“I think this is going to be a baptism of fire for a whole generation,” he said.

Investment tax The EC’s president also turned up the heat on the financialservices industry, presenting a

proposal for a new EU-wide financial-transaction tax that would be levied on stock, bond and derivative trades. Mr Barroso said the tax could raise €57 billion annually from 2014.

The tax would allow the financial sector to make “a fair contribution at a time of fiscal consolidation,” the European Commission said in a statement.

All 27 members of the EU would need to approve the measure for it to be implemented, but the UK said it would agree to it only when the rest of the world adopts a similar measure. US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has said the US was not thinking of implementing such a tax.

‘Six-pack’ approved In a bid to reduce the chances of future crises occurring, the European Parliament last week passed the “six-pack” act, a set of new fiscal rules aimed at increasing cooperation among euro-zone governments and inhibiting the build-up of excessive debt.

Gareth Price

6

POLAND NEWS

www.wbj.pl

OCTOBER 3-9, 2011

Politics

Just days ahead of parliamentary elections, the opposition leader says his party can win an outright majority As WBJ went to press, pollsters and analysts suggested the result of the October 9 parliamentary elections would be a very close call, with a victory by opposition party Law and Justice (PiS) still not out of the question.

An SMG/KRC poll on September 28 showed the ruling Civic Platform (PO) leading PiS by just five percentage points (see cover story, pp.12-13). The momentum now seems solidly on PiS’s side and its leader Jaros∏aw Kaczyƒski is even

talking of his party being able to win an outright majority and rule without a coalition, although at this stage that seems highly unlikely.

Last week’s campaign trail was dominated by news of a recently released book written

by Mr Kaczyƒski titled “The Poland of our dreams,” a debate about public finance between Finance Minister Jacek Rostowski and Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) leader Grzegorz Napieralski, and the rising popularity of Palikot’s Movement (RP), a party led by eccentric former PO politician Janusz Palikot.

RP now looks set to cross the threshold of five percent support, allowing it to enter parliament.

There had been some speculation as to whether PO and

SLD could form a coalition after the elections, but Mr Rostowski, after his debate with Mr Napieralski, seemed to rule this out, saying he “can’t imagine a PO-SLD coalition.”

Fragments of Mr Kaczyƒski’s book reveal some insight into his relationships with major Polish political figures.

For example, the PiS leader wrote that Mr Tusk once told him that “girls are most important, not politics.”

There was some positive news for Mr Tusk last week when it was revealed that 65 percent of Poles see him as a likeable person, 62 percent think he is intelligent and 45 percent say he is competent, according to a CBOS survey.

His main rival, Mr Kaczyƒski, did much worse.

Legal News Contact: Miros∏aw Stefanik ms@pnplaw.pl

COURTESY OF FLICKR/WYBIERZPIS.ORG.PL

Election outcome still hanging in the balance

Mr Kaczyƒski’s Law and Justice party is gaining ahead of the October 9 vote According to the poll, only 30 percent consider him likeable, 47 percent view him as intelligent and 38 percent see him as competent.

In an interview with TVN24, Mr Kaczyƒski also categorically ruled out the possibility of a debate between

himself and Prime Minister Tusk before the election. “I have no intention of holding a discussion with anyone in the sphere of the absurd,” said the PiS leader, who had earlier stated that Mr Tusk didn’t want a real debate but a public relations exercise.

Asked about a possible coalition with PO’s current coalition partner, the rural Polish People’s Party, if PiS were to win, Mr Kaczyƒski responded, “the world is complicated and history takes strange turns.”

Remi Adekoya

State finances Alcohol strength reduced On September 20, 2011 President Bronis∏aw Komorowski signed the amended Law on Safety of Mass Events. The law aims to make the presently binding provisions on ensuring the safety of mass events stricter. One of the major changes is that the ability to sell, serve and consume alcoholic beverages will be restricted to drinks no stronger than 3.5 percent.

The new provisions also extend club bans and introduce new types of crimes relating to mass events.

Higher penalties for fiscal petty offences and fiscal offences The increase of a minimum salary intended for 2012 means that penalties for fiscal offenses and fiscal petty offenses are also set to increase. Consequently, the smallest fine for a fiscal petty offense will amount to z∏.150 and the highest one to z∏.30,000. Fines for fiscal offenses will amount to a minimum z∏.500 and a maximum of z∏.14.4 million. Moreover, the threshold amount differentiating between a fiscal petty offense and a fiscal offense will change to around z∏.7,500.

Change to provisions on work safety and hygiene On August 19, 2011 Article 213 of the Labor Code was amended concerning the

reduction of some obligations of citizens and entrepreneurs. The law is now awaiting President Komorowski’s signature.

According to the changes, it will be the employer him- or herself who will have to make sure that buildings intended to be working premises are constructed or rebuilt according to designs which comply with safety and hygiene requirements.

The new provisions no longer require that buildings that are to be used as work establishments must be verified by work safety and hygiene experts.

Voting by proxy During the upcoming parliamentary elections voters may once again cast their votes by proxy. This way of voting is available for persons considerably or moderately disabled and for voters who will have reached 75 years of age before or on the election day. Only persons registered with the register of voters in the same municipality as the voter who grants the power of attorney or a person who has a certificate of voting right can be a proxy. The power of attorney for the purpose of voting is granted at the voter’s motion in the presence of the head of a municipality. The motion for a power of attorney shall be submitted 10 days prior to the elections at the latest. A voter may also withdraw the power of attorney. ●

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Government adopts 2012 draft budget But will its assumptions survive after October’s parliamentary election?

The Polish government adopted the draft budget for 2012 last week, but it appears as if a totally new one could be drawn up after the October 9 parliamentary election.

During a meeting with Deputy Finance Minister Dominik Radziwi∏∏, analysts from ING said they learned that “another budget bill will be needed after the elections, possibly in December, as all bills, including the budget draft, expire when the new Sejm convenes.”

Under Poland’s constitution, the government must send a draft budget to the Sejm by the end of September, even in an election year. This is despite the fact that the budget usually has to be sent once

again, when the new government takes office. New governments often send the draft prepared by the previous government to the Sejm, where alterations can be made.

ING wrote in a report that the 2012 budget can in fact be disregarded, saying the delay is a good thing as it will allow the government to better assess the economic situation looking into 2012.

“The 2012 budget bill, just accepted by the government, can safely be ignored for now.

With the range of uncertainties around, it is actually helpful to postpone fixing the macro assumptions until the last possible moment.”

In the budget, economic growth is forecast at 4 percent for full-year 2012, while the budget deficit is expected to stand at z∏.35 billion. Public debt is set to hit 51.9 percent of GDP, compared to the 52.7 percent expected this year.

Jaros∏aw Kaczyƒski, the leader of Law and Justice, Poland’s main opposition party, has said the assumptions are very optimistic, while Grzegorz Napieralski, the leader of the Democratic Left Alliance, called it “baloney before the elections.”

ING bank wrote that the 4 percent GDP growth target in particular is likely to be revised by the new government. Moreover, the new government is not likely to be too concerned with avoiding the 55 percent debt-toGDP ratio threshold, which, once breached, triggers legally mandated spending cuts.

The bank said it learned from the Finance Ministry that “the 55 percent of GDP threshold is not such a big deal in the current circumstances,” adding that many of the austerity measures that would be triggered are already being put into force anyway.

Gareth Price

EUROPE NEWS

OCTOBER 3-9, 2011

www.wbj.pl

7

Eastern Partnership summit

Belarus casts shadow over Warsaw summit An EU declaration condemning Belarus’s human rights record failed to receive the acceptance of the Eastern Partnership countries at the EP summit in Warsaw last week.

“We were not able to agree on a common declaration concerning Belarus,” said European Parliament president Jerzy Buzek after the summit.

The proposed EU declaration stated that “the leaders and governments as well as EU representatives and EU members express a deep concern for the worsening of the situation concerning human rights, democracy and the rule of law in Belarus. [The EU] is pained at the worsening situation concerning freedom of speech and calls for the immediate release and rehabilitation of all political prisoners and the ending of the repression of civil society and media as well as the start of political dialogue with the opposition.”

The summit was boycotted

COURTESY OF KPRM

The EU and its Eastern partners differ over the right approach for the country

From left to right: European Commission President José Manuel Barroso, European Council President Herman Van Rompuy and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk at the Eastern Partnership summit in Warsaw last week

by Belarusian representatives who stated that the organizers of the summit had “taken an unprecedented move of discrimination against Belarus,” by not inviting the Belarusian head of state and by “limiting the function of the head of the delegation that Belarus usually has at the summit’s meetings.”

Finance with strings At the summit, Prime Minister Donald Tusk also proposed a “modernization pact” for Belarus which would involve grants and international loans to the tune of $9 billion, investment incentives and a mechanism to stabilize the Belarusian currency amounting to $2 bil-

lion as well as the easing of visa restrictions.

“The conditions for initiating this package should be firstly full amnesty and rehabilitation of those arrested after the elections, the start of talks with the opposition by the government and the holding of parliamentary elections in accordance with OSCE

standards,” said Mr Tusk at the summit.

However, the absence of Belarusian officials at the summit meant there was no official reaction to the offer.

Ukraine agreement on course On the positive side, Herman Van Rompuy, the European

Union president said the bloc still expects to finalize its association talks with Ukraine by the end of the year. This came despite the controversy surrounding the trial of Yulia Tymoshenko, which EU leaders view as politically motivated. Mr Rompuy stressed, however, that these concerns had been raised with Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych at the summit.

“This is a serious matter in our relations and we are expressing ourselves very clearly on this matter,” Mr Van Rompuy said.

In addition, there was a joint declaration by the EU and its eastern partners that “the participants of the Warsaw summit recognize the European aspirations and the European choice of some of our partners as well as their attachment to building a deep and lasting democracy.”

Poland also received praise at the summit from Mr Van Rompuy, who said the country was as an example for others to follow.

“Poland is a vivid example of what is possible when countries take reform seriously,” he said.

Remi Adekoya

INDUSTRY NEWS

OCTOBER 3-9, 2011

Energy

www.wbj.pl

9

Privatization

Polish official ruffles feathers Polpharma makes z∏.800 million over EU shale gas ‘veto’ claim takeover bid for Polfa Warszawa

Mr Olex-Szczytowski said Poland would veto any EU interference regarding shale gas restricted hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” a controversial process used to extract gas.

But the European Commission is not planning to propose any new legislation regarding shale gas, Marlene Holzner, spokesperson for Energy Commissioner Günther Oettinger, confirmed to WBJ. “Poland is completely free to decide if it wants to exploit shale gas. We cannot even make legislation against this because decisions regarding national energy mix is the competence of member

states,” she said.

The EC is, however, concerned about fracking and its potential negative effects on the environment, Ms Holzner admitted. The commission has tasked an unnamed firm with determining if fracking is covered by existing EU environmental legislation. The results of this study should be available in a few months, she said.

“We are not against shale gas. It can be very positive for the European Union’s energy security,” stressed Ms Holzner.

Alice Trudelle

Polish pharmaceutical firm Polpharma has gained exclusive talks with state-owned Polski Holding Farmaceutyczny (PHF) for the acquisition of drug maker Polfa Warszawa, after it outbid four other potential buyers, Polish media reported last week.

Both Polpharma and Iceland-based drug maker Actavis were short-listed for the privatization process on August 31.

Polpharma was selected after submitting the highest bid. ZF Adamed Pharma, Ukraine’s Arterium Korporatsiya and Chinese firm Harbin Pharmaceutical Group were also all originally in the running to take over the Warsaw-based company.

“We intend to conclude the transaction within a few weeks,” PHF CEO Artur Woêniak was quoted by Polish daily Parkiet as saying.

Mr Wozniak told the daily that there were still a few minor

SHUTTERSTOCK

Poland would likely veto any attempt by the European Union to limit the exploitation of shale gas in Poland, a Polish Foreign Ministry official said last week.

“Quite possibly we are going to veto any interference in our country’s energy independence,” Reuters reported Maciej Olex-Szczytowski, special adviser on economics and business to the Polish Foreign Minister, as saying.

Mr Olex-Szczytowski was speaking during a panel discussion at the European Unconventional Gas Summit in Kraków.

Among perceived challenges to commercialization of shale gas in Poland is potential unfavorable EU legislation.

Environmental concerns, such as the ones that have been raised regarding shale gas drilling and extraction, tend to receive more attention at the EU level than in Poland. And some EU member states have

The pharmaceutical firm could become a market leader if its bid to takeover the state-owned drug maker is completed

KASIA MARCINKIEWICZ/WBJ

Poland has threatened to veto non-existent EU legislation restricting unconventional gas drilling

Polpharma is now in exclusive talks to take over drug maker Polfa Warszawa details to iron out in the prospective z∏.800 million deal, with Polpharma now set to negotiate a social package with the trade unions, a process which could take several weeks.

The firm’s privatization had originally been scheduled for 2010 but was postponed after a potential z∏.500 million deal was turned down.

Polpharma will become the market leader in Poland in terms of revenue and market share if it completes the acquisition of Polfa Warszawa, a firm which had a net profit of z∏.44.4 million last year and a

net profit of z∏.13.6 million in H1 2011.

Polpharma is continuing its expansion plans after its September 20 acquisition of a majority stake in Chimpharm, one of the largest drug producers in Kazakhstan.

This year Polpharma also bought a majority stake in Turkish firm Cenovapharma.

“This will enable us not only to exist on the very promising Turkish market, but also open up its markets in the Middle East, Africa and the Caspian region,” the firm said in a statement. David Ingham

10

OCTOBER 3-9, 2011

www.wbj.pl

Advertorial feature

1,000 procedures in a year A year after the opening of the LUX MED Group Hospital in the Warsaw district of Ursynów, the thousandth procedure was performed in its operating suite.

During a year of intensive expansion of the hospital, a total of 10 diagnostic and therapeutic centres have been opened.

The first to be launched were centres for Hernia Treatment, Vascular Diseases, Proctology, Plastic Surgery, Gastrointestinal Tract Endoscopy and Orthopaedic Surgery. In recent months, in order to meet the additional demands of patients, the hospital has been expanded to include a Paediatric Surgery Centre, a Hand Surgery Centre, a Podiatric Centre and an Emergency Assistance Centre. Procedures are performed for a fee as well as within the framework of contract with the National Health Fund. The most common proce-

dures performed at the hospital are those in the field of general, vascular and plastic surgery.

Nearly 20 years of experience of the LUX MED Group in the provision of private medical care services has been used in the creation of an adequately organised space in which patients are cared for by highly qualified physicians, who are recognised in their circles, and auxiliary personnel with many years of professional experience. The hospital was opened to complement the comprehensive offer of the Group. At the same time, it became an example of a modern approach to hospital treatment.

It is the patient who is the focal point here and the medical service is organised in such a way as to ensure that any actions taken are as safe, effective and comfortable as possible.

The organisation of hospital work, based on specialist therapeutic and

diagnostic centres, orders the course of hospitalisation – from the qualification for a procedure to the recovery at the stay ward. Owing to the modern procedure techniques and the employment of top-quality diagnostic equipment, the maximum hospitalisation time is 24 hours. The operating suite comprises two fully equipped operating rooms and a double recovery room. Of crucial importance for the precise checking on the patient’s condition is also the modern monitoring system, including the onsite analytic laboratory. The diagnostic part of the hospital is equipped with top-quality ultrasound, X-ray and computed tomography units which enable the performance of biopsies, ablations, as well as lung, abdominal, orthopaedic, vascular and urological examinations.

After the procedure, patients remain at the stay ward, which offers six spacious and functional rooms. In emergency cases, such as injury, sprain, dis-

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OPINION & ANALYSIS

OCTOBER 3-9, 2011

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11

Editorial

An unenthusiastic endorsement of PO

If

none of the parties inspires you, the acknowledged wisdom goes, choose the lesser of the evils. That is what we hope Poles do this Sunday, with a vote for Civic Platform (PO).

This most recent election campaign has been one of the least inspiring in recent memory. It’s been short on substance and long on unfulfillable promises. PO is as guilty as anyone here, offering precious little detail about how it plans to govern over the next four years, while at the same time dangling €300 billion in EU subsidies in front of voters.

The last four years of PO government have disappointed. To be sure, PO left many of its promises to the business community unfulfilled.

Bureaucracy continues to hamstring entrepreneurs, as does Poland’s clunky legal system. Corruption has lessened – at least according to Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index – but remains stubbornly entrenched.

PO hasn’t made government more efficient either. The deficit-toGDP ratio ballooned – mostly as a result of the global economic crisis, to be fair – and its promises to cut government have fallen flat: Nearly 30,000 more people are on the government payroll than when they took power.

Add to that a total mismanagement of infrastructure and the inability to reform Poland’s creaking and

became a liability. Poland’s relationships with the EU and Russia suffered as a result of PiS’s antagonism, and businesses were wary of investing due to the instability of the “scandala-month” government. Though, to its credit, PiS also oversaw strong economic growth (again, however, this was difficult to associate with any particular policy) and cut taxes. Nevertheless, their hunt for enemies ultimately led them to their own coalition partners, and the PiS-led government self-destructed after just two years in power.

money-hemorrhaging pension system, and the argument to vote for PO appears shaky.

Worrying alternatives But a close look at the alternatives puts PO’s advantages into sharper focus. Because of the dearth of policy detail offered up in this campaign, it’s necessary to look at the records of the parties to glean insight into how they might govern. The two other major parties in Poland, Law and Justice (PiS) and the Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) have both had their chance, and neither has done as well as PO. The leftist SLD oversaw strong economic growth, but it was hard to put that down to policy. In the end it was resoundingly booted out of office on the back of a series of corruption scandals. The party has gone to great lengths in attempting to alter its image, mostly by putting young leaders with no connection to the party’s communist past at its head. Unfortunately, those leaders have had no connection to substance, either.

Their current leader, Grzegorz Napieralski, tends to waffle on the big issues, when he’s not promising higher wages to unions or bigger pensions to retirees.

PiS’s government was a disaster.

Unable to form a coalition with any of the mainstream parties, it cobbled one together with ultraconservative and populist outliers that quickly

Minor players Then there are the minor parties, Poland Comes First (PJN) and Palikot’s Movement (RP). As for PJN, it’s unclear whether that party, made up of discontented former PiS members, will even survive, after the exit of its leader and main founder, Joanna Kluzik-Rostkowska.

It recently lost enough members to lose its parliamentary caucus status, which gave it the ability to sit on committees. In terms of policy, PJN has rightly been labeled “PiS-light” – it offers all of the same solutions, with less of the vitriol.

RP, led by the flamboyant former PO member Janusz Palikot, is more intriguing. This strongly pro-business party has proposed simplifying Poland’s tax system to “3 x 18” – 18 percent personal income tax, corporate income tax and VAT. It wants to

eliminate the Catholic Church’s influence on, and funding from, the state, and to roll the inefficient Agricultural Social Insurance Fund (KRUS) into the slightly less inefficient Social Insurance Agency, which would be an improvement. It also proposes liquidating the Economy Ministry, whose raison d’être these days is unclear.

But the big strike against this party is its leader, who tends to be better at hurling insults and shining the spotlight on himself than on implementing positive solutions. And while eliminating state favoritism towards the Church is called for, Mr Palikot’s unbridled antipathy towards it is unproductive. We worry RP could become a kind of PiS for liberals – a lightning-rod party that is high on slogans and anger, and low on results.

Continued stability In view of all of this, Civic Platform’s record looks much better. While it oversaw lower economic growth, Poland’s economy did continue to expand during the economic crisis and was the only EU market not to fall into recession in 2009. It has come through on promises of privatization, re-invigorating the stalled process after it was neglected by PiS. Poland’s star in the EU is rising, as is its credibility. It has made some important foreign policy initiatives – including military agreements with

Sweden and the Visegrad Group – and has gone a long way towards repairing Poland’s troubled relations with Russia, despite last year’s Smolensk disaster.

In 2007, PO promised an “economic miracle.” In 2010, before the presidential elections, this newspaper argued that by seeing Poland through the roughest economic storm since the Great Depression without recession, PO had achieved such a miracle.

We maintain that stance, though we wish Civic Platform had done more with the opportunities it had.

Nevertheless, PO has given Poland stability that has helped it to stand out amongst European economies and attract much-needed foreign investment. It is flawed, but has governed with a level of competence higher than that of its predecessors.

Because Civic Platform therefore offers Poland the best chance to continue its successful run, and because the other alternatives will likely turn Poland in the wrong direction, Warsaw Business Journal believes Poles should for the first time since the fall of communism elect a government to a second term, by casting their votes for Civic Platform.

Warsaw Business Journal’s editorial board consists of Editor-in-Chief Andrew Kureth, Managing Editors Gareth Price and Alice Trudelle, and Politics Editor Remi Adekoya

Analysis

Georgia on Europe’s mind

It

is three years since Russia invaded Georgia, and two years since the European Union launched its Eastern Partnership (EP) initiative in 2009. The EP was conceived before the war, but its implementation was subsequently accelerated to reassure Georgia and its nervous neighbors that the EU opposed any effort by Russia to impose a “sphere of influence” on the region.

But the EP has only a small budget for mainly technical projects, and it has done little to beef up the EU’s pulling power in the East. A relaunch was made at an EP summit in Warsaw on September 29-30, under the slogan “more for more” – that is, more support for states that undertake more reforms.

The EU could do with more friends, but the EP is still struggling to find a success story. Belarus, always an

outlier, has lurched from post-election political crisis in December 2010 to economic crisis this summer. Not so long ago, Ukraine was hoping to sign a new Association Agreement and Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement (DCFTA) at an EUUkraine summit in December. But those accords are in jeopardy now that former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko is being prosecuted on what appear to be blatantly political grounds.

Standing aloof Farther east, the threat of renewed conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan is higher than in many years, and Georgia itself initially stood aloof from the EP. Since its “Rose Revolution” in 2003, the country has cultivated an image as an ultra-liberal dynamo, with officials attacking the EU for its “sclerotic civilization” and

the International Monetary Fund as “Gosplan on the Potomac.”

This was not mere rhetoric. When institutions proved difficult to reform, the Georgians often simply abolished them, and real progress was made in cutting corruption.

After the boom But the boom years of 2004-2008 seem over. Inward foreign direct investment in 2010 was down sharply from a record of $2 billion in 2007. The Russian market has collapsed, owing to Russia’s “health and safety” bans on Georgian imports.

The EU might help to bring FDI back. The Georgian government’s sudden Euro-enthusiasm is also driven by the collapse of its NATO aspirations after 2008, together with the Obama administration’s “reset” policy towards Russia – much resented in a country where the road from the air-

port into Tbilisi, the capital, is called “George W. Bush Avenue.”

As this column was written, the EU seemed likely to announce Georgia’s readiness to be fast-tracked towards a DCFTA in Warsaw.

But the Georgian political scene remains bitterly divided between an entrenched ruling elite with a reputation for cutting corners and a weak and divided opposition.

Elections Presidential elections are due in January 2013, when President Mikheil Saakashvili’s second and final term is up. Mr Saakashvili denies that he will copy Russia’s Vladimir Putin by moving to the job of prime minister. But he is young, and his mission to recover the breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia is still unaccomplished.

It should also be borne in mind

Andrew Wilson that the desire to regain influence over Abkhazia and South Ossetia is driving Georgia’s new embrace of the EU. With NATO membership no longer an immediate prospect, the head of Georgia’s National Security Council has called on the EU to play more of a hard military role in the region, transforming its monitoring mission in Georgia into something more like its peace-keeping force in Bosnia.

Georgia will test the EU’s new flexibility in the East. The country is ahead of its neighbors in many areas, but behind in others – including national security. But the political will, on both sides, for closer cooperation appears to have emerged at last. ● Andrew Wilson is a senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations.

Copyright: Project Syndicate, 2011. project-syndicate.org

Editorials are the opinions of WBJ’s editorial board. Other opinions are those of the authors alone. Comments, opinions and letters should be sent to editor@wbj.pl. Please include a name and contact information and clearly indicate if they are to be considered for publication.

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COVER STORY

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Mid Europa eyes ˚abka expansion Mid Europa Partners, the new owner of Polish convenience store chain ˚abka, hopes to expand further in Poland’s retail sector, reported Parkiet.

“We are already in talks with three companies, it is a good time for acquisitions,” Zbigniew Rekusz, a partner at Mid Europa, told the newspaper. Mr Rekusz added that ˚abka also has great potential.

There are over 2,500 ˚abka stores in Poland, and the chain plans to open 250 new stores in 2012.

Netia spends over z∏.1 billion Warsaw Stock Exchangelisted Netia, the country’s largest alternative landline operator, will pay z∏.944 million for a 100% stake in Dialog, a fixed-line operator that belongs to copper miner KGHM. The two companies have been in negotiations since September 6 and the terms of the purchase were finally agreed upon on September 29. Netia has also agreed to spend approximately z∏.100 million on a 100% stake in Crowley Data Poland, an operator of corporate telecommunicaitons services.

Food price increase Food prices in Poland are set to go up in the next few months, but not by as much as they did last year, reported Dziennik Gazeta Prawna. According to Krystyna Âwietlik of the Institute of Agricultural and Food Economics, prices will increase by about 2% from now until the end of 2011. Food prices had gone up 3.3% during the same period last year.

Overall, the institute estimates that food prices will be 4-5% higher this December than in December last year. ●

OCTOBER 3-9, 2011

Remi Adekoya

Parliamentary elections

Instability beckons With the outcome of this week’s parliamentary elections far from clear, one thing experts agree on is that the stability that has marked Poland’s political scene for the past four years will soon be a thing of the past This Sunday, Polish citizens will head to polling stations across the country to decide which party will gain control of the government for the next four years. At a time of global economic uncertainty, anxiety concerning the future of the euro zone and of the European Union itself, Poland, perhaps now more than ever, needs a steady pair of hands to guide it through the stormy waters which no doubt lie ahead.

All indications suggest that whoever forms the next government will be forced, once again, to create a coalition.

This time though, it is likely to be a more unstable government than the present coalition of Civic Platform (PO) and the Polish Peoples’ Party (PSL) that takes the reins of power.

The winds of political fortune are now blowing firmly behind the country’s biggest opposition party. But can PiS really win the election, when victory for PO seemed so certain just a few weeks ago?

50-50?

“Right now, it’s 50-50 on whether PO or PiS will win.

The momentum is now on the side of the opposition and the government is on the defensive, but about a quarter of voters are still undecided and it is they who will ultimately decide who wins this election,” said Jan Filip Stani∏ko, a political analyst at the Sobieski Institute, a think tank.

“PiS’s support could surge in the last week of campaigning, PO’s could surge or the undecideds could be divided roughly equally between the

“The winds of political fortune are now blowing firmly behind the country’s biggest opposition party” While the current election campaign started out with the senior coalition partner, PO, enjoying a comfortable double-digit lead over its biggest rival, according to most of the major voter surveys, things have changed considerably since then. Now, many observers are predicting a tight finish and a post-election period in which political parties will scramble to patch together a coalition government.

PiS catching up The latest voter surveys all point to one very important trend: That PO is losing ground to its main rival, Law and Justice (PiS). A September 28 SMG/KRC poll had PO with 34 percent support and PiS at 29 percent, while the Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) registered 8 percent, Palikot’s Movement (RPP) 7 percent and PSL 6 percent.

two major parties,” he added.

Sergiusz Trzeciak, a politics expert at Collegium Civitas, agreed that it’s a close call, but said PO is most likely to claim victory.

“I still think PO will win eventually, although it all

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12

Donald Tusk’s PO and Jaros∏aw Kaczyƒski’s PiS were separated by only 5 percent in a recent opinion poll depends on how well they mobilize [the less enthusiastic members of] their electorate, which they are currently making every effort to do, with President Komorowski also initiating a get-out-the-vote campaign,” he said.

But PiS has often done better on election day than pre-election polls suggested, with the opposite being the case for PO. This is mainly because some PiS supporters hide their true political preferences from pollsters, while some who don’t end up voting for PO on election day tell pollsters that they will.

A recent TNS-OBOP survey showed that 33 percent of PiS voters are either “very careful” about expressing their political views, even among their friends, or “don’t express them at all.” Only 12 percent of PO voters act in the same way, according to the survey.

Does this mean that actual support for PiS is even higher than current polls suggest?

“It is definitely politically correct to vote for PO and not at all politically correct to support PiS, so indeed PiS might actually be supported by more people on election day than the polls suggest,” said Mr Trzeciak.

Coalition scenarios With both PO and PiS standing reasonable chances of victory in the election, and with the margin of victory likely to be small for whoever wins, many have begun mulling potential coalition combinations.

According to some experts, PO has more options in this respect than PiS does.

“PO definitely has more coalition options than PiS – the easiest would of course be another coalition with PSL but it is unlikely that both parties will get enough votes to form a majority. So that

The current ruling coalition: an assessment Despite coming in for some heavy criticism, the ruling coalition of Civic Platform (PO) and the Polish Peoples’ Party (PSL) has led Poland successfully through a number of storms over the past four years.

First there was the financial crisis, which started three years ago. Despite economies tanking across Europe, Poland emerged as the only European Union country to record positive GDP growth in full-year 2009.

Then there was the Smolensk catastrophe of April 2010, in which President Lech Kaczyƒski, First Lady

Maria Kaczyƒska, many of Poland’s top military leaders and several top politicians perished, leaving the nation shocked and in a state of grief.

The government responded with calm and the country’s political and economic institutions continued to function more or less as normal.

That same year, Poland was also ravaged by floods which did considerable damage to homes and businesses.

These were three major tests which, by most accounts, Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s government handled with relative skill.

But Mr Tusk’s government has also been on the end of some sharp criticism, with some of its fiercest opponents accusing it of forgoing important economic reforms, performing poorly when it comes to building highways and roads and of being more interested in PR and perception than real policy.

The hand-wringing over reports into the Smolensk catastrophe, and to whom blame should be apportioned, has, moreover, served to cloud the government’s handling of that tragedy in the eyes of many. ●

COVER STORY

OCTOBER 3-9, 2011

than two years before elections will have to be called again,” Mr Stani∏ko said.

Mr Trzeciak said that the most likely outcome after October 9 is a PO-PSL coalition. However, if those two parties aren’t able to form a majority, the second most likely scenario would be a PO-PSL-SLD government, he added.

“In my opinion, if PiS were to win the elections and try to form a government with PSL, the price [PSL leader] Mr Pawlak may ask for could be too high – rumors have it he could demand the PM’s seat,”

The main parties: Who they are and what they are promising Civic Platform (PO) Under the leadership of current Prime Minister Donald Tusk, PO has evolved from a socially conservative and economically liberal party to an all-inclusive political entity that comprises members from both the right and the left side of the political spectrum. It promises to open up professions closed to young people and continue with an intensive privatization process.

Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) It is difficult to say what SLD, in theory a leftist party, stands for today. Although its current rhetoric is economically left-leaning and socially liberal, many businesspeople say the SLD-led government of 2001-2005 was the most pro-business in post-communist Poland. They now vow to “computerize” Poland and focus on innovation and technology.

October 9, Poland seems set for four years of political instability.

Experts say Poland-watchers should prepare themselves for more political squabbling, in-fighting and surprises than they saw during the term of the current parliament. The next government will not have as strong a political mandate as the present government and the opposition will be much stronger than it is now.

A multi-party coalition also means the increased ability of various lobby groups to block much-needed

“Poland-watchers should prepare themselves for more political squabbling, in-fighting and surprises”

Law and Justice (PiS) PiS is a socially conservative party with a leftleaning economic philosophy, although it did reduce personal income tax rates (from three levels of 19, 30 and 40 percent to two rates of 18 and 32 percent) when it was in power from 2005 to 2007. In its campaign program, it promises to remove unnecessary bureaucratic procedures for entrepreneurs and support innovation.

said Mr Trzeciak.

Both Mr Trzeciak and Mr Stani∏ko, meanwhile, expressed skepticism that Mr Palikot’s party would do as well on election day as it has recently been polling.

Palikot’s Movement (RPP) RPP is a one-man show run by Janusz Palikot, the eccentric and controversial former PO politician. Mr Palikot spouts anticlerical, anticonservative and radically liberal (for Polish standards) rhetoric. He has pledged to eliminate religious lessons from school, legalize marijuana, liberalize abortion restrictions, liquidate the Senate, cut the number of MPs from 460 to 360 and introduce a flat-rate tax of 18 percent (corporate, income and VAT).

Bad news Whoever gets the most votes and whichever parties form a coalition government after

reforms. A few abstentions, a few MP’s cajoled into voting a certain way, and major reforms could be torpedoed.

Right now, a weak government, unable to act quickly, cohesively and decisively in difficult moments is the last thing Poland needs.

Unfortunately, it looks like that is exactly what it is going to get. ●

Polish People’s Party (PSL) PSL is a rural-based party which is socially conservative and economically left-leaning. They are focused on protecting the interests of their rural and small-town electorate such as the controversial subsidized social security fund for farmers (KRUS), which costs taxpayers over z∏.16 billion annually. They promise to support innovation, fight bureaucracy and increase Poland’s renewable energy capacities. ● in order to improve Poland’s budget situation.

PiS-PSL in tandem?

Experts say that PiS’s most likely coalition partner is PSL, but that whichever coalition it forms is likely to face strong opposition from President Bronis∏aw Komorowski, who was once a member of PO. “The realistic option for PiS would be a coalition with PSL, but then it’s pretty clear that President Komorowski would make life as difficult as possible for a PiS-led government. In short, I think we are in for a period of greater or lesser turmoil on the political scene and whatever government is formed now will not last more

Palikot’s Movement could have a big influence on the outcome of the election

13

Legal Eye

Vote for ME! Judith Gliniecki is a Partner with Wierzbowski Eversheds judith.gliniecki@eversheds.pl Unless you’ve been abroad or otherwise blissfully removed from current events in Poland, you’ve probably had your fill of campaign slogans, promises and accusations. Yes, once again it is that time of year when politicians are stumping for your vote. Aside from the good feeling of having fulfilled your civic duty, what does your vote get you? Although Poland’s manner of applying votes can be somewhat convoluted, your vote is ultimately for your preferred candidate.

Universal and direct The connection between your vote and the candidate for office is most evident in elections for senators and the president. If you are 18 and a Polish citizen, you may place your vote directly for a candidate. Whoever receives the majority of votes, wins. There are 100 seats up for grabs in the Senate, of which four are allocated to various districts in Warsaw.

Proportional

COURTESY OF CEZARY PIWOWARSKI

means PO will need two or maybe even three partners to be able to get a real majority and not just a fragile 50 percent plus two or three votes,” said Mr Stani∏ko.

“A PO majority with two or three other parties would make for a very shaky coalition, especially in the face of the difficult challenges ahead for the Polish as well as the European economy,” he added.

Indeed, it is hard to imagine the economically liberal PO, the rural-based and economically left-leaning PSL and, for example, the leftist and statist SLD being able to reach a consensus on the kind of cuts that will need to be made to public spending

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The fun starts with the counting of votes for the Polish and EU parliamentary elections.

In addition to universal and direct, the principle of proportionality applies. Election commissions first look at party affiliation to divide up the number of seats, and only then take into account the votes for individual candidates.

For this reason, voters choose a party list of candidates in their Sejm (Polish parliament) election district.

The various party election committees prepare their own slate of candidates. Voters may not pick and choose candidates from various party lists. You may, however, indicate a preference for certain candidates by placing your “x” next to the preferred party candidates. The positioning of a candidate on the list is not merely a matter of

pride of place. If you indicated more than one preferred candidate, it is assumed that your first choice is the person highest on the list.

Each election district chooses at least seven Sejm representatives. Warsaw is only one of 41 election districts, but it has 20 seats out of the total 460 seats in the Sejm.

The 41 various district election commissions take the leading role in vote counting. Each commission first disregards votes for any party list that does not surpass a five-percent threshold of votes nationally. For coalitions, the threshold rises to eight percent. Thus, even if a party receives a lot of votes in an election district but fails to do well enough nationally, its candidates will not receive a seat. The only exception to this rule is for registered ethnic minority groups (such as the German minority). They can apply to have no threshold.

With the remaining party lists, a district election commission then divides the number of seats in the district in accordance with the proportion of votes received for those party lists in the district. After it is known how many seats are allocated to each party, the party candidates with the most votes get to fill the allocated number of seats for the party.

Term of office Although it seems that various elections are being held constantly, the term of office for elected government officials is not short.

Representatives for both the Polish Sejm and Senate are elected for four years. As to local elected officials, the Elections Code does not specify a term of office. This doesn’t explain why elections seem to be an annual event in Poland, but I am probably suffering a bad case of election fatigue. ●

14

INTERVIEW

www.wbj.pl

OCTOBER 3-9, 2011

Political research

What shapes Poland’s opinion?

Miros∏awa Grabowska, director of the Public Opinion Research Center (CBOS), tells WBJ that the main factor shaping Poles’ views is their attitude toward religion

“I absolutely reject claims about the manipulative role of opinion polls” poor ratings. Yet I am surprised by the attacks made by some commentators and even scholars, who claim that polls manipulate public opinion by presenting different ratings of support for political parties. They should know that every polling institution is applying a somewhat different method of

polling, different ways of posing questions, as well as different methods of evaluating and presenting the findings. This means the final results are not always the same. But the polling institutions are watching each other carefully, while also competing amongst themselves in terms of providing an accurate assessment, so I am certain they are not manipulating the figures.

Some critics, among them Wawrzyniec Konarski, a professor of political science at the University of Warsaw, claim that the frequent publication of very different findings leads to disinformation and a manipulation of public opinion. Mr Konarski even argues that we now practice a system he refers to as “polling democracy.” How do you react to this?

I absolutely reject Mr Konarski’s claim about the manipulative role of opinion polls and I am amazed by his invention of the curious term “polling democracy.” Polls are only one

SHUTTERSTOCK

Ewa Boniecka: Some politicians and political commentators have recently expressed criticism about the role opinion polls are playing in the current election campaign. How do you see the situation?

Miros∏awa Grabowska: I am not surprised that some politicians have expressed critical opinions, as, after all, they are coming from those who receive

Poles make political choices based on experience, rather than on poll results, says Ms Grabowska of many elements in an election campaign and they are certainly not the most important factor, as his suggestion about “polling democracy” implies. People make their own political opinions and future electoral choices after much deliberation

because of their own experiences, an evaluation of the past and present performances of parties and the particular leaders’ behavior. So I look at the polls as providing society with a certain amount of information that people are entitled to – and

that’s all there is to it. As to the frequency of polls presented in our campaign, there are different rules in various countries. In the US, polls are published right up to election day, but I think the Polish regulation that says polls cannot be published

within 48 hours of an election day is a good one.

There is a general view that turnout in this parliamentary election could be low. Do you agree with this assessment?

It could be the case. Some

INTERVIEW

OCTOBER 3-9, 2011

CBOS findings allow us to conclude that the turnout in this election will be low and certainly much lower than in the parliamentary election of 2007.

As a professor of sociology, what do you consider to be the main factors in shaping Poles’ political views and what is your attitude to observers who claim that people’s views are mainly shaped by the media?

I do not want to disregard the role of the media, but I think that the media as well as politicians actually overestimate the role the media plays, because only a minority of people follow politics through the media. I would say that the main factor in shaping the general views of most Poles is religion. If somebody goes to church regularly, then they will most probably vote for [opposition] Law and Justice (PiS). If somebody practices religion less systematically or not at all, then they will be more inclined to vote for [ruling] Civic Platform (PO) or the Democratic Left Alliance (SLD). The powerful role of religion in shaping political views is one of the characteristic elements of our society.

Yet it seems that in this election, due to the effects of the European financial crisis and economic difficulties in Poland, people will first of all be concerned with economic and social matters. How will these factors be reflected in the election?

I agree that in this election economic and social matters will play a much bigger role than in previous elections, because Poles feel the effects of the crisis around them and of rising prices in Poland. Yet while saying this I would point out that other matters, like moral values, and family … are also very important for Poles and they will play a role in the choice of which party to vote for.

In other countries economic matters are not the only aspect which shape people’s attitude towards political parties. In Western countries there are political divisions on, for example, how to deal with the flow of immigration and assimilation of immigrants into society. But in ethical matters, like the status of sexual minorities, there is consensus among most of the mainstream parties. In Poland, issues such as abortion, in vitro fertilization, and the status of sexual minorities, are seen as controversial topics which divide the political parties.

In terms of economic and social issues, which factors will determine people’s voting preferences?

We are generally an egalitarian society, we expect the preservation of some form of welfare state and for the government to help poorer people. So I think that in evaluating parties’ proposals in economic and social fields the vot-

ers will consider two aspects.

First, they will look at the diagnoses of the situation presented by the parties. If PO can convince people that the economic situation is not really so bad, that Poland is “under construction” and that PO will continue further modernization of the country, it will be a major plus for PO. If PiS is able to convince people that everything is in ruin and that a crisis is unavoidable, then people will deliberate whether to vote for PiS. The second very important aspect in how people determine their choices will be their judgment about which party has a better recipe for the future. If people start believing that the best solution is a continuation of a step-by-step

“If somebody goes to church regularly, then they will most probably vote for PiS” economic policy and cautious reforms, then political support would turn towards PO. But, if they start believing that PiS’s strategy of radical change is better, then PiS will gain more support. And I think that voters’ evaluations will not depend on the performance of politicians in the media, but on their own experiences, the current situation in their communities, and in their social surroundings. They will calculate which party has the most realistic program for developing the country and which party can respond to their individual expectations. And because Poles have a more individual approach, characterized by strong loyalty towards parties, our political life is more emotional than in some other societies.

We have been talking mainly about PO and PiS, yet there are new parties emerging in this election, for example Poland Comes First (PJN) and Palikot’s Movement. What influence could these parties have on this election and on the future of Polish politics?

I think that these parties could have an influence on the election, mainly because they can take votes from other parties. Even if Palikot’s Movement does not enter parliament after the election, if it takes two to three percent of votes from SLD, and PJN were to take one percent from PiS and one percent from PO, it could have an influence on Poland’s future political establishment, because it could help decide which coalition is created once the election is over.

Do you think these two new parties have a future in Polish politics?

From an electoral point of view these parties can respond to some social expectations.

Palikot’s Movement appeals to the anticlerical segment of the electorate, which, however tiny, definitely exists in Poland. And PJN appeals to those who I call “orphans,” meaning those who once hoped for a coalition of PO and PiS, which means that PJN is now trying to position itself as a center-right party, not as politically radical as PiS and with a more liberal approach to the economy. So even if these parties do not enter parliament, they will stay on the political scene and will have some impact.

How is the fact that foreign policy is the subject of a fierce internal political battle affecting the campaign?

The average Pole is not deeply interested in foreign policy, as they are already satisfied with our membership of the European Union and NATO. Yet they are sensitive about Poland’s relations with specific countries. So when PiS succeeded in creating emotions connected with the Smolensk catastrophe and continues to claim that Poland is kneeling before the Russians, it can have a certain impact on the campaign.

Can the issue of patriotism, which has became a political one, be exploited in this campaign?

I think that political emotions associated with dividing people into “better” or “worse” patriots will not appeal to voters, because all Poles regard themselves as patriots.

How do you envisage the political atmosphere in Poland after the election?

To a great extent it will depend on the reaction of the country’s politicians. If the side which loses questions the results of the election, the political atmosphere in the country will be bad and this would affect everyone. I would like to see our politicians behave as we have seen politicians behave in Western countries, where the winner of parliamentary elections receives congratulations from the loser, because this is what democracy is about. If we could reach such standards, it would lead to a strengthening of our state in its democratic functioning.

And as such it would have a positive influence on the general political mood in our society, helping to heal the political disappointment of those voters who are dissatisfied with the outcome of the election. I believe that after over 20 years of freedom we deserve to have leaders and members of the political class who are able to present such democratic standards in their personal behavior. ●

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15

SPECIAL EXPO REAL EDITION Expo Real guide | Warsaw's office market | Green building in Poland Euro 2012 stadiums | PKiN office space | Commercial financing outlook

LOKALE IMMOBILIA

W a r s a w B u s i n e s s J o u r n a l ’s w e e k ly s u p p l e m e n t o n re a l e s t a t e , c o n s t r u c t i o n a n d d e v e l o p m e n t

Bayer opens new HQ Chemical and pharmaceutical company Bayer Poland has opened a new headquarters building on Warsaw’s Al. Jerozolimskie 158. The facility, which sits adjacent to another building owned by the company, cost z∏.40million to build. “This marks the largest investment in Central & Eastern Europe by Bayer.

The building of this headquarters is proof of the confidence we have in the Polish market,” Dirk Ehle, president of the board at Bayer, said during the ribbon-cutting ceremony. ●

In this issue Galeria Kaskada . . . . . . . . . . . . .16 Focus Filtrowa . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16 Dolcan retail investment . . . . .17 Promenady Wrocławskie . . . . .17 Expo Real guide . . . . . . . . . . . . .18 Warsaw office market . . . . .20-21 Property-related stocks . . . . . .21 Green building in Poland . . . . .22 Euro 2012 stadiums . . . . . . . . . .23 PKiN office space . . . . . . . . . . . .24 Financing outlook . . . . . . . . . . .25 Military land . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26 Mayland interview . . . . . . . . . .27

Focus Filtrowa sold for €117 million DEGI International offloaded the 33,500sqm Warsaw office building

RREEF Real Estate, Deutsche Bank’s real estate investment management business, has purchased the Focus Filtrowa office complex in Warsaw for nearly €117 million. The seller was real estate fund DEGI International, which belongs to Aberdeen Immobilien Kapitalanlagegesellschaft.

The asset will be held by RREEF’s Grundbesitz Europa open-ended fund.

Built in 2000 in Warsaw’s city center, Focus Filtrowa houses 33,500 sqm of space

over 12 floors. Deutsche Bank Group, BMW, GlaxoSmithKline and Walt Disney are among the more than 30 tenants in the building, which is fully leased.

“Warsaw is currently the largest and best-developed property market in Central Europe. The Polish economy is robust and we expect that it will record above-average growth [compared to] neighboring countries. That creates excellent conditions for investing in the capital,” Georg Allendorf, head of RREEF Germany said in a statement.

DEGI acquired Focus Filtrowa in June 2007 for €122 Gareth Price million.

COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Hines Polska’s Sterlinga Business Center office project in ¸ódê has been granted the international BREEAM certificate of energy and environmental performance. The property is the first development in the city to have received the Building Research Establishment-issued certification.

Located on ul. Sterlinga in downtown ¸ódê, the Sterlinga Business Center development offers 13,400 sqm of class-A office space.

OCTOBER 3-9, 2011, LI 16/39

Transactions

Focus Filtrowa houses 33,500 sqm of space in central Warsaw

Retail

Galeria Kaskada opens for business The €190 million investment becomes the sixth ECE operated shopping mall in Poland ECE Polska opened its new Galeria Kaskada shopping mall in downtown Szczecin, on September 28. The €190 investment, which is located on Al. Niepodleg∏oÊci, on the site of the old Kaskada entertainment club, comprises a total leased area of around 43,000 sqm, housing some 140 shops, cafes, restaurants and service outlets.

The three-storey structure, which took approximately 18 months to complete, will also house 1,000 parking spaces, as well as a 1,800-sqm fitness center. The development has led to the creation of approximately 1,200 full- and parttime jobs in the city.

“Galeria Kaskada is an outstanding example of cooperation between the civic administration and a private investor,”

COURTESY OF ECE

Sterlinga BREEAMcertified

•

The 43,000-sqm shopping mall has created 1,200 jobs in Szczecin Piotr Krzystek, mayor of Szczecin, said in a statement.

“The design of this building has also changed the character of this prestigious part of the

city center. ECE will also act as a major patron of cultural life in Szczecin. It would be my wish that all Polish cities can realize their plans with part-

ners who are as reliable as ECE,” Mr Krzystek added.

Brands that have leased retail space in the development and who are opening

their first outlets in Szczecin include Saturn, Alma, Pull & Bear, Massimo Dutti and Starbucks and Nanu Nana.

In a statement prior to the opening Rüdiger Cornehl, managing director of ECE Real Estate Partners, said “the extraordinary location, the perfect tenant mix and the young and modern architectural design will make the Galeria Kaskada the most popular shopping center in the West Pomerania [Zachodniopomorskie] region.”

ECE, which has been developing and managing shopping retail spaces since 1965, currently operates malls in five Polish cities including Galeria Dominikaƒska in Wroc∏aw, Galeria ¸ódzka in ¸ódê, Alfa Centrum and Galeria Ba∏tycka in Gdaƒsk, and Galeria Krakowska in Kraków.

In total the firm has 137 shopping malls under management, and together they record annual sales of around €16 billion.

David Ingham

Warsaw Business Journal presents Real Estate weekly newsletter • Know about the newest projects before they’re on the market • Keep up to date on the latest tenders and auctions • Learn the latest trends in Poland’s dynamic office, residential and retail sectors • Find out who’s who in Polish real estate To subscribe: e-mail subscribe@wbj.pl or call +48 22 639 85 68, ext. 201 and sign up for free two-week no-obligation trial subscription

OCTOBER 3-9, 2011

LOKALE IMMOBILIA – SPECIAL EXPO REAL EDITION

Retail

www.wbj.pl

17

Mixed-use developments

Dolcan enters retail market Promenady Wroc∏awskie The residential apartment sales launch developer is set to COURTESY OF GLOBALBRAND INSTITUTE

Polish residential developer Dolcan is set to enter the retail sector with its new Galeria ¸odygowa shopping mall at the intersection of ul.

Radzymiƒska and ul. ¸odygowa in Warsaw’s Targówek district.

The development, which was designed by the AGK architecture studio, will comprise more than 9,300 sqm of mixed office and commercial space, of which 5,000 sqm is allocated for retail. The total value of the investment is set to be between z∏.18-22 million.

The three-storey building, which aims to attract large retail chains, will also comprise an underground parking lot, as well as above-ground parking spaces for some 200 cars.

Speaking about the proposed shopping mall’s location, Dolcan CEO Robert Zió∏ek said the mall will be a convenient alternative for people reluctant to travel to stores such as those located in the Warszawa Wileƒska Railway

Construction on the first residential building in the complex will start in H1 2012

Dolcan's Galeria ¸odygowa project will deliver over 5,000 sqm of retail space Station.

Dolcan currently has investments in Warsaw, Bydgoszcz, Cz´stochowa, Kozienice, Lublin and Szczecin.

“New developments and investments are a response to market needs. Several months ago we created a small revolution in the housing segment, by introducing the ‘rent-free’ apartment [mieszkania bezczynszowe: apartments without maintenance and cooperative fees], which combine a small property size with the comfort of home living, because we noticed that customers are looking for such properties. We are not afraid of new chal-

lenges, so now we decided to also enter the shopping center market,” said S∏awomir Doliƒski, chairman of the board at Dolcan, regarding the firm’s move into the retail sector.

In addition, J.W. Construction is another firm which last week confirmed it was planning to make its first move into the retail market.

“We will be entering the commercial real estate sector, which today is doing much better than residential business,” Józef Wojciechowski, the chairman of the company’s supervisory board, told Parkiet.

David Ingham

Developer Vantage Development has launched sales of apartments in its Promenady Wroc∏awskie mixed-use multiphase investment in Wroc∏aw, Lower Silesia voivodship. On offer are 248 units located in the first of a number of residential buildings that have been planned within the complex.

The units are scheduled to be completed in the third quarter of 2013.

The whole Promenady Wroc∏awskie investment will comprise 20 buildings which will house a total of 2,000 apartments sized from 28 sqm to 150 sqm, as well as approximately 80,000 sqm of office space. The project will be developed in phases and is expected to be completed within the next 10 years.

Located in Wroc∏aw’s PrzedmieÊcie Odrzaƒskie neighborhood, close to the Old Town area, the Promenady Wroc∏awskie complex is meant

to become a new self-sufficient district in the city. The scheme will include revitalization of Wroc∏aw’s Kana∏ Miejski (City Canal) through the provision of a new promenade and a boat marina.

“Promenady Wroc∏awskie is the realization of the vision of a city within a city,” Roman Meysner, member of Vantage Development’s management board, said in a statement. He added that the multifunctional character of the place and the presence of green areas will make it attractive for even the most demanding clients.

Since June this year, construction has also been under-

way on the Promenady Epsilon office and service building of the Promenady Wroc∏awskie complex. The project, which will be completed at the end of Q2 2012, will comprise 6,670 sqm of space with 50 percent of the area having already been commercialized.

Vantage Development is mostly active in the Wroc∏aw market, where the company’s projects include the Delta 44 and Gamma Office commercial developments and the Osiedle Centauris residential scheme.

Warsaw Stock Exchange-listed Impel is one of the largest shareholders in Vantage DevelAdam Zdrodowski opment.

COURTESY OF PUBLICON

invest up to z∏.22 million on its new Galeria ¸odygowa project

The first apartments in the Promenady Wroc∏awskie scheme will be ready in Q3 2013

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LOKALE IMMOBILIA – SPECIAL EXPO REAL EDITION

Konstruktorska applies for BREEAM Developer HB Reavis is applying for a BREEAM certificate for its Konstruktorska Business Center office project in Warsaw. The development is located in the capital’s Mokotów district and has been under construction since April this year.

Completion of the building is scheduled for the end of 2012.

TMR pulls out from mall scheme Plans to build a shopping and entertainment center in the Manufaktura Piotrkowska building in Piotrków Trybunalski will now be scrapped after the investor withdrew from the project. Citing insufficient funds, ¸ódêbased investor TMR has decided to pull out of the scheme, local news portal epiotrkow.pl reported. The renovated Manufaktura Piotrkowska building is now being put up for sale. The shopping and entertainment center was due to open in mid2011. ●

OCTOBER 3-9, 2011

Expo guide

EXPO REAL 2011 – interesting conferences, lectures and events The 14th Expo Real International Trade Fair for Commercial Property and Investment in Munich will once again bring together experts, developers and investors to discuss the latest trends in the global commercial real estate market. The event, to be held between October 4-6 at the New Munich Trade Fair Centre, will also feature numerous lectures on commercial real estate matters.

With over 1,600 exhibitions due to be held by representatives from 34 countries inside a 64,000 sqm conference hall, Expo Real 2011 will cover all corners of the market. Moreover, one of the new additions to this year’s fair will be the presence of representatives from the hotel sector. Following their absence from last year’s event, China and Romania will be making a comeback while Malta will mark its first visit to the Expo. The US, Austria, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Spain and Switzerland will all be holding national pavilions at this year’s event.

To give you a brief overview of what will take place at

Expo, Lokale Immobilia has selected a number of key lectures and discussions due to be held there: PC Erste Group “CEE Real Estate Sector Report” Language of lecture: German Tuesday 10:00 Press Centre West Asian Chains: How does business pay off in Europe?

Language of lecture: English Tuesday 10:30 – 11:20 Hall C2, Stand 040 The €-rescue parachute by real estate investments Language of lecture: German Tuesday 11:00 – 11:25 Hall A2, Stand 300

COURTESY OF EXPO REAL

18

“Investors’ darling again”: International view of Germany as an investment location Language of lecture: English Tuesday 11:00 – 11:50 Hall A2, Stand 540

The iPad for the property manager Language of lecture: German Tuesday 11:00 – 11:30 Hall B1, Stand 11

“Where, when, and what?” A comparison of European investment markets Language of lecture: English Tuesday 12:00 – 12:50 Hall A2, Stand 540

Sustainability in the real estate sector. What about existing buildings?

Language of lecture: German Tuesday 11:00 – 11:30 Hall A2, Stand 040

IVD press conference: Presentation of the commercial real estate price levels 2011 Language of lecture: German Tuesday 12:30 – 13:30 Press Centre West

Financing, Refinancing, Sell – Hotel Real Estate on the move Language of lecture: English Tuesday 14:00 – 14:50 Hall C2, Stand 040 Current issues on real estate taxation Language of lecture: German Tuesday 14:00 – 15:00 Hall B2, Stand B22 Czech Republic – Boom country in Eastern Europe Language of lecture: English Wednesday 10:00 – 10:45 Hall A1, Stand 440 Sustainability in existing properties – A Herculean task?

Language of lecture: English Wednesday 10:00 – 10:50 Hall A2, Stand 540 Investing in China Language of lecture: English Wednesday 11:00 – 11:50 Hall A1, Stand 040 China cities Language of lecture: English Wednesday 12:00 – 12:50 Hall A1, Stand 040 Sustainability and its implementation – An international comparison Language of lecture: German Wednesday12:00–12:50 Hall A2, Stand 540 ●

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LOKALE IMMOBILIA – SPECIAL EXPO REAL EDITION

OCTOBER 3-9, 2011

Warsaw office market

Towering ambitions Optimism seems to be back in the Warsaw office market with a number of real estate developers and investors having recently announced plans to launch new high-rise commercial schemes in the Polish capital.

With two new residential towers, Z∏ota 44 and Cosmopolitan Twarda 2/4, already being built

150-meter structure, called the PHN Tower, on the city’s ul. Âwi´tokrzyska. The firm is also considering a new high-rise structure at the site of the nearby Kaskada office building.

Jean-Francois Ott, the president and CEO of Orco Property Group, the investor behind the Z∏ota 44 residential project, has said in several recent interviews that the company is planning another topdrawer skyscraper in Warsaw.

Mr Ott has revealed that the building will house office space but has not, for the time being, disclosed the location of

“Leasing activity in the Warsaw office market saw record levels in the first two quarters of 2011” in central Warsaw, new office skyscrapers could soon be added to the city’s skyline.

Construction started earlier this year on Ghelamco’s Warsaw Spire high-rise project in the capital’s Wola district which will, along with two lower-rise accompanying structures, deliver a total of 100,000 sqm of space. The company has already announced a number of other office towers that it is planning to build in the same neighborhood in the upcoming years.

Several other major players have recently communicated equally ambitious plans. The newly created Grupa PHN, for one, is now working on a project in central Warsaw which envisions the construction of a

the development in question.

BBI Development NFI, whose portfolio includes the under-construction Plac Unii high-rise project in Warsaw, also has another skyscraper scheme in mind. In August, the company announced it had signed a preliminary investment agreement with the owner of a plot located in the city’s downtown which envisions joint development of a 150-meter structure.

Rising demand Is this new investor optimism justified? According to the latest Marketbeat report by Cushman & Wakefield, leasing activity in the Warsaw office market saw record levels in the first two quarters of

2011: over 324,000 sqm of space was let, approximately 36 percent up on the average for the same period over the past five years.

Only around 57,000 sqm of GLA was delivered to the market in H1 this year, which equals just 43 percent and 33 percent of the H1 2010 and H1 2009 supplies, respectively.

Jaros∏aw Zagórski, commercial and business development director at Ghelamco Poland, noted that due to the low construction activity during the crisis, supply will likely drop further within the next few years.

“This results from the fact that developers find it difficult to react quickly to the changing economic situation as the delivery of an office product takes at least four years, counting from the purchase of the land to the commissioning of the building. Developers that put their investments on hold during the crisis will not be able to complete their projects for 2013-2014,” Mr Zagórski said.

This is a period which is forecast to see even stronger demand for office space, Mr Zagórski said. He added that as a result his own company’s Warsaw Spire tower, scheduled for delivery in 2014, as well as other office projects on which construction is already underway, have a very large chance of success.

Number of buildings Stock

struction cost, are much more challenging for the investor than a regular office building and thus have to be very carefully analyzed before being launched.

She pointed out that because of their technological complexity, high-rise projects are expensive to build: construction of an office tower costs more than the erection of a low-rise office park with the same amount of space.

Due to the large size of these projects, commercialization is longer than the letting of phased office developments,

High risks involved Not all market players, however, are equally optimistic

Warsaw office market in H1 2011 Location

about current demand for high-rise schemes in Warsaw, preferring instead to talk of the risks involved. At a recent press conference in Warsaw, Eli Alroy, chairman of the supervisory board of developer Globe Trade Centre, said the situation in the market was still difficult and that the planned skyscraper projects were risky.

Paulina Misiak, partner in the office department of Cushman & Wakefield Polska, noted that skyscrapers are unique projects which, due to their scale and higher con-

Central Business District

Non-central locations

All Warsaw

102

269

371

1,210,370 sqm

2,320,120 sqm

3,530,490 sqm

Vacant space

97,483 sqm

120,687 sqm

218,170 sqm

Vacancy rate

8.05%

5.20%

6.17% Source: Cushman & Wakefield

COURTESY OF PARTNER OF PROMOTION

As demand for office space in Warsaw rebounds, developers are increasingly talking about new skyscraper projects in the city

Warsaw Spire is scheduled for delivery in 2014

which results in higher risk for the investor.

Looking for land There are many office skyscraper projects in Warsaw that have been announced in the past few years and which still remain in the planning phase, Ms Misiak said. However, she admitted that despite the large number of schemes already in the pipeline, investors are still looking for prime plots on which to build new high-rise developments.

New evidence of this trend should soon emerge. Last

LOKALE IMMOBILIA – SPECIAL EXPO REAL EDITION

COURTESY OF ON BOARD PUBLIC RELATIONS

OCTOBER 3-9, 2011

The 150-meter PHN Tower could be constructed on Warsaw’s ul. Âwi´tokrzyska month Polish State Railways announced a tender for the sale of plots on the capital’s ul.

Chmielna which could house two skyscraper projects. Experts expect the tender procedure to attract the attention of

major domestic and international players alike.

For its part, Warsaw City Hall is planning the sale of land located next to the capital’s Marriott hotel and on which the construction of two

tall structures is being envisioned. The municipal authorities are expected to tout the offer at next year’s MIPIM property fair in Cannes, France.

Adam Zdrodowski

Property-related stocks Security

Closing price on Sep 29

% change (week)

52-week low

52-week high

% change (year)

Total shares

Market value (z∏. mln)

BUDIMEX

72.00

4.35

64.00

109.20

-23.04

25,530,098

1,838.17

CELTIC

21.10

10.76

15.55

60.55

N/A

34,068,252

718.84

DOMDEV

26.50

3.31

25.26

50.80

-43.62

24,560,222

650.85

ECHO

3.55

0.00

3.24

5.55

-30.39

420,000,000

1,491.00

ELBUDOWA

103.20

5.31

98.00

185.00

-42.98

4,747,608

489.95

ENERGOPLD

2.50

-7.75

2.50

4.10

-34.73

70,972,001

177.43

ERBUD

19.11

-11.03

14.70

61.00

-64.61

12,644,169

241.63

GANT

7.40

-7.50

7.40

20.44

-62.19

20,499,953

151.70

GTC

11.40

15.15

9.33

24.98

-48.42

219,372,990

2,500.85

HBPOLSKA

0.70

-18.60

0.70

3.49

-79.59

210,558,445

147.39

JWCONSTR

6.39

-7.53

6.39

18.01

-64.70

54,073,280

345.53

LCCORP

0.99

1.02

0.85

1.69

-39.63

447,558,311

443.08

MARVIPOL

7.79

-7.59

7.22

12.81

-25.67

36,923,400

287.63

MIRBUD

2.50

8.70

2.25

4.75

-37.50

75,000,000

187.50

MOSTALWAR

21.40

1.42

19.70

68.00

-68.64

20,000,000

428.00

MOSTALZAB

1.08

-16.28

1.08

3.60

-68.97

149,130,538

161.06

ORCOGROUP

18.14

-8.34

18.14

40.00

-39.49

17,053,866

309.36

PBG

58.75

-6.00

58.75

244.00

-75.91

14,295,000

839.83

PLAZACNTR

1.80

-9.55

1.80

5.25

-66.60

297,174,515

534.91

POLAQUA

8.55

-12.58

8.55

20.60

-50.78

27,500,100

235.13

POLIMEXMS

1.29

-7.19

1.23

4.40

-69.79

521,154,076

672.29

POLNORD

11.97

-1.07

11.89

38.70

-68.91

23,798,439

284.87

RANKPROGR

10.10

-0.49

9.49

13.60

1.00

37,145,050

375.17

ROBYG

1.10

-3.51

1.08

2.13

N/A

257,390,000

283.13

RONSON

1.04

4.00

0.94

1.70

-35.80

272,360,000

283.25

TRAKCJA

1.41

-6.00

1.41

4.97

-69.74

232,105,480

327.27

ULMA

68.50

15.13

57.00

88.00

-12.63

5,255,632

360.01

UNIBEP

5.40

8.00

4.47

10.30

-36.32

33,927,184

183.21

WARIMPEX

5.40

1.89

5.30

10.89

-40.66

54,000,000

291.60

ZUE

9.10

-0.44

7.90

15.14

N/A

22,000,000

200.20

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LOKALE IMMOBILIA – SPECIAL EXPO REAL EDITION

OCTOBER 3-9, 2011

Sustainable building

Green building picking up speed in Poland Sustainability in office building has caught on in Poland, and the pace is picking up.

Green building only started a few years ago, but since then interest has been growing constantly among both international firms and Polish domestic players, according to Rafa∏ Schurma, president and founder of the Polish Green Building Council (PLGBC).

“Poland has achieved the first step in the sustainable building process: green certification is now part of regular building plans for offices in Poland, we gained public trust for such projects, and we observe a constant rise in requests for green office space,” said Mr Schurma.

According to Joanna Mroczek, head of research and consultancy at CB Richard Ellis in Warsaw, Poland is implementing green solutions much faster than the US or Western Europe did.

This should benefit Poland’s office stock in the long term. “A new generation of sustainable buildings are currently replacing the first wave of buildings erected around 2000, which are now getting a bit obsolete because they were built cheap, quick and simple,” said Ms Mroczek.

So far, five Polish buildings have received Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification, and 19 additional projects are

Green Building Awards The Association of Green Building Professionals from Central & Eastern Europe will hold the Green Building Awards in Warsaw on November 30.

The awards will feature past, present and future projects in office, industrial and retail space which have been recognized by BREEAM or LEED as confirmed sustainable developments. Nominees among office projects include: Scheme Eurocentrum Office Complex, Warsaw

Developer Grupa Capital Park

Green Corner, Warsaw

Skanska Property Poland

Green Horizon, ¸ódê

Skanska Property Poland

Green Towers, Wroc∏aw

Skanska Property Poland

Katowice Business Point, Katowice

Ghelamco Poland

Mokotów Nova, Warsaw

Ghelamco Poland

Poleczki Business Park, Warsaw

UBM, CA IMMO

Rondo 1, Warsaw

Hochtief Development Poland Source: europaproperty.com

COURTESY OF POLECZKI BUSINESS PARK

After only a few years, sustainable building has taken root in Poland. But important challenges remain, such as rising above minimum green standards and adapting Poland’s existing office buildings

Poleczki Business Park is one development which forms part of a growing trend for green building in Poland

tion of Poland’s communistera buildings is the major issue right now, said Ms Mroczek, although she admitted that a lot depends on the management of each building and the ability to collect funds and invest in sustainable upgrades.

The first step towards upgrading Poland’s buildings might be to simply take stock of existing assets, as data on them is currently difficult to find.

“No one cares about ‘D’and ‘E’-class buildings, because they are not modern, they are usually state-owned or occupied by local companies. We don’t know how much office space there is in these buildings: they are beyond any statistics,” said Ms Mroczek.

Government push? currently registered in the system. Six buildings are also currently at different stages of BRE Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM) certification.

According to Rudolf Grossmayer, member of the board of Poleczki Business Park, many more buildings in the lower and middle asset classes have the potential to be certified, but just haven’t applied yet.

Going further It therefore seems that developers, building managers and property agents understand the major benefits of going green. Lowering operational costs and improving profitability with reduced energy consumption and enhancing the value and marketability of assets is proving alluring.

But interest in sustainable building in Poland remains largely limited by price, with

tenants rarely committed to paying more money for green solutions, said Mr Grossmayer.

Mr Schurma, however, remained confident that minimum levels of commitment will rise. “Not all innovative solutions make sense in our market,” he said. Major certification schemes like LEED and BREEAM are custom-made for the US and UK markets respectively, and one of the challenges of organizations like PLGBC is to find how they can apply to other markets.

Existing buildings: the next challenge While sustainability standards for new projects are now widely recognized in Poland, experts agree that adapting existing buildings involves considerably greater difficulty and higher costs.

Adjusting the concrete, low-quality buildings inherited

from the post-war period is poised to be the industry’s next big challenge. Both BREEAM and LEED have schemes for measuring improvements of the environmental performance of existing buildings, but no Polish edifice has applied for them yet. This might change soon, however. “We will have a few certifications for existing buildings very soon,” said Mr Schurma, declining to give further details.

Mr Grossmayer estimated that the shift should occur in the next five to 10 years.

Companies specializing in auditing energy use of existing buildings, common in Western Europe, are still absent from the Polish market. But this is also poised to change soon, with Ms Mroczek saying that some foreign companies are trying to enter the market – so far unsuccessfully.

Upgrading insulation to decrease the energy consump-

Should the Polish government make a bigger effort to encourage making existing buildings sustainable? There is currently no minimum standard nor are there any incentives for sustainable commercial property in Poland.

Mr Grossmayer didn’t expect this to change soon.

“The budgetary situation is difficult and I would expect the government to focus on subsidies for residential properties,” he said. “As for minimum standards, I think we have to be realistic. The government could set, for example, middle-class certification as a minimum, but higher than this would be counter-productive and unrealistic,” he added.

According to Mr Schurma, while the government’s role in setting minimum standards is highly important, “it is up to the industry to raise the bar Alice Trudelle first.”

OCTOBER 3-9, 2011

LOKALE IMMOBILIA – SPECIAL EXPO REAL EDITION

www.wbj.pl

23

Euro 2012

Stadiums: a lasting legacy Poland’s stadium operators are striving to ensure Euro 2012 arenas don’t become expensive white elephants

Multifunctional arenas According to organizing body PL.2012, all four stadiums constructed for Euro 2012 were built as multipurpose arenas with the aim of making them available for numerous commercial opportunities other

COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

With next summer’s European soccer championships fast approaching, improvements to Poland’s infrastructure are clearly visible in the cities of Warsaw, Gdaƒsk, Poznaƒ and Wroc∏aw. The capital’s National Stadium is now the only one of the four arenas set to host the tournament’s Polish matches that remains unfinished.

But as past major sporting events in other countries have shown, it will be essential to determine what will happen to the arenas after the event and how they can be made costeffective once the fans have gone home.

There are plans to develop the land surrounding the arena, which is situated in the area between ul. Wybrze˝e Szczeciƒskie, Al. Zieleniecka and Al. Poniatowskiego in the Praga Po∏udnie district of the capital, but there are no definitive proposals or time lines.

“After Euro 2012, the aim is to ensure sustainable development of sports and recreation grounds neighboring the National Stadium, and the plan is to include into the infrastructure a field stadium with facilities, tennis courts, a commercial helipad, hotels, and other sports facilities,” Ms Kuliƒska said.

More than just soccer

Wroc∏aw’s Municipal Stadium hosted a George Michael concert at its official opening than soccer matches.

At Warsaw’s National Stadium, which is scheduled for completion by November 30, functionality will be split into three major areas: events, marketing rights and commercial areas.

Event organizers will be able to use the entire stadium and the surrounding area to host sporting, business or entertainment events, according to Daria Kuliƒska, a spokesperson for the National Stadium.

“Commercial areas to be leased at the stadium include: VIP boxes, a chapel, a restaurant, a fitness club, business seats, 8,000 sqm of office space and a conference center which comprises up to 16,000 sqm,” Ms Kuliƒska said.

One factor that will play an essential role in ensuring that all of the Euro 2012 arenas make a return on investment is the staging of non-soccer events. Wroc∏aw’s Municipal Stadium, which comprises 164,152 sqm of space, has already hosted a number of major events, including the world heavyweight championship boxing match between Tomasz Adamek and Vitali Klitschko, as well as a George

Michael concert at its official opening in September.

Kinga Szmyd, a spokesperson for the stadium’s American operator SMG, which operates 222 similar venues across the world, said the firm plans to make money both from event management and the commercialization of the space through naming rights, sponsorship and hospitality packages. In addition to seating for 42,771 people, the stadium also provides 9,500 sqm of space for rent and a business club and VIP lounge comprising 2,500 sqm.

Similar measures are also in place for Gdaƒsk’s PGE Arena and Poznaƒ’s Municipal Stadium. Lechia Consortium, the operator of the PGE Arena, currently has to pay the city a fixed sum of z∏.10 million a year, as well as 5 percent of all income earned from operating the stadium.

“The PGE arena is a multifunctional facility, which means it is possible to make enough money so the stadium earns for itself,” said Wojciech Rokicki, national coordinator for stadiums at Euro 2012.

David Ingham

www.wbj.pl

LOKALE IMMOBILIA – SPECIAL EXPO REAL EDITION

Budimex congress center in Kraków Construction company Budimex and its parent company, Spanish infrastructure developer Ferrovial Agroman, have signed a z∏.280 million contract with Kraków to build a new congress center in the city. Called the ICE Kraków Congress Centre, the facility will be located next to the city’s Rondo Grunwaldzkie.

Completion of the ICE, which will have a total surface area of 37,000 sqm, is planned for August 2014.

Octava NFI in Wa∏brzych decision Warsaw Stock Exchangelisted investment fund Octava NFI will decide by the end of the year what to do with its 3.1-hectare plot in Wa∏brzych, in the Lower Silesia voivodship.

The company had intended to build a shopping center called Magnolia Park on the site, but the 2008-2009 economic crisis forced it to modify its plans. ●

OCTOBER 3-9, 2011

Iconic buildings

Warsaw’s PKiN offers location, location, location Renting office space in Poland’s bestrecognized building may not be as unreasonable as many think Poland doesn’t have an instantly recognizable signature building, like France’s Eiffel Tower or Italy’s Coliseum. But if people had to pick the most iconic Polish building, it is safe to assume that the majority would choose Warsaw’s Palace of Culture and Science (PKiN).

Standing in the very center of Poland’s capital, this “gift” from Joseph Stalin to the people of Poland still evokes strong emotions. Widely perceived as a symbol of Soviet domination when it was completed in 1955, it was nearly torn down in 1989. In 2007, however, it was declared as an official historical monument.

Today, the tower’s 30th-storey terrace, which offers panoramic views of Warsaw, is one of the capital’s main tourist attractions.

The Palace of Culture and Science is also a commercial enterprise which hosts retail and office space, as well as some of the city’s major cultur-

AdP3-PL-WBJ-253x170mm-vyber.indd 1

al events. Owned by the city of Warsaw, it made a net profit of z∏.600,000 in 2010.

According to PKiN’s website, the building currently offers a total of around 700 sqm of office space located on different floors and ranging from 16 to 350 sqm, as well as over 300 sqm of warehouse space.

PKiN’s leasing office stresses that “contrary to rumors circulating,” office space is not “horrendously expensive.” As an example, the price for one sqm per month on the third floor is z∏.70.00 (€17.5), which includes rent, electricity, heat and water. This compares to an average headline rent of €19-20 per sqm, per month in Warsaw’s city center, according to a recent report by Jones Lang LaSalle.

“If there is nothing else payable, such as fees for maintaining common areas for example, I would say it’s a good price, mainly because of the location,” commented Wojciech Koczara, partner and legal adviser at CMS Cameron McKenna’s real estate and construction department in Warsaw.

According to him, the unquestionable advantage of

SHUTTERSTOCK

24

The iconic PKiN building was a “gift” from former Soviet leader Joseph Stalin the building is its great location, as well as excellent outdoor parking facility, as visitors to almost any other building in downtown Warsaw are likely to experience difficulty with parking. “But I am afraid this sums it up,” said Mr Koczara.

Among disadvantages, Mr Koczara listed the old fashioned reception area and the lack of underground parking space. “With its high ceilings and large corridors, I would

also expect service costs to be high,” he added.

One of the main challenges for PKiN's management is to increase its prestige through modernization in order to meet clients' expectations, while preserving the building's historical features, said Joanna Str´pek, manager at PKiN's marketing department.

Designed by architect Lew Rudniew, the Palace of Culture and Science is the tallest

building in Poland, standing at 230.68 meters when its spire is included, and at 167.68 meters when it is not. In its 3,288 rooms, which are spread over 42 floors, it has 123,084 sqm of space.

Current tenants include cinemas, theaters, museums, offices, bookshops, restaurants, bars, a conference hall, a swimming pool, a dance and drama studio and an accredited university.

Alice Trudelle

9/21/11 4:53 PM

OCTOBER 3-9, 2011

LOKALE IMMOBILIA – SPECIAL EXPO REAL EDITION

Bank financing

Despite economic turmoil in Europe, experts agree that there will be plenty of financing available for high-quality projects in Poland Poland’s commercial real estate market has been largely sheltered from the economic volatility plaguing the rest of the continent. The country’s economy is still healthy and growing and investors who ventured into Poland during the first crisis confidently expect that Poland will continue to perform well.

Short of an EU-wide meltdown, Poland seems unlikely to be dramatically affected by the euro-zone crisis. Nevertheless, an impact may be felt, and any instability across the continent in general could influence Poland’s real estate sector.

The degree to which bank financing will be impacted will largely depend on external factors, but experts that spoke with Lokale Immobilia expressed confidence that financing will continue to be available. However, lenders could begin to exercise even greater caution if uncertainty increases or economic conditions outside Poland worsen, they said.

Lower risks in Poland As a leader in Central and Eastern Europe’s commercial real estate market, Poland has long been considered a main target for investors, Przemys∏aw Felicki, an associate director from CBRE’s capital markets team, said. “Financing is also the most advanced in Poland and the country is stable for banks,” he added.

“Compared to other markets in CEE, Poland appears much more reliable.”

Moreover, because of the country’s size, the real estate sector is also more balanced, said Marek Koziarek, director of financing for commercial real estate at Bank Pekao.

Whatever obstacles some may envision, Micha∏ Stanis∏awski, a consultant from CBRE Capital Markets, said that, “Poland is still a strong market fully capable of overcoming any possible issues. We don’t see any negative impact.”

Potential concerns So there is plenty of optimism.

Nonetheless, Ilona Wo∏yniec, a director of the project financing department at PKO BP said that an impact from the current economic instability is already being felt.

“Many investors have decided to postpone their projects because of uncertainty about future developments,” she said.

Mr Stanis∏awski from CBRE also said that difficulties could develop as a result of currency fluctuations, since “most tenants pay in euro … [while] retailer income is in the Polish z∏oty.” He added, “This could result in some tenants asking for rent reductions, but this is not certain.”

Mr Koziarek from Pekao said that the instability in the euro zone could mean Polish banks would have limited access to euro-denominated capital, which could prove a challenge since “most financing is done in euro … and this could have an effect on refinancing.”

Erez Boniel, CFO of War-

SHUTTERSTOCK

Optimism on commercial market

Getting financing for high-quality, well-located projects in Poland is not a problem, and experts say it likely won’t be in the near future saw-based developer GTC, stated that, “banks are keen to lend … [but they] are still selective and focus on their best clients. Thus good projects of renowned developers with a good reputation and liquidity still enjoy finance availability.”

In fact, all of the experts

projects would find financing.

One major requirement that both banking experts agreed on was that a minimum of 30 percent equity was required.

Safer projects When it comes to choosing commercial projects, there is a

“Investors who ventured into Poland during the first crisis confidently expect that Poland will continue to perform well” that spoke with Lokale Immobilia agreed that financing for a project deemed worthy enough should have no problem in obtaining financing.

“It’s a question of quality,” said Mr Koziarek. But on the other side of the coin, “banks are picking safe projects,” said Mr Felicki.

Ultimately, all agreed that high-quality and well-located

trend away from larger retail spaces, Ms Wo∏yniec said. As the markets in larger cities become more saturated, retail industry investors are choosing to move to smaller cities where there may be greater opportunities. “Huge shopping malls are no longer preferred,” Ms Wo∏yniec added.

But retail space isn’t the only focus. “Observers view

retail space as a safe bet … [but] the office sector is still very attractive,” said Mr Stanis∏awski.

When it comes to the warehouse sector, most experts agreed there was potential for greater risk. “There may be bigger demand,” Mr Koziarek said, “but it is still very volatile.”

The experts agreed that there was an increase in the number of banks offering financing in Poland. While that may be good news for some, it is clear that in order to obtain it, developers must prove that their projects can meet the banks’ high requirements.

Nevertheless, Mr Stanis∏awski emphasized, “all players are aware of the global situation … [and] everyone is cautiously optimistic.” In comparison to the rest of Europe, Mr Kaziorek said that “Poland will still perform much better than other countries.”

Ella Pa∏ka

www.wbj.pl

25

Ghelamco’s summer lease deals Developer Ghelamco Poland leased more than 20,000 sqm of space over the summer period in its office buildings in Warsaw and Katowice. PKN Orlen became the main tenant in Warsaw’s Senator project while Oriflame took up more than 4,000 sqm in the captial’s Mokotów Nova scheme.

An insurance sector company also leased an undisclosed amount of space in the latter property. In Katowice, Tauron Polska Energia leased over 5,700 sqm in Ghelamco’s Katowice Business Point development.

Mermaid Properties signs A.T. Kearney Mermaid Properties, the manager of the Pa∏ac M∏odziejowskiego – Miodowa 10 office project in downtown Warsaw has secured consulting firm A.T. Kearney for the historic property. The tenant will occupy two floors in the Pa∏ac M∏odziejowskiego – Miodowa 10 scheme, a three-century-old palace that was renovated and turned into office space and which reopened for use earlier this year. The lease agreeement, which was brokered by Colliers International, was signed for the period of five years. ●

www.wbj.pl

LOKALE IMMOBILIA – SPECIAL EXPO REAL EDITION

New Jantar arm to open in November In November developer Mayland Real Estate will open part of the new section of the Jantar shopping center in S∏upsk, Pomorskie voivodship, which it is currently expanding from over 22,000 sqm to almost 46,000 sqm.

Originally, the expansion project was slated for completion in April 2012 but following fastadvancing construction and the requests of some of the future tenants, the developer has decided to bring forward the opening date of part of the extended mall.

NoVa Park topped out A topping out ceremony took place last week at the construction site of the NoVa Park shopping center project in Gorzów Wielkopolski, Lubuskie voivodship. The scheme is a joint investment of Caelum Development and Futureal and is expected to become the largest mall in the region when it is completed in Q1 2012. ●

OCTOBER 3-9, 2011

Military property

A hard sell Poland’s Military Property Agency has been struggling to offload the Modlin Fortress, but its price has been driven down in the process Situated on two islands at the confluence of the Narew and Vistula rivers, the vast 19thcentury Modlin Fortress has changed hands several times throughout history, often following episodes of heavy fighting. During different periods the fort, a section of which has the distinction of being the longest building in Poland (at 2,250 meters), has been controlled by France, Imperial Russia, Germany and Poland.

Bucking a historical trend, the fort’s present owner, Poland’s Military Property Agency (AMW), is trying to offload the complex, but has had no luck so far.

Following a number of aborted attempts to sell the 55-ha site, the AMW launched a seventh tender at the end of September, but that too was unsuccessful. The asking price at the first tender was z∏.220 million, but by the time of the

seventh tender it had dropped to just z∏.60 million.

A national monument Difficulties in finding an investor stem from the fact that the buyer will be obliged to spend many millions of z∏oty on undertaking complicated restoration work on the building, which is listed in a register of national monuments.

“There were two foreign investors that were interested in buying Modlin Fortress, but their concepts of adaption of the objects and the land did not meet the Mazovia Voivodship Conservator of Antiquities’ expectations and finally they did not take part in [the last] tender,” Ma∏gorzata Goliƒska, spokesperson for the AMW, said by e-mail.

The AMW will next put Modlin Fortress out to tender at the beginning of 2012 and is offering a significant discount for the successful bidder. “The winner of the tender is eligible for a 50 percent discount because of the fact that the property is registered in the Register of Antiquities,” Ms Goliƒska said.

Trouble on the Oder Apart from its fort at Modlin,

COURTESY OF THE MILITARY PROPERTY AGENCY

26

Modlin Fortress is listed on a register of national monuments and requires significant refurbishment work the AMW is also trying to offload a whole host of other assets that were once used by both Poland’s armed forces and the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Administration, including real property and movable military equipment.

As with its Modlin Fortress, the agency has also struggled to sell headline property in the northern part of K´pa Mieszczaƒska, in Wroc∏aw. To date there have been seven tenders held for the sale of property there, with the agency managing to sell one

0.23 ha plot for z∏.8.7 million.

Located on an island on the Oder River in central Wroc∏aw, the land was initially offered as a whole, for about z∏.370 million, but has since been broken into 24 smaller pieces, ranging in size from 0.2 to 1.5 ha. One of the main problems AMW is facing in its attempts to sell the plots is that they lack zoning plans, despite ongoing talks with local authorities to have these established. The next tender is scheduled for November 15.

The AMW has had suc-

cesses recently, managing to sell two properties located in Toruƒ, northern Poland, for a combined z∏.4.5 million in August. The asking price for the properties, which are spread over 2.1 ha, was 3.2 million. It also managed to sell properties in Jelenia Góra and K´dzierzyn-Koêle in July for a combined z∏.3.5 million.

Some 93 percent of the funds the AMW earns go towards modernizing the armed forces. So far, some z∏.1.37 billion has been generated for this Gareth Price purpose.

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OCTOBER 3-9, 2011

LOKALE IMMOBILIA – SPECIAL EXPO REAL EDITION

Retail space

Mayland Real Estate says it wants to ‘boost’ shopping centers in Poland

Retail space developer Mayland Real Estate is in the process of diversifying its offer to include services for the owners of existing shopping centers in Poland, many of which, the company believes, have untapped potential and could gain in terms of value and market position if they are properly redeveloped.

“There are approximately 370 shopping centers in Poland and more than half of the country’s retail stock is more than 10 years old,” noted Yann Guen, vice president of Mayland Real Estate’s management board. He added that a considerable percentage of the total existing space is still occupied by a number of major big-box retailers.

Many of Poland’s shopping centers, Mr Guen pointed out, were developed during what

he described as the “equipment phase” – the period when new malls were the first large retail investments in their respective locations and were thus responding to the most basic client needs. Since then the Polish market has matured and in the case of many existing schemes arrival at new solutions is needed.

Through its “Booster” program Mayland wants to identify retail developments which could potentially be upgraded through expansion and changing the tenant mix. If the owners of the properties are interested, Mayland wants to be able to offer comprehensive solutions, from concept development to project completion.

The company is currently carrying out extensive research into the current position and real potential of the existing shopping malls. Once the study is over the developer will start approaching the projects’ owners.

“In the case of some of the projects we may even consider financial participation as a short-term investor,” Mr

Guen said.

Experience-based strategy Mr Guen stressed that the “Booster” program was created on the basis of Mayland Real Estate’s already significant experience in redeveloping existing shopping centers in Poland. Currently, the company is involved in two such projects in the country – Jantar in S∏upsk and Wzgórze in Gdynia, both of which are located in the Pomorskie voivodship, in Northern Poland.

The former development, which is owned by the AEW Europe and Tristan Capital Partners-managed European Property Investors Special Opportunities fund, will grow from over 22,000 sqm to almost 46,000 sqm. Part of the new space will open in November with the whole scheme scheduled to be completed in April next year.

The Wzgórze project in Gdynia, which Mayland is developing for Grupa Foncie`re Euris, will see even more impressive changes – the

COURTESY OF MAYLAND REAL ESTATE

The company believes there is substantial redevelopment potential in many existing retail projects in the country

www.wbj.pl

27

Real in Arabella?

The Real hypermarket chain has entered into negotiations with developer Vertano Real Estate to rent 9,000 sqm of space in the underconstruction Arabella shopping center in E∏k, Warmiƒsko-Mazurskie voivodship. The Arabella mall, which will comprise 32,000 sqm of space, will act as a regional shopping center. The facility will be located on ul. Przemys∏owa, on nine hectares of land, and is scheduled to open between late 2013 and early 2014.

C&W Polska ranked #1

Mayland is currently expanding the Wzgórze shopping center in Gdynia mall’s area will triple from the current 23,000 sqm to almost 70,000 sqm by 2013. The developer has just obtained €136.8 million in bank financing from Bank Pekao and Bank Zachodni WBK for the development.

Meanwhile, Mayland is continuing work on a number

of new shopping center projects across Poland, including Serenada in Kraków, Aleja S∏oƒca in Szczecin and Bella Dolina in Rzeszów. Within the next few years, the company wants to deliver a total of approximately 300,000 sqm of GLA. Adam Zdrodowski

The Polish office of Cushman & Wakefield was rated the top real estate agency in Central and Eastern Europe in terms of the total amount of commercial space leased out in 2010.

The rating was compiled by the Central & Eastern European Construction & Investment Journal, which said C&W rented out 432,000 sqm in 2010. ●

28

THE LIST

www.wbj.pl

OCTOBER 3-9, 2011

Consturction & Real Estate

Commercial Real Estate Developers – Retail Ranked by retail investments completed in 2009

Rank

Gross building area (GBA) Gross Leasable Area (GLA) of retail investments of retail investments completed in completed (sqm) in 1st half 1st half of 2010 of 2010 / 2009 / 2008 / 2007 2009 / 2008 / Overall

www.bookoflists.pl

Company name Address Tel./Fax E-mail Web page

1

Parkridge Retail Development Sp. z o.o.

Al. Jana Paw∏a II 25, 00-854 Warsaw 22 653-4838/22 653-4839 retail@parkridgeholdings.com, www.parkridge.pl

WND 271,900 196,900 WND

WND 134,700 99,700 17,600

Shopping malls; retail park

WND

Focus Mall (Piotrków Trybunalski: 75,000; 35,000)

16 2004

Jaros∏aw Fija∏kowski

2

Caelum Development - grupa kapita∏owa Al. Jana Paw∏a II 29, 00-867 Warsaw 22 586-9790/22 586-9799 info@cealumdevelopment.eu, www.caelumdevelopment.eu

240,000 240,000 192,000 280,000

142,500 142,500 130,300 98,650

Shopping malls

NoVa Park (Gorzów Wielkopolski: 42,250; 32,430; 2012); ParkLake Plaza (Bucharest, Romania; 233,000; 80,000; 2013)

Galeria Kosmos Koszalin (8,100; 5,300); Markt Forum (Eishweiler, Germany; 7,110; 7,110); Pasa˝ Bukowiƒski (Warsaw) 2,090; 2,090)

90 2002

David Sharkey

3

Neinver Polska Sp z.o.o Pl. Czerwca 1976r. nr 6, 02-495 Warsaw 22 478-2270/22 478-2290 komunikacja@neinver.com, www.neinver.com

WND 162,000 WND 237,000

WND WND WND WND

Shopping malls; retail parks; outlet centers

Galeria Katowicka (Katowice; 128,000; 53,000; 2012); Futura Park/Factory Kraków (Kraków; 50,000; 42,000; 2011); Factory Warszawa (Warsaw; 26,500; 14,000; 2011)

Galeria Malta (Poznaƒ; 162,000; 54,000)

60 2000

Barbara Topolska

4

Centrum Development & Investment Polska SA ul. Bonifraterska 17, 00-203 Warsaw 22 351-0100/22 351-0101 cdi@centrumdi.com, www.centrumdi.com

WND 100,000 WND WND

WND 41,000 WND WND

Redevelopment and modernization of commercial buildings

Okràglak (Poznaƒ; 12,000; 5,100; 2012); Supersam (Katowice; 20,000; 2013); Pasa˝ Victoria (Lublin; WND; 18,000; 2013)

Renoma (Wroc∏aw; 99,500; 41,000)

WND 2002

Tomasz P. Cheneczke

5

TK Polska Operations SA ul. Mszczonowska 2, 02-337 Warsaw 22 572-2910/22 572-2911 tkd-warsaw@tk.dk, www.tk-development.com

WND 76,500 WND WND

WND 33,750 WND WND

Commercial and entertainment buildings

WND

Galeria Tarnovia (Tarnów; 36,500; 16,550); Galeria Sandecja (Nowy Sàcz; 40,000; 17,200)

30 1994

Zygmunt Chyla

Skyline Management Sp. z o.o. Grupa Polimeni International 6 ul. W∏adys∏awa IV 43, 81-395 Gdynia 58 669-6000/58 669-6001 sekretariat@polimeni.pl, www.polimeni.pl

16,843 40,801 33,099 WND

8,600 15,126 13,000 WND

Commercial and retail buildings

Galeria Jastrz´bie (Jastrz´bie Zdrój; 16,843; 8,600; 2010)

Galeria Rumia (Rumia; 40,801; 15,126)

Around 25 2003

Karol Kalicki

7

NAP Invest Group ul. Nowogrodzka 21, 00-511 Warsaw 22 262-2000/22 262-2001 info@napinvest.com.pl, www.galeriarembielinska.pl

WND 17,000 2,000 WND

WND WND WND WND

Shopping malls; commercial premises; housing projects

Retail Park Zgierz (Zgierz; 3,500; 2011); 2 housing projects (Lublin; 19,000; WND; WND); (Warsaw; 9,000; WND; WND)

WND

WND 2007

Bogdan ˚o∏nierzak

8

Inter IKEA Centre Polska SA Pl. Szwedzki 3, Janki, 05-090 Raszyn 22 711-2300/22 711-2266 inter@ikea.com, www.iicg.pl

127,000 7,500 WND WND

103,000 7,500 WND WND

Shopping malls

WND

Park Handlowy Targówek (Warsaw; 7,500; 7,500)

150 2001

Carl Tomas Rask

WND WND WND WND

WND WND WND WND

WND

WND

WND

WND 1997

Brian Patterson

Shopping malls

WND

WND

176 1997

Olivier Gerard Coester

Galeria ¸ódzka (¸ódê; 110,000; 45,000)

160 1997

Knut Volquardsen; Rafa∏ Twarowski

Specialization

Key current investments: name (location, space sqm, GLA, completion year)

Largest investments recently completed: name (location, space - sqm, GLA, completion year)

Total employees Year founded

Top local executive Title

CEO CEE

CEO

General Director

President

President

Vice-President

President

Managing Director

NR

AIG/Lincoln Polska Sp. z o.o. ul. Grzybowska 5A, 00-132 Warsaw 22 564-5000/22 564-5085 office.warsaw@aiglincoln.com.pl, www.aiglincoln.com.pl

NR

Apsys Polska Sp. z o.o.

Al. Jana Paw∏a II 27, 00-867 Warsaw 22 701-9200/22 701-9201 office@apsysgroup.pl, www.apsysgroup.com

WND WND WND 270,000

WND WND WND WND

NR

ECE Projektmanagement Polska Sp. z o.o. ul. Fabryczna 5A, 00-446 Warsaw 22 310-6000/22 310-6002 info@ece.de, www.ece.pl

WND WND 20,000 409,000

WND WND 5,000 39,500

Shopping malls and Galeria Kaskada (Szczecin; 120,000; multipurpose buildings 420,00; 2011)

NR

Echo Investment SA al. SolidarnoÊci 36, 25-323 Kielce 41 333-3333/41 333-2333 biuro@echo.com.pl, www.echo.com.pl

WND WND 9,500 48,4000

WND WND 6,700 65,500

Shopping malls; entertainment centers; residential office buildings

Galeria Echo (Kielce; 159,000; 70,000; 2011)

WND

WND 1994

Piotr Gromniak

NR

Globe Trade Centre SA ul. Wo∏oska 5, 02-675 Warsaw 22 606-0700/22 606-0410 gtc@gtc.com.pl, www.gtc.com.pl

WND WND WND 210,000

WND 71,900 24,200 26,500

Office buildings; shopping malls; housing investments

Galeria Harfa (Prague, Czech Republic; WND; 69,000; 2010); Galeria Stara Zagora (Bulgaria; 25,800; 2011); Galeria Burgas (Bulgaria; 35,700; 2012)

Galeria Jurajska (Cz´stochowa; 130,000; 49,000); Galeria Suceava (Romania; WND;10,700); Galeria Piatra Neamt (Romania; WND; 12,200)

WND 1994

Piotr Kroenke

NR

Grupa Inwestycyjna Hossa SA ul. W∏adys∏awa IV 43, 81-395 Gdynia 58 620-7033/58 620-7669 info@hossa.gda.pl, www.hossa.gda.pl

WND WND WND WND

WND WND 9,000 WND

Residential and retail buildings

TwinWave (Gdynia; 11,800; 9,900; 2011)

WND

146 1989

Mariusz Gawron

NR

Helical Poland Sp. z o.o. ul. Wspólna 35/9, 00-519 Warsaw 22 556-5400/22 826-5615 mg@helicalpoland.pl, www.helicalpoland.pl

WND WND 10,000 WND

WND WND WND WND

Retail parks; shopping malls

Turawa Park (Opole; 43,000; 40,000; 2011); Europa Centralna (Gliwice; 74,300; 67,000; 2012)

WND

WND 2004

Jonathan Tinker; Peter Evans

NR

Liebrecht & wooD Poland Sp. z o.o.

Al. Jerozolimskie 212A, 02-486 Warsaw 22 571-4444/22 571-4443 info@liebrecht-wood.com, www.liebrecht-wood.pl

WND WND 41,403 WND

WND WND 29,783 29,783

Unii (Warsaw; 15,500; 15,500; Office buildings; outlet Plac2013); Morski Park Handlowy centers (Gdaƒsk; 50,000; 50,000; 2011)

WND

30 1994

Marc Lebbe; Patrick Van Den Bossche

NR

Mayland Real Estate Sp. z o.o. ul. Pu∏awska 427, 02-801 Warsaw 022 546-9800/022 546-9898 mayland@mayland.pl, www.mayland.pl

WND WND 128,000 WND

WND WND WND WND

CH Jantar (24,000; WND; 2011); Commercial real estate CH Serenada (Kraków; 42,000; developer WND; 2012); CH Wzgórze; 68,000; WND; 2013)

WND

WND 2006

Yann Guen; Maciej Kie∏bicki

NR

METRO Group Asset Management Sp. z o.o.

Al. Krakowska 61, 02-183 Warsaw 22 500-0000/22 500-0118 info@metro-mam.pl, www.metro-mam.pl

53,400 WND WND 820,000

36,000 WND WND WND

Retail buildings

M1 (Zabrze; 12,683; 98,10.2; 2011)

M1 (Czeladê; 14,000; 8,000); Makro (Szczawno Zdrój; 13,000; 9,000); Makro (Rzgów; 13,000; 9,000)

290 1996

Andreas Thamm; Renata Kinde-Czy˝

NR

Plaza Centers Poland ul. Belgijska 11/2, 02-511 Warsaw 22 542-8100/22 542-8102 headoffice@plazacenters.pl, www.plazacenters.pl

WND WND WND WND

WND WND WND WND

Shopping and entertainment centers

Toruƒ Plaza (Toruƒ; 44,000; WND; 2011)

Sadyba Best Mall (Warsaw; 53,078; WND); Lublin Plaza (Lublin; 26,000; WND); Kraków Plaza (Kraków; 60,000; WND)

WND 1998

Mordechay Zisser

NR

Sjaelso Poland Sp. z o.o.

Al. Rzeczpospolitej 18 Warsaw 22 419-2000/22 419-2010 sjaelso@sjaelso.pl, www.sjaelso.pl

WND WND WND WND

WND WND WND WND

Residential complexes; office buildings; shopping malls

Porto 55 (Elblàg; 40,000; 22,000; 2012)

WND

14 2007

John Kristensen

Notes: NR = Not Ranked, WND = Would Not Disclose. Research for the List was done in November 2010. Number of employees and ownership structure are as of October 2010 unless stated otherwise. All information pertains to the companies’ activities in Poland. Companies not responding to our survey are not listed.

Managing Director

General Director

Managing Directors

President

General Director

President

WND

Managing Directors

Board Members

Board Members

President

President

To the best of WBJ ’s knowledge, the information is accurate as of press time. While every effort is made to ensure accuracy and thoroughness, omissions and typographical errors may occur. Corrections or additions to The List should be sent, on official letterhead, to Warsaw Business Journal, attn. Joanna Raszka, ul. Elblàska 15/17, 01-747 Warsaw, via fax to (48-22) 639-8569, or via e-mail to wbjbol@wbj.pl. Copyright 2011, Valkea Media SA. The List may not be reprinted or reproduced in whole or in part without prior written permission of the publisher. Reprints are available.

MARKETS

OCTOBER 3-9, 2011

www.wbj.pl

Stocks report

world stock indices DJIA

NASDAQ

11,153.98 (Sep 29 close)

S&P500

2,480.76 (Sep 29 close)

3.91% (for the week)

FTSE100

1,160.40 (Sep 29 close)

1.02% (for the week)

DAX

5,196.86 (Sep 29 close)

2.73% (for the week)

3.08% (for the week)

Mild gains on the week

NIKKEI225 5,196.86 (Sep 29 close)

8,701.23 (Sep 29 close)

0.63% (for the week)

1.65% (for the week)

CHANGE: -7.29%

CHANGE: -8.26%

CHANGE: -10.18%

CHANGE: -14.55%

CHANGE: -25.94%

CHANGE: -17.31%

(year to Sep 29)

(year to Sep 29)

(year to Sep 29)

(year to Sep 29)

(year to Sep 29)

(year to Sep 29)

52-week high: 12,928.50

52-week high: 2,887.75

52-week high: 1,370.58

52-week high: 6,105.80

52-week high: 7,600.41

52-week high: 10,891.60

52-week low: 10,572.20

52-week low: 2,316.11

52-week low: 1,101.15

52-week low: 4,791.00

52-week low: 4,965.80

52-week low: 8,227.63

Andrew Nawrocki, Market analyst & trader, gowebtrade.com It was a mildly positive week for most European markets, as hopes that the region is finally getting its act together concerning Greece improved sentiment. On Monday, European policymakers were buoyed by hopes for a bigger bailout fund, sending stocks upwards. Gains continued on Tuesday, the strongest day of the week, with equities seeing additional strength as large investors rebalanced their portfolios in the last days of the quarter. On Tuesday, the WIG closed 3.35 percent higher, while the WIG20 added 4.16 percent. Financial and oil stocks performed particularly well as the mood improved.

Wednesday saw small declines, snapping a threeday rally in equities across the old continent. Commodity-related stocks were hit particularly hard, as sharp

Major indices WIG

38,264.32 (September 29 close)

WIG20

2,188.73 (September 29 close)

Closing 4.25 13.00 10.20 0.72 32.50

29.09

28.09

27.09

26.09

23.09

22.09

21.09

20.09

19.09

16.09

15.09

14.09

13.09

29.09

28.09

27.09

26.09

23.09

22.09

21.09

20.09

19.09

2,000

16.09

36,000

15.09

2,080

14.09

37,000

13.09

2,160

12.09

38,000

09.09

2,240

08.09

39,000

07.09

2,320

06.09

40,000

05.09

2,400

02.09

41,000

12.09

52-week low: 2,101.23

09.09

Change year to September 29: -22.95%

08.09

52-week low: 36,549.47

07.09

52-week high: 2,932.62

Change year to September 29: -22.66%

06.09

Change for the week: 3.12%

05.09

52-week high: 50,371.74

02.09

Change for the week: 3.83%

Top 5 MISPOL KOELNER TELL MOSTALEXP AZOTYTARNOW

% change (week) 52-week high 42.62 7.79 34.99 15.10 24.39 13.80 24.14 1.85 22.13 40.41

52-week low 2.88 8.80 8.20 0.53 17.37

Top 5 GTC PKOBP CYFRPOLSAT GETIN PGE

Closing 11.40 33.32 15.00 7.52 19.01

% change (week) 15.15 12.95 11.11 9.78 9.25

52-week high 24.98 46.81 17.35 15.29 25.07

52-week low 9.33 29.22 13.05 6.76 15.98

% change (week) -34.22 -26.26 -24.00 -23.91 -23.20

52-week low 5.71 7.75 0.38 0.70 2.78

Bottom 5 POLIMEXMS PBG PZU KGHM LOTOS

Closing 1.29 58.75 318.00 133.00 25.80

% change (week) -7.19 -6.00 -4.90 -4.66 -1.53

52-week high 4.40 244.00 405.50 198.40 49.42

52-week low 1.23 58.75 317.90 119.50 24.75

Bottom 5 Closing WISTIL 5.71 DROP 7.75 ATLANTIS 0.38 MIDAS 0.70 PETROLINVEST 2.78

52-week high 30.90 43.00 1.85 6.10 11.42

2,164.82 (September 29 close)

sWIG80

Markets still uncertain

8,793.65 (September 29 close)

Change for the week: 2.92%

52-week high: 2,987.72

Change for the week: 3.61%

Change year to September 29: -25.08%

52-week low: 2,086.64

Change year to September 29: -30.71%

declines in energy and metals highlighted fears about global economic weakness.

The WIG closed with a gain of a mere 0.08 percent, while the WIG20 lost just shy of one percent. Thursday brought good news, with the Bundestag approving new powers for the €440 billion EFSF fund. Aside from making precautionary loans, the fund will help in recapitalizing banks as well as assist in buying distressed countries’ bonds in the secondary market.

Despite an overall positive week, stocks fell on Friday to mark their biggest quarterly loss since the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008.

Dismal economic data from Germany pushed indices lower, with the WIG closing 0.53 percent lower, and the WIG20 down by 0.41 percent, on September 30 . ●

Currency report

Other indices mWIG40

29

52-week high: 12,932.00 52-week low: 8,483.22

NewConnect

43.57 (September 29 close)

WIG-Banki

29.09

28.09

27.09

26.09

23.09

22.09

21.09

20.09

19.09

16.09

15.09

14.09

13.09

12.09

09.09

08.09

07.09

06.09

05.09

29.09

28.09

27.09

26.09

23.09

22.09

21.09

20.09

19.09

8,400 16.09

2,000

15.09

8,580

14.09

2,060

13.09

8,760

12.09

2,120

09.09

8,940

08.09

2,180

07.09

9,120

06.09

2,240

05.09

9,300

02.09

2,300

02.09

Adam Narczewski, X-Trade Brokers Dom Maklerski SA

5,475.92 (September 29 close)

SOURCE: WSE

29.09

28.09

27.09

26.09

23.09

22.09

21.09

20.09

19.09

16.09

15.09

14.09

13.09

29.09

28.09

27.09

26.09

23.09

22.09

21.09

20.09

19.09

4,900

16.09

42.0

15.09

5,080

14.09

42.6

13.09

5,260

12.09

43.2

09.09

5,440

08.09

43.8

07.09

5,620

06.09

44.4

05.09

5,800

02.09

45.0

12.09

52-week low: 4,944.19

09.09

Change year to September 29: -28.24%

08.09

52-week low: 42.76

07.09

52-week high: 7,387.49

Change year to September 29: -32.17%

06.09

Change for the week: 9.61%

05.09

52-week high: 64.04

02.09

Change for the week: 1.30%

The German parliament agreed to increase the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) to €440 billion last week. The market expected this, but traders still reacted positively to the news. However, in the longer term investors are worried that the fund will not be large enough to bail out a number of large countries.

At the same time, the US positively surprised investors, releasing better-than-expected numbers for GDP (quarterly basis) and weekly unemployment claims. Germany’s acceptance of the EFSF and better US data lifted the EUR/USD from $1.34 to over $1.36. But when risk aversion increased by the end of the week, it dropped to $1.35.

The EUR/PLN remained in the z∏.4.36-z∏.4.46 range after the previous week’s

intervention by the National Bank of Poland. The central bank surprised the market again on Friday, by asking for a quote of the EUR/PLN pair, but not performing the trade (usually central banks trade after asking for the price on the interbank market). The z∏oty appreciated to z∏.4.41, but this situation raises questions about the credibility of the NBP. The CHF/PLN pair also rebounded on the news, climbing all the way to z∏.3.65, but finished the week at z∏.3.62.

Bigger moves on the Swiss franc will be determined by the Swiss National Bank this week. Worse macro data from the Swiss economy might cause the SNB to fix the EUR/CHF at 1.25, which would cause the CHF/PLN to decline. ●

currency rates 4.2582

4.2446

4.2453

27.09

28.09

29.09

4.2385

4.2839 26.09

30.09

SOURCE: NBP

4.3497

30.09

29.09

28.09

27.09

26.09

4

23.09

30.09

29.09

28.09

23.09

0.1015

0.1018

0.1019

0.1009

0.1011

0.1036

3.6165

3.6298

3.6173

3.5971 27.09

26.09

PLN-100JPY

5

0.10

23.09

30.09

29.09

28.09

27.09

PLN-RUB

0.12

3.5

26.09

4

3.6095

3.6745

5.0832

5.0873

5.0732

5.0608

5.0780

5.1244

PLN-CHF

4.0

5

23.09

3.2574 30.09

29.09

28.09

27.09

26.09

30.09

29.09

28.09

27.09

26.09

23.09

23.09

3.0

4

PLN-GBP

6

3.2451

3.2463

3.2563

3.3171

4.4112

3.2766

PLN-USD

3.5

4.4293

4.4180

4.3915

4.4900

4.4113

PLN-EUR

5

30

ARTS & CULTURE

www.wbj.pl

OCTOBER 3-9, 2011

Concert

Voices of the Red Army Alexandrov Choir Palace of Culture and Science Sala Kongresowa Pl. Defilad 1 October 15, 7 pm

ning choir is a must for anyone with a desire to see Russian traditions brought to life in Warsaw. Tickets for the event are priced from z∏.80- z∏.350. ● For more information log on to kongresowa.pl

COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA COMMONS COURTESY OF VICTOR DE MELLO/DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON

First formed in 1928, the Moscow Alexandrov Red Army Choir now has more than 2,000

songs in its repertoire, and is viewed by many as one of the best male choirs in the world.

Their work includes folk songs, classical works from both Russian and international composers, as well as military themed songs. This award-win-

Concert

Contemporary classical music and a mythic journey

Festival

Free form in a factory Free Form Festival Centrum Kultury Koneser ul. Zàbkowska 27/31 October 14-15 British acts including influential trip-hop duo Lamb, rap/garage artist The Streets and former Bloc Party frontman Kele, along with Icelandic electronic group

Mum, are among the standout acts at this year’s two day Free Form Festival in Warsaw. Along with the plentiful musical talent, there will be a variety of other art forms, including short and full-length films, exhibitions and a spoken-word stage performances. Don’t expect your typical

concert hall or open-air stage, either. This festival takes place within the post-industrial confines of the reinvented Koneser Vodka Factory in Old Praga – a favorite spot on the arts scene. ● For more information log on to freeformfestival.pl

Tori Amos Palace of Culture and Science Sala Kongresowa Pl. Defilad 1 October 13, 8 pm On October 13 American artist Tori Amos will visit Poland for the fourth time, as part of a

tour to promote her latest album “Night of Hunters,” which was released in September. With her most recent album Ms Amos, who has sold over 12 million records worldwide, draws on the traditions of classical composers from the

past (including Poland’s Fryderyk Chopin) to tell a modern love story that follows a journey to Ireland’s mythical past.

Tickets for the event are priced z∏.176-z∏.209. ● For more information log on to kongresowa.pl

Tech Eye

LeapPads, hoovercrafts and the awful crush of sobriety

proved a real challenge too. We’re so used to seeing double that we can barely hit the right letters on the keyboard when there’s only one of each.

Indeed, we stumbled upon this week’s gadgets through pure acci-

dent. Our attempt to search for “gallant beer tin,” for example, somehow turned into “learning tablet, which led us to the LeapPad learning tablet from educational toymaker LeapFrog (leapfrog.com).

Go figure.

Anyway, the LeapPad is a simple tablet computer designed with kids in mind, something which any parent with a smartphone or tablet can appreciate. Snot-covered fingers pounding on the touchscreen? Peanut butter smears?

Repeated “accidental” drops? The LeapPad takes these in stride.

It boasts a built-in-camera, a five-inch touchscreen, microphone and gyroscope, all of which give kids a good reason to pull their fingers out of their noses for a while.

And the LeapPad comes with four apps, with over 70 more available.

Therein lies the rub, though.

While the device itself is relatively

affordable ($99 on Amazon), the apps are not. The cheapest are around $6, with the most expensive almost $30. A price point like that is rather hard to explain (or excuse) in today’s market. There are other niggles too, but the bottom line is this – if you can handle the inflated app

vacuum between itself and the wall or ceiling.” In other words, it’s a hoovercraft.

Like other remote-controlled vehicles these days, battery time is a let down – every 10 minutes of action-packed wall racing is followed by 30 minutes of actionunpacked

COURTESY OF IHELICOPTER

appointing, stenchy fleshsack of a grandchild” – and none of the other fleshsacks was willing to sacrifice their booze.

Long story short, this article was written under the crushing weight of sobriety.

It

COURTESY OF LEAPFROG

Writing this column without the aid of a fermented, brewed or distilled beverage is kind of like walking to the South Pole without pants on – extremely difficult and guaranteed to shrivel one’s, uh, sense of adventure.

Nevertheless, Techeye did a fair impression of a barebottomed Ernest Shackleton last week, after we discovered our refrigerator entirely devoid of beer.

That wouldn’t have been an insurmountable problem, except our cash-flow situation was suffering a terrible case of existential angst and our liquor cabinet has stood empty since Grandma Techeye died. Her will stipulated that she was to be buried with 12 bottles of white lightning – “one for each dis-

prices, the LeapPad is a good hands-on toy for the young learners in your life.

Techeye found one other gadget while in the throes of temperance, something that’s guaranteed to drive you up a wall – the iW500, an “iPhone-controlled wall climbing car.” This product, marketed by iHelicopter (ihelicopters.net), “works by using the opposite principle of the hovercraft and creates a

battery charging.

The upside is that the price won’t make a sucker out of you.

The iW500 costs $60 and iHelicopter will ship it anywhere in the world at no additional cost, “from the Arctic to the South Pole.”

That’s great news for anyone dumb brave enough to trek through Antarctica without undies – even if your southern hemisphere freezes, you’ll still have something to play with. ●

Ever searched for a gallant beer tin? Let us know: techeye.wbj@gmail.com

CLASSIFIEDS

OCTOBER 3-9, 2011 sare_268x81.ai

22-03-10

13:25:37

To advertise in WBJ’s classifieds section, contact Ms Agnieszka Brejwo, at (+48) 222-577-526 or abrejwo@wbj.pl

www.wbj.pl

31