Helping Refugees - A Report After Three Months of Crisis

How many Ukrainian citizens have passed through Warsaw since the beginning of the war, and how many are currently staying there? What has the city’s assistance been like for refugees arriving from abroad, and what challenges does Warsaw now face because of their presence in the capital? The city presented on June 21 a report on the first three months of the refugee crisis that answers these questions.

Between February 24 and May 31, the period covered by the Warsaw report, 800,000 refugees passed through the capital. That’s about 40 percent of Warsaw’s total population. At its peak, about 300,000 people stayed in the city and had to be assisted: from simple information to hospital care. ”Three months ago, the war started and from the very beginning Warsaw helped as much as it could our neighbors from Ukraine. One thing worries me - I hear that this crisis is slowly coming to an end. We have a completely different impression that, in a way, it is only just beginning, because long-term and long-lasting actions are necessary. Today we must define what the needs will be in the future, because our guests will stay with us for longer”, said Rafał Trzaskowski, Mayor of Warsaw.

Assistance to refugees in the capital is entering a new phase - after a period of emergency aid, then stabilization, the time for integration has come. Here, too, Warsaw is acting comprehensively. The city’s assistance covers all the important aspects of life: social integration, education, culture and help in entering the job market.

“Today we are thinking about the future, about integration programs to integrate our guests into social life in Warsaw in such a way that whole families are as independent as possible and can freely use all city services. At the same time, all of us: Warsaw residents, are part of this process”, said Aldona Machnowska-Góra, Deputy Mayor of Warsaw.

Another huge challenge for the city in connection with the ongoing situation is how to integrate the new residents, who constitute about 10 percent of the city’s population, and at the same time maintain the current quality of services? This problem affects all areas of Warsaw’s functioning: from urban transport to education to public safety. For example, the school infrastructure is at its limits. Finding and hiring hundreds of new teachers and expanding or building dozens of new institutions are activities that require time and enormous resources.

“The necessary systemic solutions are still missing. If we fail today in integrating Ukrainian society into life in our city, certain processes will be irreversible. What we can do at the local government level, we are already doing - on many levels. But we need systemic solutions,” said Renata Kaznowska, Deputy Mayor of Warsaw.

Rafał Trzaskowski, Mayor of Warsaw

TODAY WE ARE THINKING ABOUT THE FUTURE, ABOUT INTEGRATION PROGRAMS TO INTEGRATE OUR GUESTS INTO SOCIAL LIFE IN WARSAW

10 YEARS OF VOLKSWAGEN GROUP POLSKA

In June 2012 Volkswagen Group Polska was established. It has been the leader of the new passenger car market in Poland for 10 years. Today, Volkswagen Group Polska represents 7 brands: Volkswagen, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, Škoda, SEAT, Cupra, Audi and Porsche. Last year, over 115,000 new cars supplied by Volkswagen Group Polska were registered in Poland. The share in the passenger car market amounted to almost 25 per cent. Since the establishment of Volkswagen Group Polska over 10 years, more than 1.1 million new cars of the Volkswagen Group brands were registered in Poland. “Volkswagen Group Polska has been the leader of the new car market in Poland for 10 years. Last year, every fourth new car drove on Polish roads from one of the Volkswagen Group showrooms. In total, we have already delivered over 1.1 million cars to the Polish drivers. I would like to thank them all for their trust, I would also like to express my gratitude to our employees and our partners - dealers for their excellent work. This tenth anniversary is not only a time for taking stock, but also the beginning of a new path in many areas. We are modifying and creating new business processes to respond quickly and flexibly to customer needs and market changes. Today, we are devoting a lot of attention to electric mobility. At the same time, we are looking further into the future, with electric cars, the changing automobile is being shaped by new technologies and digitization. Soon, cars will not only be electric, but also autonomous. I am convinced that in the coming years Volkswagen Group Polska will shape individual mobility in Poland to an even greater extent”, said Pavel Šolc, President of the Board, Volkswagen Group Polska.

Volkswagen Group Polska has been awarded many times for the development of electromobility in Poland. The company sets an example and inspires change towards emission-free vehicles. Volkswagen Group Polska is powered exclusively by green energy, on the grounds of the company there are 50 charging points installed, the company is decisively changing its fleet of cars to electric and plug-in hybrid cars. Volkswagen Group Polska together with its brands and dealer network is also developing the public charging infrastructure.

In addition to Volkswagen Group Polska, the largest distributor of new cars in our country, the Volkswagen Group in Poland also includes Volkswagen Financial Services and 9 production plants, including Volkswagen Poznań, the largest car manufacturer in Poland.

NISSAN LEAF 2022

Nissan has unveiled a refreshed version of the world’s first mass-market electric car. For 2022, the iconic LEAF gets more striking styling and innovative technologies.

The refreshed exterior design of the 2022 model Nissan LEAF is intriguing in its details, while the design of the optional light-alloy wheels and the dynamic aesthetics of the entire body are in line with the new brand identity.

The popular model for the 2022 is equipped with a suite of proven advanced driver assistance features, such as the ProPILOT system, which is now available in more versions. The NissanConnect in-cab entertainment system will keep you entertained and connected to the world.

The refreshed LEAF arrived in showrooms in April and will form the basis of a strong product offensive that will see the entire model range electrified by this autumn.

“Nissan LEAF has always been a model that makes the advanced technology and excitement of driving an electric car accessible to everyone. This is reflected in more than 577,000 customers worldwide. LEAF has been designed with the needs of families in mind to offer seamless connectivity and an efficient powertrain”, said Arnaud Charpentier, Vice President, Product Strategy and Pricing, Nissan AMIEO Region.

SLOW REBOUND OF THE HOTEL INDUSTRY

The travel industry, including the hotel industry, is very sensitive to external factors. It was one of the hardest hit segments during the pandemic, and the war in Ukraine and the resulting reduction in foreign tourism has slowed the industry’s recovery. The situation is different for business hotels, and different for leisure establishments that benefit from the Polish Tourist Voucher program.

Globally, tourist traffic is estimated to have declined by as much as 70% because of the pandemic. In 2021 more than 24% more tourists used tourist accommodation facilities in Poland than in 2020. This upward trend can also be seen every month in 2022. According to a survey by the Economic Chamber of Polish Hotel Industry (IGHP), in April more than half of hotels achieved a satisfactory occupancy level of more than 50% (in March it was 40%), including 12% of facilities exceeding 70%. In the first months business hotels did better than leisure hotels.

“Looking at the first months of 2022, business hotels can be satisfied with the results. Business tourism is slowly returning, although still business travel has been severely curtailed due to the popularity of online meetings. Event organizers and corporations are catching up and organizing backlogged concerts and conferences that were repeatedly postponed due to the pandemic,” admitted Anna Olszyńska, regional director of Vienna House and general manager of Vienna House Andel’s Lodz, which has been the leader on the Łódź tourism market for 13 years. “Unfortunately, this positive trend may be halted by two factors. One is galloping inflation, especially rising energy, and fuel prices. The other is the war in Ukraine. Unfortunately, travel and hotel stays may become a luxury good over time”, Olszyńska added.

Holiday forecasts for the industry are weak. In the IGHP survey, 65% of hotels admitted to having bookings below 30% occupancy for July. “In 2021, more than 60% of reservations were made between 7 and 1 day before arrival. This year, the phenomenon of the short booking window is continuing”, admitted Tomasz Piórkowski, regional director of Vienna House. “We see an ever-increasing interest in family travel, which is why we diversify our offer of city hotels, focusing specifically on families with children in the summer season”, he said.

An incentive to use hotels during the holiday season may be the extended Polish Tourist Voucher program, which runs through September 30 and has PLN 2 billion left to use. The Polish Tourist Organization has launched the #MiastoTurystyka campaign promoting Polish urban tourism. It encourages weekend family trips to cities that allow you to combine relaxation with participation in cultural events.

FAST CHARGING ON THE A1 FREEWAY

The number of electric vehicles in Poland is growing faster than the number of charging stations - the country’s electromobility requires a significant acceleration in the pace of fast charging infrastructure development. Siemens, together with Stacjeladowania.com, has launched the first fast charging station in the public network on the Silesian section of the A1 freeway. SICHARGE D is at the same time the hundredth station of the operator NOXO Energy, the first - ultra-fast. Devices supporting fast and ultrafast direct current (DC) charging are the future of electromobility. They allow a vehicle to be fully charged in a time several times shorter than with slow AC chargers (with a capacity of 22 kW or less).

“In many locations of the NOXO. network you can find Siemens SICHARGE AC22 stations, which are highly praised for their faultlessness and interesting design. The AC stations fit perfectly into the concept of a network of so-called destination locations, where drivers stay for a longer period and can safely recharge their car for the next journey. This time, as a part of launching our 100th location, thanks to cooperation with Elocity and owners of Shell Bełk station, we provide our clients with another 4 charging stations for electric cars, including two ultra-fast ones”, commented Jakub Bańkowski, CEO of NOXO ENERGY.

In a few years, the electric passenger car fleet in Poland has increased almost eight times, while the network of publicly available charging stations only three times. The European Commission estimated that by 2030 at least 3 million additional charging points for electric cars will be needed in the whole EU. Each new station will densify infrastructure network and contribute to promotion of electromobility in Poland. For electric cars users this translates into increased availability and accessibility of charging. Ultrafast stations allow to shorten charging time even to several minutes.

“Polish electric vehicle market is growing more and more dynamically. However, popularization of electromobility requires significant acceleration of fast charging infrastructure development, so that it ultimately resembles the current network of petrol stations”, explained Maciej Zieliński, President of the Management Board of Siemens Polska.