VOLUME 18, NUMBER 33-34 • AUG 20 – SEP 2, 2012 . z∏.12.50 (VAT 8% included) . ISSN 1233 7889 INDEX-RUCH-332-127 Since 1994 . Poland’s only business weekly in English

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Broken promisesHow was the AmberGold fiasco allowed toget this far?

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Plus, a special reporton “parabanks”

12-13

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Richard Branson’s Virgin Mobileis coming to Poland. How will itimpact the market?

23

Tech Eye tells youwhere to purchase yourown drivable, Gatling-gun wielding robot

News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2-4

Business . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5-6

Finance & Economics . . . . . . . . . . .7

Interview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8-9

Law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10

Opinion & Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . .11

Special Report . . . . . . . . . . . . .12-13

Lokale Immobilia . . . . . . . . . . .15-18

The List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19

Markets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20

Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21

Lifestyle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22

Last Word . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23

In this issue

• WFC sold

• Gal. Mokotów extension

• Residential innovations

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AAiirr ddeeffeennssee ttaarrggeettPresident Komorowski says it is a top priority for

Poland to build its own missile defense system 4, 11

DDee--ccoonnssttrruucctteeddBanks in Poland have been hit hard by the

tough times in the construction sector 4

Morgan Stanley has slashed

its forecast for Poland's

economic growth next year.

The government may have

to revise its figures as well.

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ia**

Spain

Poland

GermanyUK

EU27Italy

Greece

France

Denmark

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*Highest in EU27 **Lowest in EU2757.9

55.950.1 49.9 49.049.1

45.6 43.6 43.6

35.2

AUGUST 20 – SEPTEMBER 2, 2012NNEEWWSS2 www.wbj.pl

Russian

Patriarch

makes historic

visit Patriarch Kirill, the head

of Russia’s Orthodox

Church, arrived in Poland

on August 16 as part of a

four-day visit that was

regarded as a

breakthrough in efforts

to bring Poland and

Russia, and their

respective dominant

churches, closer

together. During his visit

he met the head of the

Roman Catholic Church in

Poland, and the two

religious leaders signed a

document urging mutual

forgiveness and

reconciliation between

the two nations.

Polish cities

losing

inhabitantsMedium-sized cities in

Poland such as

Bydgoszcz, Cz´stochowa,

Katowice, Kielce, ¸ódê,

Lublin, Poznaƒ and

Sosnowiec, lost a total of

204,500 inhabitants

between 2002 and 2011,

according to figures from

Poland’s statistics office.

Romney cites

Wal´sa and

JP II in ad A recent TV ad from

Republican presidential

hopeful Mitt Romney

features former Polish

President Lech Wa∏´sa

and Pope John Paul II. In

the commercial Mr

Romney accuses US

President Barack Obama

of conducting a war on

religion and pledges to

protect religious

freedoms. The ad also

shows Mr Romney

shaking hands with Lech

Wa∏´sa. The text on the

screen reads, “Endorsed

by Lech Wa∏´sa.”

Gov’t to cut

support for

renewablesAccording to a new draft

law on renewable energy

released by Poland’s

Economy Ministry in

August, the country is

looking to cut support for

renewable energy

sources between 2013

and 2020 by around z∏.9.7

billion to z∏.54.5 billion,

Reuters reported. The

bill also involves scaling

back support for

generating renewable

energy using biomass

and onshore wind in favor

of solar power and

offshore wind. ●

Adecco Poland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6

Agora . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6

Amber Gold . . . . . . . . . .2, 3, 12, 13

Antal International . . . . . . . . . . . . .6

Asseco . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6

Bank BG˚ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5

Boston Consulting Group . . . . . . .8

BRE Bank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13

BZ WBK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7

CDM Pekao . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13

CPL Jobs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6

Deloitte . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12, 13

Enea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6

Grafton Recruitment Polska . . . . .6

Hays Poland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6

IDMSA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6

ING Bank Âlàski . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5

ING Securities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5

KGHM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5

Kruszwica . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3

Kulczyk Investments . . . . . . . . . . .4

Makarony Polskie . . . . . . . . . . . . .3

Manpower Polska . . . . . . . . . . . . .6

Millennium Dom Maklerski . . . . .12

Morgan Stanley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7

MOST WANTED!

HR CONSULTING GROUP . . . . . . .6

OLT Express . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2, 3

Orange . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5

PBG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5

Peter Nielsen & Partners . . . . . .10

PGNiG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3

PKM Duda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3

PKO BP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5

Play . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5

PLL LOT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3

Plus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5

Polish Energy Partners . . . . . . . . .4

Polkomtel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12

Polturf Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8

Prudential . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12

PZU . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6

Reed Employment Limited . . . . . .6

Seko . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3

Standard & Poor’s . . . . . . . . . . . . .7

Start People . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6

T-Mobile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5

UniCredit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5

Virgin Mobile Polska . . . . . . . . . . .5

WADWICZ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6

Warsaw Stock Exchange . . . . .3, 12

X-Trade Brokers . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13

Micha∏ Tusk, the son of PolishPrime Minister Donald Tusk,has courted controversy of lateafter it emerged that he hadworked for the owner of thenow bankrupt parabankAmber Gold, which is currentlybeing investigated by Polishprosecutors.

At the beginning of August,the prime minister’s son admit-ted in a newspaper interviewthat he had cooperated withthe Amber Gold-owned airlineOLT Express, providing analy-sis and PR services for the firm.

It has since been made pub-lic that he acted in this capacitywhile still working in his previ-ous job as a journalist for theTri-city edition of daily GazetaWyborcza.

In March this year, thenewspaper printed an interviewwith OLT Express directorJaros∏aw Frankowski and

according to weekly Wprost,Micha∏ Tusk was involved inthe formulation of the ques-tions in the interview which hethen answered himself as thedirector’s PR advisor.

After leaving Gazeta Wybor-cza in April, he also startedworking for Gdaƒsk LechWa∏´sa Airport as an economicanalyst and marketing special-ist. His simultaneous employ-ment at the airline and the air-port has subsequently led toaccusations of a conflict ofinterest.

Amber Gold’s ownerMarcin P. (according to Polishlaw, since he has been chargedby the prosecutor, his full namecannot be given) has stated thatthe prime minister’s sonrevealed some of Gdaƒsk Air-port’s commercial secrets toOLT Express, an accusationthat Micha∏ Tusk denies.

The PM’s son revealed thathe had talked with his father inJune about his cooperationwith OLT Express and that theprime minister had describedhis son’s cooperation with theairline as “unwise.”

This has prompted Law andJustice MP Marcin Mastalerekto publicly ask Prime MinisterTusk what he knew aboutAmber Gold and OLT Ex-press’s problems and why hefailed to warn the general pub-lic.

At a press conference, theprime minister said he had notobtained any information fromstate services that would haveserved to warn his son. As WBJwent to press, it was uncertainwhether the controversy sur-rounding Micha∏ Tusk couldlead to any major political trou-ble for the country’s prime min-ister. AAddaamm ZZddrrooddoowwsskkii

614,000is how many Poles are currently living permanently inthe UK, a 13 percent increase on last year, according

to the UK’s Office for National Statistics.

z∏.2.96 billionwas the value of direct foreign investment in Poland inJune 2012, according to the National Bank of Poland.

Some z∏.4.15 billion was invested in Q2, 24 percentless than in the same period last year.

4%is Poland’s current level of inflation, Poland’s statisticsoffice revealed, well above the rate-setting Monetary

Policy Council’s target.

190,000is the amount of new jobs that could be created byPoland’s shale gas industry over the next 10 years,

according to the Kosciuszko Institute think-tank.

“Thank you for your confidence.”Lender Amber Gold, described by Polish officials as “a typical pyramidscheme,” thanked its customers in a letter posted on its website on August 13,where it also announced it was undergoing liquidation.

Quote of the Week

Singer’s WarsawThis annual celebration of Jewish culture takes placein the capital from August 25 to September 2. Amongthe numerous cultural events lined up are theater per-formances, concerts, film screenings, exhibitions,kosher food stands and workshops on dance, art andcrafts. Log onto WBJ.pl to find out more.

On WBJ.pl

Numbers in the News

Company index

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4-6 ECONOMIC FORUM Event: The Economic Forum in Krynica, Poland is

one of the most important economic confer-ences in Central and Eastern Europe. Its mis-sion is to create a favorable climate for thedevelopment of political and economic coop-eration between the EU and neighboringcountries. Each year the forum is attendedby some 2,500 guests – including leaders inthe fields of politics, economics and society.It is the largest event of its kind in Centraland Eastern Europe.

Location: Krynica ZdrójWeb: forum-ekonomiczne.pl

30 34TH WARSAW MARATHONEvent: The annual Warsaw Marathon will raise

funds for the Bátor Tábor Polska Foundation,an organization that offers therapeutic camp-

ing opportunities to children with chronicdiseases in Central and Eastern Europe. Par-ticipants are expected to be sponsored byfriends, family and colleagues for every kilo-meter they run. Organized by KompaniaWra˝eƒ, the marathon route will travelthrough Warsaw’s key landmarks, includingthe Old Town.

Location: WarsawWeb: kompaniawrazen.pl

20 POLISH OUTSOURCING FORUMEvent: Organized by Roadshow Poland and Aspire,

the Polish Outsourcing Forum is will presentthe latest trends in the outsourcing market inPoland and abroad and will feature representa-tives from business, government and media.

Location: Hyatt Hotel, WarsawWeb: roadshowpolska.pl/e

September

DATELINE

Micha∏ TuskIN THE SPOTLIGHT

Figures in focusAll states great and smallGeneral government expenditure by country as a percentage ofGDP, 2011, selected EU27 countries

Source: Eurostat

AUGUST 20 – SEPTEMBER 2, 2012 NNEEWWSS www.wbj.pl 3

PGNiG tests 1

bcm gas fieldPolish oil and gas giant

PGNiG has launched test

production at its

Komorze-3K borehole in

the Wielkopolska region.

The deposit’s resources

are estimated at 1 billion

cubic meters of natural

gas. The firm hopes to

start commercial

extraction next year.

Trade slowingThe value of goods and

services exported by

Polish companies in the

first half of 2012

amounted to z∏.291.7

billion, up 9.3% y/y. At

the same time, the total

value of imports reached

z∏.316.7 billion, up 6%

over the corresponding

period of the previous

year. Experts were

unenthusiastic, since the

figures show trade

growing at slower rates

that previously.

EU industrial

production

downPolish industrial output

rose by 1% on an

annualized basis in June,

but fell 2% month-on-

month, according to

Eurostat data. On a

monthly basis only the

UK (-2.5%) saw a larger

fall. In the EU overall,

industrial production fell

by 0.9% compared to

May, with most individual

countries seeing their

outputs fall m/m. In the

euro zone, the decline

was a little less steep

than in the EU overall, at

-0.6%. On an annualized

basis, the EU’s total

industrial output fell

2.2%.

Food sector

struggling

Since the beginning of

the year the WIG-

Spo˝ywczy index, which

lists food companies on

the Warsaw Stock

Exchange, has had a

weaker performance

than the market. The

shares of several large

food producers have been

seriously discounted,

such as those of meat

producer PKM Duda

shares (39%), fish

producer Seko (60%),

vegetable fats

manufacturer Kruszwica

(48%) and pasta producer

Makarony Polskie (25%).

The food sector has

already seen 15

bankruptcies since the

beginning of the year,

with the meat sector

being hit the hardest. ●

“A typical pyramid scheme” ishow officials are describingAmber Gold, a Polish “para-bank” that attracted clientswith 10 percent returns oninvestments in gold-indexedinstruments and has now gonebust, leaving some 50,000clients in the lurch to the tuneof $24 million.

The saga, which hasgripped the Polish media forweeks, prompted action by noless than the prime ministerhimself and spurred an investi-gation that had members ofPoland’s Internal SecurityAgency (ABW) entering theowner’s home and severalbranches of the business tocomb through documents,looking for evidence of moneylaundering.

Parabanks (see SpecialReport, pp. 12-13) are busi-nesses that offer some servicesthat a traditional bank might,but which do not have bankinglicenses and are not under theauthority of Poland’s bankingregulator, the Financial Super-vision Authority (KNF).

While such businessesaccount for only a small frac-tion of Poland’s financial serv-ices industry, (they are esti-mated to hold around 0.4 per-cent of the sector’s totalassets) they are popular withthose who have difficulty get-ting loans elsewhere, or whoare seeking higher returns oninvestment than what isoffered by regular banks.Amber Gold’s offer was par-ticularly attractive to olderclients, who saw the gold-indexed accounts as a secure

investment for their nest eggs.That confidence now

appears to have been sorelymisplaced, with Andrzej Jaku-biak, head of the KNF, tellingPolish daily Rzeczpospolitathat Amber Gold was “like atypical pyramid scheme. …People stopped bringing inmoney and hence the end.”

Plenty of warningAs early as 2009 the KNF hadissued warnings about AmberGold, putting it on a list offirms that were undertakingbanking activities without abanking license, and urgedprosecutors to take action. Nocharges were brought and thebusiness was allowed toexpand and invest in new ven-tures, including low-cost air-line OLT Express.

OLT Express made a splashwhen it began operations in2011, offering cheap domesticflights that instantly becamepopular among travelers wearyof the country’s patchwork high-way network and unreliable railsystem. The competition ateinto Polish state-owned airlinePLL LOT’s market share.

But in late July OLTExpress began halting flightsand finally declared insolven-cy, as money from AmberGold stopped flowing into thecarrier’s coffers.

The spotlight quicklyturned to Amber Gold’s presi-dent, 28-year-old Marcin P.(whose surname cannot berevealed according to Polishlaw, since charges have beenfiled against him) who, it wasrevealed, had previously been

convicted of improperly allo-cating funds. Amber Goldclients began a run on theiraccounts, but found them-selves unable to withdraw themoney they had deposited.

At a press conference inearly August, Marcin P.accused the government ofconspiring against him inorder to eliminate OLTExpress and its threat toLOT’s share of the domestic-flights market. He pledged tofind new financing for AmberGold and promised that allclients would be paid back.

The money never material-ized however, and the compa-ny announced that it wasundergoing “liquidation” onAugust 13. In a letter posted atbranches around the countryand on the firm’s website thatday, the company said that itwould pay back all of its clientsbut that the process would be“drawn out in time” due to thenature of the liquidationprocess. As WBJ went to press,there was little optimism thatthose clients would ever see apenny of their investments,however.

‘A question for the prosecutor’How the company was allowedto operate despite being on aKNF blacklist – and why pros-ecutors failed to act – is stillunclear.

“Why Amber Gold was

allowed to operate for so longis a good question, but one forthe prosecutor,” ¸ukaszDajnowicz, spokesperson atthe KNF, told WBJ. “It tookonly a few weeks between themoment when we receivedinformation from the marketabout Amber Gold and whenwe expressed our concern.”

The Wall Street Journalquoted Wojciech Szelagowski,a spokesperson for the prose-cutor’s office in Gdaƒsk, whichis investigating Amber Gold,as saying that investigationsinvolving business matters“take a long time because oftheir nature.”

Opposition parties in thePolish parliament have alsocalled for an investigation.

Soon after Amber Goldannounced it had ended oper-ations, Prime Minister DonaldTusk called on Finance Minis-ter Jacek Rostowski to hold ameeting of Poland’s FinancialStability Committee, a round-table that comprises represen-tatives of the National Bank ofPoland, the KNF, the JusticeMinistry and Poland’s om-budsman for citizen’s rights, todiscuss the situation and makeproposals as to how authori-ties could act earlier in suchcircumstances. The committeehad not been brought togethersince the height of the globalfinancial crisis.

“All signs on heaven andearth suggest that people who

put their trust in that companyhave been cheated,” said PrimeMinister Tusk at a press confer-ence on August 14. He addedthat it was the state’s obligationto “move fast enough to protectpeople from those schemes.”

What did the PM know?But the uproar has broughtthe prime minister’s actionsinto question as well. His son,30-year-old Micha∏ Tusk, hadbeen working for OLT Expressand admitted in an interviewthat his father had warned himabout the company’s poten-tially shady dealings. Polishmedia have cited other sourcesthat said it was unimaginablethat the Amber Gold issue hadnot been brought to the primeminister’s attention earlier.

If it had been importantenough to bring to the atten-tion of the PM, many haveasked, then why weren’t loud-er alarm bells raised?

That question remains tobe answered. For now, AmberGold’s clients wait to hearword as to whether they havepermanently lost all of theirinvestments. Several hundredof them are already preparinga class action lawsuit.

On August 17 Marcin P.was brought before a court inGdaƒsk to hear charges of car-rying out illegal banking activi-ties and forging documents.

AAnnddrreeww KKuurreetthh,,AAlliiccee TTrruuddeellllee

How was the company, which now appears tohave been a scheme that cheated thousands oftrusting clients, allowed to operate whenregulators had long urged prosecutors to act?

Parabanks

Amber Gold sagaprompts investigation,government action

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At a press conference Prime Minister Tusk said that the government must “move

fast enough to protect people” from parabanks that cheat their clients

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Amber Gold owes around $24 million to 50,000 clients

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AUGUST 20 – SEPTEMBER 2, 2012NNEEWWSS4

Kulczyk bids

for PEPPoland’s richest man Jan

Kulczyk has launched a

z∏.671 million bid for

Polish Energy Partners

(PEP), a WSE-listed

company that builds and

operates wind farms and

delivers biofuels to energy

producers. Polenergia

Holding, part of the

Kulczyk Investments

group, is offering z∏.31.50

per share for PEP, and

hopes to acquire at least

80% of the stock, reported

Parkiet.

Polish vodka

bounces back

After three years of

declining sales the vodka

market in Poland is once

again seeing upward

growth, reported Dziennik

Gazeta Prawna. In the

first half of this year sales

of spirits grew by 2.5%

more than in the same

period last year, with

sales of vodka making up

90% of the total figure.

The warmer-than-usual

winter was seen as the

main factor behind

increased sales, since it

allowed Poles to do more

shopping in general. In

Q2, sales also received a

boost from Euro 2012. ●

www.wbj.pl

Defense

BBuuiillddiinngg oowwnn mmiissssiillee sshhiieellddaa ttoopp pprriioorriittyy ffoorr PPoollaannddWithout a modern airdefense system, theeffort put intomodernizing thecountry’s armed forcesis “pointless,” saysPresident Komorowski

Poland, one of a handful ofEuropean countries that haveincreased defense spendingover the last decade, includingthroughout the Europeanfinancial crisis, is planning tobuild a several-billion-z∏otymissile- and air-defense system.

The country “needs an anti-missile shield,” said PresidentBronis∏aw Komorowski in aspeech on August 15. Withouta modern air-defense system,Poland is “defenseless” in theface of what happens on mod-ern battlefields, where the firsthours of combat see plane androcket attacks, said the presi-dent. If Poland cannot defenditself against those, then hugeresources spent on moderniz-ing the Polish armed forceswould turn out to be “point-less” in the case of an attack, hesaid.

Initial estimates put the

cost of the Polish missile shieldat between z∏.8 billion andz∏.15 billion over the next 10years. The project is set to bepart of a broader and ongoingmodernization of Poland’sarmy and defense system.

A new directionIt is not a coincidence that MrKomorowski made these dec-larations at the Tomb of theUnknown Soldier in Warsawon Army Day. Both are pow-erful reminders that the inde-pendence Poland has enjoyedover the last 23 years followsseldom-interrupted centuries

of occupation and dominationby its powerful neighbors.

After joining NATO in1999, Poland has been heavilyinvolved in international mis-sions, including in Iraq and inAfghanistan. President Komo-rowski said Poland had spentaround z∏.5 billion “over thepast few years” on the NATO-ISAF mission in Afghanistanalone. This compares to a totalplanned military budget ofz∏.29.5 billion for 2012.Poland’s defense budget hasalmost doubled from z∏.15 bil-lion in 2001, when parliamen-tarians voted to allocate 1.95

percent of GDP to defenseeach year.

It now seems Poland isshifting its focus to territorialdefense over expeditionarymissions, with Mr Komorows-ki saying that money savedafter Poland withdraws its2,457 troops from Afghanistanin 2014 will be directed to theshield.

“The building of our ownnational defense capability isour chief duty,” said MrKomorowski.

The planned Polish missileshield will be part of theNATO Missile Defense Sys-tem, and will count as part ofPoland’s contribution to theorganization. “The idea is tonot build a system that wouldensure the safety of someNATO countries exclusively,but to build a system thatwould defend the whole terri-tory of NATO member coun-tries, including Poland,” saidthe president.

Mr Komorowski did notmention links between themissile shield he proposed andthe US-initiated missiledefense system.

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President Komorowski said Poland is currently

“defenseless” if it were attacked by air

More Poles

emigratePoland may be growing morethan its counterparts in theeuro zone, but that apparentlyhasn’t lessened many Poles’fears that as the slowdownbites Europe harder, they willfind it more difficult to getahead in Poland. Those fearshave prompted a new mini-wave of emigration, accordingto Rzeczpospolita, which wroteearlier in August that young,educated Poles are leaving forthe UK, Germany, the Nether-lands and Norway, wheresalaries are far higher than inPoland.

Experts estimate that some2.5 million Poles may now beliving permanently abroad,and that number is set to rise.According to data recentlypublished by the UK’s Officefor National Statistics, lastyear out of one million Polesliving in the British Isles614,000 were permanent resi-dents. That is up from 545,000a year earlier, marking a rise ofnearly 13 percent.

“I had expected to see anincrease in the number of resi-dents, but I never thought itwould be so high,” said prof.Krystyna Iglicka-Okólska, anexpert on migration at the¸azarski University in War-saw.

AASS

The bankruptcy ofbuilder PBG, amongothers, is taking itstoll on banks’ results

The woes in Poland’s construc-tion sector are weighing onbanks, as developers areunable to repay loans theytook to build stadiums andinfrastructure for the Euro2012 soccer championships.

Poland’s third-largest con-struction firm, PBG, filed forbankruptcy in June afteroverextending itself due to itsinvolvement in constructionprojects for the tournament.At the time, it was indebted to12 different banks to the tuneof some z∏.1.7 billion.

Nor did other constructionfirms escape unscathed. In thefirst half of 2012, the sectorsaw a 66 percent rise in bank-ruptcies.

The failures – especially

that of PBG – are hittingbanks’ second-quarter resultshard.

Bank BG˚, one of PBG’screditors, announced a Q22012 loss of z∏.1.02 million, ahuge drop compared to itsz∏.26.5 million net profit for thesame period last year. In total,the bank was forced to writeoff z∏.115.4 million in bad loansfor the quarter. It also had tocreate reserves of z∏.157.7 mil-lion, compared to just z∏.53.7million last year.

“The reason for this ismostly higher write-offsregarding loans for enterprises,including from the construc-tion sector especially with onebig client, which announcedbankruptcy, and also frommortgages for retail clients,”the bank announced in a com-munique.

ING Bank Âlàski, whichalso made substantial loans to

PBG, announced a consolidat-ed net profit of z∏.167.6 million,marking a 28 percent dropfrom Q2 2011.

Another of PBG’s credi-tors, PKO BP, saw its Q2 netprofit drop to z∏.948.6 million,compared to z∏.967 million ayear ago. The bank had towrite off a total of z∏.573.8 mil-lion in bad loans for the period.

Piotr Palenik, analyst atING Securities, confirmed thatING Bank Âlàski’s lower prof-its resulted to a large extentfrom the PBG fiasco. Howev-er, he said that PKO BP’slower profit was not directly aresult of PBG’s bankruptcy,“but the bad situation of theconstruction sector as a wholehad some influence.”

Analysts expect that morebanks’ results will see theeffects of the difficulties in theconstruction sector.

RReemmii AAddeekkooyyaa

Bank results

Construction sector woeseat into banks’ profits

AUGUST 20 – SEPTEMBER 2, 2012 BBUUSSIINNEESSSS www.wbj.pl 5

It is aiming to providebetter pre-pay servicesthan its rivals butanalysts say a quickwin is unlikely

Virgin Mobile, the mobile oper-ator belonging to British billion-aire Richard Branson, is expect-ed to launch operations inPoland by the end of August.

The company, which willoperate under subsidiary VirginMobile Polska, wrote in a state-ment that it hopes to differenti-ate itself by offering better pre-pay services than its rivals inPoland. “We will bring first-class service to a market wherepre-pay customers have beentreated like second class citi-zens,” Kristian Myrup, CEO of

Virgin Mobile Central andEastern Europe, said in a state-ment.

Analysts say, however, thatVirgin Mobile Polska is not infor an easy ride, since it willhave to compete in a crowdedmarket with established playersincluding T-Mobile, Plus andPlay.

“As a new entrant it will befighting for market share, offer-ing deeper discounts andundercutting already-thin mar-gins,” said Przemys∏aw Sawala-Uryasz, analyst at CAIBUniCredit.

“At this point, gaining mar-ket share when we know cus-tomers are not spending andthere is stiff competition isgoing to be difficult.”

What is more, as a virtual

operator, it will rent infrastruc-ture belonging to rivals Playand Orange, meaning its over-heads will be higher than manyof its competitors’.

“History has shown thatnone of the companies operat-ing in this model has so farbeen able to conquer the mar-ket,” said Mr Sawala-Uryasz.“Profit margins will be veryslim.”

The regulator has given Vir-gin Mobile a helping hand inone area, though, allowing it tocharge customers who callfrom other networks more thanits own customers are chargedwhen they call rival networks.This preferential treatmentwill, however, come to an endin 2013.

GGaarreetthh PPrriiccee

Mobile operators

Virgin Mobile prepares toenter Polish market

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Several banks are feeling the effects of PBG overextending itself working on three

Euro 2012 stadiums, including Warsaw’s National Stadium

The copper giantreported lower Q2profits and may reviseits full-year forecastdownwards

KGHM, Europe’s second-largest copper producer, post-ed second-quarter consolidat-ed net profits of z∏.1.34 billion,down from z∏.2.28 billion ayear earlier.

On top of lower metalsprices and rising costs of basicoperations, the state-con-trolled miner’s bottom linewas hit by a new mining tax,which is expected to bring inz∏.1.8 billion to the Polishbudget this year. KGHM isexpected to pay a full-year levyof z∏.1.3 billion.

“The substantial decreasein profit versus 2011 is mainlydue to: recognition in theresult for 2011 of the sales of

telecom assets, a change in thevaluation of exchange differ-ences, effects of the introduc-tion of the minerals extractiontax and the deterioration ofmacroeconomic conditions,”KGHM president HerbertWirth said in a statement.

The firm is now consider-ing a review of its full-yearforecast. In April, the firm’ssupervisory board hadannounced it expected netprofit for 2012 to amount toz∏.3.8 billion, compared toz∏.11.08 billion a year earlier.

“The company reached 54percent of its sales target and78 percent of its earnings tar-get for 2012. This is an effectof a higher-than-expected cur-rency rate,” Mr Wirth said.

“At the same time we seenegative signals from the glob-al economy. … We are consid-ering the possibility of verify-ing our full-year forecast,” he

added.Though the acquisition of

cheap foreign concessions isa part of the firm’s long-termbusiness plan, KGHM is alsocurrently making plans toexpand its prospection workin Poland.

In Kwielice, a town inwestern Poland, the copperminer is set to begin con-struction on the largest minein Europe. The company isinvesting some z∏.700 millionin the shaft, which will reacha depth of 1,319 meters.

The company has alsoasked the Ministry of Envi-ronmental Protection toobtain additional conces-sions around areas wherecopper is already exploited.Administrative proceduresare under way for theapproval of four new conces-sions.

DDaavviidd IInngghhaamm

Heavy industry

KGHM hit hard by new mining tax

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The firm is expected to launch its Polish service by the end of August

AUGUST 20 – SEPTEMBER 2, 2012BBUUSSIINNEESSSS6 www.wbj.pl

Executive recruitment

SSppeecciiaalliizzaattiioonn iiss tthhee kkeeyyRecruitment agenciesin Poland arebecoming increasinglyspecialized in order toserve companies thatare operating in nichemarkets

The recruitment market for

professionals and managers inPoland is maturing in thedirection of more developedmarkets in Western Europewhile also showing high levelsof activity.

Some 53 percent ofPoland-based employers sur-veyed by recruitment agencyAntal International said they

planned to recruit specialistsand managers in the thirdquarter of this year, puttingonly four other EU countriesahead of Poland in this cate-gory.

IT and shared-service cen-ter/BPO employers expectedto be the most active duringthe period, in line with a trendthat is seeing increaseddemand in more advancedand increasingly specializedsectors.

Increased specializationThe IT market is showingstrong growth in Poland,according to Antal research,while the finance, banking,insurance and automotivesectors are also developingapace, creating strongdemand for specialists andmanagers.

“In five years’ time, IT,automotive, shared servicesand BPO will be where themajor new investments aremade, creating more demand

for specialists in those fields,”said Artur Skiba, managingdirector Poland at AntalInternational and vice presi-dent at the Association ofEmployment Agencies(SAZ).

The proliferation anddevelopment of new indus-tries and sub-sectors hasspurred recruitment firmsthemselves to employ morespecialized headhunters,many of whom once workedin the industries they recruitfor.

“A specialized recruiterunderstands the market bet-ter and can communicate bet-ter with both the candidateand the prospective employ-er,” said Mr Skiba.

“Those recruitment com-panies that are still here after

the crisis hit in 2009 are themore specialized ones,” headded.

Maturing market The market is maturing inother ways too, with employ-ees now showing increasedloyalty to companies that arein turn offering them betterlong-term prospects.

“In 2000-2004 there werelots of jumpers – employeeswould change jobs every twoyears, getting 100 percentwage increases with everymove,” said Mr Skiba. “That’sover now. Staying in a job forjust two years is not good, weare now seeing mature candi-dates spending four yearsworking for a single employ-er,” he added.

Candidates also have high-

er requirements of theirprospective employers, fromwhom they expect more andbetter opportunities to devel-op their careers.

The nature of employmentcontracts is also changing,albeit at a slower pace.Whereas temporary employ-ment contracts for managersand specialists are common-place in the UK, the tempmarket for specialists inPoland is only just starting togrow.

“As work is becomingincreasingly project-based,more and more candidatesare willing to work as tempsand more firms are searchingfor them,” said Mr Skiba.“This can be beneficial forboth parties.”

GGaarreetthh PPrriiccee

Candidate’s market

At the very highest level Poland’s recruitmentsector is very much a candidate’s market, withmany openings remaining vacant for longperiods of time.

“Salary expectations can be high amongthe most in-demand managers and specialists– in Warsaw, an IT manager may even ask fora higher wage than he would, for example, inHamburg,” said Artur Skiba, managing direc-tor Poland at Antal International and vicepresident at the Association of EmploymentAgencies (SAZ).

“But while it is not easy to find the rightcandidate at this level … a good recruiterfinds a way to attract them,” he said, adding

that it is not just about the salary; employ-ment perspectives and the reputation of acompany are also key.

Part of the explanation for the dearth ofsuitable candidates for high-level positionsmay come from the lure of employmentabroad, where Polish managers and special-ists are in high demand.

“At a managerial level Poland is now oneof the most recognized and specialized mar-kets. Previously, clients in Germany wanted toemploy Poles because they were cheaper, nowit’s because Poles have good skills and astrong work ethic – this is a big change,” saidMr Skiba. ●

Source: Book of Lists 2012

HR companies in Poland – selection and recruitmentRanking of companies by total number of personnel recruited in 2010

Rank Company name Total number of personnel recruited

1 Adecco Poland 2,893

2 Hays Poland 1,230

3 Manpower Polska 892

4 Grafton Recruitment Polska 594

5 CPL Jobs 570

6 Antal International 321

7 WADWICZ 320

8 Reed Employment Limited 305

9 MOST WANTED! HR CONSULTING GROUP 290

10 Start People 255

Gazeta Wyborcza’spublisher saw its Q2net profit fall sharply,and now plans toslash 250 jobs

Soon after broadcaster TVNpresented its gloomy fore-casts for Poland’s TV admarket, claiming it willshrink by some 6 to 9 per-cent this year, another lead-ing media group – Agora –also published somber pre-dictions for 2012.

According to Agora, thepublisher of Gazeta Wybor-cza, the value of the entireadvertising market in Polandwill decline by 2 to 5 percent.Organizations are expectedto increase online advertis-ing spending by approxi-mately 8 to 11 percent, but atthe same time spend up to 20percent less on ads in news-papers, the firm said in areport. Agora also forecaststhat the TV ad market willshrink by 3 to 6 percent, andthe radio ad market will con-tract by 1 to 4 percent.

Earlier in August thecompany released its finan-cial results for Q2, revealingthat its net profit had plum-meted 96.7 percent year-on-year to z∏.700,000, while rev-enues were down 11.3 per-cent to z∏.283.1 million.Average paid circulation ofGazeta Wyborcza was also

down (by 15.5 percent) inQ2, but it still retained itsposition as the most widely-circulated “quality daily” inPoland, according to Agora.

“The company suffereddue to a very poor perform-ance of the ad market acrossall segments in which it oper-ates,” said Sobies∏aw Pajàk,analyst at brokerage houseIDMSA. “This was partiallydue to transient factors suchas Euro 2012, which actuallysucked money out of the admarket,” he added.

Agora now plans a roundof layoffs as part of a cost-cutting exercise being car-ried out in response to thedeterioration of its operat-ing environment. The firm

plans to slash some 250 posi-tions by the end of January2013. Analysts say thesecuts, which account foraround 7 percent of thecompany’s workforce, couldbring savings of z∏.20 millionper year. “This is a step inthe right direction but it isdoubtful it will be enough[on its own],” said Mr Pajàk.

He added that economicuncertainty in WesternEurope is leading interna-tional firms with branches inPoland to cut advertisingbudgets across all of theirmarkets. “The feeble Polishad market performance willbe exacerbated in comingmonths,” he said.

GGaarreetthh PPrriiccee

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The newspaper ad market will shrink by 20 percent

this year, according to Agora

IT market

Asseco Business Solutions

reports drop in H1 sales, profitsMeanwhile, AssecoGroup’s president haswritten a letter ofcomplaint to the PM,claiming AssecoPoland has beendiscriminated against

Polish IT company AssecoBusiness Solutions releasedsharply lower annualizedfinancial results for the firsthalf of 2012. The company’ssales fell 13 percent year-on-year, from z∏.80.85 million toz∏.70.37 million, while netprofit dropped 26 percent,from z∏.15.52 million toz∏.11.46 million.

“The worse results are theeffect of last year’s highbenchmark,” Mariusz Lizon,a member of the board atAsseco Business Solutions,told reporters. “As a result ofchanges in VAT at the begin-ning of 2011, small firmsmassively modernized theirprograming.”

He added that the eco-

nomic slowdown has meantfewer companies are lookingto buy new IT systems.

Wojciech Barczentewicz,chairman of the board at thecompany, said the firm hadactually done relatively wellconsidering the downturn inthe IT market.

“Despite the downturn inthe market, Asseco BusinessSolutions has achieved goodfinancial results for H1 ofthis year,” Mr Barczentewiczsaid in the statement.

He added that the compa-ny has high liquidity, whichgives it financial stability andhas allowed it to pay highdividends. The companyeven has expansion plans.

“We are starting the inter-national expansion ofMobile Touch, the latest ver-sion of [Asseco’s] mobile sys-tem. We are starting theprocess of creating a foreignnetwork, responsible forsales and implementation ofthis product,” Mr Barczen-tewicz said.

Asseco discriminatedagainst?Earlier in August, AssecoGroup president AdamGóral wrote a letter to PrimeMinister Donald Tusk inwhich he complained thatAsseco Poland (one of sever-al companies in the group)was being discriminatedagainst. Asseco Polandrecently lost several majortenders involving companiescontrolled by the state. Itwasn’t chosen to implementits systems in state-ownedutility Enea, Bank Gospo-darstwa Krajowego and,most recently, in insurerPZU.

This amounted to dis-crimination against Asseco,Mr Góral argued in his letterto the prime minister.

“What we see makes usvery concerned. We areafraid that some of theseactions might be aimeddirectly against us,” MrGóral wrote.

IIzzaabbeellaa DDeeppcczzyykk

Advertising market

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AUGUST 20 – SEPTEMBER 2, 2012 FFIINNAANNCCEE && EECCOONNOOMMIICCSS www.wbj.pl 7

Economic growth

Poland to cut 2013 GDP target?As the euro crisisbites, the governmentmay have to adjust itsbudget assumptions

The government is consideringrevising its forecast for eco-nomic growth in 2013 downfrom its current assumption of2.9 percent to 2 percent oreven 1.5 percent, an economicadvisor for Prime MinisterTusk said in August.

Dariusz Filar, a formermember of the interest-ratesetting Monetary Policy Coun-cil and an economic advisor tothe prime minister, said thatwhile Poland faces “no risk ofrecession,” the governmentmay need to adjust its forecastfor growth next year, as theeuro zone’s debt crisis intensi-

fies and “recession spreadsacross the euro countries.”Eight euro-zone countries arecurrently in recession.

The chief economist atPoland’s Finance Ministry,Ludwik Kotecki, also said thatthe government may lower its2012 growth forecast at theend of August. In June, thegovernment approved a draftbudget for 2013 in which it wasassumed that economicgrowth would speed up from2.5 percent this year to 2.9 per-cent next year.

Meanwhile, Morgan Stan-ley wasn’t waiting to slash itsforecast for Poland’s economicgrowth next year. It nowbelieves the Polish economywill grow at a rate of 2.1 per-cent – a huge drop from the

previous forecast of 3.6 per-cent.

It also lowered its forecastfor this year from 2.7 percentto 2.6 percent.

“During the next two years,the Polish economy will growless than its potential because ofa tougher internal situation andincreased caution on the part ofhouseholds, companies andbanks,” Polish daily GazetaWyborcza quoted Morgan Stan-ley representatives as saying.

The bank explained itsdecision by a fall in Poland’sindustrial production for Q2 in2012, lower retail sales, carproduction data, the worsen-ing situation in the manufac-turing sector and a low growthin household credit.

AAnnddrreeww KKuurreetthh

S&P affirms Poland’s credit ratingsIn August ratings agency Stan-dard & Poor’s announced ithad affirmed Poland’s A-/A-2sovereign credit ratings forlong- and short-term foreigncurrency and its A/A-1 long-and short-term local currencyratings. The agency also heldits stable outlook on Poland’sratings.

Poland’s “commitment to

continued fiscal consolidationand its monetary flexibility,with its floating exchange rateenabling Poland’s resilienteconomy to adjust to externalshocks,” were behind the deci-sion, the agency said.

However, S&P also point-ed to more negative areas thatneed to be watched closely,including “Poland’s relatively

high levels of governmentdebt, comparatively low percapita GDP, and large externalfinancing needs.”

It added that the govern-ment now has less fiscal flexi-bility, since the country’s debt-to-GDP ratio has passed thelegal threshold of 50 percentsince 2010.

AAKK

SMEs have pessimistic outlookEntrepreneurs in small andmedium-sized enterprises(SMEs) expect the secondwave of the financial crisis to beworse than the first, accordingto a survey carried out by theemployers association PKPPLewiatan. In total, 1,500 SMEentrepreneurs were surveyed.

Fifty-nine percent of thosequestioned believe that the

current economic slowdownwill be worse than the 2008-2009 one. Only 11 percent ofthe respondents said the crisiswon’t be as deep as the previ-ous one while a paltry 4 per-cent believe the Polish econo-my won’t feel any slowdown.

“These opinions mean wecan expect certain attitudes inthe activities of entrepreneurs

in 2012 and in the next year,namely a significant weaken-ing of investment appetite anda decidedly limited inclinationto create new jobs in thosefirms which see a bigger crisiscoming than the previousone,” said Ma∏gorzata Star-czewska-Krzysztoszek, chiefeconomist at PKPP Lewiatan.

AAKK

Inflation falls to 4 percentPoland’s inflation rate came inat an annualized 4.0 percent inJuly, below expectations, butstill far above the interest-rate-setting Monetary Policy Coun-cil’s target of 2.5 percent. InJune, inflation was 4.3 percentyear-on-year. For July, themarket had expected an infla-tion rate of 4.1 percent. Asteep fall in food prices wasthe driver behind the lower-than-expected figures.

“Still, it seems that this isnot enough to encourage amajority of MPC members tocut interest rates this year,especially as CPI will remainclose to 4 percent (much abovetarget) until late autumn,” saidBZ WBK economists in an e-mailed comment following therelease of the figures. “Never-theless, a gradual easing of[the] Council’s stance will

probably be visible.”“Interest rate cuts cannot

be ruled out next year, espe-cially if [the] economic growthslowdown proves to be deeperthan previously expected,” thebank’s analysts added.

Data from the credit mar-ket, despite signals from anNBP study showing increasingdemand for loans, showed afurther deceleration of loans,especially in the household sec-tor, the analysts said. AAKK

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Coming back down? Poland's inflation rate, January 2011 to July 2012 (%)

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partner, but all of them arethe most important place forall the family members andall should be supported. Soin conducting policy I regardit as being the most impor-tant thing to give all familymodels equal treatment andrespect. Moreover I thinkthat many Poles, especiallyyoung Poles, respect the fam-ily in a little bit of an abstractway, without looking toomuch for formal arrange-ments.

There are divisions in the rul-ing Civic Platform (PO) partynot only towards ethical mat-ters, like in vitro fertilization,same-sex unions and conven-tions on bioethics. As a POMP you support the liberalproposal of MP Ma∏gorzataKidawa-B∏oƒska concerningin vitro procedures and you donot hide your liberalapproach to other ethicalmatters. Does this put you ina difficult situation within thegovernment?I do not consider my situationas being difficult. I am con-vinced that my views concern-ing many ethical mattersmatch the mainstream socialthinking. But there are groupsof people who have differentviews, so it is natural that thereis a need to debate those mat-ters and to base final decisionson solid arguments and not onconflict. I do not look at thesedebates as win-lose confronta-tions, because in my view win-ning as a result of creatingstrong conflict would meanthat the conflict would contin-ue after the bill has been intro-duced. So perhaps in contra-diction to my image as a fight-er, I believe in an evolutionarystrategy in approaching ethicalmatters. It is time-consumingand I am often frustrated thatsome matters take so long tobe dealt with, but finally I haveconcluded that sometimes ithas to be that way.

In politics patience is agreat virtue. Step by step, weare introducing importantchanges. In the previous termquite a lot of legislativechanges were introduced tocombat domestic violence.Now, for example, the offend-er has to leave the shared resi-dence – not the victim. There

is also a law forbidding thebeating of children and a lawagainst stalking, which alsocovers stalking on the internet.My office is currently prepar-ing documents for the ratifica-tion of a bio-ethical conven-tion which will soon be sent forapproval by the Council ofMinisters. The liberal projectconcerning in vitro fertilizationprepared by MP Ma∏gorzataKidawa-B∏oƒska reached itssecond reading in parliamen-tary commissions in the previ-

ous term and is now the basisfor an official Civic Platformproject which will be sent tothe speaker of the Sejm inSeptember.

Will the in vitro method befinanced from the state budget?None of the projects concern-ing in vitro that have been pre-sented in parliament deal withfinancing. This is because inPoland there has to be a sepa-rate bill for dealing withfinancing for medical proce-dures from public funds. … Wefirst have to pass a bill concern-ing in vitro which introducesthe medical monitoring andinspection necessary for ensur-ing the safety of patients, aswell as necessary standards forin vitro clinics and medical per-sonnel engaged in the proce-dure. Presently we have no reg-ulations concerning in vitro, nomonitoring and no refunds forthis innovative method of over-coming infertility. There is alsoa project in the Sejm by Lawand Justice (PiS) forbidding invitro, even including a penalty.There is still a long way to goand discussions will be tough.

What is the government’s atti-tude towards legislative initia-tives concerning registeredpartnerships?Projects have been presentedin the Sejm by the DemocraticLeft Alliance (SLD), Palikot’sMovement (RP) and PO’sparliamentary caucus. All ofthem concern the registrationof partnerships both for het-erosexual and homosexualcouples, but do not give same-sex couples the right to adoptchildren.

Various findings show thatwhile 70 percent of Poleswould support a bill for regis-tering heterosexual partner-

ships, only 25 percent wouldaccept unions between homo-sexuals. This is a picture of thepresent social mood. I thinkthat people’s attitudes canchange, but it is a long process.So maybe now we need alonger discussion about thebill on registered partnerships,stressing the legal benefits forthose concerned.

Your office’s project for“equal treatment as the stan-dard of good governance” isbeing deliberated in theChancellery of the PrimeMinister. These are finewords, but how will they lookin practice?Neither in practice nor at thelegislative level have wereached standards of equaltreatment which fully satisfy us.In the framework of the proj-ect, studies have been conduct-ed about Poles’ attitudestowards various minoritygroups. And the findings showthat Poland is changing, isbecoming more open, but theyalso point to a hierarchy of per-ception among Poles towardsvarious minorities. For instancethey show towards whichgroups Poles keep the biggestdistance. In first place are thevarious sexual minorities andthose who are mentally ill. Inanother study … the answersshow that the worst discrimina-tion is against the mentally ill,next comes sexual minoritiesand disabled people.

These are findings whichallow us to draw a concreteconclusion in shaping statepolicy in the domain of equaltreatment, and we are nowpreparing a document whichwould act as a basis for minis-ters’ actions.

Have there been studies con-ducted about Poles’ attitudestowards other nationalities?Yes, they show that the biggestprejudices are held towardsthe Roma people, with 40-50percent of Poles declaring this,which is less than a few yearsago when it was 70 percent. Insecond place were Arabs,while other ethnicities were indistant places.

You are now involved in a bat-tle for Poland to ratify theCouncil of Europe conventionfor preventing and combatingviolence against women anddomestic violence. How do yousee that situation?I would not describe the situa-tion as a battle, it is a con-frontation of opinions concern-ing the interpretation of thatconvention. At the start of dis-

AUGUST 20 – SEPTEMBER 2, 20128 www.wbj.pl IINNTTEERRVVIIEEWW

Social equality

PPoollaanndd’’ss lloonngg rrooaaddttoowwaarrddss eeqquuaall ttrreeaattmmeenntt

Ewa Boniecka: Some sociolo-gists claim that Polish societyas a whole holds conservativeviews on ethical problems andthe role of family. Moreover,reports show that it is alsoprone to prejudice towardsvarious minorities. How doesthis influence the govern-ment’s policy for equal treat-ment?Agnieszka Koz∏owska-Rajew-icz: It is much more complexthan could be perceived. Polesin principle support equaltreatment, while in some mat-ters they are conservative, inothers liberal. So in my viewthere are no strict rules fordefining conservative and lib-eral attitudes towards all mat-ters. And when we look at ourpolitical parties, we see thattheir rightist and leftist ele-ments are mixed in their atti-tudes towards various prob-lems.

So, for instance, while onegroup of Poles supports thetraditional model of family,where the woman takes care ofthe home and children and theman provides the means for it,there are Poles who acceptand live in different models offamily – most of them in thesustainable, partner modelwhere both partners are activeat home and at work.

The family structure ischanging and now that menare entitled to take 14 daysleave after the birth of a child,there is more acceptance forwomen who return to workjust after maternity leave andfor men who engage in caringfor the child. This is very goodfor children, who have morepossibilities for staying in con-tact with both parents.

There are also familieswith only one parent, after adivorce or the death of one

Agnieszka Koz∏owska-Rajewicz, the governmentplenipotentiary for equal treatment, discussesthe difficulties of changing minds about issuesof equality

“I think that many Poles, especially youngPoles, respect the family in a little bit of anabstract way, without looking too much for

formal arrangements”

Glass ceiling

intactWomen who aim to

advance to top

management positions in

the private sector still

face significant barriers,

according to experts at

the Boston Consulting

Group. It is in rich

countries where women

come across the most

barriers, the report

shows. According to

Boston Consulting Group

data, while globally

women occupy an

average of 21% of all

managerial positions, in

BRIC countries the figure

rises to 26%, and to 32%

in Southeast Asia,

compared to only 13% in

Germany, 17% in the US

and 5% in Japan. “The

biggest problem is

balancing work and

family life,” said

Aleksandra Sroka, project

manager at Boston

Consulting Group. The

problem also concerns

Poland, where although

the proportion of female

managers (30%) is quite

high, there are not many

at the very top. “They are

assigned to certain

departments like

accounting or HR, with

men dominating the top

managerial positions,”

said Ms Sroka. ●

The 34th Polish National ArabianHorse Auction drew buyers fromaround the world

The Arabian Horse Days is an annual eventdedicated to Polish purebred Arabian horses.The event, organized by the Polturf Companyon behalf of Polish state-owned studs inJanów Podlaski, Micha∏ów and Bia∏ka, is heldin honor of the Polish Arabian Horse Breedingprogram.

Arabian Horse Days comprises two parts– the Polish National Arabian Horse Show,organized annually since 1979, and the Prideof Poland Arabian Horse Auction (since 1970).The latter took place over consecutive daysearlier in August at the Janów Podlaski Stud,drawing buyers from across the globe.

The star of the auction was an eight-year-old mare, Eyrene, who was purchased by abuyer from the United Arab Emirates for€440,000.

The second most expensive horse at this

year’s event was a nine-year-old mare by thename of Etnologia, bought by Shirley Watts,the wife of Rolling Stones drummer CharlesWatts, for €370,000.

Overall the event saw the sale of 19mares, bringing in a total of €1.325 million.

To date, the biggest sale so far has beenof a horse named Kwestura, for which abuyer from the United Arab Emirates shelledout €1.25 million in 2008.

During the Arabian Horse Days, the atten-tion of horse breeders and owners from allover the world is focused on Janów PodlaskiStud, which is proud of its long tradition. Ithas been operational since 1817 and despitethe ravages of war, it has become one of themost highly regarded on the internationalscene.

The event combines elements of Polishhistory and tradition with cultural heritage andbrings together people from the political,business as well as cultural scenes. ●

Arabian Horse Days Poland 2012

Media patronage

AUGUST 20 – SEPTEMBER 2, 2012 IINNTTEERRVVIIEEWW www.wbj.pl 9

cussions, I thought that thewhole content of the documentwas clear and not controversialin its aim of protecting womenagainst violence. However,some politicians did not sharemy view and a heated discus-sion has developed concerninggender perspectives and gen-der-related aspects of violence… for some of my colleagues[the convention] was a sourceof doubt and a threat to the“traditional Polish family.” Sowe had a discussion about themeaning and interpretation oftwo or three provisions in theconvention, but I am sure wewill find a lot more problemsduring further, more detaileddiscussions.

Among the opponents of theconvention is Minister of Jus-tice Jaros∏aw Gowin, whoargues that it would have anegative impact on the role ofwomen in the family. Mean-while Prime Minister DonaldTusk said recently that thegovernment will not speed upthe process of signing and rat-ifying the convention. Do youexpect a deadlock over thismatter?No, but at the same time I can-not imagine a situation in

which this important conven-tion, which sets standards forthe protection of victims ofdomestic violence, will berushed through parliament byforce, because it is notrequired. So I agree with theprime minister when he sayswe need more time for discus-sion, in order to deal with theuneasiness that has developedover the convention.

I think that after the ongo-ing preliminary discussion ingovernment, we will have atour disposal a number ofdetailed reports from variousministers. This will provide uswith a matter-of-fact approachtowards all parts of the con-vention, including its legal andfinancial aspects. Subsequentdiscussion would then bebased on more concrete issues,and this would be the basis ofthe government’s decisionabout signing the convention.

Why do you think that signingthe convention is so impor-tant?It is a political gesture whichwould show Poland’s intentionto fight violence againstwomen. It would also demon-strate solidarity with othercountries in fulfilling stan-

dards in this area. Signatorycountries would later have toreport to the Council ofEurope about how the con-vention is being implemented,and in so doing would sharetheir experiences and motivateone another to continue to actin the spirit of the convention.

Another aspect is thatsigning the convention wouldhelp us carry out activities toprotect victims of violence. Iwant to underline thoughthat many such activities arealready ongoing, and even ifwe don’t sign the convention,we would still carry on withthem.

But from my perspectiveand from the perspective ofmy office, I am convincedthat it would be good to signthe convention because itwould strengthen our poli-cies for combating domesticviolence and ensure protec-tion for its victims, who areusually women. We lack agender perspective in gov-ernment policy for combat-ing domestic violence. Weneed such a perspective tosuccessfully prevent violenceagainst women, and the con-vention would be very helpfulin this cause. ●

CO

UR

TE

SY O

F T

HE

OF

FIC

E O

F T

HE

GO

VE

RN

ME

NT

PL

EN

IPO

TE

NT

IAR

Y F

OR

EQ

UA

L T

RE

AT

ME

NT

Ms Koz∏owska-Rajewicz says Poland can do much more to encourage equal treat-

ment of minorities

“We lack a gender perspective ingovernment policy for combating

domestic violence”

AUGUST 20 – SEPTEMBER 2, 201210 www.wbj.pl LLAAWW

Contact: Miros∏aw Stefanik

ms@pnplaw.pl

Legal News

BROUGHT TO YOU BY PETER NIELSEN & PARTNERS LAW OFFICE

Fewer burdens for newly registered businessesOn August 14, the government accepted a draftact concerning changes to the Labor Code, aswell as several other acts. The draft will soon bepresented to parliament for discussion. The pur-pose of the changes is to shorten the timenewly registered firms need to wait before theycan commence business activities, as well as tolimit several requirements that have hitherto bur-dened employers.

Among other things the draft act stipulatesthat the amount of time it takes to issue a newbusiness with a confirmation that its NIP (TaxIdentification Number) has been issued, bereduced from 14 days to three days. Moreover,employers are to be released from the obliga-tion of informing the National Labor Inspectorateand National Sanitary Inspectorate about theplace, type and scope of their business activi-ties.

According to the World Bank this meansthat the number of procedures businessesneed to complete in order to register a busi-ness entity will be decreased by a third (2 outof 6 procedures will be eliminated). The newregulations are to become binding 14 daysfrom the date of their publication in the Jour-nal of Laws.

Company administration in theevent of ‘defective’ managementIn accordance with a recent ordinance of theSupreme Court (III CZP 40/12), when a companyis run by a management board whose member-ship is smaller than is required under the articlesof association or the company’s statutes, acourt (art. 42 § 1 of the civil code) may appointan administrator for that entity to carry out itsactivities and represent it externally.

When a management board is too small, it istermed “defective,” meaning it may not adopteffective resolutions on the company’s behalf.An administrator for such a company is appoint-ed by a registry court, located in the district inwhich the company is, or was last, registered.

Mortgages established by bankrupt entities In accordance with a resolution of theSupreme Court of August 8, 2012 (III CZP42/12), a bankrupt entity who has granted awarranty and secured performance of thatobligation by establishing a mortgage within ayear prior to the date it filed for bankruptcy, isa personal debtor to the secured creditor with-in the meaning of art. 130 item 1 of the act ofFebruary 28, 2003 – Bankruptcy and Reorgani-zation Law. ●

Pawe∏ Sterna Attorney at law

National Court Register available at the click of a mouse

Legal Forum

Everyone who does business inPoland understands the impor-tance of the country’s various reg-isters, including the National CourtRegister, in which legal entitiessuch as companies, foundationsand associations are registered.

The task of the National CourtRegister is to provide universalaccess to information regardingthe legal status of a registeredentity, the most important ele-ments of its financial situation andits representation rules. TheNational Court Register allows formembers of the public to obtaininformation about each business,which is obliged to be entered intothe National Court Register in theform of an excerpt, extract, or cer-tificate.

Technology enters intoregistersUntil July this year, it was neces-sary to visit an office operating atselected district courts throughoutthe country in order to obtain anexcerpt from the register. Now it ismuch easier, thanks to new regu-lations and the development of

the National Court Register’s elec-tronic network. It is now possibleto generate and print all docu-ments which, in terms of bothcontent and legal effect, corre-spond to the “traditional” docu-ments – all free of charge on theinternet.

It should be emphasized thatthe possibility to download andprint information correspondingto the current excerpts canmake doing business signifi-cantly easier. Such a self-printeddocument can be used in deal-ing with other entrepreneurs,courts and offices whenever thecurrent excerpt from the Nation-al Court Register is needed.There are plenty of situationswhen having a current excerpt isa must. For example, it isrequired in every proceedingbefore the court and otherauthorities, as well as in everypublic procurement procedure(tender). Access to the NationalCourt Register via the internet isalso useful when you need toget basic information about apotential business partner.

Step-by-step instructionTo find information about the entityyou are interested in, you shouldvisit the website of the Ministry ofJustice (ems.ms.gov.pl) and clickon “Wyszukaj Podmiot” (“Find Enti-ty”). You can search for entities byentering various criteria, such asthe National Court Register num-ber or tax identification number(NIP), statistical record-keepingnumber (REGON) or data such asname, voivodship (województwo),county (powiat), etc. All of the datacan be obtained by clicking on“Pobierz wydruk” (“Downloadprintout”). This produces all theinformation corresponding to thecurrent excerpt from the selectedregister.

Legal forceDownloaded printouts have legalforce identical to paper docu-ments issued by National CourtRegister offices, provided theyhave been produced with verifica-tion enabled.

Such verification is possiblebecause each printout has aunique identification number, and

after entering it in the appropriatebox on the website the particularprintout is verified.

The printout contains: (i) theMinistry of Justice web address,(ii) a graphic form compatible withMinistry of Justice regulations and(iii) an identification number. Thesefeatures make the printout an offi-cial document, although there isno official National Court Registerseal on them.

In summary, thanks to new reg-ulations, downloaded printoutsare equal in rank with the docu-ments issued on paper by theappropriate offices.

E-mail disclosureIt is also worth mentioning that itis now possible to disclose thewebsite address and e-mailaddress in the register. Disclosureof these addresses – enabling fastcontact with a particular entity –will be made only at the request ofthe given entity. Disclosing suchdata in the register seems desir-able, as it is common practice inbusiness to maintain contactswith the authorities or business

partners via e-mail. Such a possi-bility will undoubtedly improvebusiness communication.

Changes will spread toother registersIt is worth noting that the Polishgovernment is already working ona similar amendments to the Acton the Land and Mortgage Regis-ter (Ksi´gi Wieczyste).

The legislation should enableeasier and faster access to thepublic land register via the inter-net. Today it is possible only toview the land and mortgage regis-ter on the web, but thanks to newregulations it will be easy to obtaindocuments like excerpts andextracts. It will be possible to printdownloaded documents that willhave legal force equal to officialdocuments issued by offices ofthe Land and Mortgage Register.However, users will have to pay afee in order to generate and down-load the information from theLand and Mortgage Register. It isexpected that these electronicexcerpts will be available fromJanuary 1, 2014. ●

Legal Forum is a paid-for module which gives law firms in Poland an opportunity to discuss and inform readers about important developments in the market. The content is created in consultation with Warsaw Business Journal's editorial staff.

DAILY EXECUTIVE DIGEST

S i g n u p f o r a 2 - w e e k f r e e - t r i a l ! www.po l andam .p lG e r m a n v e r s i o n : www.po l enammorgen . p l

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Have the most valuable news delivered to your inbox each weekday morning.

AUGUST 20 – SEPTEMBER 2, 2012 OOPPIINNIIOONN && AANNAALLYYSSIISS www.wbj.pl 11

In an August 6, 2012 interviewin the Polish weekly Wprost,President Bronis∏aw Komo-

rowski stated that Poland is preparedto create its own anti-aircraft and mis-sile defense system as part of a NATOshield. While some saw the statementas a rejection of US President BarackObama’s proposed missile defensesystem, others viewed it as a sign ofPoland’s weakening military alliancewith the United States. Both argu-ments are misleading.

The missile and air defense systemproposed by the Polish president isqualitatively different than the Amer-ican Missile Defense System (MD),

scheduled for deployment by 2018.The proposed Polish system wouldtarget short- and medium-range mis-siles from the near abroad, while theAmerican MD shield would be capa-ble of shooting down long range bal-listic missiles originating from rougestates such as Iran. The Polish MDsystem is to be part of the NATO MDshield and would be an expansion ofPoland’s contribution to the Alliance,rather than creating a competing sys-tem, as some suggest.

American “boots on the ground”The history of the American MDshield in Poland is long, complicated,and full of emotions. After years ofdifficult negotiations between Polandand the US, and amid adamantobjections from Russia, Polandaccepted the Bush administration’sMD program on August 20, 2008.Earlier that year, the Polish govern-ment vigorously debated whether toaccept the proposal of an outgoingBush administration, which promisedto complete the MD base in Polandby 2011, or whether to wait for thenext US president to be elected thefollowing November.

Even before the US presidentialelections, the Polish side made robustefforts to understand the Democraticposition on the MD system, shouldMr Obama become president. Thefinal factor that convinced the Polishgovernment to go ahead with theBush MD program was the August2008 Russia-Georgia war, whichproved that state-on-state violence inEurope was still possible. The timingof this decision demonstrated therationale for American MD forPoland.

The value of the American shieldfor Poland is not only its capacity toshoot down ballistic missiles, but alsothe presence of American “boots onthe ground” that would serve as apowerful deterrent for any potentialaggressor. The Polish government’sdecision in the fall of 2008 was a gam-ble. By accepting the American proj-ect, Poland immediately paid the

political price of strong Russianopposition without yet having anAmerican base installed, and the USpresidential elections further con-tributed to this uncertainty.

After Barack Obama’s victory inthe 2008 election, his administrationinitiated a review of several Bushadministration decisions, includingthe MD program. Consequently, onSeptember 17, 2009, PresidentObama called Polish Prime MinisterTusk to inform him that plans toimplement the MD system would bemodified. The administration pro-posed a new, reformulated projectthat would entail smaller, mobile SM-3 interceptors to be stationed inPoland by 2018.

This sudden shift in the US policywas badly received in Poland. First,the change in the program came as anannouncement without prior consul-tations. Second, the Obama MD sys-tem plans for the Polish based instal-lation to be completed by 2018, muchlater than the Bush plan, which addsuncertainty to the entire project. Andthird, the call from President Obamacame on the anniversary of Russia’sattack on Poland at the start of WorldWar II, adding unfortunate and nega-tive symbolism to the announcement.The abrupt shift in American policyhas raised doubts of the US commit-ment to Poland.

Complimentary, not competingPresident Komorowski’s commentsthat the “mistake was that by accept-ing the American offer of a shield we

failed to take into account the politi-cal risk associated with a change ofpresident. We paid a high politicalprice,” referred directly to the gam-ble Poland took in 2008 near thechange in the US administration.

Unfortunately, his statement hasbeen largely misinterpreted. Depict-ing Poland as “betrayed and aban-doned,” as The Telegraph did, andcharacterizing the deployment ofAmerican MD in Poland as a mistakepaints an inaccurate picture. The fol-lowing day the head of the PolishNational Security Bureau, Stanis∏awKoziej, reasserted that PresidentKomorowski sees the American MDproject as a “necessary and importantpart of a NATO wide missile defensesystem.”

He also stated that prioritizinganti-aircraft and missile defense ispart of a new strategic directionagreed by the Minister of Defenseand the top military commander.Last year, they reflected an under-standing among the Polish militarystaff that to be effective in contempo-rary conflicts, the army needs a well-functioning short- and mid-rangeMD shield. After all, Russia hasalready threatened to deploy itsIskanders missiles in the Kaliningradoblast (which borders Poland) laterthis year.

Mr Komorowski’s call for the cre-ation of Polish missile defense is notabout Polish-American relations, butabout the future of Poland’s security.Poland needs stronger anti-aircraftand short- and medium-range missiledefenses independent of any pro-

posed American MD system. Thetwo systems are complimentary, notcompeting.

The announcement reflects anincreasing confidence and affluenceof a country that is increasingly ableto rely on its own strength for its secu-rity. Furthermore, prioritizing missiledefense reveals the Polish govern-ment’s growing focus on the primacyof territorial defense over expedi-tionary capabilities.

The Polish MD system is to befinanced from the savings of windingdown the war in Afghanistan, andfrom the growth of military budgetover the coming years related toPoland’s economic growth (Polishlaw mandates that 1.95 percent ofGDP is spent on defense). Accordingto initial estimates, it would be a pricyprogram, costing z∏.8 billion to z∏.15billion over the next 10 years.

Such costs would lower Poland’sappetite and ability to take part inexpensive expeditionary missions.But with its increased focus on itsown territory, don’t expect Poland toeagerly step up, as it did in Iraq andAfghanistan, if another hot spot boilsover somewhere else in the world. ●

Micha∏ Baranowski is a seniorprogram officer with the GermanMarshall Fund’s Foreign Policy &

Civil Society program and Jacob Fore-man is an intern at the German Mar-

shall Fund‘s Warsaw Office.

Copyright: German Marshall Fundof the United States.

gmfus.org

“Prioritizing missiledefense reveals thePolish government’sgrowing focus on theprimacy of territorialdefense”

PPoolliisshh mmiissssiillee ddeeffeennssee ppllaannppuuttss PPoollaanndd ffiirrsstt

Micha∏ Baranowski & Jacob Foreman

CO-MANAGING EDITORGARETH PRICE(GPRICE@WBJ.PL)

CO-MANAGING EDITORALICE TRUDELLE(ATRUDELLE@WBJ.PL)

POLITICS EDITORREMI ADEKOYA(RADEKOYA@WBJ.PL)

REAL ESTATE EDITORADAM ZDRODOWSKI(AZDRODOWSKI@WBJ.PL)

SPORTS & LIFESTYLE EDITORDAVID INGHAM(DINGHAM@WBJ.PL)

JOURNALISTIZABELA DEPCZYK

CONTRIBUTORSE. BLAKE BERRYEWA BONIECKA

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INTERNANTHONY ADAMS

PRODUCTION MANAGERPIOTR WYSKOK

GRAPHIC DESIGNER¸UKASZ MAZUREK

MARKETING &SALES

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PR & MARKETING SPECIALIST NATALIA ROGACZEWSKA(NROGACZEWSKA@WBJ.PL)

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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.

AUGUST 20 – SEPTEMBER 2, 2012SSPPEECCIIAALL RREEPPOORRTT12 www.wbj.pl

Shadow banking

Parabanks: a financial blind spotThe Amber Golddebacle has put thespotlight on anunregulated part ofthe financial marketthat the Polishgovernment has failedto monitor

The spectacular demise oflender Amber Gold, whichannounced on August 13 thatit was undergoing liquidation,has put Poland’s “parabanks”at the center of media andpublic attention.

These firms, which conductcredit and investment activi-ties outside the regular bank-ing system, have grown theworld over in recent years.Parabanks have thrived on theeffects of the global financialcrisis, which have pushedbanks to tighten their con-sumer lending policies, thusmaking it difficult for many toget new loans. Lower revenuesand job losses have also madeit difficult for an increasingnumber of people to continuepaying installments on theirexisting bank loans.

Although they operate out-side of the Polish FinancialSupervision Authority’s (KNF)regulatory control, for themost part, Polish parabanks

conduct their operations legal-ly. This means that fundsdeposited in such institutionsare not subject to the guaran-tee of the Bank GuaranteeFund; the risk is borne entirelyby clients.

From the KNF’s point of

view, problems arise whenparabanks start offering cashdeposits, a criminal activity inPoland for any other entitythan banks and credit unions.However, the legitimacy of theshadow banking sector’s busi-ness model, which mostly

involves fast-cash loans andsometimes high-return, non-cash investments such as pre-cious-metals derivatives, is notin question.

The overall weight of thePolish shadow banking systemis still relatively small. But it

will be difficult to monitor itsgrowth if the government con-tinues to fail to collect the rel-evant information. And whileregulators and analysts seemadverse to more regulation,one thing is clear: too manyPoles do not understand thatthe growing number of finan-cial products on offer alsocome with various levels ofrisk.

While it seems reasonableto let the individuals them-selves rather than regulatorsdecide where they shouldinvest their money, years ofcommunist rule mean that alarge portion of older Poleshave a knowledge of the finan-cial market that’s much lowerthan their Western Europeanpeers, experts say.

So Poland should be espe-cially keen on monitoringparabanks and educating itscitizens. It has so far failed onboth accounts.

Growing under theradarIt is nothing new for business-es to loan small sums at highinterest to those who needmoney fast but are short onoptions. In Poland, parabanksappeared with the economictransformation after 1989,when the consumer bankingsegment was still poorly devel-oped, and have since keptgrowing as demand for loansincreased.

Particularly in the fast-loansegment, which is more devel-oped than the investment side,parabanks target older people,who are looking for smallloans, and for whom going tothe bank is either difficult orintimidating. “With para-banks, they can just call and arepresentative will visit themat home,” explains MarcinMaterna, head of MillenniumDom Maklerski’s analysisdepartment.

Another client base forparabanks are people with abad credit history. “Many ofthese firms advertise directlythat they don’t check clients’credit history. Instead theytreat all their customers ashigh-risk clients and chargevery high interest,” explainedMicha∏ Dubno, strategy direc-tor in the financial institutionssector at firm Deloitte.

Indeed, since 2006 theNational Bank of Poland hasset a maximum interest rate atwhich banks can grant con-

SH

UT

TE

RS

TO

CK

Regulators and analysts say that more education, not more legislation, is needed to

protect Polas against the potential risks of choosing parabanks over regular banks

for managing their money

What’s legal, what’s not

In the wake of the Amber Gold scandal,some voices have argued that the para-banks sector should be better regulated.But both analysts and regulators seem tothink that’s not the way to go.

“There are two types of parabanks:First, there are firms that offer loansfinanced from their own resources,which is legal. Then there are firms likeAmber Gold, that take cash deposits.That’s not legal, and when we hear aboutsuch cases we inform the public prosecu-tor’s office,” explained ¸ukasz Dajnow-icz, spokesperson at the KNF.

“There are talks about regulating thesecond kind. It doesn’t make any sense.It’s like regulating drug dealers. Thestate should not allow it. It’s a questionof prosecution,” he added.

Mr Dajnowicz says the KNF informedthe prosecutor’s office and issued a publicwarning against Amber Gold as early asthe end of 2009. “Why Amber Gold wasallowed to operate for so long is a goodquestion, but one for the prosecutor. Ittook only a few weeks between themoment when we received informationfrom the market about Amber Gold andwhen we expressed our concern. There is

no need for further regulation, and I thinkthe prosecutor’s office has all the neces-sary tools to do its job,” he said.

The KNF’s public warning list nownames 16 institutions, including AmberGold.

“At the end of the day there will alwaysbe new business models ready to exploitgaps in the law. That happens in devel-oped countries, as the Madoff examplemakes clear,” said Micha∏ Dubno, head ofthe financial institutions sector at firmDeloitte. “But it’s the customer whoshould decide if they invest money in highor low risk ventures, not the regulator.”

One aspect of shadow banking thathas attracted a lot of attention is the inter-est rates and the return on investmentthey are offering, both much higher thanthat of banks.

A firm offering higher return on invest-ment than a bank is not necessarily the signthat something wrong is afoot, according toMarcin Materna, head of MillenniumDom Maklerski’s analysis department.“Some firms can afford it. Bonds from debtcollecting firm Kruk, for example, reachreturns of around 9 percent. The yields onPolkomtel bonds was 12.5 percent, in euro.Mr Solorz-˚ak could live with that. [Polishbillionaire Zygmunt Solorz-˚ak acquiredownership of mobile operator Polkomtel inNovember 2010 for z∏.15.1 billion] Whatpeople sometimes fail to realize is thathigher interest means higher risk.”

The investment segment of parabanksis believed to be much smaller and lesspopular than the loans segment. And inthe loans segment, the risk for customersis much lower. “Because the amount ofmoney borrowed is generally small, themonthly difference with a bank loan ismaybe z∏.20. In the end customers pay alittle more in terms of z∏otys, while thefirm takes a huge risk. For firms like Prov-ident, a well-established fast-loan compa-ny, non-repayed loans in their portfolioreach much higher proportions than inregular banks,” explained Mr Materna. ●

“[Regulating parabanks thatillegally take cash deposits]doesn’t make any sense. It’slike regulating drug dealers.”

Prudential to

re-enter

Poland

UK-based multinational

insurance and financial

services company

Prudential is set to

launch a business in

Poland as it looks to

expand outside its core

markets of the UK, US

and east Asia, reported

The Financial Times. The

insurer was already

operating in the country

before WWII, but its

assets were seized by

Nazi occupying

authorities following the

invasion of Poland in

1939. Now it wants to

come back to start life-

insurance operations,

and is awaiting the go-

ahead from Polish

regulators.

Brokerages

face system

changeRepresentatives of Polish

brokerage houses are

concerned that the

implementation of the

new Universal Trading

Platform (UTP)

transaction system at the

Warsaw Stock Exchange

will significantly increase

their operating costs. The

new system, which

should launch on

November 2, is already

giving brokers a lot of

extra work, since they

have to change their IT

systems. According to

analysts, changing to the

UTP system will

eventually lead to an

increase in sales on the

WSE.

EU banking

union plan due

in SeptemberThe European Union will

reveal details of its plans

for a banking union

around September 11,

Bloomberg reported,

citing an unnamed

European Union official.

The plan will reportedly

include a proposal to give

the European Central

Bank centralized

oversight of the euro

area. The plans also will

lay out the role of the

European Banking

Authority as the banking

union develops and how

the EBA will work with

the 10 EU nations that

don’t use the euro, the

news service said.

According to the official,

the ECB prefers an option

under which it would be

the sole representative of

the 17 euro-zone

countries at EBA

meetings. ●

Alice Trudelle

AUGUST 20 – SEPTEMBER 2, 2012 SSPPEECCIIAALL RREEPPOORRTT www.wbj.pl 13

sumer loans. This rate hoversaround 25 percent (it’s re-eval-uated by the central bank eachmonth). While it was imple-mented to protect borrowersfrom excessive interestcharges, in practice it oftenmeans that granting loan to“risky” clients simply doesn’tmake business sense for banks,explained Mr Dubno.

The NBP notes that since2010, the shadow banking sec-tor has seen a renewed push.That year the KNF issued itsRecommendation T, whichtightened the rules for credit-worthiness appraisal of indi-viduals and thereby limitedaccess to consumer and mort-gage loans provided by banks.As the availability of bankloans dropped, clients moved

to lending firms operating out-side of the KNF-regulatedmarket.

The global slowdown andthe European financial crisishave also meant that morecustomers face problems withrepaying existing bank loansand take out loans from para-banks to cover those pay-ments, explained Mr Dubno.

The international FinancialStability Board (FSB) esti-mates that the global shadowbanking system was wortharound €46 trillion in 2010, upfrom €21 trillion in 2002. Thisrepresents 25 to 30 percent ofthe total financial system, andhalf the size of bank assets.

In Europe, that proportiontends to be lower. For exam-ple, the FSB estimates para-

banks’ assets make up 13 per-cent of the UK’s financial sys-tem, and 5 percent in Ger-many, compared to an esti-mated 35 to 40 percent in theUnited States. But while theproportion has been fallingelsewhere, including in theUS, Europe has seen its shad-ow banking sector grow. Thisprompted the European Com-mission to release a greenpaper on shadow banking inMarch 2012, which it is nowusing to look into potentialnew legislation.

No official estimates areavailable for Poland, becauseno institution is tasked withmonitoring these firms. Nei-ther the KNF, the NationalBank of Poland nor the Min-istry of Finance was able toassess the size of the sector,when asked by WBJ. No regis-

ter of such firms exists. Analysts from Deloitte

have estimated that the valueof Polish financial institutionsthat are not subject to KNFsupervision is around z∏.2 bil-lion.

“That’s still very small; itrepresents about 0.4 percentof the financial sector’s totalassets,” said Mr Dubno. “But

it is a good time to raise thisissue, and I am very happy it isgetting attention in themedia.”

Education neededThe 50,000 clients to whomAmber Gold still owed about$24 million as WBJ went topress might beg to differ, buton the whole, relatively fewPoles have made risky invest-ments in parabanks so far. Onthe other hand, there does notseem to be much of a push toprevent the larger number ofindividuals who are contract-ing low-value, short-term, highinterest-bearing loans fromparabanks from doing so.

But there is an obviousneed to educate the Polishpublic so that more peoplemake enlightened choiceswhen it comes to managing

their money. The NBP admitsthat the quality of consumerloans saw strong deteriorationbetween 2009 and 2011, andestimates that the percentageof defaulted fast loans in totalloans is now “very high.” Thismight not pose a threat to thestability of the Polish bankingsystem, but it may have serioussocial consequences, the NBP

said in a report on the matter.“The education of cus-

tomers in terms of financialproducts is crucial. It’s the keyto solving these problems. Sofar the government has notdone very well in this respect,”said Mr Dubno. “Surveys showthat Poles express the samelevel of confidence in banks,parabanks and credit unions.It means they don’t know whatthe difference is.”

And while privately-ownedbanks do not bear the sameresponsibilities as the govern-ment regarding Poles’ finan-cial education, they can alsoplay an important role in thatrespect. Moreover, doing soshould make business sensefor them. “I am extremely sur-prised that banks haven’tinvested in a constant cam-paign of information. If theyspend a lot of money to ensurethey are safe, they shouldadvertise it,” said Mr Dubno.

It seems the Amber Goldscandal has at least promptedthe government to take someaction. The Ministry ofFinance said in an emailedstatement that an analysis ofthe parabanks sector was inthe works. The KNF, NBP,Finance Ministry and policeare all set to participate in apublic awareness campaigntargeting parabank’s potentialclients. However, neither theNBP not the KNF could pro-vide details as WBJ went topress. ●

“The education of customers is the key tosolving these problems. So far the

government has not done very well”

Shadow banking

The NBP describes the shadow banking system as the enti-ties operating outside the regular banking system engaged inone of the following activities:

• Accepting funding with deposit-like characteristics• Performing maturity and/or liquidity transformation• Undergoing credit risk transfer• Using direct or indirect financial leverage

The specific nature of the Polish financial system showsthat some areas defined as shadow banking by the EuropeanCommission are not developed in Poland, such as securitieslending and securitization. However, some entities can besingled out that, from the economic perspective, offer thesame or similar services to those offered by banks. They arefirms extending loans with their own funds, and entitiesaccepting funds and extending loans. ●

Z∏oty apprecia-

tion ‘illogical’While in an economic

slowdown there is

usually risk-aversion

towards emerging

markets, at the beginning

of August, the Polish

currency rose to its

strongest level in a year.

“There is no logical

justification for the z∏oty’s

appreciation just as there

is no justification for the

fact that other emerging

markets like Mexico,

South Africa and Turkey

have also seen huge

foreign capital inflows

and an appreciation of

their currency,” said

Przemys∏aw Kwiecieƒ,

chief economist at

X-Trade Brokers.

Rough H1 for

brokerages

BRE Bank, which runs the

largest number of

brokerage accounts in

Poland, made a gross

profit of z∏.10.1 million in

H1 2012, compared to

z∏.16.6 million a year ago.

Profits of CDM Pekao

reached z∏.12.8 million,

some 50% less than in H1

2011. Due to the current

financial turmoil, this

trend is unlikely to change

soon, analysts say. ●

LLOOKKAALLEE IIMMMMOOBBIILLIIAAW 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 l y s u p p l e m e n t o n r e 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 AUG 20 – SEP 2, 2012, LI 17/33-34

Bouygues

builds La

Cascade

in WarsawDeveloper Bouygues

Immobilier Polska has

launched construction

on its La Cascade

multifamily residential

project in Warsaw.

Construction company

PBM Po∏udnie is the

general contractor of

the investment. Located

on ul. Bogus∏awskiego in

the capital’s Bielany

district and scheduled to

be completed in 2013,

the 13-storey La

Cascade project will

comprise 109

apartments whose

prices start at z∏.6,150

per sqm.

Robyg gets

City

Apartments

permit

WSE-listed developer

Robyg has obtained a

building permit for the

fourth phase of its City

Apartments multifamily

residential project in

Warsaw. Construction

on this phase of the

investment, which will

deliver 215 apartments,

is scheduled to finish in

March 2014. The City

Apartments

development is located

on ul. Rydygiera in the

capital’s ˚oliborz

district. It has been

under construction

since 2007 and will

comprise a total of

1,300 housing units

when completed. ●

WFC sale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15

Poczta Polska land . . . . . . . . . .15

Galeria Mokotów extension . .16

Dekada Kraków . . . . . . . . . . . . .16

Atrium Felicity . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16

Kungslegen properties . . . . . . .16

Residential design &

innovation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18

In this issue

1816

Warsaw’s Galeria Mokotówwill see a 5,000-sqm expansion

What are the latest trends in residential design and innovationin Poland?

Office

WWaarrssaaww FFiinnaanncciiaall CCeenntteerr bbuuiillddiinnggssoolldd ffoorr €€221100 mmiilllliioonnAllianz Real Estateand Tristan CapitalPartners acquire oneof Poland’s signatureoffice high-risesA joint venture of Allianz RealEstate and an investment fundmanaged by Tristan CapitalPartners has aquired WarsawFinancial Center, one of thesignature high-rise buildings inWarsaw’s Central BusinessDistrict, for €210 million.

The sellers were CA Immo and Pramerica Real EstateInvestors, each of whom hadacquired a 50 percent stake in2005. Allianz and CurzonCapital Partners III – the Tris-tan Capital fund – will acquire87.5 percent and 12.5 percentrespectively.

In early August the compa-nies announced that a prelimi-nary agreement had beensigned. The transaction isexpected to be completedbefore the end of the year afterconditions typical for deals ofthis type in Poland are fulfilled.

The Warsaw FinancialCenter was one of the firstclass-A high-rises in Warsawwhen it was completed in1998. Standing over 144meters tall with 36 floors, thetower comprises some 50,000sqm of leasable space, ofwhich 93 percent is officespace and 7 percent is retailand storage space. There arealso more than 330 parkingspots set over six above-ground floors.

The building is about 98 per-

cent leased out to tenants thatinclude law firms, consultancyfirms and banks. CameronMcKenna, DLA Piper, GeneralElectric and Google all leasespace in the building.

In a statement announcingthe deal, Tristan Capital char-acterized Warsaw FinancialCenter as “one of the topgrade-A office buildings ineastern Europe,” with “excel-lent visibility and accessibility.”

“Together with Rondo Oneand Metropolitan, it is one ofthe top three properties inPoland’s capital,” the compa-ny said.

“Just a few weeks after thePlatinum Business Park, we’venow carried out anotherinvestment in Warsaw,” saidStefan Brendgen, CEO ofAllianz Real Estate Germany,in a statement. “The WarsawFinancial Center is an extraor-

dinarily attractive investmentfor the Allianz companies.”

He added, “We will contin-ue to invest in Poland underour diversification strategy.”

“WFC is one of the high-est-quality office assets inPoland … a market withstrong fundamentals thatdemonstrates consistentinvestor demand and increas-ing liquidity,” said TristanCapital CEO Ric Lewis.

According to TomaszTrzós∏o, head of capital mar-kets CEE at Jones LangLaSalle, there was consider-able investor interest in thedeal. “The consortium ofAllianz Real Estate and Tris-tan Capital Partners presentedthe most attractive offer interms of price as well as thepossibility of closing the dealswiftly,” he said.

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Warsaw Financial Center is one of Warsaw’s oldest and best-known office high-rises

Poczta Polska puts central Warsaw plot up for salePoland’s public postal service,Poczta Polska, is selling per-petual usufruct rights to a totalof 10,533 sqm of undevelopedland located on ul. Chmielnain Warsaw’s Wola district. Thetender for the sale of the prop-erty, whose bid price is over

z∏.112.5 million, has beenscheduled for September 19.

Poczta Polska is touting theland on sale as prime propertyon which class-A office spacecan be developed. The plots inquestion are characterized bygood accessibility and neighbor

a number of modern officebuildings, reads a statement onthe company’s website.

The planned sale is part ofPoczta Polska’s process ofrestructuring its property port-folio. Originally, the seller wasplanning to build its own new

headquarter offices on theland and even secured a plan-ning decision for a 130-sqmskyscraper with some 40,000sqm of office space on the site.

In the end, however, PocztaPolska has decided to site itsnew offices outside the down-

town. The new building will bedeveloped on ul. Domaniews-ka in Warsaw’s Mokotów.Until the property is finished,Poczta Polska will be rentingspace in the Intraco building inthe capital’s central district.

AAddaamm ZZddrrooddoowwsskkii

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

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

or

AUGUST 20 – SEPTEMBER 2, 2012LLOOKKAALLEE IIMMMMOOBBIILLIIAA –– RREEAALL EESSTTAATTEE16 www.wbj.pl

Security Closing % change 52-week 52-week % change Total Marketprice (week) low high (year) shares value

on Aug 16 (z∏. mln)

BUDIMEX 54.00 0.00 53.00 88.35 -26.03 25,530,098 1,378.63

CELTIC 11.92 55.82 7.02 22.70 -29.47 34,231,466 408.04

DOMDEV 24.37 -2.52 23.50 42.80 -22.19 24,670,397 601.22

ECHO 3.61 -1.10 3.05 4.40 1.40 420,000,000 1,516.20

ELBUDOWA 95.00 1.50 87.00 126.70 -21.81 4,747,608 451.02

ENERGOPLD 0.22 -21.43 0.21 3.45 -92.67 70,972,001 15.61

ERBUD 12.62 -4.97 12.51 23.30 -28.90 12,644,169 159.57

GANT 4.80 0.00 4.80 10.59 -45.76 20,120,000 96.58

GTC 6.07 0.00 5.20 12.49 -53.91 219,372,990 1,331.59

HBPOLSKA 0.06 -14.29 0.06 1.43 -95.12 210,558,445 12.63

JWCONSTR 3.97 -0.75 3.86 9.80 -63.58 54,073,280 214.67

LCCORP 1.15 0.00 0.85 1.48 8.49 447,558,311 514.69

MARVIPOL 10.69 2.79 6.20 11.00 48.06 36,923,400 394.71

MIRBUD 1.00 0.00 0.98 2.83 -63.10 75,000,000 75.00

MOSTALWAR 13.00 -7.67 11.30 25.88 -49.02 20,000,000 260.00

MOSTALZAB 0.84 -7.69 0.84 1.80 -51.16 149,130,538 125.27

ORCOGROUP 8.84 10.09 8.00 28.25 -65.48 35,415,406 313.07

PBG 6.71 -0.59 5.30 96.35 -93.38 14,295,000 95.92

PLAZACNTR 2.07 0.98 1.80 2.99 -32.79 297,174,515 615.15

POLAQUA 3.80 0.26 3.60 15.30 -74.67 27,500,100 104.50

POLIMEXMS 0.65 -2.99 0.61 2.05 -70.05 521,154,076 338.75

POLNORD 12.88 0.94 10.49 19.85 -15.37 23,798,439 306.52

RANKPROGR 7.91 1.15 7.50 16.97 -24.59 37,145,050 293.82

ROBYG 1.13 -2.59 1.04 1.75 -15.04 257,935,500 291.47

RONSON 0.74 4.23 0.69 1.15 -36.21 272,360,000 201.55

TRAKCJA 0.69 -1.43 0.65 1.91 -65.15 232,105,480 160.15

ULMA 42.99 7.39 38.88 74.80 -27.75 5,255,632 225.94

UNIBEP 4.03 7.47 3.60 6.61 -14.26 34,021,684 137.11

WARIMPEX 3.00 3.45 2.90 6.20 -54.48 54,000,000 162.00

ZUE 6.20 2.99 5.07 10.00 -26.10 22,000,000 136.40

Property-related stocks

Atrium Felicity constructiongets underway in LublinAtrium Poland Real EstateManagement subsidiary CHFelin has launched construc-tion on the Atrium Felicityshopping center project inLublin, the capital of Poland’seastern Lubelskie voivodship.Construction company Stra-bag has been appointed thegeneral contractor of thedevelopment.

“The project is alreadycommercialized in 55 per-

cent,” Katarzyna Cyz, CEO ofAtrium Poland Real EstateManagement, said in a state-ment. “We have signed leaseagreements with an over20,000-sqm hypermarket andall key tenants and are finaliz-ing negotiations with a DIYmarket operator.”

The Atrium Felicity mallwill be a regional shoppingcenter and the largest schemeof its kind in Lublin. The

investment will deliver 74,000sqm of leasable space and willcomprise 135 stores andpoints of service.

Atrium European RealEstate Management ownsapproximately 374,000 sqm ofretail space in Poland. Its 20shopping centers in the coun-try include Warsaw’s AtriumReduta, Promenada and Atri-um Targówek malls.

AAddaamm ZZddrrooddoowwsskkii

Retail

Galeria Mokotów’s 5,000-sqmextension project launched

The new space willallow for morerestaurants and restareas

Unibail Rodamco, the ownerof the Galeria Mokotówshopping center in Warsaw,has launched an almost z∏.55million extension project thatwill add nearly 5,000 sqm ofspace to the 62,300-sqm mallby May of next year.

Following the extension

scheme, which was designed bythe Sud Architectes and SMZArchitekci studios, a new L-shaped structure with 3,500sqm of space will be added tothe existing building, which islocated on ul. Wo∏oska in thecapital’s Mokotów district.

In addition, the restaurantarea located on the secondlevel of Galeria Mokotówwill grow by 1,500 sqm. Thewhole investment is meant todeliver more space for

restaurant facilities and areasto relax in within the mall.

Developed by GlobeTrade Centre and opened forbusiness in 2000, GaleriaMokotów has already seenthree expansions, one in 2002and two in 2006. The shop-ping center, which comprises260 stores and over 2,400parking spaces, was fullyacquired by Unibail Rodam-co in the summer of 2011.

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The extension process is valued at nearly z∏.55 million

Dekada Kraków to open in SeptemberFinishing work is underway atthe construction site of theDekada Kraków retail projectin Kraków, with the 3,400-sqmconvenience shopping galleryon the city’s ul. Stoja∏owskiegoscheduled to open for businesson September 12.

The scheme, which will bethe sixth facility of this brand,is being built by Dekada Real-ty and commercialized byBOIG Property Consulting. Itsmain tenants will include anAlma delicatessen and a Ross-mann health and beauty store.

Operating Dekada-brandfacilities are located in Sier-adz, Skierniewice, MyÊlenice,˚yrardów and Olsztyn. Facili-ties in Malbork, Rypin andNowy Targ will be opened inthe near future.

AAZZ

COURTESY OF MEDIADEM CONSULTING

Atrium Felicity

Combining the most in-depth social media knowledge with the sophisticated insights of consumer behavior

*Attention USA clients

www.valkea-attention.com

don’t think so.But these companies

is just a fad. Maybe social media

*

AUGUST 20 – SEPTEMBER 2, 2012LLOOKKAALLEE IIMMMMOOBBIILLIIAA –– RREEAALL EESSTTAATTEE18 www.wbj.pl

SEGRO

completes

two facilities

SEGRO has completed a

12,000-sqm class-A

built-to-suit warehouse

facility for FlexLink that

is part of the second

phase of its Tulipan Park

Poznaƒ logistics park in

Western Poland. SEGRO

also announced the

completion of a 7,600-

sqm cross-dock facility at

the SEGRO Business Park

¸ódê investment in

central Poland which was

developed as part of a

pre-let agreement. The

park is expected to offer

nearly 55,000 sqm of

space when completed.

Panattoni Park

Mys∏owice

expansion Industrial space developer

Panattoni Europe is

expanding its Panattoni

Park Mys∏owice project in

Silesia, one of the largest

distribution centers in

Poland, with a seventh

facility that will deliver

28,100 sqm of industrial

space. The building is

dedicated to three tenants

– a logistics company that

will take up 9,500 sqm at

the scheme, Manuli

Hydraulics, which will

occupy 9,300 sqm and

automotive components

manufacturer Valeo, which

has leased 9,200 sqm. ●

High-tech and green-building solutions aregaining ground inPoland’s residentialsector

With Poland’s housing marketsuffering from oversupply andbuyers now having plenty ofhomes to choose from, archi-tecture is becoming an increas-ingly important factor in decid-ing how successful a given proj-ect is.

No wonder then that thedesigns of new residential build-ings in the Polish market, and inparticular in its upmarket andluxury segments, have beenincreasingly characterized bymodern solutions and technolo-gies devised to provide thehome owner with the best pos-sible living conditions.

Modern upper-marketapartments have to be designedin such a way that it is easy forfuture owners to arrange theliving space, as well as to changethe space arrangement once theproperty has been moved into,said Jaros∏aw J´drzyƒski, aproperty market analyst atRynekPierwotny.com.

The architectural concept ofthe whole estate also plays amajor role. High-qualityschemes today feature buildingsarranged in a way that ensuresan optimal, or at least sufficient,view from every window andproper daylight penetrationinto every room, Mr J´drzyƒskiadded.

The best projects ofteninclude green and water areas,Mr J´drzyƒski said. One of themost interesting recent trends is

the development of on-roof ter-races with green and recreationareas that are accessible to allinhabitants of the given estateand help integrate the localcommunity.

Intelligent homesAccording to Mr J´drzyƒski,the possibility of installing thelatest high-tech solutions thatprovide for the maximumamount of comfort, securityand entertainment in the prop-erty is the feature which cur-rently defines new upmarketapartments.

The under-constructionRezydencje Pa∏acowa complexof single-family houses in War-saw is touted by its investors,Real Management and CapitalPark Group, as the first projectof its kind in Poland in whichhomes can be managed bymeans of Apple-produceddevices.

Located in the capital’sWilanów district, the wholeestate will offer 48 luxury villas,

the first 24 of which are sched-uled to be completed in the firstquarter of 2013. The investorsclaim buyer interest in thehomes is large despite their rel-atively high prices of betweenz∏.2.5 million and z∏.3 million.

High-tech solutions in Rezy-dencje Pa∏acowa will enableowners to remotely control ele-ments including lights and win-dow curtains, as well as homeappliances and consumer elec-tronics. It will also provide forremote monitoring of theirproperty.

“More and more clients areinterested in intelligent solu-tions for homes,” said Arka-diusz P∏ociƒski, vice presidentof Real Management’s man-agement board. He added thatmany buyers decide on the fulloption, while some decide oninstallations which cover select-ed home elements only.

“A home that can take careof itself used to be only adream; today it is a real possibil-ity. Buyers who realize how

convenient intelligent solutionsare, are increasingly askingabout them and, as we know,demand gives rise to supply,”Mr P∏ociƒski said.

Bartosz Jankowski, primarymarket manager at Home Bro-ker, a real estate brokerage andadvisory, said, however, thatdevelopers still rarely promotehigh-tech solutions and thatinstead they are usually installedby the buyers themselves whenthey are finishing their homes.

Green buildingAlso, energy-efficient solutions,including the use of materialswith higher insulation perform-ance, have become standard inhomes from the luxury andupmarket segments and arenow becoming commonplace inmid-market units as well,RynekPierwotny.com’s J´d-rzyƒski said.

According to Home Brokerdata, the employment of cost-lier solutions such as the instal-lation of a heat pump is still rel-

atively rare as the resultingprice increase would likely notbe acceptable for the potentialbuyer. Such solutions are moreoften used in houses than inapartment buildings.

Skanska Residential Devel-opment Poland, a companywhich started its operations lastyear and has recently launchedconstruction on its first projectin Warsaw’s Praga Po∏udnie dis-trict, plans to be a leader in thedelivery of green homes in thePolish market.

Sustainable construction hasbecome standard in Scandina-vian and Western Europeancountries and the growing sig-nificance of such solutions hasbeen visible in Poland as well,noted Micha∏ Âwiderski, salesand marketing manager at thedeveloper.

“An increasing number ofapartment buyers are payingattention to not only the homeprice per sqm, but also to themonthly costs related to elec-tricity, water and heating bills,”Mr Âwiderski said.

Buildings in Skanska Resi-dential Development Poland’sPark Ostrobramska investmentin Warsaw, which will deliver atotal of 1,600 apartments, willfeature facades and windowswith increased thermal insula-tion performance, he added.

Energy-efficient LED light-ing with movement detectorswill be installed in the commonspaces of the development andthe future owners of the Skans-ka Residential DevelopmentPoland apartments will beadvised on how to finish andfurnish their homes in an effi-cient way. AAddaamm ZZddrrooddoowwsskkii

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AUGUST 20 – SEPTEMBER 2, 2012 TTHHEE LLIISSTT www.wbj.pl 19

Construction & Real Estate

Exhibition and Convention VenuesRanked by total gross indoor exhibition space www.bookoflists.pl

Notes: WND = Would Not Disclose.All information provided by the PolishChamber of Exhibition Industry.

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. Cor-rections or additions to The List should be sent, on official letterhead, to Warsaw Business Journal, attn. Monika Brysiak, 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.

Ran

k

Company nameAddressTel./FaxE-mailWeb page

Roofed space (sqm)

Outdoor exhibitionspace (sqm) /

Conference hallspace (sqm)

Total number ofparking spaces /

Number ofunderground parking

spaces

Total number of fairshosted in 2010

Own fairs / Polish organizers /Foreign organizers

Conferences /Congresses /

Corporate meetings

Concerts /Sport events /

Galas

Total number ofevents hosted in

2010Year completed Top local executive

1

Mi´dzynarodowe Targi PoznaƒskieSp. z o.o.ul. G∏ogowska 14, 60-734 Poznaƒ61 869-2000/61 866-5827info@mtp.com.plwww.mtp.pl

107,65430,6229,006

1,200-

68653-

1,4462231

615

1,980 1921 Andrzej Byrt

2

Targi Kielce SAul. Zak∏adowa 1, 25-672 Kielce41 365-1222/41 345-6261biuro@targikielce.plwww.targikielce.pl

35,00065,000

9162,000

-55

541-

2892

114

1226

475 1992 Andrzej Mochoƒ

3

Mi´dzynarodowe Targi GdaƒskieSAul. Beniowskiego 5, 80-382 Gdaƒsk58 552-3600/58 552-2243sekretariat@mtgsa.com.plwww.mtgsa.com.pl

14,5953,575260

500-

231211-

215

---

8 1997/2007 Andrzej Kasprzak

4

Warszawskie Centrum EXPO XXISp. z o.o.ul. Pràdzyƒskiego 12/14, 01-222Warszawa22 256-7130/22 256-7111sales@expoxxi.plwww.expo21.pl

13,5002,200950

1,500275

43-

385

3121544

1-

252 2001 ˚aneta Berus

5

Mi´dzynarodowe Targi Polska Sp. z o.o.ul. Makowska 95, 04-307 Warszawa22 529-3950/22 529-3930info@mtpolska.com.plwww.halamtpolska.pl

10,0004,000250

1,554417

22-

211

31510

--2

195 2008 Bartosz Sosnowski

6

Demuth Alfa Sp. z o.o. - OstródaSp.k.-a.ul. Grunwaldzka 55, 14-100 Ostróda89 647-7800/89 647-7810bk@demuth-group.comwww.ostroda-mtm.pl

9,250--

850-

22--

---

---

- WND Krzysztof Raczkowski

7

Targi w Krakowie Sp. z o.o.ul. Centralne 41A, 31-586 Kraków12 644-5932/12 644-6141biuro@targi.krakow.plwww.targi.krakow.pl

6,0007,000WND

350WND

171061

2742

313

55 WND Gra˝yna Grabowska

8

Mi´dzynarodowe Targi KatowickieSp. z o.o.u. Bytkowska 1B, 40-955 Katowice32 789-9100/32 254-0227info@mtk.katowice.plwww.mtk.katowice.pl

5,1004,000550

WNDWND

17116-

3-

19

-1-

51 WND WND

9

Mi´dzynarodowe TargiSzczeciƒskie Sp. z o.o.ul. Struga 6-8, 70-777 Szczecin91 464-4401/91 464-4402office@mts.plwww.mts.pl

4,15060,000

320700

-19

118-

111

1-4

29 1991 Ma∏gorzata Lis

10

Targi Toruƒskie Sp. z o.o.ul. Szosa Che∏miƒska 27, 87-100 Toruƒ56 658-2090/56 658-2099biuro@targitorunskie.plwww.targitorunskie.pl

3,06517,000

320WNDWND

1082-

81310

1-2

104 WND Kazimierz Zawal

11

Mi´dzynarodowe Targi Lubelskie SAul. Dworcowa 11, 20-406 Lublin81 534-4614/81 534-9295mtl@targi.lublin.plwww.targi.lublin.pl

2,8007,000200

WNDWND

14122-

5-2

1--

15 2004 Beata Gorajek

Number of fairshosted in 2010

Number of events hosted in 2010

AUGUST 20 – SEPTEMBER 2, 2012MMAARRKKEETTSS20 www.wbj.pl

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SE

PLN-EUR

4.06

15

4

.077

1

4.0

823

4

.088

8

4.0

820

4.0

680

09.0

8

10.0

8

13.0

8

14.0

8

16.0

8

17.0

84.0

4.1 PLN-USD

09.0

8

10.0

8

13.0

8

14.0

8

16.0

8

17.0

8

3.29

15

3.3

195

3.3

202

3.3

059

3.

3253

3.28

86

3.0

3.5 PLN-GBP

09.0

8

10.0

8

13.0

8

14.0

8

16.0

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17.0

8

5.15

09

5.1

786

5.

2017

5.1

869

5

.221

6

5.1

687

5.0

5.5 PLN-CHF

3.38

16

3.

3949

3

.398

9

3

.404

8

3

.399

8

3.3

868

09.0

8

10.0

8

13.0

8

14.0

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16.0

8

17.0

83.3

3.5 PLN-RUB

09.0

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14.0

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16.0

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.104

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1041

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.104

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.104

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.104

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31

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0.11 PLN-100JPY

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16.0

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17.0

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4

.192

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4.2

287

4.2

477

4

.209

8

4

.200

7

4.14

02

4.0

4.5

currency rates

Z∏oty ignores

warning signs

Currency report

Volatility declined over thetwo weeks ending August 17as investors continued theirwait for major central banksto provide additional stimu-lus to financial markets.Markets also continued toignore poor macroeconomicdata from various economies,with stock indices rallying.

Signs indicating the possi-bility of European CentralBank intervention on thedebt market boosted theeuro, which rebounded to itsmonthly high of $1.2440against the dollar. A correc-tive movement brought itdown to $1.2340 by Friday,August 17, but in the nextcouple of weeks I expect arally to levels above $1.25,which should have an effecton the z∏oty market.

The Polish currency,which has been stable overthe last few months, contin-

ued to appreciate despitenegative external factors. Wehave to note, though, thatmacro data indicates a slow-down could be in the cards.CPI inflation has continuedto decline and recent PMIreports show that the manu-facturing sector is contract-ing.

Despite the potentialdangers, the z∏oty keptappreciating in the first halfof August, reaching zl.4.03against the euro – its yearlylow. A further decline of theEUR/PLN was not to be anda rebound took it to z∏.4.07by the close of the week end-ing August 17.

The outlook remains pos-itive for the z∏oty with thez∏.4.00 level in sight. TheUSD/PLN, after reaching itsfour-month low of z∏.3.25,rebounded to finish the weekat z∏.3.30. ●

Adam NarczewskiX-Trade Brokers DM SA

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Major indices

Top 5 Closing % change (week) 52-week high 52-week low

CELTIC 11.92 55.82 23.00 7.00REGNON 0.06 20.00 0.38 0.04MONNARI 1.01 14.77 2.01 0.70MCLOGIC 26.25 14.63 42.45 19.90ANTI 2.46 14.42 2.46 0.56

WIG 42,408.41 (August 16 close)

Change for the week: 1.03% 52-week high: 42,408.41

Change year to August 16: 10.67% 52-week low: 36,549.47

Top 5 Closing % change (week) 52-week high 52-week low

TPSA 17.22 4.36 18.56 15.18KGHM 135.00 3.85 174.90 102.40CEZ 121.00 3.42 141.50 111.90PEKAO 159.90 2.96 164.80 115.10PKOBP 35.59 2.86 37.83 27.95

Bottom 5 Closing % change (week) 52-week high 52-week low

ABMSOLID 0.25 -32.43 5.25 0.25RESBUD 20.86 -28.07 70.00 2.88PEMUG 0.91 -23.53 1.69 0.86ENERGOPLD 0.22 -21.43 3.45 0.21IFCAPITAL 1.65 -19.51 14.97 0.45

Bottom 5 Closing % change (week) 52-week high 52-week low

ASSECOPOL 44.66 -3.54 55.45 34.50POLIMEXMS 0.65 -2.99 2.28 0.58TAURONPE 4.74 -2.67 5.77 4.10PGNIG 4.19 -2.33 4.39 3.61PKNORLEN 38.96 -2.11 41.68 30.33

WIG20 2,343.94 (August 16 close)

Change for the week: 1.06% 52-week high: 2,450.95

Change year to August 16: 6.83% 52-week low: 2,035.80

mWIG40 2,290.62 (August 16 close)

Change for the week: 1.34% 52-week high: 2,561.94

Change year to July 16: 4.58% 52-week low: 2,076.52

sWIG80 9,361.20 (August 16 close)

Change for the week: 0.48% 52-week high: 10,536.29

Change year to July 16: 8.80% 52-week low: 8,218.71

NewConnect 34.58 (August 16 close)

Change for the week: -0.83% 52-week high: 45.48

Change year to July 16: -16.65% 52-week low: 33.90

WIG-Banki 6,237.06 (August 16 close)

Change for the week: 1.93% 52-week high: 6,642.69

Change year to July 16: 7.07% 52-week low: 4,482.49

DJIA13,250.11 (Aug 16 close)

0.65% (for the week)

CHANGE: 6.88%

(year to Aug 16)

52-week high: 13,279.32

52-week low: 10,655.30

NASDAQ3,062.39 (Aug 16 close)

1.45% (for the week)

CHANGE: -15.62%

(year to Aug 16)

52-week high: 3,122.57

52-week low: 2,335.83

S&P5001,415.51 (Aug 16 close)

0.91% (for the week)

CHANGE: 10.84%

(year to Aug 16)

52-week high: 1,419.04

52-week low: 1,099.23

FTSE1005,834.5 (Aug 16 close)

-0.29% (for the week)

CHANGE: 2.36%

(year to Aug 16)

52-week high: 5,965.60

52-week low: 4,944.40

DAX6,996.29 (Aug 16 close)

0.45% (for the week)

CHANGE: 15.16%

(year to Aug 16)

52-week high: 7,157.82

52-week low: 5,072.33

NIKKEI2259,092.76 (Aug 16 close)

1.27% (for the week)

CHANGE: 6.22%

(year to Aug 16)

52-week high: 10,255.20

52-week low: 8,160.00

world stock indices

19.0

7

20.0

7

23.0

7

24.0

7

25.0

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30.0

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7

01.0

8

02.0

8

03.0

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06.0

8

07.0

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08.0

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8

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8

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8

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8

16.0

838,000

39,000

40,000

41,000

42,000

43,00019

.07

20.0

7

23.0

7

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7

25.0

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30.0

7

31.0

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01.0

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07.0

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08.0

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09.0

8

10.0

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13.0

8

14.0

8

16.0

8

2,000

2,080

2,160

2,240

2,320

2,400

19.0

7

20.0

7

23.0

7

24.0

7

25.0

7

26.0

7

27.0

7

30.0

7

31.0

7

01.0

8

02.0

8

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06.0

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07.0

8

08.0

8

09.0

8

10.0

8

13.0

8

14.0

8

16.0

8

2,100

2,140

2,180

2,220

2,260

2,300

19.0

7

20.0

7

23.0

7

24.0

7

25.0

7

26.0

7

27.0

7

30.0

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31.0

7

01.0

8

02.0

8

03.0

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06.0

8

07.0

8

08.0

8

09.0

8

10.0

8

13.0

8

14.0

8

16.0

89,200

9,280

9,360

9,440

9,520

9,600

19.0

7

20.0

7

23.0

7

24.0

7

25.0

7

26.0

7

27.0

7

30.0

7

31.0

7

01.0

8

02.0

8

03.0

8

06.0

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07.0

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08.0

8

09.0

8

10.0

8

13.0

8

14.0

8

16.0

8

32.0

32.8

33.6

34.4

35.2

36.0

19.0

7

20.0

7

23.0

7

24.0

7

25.0

7

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7

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7

30.0

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31.0

7

01.0

8

02.0

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13.0

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16.0

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5,400

5,580

5,760

5,940

6,120

6,300

Other indices

Hope buoys

stocks

Stocks report

After a solid week of gainsduring August 6-10, with theblue-chip WIG20 gainingwell over 3 percent, theweek ending August 17proved much less optimistic.With hope continuing todrive markets upwards,investors got a scare withpoor macroeconomic databeing released throughoutthe week. Monday August13 started off quietly, withthe only real news comingfrom KGHM, after the com-pany released poor Q2results. Shares in the firmdropped more than 1 per-cent, while the WIG20closed flat.

Hope alone seemed tobuoy stocks on Tuesday,August 14, after a slew ofpoor economic data wasreleased in Europe. Polishstocks managed to stayafloat, eventually closing the

day with small gains. Hithard, though, were shares ofCiti Handlowy, sheddingnearly 5 percent.

With markets closed inPoland on Wednesday,August 15, due to a nationalholiday, stocks opened onThursday with large rises.Hope pushed stocks higher,after supportive commentsfrom Germany on the Euro-pean Central Bank’s effortsto contain the region’s debtcrisis heartened nervousinvestors. The overall WIGmanaged to reach its highestpoint since August 5, 2011,closing the day with a 0.98percent rise. Similarly, theWIG20 rose 1.13 percent,closing at its highest levelsince March of this year.

On Friday, the WIGclosed down 1.1 percentwhile the WIG20 finisheddown 1.23 percent. ●

Andrew Nawrocki WBJ market analyst

AUGUST 20 – SEPTEMBER 2, 2012 SSPPOORRTTSS www.wbj.pl 21

Olympics round-up

Olympian disappointmentPoland won just twogolds in London,making it thecountry’s worstSummer Olympicssince 1956

In total Poland won 10 medalsat the London 2012 OlympicGames, just as they did in Bei-jing and Athens in 2008 and2004. But with just two golds,it was the country’s worstOlympic performance since1956.

Success storiesPolish shot putter TomaszMajewski cemented his place

as the country’s premier ath-lete after winning gold for thesecond Olympics in a row.

The 30-year-old becamethe first man since 1956 toretain the Olympic shot puttitle with his third roundthrow of 21.87 meters,enough to overtake Ger-many’s David Storl, whothrew 21.86 meters. With thetitle already won, Mr Majews-ki then achieved a season’sbest of 21.89 meters to ensurethere were no questions abouthis right to stand at the top ofthe podium.

Following his victory MrMajewski said he expects MrStorl to be a champion of the

future. “He is young, he isexplosive and will alwaysthrow very far. The nextOlympic Games will be his,but this one is mine,” he said.

Poland’s other gold medalcame from weightlifter Adri-an Zieliƒski, who took thetitle in the 85 kg category. The23-year-old, who won theWorld Championship in 2010,lifted a combined weight of385 kg to come in first placeahead of Russia’s AptiAukhadov and Iran’sKianoush Rostami.

His success was all themore remarkable consideringit was Poland’s first weightlift-ing gold since the 1972Munich Games.

“It is the fulfillment of mydreams to have this medal. …I was sure I was going to get amedal. But in the last lift I felta second strength so I justdecided to go for it,” he saidafter the competition.

Volleyball and tennisstars fail to shineArguably the country’sbiggest disappointment camewith the men’s volleyballteam, who despite going in asone of the favorites followingvictory in the World League

in July, were knocked out byRussia in the quarter-finals.

Poland lost to both Aus-tralia and Bulgaria in thegroup stage but won throughto the knockout rounds afterfinishing in second place inGroup A. But despite highhopes, their tournamentended with a 3-0 defeat to theeventual gold-medal winnersRussia.

Following the defeat Pol-ish player Grzegorz Kosoktold reporters, “We lost thegame, we lost everything.”

One of Poland’s othermajor medal hopes was 2012Wimbledon finalist Agniesz-ka Radwaƒska. However the23-year-old, who just a fewweeks prior had become thefirst Pole to reach a GrandSlam final since 1939,crashed out in the first roundto Germany’s Julia Goerges.

In the women’s doublesPoland was represented byMs Radwaƒska and her sis-ter Urszula. However, theyalso failed to progress farand were knocked out in thesecond round by the Ameri-can pair of Liezel Huber andLisa Raymond in straightsets.

DDaavviidd IInngghhaamm

Sport Gold Silver Bronze

Canoe sprint 0 0 1Rowing 0 0 1Sailing 0 0 2Shooting 0 1 0Track and Field 1 1 0Weightlifting 1 0 1Wrestling 0 0 1Total 2 2 6

Poland’s final medal table – London 2012

A Polish volleyball player reflects on the team’s 3-0

defeat to Russia

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American football

Europe to take on USat National StadiumOrganizers predict asmany as 40,000 fanscould be at the game

American football players fromthe US and Europe will meet ina much-anticipated clash at theNational Stadium in Warsawon September 1.

The stadium recently host-ed the Polish Topliga Superfi-na∏ between the Warsaw Eaglesand Seahawks Gdynia, with arecord crowd for a Europeanmatch of 23,000 in attendanceto see the Seahawks take thetitle.

After this success, orgainiz-ers of the Europe-US game –dubbed the Euro-AmericanChallenge – are expecting asmany as 40,000 fans for thisinternational matchup.

Paul KuÊmierz, the owner ofthe Warsaw Eagles and theorganizer of the Euro-Ameri-can Challenge, said he hopes tobreak yet another record withthe game.

“We wanted to put on ahigh-quality international gameto get people more interestedand help to build the sport,”said Mr KuÊmierz.

“Investing in developing

American football in Poland isa long process, but it has abright future,” he added.

Team USA has alreadybeen selected by George StLawrence, the founder of theCollegiate Development Foot-ball League (CDFL) andincludes 11 former FootballChampionship Subdivisionplayers.

“We are very excited tobring players over to Poland toparticipate against Europe. We

give college seniors an oppor-tunity to shine as all-stars andto be scouted by the NationalFootball League and the Cana-dian Football League,” said MrSt Lawrence.

Team Europe will consist ofthe top European players, withPoland’s Topliga players amongthose in contention for a placein the squad.

DDaavviidd IInngghhaammFor ticket information, log

on to euro-american.pl

Over 23,000 people attended the July 15 Topliga cham-

pionship game between the Warsaw Eagles and Sea-

hawks Gdynia. The Seahawks won 52-37

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AUGUST 20 – SEPTEMBER 2, 2012LLIIFFEESSTTYYLLEE22 www.wbj.pl

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Mundial. The UltimateGambleAugust 30Solidarity Festival of ArtsNeptune CinemaGdaƒsk

A new Polish documentaryhas used archive newsfootage and recent interviewswith players and commenta-tors to tell the story ofPoland’s 1982 World Cupcampaign, which took placeamid a backdrop of crisis asthe country’s people strug-gled against the communist

powers in order to win theirfreedom.

The film, which is directedby Micha∏ Bielawski, showshow sport united a nation asPoland’s last great nationalside reached the semi-finals ofthe World Cup in Spain andenabled Poles to forget for afew short weeks the stress oflife under the oppressiveregime.

It also highlights the pres-sure felt by the players of thetime, including ZbigniewBoniek and W∏odzimierzSmolarek, who not only car-

ried the hopes of their fansand the Solidarity trade union,but also those of the Commu-nist Party leaders.

DDaavviidd IInngghhaamm

For more information, logon to mundial82.pl

Some of the runnersin the WarsawMarathon will beraising money for acharity that helps sickkids go to camp

The 34th Warsaw marathontakes place in the capital at theend of September and manyrunners will be raising moneyfor charity. One charity organ-ization participating is Kom-pania Wra˝eƒ (The Troop ofPhilanthropists) with theirrunners raising funds for theBátor Tábor Foundation, anorganization that offers thera-peutic camps and recreationprograms in Central Europe

for children with serious ill-nesses.

Individual runners haveagreed to raise z∏.2,500 each insponsorship by completing the40 km course which stretchesfrom Poniatowski Bridgethrough the Old Town andalong a 10 kilometer fan-friend-ly route before eventually lead-ing back to the National Stadi-um. Participants have 6.5 hoursto complete what organizershave called “one of the mostbeautiful tracks in Europe.”

The money raised will begiven to the Bátor Tábor Pols-ka Foundation, which plans touse the money to offer morePolish children with cancer thechance to attend the therapeu-

tic camps in Hungary. The camps feature a num-

ber of recreational activities,from archery to handicrafts,that are intended to boost chil-dren’s self-esteem and givethem a breath of fresh air fromhospitals.

Applications to run as partof the team are now open onkompaniawrazen.pl. The cam-paign recruits runners regard-less of their experience andoffers the choice between run-ning a full marathon and a halfmarathon

AAnntthhoonnyy AAddaammss

For more informationabout Bátor Tábor, log on to

batortabor.com

Warsaw Marathon

All for a good cause

Green vehiclesAugust 24-26CSW – Centre for Contemporary Artul. Jazdów 2Warsaw

Despite summer slowly comingto an end, there is still theopportunity for some fun in thesun as Warsaw’s Centre forContemporary Art hosts a widevariety of events this August.

On top of free entry to thecenter’s indoor art exhibitions

between 6 pm and 11 pm, thereare also outdoor movie screen-ings, workshops, concerts, yogaclasses, and organic food stalls.

Friday, August 24 will see aslow-food picnic dinnerarranged around specificthemes, followed by a screen-ing of Dutch documentary“The Forgotten Space,” whichreflects on the effects of capi-talism on the social and eco-logical importance of industry.

On Saturday there will befood workshops where people

are encouraged to cooktogether, as well as a live set bylo-fi practitioner DJ Smirt.

Sunday will provide theopportunity to buy producefrom fruit and vegetablefarmer Louis Majlerta, whoseproduce is known for it’s qual-ity and great taste. This will befollowed by yoga and Thaimassage classes.

DDaavviidd IInngghhaamm

For more information, logon to csw.art.pl

Event

Cultural summer fun

Real-estate firms competed in the third char-ity beach volleyball tournament organized byJones Lang LaSalle at the beginning ofAugust, with the event raising a recordz∏.100,000 for charity.

Gathering 500 real estate professionals atWarsaw’s La Playa music bar, the eventproved a lively affair featuring some intensecompetition in the scorching afternoon sunand a lively beach party in the evening.

Friends of Litewski Children’s Hospital, anorganization which collects money for the pur-

chasing of magnifying equipment used duringsurgery on infants and premature babies,received z∏.4,000 of the money raised.

The remaining money went to JasiekMela’s “Beyond Horizons” Foundation whichfunds new prosthetic devices for disabledpeople.

Out of the 19 real estate firms competing,Colliers International emerged as the winningteam, followed by Polish Properties andCushman and Wakefield in second and thirdplace respectively. ●

Charity volleyball event afundraising success

Media patronage

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Film premiere

PPoolliittiiccaall ffoooottbbaallll

Living in relative poverty isn’t sobad, really. Unless you enjoy ediblefood or socially acceptable clothes.Or shiny toys. Or human dignity.

At least that’s Techeye’s experi-ence of it. Not caring what we eat orwear takes the sting out of penury,and our habit of wearing what weeat generally renders dignity a mootpoint. But the shiny toys... well, notbeing able to afford those can betough.

Indeed, a few years ago we triedto join a crew of Somali pirates inorder to earn booty enough for anew gaming computer. Unfortu-nately our pirate accents weremutually incomprehensible – “arrr

matey” in Somali sounds frighten-ingly akin to “wax my bikini line, fatboy” – so it never worked out. Truestory, that.

Anyway, this week’s column isdedicated to a couple of things thatpoor folk like us can’t afford, butSomali pirates probably can.

Behold: Leica’s special M9-P“Edition Hermès” camera (Leica-camera.com), which can be had forthe paltry sum of $25,000. How bet-ter to spend a salty wad of hard-pirated dosh than on a poofy Ger-man camera? (OK, there are prob-ably more appropriate purchases,but let’s pretend there aren’t.)

Embarrassing confession time:when Techeyefirst saw thiscamera, we read“Herpes” insteadof Hermès. Wethen wasted avery confusedminute wonder-ing why anybodywould spend$25,000 on that.

The price tagmakes moresense when yourealize Leica

isn’t peddling social diseases, butnot a lot more. What justifies it?Eighteen megapixels, a body cov-ered with overpriced leather andsilver-chrome plating, and a camerastrap covered with more overpricedleather, apparently. Oh, and a set ofthree lenses.

Not a compelling list of sellingpoints in our opinion, but if you’reready to spend $25,000 on a dinky-looking camera then you’re proba-bly lacking common sense or flushwith ill-gotten swag. Taken togetherthat’s a broad demographic andthere are only a couple hundredM9-P “Edition Hermès” cameras,so Leica will probably move all itsstock.

Another item that costs an armand a wooden leg is the Kuratas, afour-ton, a four-meter “giganticboardable robot” which is quite pos-sibly the greatest invention in thehistory of Mankind. We recommendwatching the promotional video forthis thing – Techeye began ululatingwith joy about halfway through.

The Kuratas hails from Japan(duh) and is the brainchild ofSuidobashi Heavy Industry(Suidobashijuko.jp). It’s a proto-type, with more models hopefully

on the way, and it’llset you back a not-insignificant $1.3million. And that’sbefore you buy theweapons.

You read thatright, weapons.There’s a claw and aLohas launcher(which launches wa-ter bottles), a pile-bunker (no idea) anda twin Gatling gun,among others. TheGatling gun is a must-have in our opinion,as it fires 6,000 BBsper minute and lookssuitably menacing.

But wait, there’smore! Listen to this:“Kuratas will notallow any wild tar-gets to escape. ... The system willfire BBs when the pilot smiles. Thisfeature is called ‘the Smile Shot.’You will be able to take out all ene-mies with a single smile. Be carefulnot to cause a shooting spree bysmiling too much!” Also, an extra$100 will get you a cup holder.

The Kuratas is gloriously, awe-

somely pointless and it now topsour Christmas list. The only realnegative is that you need an iPhoneto control the thing. OK, the totalprice of over $2 million (with allextras) is vexing as well.

Techeye may have to learn to talklike a Somali pirate after all. Timeto get a-waxing! ●

AUGUST 20 – SEPTEMBER 2, 2012 LLAASSTT WWOORRDD www.wbj.pl 23

Poverty, pirates and gigantic boardable robotsTech Eye

Ever considered a career in swashbuckling? Let us know: techeye.wbj@gmail.com

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To advertise inWBJ’s

classifieds section, contact

Ms Agnieszka

Brejwo, at(+48) 222-577-526

orabrejwo@wbj.pl

Kuratas

M9-P “Edition Hermès”