VOLUME 18, NUMBER 39 • OCTOBER 1-7, 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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WBJ launched its Investing inPoland 2013 publication this weekwith a conference at the WSE

4, 10

The Law and Justice party istrying to refocus on economicissues, but can’t get away fromthe Smolensk tragedy

“De-teching” is gaining inpopularity as people faceinformation overload. Howcan businesses capitalizeon the trend? 12-13

TThhee ppaaiinn iinn SSppaaiinnSummer may be over, but the euro

crisis is heating up again 3

LLoooosseenniinngg uupp??Will the Monetary Policy Council

finally cut interest rates this week? 11

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

Business . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6

Investing in Poland conference . . . . .7-8

Opinion & Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10

Finance & Economics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11

Cover Story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12-13

Interview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14

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

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

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

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

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

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

In this issue

• IKEA mall extension

• Office supply

• Oxygen park 15-17

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LLOOKKAALLEEIIMMMMOOBBIILLIIAARREEAALL EESSTTAATTEE Unplug yourself

PrivatizationpowerThe government’s IPO

of ZE PAK is set to be

the largest on the WSE

this year 6

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10,000

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40,000

50,000

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GermanyUK

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PolandHung

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Lithuan

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OCTOBER 1-7, 2012NNEEWWSS2 www.wbj.pl

Tax hikes

comingPoles will pay more in

taxes while millions will

feel the pain of budget

cuts in 2013, according to

the government’s newly

adopted budget for next

year, as reported by

Rzeczpospolita. Civil

servants’ and teachers’

salaries will not increase

while pensions will

probably grow by less

than 4%. Meanwhile, it is

expected that the average

Pole will pay roughly

z∏.7,000 in taxes next

year, compared to

z∏.6,600 this year and

z∏.6,400 in 2011.

Debt-to-GDP

to fall

Poland’s public debt-to-

GDP ratio has finally

started to fall, figures for

year-end are expected to

show. At the end of 2012,

public debt will reach

52.4% of GDP, according

to government forecasts.

That’s 1.1 percentage

points lower than a year

ago. It will be the first

year the ratio will have

decreased since 2007.

BG˚ to cut

380 jobs

Bank BG˚ wants to cut up

to 380 jobs in order to

improve its financial

results, reported

Rzeczpospolita. “The

board informed trade

unions operating at the

bank about its intention to

carry out group layoffs.

“The planned restructur-

ing will involve not more

than 380 job cuts by the

end of the first half of

2013,” reads the bank’s

official statement.

According to the

statement, BG˚’s current

financial position forced it

to make the decision.

No further

JSW

privatization?A deputy treasury

minister said last week

that the Treasury could

think about reducing its

57% stake in Jastrz´bska

Spó∏ka W´glowa, Poland’s

largest producer of coking

coal, to 34% – a level that

would allow it to maintain

corporate governance.

However, Economy

Minister Waldemar

Pawlak said later on that

it would not be a good

idea to go below 50%,

Rzeczpospolita reported.

The Economy Ministry has

the final say when it

comes to the sale of

mining assets. ●

4P Research Mix ..............12

ARC Rynek i Opinia ............2

Archico Project ................17

Axi Immo ..........................17

Bank Gospodarstwa

Krajowego ........................11

Bank Pekao ........................6

BDM ....................................6

BG˚ ....................................2

Bloomberg ........................11

BNP Paribas ....................16

BPD ..................................15

BRE Bank..........................11

Catalyst Capital ................15

CBRE ..........................15, 16

Colliers International ......16

DTAC..................................13

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

Euro RSCG ........................12

Europlan............................17

Facebook ......................3, 12

Falcon Real Estate

Investments ......................15

GLL Real

Estate Partners ................15

Golden Forest Hermitage 13

Google ..............................12

Gras Savoye Polska ..........17

Hamilton Sundstrand ........8

Hines ................................15

IKEA ..................................15

ING ....................................11

Inter IKEA

Centre Group Poland........15

JEMS Architekci................16

Jones Lang LaSalle..........15

JSW ....................................2

JWT ..................................13

KGHM..................................6

Kronos Real Estate ..........17

London Stock

Exchange Group ................7

Lotos ..................................6

Master

Management Group..........17

Modzelewski & Rodek......17

Nescafé ............................13

Netia....................................4

Nokia ................................13

Peter Nielsen & Partners ..6

PGE ....................................6

PGNiG ................................6

Platforma Mediowa

Point Group ........................6

Polimex-Mostostal ............6

PORR ................................17

PwC ....................................7

RD bud ..............................16

Samsung ..........................13

Skanska Property

Poland ..............................15

Tauron ................................6

TVN....................................20

US Coolers........................23

Warsaw Stock Exchange ..6, 7

West Coast Capital ..........15

XMC Branded Products....23

Yareal Polska ..............15, 16

ZE PAK ................................6

Poland’s view on internationalaffairs had its day in the spot-light during the UnitedNations General Assembly inNew York last week. PresidentBronis∏aw Komorowski, whoaddressed the assembly, saidNATO’s operation inAfghanistan, in which Polandplays a major role, has shownthat a “military-first approachis not the best way to resolvedifficult internal conflicts.”

Speaking on the state ofthe UN, President Komorows-ki said it is “undisputed thatinternational institutions haveshown a weakness in resolvingthe problems they were creat-

ed to solve.” As an example,he pointed to the SecurityCouncil’s efforts to deal withthe issue of Syria. Toughermeasures to deal with the con-flict there have been vetoed byChina and Russia.

The Polish president saidconflicts could not be resolvedwithout “compromise,” citing asan example the 1989 RoundTable agreements in Poland,which ushered in a peaceful han-dover of power from the com-munist authorities to the Soli-darity opposition movement.

“Both sides in that greatsocial conflict, the communistauthority on one side and the

pro-democracy Solidaritymovement, which in effectwanted to do away with com-munism, showed wisdom inreaching a compromise,” MrKomorowski said.

The Polish president alsosaid the world could not berun by a few superpowers, sup-porting instead a greater rolefor “multinational institutionsand mechanisms.”

While in New York, MrKomorowski also spoke withBarack Obama on the thornyissue of visa-free travel for Pol-ish citizens to the US.

Mr Komorowski toldreporters after the meetingthat the US president himselfbrought up the the visa issuesaying it was “a commitment”he had made and “an issue tobe sorted out.”

“We have to be aware thatto push a visa lifting lawthrough Congress, we needthe votes of Democrats andRepublicans alike,” PresidentKomorowski said.

Meanwhile, Foreign Minis-ter Rados∏aw Sikorski, who alsoattended the General Assem-bly, said his “main mission”there was to lobby for Poland tobecome a non-permanentSecurity Council member from2018 to 2019. He said the CEEregion is “underrepresented” inmany international organiza-tions. RReemmii AAddeekkooyyaa

z∏.30 billionis the amount Poles spend annually on private medical

services.

80%is the percentage of smartphone users in Poland who

regularly use mobile applications, according to asurvey by ARC Rynek i Opinia.

2.06 millionwas the number of Polish citizens living abroad at theend of 2011, according to data provided by the Central

Statistical Office.

61%is the projected growth of the video games market in

Poland in 2012.

“I take full responsibility for the state’s actionsafter the catastrophe.”

Prime Minister Donald Tusk, addressing parliament last week in response toallegations by the opposition that his government had botched the handling ofaffairs after the 2010 Smolensk plane catastrophe which killed then-PresidentLech Kaczyƒski and 95 others.

Quote of the Week

Hopeful about EuropeThe euro crisis has flared up again, but Belgian Deputy Prime Min-ister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Didier Reynders is optimisticabout the future. In a special essay for WBJ, he explains why hesees a bright future for the continent, and why he favors a federalEurope. Log on to WBJ.pl to read more.

On WBJ.pl

Numbers in the News

Company index

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4 ‘BUSINESS IS TALKING’Event: This congress, organized by Netia, is an

experience-exchange platform for new tech-nologies and their application in business. Itprovides knowledge of ICT solutions andinnovation technologies. Each year, the con-gress brings together over 1,000 partici-pants, and is strongly supported by TVNCNBC. This year’s theme will be “Integra-tion, Innovation, Inspiration.”

Location: Multikino Z∏ote Tarasy, WarsawWeb: biznestorozmowy.pl

8-10 EXPO REAL 2012 Event: This commercial real estate trade fair – one

of the biggest in Europe – focuses on net-working, market orientation and cultivatingvaluable business contacts. Across the64,000-sqm site, 1,610 exhibitors presenttheir real estate product portfolios.

Location: Messe München, MunichWeb: Exporeal.net

10-11 INTERNATIONAL FORUM ON PUBLIC-PRIVATEPARTNERSHIPS

Event: Organized by the British Polish Chamber ofCommerce, this event will focus on interna-tional, municipal and regional infrastructure.

Location: Column Hall of the Ministry of Economy, PlacTrzech Krzy˝y 3/5, Warsaw

Web: bpcc.org.pl

25 OFFICE BUILDINGS IN POLANDEvent: This 5th edition of the conference, organized

by Nowy Adres, will feature over 30 expertspeakers, as well as a number of lecturesand panel discussions. It promises to be agreat meeting opportunity for senior man-agement of companies in the Polish officemarket.

Location: Warsaw Marriott HotelWeb: konferencje.nowyadres.pl/office-buildings-in-

poland.php

24-28 FASHIONPHILOSOPHY Event: FashionPhilosophy Fashion Week Poland is

the biggest fashion event in the region, sayorganizers. This event will presentSpring/Summer 2013 trends.

Location: ¸ódêWeb: www.fashionweek.pl

October

DATELINE

PPoollaanndd’’ss iinntteerrnnaattiioonnaall rroolleeIN THE SPOTLIGHT

Figures in focusAuto exportsExtra EU-27 export of motor cars, 2011 (€ millions), selected countries

Source: Comext

OCTOBER 1-7, 2012 NNEEWWSS www.wbj.pl 3

Euro zone crisis

GGrreeeekk aanndd SSppaanniisshh pprrootteessttssffuueelliinngg ccoonncceerrnnssWorries have returnedabout the euro zone’sability to solve itsproblems

After a brief period of opti-mism following measuresannounced to shore up confi-dence in the euro zone, inten-sified anti-austerity protests inGreece and Spain coupledwith Madrid’s dire financialsituation are now remindingeveryone just how distant sta-bility in Europe remains.

While observers havebecome used to mass anti-aus-terity protests in Greece, thefact that they are spreadingthrough Spain is more worry-ing, as the country’s economicproblems get compounded bypolitical instability.

On the one hand, borrow-ing costs for Spain stubbornlyremain in uncomfortably highterritory (above 6 percent)while on the other hand, Cat-alonia, the country’s richestregion, has called for a refer-endum on its independence.

Add to that markets’ beliefthat Spain is wasting precious

time by not requesting thefinancial aid most believe it des-perately needs and it’s easy tosee why pessimism is returning.

But Madrid may havetaken a step in the right direc-tion last week regarding out-side financial help.

The country’s governmentunveiled a package of regula-tory overhauls, tax increasesand spending cuts for 2013,which were well-received bymarkets, bringing at least

some short-term respite toembattled Prime MinisterMariano Rajoy. The yield onSpain’s 10-year sovereignbond fell to under 6 percent onthe news.

Madrid promised to imple-ment several EU policy rec-ommendations, including theelimination of overlappingregulations set by different lev-els of government, furtherloosening of rigid labor lawsand placing limits on early

retirement. It also promised toset up an independent agencyto monitor budget policy andto offer new tax incentives forsmall businesses.

The European Commis-sion praised the measures.“This new structural reformplan responds to the country-specific recommendations is-sued to Spain … and goeseven beyond them in someareas,” said Olli Rehn, EUcommissioner for economic

and monetary affairs.The reforms could help

Madrid obtain financial aidfrom the euro zone’s emer-gency fund, if the governmentrequests it, by putting Spain incompliance with some of therequirements beforehand.

Poland’s finance ministerJacek Rostowski has support-ed extending aid to Spain,describing it as an act of “real-ism.”

RReemmii AAddeekkooyyaa

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Embattled Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy of Spain

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Protesters demand independence for Catalonia

Facebook to

open Poland

office

Facebook is set to open

an office in Warsaw that

will look after the

company’s interests in

Central and Eastern

Europe, reported

Rzeczpospolita. Staff

there will focus on selling

advertisements and

collaborating with local

programmers. The

Warsaw offices will be

Facebook’s HQ for 30

countries in the region.

Its head will be Diego

Oliva, who has already

opened five regional

Facebook offices across

Europe. Facebook chose

Poland because it

believes Poland’s

economic performance

has been solid in recent

years.

Poles trust

their president

Polish President

Bronis∏aw Komorowski

enjoys the greatest public

confidence among all the

politicians in the country,

according to a recent

CBOS poll. As many as

67% of Poles say they

trust their president,

Rzeczpospolita wrote. ●

OCTOBER 1-7, 2012NNEEWWSS4 www.wbj.pl

More loans

grantedThe value of consumer

and housing loans

granted last month was

significantly higher than

in July, according to data

published by the National

Bank of Poland, Parkiet

reported. The combined

value of loans granted for

the purchase of

residential properties

was some z∏.4.8 billion

higher, while the value of

consumer loans

increased by some

z∏.183.2 million.

Hard times for

small firms

As the global economy

slumps, small

enterprises are the ones

that suffer the most,

writes Rzeczpospolita. A

survey carried out by the

Ministry of Economy

shows that every fourth

such company in Poland

closed the first half of the

year in the red. “Small

firms have the least room

for maneuver when it

comes to cost reduction.

Each drop in the number

of orders hits them very

hard,” said Prof. Maria

Drozdowicz-Bieç from the

Warsaw School of

Economics. ●

Politics

PPiiSS ttrraappppeeddbbeettwweeeenn SSmmoolleennsskkaanndd tthhee eeccoonnoommyy

With increasingly dire macro-economic data coming out ofPoland, the country’s largestopposition party, Law and Jus-tice (PiS), has responded bypresenting its proposals forgrowth and organizing a high-profile debate on the economy.But still it seems unable to putbehind it the 2010 Smolenskairplane catastrophe, whichkilled party co-founder and for-mer President Lech Kaczyƒskiand 95 others.

Last Monday, PiS hosted aneconomic debate attended by,among others, Stanis∏awGomu∏ka, chief economist ofthe Business Centre Club, pres-idential economic adviser JerzyOsiatyƒski and Adam Glapiƒs-ki, a member of the NationalBank of Poland’s interest-ratesetting council.

The stated intention of thedebate was to discuss the eco-nomic proposals PiS had put

forward a few weeks ago. The party wants a 10-year

program to create 1.2 millionjobs, unification of the PIT andCIT tax codes, vouchers forpoorer families to spend onsending their children to pre-school and the repeal of therecent pension reform, whichraised the retirement age to 67for both men and women.

But the debate turned out tobe more of a series of wish-listspresented by each economist inattendance.

It was nevertheless well-received by political observers,who praised PiS for putting thefocus on the bread-and-butterissues that affect Poles’ every-day lives instead of continuous-ly slamming the government forits handling of the aftermath ofthe Smolensk catastrophe.

Here we go againHowever, by the middle of

the week the Smolensk issuehad resurfaced.

PiS reacted strongly to reve-lations that a second autopsyfound that legendary Solidarityfigure Anna Walentynowicz,who died in the tragedy, hadbeen buried in the wrong grave.

Mr Kaczyƒski said thefindings amounted to a“gigantic scandal” and thatthose responsible for thecatastrophe should “leavepolitics and remain in life-long infamy.”

He demanded the resigna-tion of Ewa Kopacz, the cur-rent speaker of parliament,who was minister of health atthe time of the autopsies andwho had assured Poles thatshe personally witnessed Pol-ish doctors examining each ofthe Polish bodies.

Ms Kopacz has now saidshe wasn’t present beside “allthe coffins.”

In a parliamentary debateon the issue, Prime MinisterDonald Tusk said thatSmolensk should no longer be

a “permanent excuse to wagea political war in Poland.”The PM apologized to thefamilies of the victims for mis-takes made, saying he acceptsfull responsibility for them.

Believe me or believe him“PiS has recently been tryingto show that it is not onlyinterested in Smolensk but inthe economy as well and,importantly, that it is open tovarious opinions on theissues. Meanwhile, the rulingCivic Platform party is sayingPiS is only pretending to beinterested in economics, butin reality it is a one-issueparty,” said Sergiusz Trzeci-ak, a political analyst at Col-legium Civitas.

“In a few months’ time, wewill see who Poles find morecredible,” he added.

Mr Trzeciak said PiS knowsit cannot win back power with-out going beyond its “coreelectorate,” hence the recentfocus on the economy.

As WBJ went to press, MrKaczyƒski was expected totake part in a demonstrationover the weekend under theslogan “Wake Up Poland,” indefense of what his party seesas discriminatory acts by thestate against media outletssuch as ultra-conservativeCatholic TV station Trwam.

It was not certain how PiS’sinvolvement in that marchwould play out among the vot-ers it is trying to entice.

RReemmii AAddeekkooyyaa

Poland’s biggest opposition party is trying torefocus on economic issues, but just can’t stayaway from politicizing the Smolensk tragedy

What are the main aims of the“Business is Talking” congress?Renata Filipek-Bary∏owska: Thisyear’s motto for the Congress –Integration-Innovation-Inspiration –fully explains the goal which we

have set for the event. As in previous editions, we would

again like to provide our participantswith the possibility of meeting witha large group of various business-people, to exchange experiencesacquired while operating in differentindustries, as well as have theopportunity to be inspired by theappearance of our special guest,Stewart Butterfield, the creator ofFlickr.

How has the congress developedover the period leading up to thisfourth edition?When we decided to organize theCongress for the first time a fewyears ago, there were many indus-try-specific conferences alreadyavailable, but they were dedicatedto particular markets and particulargroups of experts.

We wanted to provide a morecomprehensive view and create aplace where you could find inspira-tion for developing your companyas opposed to repeating the activi-

ties which already exist in a givenindustry. That is why we invite rep-resentatives who operate in differ-ent industries and especially peoplewho can make decisions and takequick action if they notice some-thing inspiring and useful for theircompany. After three editions wecan safely say that our idea is work-ing.

And we can say that by looking atthe companies who are interestedin organizing this event with us asPartners, as well as by looking atthe participants who often refer tothe topics discussed at theCongress.

What new insights and benefitsdo you expect those in attendanceto gain about the use of innova-tive technologies in business?

It is often said that innovation isnot a strong point of Polish compa-nies. We do not fully agree with thatview, but we also have to admit thatthere are not many examples ofinternational success of Polish inno-

vations. We believe that such ameeting can change that and if ouridea works out we will all benefitfrom it, since innovativeness trans-lates into development.

In what ways can participantstry out new technology at thisyear’s congress?Each year we try to present to ourparticipants new solutions fromthe very moment they enter theevent site. This year, the partici-pants will see new solutionsalready at the registration desksuch as the possibility of creatinga personalized online agenda for agiven day. In the foyer they willhave the opportunity to test anumber of new Netia solutions aswell as the solutions of its part-ners and will have a chance to findout more information about themfrom experts available at thestands. Some of our solutions willthen be available as free-trial ver-sions for the participating compa-nies. ●

Netia’s ‘Business is Talking’ conference, October 4

Media Patronage

Renata Filipek-Bary∏owska,Commercial Director – Business Unit, at Netia SA, discusses the goals andopportunities at Netia’s annualtechnology conference

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Mr Kaczyƒski is trying to show he cares about bread-

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OCTOBER 1-7, 2012BBUUSSIINNEESSSS6 www.wbj.pl

Contact: Miros∏aw Stefanik

ms@pnplaw.pl

Legal News

BROUGHT TO YOU BY PETER NIELSEN & PARTNERS LAW OFFICE

Changes to press lawOn September 14, the Polish parliamentpassed changes to the press law. Thechanges regard the enforcement of ajudgment by the Constitutional Tribunal oncorrections to inaccurate or false informa-tion that appears in print. The tribunal stat-ed that the provision hitherto relating topress materials had failed to define indetail what attributes a criminal offense.

The amendment to the press law isdesigned to protect persons to whompublished press material directly refers, byspecifying the provisions in more detail.

The editor-in-chief of a given newspa-per or magazine, upon a motion by theinterested natural person or legal entity,will be obliged to publish a correction tofaulty printed information free of charge.

The correction has to relate to the factsand should be made in writing within 21days of the publication of the information in

question. The correction should be made inPolish or in the language of the publishedpress material which is subject to correction.

Bank Pekao violated thecollective interests of consumers: courtThe Court of Competition and Con-sumer Protection (SOKiK) has dismissedan appeal by Bank Pekao against a deci-sion of the president of the Office ofCompetition and Consumer Protectionwhich stated that certain practices ofPekao violated the collective interests ofconsumers.

The charge related to two provisionsused by Pekao in its contracts for savingsaccounts.

SOKiK has also sustained a financialpenalty imposed on the bank, amountingto nearly z∏.2 million.

Pekao can appeal to a higher court. ●

Print media

Publisher pulls Bloomberg Businessweek PolskaThe publicationhadn’t becomeprofitable in the 12months following itslaunch

Publisher Platforma MediowaPoint Group (PMPG) hasdecided to cease publicationof financial biweeklyBloomberg Businessweek Pols-ka because the magazine was-n’t able to turn a profit sinceits launch in September lastyear.

The final edition ofBloomberg BusinessweekPolska, published underlicense from Bloomberg LP,was due to hit shelves onOctober 1.

PMPG’s plan called for acirculation of 18,000-20,000copies per issue, while datacollected by daily GazetaWyborcza showed the actual

figure stood at around 10,000.The newspaper questionedwhether 12 months is a suffi-cient period of time to gain afoothold in Poland’s publish-ing market.

Bloomberg is currently look-ing for a new publisher torelaunch the title in the Polishmarket, the newspaper added.

Shares in Warsaw StockExchange-listed PMPG havelost more than 80 percent oftheir value over the last sixmonths and Polish mediasources report that the future ofsome of its other titles couldalso be under threat, given theweakened state of the advertis-ing market.

However, Micha∏ Lisiecki,president of PMPG, main-tained last week that flagshiptitle Wprost “will absolutelyremain the strategic asset of thefirm.”

Poland’s current affairs

publication market is a compet-itive one, with the four largestplayers each boasting totalsales well in excess of 100,000in July of this year, according todata from ZKDP, an organiza-tion that monitors press distri-bution. Market leader GoÊçNiedzielny (a Catholic weekly)saw sales of 132,033 while left-

leaning political news weeklyPolityka sold 130,020 copies.Wprost itself saw sales of71,570.

PMPG did not submitBloomberg Businessweek Polskasales figures to ZKDP, but MrLisiecki called them “disap-pointing” last week.

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50,000

75,000

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Weekly wonders Total sales – top 10 Polish weeklies, July 2012

Source: ZKDP

Privatization

Poland to launch ZE PAK IPO in Q4The privatizationcould net the Treasurysome z∏.3.7 billion

Poland’s Treasury Ministryplans to launch an initial publicoffering for its 50 percent stakein ZE PAK, Poland’s fifthlargest electricity producer, inthe fourth quarter of this year.

Banks running the IPOvalue ZE PAK at z∏.1.5-3.7 bil-lion, Reuters reported. Thatwould make it the WarsawStock Exchange’s biggest listingthis year. If the privatization

does raise that much, it wouldgo a long way towards helpingthe government reach its priva-tization targets for 2012. TheTreasury says it has alreadygained about z∏.8 billion of thez∏.10 billion it aimed to raise thisyear.

Polish billionaire ZygmuntSolorz-˚ak, who currently owns49 percent of ZE PAK, reacheda deal with the Treasury inAugust, allowing him toincrease his stake to over 50percent, thus gaining overallcontrol of the company when

the firm’s IPO takes place,according to the FinancialTimes.

But if Mr Solorz-˚ak wereto sell his shares and lose over-all control of the energy pro-ducer within three years, thegovernment would be entitledto a windfall bonus of anyshare-price increase, accordingto the terms of the agreement.

The vast majority (96 per-cent) of ZE PAK’s energycomes from lignite, also knownas brown coal. In 2011, a total of13.8 million metric tons of

brown coal were extracted fromZE PAK’s two mines, with thefirm producing approximately10.1 terawatt hours of electricityover the same period. It cur-rently controls power stationswith a total capacity of about 2.5gigawatts.

Last year the ZE PAKgroup, which has a marketshare of 6.9 percent, had rev-enues of z∏.2.69 billion. Its earn-ings before interest, tax anddepreciation came in at z∏.769million.

DDaavviidd IInngghhaamm

Research & development

State launches shale gastech financing programAround z∏.1 billion isbeing made availablevia competitions

A Polish state-led program forfinancing R&D projects pro-ducing original technologiesfor exploiting shale gas is nowunderway, the National Cen-tre for Research and Develop-ment (NCBiR) announced lastweek.

Called Blue Gas, the pro-gram was initiated by the Trea-sury Ministry and is being ledby NCBiR and the IndustryDevelopment Agency (ARP).The state will provide aroundz∏.500 million, while anotherz∏.500 million is expected to bemade available by enterprisesinterested in utilizing theresults of the projects.

NCBR and ARP launcheda competition for z∏.500 mil-

lion of the financing last week.It is hoped the scheme will

help domestic entities catch upwith world leaders in shale gastechnology.

“The development of shalegas deposits is a chance forPoland to become raw-materi-al independent,” TreasuryMinister Miko∏aj Budzanowskisaid in a statement.

He added that the programis designed to change the wayscience and business view oneanother, in order to encouragegreater cooperation inresearch programs.

This first competition, theministry said, is aimed atfinancing projects for theresearch and development oftechnologies that will be usedto extract shale gas in Poland.

State-owned gas monopo-list PGNiG has already

declared that it will apply forfunds offered by the program.

“The Blue Gas Programoffers z∏.500 million – that’sserious money, and we will tryand get it. For now it is hard tosay what projects we’ll file[for], but we’re interested indeveloping advanced tech-nologies in the shale gas sec-tor,” said a spokesperson forPGNiG.

Other state-controlledcompanies including PGE,KGHM, Enea, Tauron andLotos also reportedly want tocompete for the Blue Gasmoney.

The deadline for applica-tions is November 22, and thefirst contracts are expected tobe signed during the first quar-ter of next year, said Pawe∏Kurzyƒski, a spokesperson atNCBiR. IIzzaabbeellaa DDeeppcczzyykk

Construction sector

Polimex signs z∏.5.1billion Enea contractThe deal givesstruggling Polimex-Mostostal a newbreath of life

Troubled construction firmPolimex-Mostostal gainedsome much-needed breathingroom last week after it signed az∏.5.1 billion contract with state-controlled electricity producerEnea to build a power unit atthe utility firm’s ElektrowniaKozienice plant.

Polimex has been underfinancial pressure after costsrelated to projects for the Euro2012 soccer tournament thisyear forced it to pile up somez∏.2.5 billion in debt. Though itreached a deal with creditors inJuly, this new contract is expect-ed to help put the firm back onthe path to health.

That a state-owned firm isthe one ordering the contracthas prompted speculation thatthe state had been looking tothrow Polimex a lifeline.

Krzysztof Pado, a construc-

tion-sector analyst at brokeragehouse BDM, said that the gov-ernment is determined to savePolimex. But although theagreement is an important stepthat could prevent Polimexfrom going under, the companystill has to deal with its hugedebt pile and several delayedprojects, he said.

“Polimex is counting onanother big energy contract, forthe new power blocks inOpole,” Mr Pado said. “Theinvestment has been stoppedfor now for ecological reasons.If this agreement falls through,it could really complicate thecompany’s situation.”

The deal with Enea will seePolimex-Mostostal build a1,075-megawatt capacity unitover the next 5 years.

The power unit is set to bethe largest investment of itskind in Europe, and will be themost modern hard-coal unit inEurope as well, Enea said in astatement.

IIzzaabbeellaa DDeeppcczzyykk

Polimex-Mostostal got a big break with its new contract

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For several years now the WarsawStock Exchange has been amongthe most dynamic stock marketsin Europe, attracting regionalissuers and global investors. InCentral and Eastern Europe it isthe undisputed leader in terms ofmarket growth indicators, such ascapitalization, trading volumes andnumber of IPOs. As of August2012, WSE remains the largestnational stock exchange in CEE,with domestic market capitaliza-tion of €117 billion and equity ses-sion turnover of €30.3 billion (year-to-date). The WSE also remains4th among European exchangeswith a volume of over 6,297,000stock index futures traded.

Investors have over 850 issuersto choose from and despite turbu-lence on the global financial mar-kets, the Warsaw Stock Exchangeattracts new companies. It consis-tently ranks no. 1 in Europe by thenumber of IPOs and has a leadingposition by the value of IPOs.According to the latest quarterlyPwC “IPO Watch Europe” report,in Q2 2012, there were 33 public

offerings on the WSE, which rep-resented more than 41 percent ofall IPOs on European markets. Bythe value of IPOs, the WarsawStock Exchange, with €50 million,ranked third in Europe after theLondon Stock Exchange Groupand the Oslo Stock Exchange.

The WSE creates attractiveconditions for both domestic andforeign companies looking forgrowth capital; as a result theexchange lists 48 foreign issuersfrom 20 countries, with the largestgroup originating from Ukraineand the Czech Republic. One of

the decisive factors for them is asolid and diversified investor base,including foreign investors whoseshare in trading volumes reachesalmost 50 percent.

The Warsaw Stock Exchangeowes its dynamic development tomodern infrastructure typical for adeveloped market, reliable regula-tions, a high level of market partic-ipant activity and a varied productrange aimed at investors with dif-ferent risk appetites. The WSEoperates a regulated market ofshares and derivative instrumentsand the alternative stock marketNewConnect for growing compa-nies. The exchange is also devel-oping Catalyst, a market forissuers of corporate and municipalbonds, as well as an energy mar-ket.

A symbolic moment, andcrowning achievement of nearlytwenty years of dynamic expan-sion, was WSE’s own IPO. Theaim of the Warsaw StockExchange as a public company isto systematically strengthen itsinternational position through

expanding its product range forinvestors and issuers, attractingnew companies and intermedi-aries, as well as to improve marketorganization, technology and legalregulations.

The priorities for the WSE aretrading liquidity, security andeffectiveness. From 2011 its trad-ing session is of the same lengthas in Western European markets.During the first year after adapta-tion of trading hours to interna-tional standards, the average num-ber of transactions per session (onthe Main Market) increased byover 14 percent.

In order to increase its compet-itiveness, the exchange is workingwith NYSE Technologies on imple-menting a new transaction sys-tem, the Universal Trading Plat-form (UTP), which will be moreefficient and will feature expandedfunctionality, enabling further mar-ket growth. ●

OCTOBER 1-7, 2012 IINNVVEESSTTIINNGG IINN PPOOLLAANNDD CCOONNFFEERREENNCCEE www.wbj.pl 7

BROUGHT TO YOU BY WARSAW STOCK EXCHANGE

Foreign investment

WWBBJJ llaauunncchheess IInnvveessttiinngg iinnPPoollaanndd 22001133 ppuubblliiccaattiioonnPanelists at aconference to markthe occasion discussedPoland’s investmentattractiveness andfuture investmenttrends

Warsaw Business Journal offi-cially launched its latestInvesting in Poland publica-tion last week during a con-ference held at the WarsawStock Exchange.

Investing in Poland 2013 isan English-language guidefor potential investors, pro-viding information concern-ing investment areas andincentives in Poland, profil-ing all 16 voivodships, as wellas all of the country’s majorcities.

“Just as it does every year,Investing in Poland comprisesoriginal research by the War-saw Business Journal team.We contacted every singlevoivodship and every singlecity listed, speaking withinvestment office representa-

tives and having them answerour questions directly,” saidAndrew Kureth, editor-in-chief of Warsaw BusinessJournal and Investing inPoland 2013.

The conference includedtwo panel discussions, thefirst examining Poland’sinvestment attractivenessand the second looking atfuture investment trends.

The conference alsoincluded a “case study” por-tion, in which KrzysztofMichalski, president of theMilitary Property Agency,presented his company’soffer to investors gathered atthe conference.

Investment attractivenessIn the first panel, S∏awomirMajman, president of thePolish Information and For-eign Investment Agency(PAIiIZ), Micha∏ Furmanek,head specialist in the depart-ment of strategy and investorservices for the city of Lublin,Roman Staszewski, president

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WBJ’s editor-in-chief Andrew Kureth presents Investing in Poland 2013

The Warsaw Stock Exchange: One of the most rapidly expanding equity markets in Europe

Partner Feature

The main hall of the Warsaw Stock Exchange

OCTOBER 1-7, 2012IINNVVEESSTTIINNGG IINN PPOOLLAANNDD CCOONNFFEERREENNCCEE8 www.wbj.pl

of the board for HamiltonSundstrand in Poland, andYang Bingxun, third secre-tary in the economic andcommercial counselor’soffice at the ChineseEmbassy in Poland, agreedthat Poland continues to bean attractive location forinvestment.

All of the panelists saidthat one of Poland’s topadvantages was its humancapital. Not only are Poleswell-educated and providerelatively low-cost labor, theyalso have a strong work ethic,the panelists said.

Mr Majman cited a reportby UNCTAD, which foundPoles were the hardest work-ing people in Europe, andthe second-hardest workingin the world, behind SouthKoreans.

“We would have said thatwas unthinkable 20 yearsago,” he said.

“Poland is a winner of theglobal economic crisis. Its per-ception a few years ago wasnot good but has now changeddramatically,” he added. “Wenow have a product in shortsupply: economic stability.”

The futureDuring the second panel,which looked at the future ofinvestment in Poland, it washard to miss the panelists’enthusiasm for low-emis-sions, or so-called “green,”energy sources.

Glenn Tyrpa, chief editorat PAP Market Insider, aswell as Dariusz Brzeziƒski ofthe Polish Investment Fundand Przemys∏aw Andrzejak,president of the ¸ódê Re-gional Development Agency,all said that despite recentmedia attention on shale gas,and the government’s deter-mination to implement nu-clear energy, there is, and willcontinue to be, growingdemand in Poland for energyproduced from renewablesources.

“The demand is there,and will continue to be therefor the foreseeable future,”said Mr Tyrpa.

Much of the panel discus-sion revolved around innova-tion as well. The panelistsagreed that although manu-facturing and outsourcingwere attractive investmentsectors today, in the futurePoland would have to focuson R&D, and in particular,getting universities to coop-erate better with business inorder to deliver innovativetechnologies for which thereis a clear need.

Przemys∏aw Andrzejakrecounted the story of a triphe took to a workshop atStanford University, in theUS, where he was shown howthe American business com-

munity could come to theprofessors and tell them whatthey needed.

In Poland, by contrast, “the

academics think somethingup, patent it, but there’s nodemand for it,” he said.

GGaarreetthh PPrriiccee

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Piotr Borowski, director of the WSE’s Investor

Relations and Analysis department

(L-R) Roman Staszewski of Hamilton Sundstrand, Yang Bingxun of the Chinese

Embassy in Poland, Micha∏ Furmanek of the City of Lublin and WBJ’s Andrew Kureth

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(L-R) Glenn Tyrpa of PAP Market Insider, Dariusz Brzeziƒski of the Polish Investment

Fund, Przemys∏aw Andrzejak of the ¸ódê Regional Development Agency and WBJ’s

Andrew Kureth

Publication partners:

Strategic partner for Spanish & Chinese editions

Conference partners:

w w w . b i l a n s . e u

Media patronage:

WBJ would like to thank our project partners.

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Krzysztof Michalski, president of the Military Property

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S∏awomir Majman, president of PAIiIZ

Guests enjoyed food provided by Magda Gessler Catering

OCTOBER 1-7, 201210 www.wbj.pl OOPPIINNIIOONN && AANNAALLYYSSIISS

Remi Adekoya

L ast week, Poland’s biggestopposition party Law and Jus-tice (PiS) made its most visible

effort yet to convince Poles that it isinterested in the bread-and-butterissues they face in their everyday livesand not only in carrying out the“moral revolution” it has promised.

The party organized a debate onthe economy to which it invited virtu-ally every big-name economist in thecountry.

Although most of the biggest starslike former National Bank of Polandhead Leszek Balcerowicz and currentNBP boss Marek Belka declined theinvitation, the debate was attendedby some notable economists such asStanis∏aw Gomu∏ka, chief economistof the Business Centre Club, presi-dential economic adviser Jerzy Osi-atyƒski and Adam Glapiƒski, aMonetary Policy Council member.

The event was a PR success forPiS. Even though no earth-shatteringconclusions were reached during thedebate, the party, for one day at least,focused on what is worrying mostPoles – namely the country’s slowingeconomy.

Reinvented image?PiS was at one time dubbed the“Smolensk party” for its endless ref-

erences to the circumstances sur-rounding the 2010 plane crash whichkilled Lech Kaczyƒski (the twinbrother of PiS leader Jaros∏awKaczyƒski) and 95 others.

At one point Jaros∏aw Kaczyƒskiopenly suggested that his brothercould have been murdered on theKremlin’s orders and probably withthe knowledge of Poland’s currentgovernment, headed by his politicalnemesis, Prime Minister DonaldTusk.

But Mr Kaczyƒski seems to haverealized he won’t be winning manyelections with that kind of rhetoricand is now trying to reinvent hisparty’s image. And with the Polisheconomy slowing down visibly, thebest way to do this while also scoringpolitical points is to suggest thatthings could be better if only PiS’seconomic policies were implemented.

PiS wants to implement a 10-yearjob-creation program which it sayswould give rise to 1.2 million work-places. Its program also includes uni-fying the PIT and CIT tax codes,granting vouchers to poorer familiesto spend on preschool for their chil-dren, and repealing the government’srecent pension reform, which raisedthe retirement age to 67 for both menand women.

More SmolenskThe problem is this isn’t the first timethe opposition party has tried tochange its image, only for MrKaczyƒski or one of his colleagues tomake an unfortunate faux pas thatenables its opponents to caricature itas completely out of touch with pub-lic opinion.

And it seems that might alreadybe happening again. After PiS’s eco-nomic debate last week, a secondautopsy confirmed that legendarySolidarity figure Anna Walentynow-icz, who died in the Smolensk catas-trophe, had been buried in the wronggrave in 2010.

Mr Kaczynski called the revela-tions a “gigantic scandal” and said“those who are responsible for thecatastrophe should leave politics andremain in life-long infamy.”

He demanded the resignation ofEwa Kopacz, the current speaker ofparliament, who was minister ofhealth at the time and who assuredPoles that she personally witnessedPolish doctors examining all the Pol-ish bodies.

Ms Kopacz has now said she wasn’tpresent beside “all the coffins.” It isright to point out the discrepancybetween what Ms Kopacz said on thismatter two years ago and what the

facts suggest today, but does the PiSleader himself have to get involved insuch a highly emotional matter? Hecould easily have gotten one of his sub-ordinates to speak on the issue whilehimself focusing on the economy.

‘Wake Up Poland’ Also as WBJ went to press, MrKaczyƒski and his party were expect-ed to take part in a demonstrationunder the slogan “Wake Up Poland,”in defense of what PiS sees as dis-criminatory acts by the state againstmedia such as the conservativeCatholic TV station Trwam.

Trwam, which means “I survive,”is controlled by the controversial butinfluential Father Tadeusz Rydzyk,who, as the spiritual leader of rough-ly one million ultra-devout Catholics,has proved himself very useful to MrKaczyƒski.

The problem is that apart from hismillion-odd fans, few in Polandapprove of Father Rydzyk’s xenopho-bic and sometimes openly anti-Semitic rhetoric. To be associatedwith him assures you the fanaticalsupport of a few and the deep mis-trust of many.

Not helping matters is the com-parisons that some in the media havedrawn between the slogan “Wake Up

Poland” to the Nazi call to arms“Deutschland, Erwache!”

The comparison is obviously ahuge stretch, but it helps feed thenarrative that PiS is an extremist,nationalist, populist party. One videoimage of Mr Kaczyƒski marchingalongside people holding up such slo-gans will erase any gains the partymight have made this week in theeyes of public opinion.

And that would be bad for Poland. The country needs an opposition

that will present credible competitionto the ruling Civic Platform (PO) andits over-confident leader Prime Min-ister Donald Tusk, who once said inan interview that he has “no one tolose an election to.”

Businesspeople need competitionto keep them sharp. Pepsi’s existencemeans Coca-Cola has to constantlyimprove to hold on to its customers.

Poland needs a Pepsi in its politicsand PiS is the only opposition partybig enough to audition for that role.But they won’t get it if Poles continueviewing them as a party whose poli-tics is far too bitter for their taste. ●

Remi Adekoya is Warsaw Busi-ness Journal’s politics editor. Read his

blog, “The business of politics” onWBJ.pl

Itlooks like a coordinated offen-sive: on September 6, theEuropean Central Bank out-

lined a new bond-buying program,letting markets know that there wereno pre-set limits to its purchases. OnSeptember 13, the United States Fed-eral Reserve announced that in thecoming months it would purchasesome $85 billion of long-term securi-ties per month, with the aim of put-ting downward pressure on long-terminterest rates and supporting growth.Finally, on September 19, the Bankof Japan declared that it was addinganother JPY10 trillion ($128 billion)to its government securities purchaseprogram, and that it expected its totalholdings of such paper to reach about$1 trillion by end-2013.

There is, indeed, room for suchconcerted action, as the outlook forall three economies has deterioratedsignificantly. In the euro zone, GDPwill certainly decline in 2012, andforecasts for next year are mediocreat best. In the US, output continuesto expand, but at a moderate 2 per-cent pace; and, even leaving aside thefiscal cliff looming at the end of the

year, when Congress will be forced toimpose spending cuts and allow taxcuts enacted in 2001 to expire, recov-ery remains at risk. In Japan, theglobal slowdown and a stronger yenare hitting the export sector, growthis flagging, and inflation is close tozero again.

No common stanceThe reality, however, is that there isno common stance, let alone a com-mon plan. In the strongest of thethree economies, the Fed is willinglyrisking inflation by pre-announcingits intention to keep the federal fundsrate at exceptionally low levels “atleast through mid-2015.” In theweakest of the three, by contrast, theECB has no intention of boostinggrowth through quantitative easing orinterest-rate pre-commitments. Onthe contrary, the ECB is adamantthat the only aim of its “outrightmonetary transactions” (OMT) pro-gram, which will buy distressed eurozone members’ government paper,conditional on agreed reforms, is tocontain the currency-redenominationrisk that contributes to elevated inter-

est rates in southern Europeaneconomies. The goal is to restore adegree of homogeneity within theeuro area in terms of the transmis-sion of monetary policy. All of itsasset purchases will be sterilized,meaning that their monetary-policyeffects will be offset.

Furthermore, given the controver-sy that its announcement of the OMTprogram has incited in Germany –not least with the Bundesbank – theECB would certainly be discouragedfrom pursuing any Fed-like effort topush for lower interest rates alongthe yield curve. To ward off an offen-sive by German (and other) mone-tary hawks, who maintain that theECB has opened the door to debtmonetization, the ECB is bound toerr on the side of orthodoxy in thecoming months. The more its uncon-ventional initiatives to repair the euroare contested, the more orthodox theECB will be in its conduct of mone-tary policy.

This discrepancy between the USand Europe is not good news. For theeuro zone, it implies a strongexchange rate vis-à-vis the dollar (and,

by implication, the yen, as the Bank ofJapan closely monitors the yen-dollarexchange rate). But countries insouthern Europe, especially Spain,need the support of a weak currencyto rebalance externally and return tocurrent-account surpluses. Absentthis helping hand from the exchangerate, all southern European rebalanc-ing will need to take place internallythrough domestic deflation, which inturn risks jeopardizing their return topublic-debt sustainability. So the wayout of the European conundrum –currency depreciation – risks beingblocked by the market’s perceptionthat the ECB and the Fed are at oddsover monetary policy.

‘Currency wars’Guido Mantega, the Brazilian financeminister, was quick to dismiss theFed’s stance, again warning of “cur-rency wars.” This reading overlooksthe fact that currencies throughoutthe emerging world ought to appreci-ate relative to those of the advancedeconomies, simply because theemerging countries do not face thesame economic challenges. The US,

Europe, and Japan are all burdenedby high levels of public and privatedebt, and are caught in long, painful,and hazardous deleveraging cyclesthat render recoveries feeble and vul-nerable. By contrast, emergingeconomies suffer from a downturn,but their situation is fundamentallysounder, which should be reflected inthe value of their currencies.

Unfortunately, the combination ofaggressive easing in the US and amuch more guarded attitude inEurope obfuscates the message. Itsuggests that the issue for the globaleconomy is that the US is trying tofind a way to inflate its problemsaway. That may be true, but it shouldnot be permitted to obscure theunderlying structural problem thatthe world economy is facing. ●

Jean Pisani-Ferry is director ofBruegel, an international economics

think tank, professor of economics atUniversité Paris-Dauphine, and a

member of the French Prime Minis-ter’s Council of Economic Analysis.Copyright: Project Syndicate, 2012.

project-syndicate.org

CCaann PPiiSS ccoonnvviinnccee PPoolleess iitt iiss aa ‘‘nnoorrmmaall’’ ppaarrttyy??

CCeennttrraall bbaannkkss oonn tthhee ooffffeennssiivvee??Jean Pisani Ferry

MANAGING EDITORGARETH PRICE(GPRICE@WBJ.PL)

POLITICS EDITORREMI ADEKOYA(RADEKOYA@WBJ.PL)

REAL ESTATE EDITORADAM ZDRODOWSKI(AZDRODOWSKI@WBJ.PL)

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

JOURNALISTIZABELA DEPCZYK(IDEPCZYK@VALKEA.COM)

CONTRIBUTORSE. BLAKE BERRYEWA BONIECKAPIOTR ÂLUSARSKI

COLUMNISTSADAM NARCZEWSKIANDREW NAWROCKI

PRODUCTION MANAGERPIOTR WYSKOK

GRAPHIC DESIGNER¸UKASZ MAZUREK

MARKETING &SALES

AGNIESZKA BREJWO MARKETING &SALES DIRECTOR(ABREJWO@WBJ.PL)

MAGDALENA KARPI¡SKA(MKARPINSKA@WBJ.PL)

AGNIESZKA KUCZY¡SKA(AKUCZYNSKA@WBJ.PL)

EWA BROGOSZ-KORYCKA(EBROGOSZ-KORYCKA@WBJ.PL)

KAROL KOSIOREK(KKOSIOREK@WBJ.PL)

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

SUBSCRIPTIONS MANAGERAGNIESZKA MICHALIK(AMICHALIK@VALKEA.COM)

PRINT & DISTRIBUTION COORDINATORKRZYSZTOF WILI¡SKI(DYSTRYBUCJA@VALKEA.COM)

BOOK OF LISTS SPECIALISTJOANNA RASZKA(JRASZKA@VALKEA.COM)

PUBLISHER VALKEA MEDIA SA EDITOR-IN-CHIEF ANDREW KURETH (AKURETH@WBJ.PL) MANAGING DIRECTOR MONIKA STAWICKA

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.

OCTOBER 1-7, 2012 FFIINNAANNCCEE && EECCOONNOOMMIICCSS www.wbj.pl 11

Interest rates

Monetary PolicyCouncil set to cut rates?Comments by centralbank head MarekBelka suggest a ratecut is in the cards

National Bank of Poland presi-dent Marek Belka said lastweek that there is an “obvious”need for interest-rate cuts.

Monetary easing shouldcome as part of a “cycle” pat-tern, rather than a one-time cut,the Polish Press Agency quotedMr Belka as saying. He did notspecify whether the benchmarkrate – which today stands at4.75 percent – would be cut inearly October or later.

“Belka’s dovish commentsshould seal expectations for aninterest-rate cut in October,”

Ernest Pytlarczyk and MarcinMazurek, economists at BREBank, wrote to Bloomberg inan e-mail.

Several of Poland’s macro-economic indicators saw sig-nificant slowdowns in August,providing further evidencethat the country’s economy isslowing down – and strength-ening the position of monetarypolicy doves.

Industrial production andretail sales both grew at slowerpaces than they did in July.Other data suggest that con-sumer prices increased lessaggressively than during previ-ous months, yet by more thanthe average salary. Firms andconsumers are becoming

increasingly pessimistic. Retailsales grew by only 2.3 percentin August year-on-year, afterinflation is factored in. “This isthe second-slowest growthdynamic in over a year, whichis proof of weakening con-sumption,” Tomasz Kaczor,chief economist at BankGospodarstwa Krajowego,told Parkiet. Also, unemploy-ment rose to 12.4 percent inAugust, compared to 11.8 per-cent a year ago.

The rate-setting MonetaryPolicy Council may, however,choose to wait for the centralbank’s inflation and economicgrowth projection in Novem-ber before it makes a move.

AAKK

Consumption

Retail sales continueto lose steamLow wage increasesand reduced jobsecurity are behindthe weakening ofconsumption, sayanalysts

Retail sales increased by 5.8percent year-on-year inAugust, just slightly lower thananalysts’ expectations and 1.1percentage points lower than inJuly. The data marked the thirdmonth in a row in which retailsales growth declined in com-parison to the previous month.

“In our view, overall the dataconfirm [a] rather gloomy out-look for consumer demandresulting from small wageincreases and falling job securi-ty,” wrote Maciej Reluga, chiefeconomist at Bank ZachodniWBK in an e-mailed state-ment.

“The weakening of con-sumption is caused by a slow-down of real incomes,” agreedRafa∏ Benecki, chief economistfor Poland at ING. He added

that he expects wage growth inthe coming quarters to remainnegative. “Consumption growthshould remain weak, but wedon’t expect significantly deep-er growth than the 1.5% y/yreached in Q2 2012,” he said.

Economists said the datamade it more likely that theNational Bank of Polandwould cut interest rates in thenear future, probably at either

its October or Novembermeeting. Mr Benecki said thatING was assigning a slightlyhigher likelihood to a cut inOctober, while Mr Relugapointed to statements byAnna Zieliƒska-G∏´bocka, amember of the rate-settingMonetary Policy Council, thatindicated an interest rate cutwould be considered in Octo-ber. AAKK

3.0

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‘12Jul

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2

May ‘1

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Apr. ‘

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2

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Downward trend Growth of retail sales in Poland, August 2011-August 2012 (%)

Source: Central Statistical Office

OCTOBER 1-7, 2012CCOOVVEERR SSTTOORRYY12 www.wbj.pl

The initial fascinationwith devices that floodus with waves of datais gradually becominga turn-off for many

It was a grassroots initiative – aFacebook user from Warsawlast year challenged users ofthe world’s largest social net-work to refrain from logging infor 24 hours. “Think about themeaning of life, get on a busand go around town, dance athome, play volleyball – thereare a billion things to doinstead,” he wrote under Face-book’s “public event,” towhich over 150,000 peoplewere invited. Nearly 80,000confirmed their participation.

Another internet user hasrecently set up a Facebookpage called “Log off and gograb a beer” that to date hasgarnered more than 22,000fans.

A similar undertaking witha long-standing tradition is theInternational No Cell PhoneDay, held on July 15, whichreached Poland in 2003. Backthen it had an economic angle:

internet fora were bursting atthe seams with posts thatcalled for a boycott of devicesduring that day in order tosend a strong signal to tele-coms companies that Poleswere dissatisfied with payinghigher rates per minute thanthose paid in Germany orFrance.

Today, the price gap is nolonger so significant. Butaccording to Barbara Fràt-czak-Rudnicka of 4P ResearchMix, a firm that tracks con-sumer trends, there are otherimportant reasons to discon-nect temporarily: a fast-pacedtechnologization of our livesand – as a result – satiationwith a permanantly plugged-inexistence. What we want, shesays, is better control of ouronline and offline worlds andless digital clutter broughtabout by modern communica-tion technologies. Some havedubbed it “de-teching.”

Fatigued withinformation“De-teching is a typical count-er-trend, a reaction to excess, arecovery after the original awe

and relish of technologicalnovelties,” said Ms Fràtczak-Rudnicka. “We’re now lookingfor time away from them, timeto rest and reset,” she added.

She pointed out that thereare also other factors to con-sider when it comes to the ori-gin of the trend, including adeficit of personal relation-ships and an imbalancebetween work and leisure.Moreover, an increasing num-ber of people are reevaluatingtheir lifestyles and consump-tion levels following the globalrecession, leading many toadopt a “slower life,” she said.

A recent study by 4PResearch Mix of Polish inter-net users showed that theproblem of digital informationoverload mostly applies to 45-55 year-old women who occu-py managerial positions. Thehigher the level of education,the more frequently such over-load occurs. Being constantlyavailable to superiors, co-workers and clients, as well ashaving to respond on-the-fly tomessages and having activitystreams in social networks fol-lowed and scrutinized by other

users, corporations or institu-tions, are primarily identifiedby respondents as “stressful”and “bothersome.” Fifty per-cent of them claim to “neverturn off their phones” and 33percent to “often feel enslavedto technology.” Meanwhile 46percent dream about long hol-idays out of reach of any net-work and 33 percent complainabout being flooded with data.

Equally revealing results,presented in spring this year,were obtained by analystsfrom marketing communica-tions agency Euro RSCG aspart of its “Modern Life Glob-al Report” study conductedamong consumers from 19countries, including Poland.More than half of all surveyedconsumers said they were con-cerned with the excess of tech-nology in everyday life, whilealmost two thirds of themadmitted to being “techaddicts.” In addition, 8 out of

10 said they were worried bythe drop in direct relationswith others as a result of theiruse of technology.

According to numbersfrom two years back, collectedby Bart∏omiej Szmajdziƒski,psychotherapist and author ofa Polish study on internetaddiction disorder, in Polandthere were over 10 millionusers of social networks while3 million may have demon-strated symptoms of addictionto these networks. “As soon asthe alarm clock rings, still half-asleep, I check e-mail andFacebook messages on myiPhone. When drinking mymorning coffee I investigatewho wrote what during thenight and write back. Even ona tram, at a cafe or doing shop-ping I react and reply at once,”a journalist wrote recently inthe Polish edition of Elle mag-azine.

“It completely eliminates

any reasonable dialogue withmy kid or wife,” confessed theauthor of AntyWeb, a populartech blog, describing hisbreakfast ritual of checkingseveral hundred new GoogleReader messages on his lap-top.

A term for data interferingwith our concentration, sleepand even affecting ourimmune systems – informationfatigue syndrome – was coinedas early as the mid 1990s byBritish psychologist DavidLewis. The syndrome, he sug-gested, had emerged as adirect result of the “informa-tion burden” – the phenome-non by which the amount ofdata grows much faster thanthe human ability to process it.Dealing with this burden, asMr Lewis argued at that time,was one of the most urgentchallenges facing businesses.And many say it still is.

Technology

The joy of disconnectionPiotr Âlusarski

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Disconnecting is becoming increasingly difficult

of Poles have access to the internet

have a profile ona social network

have cell phones, every seventh has a smartphone

of Poles send at least one SMS message a day,which makes Poland the joint European leader when it comes to the frequency of texting. Poland occupies first place with Norway

OPTIONS FOR DE-TECHING

• Online tools and applications to help control and select content• Product development (e.g. simpler phones)• “Out of reach” services – holidays, wedding parties• “Digital detox”

73% 41% 86%

78%

OCTOBER 1-7, 2012 CCOOVVEERR SSTTOORRYY www.wbj.pl 13

Going unplugged“If you live in turmoil, the col-lision with silence is verypainful,” said Grzegorz Kos-son, an entrepreneur and mar-keting strategist who has man-aged to get over his cravingsfor all things tech.

Yet according to psychia-trist S∏awomir Wolniak, headof a ward at the Wolmed clinicand an addiction therapy spe-cialist, choosing to cut off com-pletely from modern commu-nication tools is not the bestway to regain control overyour life. He said that often,after a couple of days of “info-detox,” we make up for thebacklog and plunge evendeeper into the very digitalworld we planned to abandon.

Mr Wolniak believes con-trolled use is the key. Heencourages people to learn tocooperate with plugged-indevices instead of trying to pullthe plug by force. As an exam-ple, he cited opening an inter-net browser and determiningin advance when to close it, atthe same time appointingyourself tasks and duties todiscipline yourself to executethe plan.

Grzegorz Kosson said he’sbeen following a self-imposedrule not to use his mobile andcomputer on weekends – hecalls it a low-tech diet.

“What I do is switch off myphone, light candles and putthem on a windowsill. I enjoytheir glow. I listen to music. I

have no place to hurry to. I’mglad not to have any plans,”Mr Kosson wrote on his blog.

“At first it was really hard toput the phone away, stay out ofFacebook and Twitter. Myhands badly needed a toy,something to keep them busy.”

But, he says, putting downthe phone was a necessarydefense against a breakdownof family ties.

Jakub Ujejski is a personalproductivity coach. At the endof last year he decided to runan experiment: could he man-age to survive a month withoutFacebook?

“I stumbled upon the ideaafter realizing that more andmore often I would involuntar-ily end up browsing the net-work. I reckoned it’s as harm-ful as compulsive e-mailchecking,” recalled Mr Ujejs-ki.

He did manage to achievehis goal and now limits hisentire social networking activi-ty to several minutes a day. “Igained some perspective onthe situation. I asked myself:do I really want to spend loadsof time following peoplewhom I last saw in primaryschool or saw just once at aparty? ‘Friends’ I have onlybecause my wife does?”

New marketing niche“Get a little closer,” encour-aged an Australian advert forNescafé’s instant coffee as partof a 2010 campaign spotlight-

ing the difference betweencatching up online and face-to-face. The brand’s messagewas that people are better offturning on the kettle thangadgets and that a simple cupof coffee enjoyed together iswell worth trading for a virtualmeet-up.

Marketers have quicklylearned to emphasize real-world connections. And whileit might seem that de-techingposes a threat to producersand providers of communica-tion technologies, it is theywho are tapping into the trend,turning it to their own advan-tage. It’s the tech sector that isactually urging us to de-tech.

In Thailand, a recent ad formobile phone company DTACtook a bold step by bluntlystating “Disconnect to con-nect.” The ad shows severalpeople busy doing things ontheir cell phones to such anextent that importantmoments in their lives simplypass them by. To stay close toyour loved ones, claimsDTAC, means to rely on yourNokia or Samsung only to thenecessary degree.

“Some brands will cater toconsumers’ desire to com-pletely disconnect, while oth-ers will focus on using technol-ogy to simplify life,” reads areport on de-teching by adver-tising agency JWT.

In Poland however, de-teching is still at an early stage,so few related activities are

practiced by Poles. “Although various symp-

toms of technology fatigueare declared by nearly half ofthe population of Polish inter-net users, the marketingresponse to this is still spo-radic,” said Barbara Fràtczak-Rudnicka of 4P ResearchMix. “Some offers of‘unplugged’ holidays areemerging,” she added.

Still, in her view, as Polesbecome more selective in thetypes of technology they con-sume, telecoms, electronicmedia and tech serviceproviders will have no optionbut to better select and targettheir offer themselves – andmake it more engaging.

“De-teching is not a seri-ous danger to the even might-ier trend of the digital domi-

nation of our lives,” said MsFràtczak-Rudnicka.

“But since a reaction tothe latter will constantly markis presence, manifesting itselfas an offline holiday, a three-day ‘detox’ in a spa or a daywithout Facebook … it will besomething to the effect of ahygienic procedure that we’regoing to decide upon once ina while.” ●

An interesting and increasingly popularoption to disconnect is to spend a few days inseclusion in one of several Polish monaster-ies that offer board and lodging, mostly dur-ing vacation time, to all interested parties.Potential guests may choose from congrega-tions of Cistercians from Wàchock, Bene-dictines – based in Tyniec or Lubiƒ, Francis-cans in Piƒczów or Paulines from Mochów,and many more.

One needs to be wary, though, becauseconditions are rough and ready and the dis-connection is total. A cramped room with abed, table, chair and cross on the wall. Nocell phones, laptops, no internet, TV orradio. All devices must be deposited oncheck-in and are given back on check-out.Some monks even demand that guests takeoff their watches.

It is not necessary to take part in themonastery’s everyday life, but should anyonepluck up the courage to do so, the simplerules are: get up between 4 and 6 AM, pray,eat, work, contemplate, and go to sleep at 9or 10. However, everyone is expected to keepsilent, refrain from smoking and complystrictly with meal times.

The first expectation is the key: the post-Camaldolese Golden Forest Hermitage inRytwiany even has a therapeutic centercalled SPeS, financed by EU funds. SPeSstands for “salus per silentium” or “healththrough silence” and offers a special treat-ment program for “infoholics.” It is based onthe three pillars of monastic rule – silence,contemplation and solitude. The lattermeans a stay with a family is out of the ques-tion.

The program, representing the idea of“return to harmony” is individually estab-lished after a preliminary talk between a visi-tor, the visitee and a psychologist. It usuallyconsists of psychological workshops, occupa-tional therapy (glass painting, salt dough andstained glass making) and fitness (massages,gym, forest excursions).

“When you experience a great deal ofstress, spend too much time in virtual reality,when work eats up most of your life or if yourlife goes by too fast – take our offer,” encour-age the landlords of Golden Forest Her-mitage on their website. Reaching them forcomment by means of modern technologywas, however, unsuccessful. ●

Silence is golden

OCTOBER 1-7, 2012IINNTTEERRVVIIEEWW14 www.wbj.pl

Kazakhstan

Between East and WestEwa Boniecka: Kazakhstan hasdeveloped faster than any otherformer post-Soviet Asianrepublic and has became theepitome of economic success inEurasia. How was thatachieved?

Yerik Utembayev: Twenty yearsago, when we declared ourindependence from the USSR,we started practically from zero.We didn’t have our own curren-cy, no economic institutionsand no banking system of ourown. Yet in a relatively shorttime we managed to build amodern economic system and

democratic state that ensuresequal rights for our people, whocomprise over 100 ethnicities.We have moved from a plannedeconomy to a market economy.… So while our transformationprocess was difficult, we haveaccomplished a lot on the roadto fulfilling our national aim of“independence, prosperity andpeople’s welfare.” We expect tomaintain high GDP growth of 8percent this year.

Kazakhstan is blessed withnatural resources, includingoil, gas and uranium. What isthe nation’s strategy for bene-fiting from these riches?Two percent of the world’s oiland natural gas resources are inKazakhstan and this numberpoorly reflects the huge and as-yet unexploited resources onthe Caspian shelf. We are thethird-largest non-OPEC oilexporter to the EU, followingRussia and Norway.

Kazakhstan has establishedthe National Fund, where most

of our income from gas and oilexports is accumulated. Mod-eled on its Norwegian counter-part, it is designed to saveincome from natural resourcesfor future generations. There isnow around $54 billion in theFund. At the height of the cri-sis in 2009 we used part ofthese reserves to support thebanking sector and help smalland medium-sized enterprises.I want to add that the Kazakheconomic strategy is alsofocused on diversifying oureconomy.

Polish and Kazakh economicrelations are still not as strongas they could be. What is yourtake on that?In political terms our relationsare positive. Both countriesexperienced a period of post-communist transformation andour relations are not hamperedby negative historical events.Yet our economic cooperationcould be stronger indeed, andnow both sides want to changethat. ... In 2011 the tradeturnover between our coun-tries, according to Kazakh data,was $1.7 billion. The first sixmonths of 2012, however, saw a

turnover of $1.1 billion, a signif-icant increase of 24 percentcompared to the same period of2011.

We want to further improveon that and we see Poland as animportant gateway to Europe.Most Polish firms are onlyexploring our market and theopportunities provided in vari-ous sectors of our economy, 90percent of which is privatized.In my view they need to bemore active in Kazakhstan. Pol-ish companies can invest in ourenergy sector and establish jointventures with producers inother sectors. We are nowbuilding a big petrochemicalcomplex and I think that Polishfirms can find a place for them-selves there. We are entering anew stage of modernizing oureconomy.

Until now Poland has main-ly imported oil and gas fromRussia, and very little fromKazakhstan, but there areopportunities for increasing ourtrade here and we are exploringroutes for a proper network oftransportation from Kaza-khstan. I also want to highlightthat Poland can also attractKazakh investors, as we havealready invested $12 billion inthe EU and want to invest inPoland as well.

In general, existing politicaland economic ties allow us toreach a higher level of bilateralcooperation and I hope we canexpand our trade turnover tomore than $2 billion in the nearfuture.

Does Kazakhstan want toestablish an agreement con-cerning strategic cooperationwith the EU?For four years I served as mycountry’s ambassador in Brus-sels and I worked towards cre-ating such a document. Lastyear, under the Polish presiden-cy of the EU, we secured an EUmandate to launch negotiationson an enhanced partnershipagreement.

Our location in the heart ofthe Eurasian landmass placesKazakhstan in a strategic posi-tion between East and West.The European Union is ournumber-one trading partnerand relations with the EU arealso very important for us inpolitical terms. And I believethat a Polish contribution tostrengthening them could bevaluable indeed.

How good are your relationswith Russia?We cooperate actively withRussia and we belong to aregional organization of post-Soviet nations – the Common-wealth of Independent States(CIS). I want to stress thatestablishing a Customs Unionwith Russia and Belarus hasbeen beneficial to Kazakhstan.With our population of 16.4million, our internal market issmall. We have a 7,500 km-long border with Russia, whichis the longest land border inthe world. After establishingthe Customs Union we haveaccess to more than 170 mil-lion customers, as we have for-malized a free trade regimewith unified customs tariffs.We invite Polish firms to Kaza-khstan because our country isnow also a gateway to the hugeRussian market and commodi-ties manufactured by foreigninvestors in Kazakhstan can beexported freely to Russia andBelarus without any tariff bar-riers.

There are various signals thatRussia wants to form and leadan integrated political allianceof states that would be similarto the EU. What do you thinkabout that idea?I want to stress that Kazakhstanhas its own sovereign policy andwe treat our cooperation withthe European Union as a prior-ity. Our government has imple-mented a large-scale program“Path to Europe” in order tomake our standards closer to

European ones. … Kazakhstanis running a policy of opennessto various directions, yet we willnever agree on any dictate onus. Obtaining our independ-ence was difficult and we willremain free to choose our ownroad of development.

Turning to the domestic situa-tion in Kazakhstan, how isyour economic developmentand GDP growth transformingthe living standards of ordi-nary people?In 1994, the per capita incomeper year in Kazakhstan was$700. Now it is more than$11,000. We have introduced anew program of social modern-ization and the state now pro-vides better social services andbenefits. Thanks to this ourcountry has recently gonethrough a demographic boom.Indeed, there are many morechildren being born to bothrural and urban families.

What I would also like toemphasize is that we have har-mony between almost 140 eth-nicities and dozens of religiousdenominations in our country.… For centuries, due to its loca-tion at the crossroads of theEast and West, and alsobecause of Stalin’s wickeddeportation policy, Kazakhstanbecame home to many ethniccommunities.

What is the situation of Polesliving in Kazakhstan, who wereoriginally deported there onStalin’s orders?There are about 50,000 Polesnow living in Kazakhstan. Quitea few of them run their ownbusinesses, or work in the localand central administrations.There is also one Pole electedto parliament, Anatol Makows-ki. The Poles organize their cul-tural centers in various townsand cultivate their national tra-ditions, language, and are alsoproud of their roots. They livewell and most of them do notwant to leave Kazakhstan. ●

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Yerik Utembayev, ambassador of the Republicof Kazakhstan to Poland, talks to WBJ abouthis country’s economic development andpolitical status in the international arena

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Astana, capital of Kazakhstan

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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 OCTOBER 1-7, 2012, LI 17/39

Pasa˝

Âwi´tokrzyski

extension

West Coast Capital and

Catalyst Capital are

planning the extension of

the Pasa˝ Âwi´tokrzyski

retail project in Kielce,

Âwi´tokrzyskie

voivodship. A

hypermarket and a retail

park are expected to be

added to the facility in the

near future. Jones Lang

LaSalle, which manages

the center and is

responsible for

commercializing the new

space, is currently in

advanced talks with the

representatives of stores

offering home

improvement goods.

Pasa˝ Âwi´tokrzyski

opened for business in

2006 and houses 40

tenants.

LEED Platinum

for Skanska

officesThe first completed

building in Skanska

Property Poland’s Green

Towers complex in

Wroc∏aw, in Lower

Silesia, has obtained a

LEED Platinum certificate

of energy efficiency and

environmental

performance. The

building is the first newly

built structure in Poland

to have received LEED

certification with the

highest rating. The Green

Towers complex will

consist of two 10-storey

buildings comprising a

total of 23,300 sqm of

leasable space. ●

Park Handlowy Bielany . . . . . .15

Neptun cornerstone . . . . . . . . .15

Renaissance sale . . . . . . . . . . . .15

Office supply . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16

Oxygen Park financing . . . . . . .16

Property-related stocks . . . . . .16

Brama Mazur mall . . . . . . . . . . .17

Feniks building . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17

Ambassador tenant . . . . . . . . .17

In this issue

1716

The Oxygen Park office projectin Warsaw has secured bankfinancing

Master Management Group hasacquired land for its plannedBrama Mazur mall in E∏k

Shopping centers

IIKKEEAA uunnvveeiillss PPaarrkk HHaannddlloowwyyBBiieellaannyy eexxtteennssiioonn sscchheemmeeThe company plans tomake the Wroc∏awmall the largestshopping center inPoland by 2014

Real estate investor InterIKEA Centre Group Polandhas revealed the details of theplanned modernization andextension of its Park Hand-lowy Bielany shopping centerin Wroc∏aw in Lower Silesia.

The company is planning tomake the facility the largestmall in Poland by 2014, withthe investment set to almostdouble the retail space of ParkHandlowy Bielany to 145,000sqm housing approximately200 stores.

“This investment is of hugesignificance for us, we havebeen preparing for it for a longtime,” Mikael Andersson,managing director of InterIKEA Centre Group Poland,

said in a statement. He addedthat after its completion theproject would have almostthree times as many tenants asit does now.

Currently, construction on anew IKEA store is underwaynearby. Once that developmentis finished, the existing store will

be demolished to make roomfor a new part of the ParkHandlowy Bielany mall.

Construction on the invest-ment is scheduled to launch inspring next year. “We expectthe first buyers to be able to dotheir shopping in the new,extended shopping center in

2014,” Mr Andersson said.The architectural design of

the modernization and exten-sion of Park HandlowyBielany has been prepared bythe London-based BPD stu-dio. The value of the planneddevelopment is estimated atz∏.205 million.

Established in 2001, InterIKEA Centre Group dealswith the development andmanagement of shopping cen-ters in which IKEA is the mainpartner. In Poland, the compa-ny has seven facilities in sixmajor cities across the country.

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The extended mall will comprise 145,000 sqm of retail space

Centrum Biurowe Neptuncornerstone laidReal estate developer andinvestor Hines held a corner-stone-laying ceremony at theconstruction site of its Cen-trum Biurowe Neptun officeproject in Gdaƒsk on Septem-ber 19. The ceremony markedthe completion of the under-ground floors of the scheme.

The Centrum BiuroweNeptun development is beingbuilt on Al. Grunwaldzka in theWrzeszcz district of Gdaƒsk.The investment will offer15,300 sqm of office spacearranged on the building’s 18floors.

Hines is planning to obtainan occupancy permit for Cen-trum Biurowe Neptun inDecember next year. The first

tenants of the building areexpected to move into the prop-erty at the beginning of 2014.

“We plan to make Centrum

Biurowe Neptun the bestoffice building in Gdaƒsk,”said Hines Polska presidentMieczys∏aw Godzisz. AAZZ

Renaissance building inWarsaw bought by GLLReal Estate PartnersA fund managed by GLL RealEstate Partners has acquiredthe Renaissance office andretail building in downtownWarsaw from Falcon RealEstate Investments, an entityowned by private Spanishinvestors. The value of thedeal, which was brokered byCBRE, has not been revealed.

The Renaissance building,which was completed by devel-oper Yareal Polska in 2004,offers 5,230 sqm of leasablespace. The property is locatedat Warsaw’s Pl. Zbawiciela inthe Polish capital’s centralbusiness district.

“We are delighted to have

been able to advise GLL RealEstate Partners on the pur-chase of such a unique andprestigious property,” SeanDoyle, associate director inthe capital markets depart-ment of CBRE, said in a state-ment.

“There is continuallystrong demand for Warsawoffices from investors andWarsaw remains one of themost popular investment des-tinations in Europe. Warsaw islooking increasingly attractiveas Poland’s economy contin-ues to outperform other partsof Europe,” Mr Doyle added.

AAZZ

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

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The building will be completed in December 2013

OCTOBER 1-7, 2012LLOOKKAALLEE IIMMMMOOBBIILLIIAA –– RREEAALL EESSTTAATTEE16 www.wbj.pl

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

on Sep 27 (z∏. mln)

BUDIMEX 57.25 13.37 45.85 88.35 -16.42 25,530,098 1,461.60

CELTIC 8.30 -1.31 7.02 21.10 -63.44 34,231,466 284.12

DOMDEV 28.49 -0.97 23.50 42.80 9.58 24,670,397 702.86

ECHO 4.30 -0.46 3.05 4.45 21.13 420,000,000 1,806.00

ELBUDOWA 107.00 8.63 87.00 120.00 0.94 4,747,608 507.99

ENERGOPLD 0.23 15.00 0.17 2.75 -90.84 70,972,001 16.32

ERBUD 13.50 8.70 11.33 23.20 -31.99 12,677,956 171.15

GANT 3.91 16.02 3.37 9.85 -50.13 20,120,000 78.67

GTC 7.48 -0.27 5.20 12.49 -30.09 319,372,990 2,388.91

HBPOLSKA 0.03 200.00 0.01 1.43 -95.95 210,558,445 6.32

JWCONSTR 4.40 3.04 3.85 8.42 -34.33 54,073,280 237.92

LCCORP 1.17 -1.68 0.85 1.48 17.00 447,558,311 523.64

MARVIPOL 10.20 2.00 6.20 11.00 27.66 36,923,400 376.62

MIRBUD 1.06 6.00 0.98 2.68 -57.60 75,000,000 79.50

MOSTALWAR 14.40 6.27 11.30 25.88 -31.43 20,000,000 288.00

MOSTALZAB 1.27 6.72 0.81 1.80 3.25 149,130,538 189.40

ORCOGROUP 6.81 3.81 6.38 19.55 -64.90 99,992,889 680.95

PBG 6.10 38.64 3.36 92.00 -90.46 14,295,000 87.20

PLAZACNTR 2.33 3.56 1.87 2.94 22.63 297,174,515 692.42

POLAQUA 3.30 -2.94 3.30 8.29 -64.29 27,500,100 90.75

POLIMEXMS 0.88 27.54 0.48 2.04 -32.31 521,154,076 458.62

POLNORD 13.29 8.14 10.49 19.85 11.49 23,798,439 316.28

RANKPROGR 7.98 3.64 7.10 16.97 -21.69 37,145,050 296.42

ROBYG 1.31 5.65 1.04 1.75 15.93 257,935,500 337.90

RONSON 0.82 15.49 0.61 1.15 -17.17 272,360,000 223.34

TRAKCJA 0.86 17.81 0.65 1.87 -39.86 232,105,480 199.61

ULMA 39.25 1.16 37.20 74.80 -38.19 5,255,632 206.28

UNIBEP 4.46 1.36 3.60 6.61 -11.16 34,021,684 151.74

WARIMPEX 3.18 1.27 2.64 5.77 -41.11 54,000,000 171.72

ZUE 6.96 0.87 5.07 9.15 -23.93 22,000,000 153.12

Property-related stocks

Oxygen Park gets bank financing

Real estate developer YarealPolska has secured bankfinancing for its under-con-struction Oxygen Park officeproject in Warsaw from BNPParibas. The value of thefinancing loan has not beenrevealed.

“We see Oxygen Park as aninteresting project that shouldfind recognition in the market,”Marek Kowalski, director of thereal estate financing depart-ment at BNP Paribas Bank Pol-ska, said in a statement.

He added that following

the signing of the initial creditagreement, the scheme quick-ly achieved the level of com-mercialization required for itto receive financing. “[This]confirms our conviction aboutthe project’s attractiveness,”Mr Kowalski said.

The Oxygen Park develop-ment is located on Al. Jero-zolimskie in Warsaw’s W∏ochydistrict. The class-A invest-ment will comprise two six-floor buildings delivering atotal of 18,300 sqm of space.

The first phase of the

investment is scheduled to becompleted in Q1 2013 and thesecond in the last quarter ofnext year. Oxygen Park isexpected to feature BREEAMcertification of energy efficien-cy and environmental per-formance.

Colliers International is theleasing agent of the OxygenPark project, whose design wasfurnished by the JEMSArchitekci studio. Constructioncompany RD bud is the gener-al contractor of the facility.

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Oxygen Park will deliver 18,300 sqm of space

Office

Poland a growth zone foroffice space in Europe: reportOver one million sqmof office space isunder construction inthe country

Poland is one of the maingrowth zones for office spacein Europe, with CBRE dataindicating that over one mil-lion sqm of office space isnow under construction inthe country, scheduled to becompleted in 2013 and 2014.

The growth is particularlyvisible in Warsaw. Almost280,000 sqm of office space isset to be completed in thePolish capital this year, whichmakes it one of the mostactive cities in Europe interms of office development,according to a recent reportby CBRE.

Only Moscow, Paris andVienna have more officespace scheduled for deliverythis year than Warsaw, withthe Polish capital beatingcentral London, as well asother CEE capitals Pragueand Budapest, the study said.

Eleven new office build-ings, comprising a combined93,000 sqm of space, werecompleted in Warsaw in thefirst half of 2012. Almost

300,000 sqm was taken up inthe city in the same period.

The CBRE report saidthat the level of office spaceleasing activity in Poland has“returned to the growthpath” registered before thecrisis, with last year seeing arecord level of 895,000 sqmleased in the nine largestmarkets and almost 490,000sqm leased in H1 2012.

“While Poland itself isresisting the weakness affect-ing many markets worldwide,at the same time the globaleconomic slowdown is work-

ing in favor of the Polish officemarket,” Daniel Bienias,director of office agency, ten-ant representation, at CBREPoland, said in a statement.

He explained that manyoccupiers are moving orexpanding their operations inPoland in search of costreductions. “Based on thenumber of new inquiries fromexisting tenants, as well asnewcomers, we expect astrong year-end take-upresult for 2012,” Mr Bieniassaid.

AAddaamm ZZddrrooddoowwsskkii

0

50,000

100,000

150,000

200,000

250,000

300,000

LublinKatowiceKrakówSzczecinPoznańTri-cityŁódźWroc∏awWarsaw

Office opportunityTotal office completions (sqm) in Poland in 2012 (forecast)

Source: CBRE

OCTOBER 1-7, 2012 LLOOKKAALLEE IIMMMMOOBBIILLIIAA –– RREEAALL EESSTTAATTEE www.wbj.pl 17

Major tenant at AmbassadorOffice Building in WarsawInsurance broker Gras SavoyePolska has taken up 3,200 sqmof office space in the under-construction AmbassadorOffice Building project inWarsaw. Commercial realestate agent Axi Immo facili-tated the lease transaction.

The new headquarters ofGras Savoye Polska will occu-py three floors in the Ambas-sador Office Building schemeand will include all of thecompany’s departments, aswell as a 24-hour call center.

The Ambassador OfficeBuilding investment is beingdeveloped by Kronos RealEstate. The development islocated on ul. Domaniewskain Warsaw’s Mokotów district,close to the capital’s GaleriaMokotów mall.

The project will comprisetwo sections, standing at sevenand 11 storeys tall, that will offera combined 15,600 sqm of

usable space. The AmbassadorOffice Building scheme is sched-uled to be completed at the endof this year. AAddaamm ZZddrrooddoowwsskkii

Work on Warsaw’s Feniksnears completionConstruction on the Feniksoffice building in Warsaw isnearing completion, withworkers now finishing thefacade and laying interiorinstallations. The investorbehind the project, Europlan,expects to obtain an occupan-cy permit for the scheme bythe end of this year.

Located at the intersectionof ul. ˚elazna and ul. Siennain the capital’s Wola district,the seven-storey developmentwill comprise approximately10,000 sqm of office space andalmost 1,000 sqm of retail andservice areas.

“A typical floor of thebuilding has 1,500 sqm andcan be arranged for tenantswho require the space to bedivided into particular rooms,

as well as for those who preferan open-space working envi-ronment,” Monika Rogucka,leasing director at Europlan,said in a statement.

She added that Feniks isthe only office building thatwill be completed in War-

saw’s central business districtthis year. The investment wasdesigned by Archico Projectand its general contractor isModzelewski & Rodek, asubsidiary of the AustrianPORR.

AAddaamm ZZddrrooddoowwsskkii

CO

UR

TE

SY O

F E

UR

OP

LA

N

CO

UR

TE

SY O

F A

XI

IMM

O G

RO

UP

Shopping centers

MMaasstteerr MMaannaaggeemmeennttbbuuyyss BBrraammaa MMaazzuurr ssiitteeThe company plansto launchconstruction on themall by the end ofthis year

Real estate investor MasterManagement Group and theMunicipality of E∏k in north-eastern Poland have signed afinal agreement concerningthe sale of a piece of landsized almost 1.85 hectares,on which Master Manage-ment plans to build its BramaMazur mall.

“I am very glad that afterlong talks we have managed

to finalize the purchase of anattractive plot in the verydowntown of E∏k,” Paul Kus-mierz, president of MasterManagement Group, said ina statement.

He added that the compa-ny is planning to change thepremises into a multifunction-al urban complex featuringthe highest-quality publicspace. Advanced negotiationswith potential tenants havebeen underway for some time,Mr Kusmierz said.

The acquired site is locat-ed at the intersection of E∏k’sul. Dàbrowskiego and ul.KoÊciuszki. Master Manage-

ment Group will revitalize apre-war military warehousethat is located on the landand will make it an integralpart of the planned BramaMazur mall.

The shopping and enter-tainment center will deliver16,250 sqm of space and willinclude a shopping gallery, asupermarket, a cinema andnumerous cafes and restau-rants. An underground park-ing lot will provide spaces for600 cars.

Master ManagementGroup is currently awaitingadministrative permits forthe Brama Mazur develop-

ment. The investor hopes tobe able to launch construc-tion on the investment by theend of this year.

Established in 2006,

Master Management Groupnow manages more than340,000 sqm of retail space in16 cities across Poland. Thecompany was also the devel-

oper of the Galeria Niwashopping center in OÊwi´cimwhich opened for business in2009.

AAddaamm ZZddrrooddoowwsskkii

CO

UR

TE

SY O

F Q

UE

ST

IA

Brama Mazur will deliver 16,250 sqm of space

Ambassador

Feniks

OCTOBER 1-7, 2012 TTHHEE LLIISSTT www.wbj.pl 19

Corporate Services

Security CompaniesRanked by revenue from security services in 2010 www.bookoflists.pl

Notes: WND = Would Not Disclose. Research for The List was conducted inNovember 2011. Number of employees is as of October 2011. All information per-tains to the companies’ activities in Poland. Companies not responding to our surveyare not listed.Footnotes: (1) Securitas Group: Securitas Polska Sp. z o.o.; Securitas Alert ServicesSp. z o.o.; Purzeczko - Grupa Securitas Sp. z o.o.; Nordserwis Securitas Sp. z o.o.

To the best of WBJ ’s knowledge, the information is accurate as of press time. While every effort is made toensure accuracy and thoroughness, omissions and typographical errors may occur. Corrections or additions to TheList 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 MediaSA. The List may not be reprinted or reproduced in whole or in part without prior written permission of the publish-er. Reprints are available.

CORRECTION: In the warehouse space listing in theSeptember 24 issue of WBJ, the contact details for Prol-ogis Park Wroc∏aw and Prologis Park Wroc∏aw III wereincorrect. The contact person for both facilities is Alek-sandra Cools, reachable at acools@prologis.com or(+48) 602-552-378. WBJ regrets the error.

Rank

Company nameAddressTel./FaxE-mailWeb page

Revenue fromsecurityservices (z∏. mln)

Total revenue(z∏. mln)

Avarageemployment

per year

Prop

erty

sec

urity

/Bo

dygu

ards

/Al

arm

sys

tem

inst

alla

tion

/De

tect

ive

serv

ices

Acce

ss c

ontro

l sys

tem

in

stal

latio

n / R

emot

e m

onito

ring

/ CC

TV m

onito

ring

/ Con

voys

On-s

ite p

rote

ctio

n /

Clea

ning

/In

terv

entio

n un

its /

Trai

ning

Other

Privatehouses /Offices /Industrialbuildings

Shoppingmalls /Banks /Public

buildings

Cooperation withinsurancecompanies

Selected clients

Num

ber o

f sec

urity

em

ploy

ees

/N

umbe

r of f

ull-t

ime

empl

oyee

s /

Year

foun

ded

in P

olan

d

Top localexecutive /

Title

1

Grupa Solidul. Post´pu 17, 02-676 Warsaw22 668-6006/22 668-6006 ext. 1507solid@solidsecurity.plwww.solidsecurity.pl

WND882.3876.6842.5

WND1,001.0941.1892.5

WND26,54522,35018,500

✓✓✓-

✓✓✓✓

✓✓✓✓

-

✓✓✓

✓✓✓

PZU; InterRisk ViennaInsurance Group

Millennium Bank; BZ WBK;PKO BP; Coca Cola HBCPolska; Carrefour Polska;Castorama Polska; Statoil

Poland; KGHM Polska Miedê

19,93514,3411994

Arkadiusz ReszkePresident

2

Konsalnet Holding SAul. Przasnyska 6A, 01-756 Warsaw22 560-5000/22 560-5004centrala@konsalnet.com.plwww.konsalnet.com.pl

WND484.9483.0250.0

WND516.8506.0300.0

WND15,50013,5008,200

✓✓✓-

✓✓✓✓

✓-✓-

Cash processing; securityaudits; armed escorts; VIPprotection; events security;

transport of dangerousobjects, works of art,

valuables, noble metals; lossverification in economic

relations; GPS monitoring

✓✓✓

✓✓✓

WND

Tesco Polska; JeronimoMartins Dystrybucja; BankPolska Kasa Opieki; Polska

Telefonia Cyfrowa;ArcelorMittal Poland

16,117WND1994

Adam Paw∏owiczPresident

3

Impel Security Polska Sp. z o.o.ul. Âl´˝na 118, 53-111 Wroc∏aw71 711-0300/71 711-0313cc.ochrona@impel.plwww.impel.pl

200.4416.1406.4386.0

593.81,110.71,033.31,002.1

WNDWNDWNDWND

✓✓✓✓

✓✓✓✓

✓✓✓✓

Mass events security; VIPsecurity; safety audits;reception service; GPS

monitoring; video surveillance;cash processing; ATM service

✓✓✓

✓✓✓

Ergo Hestia

Kredyt Bank; Tele-FonikaKable; KGHM Polska Miedê;

Strabag; Vattenfall HeatPoland

WNDWND1990

AdrianDownarowicz

President

4

Securitas Group(1)

ul. Cybernetyki 21, 02-677 Warsaw22 457-0735/22 457-0784securitas@securitas.plwww.securitas.pl

WND202.0190.0184.0

WND202.0190.0184.0

WND4,9004,5505,000

✓✓✓✓

✓✓✓✓

✓✓✓✓

Security audits; bodyguard;reception; security

management

✓✓✓

✓✓✓

XL Insurance (memberof XL Capital)

Schenker Logistics; GrupaLotos; Avon; PG; Electrolux;

Citibank; HSBC; Ernst & Young; Polbank EFG;General Motors; BAT; MAN;

Euro-Net

WNDWND1996

Krzysztof Toczyƒski;Dariusz Bàk;

Miros∏aw Purzeczko;Marek Kamiƒski

Presidents

5

Grupa EKOTRADE ul. Melomanów 4, 00-712 Warsaw22 548-9052/22 548-9050biuro@ekotrade.com.plwww.ekotrade.com.pl

149.2144.3142.0123.4

154.3150.7144.6126.6

7,3606,3755,2004,100

WNDWNDWNDWND

WNDWNDWNDWND

WNDWNDWNDWND

Fire monitoring; mass eventsprotection; reception services

✓✓✓

✓✓✓

XL Insurance CompanyLimited

Getin Noble Bank; EuroBank; Bank Polskiej

Spó∏dzielczoÊci; Multikino;Nestle Polska

6,850WND1991

Jacek JerschinaPresident

6

City Security SAul. Wybrze˝e Gdyƒskie 2, 01-531 Warsaw22 628-6070/22 635-5116biuro@citysecurity.plwww.citysecurity.pl

47.079.567.057.5

50.084.068.059.0

4,4504,2503,5003,100

✓✓✓✓

✓✓✓✓

✓✓✓✓

Anti-terrorist trainings; debtcollection

✓✓✓

✓✓✓

ConcordiaMAN; Accor; Z∏ote Tarasy;

Lotnisko Wojskowe NATO inMalbork; Praktiker

4,5001,5002001

Beniamin Krasicki President

7

Grupa HUNTERS Sp. z o.o.ul. Bukowska 111, 62-065 Grodzisk Wielkopolski61 442-1600/61 442-1613biuro@hunters.plwww.hunters.pl

17.132.832.926.7

22.444.843.837.8

1,0311,1551,5141,301

✓✓✓✓

✓✓✓✓

✓✓✓✓

Inkaso; events protection; GPScar monitoring; DNA marking

system

✓✓✓

✓✓✓

Allianz; PZU; Hestia;Benefia

Imperial Tobacco Polska;Auchan Polska; Piotr i Pawe∏;Douglas Polska; Nivea Polska

WNDWND1990

Piotr ˚y∏kowskiPresident

8

Agencja Ochrony Osób i MieniaGuard-Service Sp. z o.o.ul. Tatrzaƒska 6A, 60-413 Poznaƒ61 847-7196/61 847-7196guardservice@guardservice.plwww.guardservice.pl

15.019.019.016.5

16.020.020.017.0

520500500480

✓✓✓✓

✓✓✓✓

✓✓✓✓

-

✓✓✓

✓✓✓

PZUVolkswagen Polska; Raben

Polska; LEK; PKP;Kuehne+Nagel

5205202000

Konrad Sz∏apkaPresident

9

Gustaw Securitas System Sp. z o.o.ul. y̧skowskiego 18, 71-641 Szczecin91 812-1478 /91 434-7527biuro@gustaw-securitas.plwww.gustaw-securitas.pl

8.217.416.414.5

8.317.517.214.5

630567580568

✓✓✓-

✓✓✓✓

✓-✓✓

-

✓✓✓

✓✓✓

TUiR Partner

Muzeum Narodowe;Prokuratura Okr´gowa;

Wojewódzki SàdAdministracyjny; Netto;Enea Operator; ING BankÂlàski; Carlsberg Polska;

Jednostki Wojskowe

63083

1988

Gustaw WiliƒskiPresident

1st half of 2011 / 2010 / 2009 / 2008

Services Type of property protected

OCTOBER 1-7, 2012MMAARRKKEETTSS20 www.wbj.pl

SO

UR

CE

: W

SE

PLN-EUR

4.13

40

4.1

528

4.1

475

4.14

15

4.1

518

4.11

38

21.0

9

24.0

9

25.0

9

26.0

9

27.0

9

28.0

94.0

4.5 PLN-USD

21.0

9

24.0

9

25.0

9

26.0

9

27.0

9

28.0

9

3.17

12

3.2

180

3.2

136

3.2

187

3.2

236

3.17

80

3.0

3.5 PLN-GBP

21.0

9

24.0

9

25.0

9

26.0

9

27.0

9

28.0

9

5.16

78

5.

2128

5.

2167

5.

2094

5

.219

8

5.15

71

5.0

5.5 PLN-CHF

3.4

126

3.

4356

3.

4301

3.

4251

3

.434

2

3.4

008

21.0

9

24.0

9

25.0

9

26.0

9

27.0

9

28.0

93.0

3.5 PLN-RUB

21.0

9

24.0

9

25.0

9

26.0

9

27.0

9

28.0

9

0.10

25

0.1

028

0.

1033

0.

1032

0.

1033

0.1

028

0.10

0.11 PLN-100JPY

21.0

9

24.0

9

25.0

9

26.0

9

27.0

9

28.0

9

4.05

33

4

.125

0

4.13

49

4.1

471

4.1

497

4.0

950

4.0

4.5

currency rates

Spain budget

boosts z∏oty

Currency report

Improved global sentimentlast week helped the z∏otyregain some of the ground itlost earlier in September.Spain’s budget projections,including the assumptionthat the country will gener-ate around €40 billion in sav-ings, were well received byinvestors, leading to a dropin risk aversion.

Earlier in the week how-ever, the Polish currencyweakened following centralbank chief Marek Belka’sremark that there was an“obvious” need for interest-rate cuts. The z∏oty eased 0.3percent to 4.1468 per euro,according to Bloombergdata.

Mr Belka made the com-ments following the releaseof disappointing macro data,including a slowdown inretail sales growth and a risein unemployment. The datathemselves had little effecton the z∏oty.

Expectations are buildingthat the rate-setting Mone-tary Policy Council will thisweek cut the headline interestrate 25 basis points to 4.5 per-cent. Analysts from X-TradeBrokers said in a commentthat any other decision, suchas a bigger cut, would lead toincreased volatility in thedomestic currency market.

On Thursday, news aboutSpain’s budget caused thez∏oty to break the support of4.12 to the euro and sneakbriefly below 4.10. On Fri-day, the EUR/PLN came inat 4.1138 while theUSD/PLN was at 3.1780.The CHF/PLN rate stood ata stubbornly high 3.4008.

Looking ahead, analystssay the EUR/PLN could tar-get 4.05 if the issue of finan-cial aid for Spain is resolved.However, some say the mar-ket is oversold and that arebound is therefore possible.

GGaarreetthh PPrriiccee

SO

UR

CE

: N

BP

Major indices

Top 5 Closing % change (week) 52-week high 52-week lowHBPOLSKA 0.03 200.00 1.47 0.01WESTAISIC 1.09 43.42 8.11 0.42PBG 6.10 38.64 94.65 3.25PTI 14.50 31.46 14.95 8.30IQP 1.26 28.57 1.28 1.03

WIG 43,763.30 (September 28 close)

Change for the week: 0.06% 52-week high: 44,173.50

Change year to September 28: 14.21% 52-week low: 36,653.28

Top 5 Closing % change (week) 52-week high 52-week lowPBG 6.10 38.64 94.65 3.25POLIMEXMS 0.88 27.54 2.09 0.46GETIN 1.94 8.38 9.03 1.43PKNORLEN 45.50 4.96 46.28 31.44CYFRPOLSAT 14.78 3.79 15.85 12.25

Bottom 5 Closing % change (week) 52-week high 52-week lowIFCAPITAL 0.32 -47.54 14.97 0.32ALTERCO 0.86 -44.52 47.98 0.77WISTIL 9.05 -27.02 33.02 5.33REINHOLD 0.32 -25.58 2.44 0.28RESBUD 6.42 -22.18 70.00 2.88

Bottom 5 Closing % change (week) 52-week high 52-week lowTAURONPE 4.86 -4.52 5.77 4.10CEZ 120.30 -2.98 141.50 111.90PKOBP 35.95 -2.42 38.50 30.10PEKAO 158.90 -1.91 165.00 128.10LOTOS 30.97 -1.84 32.00 21.30

WIG20 2,375.96 (September 28 close)

Change for the week: -0.48% 52-week high: 2,417.32

Change year to September 28: 8.29% 52-week low: 2,035.80

mWIG40 2,345.87 (September 28 close)

Change for the week: 1.43% 52-week high: 2,561.94

Change year to September 28: 7.11% 52-week low: 2,076.52

sWIG80 9,820.71 (September 28 close)

Change for the week: 1.54% 52-week high: 10,536.29

Change year to September 28: 14.14% 52-week low: 8,218.71

NewConnect 34.72 (September 28 close)

Change for the week: -0.32% 52-week high: 43.65

Change year to September 28: -16.32% 52-week low: 33.94

WIG-Banki 6,302.51 (September 28 close)

Change for the week: -1.51% 52-week high: 6,495.06

Change year to September 28: 13.70% 52-week low: 5,163.30

DJIA13,485.97 (Sep28 close)

-0.82% (for the week)

CHANGE: 8.78%

(year to Sep 28)

52-week high: 13,653.20

52-week low: 10,404.50

NASDAQ3,136.60 (Sep 28 close)

-1.24% (for the week)

CHANGE: 18.42%

(year to Sep 28)

52-week high: 3,196.93

52-week low: 2,298.89

S&P5001,447.15 (Sep28 close)

-0.90% (for the week)

CHANGE: 13.32%

(year to Sep 28)

52-week high: 1,474.51

52-week low: 1,074.77

FTSE1005,779.40 (Sep 28 close)

-1.28% (for the week)

CHANGE: 1.39%

(year to Sep 28)

52-week high: 5,989.10

52-week low: 4,868.60

DAX7,290.02 (Sep 28 close)

-1.35% (for the week)

CHANGE: 19.99%

(year to Sep 28)

52-week high: 7,478.53

52-week low: 5,125.52

NIKKEI2258,949.87 (Sep 28 close)

-1.51% (for the week)

CHANGE: 4.55%

(year to Sep 28)

52-week high: 10,255.20

52-week low: 8,135.79

world stock indices

31.0

8

03.0

9

04.0

9

05.0

9

06.0

9

07.0

9

10.0

9

11.0

9

12.0

9

13.0

9

14.0

9

17.0

9

18.0

9

19.0

9

20.0

9

21.0

9

24.0

9

25.0

9

26.0

9

27.0

941,000

41,800

42,600

43,400

44,200

45,00031

.08

03.0

9

04.0

9

05.0

9

06.0

9

07.0

9

10.0

9

11.0

9

12.0

9

13.0

9

14.0

9

17.0

9

18.0

9

19.0

9

20.0

9

21.0

9

24.0

9

25.0

9

26.0

9

27.0

92,200

2,260

2,320

2,380

2,440

2,500

31.0

8

03.0

9

04.0

9

05.0

9

06.0

9

07.0

9

10.0

9

11.0

9

12.0

9

13.0

9

14.0

9

17.0

9

18.0

9

19.0

9

20.0

9

21.0

9

24.0

9

25.0

9

26.0

9

27.0

92,200

2,240

2,280

2,320

2,360

2,400

31.0

8

03.0

9

04.0

9

05.0

9

06.0

9

07.0

9

10.0

9

11.0

9

12.0

9

13.0

9

14.0

9

17.0

9

18.0

9

19.0

9

20.0

9

21.0

9

24.0

9

25.0

9

26.0

9

27.0

99,300

9,420

9,540

9,660

9,780

9,900

31.0

8

03.0

9

04.0

9

05.0

9

06.0

9

07.0

9

10.0

9

11.0

9

12.0

9

13.0

9

14.0

9

17.0

9

18.0

9

19.0

9

20.0

9

21.0

9

24.0

9

25.0

9

26.0

9

27.0

933.0

33.6

34.2

34.8

35.4

36.0

31.0

8

03.0

9

04.0

9

05.0

9

06.0

9

07.0

9

10.0

9

11.0

9

12.0

9

13.0

9

14.0

9

17.0

9

18.0

9

19.0

9

20.0

9

21.0

9

24.0

9

25.0

9

26.0

9

27.0

95,900

6,020

6,140

6,260

6,380

6,500

Other indices

Bulls held back

Stocks report

Last week started with wors-ened investor sentiment andthe continuation of a down-ward correction caused by,among other things, reportsof an allegedly higher budgetdeficit in Greece than hadpreviously been announced.On Monday, the WIG andthe WIG20 lost 0.4 percentand 0.54 percent respectively.

After three days of losses,Tuesday saw an attempt toreturn to growth on the War-saw Stock Exchange, with theWIG20 having finished theday up 0.62 percent. Howev-er, the turnover remained rel-atively low, amounting toslightly more than z∏.720 mil-lion. TVN was the best per-former among the bourse’sblue-chip companies.

Wednesday again wit-nessed a return of the correc-tive mood and losses on themajor European stockexchanges. In Warsaw, too,the supply side got the upperhand and the two mainindices, the WIG20 and the

WIG, fell by 1.04 percent and0.68 percent respectively.Construction companies didbest, while telecom and bank-ing companies were some ofthe worst performers.

On Thursday, worse-than-expected macroeconomicdata came from the US,where GDP for the secondquarter was revealed to havegrown by just 1.3 percent,instead of an anticipated 1.7percent. Nevertheless, thishad only a limited negativeeffect as the WIG finishedthe day up 0.79 percent.

In the end, bulls wereunable to stop the downwardcorrection and the negativesentiment was furtherstrengthened by poor macro-economic data published incountries including Japan,Germany and France. Thelast session of the third quar-ter of the year – on Friday,September 28 – ended withthe WIG20 losing 0.19 per-cent.

AAddaamm ZZddrrooddoowwsskkii

OCTOBER 1-7, 2012 SSPPOORRTTSS www.wbj.pl 21

Soccer

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The former Polandcaptain failed to gainthe support needed forre-election

Grzegorz Lato has resignedfrom his post as head of thePolish Football Association(PZPN). The announcementcame last Tuesday, just sevenhours before the midnightdeadline for prospective can-didates for the PZPN presi-dential elections to acquireenough signatures to enterthe race.

“I have today taken thedecision to withdraw my can-didacy for the post of presi-dent of the PZPN,” Mr Latosaid in a written statement.

“Everyone wants change,

so they should be pleased withmy decision. I believe that Imust do this for the good ofthe PZPN and Polish soccer,”he added.

Mr Lato, who during anoutstanding playing careerbecame Poland’s all-timeleading goal scorer, isbelieved to have made thesurprise decision to quit afterit became clear he would beunable to muster the 15 signa-tures from other PZPN exec-utives needed to enter theOctober 26 elections.

The former Stal Mielecplayer had come under heavycriticism during his fouryears at the helm of Poland’ssoccer association, followingallegations of corruption and

Poland’s poor performanceon the pitch at Euro 2012.

But assessing his ownrecord as PZPN presidentMr Lato said, “Associationmanagement is not easy, so Iwish the new president suc-cess. During my term, Iattempted to bring in a stringof reforms and changes. I amconvinced they will bear fruitin the future.”

“I have left the PZPN ingreat financial shape, and Ihope that my hard work forsoccer won’t go to waste,” headded.

Former Juventus mid-fielder Zbigniew Boniek isnow the favorite to becomenew PZPN president.

DDaavviidd IInngghhaamm

Tennis

Urszula Radwaƒskabeats Ana IvanovicThe 21-year-old ishoping to emulate thesuccess of her oldersister Agnieszka

Polish tennis player UrszulaRadwaƒska shocked formerworld number one AnaIvanovic last week, with a two-sets-to-one victory at the TorayPan Pacific Open in Tokyo.

Ms Radwaƒska, who is theyounger sister of 2012 Wimble-don finalist Agnieszka Rad-waƒska, beat the number 11seed 3-6, 6-4, 6-2, to claim thebiggest win of her career so far.

This second-round victoryset up a clash with 5th seedAngelique Kerber, but herGerman opponent proved toostrong, easily overcoming the21-year-old Pole 6-1, 6-1, in 47minutes.

The defeat means that MsRadwaƒska is yet to claim hermaiden WTA title, althoughshe does have four ITF titlesto her name

In the same tournamenther older sister, who last yearwon the Toray Open title,made it to the final again,beating Ms Kerber 6-1, 6-1 inthe semifinals.

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Soccer

FFaattaall ssttaabbbbiinngg aatt cciinneemmaaFans of city rivalsWis∏a Kraków andCracovia clashed lastweek

A 32-year-old man was fatallystabbed last week following afight between hooligans fromrival clubs Wis∏a Kraków andCracovia.

The incident occurred whentwo fans accidentally met out-side a cinema in the Nowa Hutadistrict of Kraków on Septem-ber 23. Following an altercationit was agreed that a fight wouldtake place after the end of thefilm that one of the supporterswas planning to watch.

At approximately 11 pm,supporters from the twoKraków clubs met outside thecinema and Wis∏a Kraków fanDariusz D. was stabbed in theback and died at the scene. Anunnamed 40-year-old Wis∏asupporter was also taken tothe hospital with abdominalinjuries.

In total 17 people havebeen arrested, includingRobert M., one of the leadersof the Cracovia hooligangroup. Mr M. was recentlycleared of the murder of a 17-year-old Wis∏a fan, who waskilled after a street fight in2004. Polish law restricts pub-

lishing the full names of thoseaccused of a crime.

Incidents of hooliganismboth inside and outside stadi-ums have continued to plaguethe Polish game in recentyears.

In 2011, Legia Warszawaand Lech Poznaƒ fans clashedon the pitch following Legia’s5-4 victory on penalties in thePolish Cup Final. Then in June2012, Polish and Russian fansfought running battles on War-saw’s Poniatowski Bridgebefore the two teams met atthe National Stadium duringEuro 2012.

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OCTOBER 1-7, 2012LLIIFFEESSTTYYLLEE22 www.wbj.pl

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Tori AmosOctober 13Sala KongresowaPlac Defilad 1Warsaw

American pianist and singer-songwriter Tori Amos returnsto Warsaw once again this yearto promote her 13th album,“Golden Touch,” set to bereleased this month.

This newest album is beingreleased to mark the 20th

anniversary of her debutalbum “Little Earthquakes”and contains reworkings ofearlier hits recorded togetherwith the Metropole Orchestra.

It is her second classicalrelease on the DeutscheGrammophon label followingon from last year’s “Night ofHunters.”

Speaking about the songson her new release Ms Amossaid, “My attitude to theseworks has changed over the

years, and they also changedmy life. It was not just simplyreaching for old and well-known hits, but rather a visual-ization of myself and my fansthat after ten or twenty yearsthe same text can talk aboutsomething completely differ-ent than when it was first cre-ated.”

DDaavviidd IInngghhaamm

For more information logon to kongresowa.pl

Concert

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Tori Amos

Free Form Festival 2012October 12-13Soho Factoryul. Miƒska 25Warsaw

Now in its 8th year, Warsaw’sFree Form Festival is recog-nized as one of the mostunique and characteristicmusic events in Poland.

Hosted in the the capital’sartistic Praga district, the aimof the festival has always been

to promote new trends inmusic with an emphasis on allthings electronic. As a result,those planning to attend canexpect some pounding beatsand energetic DJ performanc-es at this two-day party.

This year will see Britishdance pioneers Leftfield, whowere previously described byMixmag as “the single mostinfluential production teamworking in British dancemusic,” among the main acts.

Other performers include Ital-ian electro-house project theBloody Beetroots, producerand remixer Ewan Pearson(who has worked with DepecheMode, The Chemical Brothersand Gwen Stefani,) and Ser-bian-born DJ Nina Kraviz.

Tickets for the event arepriced from z∏.110.

DDaavviidd IInngghhaamm

For more information logon to freeformfestival.pl

Festival

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The Bloody Beetroots

When Techeye was still a young pitch-fork-wielding villager, we got twobrilliant pieces of advice fromStumpy, the proprietor of “PoorRichard’s Frothy Discharge,” ourlocal pub. The first was practical.

“Never pass out in a pig trough,boy,” he warned, “or the little pork-ers’ll eat yer digits.” Stumpy, who had inherited the pubfrom his father (the eponymousRichard), was not a man of theworld. Legend has it he was con-ceived in the pub and it’s a fact thathe died there; judging from hisaggressive musk, he rarely steppedoutside much in the intervening

years. But Stumpy was miss-ing all the fingers of his lefthand, so we assume he had,well, first-hand experienceof the matter.

The second bit of advicewas more inspirational.“Build a better hangovercure, and the world’ll spew apath to yer door,” Stumpytold us, and you could seethe wisdom in his red-veined, squinty eyes.

Techeye has long ruminat-ed on this sage advice. And,as the years have passed,

we’ve decided that the best hangovercure is, as they say, more of what alesyou. So, with the second half of Okto-berfest kicking off this week, we’reinvestigating the latest in technologyto keep your beer cool (and thus yourhangovers to a minimum).

One such device is the Brew Cave(Brewcave.com), a giant walk-incooler (or “kegerator,” if you prefer)from US Coolers. The Brew Cave isdesigned to keep your beer at justabove freezing and has four shelveslining the side and rear walls, allow-ing it to hold 30 cases and four kegs.

There’s also a draft beer tap inthe front wall for fast service. You’ll

have to wrestle kegs in and out of theunit, but that’s good for your healthso don’t complain. In fact, the activi-ty is officially known as “kegel exer-cises,” and doctors recommend it.

Be aware that this is a sizableunit: it’s about as wide as threeample-butted Texans standing cheekto cheek, as tall as a gigantic basket-ball player and as deep as a well-duggrave (6’10” x 7’6” x 4’10”). Thedefault color is black, but over 20manly shades are available uponrequest, including teal, almond andshasta white.

There are only two downsides asfar as Techeye is concerned. First isthe price: approximately $8,220.That’s a lot of dosh for a beer fridge.And second is the fact that the man-ufacturer doesn’t ship international-ly. Still, the cost of hiring a small boatand a team of strong-backed donkeysto transport a Brew Cave can’t be toogreat.

Shipping is not a major concernwith the other device we’re lookingat this week, the Marshall Fridge(Marshallfridge.com). Inside it’s anormal refrigerator with 4.4 cubicfeet of capacity; outside, it looks likea Marshall amplifier.

There’s not much else to say

about the Marshall Fridge, exceptthat its maker, XMC Branded Prod-ucts Inc, should start shipping theproduct this month at a price of$299-399 (groupie not included). Oh,also the fridge’s control knobs go to11, which is very cool. Literally – 11 isthe coldest setting.

In an ideal world Techeye would

buy a Marshal Fridge as a fitting finalresting place for old Stumpy’s ashes.But, alas, it seems that some haplesspatron accidentally used his urn as amartini shaker and drank Stumpy’sashes. The poor fellow then endedup in the hospital with a terrible caseof frothy discharge.

Fitting, that. ●

OCTOBER 1-7, 2012 LLAASSTT WWOORRDD www.wbj.pl 23

Tech Eye

Ever accidentally quaffed an old friend’s mortal remains? Let us know: techeye.wbj@gmail.com

The Marshall Fridge

The Brew Cave

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Centre forContemporary Art atUjazdowski Castle ul. Jazdów 2www.csw.art.pl

Czarna Gallery ul. Marsza∏kowska 4www.czarnagaleria.art.pl

Galeria 022, DAP, Lufcik ul. Mazowiecka 11awww.owzpap.pl

Galeria 65 ul. Bema 65www.galeria65.com

Galeria Appendix 2ul. Bia∏ostocka 9www.appendix2.com

Galeria Asymetria ul. Nowogrodzka 18awww.asymetria.eu

Galeria Foksal ul. Foksal 1-4www.galeriafoksal.pl

Galeria Milano Rondo Waszyngtona 2Awww.milano.arts.pl

Galeria Schody ul. Nowy Âwiat 39www.galeriaschody.pl

Galeria XX1 Al. Jana Paw∏a II 36www.galeriaxx1.pl

Galeria Zoya ul. Kopernika 32 m.8www.zoya.art.pl

Green Gallery ul. Krzywe Ko∏o 2/4www.greengallery.pl

KatarzynaNapiórkowska Art Galleryul. Âwi´tokrzyska 32, ul. KrakowskiePrzedmieÊcie 42/44and Old Town Square19/21www.napiorkowska.pl

Królikarnia NationalGalleryul. Pu∏awska 113awww.krolikarnia.mnw.art.pl

Le Guern Galleryul. Widok 8, www.leguern.pl

Museum ofIndependenceAleja SolidarnoÊci 62www.muzeumniepodleglosci.art.pl

National Museum inWarsaw Al. Jerozolimskie 3www.mnw.art.pl

Polish National Operaat Teatr WielkiPl. Teatralny 1www.teatrwielki.pl

Pracownia Galeriaul. Emilii Plater 14www.pracowniagaleria.pl

Rempex Art and Auction Houseul. Karowa 31www.rempex.com.pl

Royal CastlePl. Zamkowy 4www.zamek-krolewski.com.pl

Simonis Galleryul. Burakowska 9www.simonisgallery.com

State ArchaeologicalMuseum in Warsawul. D∏uga 52 www.pma.pl

State EthnographicMuseumul. Kredytowa 1www.ethnomuseum.website.pl

Historical Museum of Warsaw Old Town Square 28-42www.mhw.pl

History Meeting House of Warsaw ul. Karowa 20www.dsh.waw.pl

Warsaw Philharmonic ul. Jasna 5www.filharmonia.pl

Warsaw RisingMuseum ul. Grzybowska 79www.1944.pl

Wilanów PalaceMuseum and WilanówPoster Museumul. St Kostki Potockiego10/16www.milanow-palac.plwww.postermuseum.pl

Zachęta National ArtGalleryPl. Ma∏achowskiego 3www.zacheta.art.pl

Museums, galleries and venues in Warsaw

Life lessons and beer fridges

To advertise in WBJ’s classifieds section, contactMs Agnieszka Brejwo, at

(+48) 222-577-526 or abrejwo@wbj.pl