American Investor May 2011

American

InvestorMAY 2011

Vol. XXI, No. 5 • ISSN 1506-3240

© American Chamber of Commerce in Poland 2011 www.amcham.pl

Nothing is black and white anymoreWhile commercial real estate

in Poland is a hot spot for investors, the market is smalland has a long way to go to

reach maturity

Monthly Meeting:Małgorzata

Krasnodębska-Tomkiel

Focus:Starwood Hotels and

Resorts

Agenda:Joanna Kluzik-RostkowskaProf. Dominika MaisonProf. Jerzy LangerTadeusz Zygmunt

MONTHLY MEETING

Walk softly and carry a big stick Poland’s competition watchdog needs understandingand cooperation from the business sector to achieve its mission, p. 18

FOCUS

Destination comes first American Investor's Tomasz Ćwiok talks with Thomas Schoen,Area Manager of Starwood Hotels and Resorts in Poland, about how the company helpspromote Poland abroad and responds to the ever-changing trends in the hospitality industry, p. 20

From “SheFO” to CEO? Traditional gender roles are being questioned in Polish corpora-tions, but men are still preferred in leadership, p. 22

EXPERTS

The EU asks for corporate governance The aftermath of the global financial meltdowntakes a heavy toll and may affect business regulations, p. 23

Battered, baked, frozen or fried The recipes for digital data disaster are countless, but soare the recovery techniques, p. 24

Making it stick A competent workforce needs lifelong professional learning, but measuresmust be in place before training can successfully transfer into the workplace, p. 25

EVENTS

March Breakfast Meeting in Wrocław, p. 26AmCham Business Mixer in Łódź, p. 27Monthly Breakfast Meeting in Warsaw, p. 28April Business Breakfast in Wrocław, p. 29Spring Business Mixer in Kraków, p. 30Business Mixer in Warsaw, p. 31

DEPARTMENTS

From the Editor, p. 2, From the Executive Director, p. 4, Newsline, p. 5, Agenda, p. 9,

Content summaries in Polish, p. 32, Guide to AmCham Committees, p. 33

MAY 2011 AMERICAN INVESTOR 1

what’s on

www.amcham.plYour online guide to AmCham activities

While commercialreal estate inPoland is a hotspot for investors,

the market is small and has a long wayto go to reach maturity, page 14.

Other useful sites

U.S. Chamber of Commerce

http://www.uschamber.comAmerican Chamber of Commerce

to the European Union

http://www.amchameu.beAmChams in Europe

http://www.amchamseurope.com

COVER STORY:American

InvestorMAY 2011 Vol. XXI, No. 5

Calendar

By clicking on red links in the Calen-

dar you may visit photo coverage ofour past events. Blue links will takeyou to the announcements of upcom-ing events.

Download this magazine!

American Investor is available in full asa pdf for download from the www.am-cham.pl website. Go to "About Us" inthe horizontal menu, and chooseAmerican Investor Magazine fromthe pop-up menu. You can downloadpast issues of American Investor dat-ing back to October 2010.

Policy Watch

Intelligence: For AmCham positionpapers, policy statements, official let-ters to government ministers and re-search papers, visit the Advocacy linkon the horizontal menu to downloadthe latest AmCham position papers.

Regions

AmCham may be closer than youthink. Apart from Warsaw, AmChamhas two regional branches which areactive all year long and offer many ex-citing opportunities to interface with regional business leaders and politi-cians. To find out more about our ac-tivities in Kraków and the region ofsouthern Poland, and Wrocław, go toRegions in the horizontal menu bar,and pick your region of interest.

Events

AmCham Monthly Meetings are one ofthe flagship events organized by thechamber. While American Investor cov-ers each Monthly Meeting exten-sively, including full-page pictorials,you can search through picturearchives of past events that includenever previously printed material. Justgo to Events and Activities, pickMonthly Meetings and scroll down forlinks to archived events.

AmCham online

The Fourth of July celebration hosted each year by AmCham has become a tradition among American business and the Warsawcommunity*. On Saturday 2 July 2011, the American Chamber of Commerce in Poland will once again organize this hugelysuccessful party for key officials from member firms and the international business community. The event will be organizedagain at the beautiful Królikarnia palace and the surrounding Arkadia park.

Expected attendance: 600+ (100 kids)Target: Senior Management of over 300 member firmsTime: 6:00pm – 10:00pm+Format/Activities: Party with live music, fireworks, children’s play area, raffles of valuable prizes (airline tickets, hotel

vouchers) with proceeds going to the AmCham Orphanage Assistance program.

Sponsorship Options:PLATINUM (30,000 zł)

GOLD (20,000 zł):SILVER (10,000 zł)COPPER (5,000 zł)

It is not our intention to exclude or discourage any Member firms from participating in the event in the form of in-kind sponsor-ship. Please contact us if you have a specific idea such as food donations, medical care, the children’s corner, etc. We have alwaysheld raffles and competitions, as they are extremely popular with both adults and children.

For more information please contact:Anita Kowalska, Events Manager

tel: +48 [email protected]

* According to AmCham’s 2011 Membership Survey, our 4th of July Picnic is the most appreciated event by members.

The American Chamber of Commerce in Poland

4th of July PicnicSponsorship Outline

Nothing isblack andwhite anymore

2 AMERICAN INVESTOR MAY 2011

BOARD OFDIRECTORS

The American Chamber of Commerce in Poland

SPONSORS

Joseph Wancer – DeloitteChairman

Judith Y. Gliniecki – Wierzbowski EvershedsVice Chair

richard lada – TelestoVice Chairman

peter kaY – KPMG PolskaSecretary

stan popoW – FinacorpTreasurer

Tony HoushAPCO Worldwide

Paul FogoMiller Canfield

Piotr JuchaMcDonald’s

Thomas KolajaAlvarez and Marsal

Robert L. KońskiKulczyk Investments

John LynchLynka

Mac RaczkiewiczEx officio

Roman RewaldWeil, Gotshal & Manges

Anna SienkoIBM

AmCham Auditor:

New ray of hope for PPP

Gathering information for the cover story of the May issue of American In-

vestor, I participated in a media briefing by consultancy KPMG about theforecasts for 2011 in the annual survey of companies in the construction

industry, conducted by CEEC Research from the Czech Republic in coopera-tion with KPMG in Warsaw and Norstat, a market research company based inOslo.

The report revealed that construction companies expect the sector will growin 2011 by 3.4% in market value and 3.5% in their own revenue. This mayseem like a small step forward, but Poland has been lucky to have growth inthe past few years. And what growth it was! During 2006–2008 the annualgrowth in market value was about 10%. 2009 was still positive, but growthslowed to 3–4%. Meanwhile, the markets in other countries in Central & East-ern Europe experienced a decrease in value.

Breathtaking market growth in recent years is not the only way Poland standsout among CEE countries. Another interesting finding was that 90% of compa-nies in Poland said the most effective way of getting new contracts was thetender process, and they ranked the importance of tenders at 7 on a 10-pointscale. Another correlation there was that the bigger the company, the morelikely it was to get new business through tenders.

At the same time, in the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia, the bestmethods to get new business were long-term cooperation and personal con-tacts.

Another difference between Poland and its cohorts this year is that the levelof uncertainty about the future is starting to grow on the part of constructioncompanies here. As many as 21% of Polish companies surveyed said theywere uncertain about their prospects for generating revenue in 2012. Mean-while, expectations for growth in market value in 2012 have fallen to 1.5%.

Tomasz Ćwiok

YOUR AMCHAM FROM THE EDITOR

MEMBERS

While it is still a positive number, the slowdown is clear. There are many reasons why 2012 looks uncertain for construction companies. Big companies who specialize in civil engi-

neering have been getting new business in the form of major infrastructure projects, but they fear that come 2012 the impera-tive to build as much new infrastructure as possible for the Euro 2012 soccer championship (scheduled for June–July 2012)will no longer be there. Combined with anticipated budget cuts by central and local governments, this makes big civil engi-neering firms uncertain what to expect. Add in the anticipated reduction in the inflow of cohesion funds from the EU in the new2013–2017 budget period and the picture looks grim indeed.

But nothing is as bad as it seems. Some companies will adjust to the changing market conditions. They will embrace otherservices, such as municipal waste utilization or airport management. Market consolidations also seem inevitable.

But there is something else. The anticipated lack of financing from state and EU sources may ultimately lead to a revival ofthe public-private partnership model. One of the participants at the KPMG event pointed out that in Greece, PPP was not verypopular before the country hosted the 2004 Summer Olympics, because most of the financing for the event came from thestate budget. However, when the tap of state money ran dry, private investors were welcomed to participate in infrastructureprojects.

The same may happen in Poland. For now, Poland’s infrastructure needs are still paramount, and they will remain so afterEuro 2012 is over. On the other hand the central budget is short of money, as are local governments. The spending spree ledthem to where they are, and in most cases they are only halfway home in terms of infrastructure needs.

For years AmCham has been advocating PPP as an alternative for financing construction projects with great economic im-pact on communities. 2012 may ultimately mark a new beginning for PPP—better than the first, let us hope.

How long will the financing for big infrastructure projects last?


American

Investor

© American Chamber of Commerce in Poland 2011. All rights reserved.

American Investor is the official publication of the Ameri-can Chamber of Commerce in Poland. It is a voice for for-eign investors and the business community in Poland.The magazine strives to keep our members and otherreaders up to date by following chamber news and report-ing on the leading trends in business and policy.

letters to the editor should be e-mailed [email protected]

AMCHAM STAFFDorota DabrowskiExecutive [email protected]

Marzena DrelaDeputy [email protected]

Anita KowalskaEvents & Media [email protected]

Robert KruszynaOffice [email protected]

Barbara Pocialik-MalinowskaMembership and Committees [email protected]

Marta PawlakResearch and Policy [email protected]

Robert ChomikProject [email protected]

AmCham in KrakówMonika [email protected]

AmCham in WrocławJoanna [email protected]

Published by the American Chamber of Commerce in Poland

YOUR AMCHAM

AmCham—New CommitteeAnya Ogórkiewicz from the Keryx Group andMichael Zawadzki from the InterContinentalWarsaw are the co-chairs of AmCham’s newMarketing & Communications Committee. Themission of the new committee is to provide aforum for member firms to share knowledge andexchange experiences in marketing, communi-cations and PR, provide educational and net-working opportunities for member firms inter-ested in these areas, and serve as an advisorybody for AmCham.

AmCham Kraków

Challenges facing education in the 21st centurywere the subject of a meeting in March at theresidence of US Consul General to KrakówAllen Greenberg. AmCham Board MemberJohn Lynch presented the concept of AmChamAcademy, an initiative that seeks to fill gaps inthe educational system and teach basic busi-ness skills to students and young graduates ofselected universities in Kraków to prepare themfor careers at international companies.

Also in March, AmCham Kraków invited man-agers of AmCham member companies to ameeting of the HR Council to discuss the prob-lems, issues and challenges of the labor market,labor legislation, employee motivation and rela-tions with labor unions. The meeting took placeat the US Consulate in Kraków.

AmCham WrocławIn April AmCham hosted another breakfastmeeting for member companies in Wrocław.New AmCham Chairman Joseph Wancer tookthe opportunity to introduce himself to Americaninvestors in Wrocław and Lower Silesia. Wancershared his vision of further development, andDorota Dabrowski, AmCham Executive Direc-tor, presented initial conclusions and recom-mendations stemming from a recent AmChamMembership Satisfaction Survey.

Guests at the breakfast also learned moreabout 3M, one of the biggest American compa-nies in the region. Xavier Douellou, 3M’s newgeneral manager in Poland, accompanied byJohn Bowers, 3M director of manufacturingand supply chain for EMEA, introduced ongoinginvestment projects and provided a brief de-scription of 3M’s further development plans inPoland.

NewslineNews from AmCham and its members


EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, ART & DTP

tomasz Ć[email protected]

EDITOR-AT-LARGEchristopher [email protected]

PrintingQ Invest Ltd +48 22 424 6600

To contact AmCham please write or call:

ul. Emilii Plater 53, WFC 00-113 Warsawtel: +48 22 520 5999 fax: +48 22 520 5998e-mail: [email protected]

AmCham Policy WatchIn response to consultations organized by thePolish Public Procurement Office regarding non-price criteria in public procurement procedures,AmCham submitted a letter to the office arguingthat the principle of treating price as the mainand oftentimes only criterion when evaluatingbids is a major problem in public procurementprocedures across various sectors. AmChamunderlined that price as the principal criterioneliminates bids at a higher price but offering bet-ter conditions in other areas, such as a longerwarranty period, on-time delivery, and state-of-the-art technology. AmCham called for placingmore weight on other criteria than price whenevaluating offers in public procurement proce-dures, such as technical parameters, deliveryschedule, and after-sales service.

Baker & McKenzieThe Warsaw intellectual property team of lawfirm Baker McKenzie was named the best legalteam in intellectual property issues in Poland bythe UK trade magazine Managing Intellectual

Property. In addition the team received a spe-cial mention in the category of trademarks. Theintellectual property practice at Baker & McKen-zie is staffed by 20 lawyers, headed by partnerMarek Rosiński.

The Managing Intellectual Property 2010 sur-vey covered 75 jurisdictions in Africa, the Mid-dle East, the Americas, Asia and Europe. It sur-veys the experience of law firms’ clients andpractitioners.

Boeing

A new chapter began at Boeing in March withthe flight of the 747-8 Intercontinental at PaineField in Everett, Washington. The new 747 wasairborne for 4 hours and 25 minutes, achievingan altitude of 5,791 m and a speed of 463km/h. It was the first in a series of test flightsfor the 747-8 that will total 600 hours.

The 747-8 will offer the lowest operatingcost per passenger mile among all commer-cial aircraft—12% lower than its predecessor,the 747-400. Compared to the 747-400, thenew model will be 16% more fuel-efficient and30% less noisy, while emitting 16% less CO2per passenger. The interior of the 747-8 will besimilar to that of the 787 Dreamliner, includinga design that offers passengers the feeling ofspaciousness and comfort with more room forcarryon bags overhead.

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Cushman & WakefieldCommercial real estate advisory firm Cushman& Wakefield represented the owner in thelease of 2,400 sq m of warehouse space and300 sq m of office space at Panattoni ParkPoznań II logistics park with tenant Agart-Pro,a distributor of bakery components.

Cushman & Wakefield has been appointedlead letting agent for Eurocentrum, an officebuilding on Al. Jerozolimskie in Warsaw. Whendelivered to the market in 2013, Eurocentrumwill provide over 64,000 sq m of prime officespace. The investor is CP Realty II, a part ofthe Capital Park Group.

Cushman & Wakefield has been chargedwith finding premises for the expansion of Por-tuguese restaurant chain H3 in Poland. Thefirst restaurant opened at Galeria Mokotów inWarsaw in January.

Cushman & Wakefield represented InfosysBPO Poland, a business process outsourcingcompany, in negotiating a lease with devel-oper Skanska for a 11,500 sq m office spacein the Green Horizon project. Over 1,000 In-fosys specialists will relocate to the new officein October 2012.

Cushman & Wakefield also represented de-veloper MLP Group in leasing 3,024 sq m ofwarehouse space at Millennium Logistic ParkTychy to Auto Partner SA, an auto parts im-porter and distributor.

Hewlett-PackardHP has released the results of a ColemanParkes survey which found that 68% of com-panies find it difficult to manage the avalancheof data they accumulate. The negative effectsinclude problems with data administration aswell as growing costs for storage space. Thereport also revealed that 59% of companiesare under pressure to cut costs of informationsystem administration.

Other problems include a lack of leadershipin executing a coherent policy for informationcirculation within companies. In the past ITspecialists were charged with designing infor-mation circulation systems, but now, as IT sys-tems embrace every department in a com-pany, most companies find it difficult to assignthe responsibility of supervising informationcirculation to one executive. The report re-vealed that 38% of companies polled assignthis responsibility to general managers orcompany boards, while 43% stick to the oldway and assign it to their IT people.

The report also revealed that 70% of com-panies do not have any consistent strategy forinformation management internally, and 73%do not have any strategy for data protectionthat is enforced across all company depart-ments. According to the survey, only 18% ofcompanies plan to implement strategies to ad-dress these data management and security is-sues.

In other news, HP has launched a newserver, codenamed NB54000c, designed forenterprise workloads requiring zero applica-tion downtime and extreme scalability. Theserver is the newest addition to the HP In-

tegrity NonStop systems family. It enablesscale-up of capacity and performance withoutincurring downtime or performance bottle-necks. Some of the NB54000c’s features in-clude the proven NonStop architecture, con-sistently delivering the world’s highest applica-tion availability, complete investment protec-tion through easy in-cabinet upgrade, thehighest availability in the industry with built-inclustering, modern software development andruntime environments, significant price per-formance improvements as compared to previ-ous products, and mission-critical support andservice.

Enterprise InvestorsPolish Enterprise Fund V, a private equity fundmanaged by Enterprise Investors, has exitedits investment in the Polish aluminum closuresmanufacturer DGS SA. PEF V sold its 80%stake in DGS to Guala Closures Group in atransaction that placed the enterprise value ofDGS at EUR 80 million. The deal requires ap-proval from the Polish Office of Competitionand Consumer Protection. Guala ClosuresGroup specializes in the production of non-re-fillable closures for spirits, and is one of themain producers of aluminum closures in Eu-rope, Latin America and Asia. It is also activein the food packaging and pharmaceuticalpackaging markets.

General ElectricGE has unveiled a new 2.5 MW wind turbinewhich can be deployed on over 85% of windfarm sites being developed today. The turbinegenerates a leading amount of annual energyproduction, and its 100 m rotor also makes itan excellent solution for low-wind sites. Theturbine has a rotor blade technology whichprovides very competitive acoustic perform-ance, which makes the turbine compliant atsites with the most stringent noise restraintswhile maintaining high energy yield. The 2.5MW wind turbine can be equipped with vari-ous towers resulting in hub heights of 100 m,85 m or 75 m, meeting potential tip heightconstraints and maximizing energy yield.

In other news, GE Energy showcased aportfolio of new products for European mar-kets at the 2011 Hannover Fair in April, includ-ing the WattStation electric vehicle charger(pictured) and the innovative HabiTEQ homeautomation systems. The products demon-

strate GE Energy’s commitment to deliveringcleaner, smarter, and more efficient ways forpeople to live, work and run their businesses.

InterContinental WarsawThe InterContinental Warsaw has been nomi-nated for World Travel Awards in four cate-gories: Europe’s Leading Business Hotel, Eu-rope’s Leading City Hotel, Poland’s LeadingBusiness Hotel, and Poland’s Leading Hotel.The InterContinental Warsaw is a 5-star hotelin the city center with 326 guest rooms and 75of the city’s only luxuriously furnished Resi-dence Suites.

The World Travel Awards, launched in 1993,are regarded as one the highest achievementsa travel product can receive. Votes are cast by183,000 travel professionals in over 160 coun-tries.

KPMGPolish manufacturing companies have highlevels of optimism as they forecast businessgrowth and plan new investment projectswithin the next 12 months, including R&D, ac-cording to Pulse: Global Business Outlook Sur-

vey for Worldwide Manufacturing and Services,a study recently published by accounting firmKPMG.

Of the companies polled in February, 63.5%said they expect their business to grow withinthe next 12 months. While manufacturing com-panies in the West are beginning to feel thechange for the better, Polish manufacturers re-gained their confidence a long time ago, asthe global economic crisis did not harm thePolish economy as badly as it did the West.But the growing confidence in Poland is alsothanks to good economic indicators in Ger-many, Poland’s largest trading partner.

In intended investments in R&D planned forthe next 12 months, companies in Polandwere ranked the 4th most optimistic, precededonly by firms in the Netherlands, Italy andFrance.

When it comes to the employment forecast,31.8% of manufacturing companies in Polandsaid employment would grow; 15.3% dis-agreed. Nearly 50% of manufactures in Polanddo not expect any change in employment lev-els by February 2012.

Meanwhile, sentiments regarding employ-ment recovered in most EU countries, with thehighest optimism recorded in the Netherlands,where nearly 46% of manufacturing compa-nies expect to hire more people by February2012. KPMG experts noted, however, that jobhopes in the EU are suppressed by the difficultfinancial situation in Greece and Spain.

In another report, prepared in cooperationwith printing trade group the Polish Brother-hood of Gutenberg, KPMG found that 46% ofprinting companies in Poland expect sales torise in 2011. The report also revealed that de-spite the crisis of 2008–2009, which broughtsignificant cuts in marketing expenditures andthus had a severe impact on printing for the admarket, today 55% of printing companies inPoland evaluate their market situation as

good. KPMG estimates that by 2013 80% ofprinting companies will be in the black, butconsolidation in the industry seems imminent.KPMG said the total value of the printing mar-ket in Poland in 2010 was PLN 9.9 billion, andit may rise to nearly PLN 12 million in 2013.

Łaszczuk & PartnersLaw firm Łaszczuk & Partners is recom-mended in the field of litigation (civil, criminal,commercial and administrative) and arbitrationin the 9th edition of the ranking of law firmspublished by Polish daily Rzeczpospolita inApril.

Maciej Łaszczuk, founding partner ofŁaszczuk & Partners, was named the leadingindividual among recommended lawyers in thefield of litigation and arbitration.

The Rzeczpospolita ranking recognizes thelargest and the best business law firms as wellas the top lawyers in each specialty. The lead-ers are selected based on recommendationsby law firms participating in the survey. Thisyear, 233 firms participated in the ranking.

Mamaison Hotel Le ReginaMateusz Wichrowski (pictured), a staff cook atLa Rotisserie restaurant at Mamaison Hotel Le

Regina Warsaw, won the Culinary Talent 2011competition at the EuroGastro trade fair in War-saw. The chefs and food critics on the juryshortlisted 12 young cooks from restaurants allover the country who submitted their recipes.Wichrowski won the competition with a méli-

mélo of beef sirloin and salmon and a risotto ofcrab and avocado in morel and Jack Daniel’swhiskey reduction. The competition was organ-ized by the Robert Sowa Culinary Studio.

HOT DATEJul.02.11Event: AmCham 4th of July Picnic

Place: Królikarnia, Warsaw

Time: 6:00 P.M.

In other news, Paweł Oszczyk, the chef ofLa Rotisserie restaurant, has unveiled themenu for spring 2011. Starters include warmsea trout salad with asparagus and capelincaviar, and ravioli of crab with asparagus andchampagne sauce. Fish dishes include curryof turbot with green vegetables and oystertempura, fennel and tomato salad, and bakedfillet of Atlantic cod, with cherry tomato andginger salsa and prosciutto. Meats include aroast rack of lamb braised in Barbera wine andsmoked pimiento sauce, and a grilled fillet ofIrish Hereford with beet leaf risotto and cray-fish sauce.

Massive DesignPrzemysław Stopa, the founder, presidentand chief designer at interior design studioMassive Design, was one of the designersfrom Central & Eastern Europe who show-cased their products at an exhibition on trans-formation of light with the hi-tech surfaceDuPont Corian at the DuPont Corian DesignStudio at the Milan Design Week exhibition inApril.

Stopa’s designs included “Shell” (picturedon the next page) a medium-height floor lampwith strongly defined wave shapes along the

MAY 2011 AMERICAN INVESTOR 98 AMERICAN INVESTOR MAY 2011

AgendaIntelligence from AmCham and its committees

Who comes first?

Joanna Kluzik-Rostkowska, head of abreakaway group of 15 members of thePolish Parliament who left the Law &

Justice party (PiS) to start their own politicalparty called Poland Comes First (PJN), saidthat it is high time Poland’s parliamentarypolitics evolved from a base of personal ani-mosities between opposing partymembers into a problem-solving ap-proach based on rational thinking.Kluzik-Rostkowska, who was Ministerof Labor & Social Policy in the Law &Justice government in 2007, met withthe AmCham committee Political Dis-cussion Forum in March. She told Am-Cham that if the nature of political de-bate in Poland does not change, thecountry will miss opportunities to playan important role in the EuropeanUnion and catch up economically withthe 15 “old” EU member states.

Kluzik-Rostkowska blamed the coali-tion government run by Civic Platform(PO) and the Polish People’s Party(PSL) for stalling necessary reforms,such as public finance reform, for fearof losing popular support before theupcoming parliamentary election thisfall. She noted that seldom has anygovernment in Poland’s recent historymanaged to last longer than one term,but apparently the government led byPrime Minister Donald Tusk has stronghopes of remaining in office for a sec-ond term. But this is a policy of smallsteps, instead of the big leap forwardthat she would recommend for theTusk government.

According to Kluzik-Rostkowska,one area that cries out for reform ispublic finance. She calls for cutting themounting government deficit, raisingthe retirement age to address demo-graphic problems, stripping teachersof their special privileges in order tomove forward with reforms of schoolsystem, and cutting out early retire-ment for the military and the policewhile implementing further profession-alization of the uniformed services. She saidin the case of the police, there are police of-ficers who would back such reforms butthey will not speak out for fear of politicalconsequences.

Kluzik-Rostkowska also said that Polandshould enter into the euro zone, but only ata time when adoption of the euro will begood for Poland’s economy and Polish con-sumers.

She said that when it comes to ideas fornew legislation, Poland Comes First hasplenty of them. When it comes to detailedproposals, however, the party has very lim-ited resources to deliver prepackaged solu-tions because it is not associated with any

think tank. There are academics who wouldlove to help the party draft legislation, butthey can only do it afterhours. Other opposi-tion parties also face the problem of fundingfor legislative drafting, but they receive fi-nancing from the state budget. The govern-ment itself has an army of lawyers to draft

laws. In the case of her own party, Kluzik-Rostkowska said that as soon as it hassome financial resources the first thing it willestablish is a think tank to provide legalsupport for the party’s legislative initiatives.

Explaining why the Polish political sceneis so antagonistic, especially when it comesto brawling between the governing CivicPlatform and the opposition Law & Justice,Kluzik-Rostkowska said that both partieshave roots in the Solidarity movement, andthe main politicians of both parties haveknown one another for decades. Because ofsuch strong personal ties, political conflictsbetween the politicians become personal,too, and turn very emotional.

She noted that many politicians are psy-chologically immature and cannot draw aline between the personal and the political.She said that this ethos drove her to leaveLaw & Justice and establish a new party.

As she put it—in an unveiled reference toLaw & Justice leader Jarosław Kaczyński—itis easier to establish a new political partythan to replace the leader of an existingparty. The strong position of party leadersstems from the way financing is distributedacross the party structure: it is allocated bythe leaders. As a result, few politicians arecritical of their party bosses, for fear of notgetting enough financing in their own re-

gion.When it comes to politicians’ emo-

tional shortcomings, Kluzik-Ros-tkowska said that many of them fromthe older generation have an inferioritycomplex toward the old EU states.They find it difficult now to act asequal partners with Western politi-cians. Many Polish politicians thinkthat the best approach toward the oldEU states is special pleading and beg-ging for favors for Poland. Instead,Poland should be assertively standingby its own interests within the EU.

When asked about Polish-Americanrelations, Kluzik-Rostkowska said thatthe Poles have always had a soft spotfor the US. Today, however, Poland’ssupport for the US should have strate-gic importance, because we live in aworld where American engagement isnecessary to solve almost any majorinternational issue—even if the Euro-pean Union gets involved.

Kluzik-Rostkowska said that the po-litical circles that her party representsare pro-economy and, indeed, “lib-eral,” although they may differ in otheraspects of their world view. She saidhowever that the “L” word has becomeverboten today because it is stronglyassociated with the political constella-tion around Civic Platform and whatshe calls its no-holds-barred attitudes.

While supporting business develop-ment, Kluzik-Rostkowska warned thatPoland has a long history of the wrongkind of business involvement in poli-tics. She said that in the early 1990sthere were people in politics who werethere only to enhance business oppor-tunities for the companies they were

affiliated with. Although such links betweenbusiness and politics will always exist,Kluzik-Rostkowska said that the syndromewas especially unhealthy in the early yearsof Poland’s new independence. The legacyis still felt, and it makes politicians in all par-ties shun any perception of ties to business.

Meanwhile, businesspeople should beapplauded in Poland, Kluzik-Rostkowskasaid, because it is small and medium-sizedcompanies that crank out the bulk ofPoland’s GDP growth. No government, shesaid—including the present one—has reallytried to engage business in the right way.

A rebel says politicians should stop beingso political

Political Discussion Forum

Joanna Kluzik-Rostkowska


New MembersIT specialist Citrix Systems Poland

(www.citrix.com) has joined AmCham. The com-pany is represented by Artur Cyganek, countrymanager.

Commercial real estate agency Colliers Interna-

tional (www.colliers.com) has joined AmCham.Monika Rajska Wolińska represents the agency.

Restaurant company Metropolitan 2005 Sp. z o.o.

(www.metropolitan-krakow.com) has joined Am-Cham. It is represented by CEO Jonathan Cam-pion.

Corporate advisory firm Monitor Group (www.mon-itor.com) has joined AmCham. The company isbased in Zurich. Alexander King, associate partner,is the contact person.

Accounting and auditing specialist Mazars Polska

(www.mazars.pl) has joined AmCham. Michel Kivi-atkowski, managing partner, is the contact person.

Westinghouse Electric Company (www.westing-housenuclear.com) has joined AmCham. The com-pany is based in Vasters, Sweden. The contact per-son is Mats T. Ollson, development manager.

Members on the move

Starwood Hotels & ResortsTomasz Dejtrowski has beennamed head of HR for twoWarsaw hotels in the Star-wood Hotels and Resorts net-work—the Sheraton Warsawand the Westin Warsaw. Dejtrowski has long profes-sional experience working forinternational companies, in-cluding PwC, Center Corpora-tion, and Coca-Cola HBC Pol-ska. Dejtrowski is a law graduate of the University ofWarsaw.

Richard EngelIndividual member RichardEngel has joined PKO BankPolski as a director and Headof Corporate Debt Restructur-ing and Recovery. Engel is arestructuring and turnaroundprofessional with over 25years of experience in corpo-rate management, venturecapital and business advisory.Previously, Engel was a direc-tor at KPMG Advisory, VP at Pioneer Investments, andCFO at three major companies in Poland and the US.He is a CPA and holds an MBA.

edges and engraved organic patterns to multi-ply translucency, “Fin,” a table or floor lampwhose organic shape is surrounded by fin-shaped plates, and “Wakame,” a tall floor lampthat uses multiple layers of different translucentCorian colors and shapes to illuminate manydifferent tones.

PanattoniIn April, warehouse and logistics operatorPanattoni Europe was involved in the 10thYoung Logistics Forum, the biggest student lo-gistics event of the year in Poland. The forum atthe Warsaw University of Technology, combinedwith a job fair, was attended by 16 student lo-gistics clubs. Panattoni Europe experts takingpart were Marek Foryński, who was a judge ofstudent work, and Joanna Fajkowska, whogave a presentation on specialized logistics so-lutions at Panattoni parks. Students toured a fa-cility in Ożarów Mazowiecki built to suit byPanattoni for pharmaceutical company Neuca.

PM GroupProject management specialist PM Group has

been appointed to supervise the construction ofthe Termy Cieplickie spa in Jelenia Góra. Thecomplex will comprise all-season pools fedthrough a geothermal water outtake from a wellwith a depth of 2,000 m. The project is esti-mated at PLN 52 million. The complex is beingbuilt on reclaimed land that was formerly hometo a paper machinery plant.

PricewaterhouseCoopersIPO Watch Europe, a recent survey by consult-ing company PricewaterhouseCoopers, re-vealed a drop in initial public offerings on Euro-pean stock exchanges in 1Q 2011 by 71% invalue and 26% in number. In total there were 95IPOs on European exchanges in 1Q 2011,worth nearly EUR 3 billion, down from 129 witha value of over EUR 10 billion in 4Q 2010.

In 1Q 2011 the Warsaw Stock Exchange gen-erated the largest number of IPOs—45 on themain trading floor and 38 on the alternativemarket, NewConnect. Most of the capital, how-ever, was generated on the London Stock Ex-change.

PwC commented in the report that despitepolitical and economic turbulence, confidenceis back on the world financial markets, mainlydue to many IPOs from companies in Russia.

ProLogisProLogis, a global provider of distribution facili-ties, has signed a new lease for 17,200 sq m ofwarehouse space at ProLogis Park Błonie withRhenus Contract Logistics, a provider of com-prehensive logistics services across Europe.Colliers International acted as the broker for thetransaction. ProLogis Park Błonie compriseseight industrial facilities totaling more than152,000 sq m of modern warehouse space.Other ProLogis customers at the park includeArvato Services (Bertelsmann Media), DC, In-terchem, Iron Mountain, Mercedes-Benz, NewIdea Mebel, Optimum Distribution, Papyrus,Tradis and Wincanton.

Starwood Hotels and ResortsSheraton was awarded the title of “Superbrand”for 2010 for its strong identity, recognition in themarketplace, and seamless brand communica-tions, by a panel of experts in branding andcommunications in the Polish edition of the Su-perbrands competition. There were 1,500brands in the market in Poland entered in thecompetition, from which the judges picked 50winners in various categories.

Sabre PolandTravel technology company Sabre Poland hasbeen named Poland’s best employer, winningthe Great Place to Work Award at a ceremonyin Warsaw in April. The awards, organized bythe Great Place to Work Institute, placed Sabreat the top in the category of companies inPoland with over 500 employees. The awardsare given in 45 countries around the world,using an employee survey to determine eachcompany’s “trust index” and an external studycalled a “culture audit.”

Sabre was recognized for its outstanding cor-porate culture and the work and social opportu-nities provided to employees. In addition tocompetitive medical and insurance packages,employees of Sabre Poland are offered flexibleworking hours and the opportunity to partici-pate in cultural events and sporting activities or-ganized by the company. Sabre also investssignificantly in continuing education and devel-opment through extensive training programsand free language lessons and by funding post-graduate studies for staff.

Sabre Poland is the firm’s second-largest of-fice in the world, with 1,000 employees in twooffices in Kraków—a center of innovation for thefirm, which has developed some of the world’smost innovative travel technology solutions, in-cluding advanced software for in-the-air shop-ping, mobile services, rail solutions and corpo-rate booking tools. The center also providessupport to customers, including travel agents,airlines, hoteliers, corporations and travelersaround the world.

SalansInternational law firm Salans has signed a co-operation agreement with Belarusian law firmStepanovski, Papakul & Partners for investmentprojects in Belarus as well as Belarusian invest-ment projects in the Russian Federation andelsewhere in Central & Eastern Europe. The twofirms will remain independent. Salans andStepanovski have worked together in the paston transactions involving companies from the ITsector and representing Belarus in delivery of anuclear power plant project.

The vision thing

Prof. Jerzy Langer, Foreign Secretary ofthe Academy of Europe and formerPolish Vice Minister of Science and

Higher Education, who met with the Am-Cham EU Affairs Committee in March, saidthat since Poland joined the EuropeanUnion in May 2004 the country has beencontributing more to the EU budget for sup-port of the development of science and re-search than it has gotten back.

This is because Poland has to pay intothe EU coffers first before it gets moneyback. With this mechanism, Langer said, thePolish scientific community is able to re-cover only 50% of the amount of moneyPoland has paid in. This makes Poland a netcontributor in this area. Langer noted thatsome countries that entered the EU muchearlier than Poland get more money backfrom the EU than they pay in. Greece, for in-stance, receives about 150% of the amountit pays in. This, according to Langer, is anindication of a systemic dysfunction when itcomes to financing science and R&D acrossthe European Union member states.

This might also be one reason thatPoland scores below the EU average in in-novation, according to a European Score-board study (see the Cover Story of lastmonth’s American Investor).

Langer said that he hopes this issue willbe addressed during Poland’s Presidency ofthe Council of the European Council in thesecond half of 2011.

Another big problem across the EU is theunion’s lack of a consistent vision for sus-

tainable economic growth in the future. In-stead, the EU produces lots of differentanalyses and forecasts that often amount towhite noise. For instance BusinessEurope,an advisory body to the European Commis-sion made up of representatives of the busi-ness sector, issued the “Go for Growth”paper in which it identified problem areaswhere solutions could help the Europeaneconomies achieve sustainable growth. Butaccording to Langer, the problems identifiedare not the real problems. For instance, inhis view BusinessEurope’s call to fight cli-mate change is mostly marketing. Climatechange first has to be understood before itcan be addressed, Langer said.

His next criticism focused on BusinessEu-rope’s call for EU economies to ensure ac-cess to energy and raw materials. This is theleast problem for Poland, Langer said.Poland has enough natural coal reserves topower its economy for the next 100 years,assuming that current demand stays flat.

On the other hand, Langer cited recom-mendations for the European economy pro-duced by the Swedish Presidency, whichsaid that the EU needs to focus on financingprograms that will create new opportunitiesfor economic growth across the EU memberstates.

Another recommendation was that energyand innovation are key to economic growthin 2012, according to the European Council.It also said that the free flow of knowledgehas to be ensured across Europe. This rec-ommendation implied that the European

Commission must be much more proactivein creating programs to build sustainableeconomic growth for the future through a fu-sion of science, education and innovation.

Langer concluded that the EU is mostlytalk. Meanwhile, he pointed out that somehalf a million EU citizens travel to the US towork. Among them are Poles, but also theBritish, the Germans and the French. TheEU needs to stop talking, and start takingsteps to make the EU a better place foryoung people to work.

Meanwhile the EU is bound by backwardlaws that have nothing to do with any coher-ent vision of future development. For in-stance, nearly half of the EU budget goes tosupporting the EU’s Common AgriculturalPolicy, but the two largest beneficiaries ofCAP are reported to be the British RoyalFamily, owing to its landholdings, and theRothschilds, with vineyards across Europe.Ordinary farmers are not the true beneficiar-ies of the EU agricultural policy, Langersaid.

According to Langer the migration ofyoung Europeans to the US goes to showthat there are serious obstacles for youngpeople who want to work in the EU, whichare not to be found in the US. Langer saidthat in this respect, the US is winning theHR battle with the EU.

The American Dream remains a powerfulmagnet, but Europe has developed no com-parable vision. In this, AmCham membersand other American businesses in Europecould help. As Langer said, “Unless there isthe European Dream, nothing is going tochange.”

The European Union needs a vision equiva-lent to the American Dream to find an economic future

European Union Affairs Committee

If the EU is all talk, no one will listen




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The bosom of the family

When asked what values are important tothem, most Polish women point to such tradi-tional values as honesty, sensitivity and will-ingness to sacrifice, but not necessarily intel-ligence, said University of Warsaw Prof. Do-minika Maison, the quest speaker at the Am-Cham Consumer Products Committee meet-ing in March. Maison presented the results ofa survey of Polish women she conducted forEdipresse, one of Poland’s largest publishersof women’s magazines. The survey sought todraw a profile of psychology, lifestyle, andthe things that make Polish women happy orunhappy, in order to help Edipresse bettertarget its content.

The study revealed that traditional valuesnot only matter the most to women in Poland,but women also identify with such values.When asked what phrase best describesthem, the greatest number of women indi-cated “happy woman,” followed by “goodhousewife,” “good wife,” and “good mother.”The number of women who picked job-re-lated descriptions, such as “professionallyaccomplished” or “successful person,” wassignificantly lower, said Maison. She addedthat she feels in this respect Polish womendiffer from their colleagues in the West, al-though there is no straightforward researchto prove it.

For most of the sample, finances were theprimary source of dissatisfaction with theirlives. Maison pointed out that this feelingstemmed from the fact that money is per-ceived as a tool for gaining personal inde-

pendence. Therefore, when saying that theydid not have enough money, the samplewere not referring specifically to their job situ-ation. Women with huge salaries were just asprevalent in this group as those with below-average earnings.

When it comes to the sources of happi-ness, 90% of Polish women said they werehappy about their intelligence, and 70% werehappy about their professional situation.

Apart from finding an inclination towardtraditional family values, the survey mappedout some areas where attitudes seem contra-dictory. For instance, one segment ofwomen, whose characteristic mix of attitudeswas dubbed “pseudo-modern conservative,”share a believe that the place of women is athome while at the same time they describethemselves as feminists. Another contradic-tory declaration that they shared is thatsports are important to them, while in factonly a small proportion of them said theypractice any sports. Women in this segment,whose median age is 40, mainly have a high-school education. Half of them have a perma-nent job, while nearly one-third do not work.Their other characteristic features include at-taching a lot of importance to positions ofpower and authority, with disregard for familyvalues, friendship and respect for others.They are also impulse buyers, who find it dif-ficult if not impossible to control their fi-nances.

Another contradiction that the report re-vealed, characteristic of the majority of the

women polled, involved dissatisfaction withtheir weight. On average the sample viewedthemselves as 6 kg too heavy, but the samerespondents said their third most popularpurchase—after cosmetics and clothing—was sweets.

Some contradictions also surfaced in thearea of cooking. While most women saidthey strive to cook tasty and healthy food, themajority admitted that the dishes they mostfrequently prepare are roast or fried meat andpotatoes. The “health” quota on the table isfilled by serving a dish with fresh vegetables.

With all the contradictions and financialstraits, most Polish women describe them-selves as happy, with the median for thesample at 75 on a 100-point scale. The pri-mary source of satisfaction is the nuclearfamily, followed by friends and sexual life. Butrespondents were a little frosty when askedabout sex, and nearly half of the sample re-fused to talk about what goes on in the bed-room.

The segment that best represents corefamily-related attitudes, which the surveyorslabeled as “Polish Mother,” is relativelyhuge—some 22% of the sample. The aver-age age in this segment was 45. Women whowere classified in this group have a feeling ofaccomplishment when surrounded by theirfamily and friends. Although a significant por-tion of them work, they perceive work as justa source of money, and they would be morethan happy to quit if they had to choose be-tween family and work. They feel like the mis-tress of their fate. This group generally hasno hobbies, and no regrets about their lives.And, as it turned out, they are avid readers ofcheap color magazines.

A recent study showed that the stereotypeof Polish women as traditional and family-oriented is largely accurate

Consumer Products Committee

Polish women do not see their place in the corporate arena, but on the home front

For the AmCham Guide to Committees see inside back cover

12 AMERICAN INVESTOR MAY 2011 MAY 2011 AMERICAN INVESTOR 13

Bagging the fat cats

The agenda of the AmCham Tax Com-mittee meeting in April was devoted tothe impact that new tax regulations will

have on US taxpayers abroad, foreign finan-cial institutions with US account holders,other foreign entities in which US taxpayershave an interest and other entities receivingproceeds from the US. Two guest speakers,Leszek Tokarski, a partner at Deloitte on theFinancial Institutions Team, part of the TaxAdvisory Department of Deloitte, and AnetaSaramak, a manager on the same team,said that the US Foreign Account Tax Com-pliance Act (FATCA), which was signed intolaw in March 2010, intends to ensure thereis no gap in the ability of the US governmentto determine the ownership of US assets inforeign accounts.

FATCA seeks to identify US taxpayershaving accounts at “foreign financial institu-tions” (FFIs)—non-US entities such asbanks, brokerages, hedge funds, private eq-uity funds, and family investment vehicles.FATCA attempts to enforce reporting ofthose accounts through withholding.

From 2013, FATCA will impose new re-porting requirements on both FFIs and“non-financial foreign entities” (NFFEs). FFIswill be required to enter into disclosurecompliance agreements with the US Treas-ury—an annual reporting regime with re-spect to US accounts held by certain US in-vestors. All NFFEs must report or certifytheir substantial ownership.

Generally, FATCA requires a withholdingagent—any person having control, receipt,custody or payment of any “withholdablepayment”—to withhold a tax equal to 30%

on any withholdable payment made to a FFIor NFFE if they are non-compliant.

FATCA applies to “US accounts,” that is,any financial accounts held by a specifiedUS person or a US-owned foreign entity.The term “US account” does not includeany depository account maintained by anindividual if the aggregate value of all de-pository accounts does not exceed USD50,000.

The definition of a “US person” underFATCA is very broad and includes such per-sons as dual citizens of the US and anothercountry, US citizens even if residing outsidethe US, US passport holders, persons bornin the US unless they have renounced UScitizenship, and lawful permanent residentsof the US (“green card” holders).

A “withholdable payment” is defined asany US-source FDAP income (“fixed, deter-minable, annual or periodical” income, in-cluding such items as interest, dividends,rents, salaries, wages, compensation andremuneration), gross proceeds from sale ofany property which can produce US-sourceFDAP income, dividend-equivalent pay-ments treated as dividends from sources inthe United States from transactions such astotal return equity swaps, or interest paid bya foreign branch of a US bank.

FFIs will be required to report the name,address, and taxpayer identification number(TIN) of specified US persons, and for US-owned foreign entities, the name, addressand TIN of each substantial owner. Further-more, FFIs will report to the US Internal Rev-enue Service the account number, accountbalance or value of gross receipts and gross

withdrawals of payments from the account,if required by the IRS.

The 30% withholding tax may affect anypayments from the US, specifically whenFFIs to which such payments are made arenon-compliant with FATCA or NFFEs do notprovide the required information.

It should be noted that FATCA may alsoaffect entities that are not US persons, butreceive payments from the US, in case ofnon-compliance.

FATCA will affect more than financial insti-tutions. The regulations will also apply toprivately held non-US operating businesses,non-US professional services firms, andmany other non-US entities receiving pay-ments directly or indirectly from US sources.

The new rules also require a withholdingagent to withhold 30% on withholdable pay-ments, unless the NFFE either provides theIRS a certificate that it has no substantial USowner or provides the required informationon each substantial US owner.

It should be noted that NFFEs that do notreceive full compliance from their ownerswill be subject to a 30% withholding tax onthe entire withholdable payment they re-ceive, not pro-rated for the percentage ofowners that are in compliance.

While the US Treasury has been grantedbroad authority under many areas ofFATCA, it is expected that significant admin-istrative guidance will be published over thenext few months.

Both FFIs and NFFEs must ensure thatsystems are in place that will allow the nec-essary information to be collected, or risksuffering a 30% withholding tax. FFIs shouldbe prepared to analyze the proposed guid-ance in view of their own capabilities, reviewexisting “know your client” practices and USwithholding documentation procedures, andbe ready to implement additional systems,processes and procedures in response tothe final rules from the US Treasury and theIRS, so that they can respond quickly toavoid unnecessary costs and penalties.

Under FATCA, a new set of rules arebeing developed in the US to help theIRS capture US taxpayers abroadbased on the payments made to them

European Union Affairs Committee

FATCA will apply to US businesses and privately held non-US operating businesses, among others


During Euro 2012 UEFA will be responsible for safety and security at the stadiums

Good, clean fun

Poland has implemented 80% of all thenecessary programs to achieve ade-quate safety and security levels for fans

attending the Euro 2012 soccer champi-onship, said Tadeusz Zygmunt, who is respon-sible for coordinating security on the nationallevel for PL.2012, the company that is coordi-nating all the preparations for the 2012 UEFAEuropean Football Championship, whichPoland co-hosts next summer with Ukraine.Zygmunt made his remarks at the meeting ofthe AmCham Defense & Security Committeein March.

Zygmunt said that during the event it is theUnion of European Football Associations,through its company Euro 2012, that will beresponsible for safety and security at the stadi-ums and hotels where teams and VIPs arestaying. PL.2012 will be responsible for suc-cessful implementation of safety and securityeverywhere else. As former organizers of Eurochampionships have testified, it is a para-mount task, because soccer fans congregatein every imaginable place—not just the loca-tions set up by the organizers for fans towatch the matches in public. Over a millionsoccer fans are expected to watch the 15matches in Poland, either live at the stadiumor beamed into other public spaces.

Zygmunt said that one way of accommodat-ing the crowd is “Fan Zones,” where fans maycongregate and watch their teams play on bigscreens. The Fan Zone in Warsaw will beready to accommodate 100,000 to 120,000

people. The cost of operating the Fan Zonesis estimated at PLN 30 million.

The overall safety and security preparationsin Poland are supervised by the Euro 2012Safety and Security Committee, chaired byVice Minister of the Interior and AdministrationAdam Rapacki. The committee is made up ofrepresentatives of government ministries aswell as the heads of all agencies, institutionsand organizations that provide input on theoverall effort, including police, prison authori-ties, and prosecutors.

The committee has identified 15 areas cru-cial for safety and security levels, ranging fromlegislation and law enforcement to a consis-tent strategy for coordination of the activities ofall the agencies and organizations involved,medical assistance, emergency services, anda consistent information policy before and dur-ing the event.

Not all preparations are focused on the sta-diums and the host cities, however. Polandand Ukraine, as co-hosts, will have to upgradethe quality of customs at the border, which isnot only a border between the two countriesbut part of the EU’s eastern border as well.

On a wider level, PL.2012 will have to coop-erate with international law enforcement or-ganizations, such as Interpol, Europol, andFrontex, the EU agency responsible for main-taining civil services at the EU borders. Euro2012 is directly responsible for implementinganti-terrorism measures at the venues, but inPoland it will cooperate closely with police and

AmCham gets an inside scoop on the extensive measuresin place to assure that the Euro 2012 soccer championshipgoes smoothly and safely next summer

Defense & Security Committee

the Government Protection Bureau. Other areas presenting special safety and

security concerns include transportation andlogistics. This will be a true challenge forPoland because, as Zygmunt admitted, thecountry’s road infrastructure is far from per-fect.

The last step is testing whether the systemworks and then shoring up areas that needimprovement. Zygmunt said that the recentopening of the stadium in Poznań revealed awide range of problems, both organizationaland infrastructural, that still have to be solved.A team of experts was appointed to investi-gate the problems and draw conclusions thatwill help prevent the same problems from re-curring at the three new stadiums that haveyet to open, in Gdańsk, Warsaw and Wrocław.

In all, safety and security preparations arenow being conducted through 120 projects,including over 3,500 individual tasks.

Zygmunt said that some specific aspects ofsafety and security preparations have to waituntil December, when UEFA conducts thedraw to determine the matchups between thenational teams. As Zygmunt said, “Only whenwe know exactly where particular teams willplay can we progress with proper security andsafety preparations.” He said that specialmeasures will have to be in place at venueswhere Croatia, England, Germany and theNetherlands are playing. Their fans’ reputationfor troublemaking precedes them.

HOT DATEJun.03.11Event: AmCham Monthly Meeting

Place: InterContinental Warsaw

Time: 8:00 A.M.


As commercial real estate enters itsthird decade in Central & EasternEurope, experts say the market is

about to undergo a fundamental changethis year. Tougher regulations, economicausterity across EU countries, the sover-eign debt crisis, and a still-tight lendingmarket will challenge Europe’s real estateindustry in 2011, according to EmergingTrends in Real Estate 2011, published byPricewaterhouseCoopers and the UrbanLand Institute. The commercial real estateforecast, based on the opinions of 600 in-dustry experts, predicts that 2011 will notbe the turnaround year that the Europeanreal estate industry had hoped for. Rather,a “two-speed” market is likely to emergewhich will reflect a widening gap betweeninvestment hotspots and second-tier prop-erty markets.

“Some of the trends we saw last yearcontinue, such as a flight to quality and abifurcated market, with strong interest inthe best assets in the global gateway citiesand little interest elsewhere,” said ULICEO Patrick L. Phillips. “The real differ-ence in this year’s report appears to be theperceived weakness in the government’sability to spark demand or ameliorate thepain in the industry. Equally clear is theemphasis on the hard work of managingassets: repositioning properties to bettermeet market demand, creative approachesto maintaining and adding value, and effec-tive and efficient property management.”

Last year, the industry was concernedthat the large amount of debt maturingacross Europe over the next five yearswould prevent banks from undertakingnew lending, but the new questions for2011 are how much impact Basel III—anew set of global regulatory standards onbank capital adequacy and liquidity—willhave on the appetite of banks to lend toproperty and, when they do, how expensivethis debt will be.

Respondents expressed serious con-cerns about areas outside prime regions,even within the same country. With capital

so risk-averse, winning cities like Munich,London and Paris will continue to absorbinvestment as the only places where tenantdemand will be robust. Other investor fa-vorites are likely to be Istanbul, Stockholm,Berlin and Hamburg. Investors are ex-pected to avoid Dublin, Athens, Lisbonand Budapest.

This view is confirmed by the EuropeanInvestor Intentions Survey, issued in Feb-ruary 2011 by CB Richard Ellis. Over 340investors in commercial real estate saidthat the most attractive region or countryfor investment this year will be Germany(33% of the sample) followed by Central &Eastern Europe (24%) and the UK (16%).Countries such as France, Spain, theNordics and Italy appeared to have lostmuch of their lure for investors, scoringonly 10%, 9%, 6%, and 2% respectively.This marks a big shift from last year, whenthe UK was viewed as the best place to in-vest (30%), followed by Germany andFrance (18% each) and CEE (15%).

cee, but where?Speaking at an industry seminar in March,Patrick O’Gorman, head of the CEE Capi-tal Markets department at CBRE, said thatout of all the CEE countries, Poland andthe Czech Republic have been the twomost attractive places to invest for the lasttwo years. So the CEE, although referredto as one bloc, is not a uniform market.Now when investors say “CEE,” in mostcases they are thinking “Poland and theCzech Republic.”

This has various ramifications. TheCEE market is significantly smaller thanmarkets in the UK, Germany, France orSpain, in terms of the number of proper-ties, square meters, and investment vol-umes. For instance, in 2010 the investmentvolume in Poland was EUR 1.85 billion,and in London alone it was EUR 8 billion.So Poland still has a very long way to go be-fore it becomes a mature investment mar-ket. “Because of that, naturally there is lessopportunity,” O’Gorman said, “So we are

looking at a very large number of investorsand a very small number of properties,which could cause some issues.”

office marketFor years, office space has traditionallybeen viewed as the most liquid asset. Themain reason is that within CEE especially,there are more office buildings and there ismore variety of office space that differs insize, type and location.

And, of course, office space has been indemand with tenants. In 2010 companiesrented a total of 549,000 sq m of officespace in Warsaw alone, which translatesinto 96% growth from 2009 numbers, ac-cording to the recent market overviewMarketBeat from commercial real estate

specialist Cushman & Wakefield. According to Halina Więckowska, a part-

ner in the Warsaw office of law firm K&LGates and co-chair of the AmCham RealEstate Committee, the fact that Poland wasthe only country in sight with positiveGDP growth in 2009 triggered both localand foreign investors. “This year investors’interest in the office market continues, in-cluding in their numbers investment fundsfrom Scandinavia that have not been pres-ent in Poland before.”

On the other hand, Więckowska notedthat there are a large number of projectsscheduled for delivery to the market thisyear, which may bring rents down.

To lure more tenants and better utilizetheir assets, many developers are buildingprojects that meet ecological and sustain-able-development requirements. SkanskaProperty Poland, which currently has twogreen office projects under construction,Green Corner in Warsaw and Green Tow-ers in Wrocław, is building more and moreoffices that comply with LEED global stan-dards for environment-friendly construc-tion technology. According to NicklasLindberg, managing director of SkanskaProperty Poland, “The environmentalawareness is rising rapidly among investorsin Poland. They see not only environmentalbut also economic benefits of being green.Tenants are aware that green constructionis simply good business. Today’s invest-ment will yield even larger cost savingsover time. Investors realize that sustainableoffices are also a guarantee of the highestquality and value on the property market.”

This may help get new tenants, but itwill take some time before rents regainpre-2009 levels. Więckowska said, “It is es-timated that in 2009 rents dropped by 38%in Dublin, and approximately 25% in theLondon West End and the Warsaw centralbusiness district. It is estimated that rentcosts will rise 2% per year until 2015.”

According to Więckowska, the Warsawmarket is similar to the market in other bigcities in Western Europe. “The MokotówBusiness Park area competes successfullywith similar office areas in Germany or inLondon and is still viewed as an attractiveinvestment location,” she said.

“Poland is perceived better today thanSpain or Portugal. It is also estimated thatthe return on investment in an officebuilding in Paris or London takes approxi-mately 20 years, but in Poland 10 to 12years.”

Compared with other CEE countries,the office market in Poland is still highlyattractive. “Poland is viewed as a politicallyand economically stable country,” saidWięckowska. “In Ukraine, for instance,rents in Kiev fell 50% on average in 2009,compared to 25% in Warsaw.”

But Warsaw is a unique market withinPoland, and the office market in the coun-try at large best exemplifies the concernsinvestors expressed in the EmergingTrends in Real Estate 2011 report, mostnotably their general lack of interest in lesspromising areas outside of prime regions,even in the same countries. “The officemarket focuses primarily on Warsaw,” saidWięckowska. “Compared to Warsaw, otherbig cities in Poland have a lot of room forimprovement. The office market has notmatured there enough to trigger foreigninvestors.”

According to Więckowska foreign in-vestors are much less interested in officemarkets outside of Warsaw because

Poland’s regional business centers havepoor infrastructure. However, it is esti-mated that since the beginning of last year,over 200,000 sq m of modern office spacehas been delivered to the market outside ofWarsaw. “Kraków and Katowice saw thelargest increase of office space so far,”Więckowska said. “In 2011 and 2012,Kraków and the Tri-City will see thelargest office space supply.”

While investment funds from WesternEurope continue to be the main investorsin Poland, there is growing interest ex-pressed by Scandinavian funds, which arelooking for assets in regional business cen-ters across the country. Więckowska saidthat as commercial banks will not be aswilling to lend money to investors as be-fore, the importance of private equity in-vestors will be growing in Poland.

Experts also say that anticipated cuts ingovernment expenditures, seeking to stabi-lize the state budget, will not negatively af-fect the markets. According to Więckowska,

Nothing is black and white anymore

COVER STORY: Commercial real estate

While commercial real estate in Poland is a hot spot for investors,the market is small and has a long way to go to reach maturity

There are many projects, like ProstaTower, scheduled for delivery to themarket this year, which may bring rentsdown

top retailers across 73 countries to identifytrends in global retail expansion at nationaland local levels, Poland experienced stronggrowth in retailer presence, with 32% of allretailers now located here, up by more than1.5%. With GDP expected to grow 3.4%, itremains an attractive market for foreign re-tailers. Occupier demand was highest inWarsaw, where the amount of new space islimited and left some retailers frustrated inthe search for suitable space. Kraków di-rectly benefited from this lack of availableretail space in the capital, with eight newstore openings in 2010 to tie for third inCBRE’s top 10 of new entrants by city.

Magdalena Frątczak, director of Retail atCBRE, said that Poland is a natural targetfor expanding retailers and saw a highnumber of new store openings in 2010,with retailers attracted to the high spendper head relative to other CEE markets.“The biggest issue for retailers in 2011 willbe accessing prime space, as the pipelineslowed dramatically last year,” she said.“With this in mind, some developers arenow actively looking to redevelop and up-

grade existing spaceto entice new retail-ers to the market.”

In other words, in-vestors who look atretail projects do nothave as wide a varietyof projects as thosewho invest in officespace. What is more,to have a successfulshopping center, in-vestors need to bringit to critical mass,which translates intoa large investment.As Patrick O’Gormanfrom CBRE put it,“In order to get avery good, dominantregional shoppingcenter, you need tospend EUR 50 mil-lion in equity. Thereare a couple of dealson the market nowthat require EUR 70to 80 million in eq-uity. Even the biggestprivate equity playersget a bit nervous overEUR 60 million eq-uity. This is one ofthe main withdrawal


as long as the cuts do not affect investors’incentives, the office market will not seeany negative effects. “As we know from thepast,” she said, “the market is more sensi-tive to the general economic situationglobally and in Europe as such. The officemarket, therefore, especially when it comesto central business districts of big cities,will remain an attractive place for foreigninvestors.”

retail marketYet according to the European Investor In-tentions Survey, it is not office space, as itwas last year, but all types of retail real es-tate that are viewed as the most promisingtype of real estate for investment this year.The trend changed fast. In the February2010 survey, office was indicated by 39% ofthe sample and retail by 34%; this year,nearly 45% of investors pointed to retail,and 39% office.

Indeed, according to the latest edition ofCBRE’s annual survey How Global Is theBusiness of Retail? which mapped theglobal store footprint of 323 of the world’s

factors in the retail investment market.”O’Gorman said that investors who try to

find the right assets need to look behindthe macro figures and into the perform-ance of the shopping center: “There are somany new retail concepts coming up, somany new retailers coming in, that theycan completely turn around a shoppingcenter. Every shopping center thereforeneeds to be looked at in a significantamount of detail. It is very fashionable tosay for investors that they are looking tobuy in Poland, but the reality is who actu-ally has the expertise on the ground to re-ally know what they are doing and improvea shopping center asset.”

O’Gorman said that small shopping cen-ters that serve a niche are generating con-siderable demand, particularly from Ger-man funds.

At the same time, it seems that the im-portance of small and medium-sized citiesis on the rise. According to O’Gorman,“Liquidity is always the big question forinvestors—if I buy this whom will I sellto?—and I think we are seeing liquiditycoming into the market. My thoughts arethat over the next year the medium andsmall city market may see a slight yieldcompression, as more investors becomecomfortable with the liquidity.”

When it comes to the supply side, in 2Q2010 market analysts forecast that retailstock would stand at about 550,000 sq m bythe end of the year, and in 2011 stock wouldbe no higher than 390,000 sq m. But in fact2010 deliveries came to 440,000 sq m, whilethe potential pipeline for 2011 grew from390,000 sq m to over 870,000 sq m. That isa big difference.

But “pipeline” can also mean “pipedream.” The numbers must be ap-proached with caution, because pipelineprojects include not just projects underconstruction, but also those that have onlybeen announced. “There is no way to dis-criminate between projects under con-struction in real life and projects that havebeen announced and are not yet underconstruction,” O’Gorman explained. “Ithappens rather often that developers an-nounce projects but there is no follow-upon the ground, where nothing happens.This is a way of marketing their projects,as they hope to catch the attention of po-tential investors with their announce-ments. But the message is rather clear: themarket is heating up again in terms of de-velopment pipeline. The new projects willbe much more modern than those already

in operation. This year we expect 600,000to 650,000 sq m by the end of the year,which is a considerable increase on the440,000 sq m that we saw last year.”

O’Gorman added that each shoppingcenter should be viewed as specific. “It isabout competition and concept evolutionin going to the next generation of shoppingoutlet,” he said. “Retailers’ demands willchange over the next 10 years, and a corelong-term investor has to make sure theyhave a flexible shopping center with a corelocation.”

While there are some new locations andnew formats that investors are not so happywith, retail parks are a very stable conceptfor investors. “They can fit comfortably inan oversaturated market and still perform,”O’Gorman said. “Tenants there performwell too.”

In his view hypermarket-anchored shop-ping centers are particularly popular withinvestors because they offer a stable foun-dation of turnover and spending but alsoplenty of opportunity for asset manage-ment, such as canceling leases and resiz-ing.

He noted that what the market is miss-ing today is investors in the lower value-added segment—between core investorsand opportunistic ones. “This is where op-portunities are,” O’Gorman said. “In CEEwe have core investors and we have the op-portunistic investors, and there is a gap inthe middle for 10–17% return on invest-ment. There are some investors filling thatgap, but it is the least competitive market.So if you are going for an asset and it doesnot quite fill the expectations for oppor-tunistic returns, given the depth of in-vestor demand coming into the market, themarket will get deeper and broader, andthis core-plus sector will fill in significantlyover the next five years. So there are plentyof opportunities in CEE, but we have tolook in detail at the individual asset, ratherthan what is driving the market.”

logistics marketOne of the most liquid markets last yearwas long-lease logistics. According toCushman & Wakefield’s MarketBeat re-port, 2010 proved better than anticipatedfor the sector. The total value of transac-tions on the logistics market in 2010 wasEUR 215 million—the best result since2006.

The supply grew by over 300,000 sq m,to 6.5 million sq m at the end of 2010,thanks mainly to US developer Panattoni,

which sold 9 logistics parks in three sepa-rate transactions, totaling EUR 165 millionand 285,000 sq m of lettable space.

Meanwhile, demand for logistics spacegrew by nearly 86% from 2009 numbers.New development projects began to takeshape under the condition that enoughpre-letting contracts were signed, whilemany projects were built-to-suit, such asthe facility built for food distributor Inter-marché, which Panattoni sold to a CreditSuisse investment fund for EUR 18 mil-lion.

O’Gorman said that the logistics marketis liquid because it “comes out from theproperty level and becomes more of a bondstructure.”

hotel marketIn the CB Richard Ellis European InvestorIntentions Survey, the hotel sector was in-dicated as offering the least promise, withsome 3% of investors indicating it aspromising in 2011, but that is still betterthan 2010, when it was tipped by about 2%of investors.

This growth was captured by the Mar-ketBeat analysis from Cushman & Wake-field. Although 2010 saw improvement inthe market, growth was generated on a verysmall base, and it is hard to say that lastyear was good for the hotel developmentindustry.

Consequently, there are not too manyprojects in the pipeline. A five-star Renais-sance Hotel is under construction at War-saw Chopin Airport. An Orbis hotel is alsounder construction in the Ochota districtof Warsaw. Notably, more projects are un-derway outside of the capital, with a Novo-tel hotel under construction in Łódź,where the Grand Hotel is also being refur-bished. A new Hilton is being built inWrocław.

According to Więckowska, the Warsawmarket is the most attractive of all marketsin Poland for the hotel industry. Because ofthe city’s status as the business capital, thenumber of four- and five-star hotels ishigher than in other cities. Kraków, for in-stance, is mainly perceived as a generaltourism destination.

Despite being the capital, the number ofhotels in Warsaw has been flat for the lasttwo years, while room bookings and rateshave dropped.

ForecastMarket analysts estimate that in 2011 thevalue of all transactions in commercial real

estate in Poland will be over EUR 2 bil-lion—three times the value in 2009. Thisshould be largely generated by investmentfunds from Germany, including openfunds, closed funds and special-purposefunds, which are active in all sectors.

No doubt part of the growth in transac-tions in commercial real estate will bethanks to the inflow of foreign direct in-vestment. In 2010 Poland saw EUR 7.5 bil-lion in FDI inflow, a drop from EUR 10billion in 2009. This was due to the de-layed effect on Poland of the global finan-cial meltdown in 2008. The economictroubles in Greece took a toll on Poland aswell. But experts estimate that the 2011number will be EUR 12.7 billion. “2010saw several important investment projects,both in commercial real estate and in in-dustry sectors including defense and air-craft,” said Więckowska. “Thanks to thoseinvestments Poland has a chance to be-come an important back office for IT andhigh tech. In many cases, FDI helped keepcompanies with cash-flow problemsafloat.”

Most new FDI projects were generatedin Poland’s special economic zones, whereinvestors, both foreign and domestic, cantake advantage of tax breaks. When itcomes to investments in commercial realestate, the main areas were big cities, in-cluding Warsaw, Kraków, Katowice andWrocław.

While commercial real estate remains arelatively lucrative investment in Poland,and there are market indicators suggestingthat in the “two-speed” market growthscenario presented by the PwC/ULI re-port, Poland will be on the “faster” side,the question of real estate investmenttrusts is bouncing back from the time itwas first raised in 2007.

REITs are investment vehicles with aparticular capital and tax structure invest-ing specifically in real estate. Więckowskasaid that REITs would no doubt increasethe attractiveness of the commercial realestate market for investors in Poland. “In2007–2009 AmCham was lobbying the ideaof REITs, and it was met with interest bythe Ministry of Finance,” Więckowskasaid. “We were thwarted by the global eco-nomic crisis and the drop in real estateasset value the world over. Maybe now is achance to take up the issue of REITs inPoland again?”

Tomasz Ćwiok

COVER STORY: Commercial real estate

business community on a new policy planfor 2012–2013. In the years to come, UOKiKintends to boost market transparency for thebusiness sector so market players have abetter understanding of what is legal andwhat is not.

UOKiK cooperates closely with competi-tion watchdogs in other EU countriesthrough the European Competition Networkto assure that competition and consumerprotection standards are in line with thoseacross the EU. This applies especially tounderstanding market consolidations andmeasuring how they may be seen as hinder-ing competition in the marketplace.Krasnodębska-Tomkiel said that the officeknows full well that a proper understandingof how M&A transactions affect the marketis essential for the business sector. “Wehave seen growth in mergers and acquisi-tions in Poland,” she said. “We investigatednearly 200 M&A cases in 2010 alone andconcluded 149 of them, which was a 33%rise as compared with the 2009 numbers.”

Krasnodębska-Tomkiel stressed that theOffice of Competition and Consumer Pro-tection strives to take the business perspec-tive into consideration. As she put it,“Mergers and acquisitions are business-as-usual elements of market activities.”

The guest speaker at the AmChamMonthly Meeting in April, Mał-gorzata Krasnodębska-Tomkiel,

President of the Office of Competition andConsumer Protection (UOKiK), offered in-sight into the philosophy of the institution,which is not only a cartel-buster but also aconsumer guardian. This dual role is un-usual among UOKiK’s counterparts aroundthe European Union. As Krasnodębska-Tomkiel explained, “Elsewhere in the world,these roles are usually separated and differ-ent institutions are charged with executingthem.”

the mission todayTo understand why UOKiK took on thisdual role requires a look at the institution’shistory. It was established over 20 years agoas part of the legal package aimed at trans-forming Poland’s economy from centralplanning to a free market. UOKiK facili-tated that process. Today, when hardly anyremnants of the centrally planned economyremain, UOKiK helps insure that free-mar-ket safeguards are not reversed.


MONTHLY MEETING: Market regulation


małgorzata krasnodębska-tomkiel, President of the Office ofCompetition and Consumer Protec-tion (UOKiK), has authored a num-ber of publications in the area of Pol-ish and EU competition law, includ-ing academic studies, commentaryon Polish Supreme Court decisions,and press articles. Prior to her cur-rent post, Krasnodębska-Tomkielwas VP of UOKiK responsible forthe Department of Competition Pro-tection, the Department of Legal Af-fairs and European Jurisprudence,and the Department of Market Sur-veillance. She has also lecturedon EU and competition law at theUniversity of Warsaw, the WarsawSchool of Economics, and the Na-tional School of Public Administra-tion.

Meet the speaker

Guest speaker Małgorzata Krasnodębska-Tomkiel, UOKiK President, with Joseph Wancer, AmCham Chairman

Walk softly and carry a big stick Tomasz Ćwiok

Thanks to its organizational structure,with a presence on the national level butalso regional offices in nine of Poland’slargest cities, the agency can effectivelystudy whether market participants play fairwith competitors and consumers. It can alsoeffectively investigate cases of market con-centration. “Our organizational structuremakes us unique in Europe,” Krasnodębska-Tomkiel said. “It is an excellent structure tosupport efficient activities towards con-sumer protection and build a better cultureof market competition. We effectively ad-dress issues pertaining to national markets,which is spectacular, but also regional mar-kets, which is less spectacular but neverthe-less important from the point of view of con-sumers as well as market players.”

Another aspect differentiating UOKiKfrom its counterparts in other EU countriesis that the agency does not answer to anygovernment ministry but reports directly tothe Prime Minister. In this role, UOKiK ad-vises on how legislation drafted by the gov-ernment may affect competition and con-sumer protection. In 2010 UOKiK lawyers

reviewed some 3,000 bills, but they spokeout most strongly on two pieces of legisla-tion: one regulating the system of publicsubsidies for prescription drugs, and an-other which would have concentrated themarket for municipal waste operators in thehands of government-backed companies.

Along with acting as a consultant to thegovernment, UOKiK does market analysisand compiles reports on market concentra-tion and the state of competition on variousmarkets, for the government and the parlia-ment. The office also suggests legal and or-ganizational reforms to improve the compet-itiveness of the markets. Last year alone,UOKiK conducted 60 market analysis andresearch projects. This year two of themproved to be of paramount importance, asthey effectively stalled market consolidationin the energy and railway sectors.

no personal crusadingWhen Krasnodębska-Tomkiel was placed atthe helm of UOKiK by Prime Minister Don-ald Tusk in 2008, she decided to refocusUOKiK’s activity to give more emphasis to

the antitrust role. Her perception of themarket was that there was an imminentthreat from cartels, which directly harmconsumers, and market consolidation,which dwarfs competitiveness in the mar-ketplace and eventually harms consumerstoo.

In 2009 UOKiK made headlines by im-posing a huge fine on a group of cementmanufacturers who had entered into an ille-gal price-fixing scheme. Since then,Krasnodębska-Tomkiel said, the businesssector has sharpened its focus on UOKiKand its mission, and the number of requestsfor investigation of alleged cartel practicesand attempts to stifle competition hasboomed.

But the media have tried to picture theagency as a bully eager to put its weight be-hind the free-market economy. According toKrasnodębska-Tomkiel, this image is wrong.UOKiK has every right to impose stiff fineswhen they are proportional to the wrongdo-ing. She argued that UOKiK has in factshown a lot of restraint in its decisions. In149 rulings UOKiK issued last year regard-ing market consolidation, there were noneprohibiting a merger or acquisition. “Thisyear,” she said, “we stopped two mergersout of 40 cases we investigated.”

She explained that in each case whereUOKiK must determine whether a consoli-dation may have a negative impact on com-petition, the agency conducts thorough mar-ket research. In the case of a merger

planned in 2010 between media outletEmpik and online media outlet Merlin,which the UOKiK found would hinder com-petition, the agency polled over 1,100 com-panies to find out how the merger would af-fect the market.

Krasnodębska-Tomkiel said that UOKiKis by no means any stricter in its investiga-tions during the economic crisis than it wasbefore. She dismissed such claims by sayingthat the crisis is not a criterion for changingthe way that UOKiK approaches cases. Onthe other hand, she said it is understandablethat businesspeople may feel irate whentheir plans are stalled by the agency. But,she pointed out, the structure of certainmarkets has changed significantly in recentyears, and some are very highly consoli-dated. The role of UOKiK is to scan thoseinstances, run an in-depth analysis, and in-tervene when necessary. She stressed thatUOKiK acts in the public interest, just likeantitrust regulators elsewhere in the world.

Krasnodębska-Tomkiel noted that as mar-kets become more and more concentrated,some of the biggest problems that compa-nies face in antitrust compliance are proce-dural. Companies that plan to merge maynot know, for instance, how to properly no-tify UOKiK about the planned merger. Thiscan lead to prolonged proceedings beforethe agency, which then leaves the companiesin a state of uncertainty as they wait for theUOKiK to greenlight the merger with nostrings attached, go through with themerger on certain conditions, or forget it.

She said that the average time it takes forUOKiK to investigate a case and reach aconclusion is 53 days, which puts the agencywithin the norm for EU countries. She ad-mitted, however, that the number of com-plex and time-consuming cases has beengrowing, which drags down the average.

Krasnodębska-Tomkiel said that when itcomes to anti-cartel decisions, UOKiK isfairly liberal compared to its counterparts inother EU states. “We are the leader amongEU countries when it comes to the numberof decisions that call for corrective actionsbut abstain from penalties,” she said.

reaching out to businessIn its mission to uphold competitive mar-kets that play by clear rules, UOKiK has is-sued a best practice guide for business inwhich the agency explains its policy and theprinciples it adheres to in executing its mis-sion. “It is true that the anti-cartel regula-tions are very general,” Krasnodębska-Tomkiel explained. “Our goal in issuing thebest practice guide was to clearly presentour criteria in approaching market competi-tion cases.”

She said that the agency is now workingin cooperation with the government and the

Poland’s competition watchdog needs understanding andcooperation from the business sector to achieve its mission

“Our organizationalstructure makes usunique in Europe. It is anexcellent structure tosupport efficient activi-ties towards consumerprotection and build abetter culture of marketcompetition. We effec-tively address issues per-taining to national mar-kets, which is spectacu-lar, but also regionalmarkets, which is lessspectacular but never-theless important fromthe point of view of con-sumers as well as marketplayers.”


Destination comes first

and there was still a bit of uncertainty.Some natural events, such as the eruptionof a volcano in Iceland, which downed airtraffic for a long time, also contributed toit. Fortunately enough, later last year thesituation improved, and we closed 2010with substantial business growth as com-pared to 2009. This year we have been see-ing steady growth, but the growth curve ismore flat than that in 2010 for the sameperiod. So we will have to see how the eco-nomic recovery continues across Europe.Also, the aftermath of the March earth-quake in Japan will have an impact on ushere in Poland in one way or another. How-ever, I foresee nearly double-digit growththis year for our business in Poland, and Ido believe we will see that again next year.

how did the economic crisis affectstarwood hotels and resorts in termsof investments?

We are very happy with the locations thatwe have in Poland: Warsaw, Sopot, Krakówand Poznań. We continue to invest in ourhotels in Poland. During the economic cri-sis, when others stopped investing in theirbusiness, we did not, and now we see theperks. We invested PLN 27 million inPoland in 2009 and 2010. This is paying offnow as customers are recognizing thequality of the service and the quality of theproduct.

the polish tourism organizationwas a partner of itB Berlin 2011, ahuge trade fair of the tourism industrywhich took place in march. how doyou evaluate the activities of pto andother government organizationscharged with promoting poland as atourist destination abroad?

We were very happy when we heard thatPoland would be co-hosting promotionalevents at ITB this year. It is a step in theright direction and emphasizes the quali-ties of Poland.

Nevertheless, we believe that more workneeds to be done, especially when it comesto focusing on delivering a consistent mes-sage about Poland. So far there has beentoo much diversity in what different organi-zations communicate about the country,which to a certain degree creates uncer-tainty about what Poland stands for as atourist destination. Promotion efforts ofdifferent agencies and organizations shouldbe better orchestrated to send a more con-sistent message about the country.

I have to say that Starwood tries to help.In 2010 we ran workshops with PR and ad-vertising agencies and our partners in theindustry to look at Poland’s core values andhow to promote them consistently abroad.As a result of this program we submittedrecommendations to the Poland PromotionCouncil.

In our industry there is a saying, “Desti-nation comes first.” Even before anybrands or other key drivers of the industryplay a role in making a destination attrac-tive, it is first the destination itself thatplays a part.

We also reach out to different organiza-tions abroad and organize press tours.Most recently we hosted members of themedia from Italy, Spain and Germany. Thevisit was organized in cooperation withLOT Polish Airlines and Mazurkas Travel.As a result, there will be press articlesshowcasing different tourist destinationsin Poland in international markets.

Apart from journalists, we bring in travelagencies. This helps bring in more touristsin the “MICE” sector—meetings, incen-tives, conferencing and exhibitions. MICEis the backbone of our business, as itdrives revenue from rooms and catering.So we continuously bring people in fromabroad to showcase different markets inPoland for them.

We also promote Poland on our television

network. Features about what is happeningin Poland are shown on our internal televi-sion channel in our hotels in Europe andAfrica and the Middle East.

Last but not least, we also take part indifferent trade shows where we presentPoland. We often participate in them to-gether with the PTO, at the Polish destina-tion booth or the Starwood booth. We pro-mote Polish cities and the country as awhole. We also participate in panel discus-sions at such events, both in Poland andabroad.

according to various industry re-ports, the hotel sector is on the path torecovery this year and will be back onthe growth track in 2012 across eu-rope. is this true for starwood hotelsand resorts in poland?

In terms of business growth, 2007 wasone of the best we have had in Poland. Nowwe compare our business performance tothat in 2007. From that perspective, 2010did not start off that well, for different rea-sons. There was still some impact of theglobal economic crisis in 2008 and 2009,

American Investor's Tomasz Ćwiok talks with Thomas Schoen, Area Manager ofStarwood Hotels and Resorts in Poland, about how the company helps promotePoland abroad and responds to the ever-changing trends in the hospitality industry.

FOCUS: Hotel industry

But investing also means investing intraining programs for our people, so theyhave the right management skills and lead-ership skills. With or without the crisis, in-vesting in people is the key investment tomake.

But we are very fortunate, because withsix hotels in Poland we can provide diversecareer opportunities for our people. Overthe years we have seen people come upthrough the ranks through hard work, butalso thanks to their own ambitions and de-velopment opportunities. Some of themhave gone to work abroad. Others havecome back from abroad to work in Polandagain. It is a huge advantage for our peoplethat they can really make it in our chain ifthey want.

the euro 2012 soccer champi-onship, which poland will co-host to-gether with ukraine, will work as acatalyst for foreign tourists focusingtheir interest on poland. What benefitsdo you anticipate for the hotel indus-try because of this event?

Euro 2012 will have short-term andlong-term impacts on tourism in Poland.We view June and July 2012, when the eventtakes place, as an opportunity to have amuch greater share of revenue. But theevent also provides an opportunity for all ofthe tourism industry to promote Poland toa much wider audience and clearly bringout Poland’s attractiveness. We as a com-pany, and each individual hotel, are alllooking forward very much to this event.

industry reports also predict a fasterrecovery for the sector in emergingmarkets—which, within europe,means central & eastern europeancountries. can you see that happeningalready?

In this respect Poland is outstanding,because the country is one of our biggestsources of business in Central & EasternEurope. Polish guests, including businesstravelers, people attending conferences,and individuals traveling for city vacationsand city shopping, generate approximately40% of our revenue in our hotels acrossPoland. This is good news, because thePolish market is clearly moving faster thansome other markets in Central & EasternEurope.

But Polish tourists are becoming in-creasingly present in our hotels across Eu-rope, Africa and the Middle East. Prior tothe political crisis in Egypt, we saw a sub-stantial increase in tourism from Polandthere. That inflow now has shifted toTurkey and some islands that belong toSpain. In terms of city tourism, we seemore Polish tourists in Vienna, Berlin,London and Paris. They are part of thenew trend where people take a short vaca-tion of a few days, but more often, insteadof vacations that last one week or twoweeks as they did before.

poland still attracts a lot of new busi-nesses. how does this affect the serv-ices you offer?

We feel the growth of the business sectoracross Poland. The best example is ourSheraton hotel in Kraków, a city which formany reasons is Poland’s window to theoutside world. For the last five years wehave seen more and more companies set-tling around the city. With it our customershave changed to a certain degree at theSheraton Kraków, where we have seen aclear increase in corporate transient busi-ness. As a result, we have adapted some ofthe services we have in the hotel to betterserve these types of quests. We have imple-mented such services as Club Lounge,Club Floor and Link@Sheraton.

link@sheraton sounds like wirelessinternet access. how does it impactthe hotel industry?

It does impact the industry a lot. In ourbusiness we have to stay aligned to whatour customers need. Part of this is wirelessconnection to the Internet in our Sheratonhotels.

Along with technology comes social net-working. We have a Facebook profile tohelp our clients communicate with us in amore direct way and also for us to commu-nicate with them. We are looking at othersocial blogs too.

We also use the Internet to communicateour culinary experience. We opened up ablog at www.akademia-kulinarna.pl whichconsists of posts from the chefs and fromthe sommelier at the Sheraton Sopot. Theblog has become very popular, with some20,000 visits a month. The readers not onlyread the posts, but also ask questions andseek culinary advice from our chefs. So, in-deed, we are linked to the interactivemedia. We seek to understand our cus-tomers’ needs and how they communicatewith their peers, friends and families. Weprovide interactive platforms for that.

apart from technology, new lifestyletrends, such as a lifestyle of health andsustainability, have an increasing im-pact on the hotel industry. how isstarwood hotels and resorts respond-ing to that in poland?

We have nine lifestyle brands, and eachof them is engaged in CSR and sustain-ability programs. The Westin Warsaw hasbeen leading the race in terms of focusingon the wellness and well-being of its cus-tomers. We have several products such asan in-room spa, Westin WorkOut and run-Westin—a guided run across town with arunning concierge. So people can identifywith the Westin when it comes to theirwell-being and a healthy lifestyle.

When it comes to the Sheraton brand,we are partners with Core Performance, aglobal company that allows people withbusy schedules to really have a focused

plan on their workouts as well as on theirnutrition. We implemented a fitness centerprogram last year where all Sheratons inPoland are equipped with fitness areas thatare designed in the same way, follow thesame guidelines, and support the same ex-ercise programs—a set of 20-minute exer-cises.

No matter which Sheraton you are at,you can get the same set. It is very conven-ient for business travelers. When theytravel, people look for this now at our ho-tels. It has become a very popular offer.

Along with health and fitness, corporatesocial responsibility is a key subject for us.For two years our strategy has focused ontwo areas: children in need, and ecology.Sheraton partnered with the OrimariFoundation, which helps children withleukemia. We have done various events. Atan event in November, where our chefsfrom all Starwood hotels in Poland cametogether, we raised PLN 450,000 for thefoundation.

We also work with an organization thatprovides school meals for children in ruralareas of Poland. On a more global basis wework with UNICEF. Each of our brands fo-cuses on a particular topic related to thecore values of the brand. This way we helpchildren in Africa and in some poor re-gions of Europe, too. So we have a clearstrategy, we follow it, and we deliver. Thisis our responsibility.

You mentioned the earthquake inJapan. i wonder how starwood hotelsand resorts responded to the after-math of the disaster.

With 15 hotels and several thousand as-sociates in Japan, we were fortunate thatnone of our hotels in Japan suffered struc-tural damage, and our guests and associ-ates were all accounted for following theearthquake and tsunami. Right after theearthquake, we had to close the WestinSendai and the Sheraton Grande TokyoBay temporarily, due to power supply prob-lems. Our hotels are located well beyondthe expanded safety zone around theFukushima Nuclear Power Plant, however.In addition, our Starwood Associate ReliefFund team handled requests for help fromour affected associates.

Following the earthquake, our hotels insouthern Japan were experiencing high oc-cupancy, as there was a large influx of peo-ple moving from north to south. Many for-eign companies have relocated their em-ployees and families to southern Japan.Starwood set up a special task force andemergency response team, which havebeen operating since the earthquake oc-curred to handle emergencies and deliverassistance with communications, trans-portation, evacuations and first aid. Partici-pants in the Starwood Preferred Guestsprogram could also support disaster reliefefforts through April by donating Star-points to the American Red Cross.

In our industrythere is a saying,“Destination comesfirst.” Even beforeany brands or otherkey drivers of theindustry play a rolein making a desti-nation attractive, itis first the destina-tion itself that playsa part.


The aftermath ofthe global finan-cial meltdowntakes a heavytoll and may affect businessregulations

Expert: EU lawFOCUS: Gender equality

The EU asks for corporate governance

By Paweł MarciszŁaszczuk & Partners

yields. To this end, it attemptsto improve shareholders’ in-volvement. However, the prob-lem is that some shareholdersare satisfied with short-termprofits and neglect the long-term perspective, which is vitalfor the society as the whole. As aresult, to alter management’sshort-term perspective (rein-forced by compensation sys-tems), it is not enough to en-gage the shareholders in super-vision. The percentage of long-term investors is shrinking, asis the average holding period forshares.

Interestingly, part of theCommission’s answer is toidentify all EU provisions con-tributing to short-termism(such as accounting rules). In-troducing transparency of insti-tutional shareholders’ votingpolicies is also under considera-tion. Indeed, “transparency” isthe keyword in the Green Paper.Following the US example, theGreen Paper also touches on theissue of proxy advisers (firmsproviding voting advice toshareholders, attending meet-ings as their proxies and so on).

minority countsFinally, the section dealing withshareholders takes another passat the Gordian knot of minorityshareholders’ rights. Basically,the question is whether to as-sign more rights to them, and inparticular how to protect themagainst related party transac-tions (withdrawing assets fromthe firm).

The Green Paper is intendedto launch consultation by rais-ing several questions and askinginterested parties to submitcontributions. This may be anopportunity for AmCham mem-ber firms to express their be-liefs and reservations, whichthey may do until July 7, 2011.Further details about submis-sions, as well as the GreenPaper itself, may be found onthe Commission website athttp://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/consultations/2011/corporate-governance-frame-work_en.html

more or less ignored by themember states, one might ex-pect attempts to adopt somebinding acts, such as directives.

It seems that the Commis-sion is more concerned withnon-executive directors thanwith executive directors (underthe dual model, e.g. in Poland,that means supervisory boardsrather than managementboards). It is assumed that in-adequate supervision played apart in the recent crisis. TheGreen Paper presents greaterdiversity as a hedge against herdthinking and proposes varioussolutions for improving involve-ment of non-executive direc-tors.

room for improvementPlainly, improving diversitymeans more women and moreforeigners. The Commissionregretfully noted the underrep-resentation of women onboards. (For example, accordingto a Commission study, 47% oflisted corporations in Polandhave no women on the board atall.) While less acute in terms ofdiscrimination, the lack of for-eign points of view is even moresevere in terms of statistics.Sticking to the Polish example,68% of listed companies do nothave any foreign director on theboard.

Another question is whetherto require any special qualifica-tions of non-executive boardmembers. Additionally, it mightbe beneficial to introduce boardevaluation, which could be bothinternal and external. Thiswould presumably raise quality.For greater engagement in thefirm’s affairs, the Commissionis considering the possibility oflimiting the number of posi-tions one director may hold onvarious boards.

Finally, the Commission ispondering whether to introducetransparency of directors’ com-pensation and shareholder vot-ing on the directors’ payroll.

long-term rulesAnother big issue is short-ter-mism. The Commission wantscorporations to disclose riskand think of the long term in-stead of stressing short-term

the crisis, and some justificationsare drawn from the consultationson the previous Green Paper de-voted to financial institutions.

The point is not that the Com-mission, haunted by memories ofthe crisis, is going to imposestringent rules on corporate be-havior. Rather, it is collecting datato understand and avoid any fail-ures that might lead to a futuredisaster like the one that occurredin the financial markets.

Going deepThe scope of the new GreenPaper is quite extensive and, in-deed, impressive. It covers sub-jects ranging from corporate gov-ernance for unlisted corporations,and diversification of corporateboards, to addressing and redress-ing “short-termism,” from theshortcomings of the “comply orexplain” model to risk manage-ment and external board evalua-tion, and from directors’ salariesto minority shareholder protectionand participation, to employeeshares. These are divided intothree main headings: board of di-rectors, shareholders, and the“comply or explain” framework.

The EU is not about to regulatethe whole field of corporate life.What is more, the Commission isin no way obliged to take any fur-ther steps, and it may well feelsatisfied with the situation as pre-sented by the feedback it receives.It is solely for the Commission todecide how and whether EU lawin this area should be improved.Nonetheless, we may expect pro-posals for both binding and non-binding measures. Even if theCommission acts, it may restrictitself to soft law. However, giventhe fact that three subsequentrecommendations (on compensa-tion of directors and on the role ofnon-executive directors) were

Corporate governance is ahot topic now. The re-cent crisis made legisla-

tors around the world less lib-eral and more suspicious notonly towards financial institu-tions, but corporations in gen-eral. They are more and moreaware of the influence that man-agement and control over corpo-rations has on the market andhence on the society. On theother hand, firms themselveshave a significant interest inmaintaining their image as well-governed, transparent and fair.Not only the results, but also thegovernance process influences afirm’s perception in the eyes ofits prospective shareholders,and even consumers. In short,internal corporate process is nolonger just internal.

eu concernedThe lesson the European Com-mission learned from the crisisresulted in last year’s GreenPaper Corporate Governance inFinancial Institutions and Re-muneration Policies. On April 5,2011, the Commission issuedthe more general Green Paperentitled The EU Corporate Gov-ernance Framework. The Com-mission is even considering thedesirability of expanding corpo-rate governance standards tounlisted corporations. As differ-ent companies have differentproblems, the Commissionwonders if different measuresshould be adopted for corpora-tions of varying type and size.

Despite the Commission’s as-surance that non-financial firmsare not to be punished for thecrisis, as they did not cause it,the latest Green Paper containsan extensive review of the crisis.Some problems are explicitly la-beled as having contributed to

From “SheFO” to CEO? Traditional gender roles are being questioned in Polish corporations, but menare still preferred in leadership

Although their management styles dif-fer, both men and women are viewedas capable of successfully performing

the duties of chief financial officer. This isone of the conclusions of the “SheFO” sur-vey conducted in February by consultancyDeloitte among 337 business professionals inPoland, mostly in financial departments.

Women are perceived as being more capa-ble of handling teamwork-related issues,such as motivating staff, organizing work,and maintaining high business ethics. Inturn, men are associated with focusing on fi-nancial results, working effectively understress, and taking risks.

Differences in management styles may af-fect the chances of a manager’s being pro-moted from CFO to CEO—for both men andwomen. Management styles and personalcharacteristics that should be developed by aCFO on the way to becoming CEO includeleadership skills, strategicplanning, comfort level withmaking bold decisions, ne-gotiating skills, and effi-ciency. The sample per-ceived these features, con-sidered typical of CEOs, asmore prevalent among maleCFOs than female CFOs.“This perception is mostlikely the reason that, as73% of the sample said,men have an easier timegetting promoted to theCEO position,” saidKrzysztof Pniewski, a part-ner in Deloitte’s consul-tancy department.

“On the other hand,” Pniewski said, “ourresearch did not confirm any significant dif-ferences in salaries earned by male and fe-male CFOs.” This was probably because thedifferent management styles represented by

men and women were not evaluated as betteror worse.

Most of the respondents agreed thatstereotypes associated with genders and theirtraditional roles in business are outdated anddo not fit modern reality. However, the re-spondents admitted there are jobs they thinkare a better fit for men, as well as jobs thatwomen perform better than men.

cFos created equalWhen asked about their views on the “moreappropriate” gender for the position of chieffinancial officer, the respondents did notfavor either one. When asked how much maleand female CFOs should be paid, the sampledid not show any gender preferences either.Regardless of the sex of the CFO, the samplesaid he or she should be earning about PLN20,000–30,000 a month. Marta Towpik, direc-tor of the audit department at Deloitte, noted

however that men tended to be more gener-ous, and they were the majority among thesample who indicated the range of PLN30,000–PLN 40,000. “Women are more re-strained when it comes to talking about dif-

ferences in salaries and career promotions,”Towpik concluded.

While most of the respondents said mixedmale/female teams do best when it comes towork efficiency, nonetheless 40% of the sam-ple (35% of women and 45% of men) saidthey would rather have a man as their imme-diate supervisor if they could choose.

career and familyThe businesspeople surveyed by Deloitte in-dicated that companies in Poland allow staffto combine a professional career with familylife, particularly thanks to the more and morecommon option to work flexible hours in fi-nancial departments. The authors of the re-port noted that well-organized workflows infinancial departments make them especiallysuited to flex-time systems.

let well enough aloneThe respondents in thissurvey were not keen onhaving too many regulationson the job. Most of the sam-ple were opposed to genderquotas on company boards,with 54% rejecting the no-tion of across-the-boardquotas, like those intro-duced recently in Norway,as pointless.

Meanwhile, Poland re-cently introduced a quotafor political parties, requir-ing that party slates of par-liamentary candidates mustinclude at least one-thirdmen and one-third women.

Please indicate to what degree you agree with the statement thatmanagement styles of men and women differ

Do you support legal regulations which, as in Sweden and France,set quotas for women on corporate boards?

“Strongly agree” and “Rather agree”

“Strongly yes” and“Rather yes”

“Difficult to say”

“Strongly no” and “Rather no”

My company does notlet me combine a man-agement position with

raising my children

Women with small chil-dren can have flexible

work hours includingworking at home

Company managementis not keen on lettingmanagers, including

women and men, takeparental leave

“Never” and “Very rarely”

“Very often” and “Sometimes”

“Strongly disagree”and “Rather disagree”

Total Total

Total

Total

Total

Women Women

Women

Women

Women

Men Men

Men

Men

Men

Tomasz Ćwiok


A competent work-force needs lifelongprofessional learn-ing, but measuresmust be in place be-fore training cansuccessfully trans-fer into the work-place

EXPERT: Training

Making it stick

By Peter Strupppresident of the supervisory boardUnited Business Development

ture-style learning. Differentstyles of learning should be em-ployed within an initiative. Thiscan include business simulations,team coaching, e-learning, out-side speakers and facilitation, aswell as traditional corporatetraining.

Training and learning initia-tives should be designed to simu-late as much real-world work aspossible. This is where the De-velopment Manager needs to en-sure that the programs fit withinthe practical experiences that re-ally occur.

Training should be carefullysequenced to master the basics ofthe skill before going on tohigher-level skills programs.Many in-house corporate trainingprograms are poorly designed anddo not use proper instructionaldesign methods, which causesthe training to be uneven. Thetraining needs to be systematicand to connect within a logicalformat.

Follow upOne of the most practical steps inreinforcing learning is to properlydesign follow-up and review.One-off training events have verypoor success rates. Follow-uplearning applications should al-ready be built into the learningprocess. A good way to do this isusing group facilitation sessions.This is an effective way to buildthe competency further that hasbeen learned in the classroom.Follow-up is critical.

Creating a genuine learningorganization tied to business re-sults can create high employeeengagement and build share-holder value. Few global compa-nies take full advantage of the op-portunity. For those that do thiswell, it is a distinct competitiveadvantage. Organizations thatemploy learning initiatives tosupport strategic operationalgoals and have clear KPI targetsas a desired outcome can obtainfinancial returns that are signifi-cantly higher than conventionalinvestments.

Instead of asking “What is thebottom line?” companies shouldlook above their top lines to seethe enormous amount of busi-ness opportunity available wheninvesting intelligently in peopledevelopment.

business results improvement. Icall this “hygienic”-level training,which means that an annualtraining budget has been createdwithout a specific developmentalpurpose to support the strategy.The money is there to be usedfor short-term employee “moti-vation,” but it rarely even accom-plishes that objective.

As far as strategic support, it isrecommended that the seniorteam meet on what are the orga-nizational performance goals andthen work backwards. A cleardedicated workshop session orsessions tying the learning initia-tives to business results helpmake this alignment explicit.Pilot testing with a smaller tar-geted learning group is also agood idea. Once the pilot testinghas been evaluated, great careshould be taken to see how fastthe rollout for any organization-wide training should take place,in order not to dilute the in-tended effect.

integrateAnother critical element for suc-cessful learning transfer iswhether or not managers havebeen trained on how to coachtheir direct reports as a compe-tency. Managers also need to betrained in how to coach in thespecific areas targeted in thelearning initiatives.

It is critical for the leaders toshow employees how their newcompetency can be “exercised”through use in normal workprocesses, and how those workprocesses effect better perform-ance results. The new skillslearned by employees need to beintegrated into the day-to-day op-erational processes of the organi-zation. When anything new is at-tempted, failure is often a result.This is of course normal untilmastery occurs. Malcolm Glad-well, in his 2008 book Outliers,made the point that in order to bethe best at a skill there are thou-sands of hours of practice timerequired. Leaders need to en-courage and support with consis-tency the acquisition of new skillsby employees.

It is important for participantsto be actively engaged during thelearning experience. Communi-cation travels in both directions.Also, the ability to learn in teamsand share experiences providesfor greater motivation than lec-

strategizeHere are a few practical insights tohelp the learning transfer processbecome more successful within anorganization.

First, it is critical to understandthat investment in corporate train-ing and business coaching can bemeasured in terms of economicvalue created, using conservativeassumptions. Just as a companymay analyze a fixed asset invest-ment (and a required hurdle rate),the same can be done for invest-ments in improving employee com-petencies. Senior leaders want tosee greater impact in areas such ashigher sales, higher team produc-tivity, fewer customer complaints,greater customer retention, higher-quality output, and so on. All ofthese desired outputs can be mone-tized into a cash number. Even ifthe management team does notwant to jump through these meas-urement hoops, they can do a prettyinsightful analysis of learning in-vestment and operational improve-ment with the KPI data they alreadycollect. For more practical informa-tion on this, I refer readers to theROI Institute and their website atwww.roiinstitute.net.

Second, any learning initiativeneeds to be aligned to the organiza-tional strategy and have an organi-zational structure to support theinitiative. For example, if a retailchain is rebranding and needs tocreate a new customer experienceto pursue higher-margin cus-tomers, then the recruitment anddevelopment activities of employeesneed to be tied to the initiative. Akey point may be to focus on thoseemployee groups that have thehighest overall effect on businessresults.

What is still unfortunately all toocommon is that corporate learninginitiatives have nothing to do withalignment to strategy. Training is adhoc and not even concentrated on

Amajor study on global cor-porate human capital prac-tices found that standard-

ized corporate training may actu-ally have a negative effect onshareholder value. How could thatpossibly be? Surely training hasvalue. To the researchers, thelikely answer was that it does cre-ate value—for the marketability ofthe employee. However, whentraining does not carry over intoimprovement in day-to-day workprocesses, the employee’s CV maylook better but there is no net ef-fectiveness gain for the organiza-tion. Research indicates that lessthan 35% of all trained skills arestill being used by employees oneyear after the training takes place.

intangiblesThere are many reasons for this.Many leaders still do not knowhow to increase the value of theirintangible assets that are not re-flected in the balance sheet buthave a direct impact on the mar-ket value of the company. Assetssuch as organizational capability,effective corporate cultures,workforce competency, and lead-ership depth, require immediatecosting on the income statementbut are hard to measure and tomanage. What is worse is themissed opportunities (lost cus-tomers and lower sales) thatoccur due to improper employeedevelopmental strategies, whichthe accounting system simplydoes not capture.

In addition, corporate learningis an offshoot from the model ofknowledge transfer found in uni-versity settings. The lecturer de-livers a verbal transmission ofknowledge to the students. Muchof this classroom transfer also oc-curs in corporate training, ne-glecting the strategic, social, po-litical and ethical context in whichlearning is taking place.

perts carry out a detailed analy-sis of the problem and evaluatethe condition of the data, thescope of damage, and the esti-mated time of recovery. The re-sult of the analysis is usually areport that enables the cus-tomer to see the structure ofthe files and data that it is pos-sible to recover, even before theactual process of data recoverystarts. At this stage a cost esti-mate is prepared. All this infor-mation is shared with the cus-tomer.

The process of data recoverystarts immediately after the re-sults of the analysis are ac-cepted. Engineers recover andrepair logical structures of datawith over 120 different special-ist devices and various software.After recovery, the data are de-livered to the customer on acarrier of choice (e.g. externalHDD or DVD). A backup copyis kept for 30 days on the com-pany server and then irretriev-ably deleted, in accordance withsecurity procedures.

In the case of logical damageit is also possible to use theunique technology of remotedata recovery. It is the fastestmethod of data recovery, mak-ing it possible to know the re-sults of the analysis within afew hours. Kroll Ontrack ex-perts carry out data recoveryoperations through a secure In-ternet connection, and the effi-ciency of these solutions is on apar with that achieved in thelaboratory.

interesting, bizarre, serious…One of the most spectacularcases of data recovered by theinternational team of Kroll On-track engineers was restoringdata after the Columbia spaceshuttle disaster. Although thedisk was badly damaged (it wasburning in the atmospherewhen falling), it was possible torecover 99% of mission-criticaldata.

Other exceptional cases in-cluded data recovered from acomputer that fell out of a fly-ing helicopter, a disk with anants’ nest inside, and a com-puter accidentally baked in theoven.

seasonal trends in data lossThere are some regularities inthe data recovery industry. Oneof them is the phenomenon ofseasonal changes in the numberof data loss cases. There aretimes of the year when peoplelose data more often than oth-ers. This happens mainly dur-ing the summer, but also inwinter. This situation mainlyconcerns laptops undergoingextreme temperature changeson the way to and from work.

In the summer, computers,especially company serverrooms, are particularly prone todata loss. The main causescited by specialists includeflooding, burning of computerdrives during thunderstormshort-circuits, and overheatingof computers. In order to avoidsuch events, the experts mainlyrecommend using surge sup-pressors that protect againstlightning and short-circuits aswell as proper cooling of com-puters, with particular attentionto the server room location (in awell-ventilated place, out ofreach of water).

A sudden change of tempera-ture and the resulting moistureor stress to electronic parts aresome of the most commoncauses of data loss found byKroll Ontrack engineers in theirlaboratories worldwide in peri-ods of severe frost. Switchingon a computer that has really“cooled down” may shorten thelife of a hard drive or even causeit to malfunction immediately,and it is only one step awayfrom data loss. Therefore, anyportable computer user, partic-ularly employees storing criticalcompany data on their harddrives, should remember aboutthe dangers to electronic infor-mation posed by a frosty winter.It is also worth rememberingthat cases of data lost duringfrost also concern other devices,like smartphones.

data recovery processSo what does the data recoveryprocess look like? At the firststage, data recovery engineerslearn about the details of agiven case on the phone andhelp to choose the best solutionin terms of reaction time andcosts. After the carrier has beendelivered to the laboratory (inperson or by courier), the ex-

or not, not to mention sufferheavy losses to the company’s fi-nances and image, which are in-evitable in serious situations.

In the case of companies, thelargest number of requests forrecovering files concerns ac-counting data, mostly involvingdatabases, followed by docu-ments saved in Word and Excelformats. In the case of privateusers, it is mainly photos andfilms documenting importantevents like childbirth, family cel-ebrations or holiday trips.

Why do we lose data?We now know that the maincauses of data loss are hardwaremalfunction (44% of cases) andhuman error (32%). Other rea-sons include computer viruses(7%), software corruption (4%)and natural disasters, such asflooding (3%).

When analyzing the causes ofdata loss, we may refer to “logi-cal” and “physical” damage tocarriers. In the first case we aredealing with damage to the filesystems, corrupt files and dam-age to data structure. Cases ofphysical damage occur when thecarrier is mechanically damaged,e.g. it has been smashed and it isnot working properly.

The most popular carrierKroll Ontrack laboratories inPoland and worldwide deal withis still the hard disk drive. Butmore and more data are beinglost from the increasingly popu-lar solid state drives and otherflash memory data storage de-vices, like USB flash drives. Themain reason is a dramatic in-crease in the quantity of informa-tion in digital format. The maincarriers for data that are cur-rently recovered include harddrives in any configuration, sin-gle hard drives or RAID systems,memory cards, flash drives, andpicture storage devices.

Almost 75% of all docu-ments created nowadays bycompanies and individuals,

in Poland and abroad, are digital.Almost 90% of those will neverbe printed out, but will only re-main stored on company harddrives, memory cards, or othernew types of storage media. Thefact that the software and struc-ture of storage devices are betterand better prepared for data pro-tection does not mean that theywill prevent data loss. On thecontrary. Experts from Kroll On-track’s data recovery laboratoriesencounter over 50,000 casesevery year of digital informationloss, from all possible types ofdata carriers. In Poland, theymostly concern enterprisesrather than private users.

Definitely the biggest problemwe have been dealing with in thelast few years is the still lowawareness of potential problemsconnected with data loss amongsenior management. Additionally,there is a widespread belief thatcreating backup copies is a uni-versal remedy for all problems,and when it fails many compa-nies and private users see nochance for recovering their dataanymore. According to interna-tional and Polish data recoverystatistics, this assumption neednot be true. According to KrollOntrack’s world laboratory analy-ses, specialists recover lost datain 8 cases out of 10.

Many companies in the Polishmarket are also afraid of highcosts connected with data recov-ery. Yet the cost of data loss andlack of access to information isvery often several times higher,or tens of times higher, than thecost of the recovery. In the caseof the most important digitaldocuments, critical for a givenorganization, even 10 days with-out access to them can decidewhether the company will survive

EXPERT: Computer data recovery

The recipes fordigital data dis-aster are count-less, but so arethe recoverytechniques

Battered, baked, frozen or fried

By Marek Suczyk

Managing Director of the Polishsubsidiary of Kroll Ontrack


Download this magazine!American Investor is available in full as a pdf

for download from the www.amcham.pl website. Go to "About Us" in the horizontal

menu, and choose American Investor mag-azine from the pop-up menu. You can down-load past issues of American Investor dating

back to October 2010.

EVENT: ŁódżEVENT: Wrocław

1. Hanna Zdanowska, Mayor of Łódź. 2. US Ambassador Lee Feinstein; Hanna Zdanowska; Błażej Moder, Łódź Regional Develop-ment Agency; Dorota Dabrowski, AmCham Executive Director. 3. Marta Ciemniewska, HSBC; Katarzyna Strzelczyk, Deloitte; AnnaŁaszkiewicz, Łódź Regional Development Agency. 4. Wiesław Oleksy, University of Łódź; Tomasz Ciszewski, City of Łódź. 5. Marek

Between inventors and investors, take 2March Business Breakfast in Wrocław

Following thesuccessfulCEO Forum

in March spon-sored by the Busi-ness Angels Guild,the guild and Am-Cham organized abusiness mixer inŁódź which fea-tured the US Am-bassador to Polandand top-rankingofficials of the cityand the province.Lucky winnerstook home raffleprizes, includingthe grand prize ofenrollment in theMini MBA pro-gram organized bythe Polish-Ameri-can ManagementCenter at the Fac-ulty of Manage-ment, University of Łódź.

In late March AmChamhosted a breakfast meet-ing in Wrocław to discuss

issues concerning CO2 re-duction, alternative energysources and sustainable de-velopment. Panelists in-cluded Remigiusz Nowa-kowski, director of powerproject development at For-tum Power and Heat Polska,Randy Mott, president ofCeeres, and Michał Skwier-czyński from Ernst & Young.

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Sponsors:Cieślak, Deputy Mayor of Łódź; Ambassador Feinstein. 6. Alon Redlich, In-ternational Technology Sourcing; Błażej Moder; Hanna Zdanowska; DorotaRyl, Deputy Speaker of the Łódź Province Parliament. 7. Mirosław Proppe,KPMG; Zbigniew Wiatr, Magellan; Marcin Nowacki, Nowacki Business Man-agement. 8. Błażej Moder; Dorota Dabrowski; Przemek Kacprzak, PADI. 9. Guests watch raffle drawings. 10. Anita Kowalska, Dorota Dabrowski,Marzena Drela; AmCham; Hanna Zdanowska; Dorota Ryl; Joanna Bensz, PMGroup; Katarzyna Wojciechowska, Procter & Gamble.

1. Randy M. Mott, Ceeres, delivers his presentation. 2. Michał Skwierczyński, E&Y. 3. Remigiusz Nowakowski, Fortum Power andHeat Polska. 4. FM Hagan, Bill Hall, PGW. 5. Joanna Bensz, AmCham Wroclaw Director. 6. Tadeusz Kłak, Softex Data; Łukasz Kolen-dowicz, PM Group. 7. Radosław Majda, HS Wrocław; Małgorzata Rajewska, Piotr Freyberg, 3M. 8. Bartek Tymczak, PM Group;Remigiusz Nowakowski.


EVENT: Wrocław

April Business Breakfast in Wrocław

In mid-AprilAmChamhosted an-

other breakfastmeeting formember com-panies inWrocław,which was aperfect oppor-tunity for facetime with Am-Cham Chair-man JosephWancer andAmCham Ex-ecutive Direc-tor DorotaDabrowski,who talkedabout Am-Cham’s futurechallenges.See also thearticle inNewsline, p. 5.

1. Dorota Dabrowski, AmCham Executive Director. 2. Joanna Bensz, AmCham Wrocław. 3. Xavier Douellou, 3M Polska.4. Guests at the business breakfast. 5. John Bowers, 3M Polska. 6. Jarosław Konior, PM Group; Dorota Dabrowski; JosephWancer, AmCham Chairman. 7. Xavier Douellou; Jarosław Konior. 8. Joseph Wancer; Dorota Dabrowski; Daniel Grodziński,Wierzbowski Eversheds. 9. Xavier Douellou, Piotr Freyberg, Bartek Sobolewski, John Bowers, 3M Polska. 10. Joseph Wancer;John Bowers.

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EVENT: Warsaw

Monthly Breakfast Meeting

Cartel andmarketconsoli-

dation issueswere on theagenda of theAmChamMonthly Meet-ing in April withguest speakerMałgorzataKrasnodębska-Tomkiel, Presi-dent of the Of-fice of Competi-tion and Con-sumer Protec-tion. The venuewas the Inter-ContinentalWarsaw. Moreabout the meet-ing on page 22.

1. Joseph Wancer, AmCham Chairman; Małgorzata Krasnodębska-Tomkiel, President of the Office of Competition and Con-sumer Protection. 2. Dorothy Hansberry-Bieguńska. 3. Tony Housh, Piotr Jucha, AmCham Board Members. 4. Joseph Wancer;Richard Kałużyński, Kałużyński & Madeja. 5. Małgorzata Krasnodębska-Tomkiel; Janusz Przeorek, Express Map Polska. 6.

Iwona Her, Weil, Gotshal & Manges; Krzysztof Wiater, DLA Piper Wiater. 7. Ziemowit Majewski, InterContinental Warsaw; DorotaDabrowski, AmCham Executive Director. 8. David DeBenedetti, DeBenedetti, Majewski, Szcześniak; Peter Turo, Młode Orły. 9.

Judith Gliniecki, AmCham Vice Chair; Lech Bieguński, GTZ International Services; Małgorzata Krasnodębska-Tomkiel. 10. TimHyland, FCm Travel Express; Adam Kapitan Bergmann; Jon Gerald Kolasinski.

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Springtime in Kraków

EVENT: Kraków

The event was generouslysponsored by

In spite of freez-ing temperaturesand snow falling

in the Tatra Moun-tains, the Krakówbranch of AmChamdecided to officiallywelcome spring. Su-perstition notwith-standing, April 13proved to be a luckydate for social gath-ering and businessnetworking. Thechef at the HolidayInn confirmed hisreputation as one ofthe best cooks inPoland by preparinga variety of temptingdishes.

1. BarbaraZięba-Ro-maszkan,Fluor; Prof.KrzysztofZieliński, Prof.JanuszSzpytko, AGHUniversity ofScience andTechnology;JonathanKoeler, USConsulate General in Kraków; Marek Rajca, Silgan White Cap; Mieczysław Pasowicz, Polish Association of Hospital Directors.2. Allen Greenberg, US Consul General to Kraków; Marek Rajca; Monika Pilarska, AmCham Kraków Director. 3. Dominik Kania,Woodward Governor; Hirokazu Sanjo, Mitsubishi Electric; Monika Pilarska; Mungo Keulemans, Marek Suczyk, Kroll Ontrack.4. Stanisław Kracik, Governor of Małopolska Province; Ruben Robles, CH2MHill. 5. Ewa Martuszewska, Fluor; Tomasz Lurka,AmCham Kraków; Monika Pilarska. 6. Pushkar Butani, Dominika Penderecka, Top Magazine; Ruben Robles. 7. Ruben Robles;Allen Greenberg. 8. Monika Pilarska; Honorata Ścisłowicz, Paweł Tynel, Ernst & Young. 9. Dorota Adamska, BP Europe SE;Jowita Gdula, Marcin Michoń, Iron Mountain.

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Business Mixer at the Sofitel Victoria

EVENT: Business Mixer Warsaw

In spite of otherbig events intown on that

night, AmChammembers andfriends turned upin large numbers atthe Business Mixerheld by AmChamat the Grand Ball-room of the SofitelVictoria WarsawHotel. Along withgreat company andgreat raffle prizes,the participants en-joyed a breathtak-ing selection ofFrench food andother varieties ofhaute cuisine pre-pared under thesupervision ofOlivier Croso, thechef of the hotel’sCanaletto restau-rant.

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1. Jim Johnston, ExxonMobil; Jean-Michel Lathuilliere, Sofitel Warsaw Victoria. 2. Jean-Michel Lathuilliere; Dorota Dabrowski,AmCham Executive Director. 3. Mirosław Uczciwek, Credit Suisse; Janusz Mazur, Raytheon International. 4. Bartłomiej Morzy-cki, 3M; Magdalena Kamińska, Estée Lauder; Dorota Dabrowski. 5. Dorota Dabrowski; Ari Hecht, ERG/Environmental Re-search Group. 6. Maciej Skórski, Sofitel Warsaw Victoria, Wojciej Płażalski, TP S.A. 7. David Debenedetti, Debenedetti, Majew-ski, Szcześniak; Stefan Czetwertyński, Xpress Couriers. 8. Alexander King, Monitor Group; Jim Wilson, US Commercial Service.9. Marzena Drela, AmCham; Radosław Lesiak, Avis. 10. Haute cuisine.

Agri & Food www.amcham.pl/agri_food

Mission: To provide a plat-form for discussing andsolving issues and identify-ing opportunities in theagricultural and food sec-tor by creating a base for

dialogue and expertise. Co-Chairs: Andrzej Pawel-czak, Animex; Maciej Łubieński, Universal Leaf To-bacco Poland.

Healthwww.amcham.pl/health

Mission: To provide aunited forum for US com-panies to share their ex-pertise on the healthcaresystem and exchangeknowledge and experience

with national counterparts, contribute to the positivedevelopments in the sector and promote the US ex-perience and capital while establishing the best con-ditions and opportunities for investments. Co-Chairs: Elisabeth Asirifi, IBM Polska; JolantaChlebicka-Dominiak, Johnson & Johnson.

Infrastructurewww.amcham.pl/infrastructure

Mission: To discuss is-sues of the developmentof infrastructure; to pro-mote infrastructure solu-tions for cooperation be-tween private and public

partners. Co-Chairs: Krzysztof Wierzbowski,Wierzbowski Eversheds; Andrew C. Kapusto,Raytheon Homeland Security.

Tax www.amcham.pl/tax

Mission: To provide a platformfor identifying tax issues andcreate an educational forum tokeep AmCham members in-formed on current and up-coming legislation. To create a

network to share information, comments and best prac-tices. To lobby decision-makers in the government. Co-Chairs: Peter Kay, KPMG; Piotr Bartuzi, Bank BPH.

Political Discussion Forumwww.amcham.pl/pdf

Mission: To build relation-ships with key players inPolish politics, regardless ofwhether within the govern-ment or not, in small groupsand in private settings, toserve as a vehicle into the

world of Polish politics behind official curtains. Co-Chairs: Robert Koński, Kulczyk Holding; Marek Ma-traszek, CEC Government Relations.

Corporate Social Responsibilitywww.amcham.pl/csr

Mission: To encourage andfacilitate responsible busi-ness practices among Am-Cham members to supportthem to improve the qualityand effectiveness of their

CSR programs. Co-Chairs: Wojciech Arszewski,UPS Polska; Anna Jawor, IBM Polska.

Small & Medium-Sized Enterpriseswww.amcham.pl/sme

Mission: To provide a forumfor exchange of ideas/bestpractices to improve the per-formance of SMEs; to iden-tify and promote solutions tofacilitate and support themanagerial and operational

efforts of SMEs through educational, networking or lob-bying efforts that leverage the resources and knowl-edge of AmCham and its membership. Co-Chairs:Alain Bobet; Cezary Krasodomski, Cisco Systems.

Employee & Labor Relations www.amcham.pl/labor

Mission: To create an infor-mation exchange forum ofHR professionals to share,discuss and learn aboutthe latest trends in HRmanagement and influ-ence local policy and deci-

sion-makers. Co-Chairs: Jolanta Jaworska, IBMPoland; Peter Strupp, United Business Develop-ment.

Consumer Productswww.amcham.pl/consumer

Mission: To provide aforum to share knowl-edge and exchange ex-perience in all areascommon and relevant tomanufacturers and dis-

tributors of goods. Co-Chairs: Małgorzata Surdek,CMS Cameron McKenna; Agnieszka Dzięgielewska-Jończyk, HP Polska.

Telecom www.amcham.pl/telecom

Mission: To create a platformunder the AmCham umbrellafor the exchange of members’ideas and views on trends inthe telecommunications sec-tor in Poland; to take steps to

influence decision-makers in telecommunications legis-lation, policy and practice; to promote innovativetrends in telecommunications; to modernize communi-cations technology for business and the average Polishconsumer. Co-Chairs: Jarosław Roszkowski, CrowleyData Poland; Piotr Muszyński, TP SA.

Real Estate Committeewww.amcham.pl/real_estate

Mission: To discuss issuesregarding the complexitiesof the real estate market inPoland, and exchange infor-mation. To be an educa-tional and networking forum

for members and to lobby and influence legislativedepartments of the Polish government. Co-Chairs:Halina Więckowska, K & L Gates; John Bańka, Col-liers International.

Pharmaceuticalwww.amcham.pl/pharmaceutical

Mission: To discuss andidentify common interestsand exchange information re-garding Poland’s pharmaceu-tical market; to act as a repre-sentative body and collective

voice of pharmaceutical companies before governmen-tal institutions. Co-Chairs: Peter Koetsier, Bristol-MyersSquibb Polska; Roberto Servi, Eli Lilly Polska.

Outsourcing/High Techwww.amcham.pl/outsourcing

Mission: To provide a plat-form for discussing, identi-fying and addressing com-mon SSC/BPO issues re-lated to high-tech opera-tions; to maintain contact

with local authorities, educational and governmentalinstitutions to present a unified business perspectiveand to suggest ways of possible cooperation. Toidentify the possibilities/areas of state assistance, toshare experience and leverage knowledge. Co-Chairs: Marek Suczyk, Kroll Ontrack; JacekStryczyński, Lionbridge.

Intellectual Property Rights www.amcham.pl/ipr

Mission: To advocate forIPR protection and provideleadership that will bringtogether interested part-ners; to share informationwith decision-makers and

law enforcement. The police, judiciary, prosecu-tors, customs officials, legislators and journalistsare among the target groups, while the curriculumof law schools should have more emphasis on IPR.Co-Chairs: Agnieszka Wyszyńska-Szulc, Philip Mor-ris; Anna Lasocka, Łaszczuk & Partners.

Marketing & Communicationswww.amcham.pl/marketing

Mission: To provide aforum for member firms toshare knowledge and ex-change experiences in mar-keting, communicationsand PR; provide educa-

tional and networking opportunities for memberfirms interested in these areas; and serve as an ad-visory body for AmCham. Co-Chairs: AnyaOgórkiewicz, Keryx Group; Michael Zawadzki, InterContinental Warszawa.

Defense & Security www.amcham.pl/defense

Mission: To serve as aplatform for defense indus-try issues and exchangerelevant information. Thecommittee creates a net-working forum and fosters

a positive working relationship with the governmentand people of Poland. Co-Chairs: Paul Zalucky;Stan Prusiński, Sikorsky Europe.

Financial Services www.amcham.pl/financial

Mission: The FinancialServices Committee aimsto identify and promote is-sues related to and in sup-port of the financial serv-ices sector, as well as to

provide a forum for dialogue among sector profes-sionals and decision-makers in government. Co-Chairs: Andrew Hope; Adam Michon, MetLife.

Energy & Environmentwww.amcham.pl/environmental

Mission: To help membersdevelop their environmentaland renewable energy busi-ness and help learn about,identify and overcome diffi-culties connected with envi-

ronmental laws, and develop a discussion forumamong members about environmental issues. Co-Chairs: Adam de Sola Pool, Jerzy Chlebowski, Mit-subishi.

For the most recent information about the work of AmCham Committees, and upcoming events: www.amcham.pl

AMCHAM: Guide to Committees


W tym numerze: COVER STORY

Rynek nieruchomościkomercyjnych wPolsce, choć wciążatrakcyjny dla inwestorów, jest mały i musi przejść jeszczedługą drogę zanimuzyska dojrzałość, str. 14

MONTHLY MEETINGkontrola rynku Małgorzata Krasnodębska-Tomkiel, prezesUrzędu Ochrony Konkurencji i Konsumentów, o misji urzędui współpracy z biznesem, str. 18

FOCUSco najbardziej liczy się w promocji turystycznej TomaszĆwiok, redaktor magazynu „American Investor”, rozmawia zThomasem Schoenem, dyrektorem regionalnym sieci Star-wood Hotels & Resorts w Polsce, str. 20

kobiety jako dyrektorzy finansowi Badanie firm dorad-czej Deloitte na temat postrzegania kobiet na wysokichszczeblach struktury zarządzania, str. 22

EKSPERCIue nakłania do poprawy jakości zarządzania Konsek-wencje globalnego kryzysu mogą mieć wpływ na regulacjedotyczące sektora prywatnego, str. 23

Wiele sposobów utraty danych Dane komputerowe mogązostać utracone z wielu przyczyn, ale istnieje także wielesposobów na ich odzyskanie, str. 24

długotrwały efekt Szkolenia, aby odniosły pożądany efekt,powinny być dostosowane do specyfiki firmy, str. 25

© American Chamber of Commerce in Poland 2011. All rights reserved.

American Investor to oficjalny magazyn Amerykańskiej Izby Handlowej w Polsce. Magazyn reprezentuje głos środowisk międzynarodowego biznesu w Polsce. Celem magazynu jestdostarczanie członkom Izby i innym czytelnikom aktualnych informacji na temat działalności Izby a także trendów biznesowych i polityce społecznej firm.

listy do rekacji prosimy wysyłać na adres poczty elektronicznej: [email protected]

RELACJE ZDJĘCIOWEŚniadanie biznesowe we Wrocławiu, str. 26

Biznes Mikser w Łodzi, str. 27

Spotkanie Miesięczne w Warszawie, str. 28

Spotkanie Miesięczne we Wrocławiu, str. 29

Wiosenny Biznes Mikser w Krakowie, str. 30

Biznes Mikser w kwietniu w Warszawie, str. 31

DZIAŁY STAŁEBriefing redakcyjny, str. 2

Informacje o firmach członkowskich Izby, str. 5

Informacje o działalności Komitetów Izby, str. 9

Przewodnik po Komitetach Izby, str. 33

SUMMARIES: in Polish

European Union Affairs www.amcham.pl/eu

Mission: To providemembers with relevantinformation on EU-re-lated issues, includingEU funds, and to repre-sent American investors

before the Commission and the Polish govern-ment. Co-Chairs: Magdalena Burnat Mikosz, De-loitte; Jerzy Thieme.

Documents

American Investor May 2011