VOLUME 18, NUMBER 1 • JANUARY 9-15, 2012 . z∏.12.50 (VAT 8% included) . ISSN 1233 7889 INDEX-RUCH-332-127

Tusk theeuroskepticThe prime minister raised eyebrows with his

“euroskeptic” comments. Is he just trying to

pander to the electorate? 4

Since 1994 . Poland’s only business weekly in English

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W.W

BJ.P

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Artful investmentA maturing market means investment in Polish artwork

can bring tidy returns 12-13

Prescriptionfor disasterNew regulations on prescription-drug

reimbursements have both doctors and

patients up in arms 3

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WBJ asks the analysts toname their top stock picksfor the first quarter of 2012

A review of Jerzy Buzek’sterm as president of theEuropean Parliament

Tensions between Iran andthe West are rising. What’sPoland’s stance?

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

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

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

Interview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8

Europe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9

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

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

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

Markets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19

The List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20-21

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

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

In this issue

Bear-lyunderstood

Professor Stanis∏aw

Bieleƒ argues that

Poland should take a

more objective look at

Russia 8

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REAL ESTATELokale Immobilia

• Theme parks

• Skanska offices

• Notus interview

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GreeceIta

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Swed

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JANUARY 9-15, 2012NEWS2 www.wbj.pl

Shortcut to

successAndrzej Sobiepan, a

student at the Academy

of Art and Design in

Wroc∏aw, decided to hang

up one of his paintings at

the National Museum in

Wroc∏aw, taking

advantage of a moment

of inattention from the

museum’s security team.

Mr Sobiepan told TVN24

he did not want to “wait

30 or 40 years” before his

work was displayed in

such places. It took the

museum staff three days

to notice that a new piece

of artwork had been

displayed on their walls.

Poland’s Oscar

candidate

“In Darkness,” a Polish,

German and Canadian

production and Poland’s

pick for best foreign

language film at this year’s

Academy Awards,

premiered in Poland last

week. The Polish president

and first lady were in

attendance, as well as the

minister of culture and

famous Polish film director

Andrzej Wajda. This is

director Agnieszka

Holland’s third feature film

on the Holocaust, and also

her third Oscar

nomination.

JPII’s Jewish

friend dies

Jerzy Kluger, a Polish

Jewish friend of the late

Pope John Paul II, died in

Rome last week at the

age of 92. Mr Kluger and

John Paul II (then Karol

Wojtyla) were

schoolmates in Wadowice

but lost touch following

the outbreak of WWII.

After the war Mr Kluger

moved to Rome and was

eventually reunited with

the future Pope in 1965.

He was present in Rome’s

synagogue in 1986 when

Pope John Paul II called

Jews “our beloved elder

brothers.”

Regiment

disbanded

Poland’s 36th Special Air

Transport Regiment was

officially disbanded last

Tuesday following the

ceremonial lowering of

the regiment’s flag at the

Warsaw-Ok´cie military

airport. The decision was

made after the release of

the official Polish report

into the Smolensk

tragedy, which occurred

when a Polish Air Force

Tupolev Tu-154M aircraft

crashed in bad weather,

killing 96 people. ●

A.T. Kearney ..............................16

Abbey House ..............................12

Alior Bank ........................6, 12, 13

Amber Room..............................22

Artur Jasiƒski i Wspólnicy

Biuro Architektoniczne ..............16

Auchan Polska ..........................18

Azoty Tarnów................................5

Bank BPH ....................................6

Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego..7

Bioton ..........................................6

Blackstone ................................16

Bose International Planning and

Architecture................................16

Bouygues Immobilier ................16

BPT Optima................................15

BRE ............................................12

British Telecom..........................16

Budimex ......................................6

Budizol........................................16

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

Concept Development Group ....15

Cushman & Wakefield ........15, 18

Deka Immobilien........................16

DESA Unicum ............................13

Deutsche Bank ..........................13

Dom Kredytowy Notus ..............17

DTZ ............................................16

Echo Investment ........................16

Echo Investments ........................6

Eiffage Budownictwo Mitex ......16

Emperia........................................6

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

Erbud..........................................18

Fortuna ........................................6

Galeria Art NEW media ......12, 13

Helios ........................................16

HSBC ............................................7

ICIS ..............................................5

IKEA............................................18

IVG Immobilien ..........................16

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

KBC Securities ............................5

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

KPMG..........................................12

Las Palm ....................................18

LG ..............................................23

Master Management Group ......16

Maximus Broker ......................2, 5

Màka Sojka Architekci ..............16

Mermaid Properties ..................16

Mieszko ........................................6

Millennium ................................12

Millennium Dom Maklerski ........6

Noble Bank ................................12

Peter Nielsen & Partners ..........6

Polswiss Art ..............................13

PwC ............................................16

PZU ......................................2, 5, 6

Qumak-Sekom ............................6

Raiffeisen Bank Polska ............16

Samsung Electronics ................16

Shogun Bros ..............................23

Skanska Property Poland..........15

Unidevelopment ........................15

Union Investment ......................16

Warsaw Stock Exchange ......2, 16

Wicked Audio..............................23

WSE ..............................................6

X-Trade Brokers

Dom Maklerski ..........................19

Xelion..........................................12

Yareal Polska..............................16

Zak∏ady Azotowe Pu∏awy ............5

Zelmer..........................................6

Polish Health Minister BartoszAr∏ukowicz, whose term in officebegan in November, has gottenoff to a rather unfortuitous start.

At the beginning of the yeara new law governing prescrip-tions and medication reim-bursement came into force. Thelaw has resulted in widespreadconfusion among patients, doc-tors and pharmacists.

The law requires that apatient’s eligibility for receiv-ing state reimbursements formedication be verified. But alack of agreement on how theverification process is to workhas meant that many patientshave been forced to pay thefull price for drugs they wouldnormally receive at a dis-count. Some of the medica-tions can cost thousands ofz∏oty.

The opposition Law andJustice party has alreadyannounced it will submit a

motion of no confidence con-cerning Mr Ar∏ukowicz. AsWBJ went to press, however, itwas not yet entirely clearwhether such a motion wouldhave any chance of success.

Meanwhile, it emerged thatthe reimbursement issue maynot be the only major problemon the health minister’s plate.Media attention has recentlyfocused on a planned IT pro-gram for the health-care servic-es that may fall flat.

The z∏.712 million projectwas expected to revolutionizePoland’s health-care system byenabling patients to registeronline and by giving doctorsonline access to patients’ med-ical data. However, implemen-tation has been delayed andinvestigators have found irreg-ularities in the tender proce-dure.

Born in 1971, in Resko,Northern Poland, Mr Ar∏ukow-

icz studied medicine at thePomeranian Medical Universi-ty in Szczecin. He subsequentlyworked in a number of publichealth-care facilities and alsoset up his own practice.

Mr Ar∏ukowicz has beenactive in politics since the early2000s, having been elected toSzczecin’s City Council (withsupport from the DemocraticLeft Alliance) in 2002 and thePolish Parliament (from theLeft and Democrats coalitionlist) in 2007.

In May 2011, Mr Ar∏ukow-icz became a secretary of statein the Chancellery of the PrimeMinister and PM Tusk’splenipotentiary for tacklingsocial exclusion. He joined theruling Civic Platform party’sparliamentary caucus afterbeing elected to parliament onthe party’s platform in October2011.

Adam Zdrodowski

z∏.1 billionwas the average daily turnover on the Warsaw Stock

Exchange in 2011.

z∏.250.6 billion was the total annual value of shares traded on the

Warsaw Stock Exchange in 2011, z∏.20 billion higherthan in 2010.

z∏.56.6 millionis the fine PZU will have to pay after the Office of

Competition and Consumer Protection ruled that itsagreement with Maximus Broker harmed competition.

48.8 pointswas the PMI index for December 2011, lower than the

49.5 points recorded in November.

“I’m a common-sense euroskeptic, without anyunhealthy fascinations.”

Prime Minister Donald Tusk changes tack regarding his pro-EU mentality, inlight of the increasing problems in the euro zone.

Quote of the Week

Inside Zach´ta GalleryAnna Tomczak, a curator at one of Poland’s mostrenowned art galleries, the Zach´ta National Gallery ofArt, offers a glimpse of what’s happening on the Polish artscene. Find out what’s hot and what’s not while Ms Tom-czak explains the inner workings of the gallery and whichPolish artists we should watch out for in the future.

On WBJ.pl

Numbers in the News

Company index

EA

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JANUARY

10 TAXATION AND ACCOUNTING CONGRESSEvent: This event aims to deepen participants’

knowledge on recent developments in thefield of tax and accounting, as well as to cre-ate a platform for a comprehensiveexchange of views on the practice of imple-menting the provisions.Location: Hotel Hilton, Warsaw kpmg.com/pl

FEBRUARY

3-5 MTT WROCLAW 2012 Event: This event bills itself as the largest trade

exhibition in Poland devoted to the travel andtourism industry. It will feature a wide rangeof products and services relating to theindustry as well as major industry playersincluding tourist boards, resorts, travel clubs,airlines, travel agencies, and many more.Location: Hala Stulecia, Wroclawmttwroclaw.pl/en

January/February

DATELINE

Bartosz Ar∏ukowicz

IN THE SPOTLIGHT

Figures in focus

Internet noobsPercentage of individuals aged 16-74 who have never used theinternet, selected EU countries in 2011

Source: Eurostat

JANUARY 9-15, 2012 NEWS www.wbj.pl 3

Corruption allegations

Former Moscowprosecutor arrestedAleksandr I. wasdetained by Polishpolice on charges offraud and corruption

Aleksandr I., a former deputyprosecutor for the Moscowregion, was arrested in thePolish mountain resort ofZakopane on New Year’sDay. He is facing charges ofcorruption and fraud, alleged-ly committed on Russian ter-ritory.

Under Polish law, only thefirst name and the first letterof the surname of a suspectedcriminal may be written out infull in an article appearing inthe press.

Aleksandr I.’s arrest wascarried out by police officersworking in cooperation withPoland’s counterintelligencebureau (ABW), after thesupect’s name had beenplaced on an internationalInterpol list of suspected crim-inals. It is alleged that Alek-sandr I. helped protect illegalcasinos operating in Moscowwhile they were being investi-gated.

“Officers of the criminaldivision of the Zakopanepolice, cooperating in thismatter with the ABW, hadalready suspected that he

[Aleksandr I.] was staying inZakopane,” Dariusz Nowak, aspokesman for the police, toldthe Polish Press Agency (PAP)last week.

An arrest warrant for Alek-sandr I. was issued on July 13,2011 by a district court inMoscow, after he had gonemissing a month earlier. It wasoriginally believed that he mayhave been hiding in Ukraineor Belarus.

Following his detention itemerged that he had been car-rying a Lithuanian passport,although Polish prosecutorsbelieve the document mayhave been forged. Accordingto the head of the ForeignAffairs Committee of theLithuanian parliament,Emanuelis Zingeris, whenquestions were directed to theappropriate institutions inPoland it was revealed that thearrested man had no otherLithuanian documents.

Following a hearing at thedistrict court in Nowy Sàczon January 4, a judge ruledthat the suspect wouldremain in custody untilFebruary 9, during whichtime Russian authorities canmake a formal extraditionrequest.

David Ingham

Prescription-drug laws

Health-care chaos marks start of new yearChanges toprescription-drug lawshave led to protests,confusion andfrustration amongpatients and doctorsalike

New regulations introduced atthe start of the year concerningreimbursements for prescrip-tion drugs have caused angeramong doctors, confusionamong pharmacists and frustra-tion among many patients.

The new legislation requiresdoctors to verify and then noteon any prescription they issuethe precise level of reimburse-ment to which a particularpatient is entitled, as well as toverify that the patient is indeedinsured. Previously, doctors hadtaken patients at their word.

According to the new rules,doctors can be fined if they failto follow the regulations or mis-calculate a patient’s level ofreimbursement. But many doc-tors say verification of insur-ance is too difficult, since thereis no centralized database con-taining information on who isinsured.

In protest, thousands of doc-tors across the country declined

to fill out prescriptions accord-ing to the new regulations,choosing instead to issue themwith a stamp stating: “reim-bursement level to be deter-mined by the National HealthFund.”

Thus began what the mediahas now dubbed “the stampprotests.”

‘Someone screwed up’“The obligation to check insur-ance in a country where almosteverybody is insured, therequirement to check the levelof reimbursement for drugs …the fact that our annotation hasno influence on the price levelbut still we can be fined for notputting it there – these all indi-cate bad intentions or the factthat someone screwed up writ-ing the new law,” KonstantyRadziwi∏∏, vice president of theSupreme Medical Council(NIL), the main professionalassociation for Polish doctors,told radio station Tok FM.

The doctors’ protestprompted numerous pharma-cies to demand that patientspay the full cost of some drugs.A number of chemotherapypatients, for example, wererequired to pay z∏.3,000 for adrug which they had previously

been able to buy for z∏.3 thanksto the National Health Fund’sreimbursement policy.

Doctors say they don’t haveready access to informationabout who is or is not insuredand that the National HealthFund should therefore issuedocuments to patients whichwould allow doctors to verifythe patient’s insurance status onthe spot. At present, doctorssay, they have been given anextra layer of bureaucracy,which eats into time they couldbe using to treat patients.

The crisis had escalated tosuch a scale last Wednesdaythat Prime Minister DonaldTusk himself felt compelled toaddress the situation. Theprime minister said that he waswilling to suspend the policy offining doctors who miscalculatereimbursement levels until acentralized system is introducedthat gives them prompt accessto the necessary informationabout patients.

After a meeting between theSupreme Medical Council andthe Ministry of Health lastWednesday night, the Councilannounced that it would appealto doctors to end their protests.

However, on Thursdaymorning, Krzysztof Bukiel from

OZZL, a doctors’ labor union,said the protest was still on,adding that the NIL could only“recommend” that doctors sus-pend the action. In the end, hesaid, it was the doctors’ unionswhich have the power to call offthe strike.

The NIL is due to hold anemergency meeting on January13 to discuss the matter.

The chaos has promptedpoliticians from the country’slargest opposition party, Lawand Justice, to announce thatthey would initiate a vote of no-confidence in parliamentagainst Health Minister BartoszAr∏ukowicz, who took up hispost in November.

The parliamentary caucusesof political groupings Solidarity

Poland and Palikot’s Move-ment have said they will sup-port the no-confidence motionin parliament. Nevertheless, asWBJ went to press, it seemedunlikely to pass since the coali-tion government, which has amajority in parliament, wasexpected to defend MrAr∏ukowicz.

Remi Adekoya

RE

PO

RT

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Polish media have dubbed doctors’ maneuver “the stamp protests”

Iran

Europe moves towards ban on Iranian oilAs tensions betweenIran and the Westincrease, Poland keepsa low profile

European diplomats agreed inprinciple last week to impose anEU-wide embargo on oilimports from Iran. This marks anew turn in European policytoward Iran, and would add torecent heightened US sanctionsthat have elicited combativeresponses from Tehran.

At issue is Iran’s controver-sial nuclear program, whichTeheran claims is for civilianpurposes. A November 2011United Nations report express-ing concern over the possiblemilitary dimension of Iran’snuclear program is giving a newurgency to the matter.

Meanwhile, Poland has keptsilent on the issue. When con-tacted by WBJ, the Ministry ofForeign Affairs issued a state-ment saying that althoughPoland “would prefer that thefurther sharpening of sanctionsagainst [Iran], for example byan eventual embargo on theimport of Iranian oil, were notnecessary … Poland supportsthe actions of the internationalcommunity in reaction to Iran’spolicies regarding its nuclearprogram. But the key to pre-venting the realization of such ascenario lies in Teheran and notin Warsaw.”

A final decision is expectedat a meeting of EU foreign min-isters on January 30.

According to WitoldWaszczykowski, an expert at theSobieski Institute think tank,who is also an MP from themain opposition Law and Jus-tice party, a former undersecre-tary of state for Foreign Affairsand a former ambassador toIran, the current Polish govern-ment doesn’t consider the Mid-dle East as central to Polishinterests.

“I don’t expect them to bevery active, they will want tostay away from this issue,” hesaid.

While the EU as a wholeaccounts for 18 percent ofIran’s oil exports, according tothe US Energy InformationAdministration, the over-whelming majority of Polishoil imports come from Russia.Greece, Italy and Spain, whichrely to a greater extent onIranian oil imports, had beenconcerned about the possibleeffects of an embargo on theireconomies. They have report-edly dropped their objections.When the embargo wouldtake effect, as well as otherpossible sanctions againstIran’s Central Bank, are stillbeing discussed.

Iran’s finance minister saidlast Tursday that the possibleEU embargo on oil amountedto “economic war” against Iran.

Since the turn of the yearIran has test-fired medium-range missiles, warned anAmerican aircraft carrier not toreturn to the Persian Gulf, andthreatened to shut the Strait ofHormuz, through which 20percent of the world’s oil isshipped.

Meanwhile the Iranian cur-rency, the rial, has lost 40 per-cent of its value against the dol-lar since the beginning ofDecember 2011.

Alice Trudelle

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Is the sun going down on Iran’s oil exports to Europe?

JANUARY 9-15, 2012NEWS4 www.wbj.pl

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Poland and the EU

PM surprises with ‘euroskeptic’ commentDonald Tusk says he’sa euroskeptic. Doesthis signal a change inpolicy, or is he justplaying to theelectorate?

In a comment that caughtmany by surprise, Prime Minis-ter Donald Tusk said at arecent press conference thathe is now a “common-senseeuroskeptic.”

Mr Tusk’s pronouncementraised eyebrows since he hasbacked the European projectstrongly in recent months andis head of a party known forits pro-European policies.But his words reflect growingdoubt among the country’selectorate about the future ofthe euro and the EuropeanUnion.

“I’m not a euro-enthusiastof the sort that has eyes only onthe yellow stars on the bluebackground, forgetting thewhite-and-red flag,” Mr Tusksaid in reference to the flags ofthe EU and Poland.

“I’m a common-sense euro-skeptic, without any unhealthyfascinations.”

With debt troubles in theeuro zone threatening to breakthe currency bloc apart, publicsupport for the euro has fallen

significantly in Poland.Even so, Sergiusz Trzeciak,

a political scientist at CollegiumCivitas, said that he does notthink Mr Tusk’s words signal achange in government policytowards Europe.

“This is more an attemptto speak to the soft elec-torate, which is increasinglydistrustful of Europe – to letthem know that he is not afanatical euro-enthusiast,”Mr Trzeciak said.

“Notice that he does notcall himself an outrighteuroskeptic, rather he says heis a rational, ‘common-senseeuroskeptic,’ in order to sepa-rate himself from the – par-don my expression – ‘crazyeuroskeptics,’” he added.

The prime minister addedthat it is in Poland’s interest forthe EU to hold together.

“I do not think that 2012, assome may want it to be, will bea year of disintegration of the

EU. On the contrary, increas-ingly there are signals [fromleaders] of understanding theneed for reintegration,” MrTusk said.

Moreover, officially at least,Poland is still aiming to adoptthe euro at some point.

Poland’s PM also said thatthe country’s just-finished termat the helm of the Council ofthe EU could be seen as asource of national pride.

Izabela Depczyk

Deputy interiorminister dismissedDeputy Interior Minister AdamRapacki was dismissed lastweek, following rumors that hewas unable to get along with hissuperior, Interior MinisterJacek Cichocki. Mr Rapackiwas due to be in charge ofPoland’s security arrangementsfor the Euro 2012 soccer cham-pionships – to be hosted jointlyby Poland and Ukraine – nowjust six months away.

The dismissal followed anannouncement by Mr Rapackihimself that he was resigning.However, on Wednesday, Inte-rior Minister Jacek Cichockiconfirmed that Mr Rapacki had

been removed from his posi-tion.

The news came as a surprisedue to the importance of securi-ty at the upcoming tournamentthis summer. Interior MinisterCichocki said new blood wasneeded.

“The ministry needs a newperspective to carry out newtasks. This is why I decided toinvite new, competent minis-ters. This is also the reason why,after four years, I decided to letMr Rapacki take a rest,” MrCichocki said at a press confer-ence.

Izabela Depczyk

CO

UR

TE

SY O

F T

HE

EU

RO

PE

AN

PA

RL

IAM

EN

T

Mr Rapacki had earlier announced his resignation

CO

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KR

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AT

FO

RM

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Mr Tusk said that he is not a euro enthusiast with “unhealthy fascinations”

JANUARY 9-15, 2012 INDUSTRY NEWS www.wbj.pl 5

PZU fined

z∏.56.6 millionPoland’s largest insurer,

PZU, has been fined

z∏.56.6 million by the

Office of Competition and

Consumer Protection

(UOKiK) for entering into

an agreement with

Maximus Broker that,

according to the

regulator, restricted

competition. The latter

firm, meanwhile, has

been fined z∏.61,800. The

agreement in question

regards group-accident

insurance policies for

school children and

employees in the

education sector within

the Kujawsko-Pomorskie

voivodship.

Exports

grow 11.5%

The Export Credit

Insurance Corporation

(KUKE), which provides

insurance services to

Polish entrepreneurs,

predicts that in 2012

Poland’s export market

will grow by some 11.5%,

to approximately €153.7

billion. KUKE estimates

that last year exports

totaled €137.8 billion,

10.2% up on 2010,

reported Parkiet.

According to the Ministry

of Finance, in the first

three quarters of 2011

exports to CIS countries

grew by 22.4% year-on-

year.

Gambling

sector suffers

In 2011, Poles spent

z∏.14.3 billion on

gambling. That’s z∏.6

billion less than in 2009,

the year when stricter

laws were introduced as

a result of the infamous

gambling scandal which

rocked the Polish

government, Puls

Biznesu reported.

Moreover, the majority of

firms in the gambling

sector did worse in 2011

than in the previous year.

Shale gas to

heat homes

By the end of 2012,

around 3,500 residents of

small towns and villages

within the Pomorskie

voivodship will be able to

use shale gas to heat

their homes, reported

Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.

The change will save

them around z∏.100 to

z∏.200 per year on their

normal fuel costs.

It is estimated that shale

gas will be about 20%

cheaper for consumers

than conventional gas. ●

Construction sector

Warm weather benefits construction industryUnseasonably hightemperatures and alack of snow havehelped give Poland’sconstruction sector aboost going in to thenew year

Despite the disappointment ofmany at the lack of snow inPoland this winter, unseason-ably high temperatures havespelled good news for the con-struction sector. This is partic-ularly true when it comes toroad building, as a lack of snowand cold conditions enabledconstruction to continueunhindered at the end of 2011.

This year Poland’s Gener-al Directorate for NationalRoads and Motorways(GDDKiA) estimates that530 km of motorway and 450km of expressway will be

completed, compared to just240 km of motorway and 76km of expressway in 2011.And with many of the cur-rent road projects having aMay deadline, the favorableconditions have enabled con-struction workers to catch upon delays caused by floodingand bad weather in 2010.

“[In 2010], winter startedaround October and almostevery building project had tostop. Right now, all construc-tion has continued,” saidArtur Mrugasiewicz, aspokesperson for GDDKiA.

“Not only are we able towork through our projectsthis [winter], but we are ableto make up some of the timelost due to the floods twoyears ago,” he added.

And according toBart∏omiej Sosna, seniorconstruction analyst at PMR,

this ability to continue towork will give the sector amajor boost at the start of2012. Construction is expect-ed to slow down in the sec-ond half of this year follow-ing the end of the 2012 Euro-pean soccer championshipsand the completion of manyroad-building projects relat-ed to the event.

In addition to the contin-uation of work, a lack ofsnow and ice on the roadshas also helped GDDKiAsave some z∏.128 million, dueto the fact that roads havenot needed to be salted asoften as in previous years.

“The prices for salt arecheaper in the summer, sowe have already purchasedour winter quantity. At themoment, all of our salt ware-houses are full and … nextwinter we won’t have to

spend as much money,” saidMr Mrugasiewicz.

Veronika Joy,David Ingham

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Favorable weather conditions this winter have helped

Polish road builders make up for lost time

Metals tax

Government lowers controversial metals tax rateCopper giant KGHMargues that the newrate could still limit itscapacity for futureinvestmentsPoland’s Finance Ministry hasmodified a planned copperand silver tax that was pro-posed by Prime Minister Don-ald Tusk in November of lastyear. When introduced thenew tax will mainly affectKGHM, Poland’s sole produc-er of copper and silver.

Under pressure from otherministries, as well as KGHM’smanagement and labor unions,the Finance Ministry anno-unced last week that the taxwould be charged at a mini-mum of z∏.130 per metric tonof copper extracted when theprice of copper per ton isbelow z∏.13,000, and a maxi-mum of z∏.20,000 per ton if theprice exceeds z∏.52,000. Theoriginal proposal had set the

maximum price at z∏.32,000per ton.

Treasury Minister Miko∏ajBudzanowski said the firstproposal had been “out ofsync with global standards,”while Deputy PM and Econo-my Minister WaldemarPawlak said it endangeredKGHM’s future ability tomake investments.

However, in an interviewwith TVN last week, KGHMCEO Herbert Wirth said thenew proposal is still unsustain-able, adding that the firmmight have to limit investmentand takeover plans if it isintroduced.

According to Robert Maj,an analyst at KBC Securities,under the new version of thetax KGHM would likely payaround z∏.1.7 billion in 2012,z∏.330 million less than it wouldhave paid under the first draft.After 2013, KGHM would payclose to z∏.2 billion a year,

which is “still very high, andwould eat up a large portion ofthe company’s cash flow, likelymaking new investments andmodernization difficult in thefuture,” Mr Maj added.

The Finance Ministry hasalso raised its copper priceforecasts. It predicts an aver-age price of z∏.25,500 per met-ric ton in 2012, meaning theamount it expects to gain fromthe tax in 2012 was leftunchanged from its originalforecast, at z∏.1.8 billion. Cop-per prices have risen to excep-tionally high levels in recentmonths, allowing KGHM tobring in record profits. InDecember 2011, KGHM’smanagement estimated thatthe company’s net profit forfull-year 2011 would reachz∏.11.19 billion.

With signs of economicslowdown coming thick andfast from Europe, the Polishgovernment is trying to maxi-

mize the inflow of revenues tothe public purse. But the Trea-sury, which owns a controlling32 percent stake in KGHM,argues that the proposed tax,even in its revised form, is setat an unsustainable level.

The announcement andensuing negotiations aroundthe planned tax have sent

KGHM’s stock price spiralingdownwards – it has fallen byover 30 percent since mid-November 2011.

The government plans toimplement the new tax onMarch 1 of this year. The draftis expected to be discussed inparliament later this month.

Alice Trudelle

Mining the depthsKGHM stock price at closing, October 1, 2011-January 3, 2012

Source: Stooq.pl

Oct. Nov. Dec. Jan.

Investments in China

Polish chemical firms plan to build production plant in ChinaZak∏ady AzotowePu∏awy and AzotyTarnów have signed apreliminary agreementconcerning theproposed joint venture

Polish chemical companiesZak∏ady Azotowe Pu∏awy andAzoty Tarnów are due tomeet later this month to dis-cuss plans to build a caprolac-tam production plant inChina. The two firms havealready signed a preliminaryagreement concerning the

possibility of establishing ajoint venture.

Caprolactam is a raw mate-rial used in the production of awide variety of productsincluding carpets, engineeringplastics and cars. Locating inChina would give the compa-nies access to commoditiesand energy as well as a readylocal market.

Grzegorz Kulik, aspokesperson for ZA Pu∏awy,told WBJ that “every car ismade up of at least 25 kilo-grams of caprolactam. ...There is a shortage of 500,000

[metric] tons per year ofcaprolactam in China and300,000 tons in Taiwan.”

If the Polish chemical firmsdo end up launching theinvestment in China, it will beat least another three to fouryears before the facility isbuilt.

ZA Pu∏awy is no stranger tothe Asian market, since almost90 percent of its caprolactamoutput already goes to Asiancountries, including Thailand,India and Indonesia.

Mr Kulik said that theplanned investment is part of

the firm’s strategy to becomemore directly active in theAsian market.

In 2012, there will be a 3percent global increase indemand for caprolactam,while demand from Chinaalone will grow by up to 8 per-cent, according to ZA Pu∏awy.

ICIS, a market intelligencegroup that covers the chemi-cal, energy and fertilizerindustries, forecasts a tightsupply of the chemical due toexpected high demand.

“Caprolactam imports toChina are likely to remain

strong in 2012, despite increaseddomestic capacity expansions,according to producers and buy-ers,” said Junie Lin, an editor atICIS who covers the Asiancaprolactam market.

“China is expected to dou-ble its [domestic] caprolactamcapacity to 1.21 million tons ayear,” she added.

ZA Pu∏awy board memberMarek Kap∏ucha was amongthe Polish businesspeople whoaccompanied President Bro-nis∏aw Komorowski on hisofficial state visit to China lastmonth. Veronika Joy

JANUARY 9-15, 2012BUSINESS6

Fin Min wants

NBP help with

budget gap

Polish Finance Minister

Jacek Rostowski has

proposed that the

National Bank of Poland

buy back government

bonds on the secondary

market as a “short-term

measure” to help bridge

the budget gap. In

response, the NBP

published a note on its

website saying its

responsibility is to

promote the stability of

the domestic financial

system, and that the

purchase of bonds on the

secondary market could

take place only in

exceptional situations of

deep crisis.

WSE lists bonds

on Catalyst

marketThe Warsaw Stock

Exchange issued z∏.170

million in bearer bonds

through its Catalyst

bond-trading system last

week. The bonds, which

have been newly listed,

are the first of two series

of WSE debt instruments

to be listed on Catalyst. ●

www.wbj.pl

Contact: Miros∏aw Stefanik

ms@pnplaw.pl

Legal News

BROUGHT TO YOU BY PETER NIELSEN & PARTNERS LAW OFFICE

Entrepreneur registrationchangesFrom January 1, 2012, commune heads,mayors and city presidents have ceasedto be registration authorities for naturalpersons who are entrepreneurs. As aresult, municipalities will no longer keeptheir own registers of entrepreneurs.

These registers have now beenreplaced by a single database called theBusiness Activity Central Register andInformation Record (Centralna Ewidencja iInformacja o Dzia∏alnoÊci Gospodarczej –CEIDG), which contains data on naturalpersons who conduct business activities.Registration of data with CEIDG by anentrepreneur is free of charge. The datagathered by CEIDG is open to the public,which means that anyone can accessinformation about their business partner orassociates through the CEIDG’s website.

Increased legal protection for animalsOn January 1, 2012, changes to the act onanimal protection came into force. Theaim of the amendments is to increase thelegal protection of animals. Among otherthings the act provides more details con-cerning bans on killing animals, specifiesthe exact definition of animal cruelty andalso introduces new terms regarding tak-ing animals away from persons whoabuse them, as well as provisions definingthe places of sale for pets. In addition, the

new provisions introduce a prohibition onletting dogs loose in cases where the dogin question would become impossible tocontrol or lack identification tags thatwould enable the owner or guardian to betraced.

Act on transport of dangerous goods The act on transport of dangerous goodscame into force on January 1, 2012. Theact is aimed at adjusting Polish legislationwith regards to the transportation of dan-gerous goods, so that it is in line with newregulations included in a directive intro-duced by the European Parliament andCouncil on September 24, 2008. The actdefines the conditions under which dan-gerous goods can be shipped on nationaland international roads, railroads, andinland shipping routes.

Information on auctions published on the NationalBailiffs Council’s websiteOn January 6, 2012, an amendment to thecode of civil procedure came into force. Inaccordance with the change, announce-ments concerning bailiffs’ auctions willhave to be made on the website of theNational Bailiffs Council. The previouslegal provisions stipulated that the auc-tions were to be announced only in thecourt building, in the premises of themunicipal authority and in a newspaper. ●

Stock market

Hot Polish stocks in Q1 2012A new feature fromWBJ asks the expertswhich firms they thinkwill be top performerson the WSE eachquarter

With Warsaw solidifying itsplace as the financial hub of theregion and interest in stocks onthe Warsaw Stock Exchangegrowing, WBJ introduces a newfeature in which we ask severalanalysts to reveal which stocksthey think will be the best per-formers on the WSE each quar-ter.

Participating in our analysisfor the first quarter of the yearare Marcin Materna from Mil-lennium Dom Maklerski andZbigniew Obara from AliorBank.

A look at their selections(see boxes) shows there areopportunities in a variety of sec-tors. Largely absent on theirlists are financial stocks, exceptfor Bank BPH, which MrMaterna explained is thecheapest banking stock on theWSE and is showing improvingresults, though it has underper-formed over the past severalmonths.

Two real estate firms,Budimex and Echo Invest-ments, were chosen by MrObara and Mr Materna respec-tively. Budimex, which repre-sents an undeservedly depres-sed construction sector inPoland, has a high dividendyield and strong bidding powerin prospective tenders, said MrObara. Developer Echo Invest-ment, which controls 300,000sqm of commercial space inPoland, is a good deal, since itis quoted at two thirds of its netasset value, according to MrMaterna.

Mr Obara also namedsports betting firm Fortuna,retailer Emperia, insurer PZUand biotech firm Bioton asstocks he expects to performwell this quarter.

Fortuna should benefit fromincreased wagering on sportsdue to the Euro 2012 soccerchampionships and theOlympics in London, Mr Obarasaid. Emperia, which recentlysold off its distribution groupTradis for z∏.926 million, is cashrich, offers an attractive divi-dend and has strong prospectsfor M&A possibilities in thefuture, he added.

PZU, Poland’s largest insur-

er, has a large dividend on thehorizon and operates in a muchbetter regulatory environmentthan other sectors such as bank-ing and utilities, according toMr Obara. He added thatBioton, a global producer ofinsulin, despite its struggles withoverinvestment and a heavydebt burden, should benefitfrom regulatory changes andattractive currency rates for itsexports. The company is also inthe process of an “interesting”merger with a producer of vet-erinary medicines, he said.

For his part Mr Maternalisted IT firm Qumak-Sekom,confectioner Mieszko and elec-tricity producer Enea as theother stocks he expects to betop performers in Q1.

Qumak-Sekom’s stock, hesaid, has underperformed dueto poor Q3 results, but has aninexpensive valuation and astrong backlog for 2012. MrMaterna pointed out thatMieszko is the cheapest confec-tionery producer on the WSE,and added that its margins areexpected to improve due to

declining prices of cocoa andsugar. He added that Enea hasthe lowest EV/EBITDA in theenergy sector, and the resump-tion of its privatization may trig-ger an upward trend in its stockprice.

Disclaimer: The analysts’picks presented above do not

constitute investment advice orrecommendations to buy or sell

any securities on the WarsawStock Exchange, and are pre-sented for informational pur-

poses only.Ella Pa∏ka

Household appliances

Zelmer expects slowermarket growth in 2012The crisis in WesternEurope is expected toweigh on its homeappliances marketsthis year

Zelmer, a Polish householdgoods manufacturer, expectsthe markets it operates in togrow at a slower rate this yearthan in 2011, due to the eco-nomic crisis and turbulence inWestern markets.

For full-year 2011, Zelmerforecasts annualized marketgrowth of around 7 percent forPoland, and in the case ofUkraine and Russia – about 20percent.

“With 2012, we approachthe situation of demand acrossthe region with caution,” com-pany president Janusz P∏ocicatold PAP.

“The CEE region in whichwe operate has not reacted tothe crisis like Western Europehas, but in general the prevail-ing pessimism and the situa-tion in the West will alsoreflect on the economies inthis part of Europe. There-fore, we expect a slight slow-down in growth in demand[this year],” Mr P∏ocica said.

For Russia and Ukraine, hesaid, Zelmer expects growth of

closer to 10 percent than 20percent, while in the case ofPoland, the Czech Republic,Slovakia and Romania growthof just a “few percent” is fore-cast.

The company relies heavilyon markets to Poland’s east,with sales to those countriesaccounting for 74 percent ofits total exports last year. Rus-sia and Ukraine are expectedto account for the largest shareof the company’s export rev-enues in 2012, said AgnieszkaGrabowska, the company’sinvestor relations manager.

Vacuum cleaners and

kitchen equipment are Zelmer’smost popular export items.

In the fourth quarter of2011, meanwhile, the companysays it may have achievedrecord sales results.

“We have not yet fully sum-marized sales data for Decem-ber, but if the last month of theyear closes well, as we hope,Q4 2011 results may be higherthan those achieved in thesame period a year earlier.And remember, the fourthquarter of 2010 was a recordfor Zelmer, in terms of sales,”said Ms Grabowska.

Veronica Joy

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Zelmer hopes its Q4 2011 results will beat the

previous year’s record

The experts' picksExpected top performers in Q1 2012

Marcin Materna, Millennium Dom Maklerski

Stock Closing price 04.01.2012 52-week high 52-week low

Bank BPH z∏.32.20 z∏.77.55 z∏.29.32

Echo Investment z∏.3.40 z∏.5.60 z∏.3.00

Enea z∏.18.50 z∏.23.98 z∏.14.21

Mieszko z∏.3.06 z∏.4.62 z∏.2.45

Qumak-Sekom z∏.8.49 z∏.16.20 z∏.6.82

Zbigniew Obara, Alior Bank

Stock Closing price 04.01.2012 52-week high 52-week low

Bioton z∏.0.07 z∏.0.19 z∏.0.06

Budimex z∏.77.00 z∏.109.70 z∏.62.00

Emperia z∏.116.50 z∏.124.80 z∏.84.00

Fortuna z∏.16.24 z∏.23.86 z∏.12.01

PZU z∏.312.50 z∏.398.60 z∏.283.10Source: Warsaw Stock Exchange

JANUARY 9-15, 2012 FINANCE & ECONOMICS www.wbj.pl 7

Public debt

Currency interventions helpPoland avoid austerity measuresThree interventions atthe close of 2011helped keep publicdebt below a key legalthreshold

Eleventh-hour currency mar-ket interventions by twostate institutions helpedPoland avoid breaching the55 percent debt-to-GDPthreshold, which would havetriggered legally mandatedbudget cuts. DeputyFinance Minister DominikRadziwi∏∏ said last week thatthe debt-to-GDP ratioamounted to 54 percent,keeping it just below the 55percent limit.

The exchange rate usedin Poland’s debt calculationis decided on the final trad-ing day of the year, which in

2011 fell on Friday, Decem-ber 30. The government waskeen to ensure that the z∏otywas not too weak on thatday since around a third ofPoland’s debt is denominat-ed in foreign currencies.

A total of three interven-tions were carried out byPolish state institutions,with Bank GospodarstwaKrajowego (BGK) and thenthe central bank interveningon December 29 to push thez∏oty to around z∏.4.40against the euro, fromz∏.4.46 earlier in the day.

The following day sawBGK intervene once againin the morning, allowing thecentral bank to fix theexchange rate used to calcu-late debt at 4.4168. In theend, Poland’s debt creptunder the limit.

The Finance Ministryexpects public debt to fall to52.4 percent this year, andthen to 47.4 percent in2015.

In order to protectagainst speculators whoplay the market on expectedinterventions, and to avoida tight finish each year, inthe future the ministryhopes to use an annualaverage euro/z∏oty rate tocalculate debt instead of theexchange rate on the lastday of the year.

Moreover, a number ofexperts say that the z∏oty isone of the most underval-ued currencies in the world(see accompanying box),with Mr Radziwi∏∏ saying heexpects the euro to cost z∏.4by the end of the year.

Gareth Price

Big Mac index: z∏oty undervalued by 43%

According to The Econo-mist’s Big Mac index,the z∏oty is underval-ued against the dol-lar by approximate-ly 43 percent. This isthe most in 18months and thesecond-largest dis-count in Europe,after the Russianruble.

The index is based onthe theory of purchasing-power parity and uses the price of the

McDonald’s Big Mac to com-pare the values of different

currencies.

In Poland, the cost ofthe McDonald’s sand-

wich is z∏.8.80. Thatprice translates to

about $2.55, whichmeans the cost of the

burger is some 43 per-cent lower in Polandthan in the US. This in

turn suggests that thez∏oty is undervalued by about

43 percent against the dollar. ●

Manufacturing sector contracts Poland’s manufacturing sec-tor is continuing to showsigns of weakening, with thepurchasing managers’ index(PMI) indicating that activi-ty fell at its fastest rate inover two years in Decem-ber.

The country’s PMI read-ing came in at 48.8 lastmonth, and therefore below50 for the second month run-ning. Scores above 50 indi-cate expansion while scoresbelow that number suggestcontraction. The Decemberreading was the lowest sinceOctober 2009.

Total new orders receivedby manufacturers fell for thesecond straight month, withthe rate of decline the fastestsince June 2009. Moreover,business generated by exportorders declined for the sev-enth consecutive month,although at a slower ratethan in November.

Although new orders fell,production output still grew– even exceeding Novem-ber’s level. However, thepace of expansion remained

anemic when compared to2011 as a whole.

Employment also drop-ped in the manufacturingsector for the first time sinceJuly 2010.

“The input prices indexrose sharply, but this was nottrue of the output pricesindex. That, together withthe falling employmentindex, points to a benignmedium-term inflation pic-

ture and constitutes an argu-ment against central bankinterest rate hikes despite ahigh CPI inflation reading,”Agata Urbaƒska, an econo-mist for Central and EasternEurope at HSBC, said in astatement.

“On balance the datapoint to slowing economicactivity, both domestic andexternal,” she added.

Gareth Price

4849505152535455565758

Decem

ber

Novembe

r

Octobe

r

Septe

mber

Augu

stJuly

June

MayAp

ril

March

Febru

ary

Janua

ry

Decem

ber

*

2010 2011

*Indicates improvement on the previous month

Further contraction Poland’s manufacturing PMI, December 2010 – December 2011

Source: Markit

JANUARY 9-15, 20128 www.wbj.pl INTERVIEW

Russian relations

Know thy neighbor

Ewa Boniecka: You are co-author and editor of therecently published book,“International images of Rus-sia” which analyzes Europeanand US views of Russia, andthe character of Russia itself.What is your assessment of therecent demonstrations heldthere in protest against thealleged fraud in the latest par-liamentary election?Stanis∏aw Bieleƒ: Russia is ageographical and civilizationalphenomenon which invokesmany dramatic feelings due tothe events which occurredthere in the last century. In myview, in order to understandRussia we have to look at itfrom the perspective of cen-turies and not from the per-spective of days, weeks ormonths. What is happeningnow in Russia is a conse-quence of the political andeconomic transformation thatis still going on there.

The latest events in Russia– the protests on the streets ofMoscow and some othermajor cities – are the directconsequence of a parliamen-tary election whose results,according to the majority ofassessments, were fabricated,with vote-counting carried outunder the political dictate ofthe Kremlin and the two menwhose rule shapes Russianpolitics – [Prime MinisterVladimr] Putin and [PresidentDmitry] Medvedev.

The scale of the protestsdemonstrates the politicalawakening of Russian society,especially of younger genera-tions, and its determination tofight for democratic rights. It isa sign that Russians are matur-ing towards becoming a civilsociety, that they are not will-ing to accept the arroganceand abuses of those in power.Yet they are aware of the enor-mous problems of the countryand the difficulties of promot-ing democratic standardsthere, so in my view the pro-testers do not want, or are notprepared, for radical changesto the political system. Instead,they want the authorities totreat them as mature citizens

and to act under the control ofthe people.

So I think that Western andalso Polish media overrate therole of democratic oppositionin Russia, because there is notan organized opposition there,and because democratic stan-dards as they are understoodin the West do not fit the pres-ent conditions in Russia. Allkinds of people took part inthe demonstrations, not onlyliberals, but communists,nationalists and anarchists.This means the protestsagainst Mr Putin’s rule could[potentially] lead to an evenworse aggressively nationalis-tic, anti-Western and anti-lib-eral political establishmentthan the one currently inplace.

Yet I do not predict that itwill lead to any meaningfulchanges in the functioning ofthe present political system –not yet.

Russia has been seen through-out history as being very dif-ferent to Europe and the West.Is it still perceived as such?Russia is a transcontinentalcountry, which due to its loca-tion in Eastern Europe and onthe huge territory of Asia, is astructural phenomena linkingin many ways the political pat-terns and traditions of twocontinents. Yet Russia is men-tally and culturally a Europeancountry, and from its begin-ning was perceived as beingpart of Europe. Of coursethere were periods in Russianhistory when its Europeancharacter was emphasized andthere were others when Russiaexposed its Asian connections,helping to shape the image ofRussia as a mysterious andexotic country in the minds ofoutsiders.

But I see the transconti-nental character of Russia notas part of its burden but as anasset, because it can play therole of a bridge between Euro-pean and Asian civilizations, inthe framework of understand-ing that Russia is first of all aEuropean country. On theother hand, due to itstranscontinental character,historical experiences andAsian influences, Russia hasdeveloped its own political tra-dition which is very differentthan the Western one.

So in my opinion it is notpossible to implement allWestern political rules in Rus-sia, even though it is a capital-ist country and – formally atleast – democratic. This is

because Russia sticks to itsown version of democracy,which is defined and con-trolled by the authorities andlinked with the special positionof the top man in the Kremlin.

Do Russia and the West stillsee themselves as being ideo-logical enemies? No, the time when Russia wasperceived as the ideologicalenemy of the West and actedas its main adversary endedwith the collapse of the SovietUnion. Today’s Russia doesnot conduct ideological cru-sades against the West, eventhough there are still somegroups and parties there thathave anti-Western attitudes.And the West, while often crit-icizing violations of democrat-ic standards in Russia, looks atthat huge country as an impor-tant partner, cooperating overand dealing with global prob-lems. Russia remains a diffi-cult partner, exposing long-established prejudges, imperi-al inclinations, and often con-flicting interests with othercountries, but after its eco-nomic and political transfor-mation it is a part of theWestern world.

So I think that it is moreimportant than ever for schol-ars to come forward withobjective analysis of Russianaffairs in order to help policy-makers and the general publicto understand Russia and getrid of many stereotypes,mythologies and false opinionswhich make it difficult to con-duct relations with Russia.

Russia and the EuropeanUnion are linked by a strategicpartnership and many Euro-peans are conscious of the factthat Russian history hasalways been a part of Euro-pean history. How would youdescribe the images of Russiaheld by members of the EU?There are no universal percep-tions and images of Russiaamong EU members, as thereis not in practice a commonEU policy towards the coun-try. Big, medium-sized andsmall members all have theirown, often very different, posi-tions in relations with Russia.Also, Russia conducts a differ-ent policy towards old,Western EU members than itdoes towards members inCentral and Eastern Europe.Due to close economic coop-eration which is profitable forboth sides, Germany practicesRealpolitik towards Russia,while France and Italy alsohave a generally positive atti-tude towards Russia. The mostinfluential base of scholarsstudying Russian affairs islocated in Germany andFrance, and they have shaped

Western European opinionsabout that country. Theirreports expose many aspectsrelated to Russian problems,with some being very critical,some saying that Russia is anessential element of securityand peace on our continent.So a strong Russia, rather thanan unstable and weak Russia,is in the interest of Europe.

We present in “Interna-tional images of Russia” a veryinteresting report drawn-up in2007 by the European Councilon Foreign Relations, whichdivided the members of theEU into five groups dependingon their attitudes towards Rus-sia. France, Germany, Italyand Spain were qualified as“Strategic Partners,” whileAustria, Belgium, Bulgaria,Finland, Hungary, Luxem-bourg, Malta, Portugal, Slo-vakia and Slovenia weregrouped as “Friendly pragma-tists.” Meanwhile, the CzechRepublic, Denmark, Estonia,Ireland, Latvia, the Nether-lands, Romania, Sweden andthe United Kingdom werecalled “Frosty Pragmatists.”Cyprus and Greece weretermed “Trojan Horses,” whilePoland and Lithuania weredeemed “‘New Cold War-riors.”

Since the report was pub-lished, do you think thatPoland’s perception of Russiahas changed, with its foreignpolicy towards that countrybecoming more pragmatic?Polish perception of Russia isshaped to a great extent byour tragic historical experi-ences with the country. How-ever understandable thisstance is, we now have to build

our relations with Russia, asother EU members are doing,without historical reminis-cences and overgrown emo-tions. Yet among many ana-lysts, politicians and certaingroups of our society there aredeep rooted anti-Russian pho-bias. And Poland, due to itsgeographical location, has tomaintain many bilateral con-tacts with its Eastern neigh-bor, but also look at Russia –as the West does – in a globalcontext, in which it is animportant player.

And our scholarly basis foranalyzing Russia is very tiny incomparison with some otherEuropean countries. We didnot manage to developresearch on Russia immedi-ately after the 1989 politicaltransformation and laterchanges in that country, so welost a lot of time needed toprepare new generations ofscholars dealing with Russianaffairs.

Only in recent years have Iseen a growing interest inRussian studies: there is nowthe state-financed Center forEastern Studies and a growthin the number of new scholar-ly publications about Russia.But what worries me is thatscholars’ reports are usuallydrawn-up for the currentpolitical order, while there is alack of independent and alter-native findings from otherresearchers. Yet ambitiousuniversities’ Russian researchcenters are short of moneyand are therefore unable todevelop properly. I am alsoconcerned that so many of ourpoliticians show such littleinterest in scholarly findingsabout Russia.

Yet many Poles like to claimthat Poland is a leading experton Russia, that we understandit better that the West. Youseek to challenge that asser-tion in your book. Yes I do, because this popularclaim about our expertise con-cerning Russia is not merited,either in our foreign policy, orin the behavior of many Poles,who constantly repeat oldstereotypes about Russia asbeing a backwards, wild coun-try, which wants to destroyPoland and is a threat to ourindependence. We want Rus-sia to be weak because itmakes us feel stronger. Thisattitude contradicts the stanceof our European and Ameri-can friends, who want Russiato be a strong partner in theinternational field.

Most importantly, ourone-sided, negative image ofRussia goes against our owninterests, because as long aswe ignore the fact that Russiais building a strong interna-tional position based on coop-eration with the West, we willgive ourselves only a marginalrole in overall European poli-cy towards the country. Andin that situation we wouldalso be in a weak position inour bilateral relations withRussia.

I hope that the youngergeneration of scholars, manyof whom have collaborated inpreparing the book, look atRussia objectively, withoutold complexes and prejudices,because this is the only way toprovide Poles with the kind ofknowledge that would allowfor a better understanding ofthe country we have to livewith as our neighbor. ●

Stanis∏aw Bieleƒ, professor of political scienceand a specialist on Russian affairs at theUniversity of Warsaw, talks to WBJ aboutrecent political developments in Russia and thelack of Polish expertise in Russian matters

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Professor Bieleƒ doesn’t expect a major power shift in Moscow just yet

JANUARY 9-15, 2012 EUROPE www.wbj.pl 9

European Parliament

Jerzy Buzek: ‘this is a fight we need to continue’During his farewellspeech, the EPpresident summed upthe achievements ofthe EuropeanParliament under histenure

Polish politician Jerzy Buzekofficially steps down as thepresident of the EuropeanParliament on January 17,after two-and-a-half years atthe helm.

In his farewell speech inDecember, Mr Buzek outlinedwhat he felt were his own andthe EP’s successes during theperiod of his tenure, saying:“We achieved a lot, but this isa fight we need to continue.”

Lisbon Treaty and EC accountabilityThe Lisbon Treaty, whichcame into force in December2009, led to an increase inpower for both the EuropeanParliament and the EU Coun-cil, and as a result it is viewedby Mr Buzek as particularlysignificant. It “changed theway our European Union

functions,” he said. “For me, the most impor-

tant was Parliament’s place inEU decision making,” MrBuzek added.

He said that although therewas initially a risk that the Lis-bon Treaty might not be rati-fied by all EU members, in theend he was successful in con-vincing the doubters. Eventu-ally, “the parliament we alwayswanted to be” was created, hesaid.

Mr Buzek also talked abouthis efforts at pushing forgreater EC accountability.“The candidate for the presi-dent of the EC came for thefirst time to our politicalgroups to discuss his five-yearmanifesto. We established amonthly questions hour withthe president of the EC andcommissioners. We used ourpowers to shape the newEuropean External ActionService so that it was moreaccountable and representa-tive for the community as awhole,” he said.

Fiscal measuresMr Buzek also spoke about

the global financial crisis,which hit Europe hard andresulted in the current sover-eign debt crisis in the EU.“When you elected me aspresident of the EuropeanParliament, we all thought thatthe international banking cri-sis was coming to an end.Instead it came to our shores,”he said.

Referring specifically to theso-called “six-pack” of fiscalmeasures that was thrashedout by EU leaders to help pre-vent another EU economiccrisis in the future, Mr Buzeksaid, “It is a new economicanti-crisis shield making closereconomic cooperation a reali-ty. Thanks to our firmness,attempts to weaken this shieldwere not successful.”

Stability and democracy Mr Buzek also expressed theview that the EP has alwaysyearned for stability, but hestressed that stability is notpossible without democracyand without active engage-ment in the defense of humanrights. “We European parlia-mentarians were always strong

defenders and supporters ofall people fighting for free-dom, democracy and humandignity,” he said.

“When I spoke to protest-ers in Tahrir Square in Cairo,and freedom fighters in Mar-tyrs’ Square in Tripoli, theytold me, ‘Thank you Europe –thank you for believing, andbeing with us.’”

Positive, but not spectacularBut what do the experts thinkof Mr Buzek’s time at thehelm of the European Parlia-ment?

Leszek Jesieƒ, the EU pro-gram coordinator at the PolishInstitute of InternationalAffairs, told WBJ that MrBuzek “was a good leader, hewas visible, though only timewill give a real evaluation. Ofall the recent European Parlia-ment presidents, I think he isone of the best, though there isalways space to do more, to beeven better.”

However, Mr Jesieƒ saidthat out of all the achieve-ments listed by Mr Buzek, theone that the European Parlia-

ment had handled least suc-cessfully during his term inoffice was the economic crisis,noting that the crisis is stillongoing and that the euro isstill at risk of falling apart.

Rafa∏ Dymek, the directorof the Robert Schuman Foun-dation, a non-governmentalorganization which works toengage Polish citizens in theprocess of uniting Europe,agreed with Mr Jesieƒ’s over-

all assessment. “This was a good presiden-

cy. The issues on which hetook a stance made him a veryvisible EP leader. Aside fromthe achievements mentionedin his speech, he also strength-ened the position of Poland inEurope. So overall, althoughhe did not achieve anythingspectacular, he left a positiveimpression,” Mr Dymek said.

Izabela Depczyk

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Mr Buzek will officially step down on January 17

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JANUARY 9-15, 2012 OPINION & ANALYSIS www.wbj.pl 11

Javier Santiso

Over the past decade, emergingmarkets have become theglobal economy’s main growth

engine. According to HSBC, 19 oftoday’s emerging-market countrieswill be among the world’s 30 largesteconomies in 2050, and they will bemore important than the currentOECD countries.

Emerging markets have alreadycaptured 40 percent of world GDPand 37 percent of global foreigndirect investment. And, while OECDcountries continue to stagnate in2011, emerging markets are growingstrongly. China last year jumpedahead of Japan as the world’s second-largest economy, while India attract-ed a record $80 billion in FDI, doublethat of 2010. Brazil’s Petrobras,already one of the world’s largestpetroleum companies, had a record-setting $67 billion IPO last year.

These economies’ growing wealthis attracting a rising number of OECDmultinationals. In Asia, the middleclass now represents 60 percent of thetotal population (1.9 billion people).China became the world’s top carmarket in 2010. The world’s richestperson is from Mexico. And rapid eco-nomic growth is occurring in an envi-ronment of small deficits, low debt,and controlled inflation.

Disruptive innovationBut there is another, quieter revolu-tion bringing companies from OECDcountries to emerging markets: dis-ruptive innovation. On one hand,emerging-market multinationals areexcelling even in high-value-addedand technology-intensive sectors; onthe other hand, firms from OECDcountries are increasingly re-import-ing innovation from emerging-mar-ket companies.

According to the United Nations,there are roughly 21,500 multination-als based in emerging markets. Some,such as the Mexican cement companyCemex, the Indian IT outsourcingfirm Infosys, and the Chinese batterymanufacturer BYD, are already lead-ers in their sectors. The main suppli-ers to the world’s telecoms compa-nies are found in China, whereHuawei is now head to head withSweden’s Ericsson. In 2008, Huwaeiregistered more patents than anyother company in the world, and fin-ished second to Japan’s Panasonic in2009.

In the telecommunications sector,there are now a half-dozen emerging-market multinationals in the globaltop 10. Brazil’s Embraer revolution-ized airplane manufacturing with abusiness model that others have imi-

tated. India’s Tata sells cars for 75percent less than its European com-petitors. China’s Mindray has devel-oped medical equipment at 10 per-cent of the cost of its Western com-petitors. Kenya’s Safaricom is trans-forming the market with its M-Pesamobile-banking service, just as Indianoutsourcing multinationals such asTCS and Wipro have done.

Digital disruptionEven the digital world is being affect-ed by emerging-market growth. Face-book could have been Latin Ameri-can: one of its founders is Brazilian.The Chinese internet group TencentHoldings is the world’s third largestin terms of market capitalization ($45billion in 2011). Its top financialshareholder is another emerging-market multinational, South Africa’sNaspers. The two companies invest instart-ups together – not in California,like Google, but in emerging mar-kets. In 2010, they invested $700 mil-lion in Russian Internet giantMail.ru. Russian Digital Sky Tech-nologies (which owns Mail.ru) ispresent in key US internet start-upssuch as Facebook, Zynga, andGroupon.

These emerging-market multi-nationals are not only disruptively

innovative; they are also massivelyfrugal, making them lethal com-petitors. And they are rapidlyclimbing the value chain: in 2010,according to Booz & Company,South Korea’s Samsung becameone of the world’s top 10 compa-nies in terms of R&D investment.Israel has launched more than4,000 start-ups – ranking second inthe world in the number of compa-nies quoted on the Nasdaq.

As a result, reverse innovation byOECD multinationals is now com-mon practice. Indeed, the OECDFortune 500 multinationals now havenearly 100 R&D centers based inemerging markets, mainly in Chinaand India. GE’s R&D center in Indiais the company’s biggest worldwide.Cisco spent a billion dollars on anoth-er one in India. Microsoft’s largestoutside of the US is in Beijing. IBMnow employs more people in Indiathan in the US, and Germany’sSiemens has based 12 percent of its30,000 R&D engineers in emergingAsia.

Rebalancing act To grasp the speed of this globalrebalancing, consider that in 1990,more than 95 percent of R&D wascarried out in developed countries; a

decade later, the developed coun-tries’ share had dropped to 76 per-cent. Today, emerging marketsaccount for 40 percent of the world’sresearchers. As a report fromUNESCO recently highlighted,China, which now spends more than$100 billion annually (2.5 percent ofGDP) on R&D, is on the verge ofsurpassing the US and Europe interms of the number of researchers.In 2010, 40 percent of all Chineseuniversity students were studying forscience or engineering degrees,more than double the share in theUS.

Emerging-market countries willnot only claim the lion’s share ofglobal growth in the comingdecade; they will also increasinglybe the source of disruptive and fru-gal innovation. By 2020, the geogra-phy of innovation, in addition tothat of the wealth of nations, willhave undergone a massive rebal-ancing process. ●

Javier Santiso is Professor of Economics at ESADE Business

School and Director of the ESADECenter for Global Economy and

Geopolitics (ESADEgeo).Copyright: Project Syndicate,

2011. project-syndicate.org

Great empires rarely succumb tooutside attacks. But they oftencrumble under the weight of

internal dissent. This vulnerabilityseems to apply to the euro zone as well.

Key macroeconomic indicators donot suggest any problem for the eurozone as a whole. On the contrary, ithas a balanced current account,which means that it has enoughresources to solve its own public-finance problems. In this respect, theeuro zone compares favorably withother large currency areas, such asthe United States or, closer to home,the United Kingdom, which runexternal deficits and thus depend oncontinuing inflows of capital.

In terms of fiscal policy, too, theeuro-zone average is comparativelystrong. It has a much lower fiscaldeficit than the US (4 percent ofGDP for the euro zone, compared toalmost 10 percent for the US).

Debasement of the currency isanother sign of weakness that oftenprecedes decline and breakup. But,again, this is not the case for the euro

zone, where the inflation rate remainslow – and below that of the US and theUK. Moreover, there is no significantdanger of an increase, as wagedemands remain depressed and theEuropean Central Bank will face littlepressure to finance deficits, which arelow and projected to disappear overthe next few years. Refinancing gov-ernment debt is not inflationary, as itcreates no new purchasing power. TheECB is merely a “central counterpar-ty” between risk-averse Germansavers and the Italian government.

Much has been written aboutEurope’s sluggish growth, but therecord is actually not so bad. Over thelast decade, per capita growth in theUS and the euro zone has beenalmost exactly the same.

The root of the problemGiven this relative strength in theeuro zone’s fundamentals, it is far tooearly to write off the euro. But the cri-sis has been going from bad to worse,as Europe’s policymakers seemboundlessly capable of making a mess

out of the situation.The problem is the internal distri-

bution of savings and financial invest-ments: although the euro zone hasenough savings to finance all of thedeficits, some countries struggle,because savings no longer flow acrossborders. There is an excess of savingsnorth of the Alps, but northern Euro-pean savers do not want to financesouthern countries like Italy, Spain,and Greece.

That is why the risk premia onItalian and other southern Europeandebt remain at 450-500 basis points,and why, at the same time, the Ger-man government can issue short-term securities at essentially zerorates. The reluctance of NorthernEuropean savers to invest in the europeriphery is the root of the problem.

So, how will northern Europe’s“investors’ strike” end?

The German position seems to bethat financial markets will financeItaly at acceptable rates if and whenits policies are credible. If Italy’s bor-rowing costs remain stubbornly high,

the only solution is to try harder.The Italian position could be char-

acterized as follows: “We are trying ashard as humanly possible to eliminateour deficit, but we have a debt-rollover problem.”

The German government could,of course, take care of the problem ifit were willing to guarantee all Italian,Spanish, and other debt. But it isunderstandably reluctant to take suchan enormous risk – even though it is,of course, taking a big risk by notguaranteeing southern Europeangovernments’ debt.

The ECB could solve the problemby acting as buyer of last resort for allof the debt shunned by financial mar-kets. But it, too, is understandablyreluctant to assume the risk – and itis this standoff that has unnervedmarkets and endangered the euro’sviability.

An unresolved conflictManaging a debt overhang has alwaysbeen one of the toughest challengesfor policymakers. In antiquity, the

conflicts between creditors anddebtors often turned violent, as thealternative to debt relief was slavery.In today’s Europe, the conflictbetween creditors and debtors takes amore civilized form, seen only inEuropean Council resolutions andinternal ECB discussions.

But it remains an unresolved con-flict. If the euro fails as a result, it willnot be because no solution was possi-ble, but because policymakers wouldnot do what was necessary.

The euro’s long-run survivalrequires the correct mix of adjust-ment by debtors, debt forgivenesswhere this is not enough, and bridgefinancing to convince nervous finan-cial markets that the debtors will havethe time needed for adjustment towork. The resources are there.Europe needs the political will tomobilize them.●

Daniel Gros is director of the Center for European Policy Studies.Copyright: Project Syndicate, 2011.

project-syndicate.org

Emerging markets’ decade of disruption

The decline and fall of the euro?Daniel Gros

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JANUARY 9-15, 2012COVER STORY12 www.wbj.pl

Art as investment

A picture of potentialArt as an investment is a rela-tively new phenomenon inpost-communist Poland, butone that is slowly beginning totake hold. With this market’spotential far from fully real-ized, opportunities for growthabound. A number of marketplayers have already startedresponding to an expandedpotential client base, whilehigher purchasing power inPoland is expected to lead toan increase in demand for Pol-ish art in the future. For now,however, Poland’s art marketremains limited to a nichegroup of investors who fallinto the country’s highestincome brackets. The successof Poland’s art investmentmarket, experts say, will there-fore depend on increasingawareness of art in general.

Steep costsCollecting art has long been afavorite pastime of thewealthy. According to Pawe∏Makowski, founder ofNewConnect-listed AbbeyHouse, the only Polish fine artauction house to go public,“people buy art when they’vereached a certain standard ofliving. It’s a form of snobbery.”

The cost of this particularhobby can be steep indeed,and can also play a role as a

status symbol for many. “Arthas always been something toboast about, something toshow off,” added MrMakowski. Nevertheless, itstill remains a marginal activi-ty among Poland’s high-net-worth individuals, few ofwhom purchase art, he said.

According to KPMG,there are close to 900 galleriesand antique stores in Poland,and 10 auction houses sellingfine art – including paintings,drawings, sculptures and pho-tography. Despite this prom-ising start, Poland’s art mar-ket is still underdevelopedcompared to many in theWest. Poland’s recent historytakes much of the blame forthis. Looting of artwork dur-ing World War II, most ofwhich never found its wayback to Poland, means thereis now little older art in thecountry. Following the war,decades of communist rulealso served to impede themarket’s development.

A lack of development ofthe contemporary art seg-ment, low demand due tocomparatively lower levels ofwealth, low internationaliza-tion of the Polish art market,and a lack of foreign capitalare other factors which havehelped limit the growth of the

country’s art market, accord-ing to KPMG.

Signs of changeBut although the foundationsfor a strong art investmentmarket are still being built, itspotential is significant, notleast because of Poles’ increas-ing wealth, said Jakub Kokosz-ka, vice president of AbbeyHouse and president of theboard at Art & Business maga-zine.

The value of Poland’s artmarket is estimated at justz∏.300 million, with 30 percentof this generated through salesat auction houses. Poles spentclose to z∏.28.3 billion on luxu-ry goods in 2009, and an esti-mated z∏.34.8 million on fineart at auctions in 2010, accord-ing to KPMG.

So why isn’t more alreadybeing spent on art? Expertssay the main problem is a lackof knowledge about the artmarket. The key to growthmay lie with the younger gen-eration which, in recent years,has helped to transformPoland’s art market.

According to ZuzannaSokalska, director of GaleriaArt NEW media in Warsaw,the most typical buyer of artis a young businessperson liv-ing in the capital. “Before, itused to be people in their50s, and now they’re 30-plus,” she said.

Mr Kokoszka from AbbeyHouse said that younger buy-ers have also brought about achange in tastes in Poland. “Acouple of years ago it used tobe a very closed target groupof Polish art collectors whowere focusing mainly on oldPolish masters. … Now thetrend has turned to [Polish]contemporary and modernart.”

Today, Abbey House’saverage client is a maleentrepreneur aged between30 and 55 who lives either inWarsaw, Kraków or Wroc∏aw,and dedicates €10,000-100,000 for art investments,said Mr Kokoszka. Theseinvestments, he added, arenormally made for a mini-mum of two years and

account for no more than 10percent of clients’ investmentportfolios.

But it is not just youngerPoles who are investing in Pol-ish art in growing numbers.According to Mr Kokoszka,more and more foreignerscoming to visit Poland buy art

in the country because “theartistic level is really high andthe level of prices really low.”It is not uncommon to hearstories about German buyerscoming to galleries in Polandand buying 20 pieces of art, headded.

Banking and artSeveral firms have picked upon this new interest from buy-ers and have started offeringspecialized services. At BREBank for example, some high-

net-worth clients can takeadvantage of art banking serv-ices. “We offer art banking,but not for every client. Privatebanking clients interested insuch a service need to have atleast z∏.1 million in assets,”said ukasz Myszka, a PR rep-resentative from BRE.

Adam Che∏stowski, artgallery director at DESAUnicum, a company whicharranges auctions for art workand antiquities, said the firmcooperates with a number ofbanks, including Millenniumand Noble Bank, as well asBRE Wealth Managementand financial advisors Xelion.

Another option forinvestors could be a closed artinvestment fund, such as theone recently launched byAbbey House, which aims to

make investing in art moreattractive for clients who maynot have the knowledge to doso on their own. So far, thestrategy is working, said MrKokoszka, and the companyplans to offer another round ofsubscriptions to its art fund inthe first quarter of 2012.

Investors can also choose alease-to-own option, whichallows them to purchase artthrough monthly installments.

But the concept of helpinghigh-net-worth clients invest inalternative assets such as art,vintage wine and antiques isstill in its infancy in Poland,and services related to theseinvestments are not widelyavailable. Alior Bank is oneinstitution to have consideredentering the market, althoughit hasn’t done so yet.

Investing in art is becoming increasinglypopular among wealthy Poles, but it still hasplenty of room for growth

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“Painting CXCIII” (1965) by Stefan Gierowski, whose “Painting XCIII” (1960) is the most

expensive piece of contemporary art ever sold in Poland

Others

Rynek Sztuki

Rempex

Sopocki Aucion House

Polswiss Art

Desa Unicom

Abbey House

43.1%

16.4%

16.1%

8.6%

7.7%

7.6%

0.5%

Masterpiece marketPercentage of sales of contemporary art in Poland, H1 2011, by auction house

Source: Art & Business Magazine

Ella Pa∏ka

JANUARY 9-15, 2012 COVER STORY www.wbj.pl 13

Judith Gliniecki is a Partner with Wierzbowski Evershedsjudith.gliniecki@eversheds.pl

Artfully legal

Legal Eye

Beauty is in the eye of thebeholder. With art, ulti-mately it doesn’t matterwhether your notion of“beauty” is based on aes-thetic taste or potentialinvestment value. With agood eye and maybe a littleluck, you could have both.However, before youinvest you may want toconsider the legal and taximplications.

Taxing mattersTaxes are an inevitable partof modern life and do notmake an exception forobjects of beauty. Whenyou buy a work of art, vari-ous taxes may be due. Ifthat art costs more thanz∏.1,000, you, as the buyer,will need to pay a 2 percentcivil transaction tax (for-merly known as “stampduty”). You may also needto pay VAT on your pur-chase.

When you sell that workof art, tax may also be due.You will need to includethe amount of the profitfrom the sale when calcu-lating your income tax,unless you are merely ahobby collector and haveheld the art for more than6 months.

Age mattersWhile it may be uncouth toask a lady about her age, itis a crucial question withart. If a painting is over 50years old, you may need toobtain a permit if you everwant to take it out ofPoland.

It’s not just about art.With so much having beendestroyed or carried offduring the last few cen-turies, but particularly dur-ing World War II, Poland issensitive about keeping itsremaining older art,antiques and other items ofcultural heritage.

Poland’s Law on Preser-vation and Conservation ofRelics protects a broadspectrum of “relics.” Thedefinition of a “relic”includes anything that“stands as witness to abygone era or event, thepreservation of which liesin interest of societybecause of its inherent his-torical, artistic or scientificvalue.” Even as a lawyerwho is good at splittinghairs, I’m not quite sure

what wouldn’t qualify as arelic. The legal commen-taries on the issue also donot provide much clarifica-tion. As to artistic value, ithas been suggested that itrelates “in essence to anindividual feeling aboutand perception of beauty.”

To be safe, you shouldassume that anything thatwas created more than 50years ago and could beremotely considered artcould be a protected relic.

Worth mattersIn 2010, the Law wasamended to allow a key setof exceptions for low-valuerelics. This is not a revolu-tion, but more of a moveto debureaucratize. Unof-ficially, before 2010 it wasassumed that it should notbe a problem to obtain anexport permit for low-value items.

The thresholds of lowvalue depend on the typeof art. The general thresh-old for artistic works isz∏.40,000. However, theLaw lists different amountsfor different techniques.As examples, the low valuethreshold for watercolor isonly z∏.16,000. For a photo-graph, this amount dropsto z∏.6,000.

Fifty years is also a ruleof thumb, and longer peri-ods apply to some cate-gories. For example, thethreshold for a map is 100years old and a value ofmore than z∏.6,000.

You don’t have an addi-tional argument if thework of art is in poor con-dition. Older works of artare protected regardless oftheir condition.

PermitsIf your investment plansinvolve art of a highervalue and you want to con-sider taking it outside ofPoland, whether for saleon a different market orfor your own personal use,you will likely need a per-mit. When in doubt, youshould visit the localVoivodship ConservationOffice to apply for anexport permit. ●

The author gratefullyacknowledges the assistanceof Karolina Stawowska, thehead of our tax practice, in

preparing this article.

While choices are still lim-ited for individual investors,experts say corporate buyersare almost completely absentfrom the Polish art market.Many banks in the Westactively engage in investing inart, with Germany’s DeutscheBank being one notable exam-ple.

Echoing a sentiment thatappears commonplace inPoland, Artur Maliszewski, vicepresident of Alior Bank, saidhis firm was not knowledgeableenough about the art market toinvest its money in it just yet.“We have to understand thethings we invest in and we reallydon’t understand this market,”he told WBJ.

Nevertheless, Tatiana Rasa-∏a, an art history scholar andcritic at the Polswiss Art auctionhouse, said that three or fourbanks and several investmentfirms in Poland do purchase artas an investment, although shedeclined to state which ones.She added that “approximately70 percent of those purchasingart do so as an investment inorder to make money in thefuture.” She said that somepeople buy during a crisis

because art prices tend to becheaper. Adam Che∏stowski,meanwhile, said that “some”buyers at DESA Unicum arepurchasing art as an alternativeinvestment as security againstthe crisis.

Doing your homeworkAny investment carries risk,and art, although one of themost stable long-term alterna-tive investments, is no excep-tion. Investing in younger, lesswell-known artists is onelower-budget option, saidGaleria Art NEW media’s MsSokalska. She added, howev-er, that this kind of investmentdoes not guarantee success.“It’s more of a lottery than aninvestment, because the artistscould stop working in the fieldaltogether,” she added.Another option is to buy well-known artists’ smaller worksor their works on paper.

For those who can afford it,investing in the works of estab-lished artists can yield sizableprofits. According to Mr Che∏s-towski, “exceptional works ofart sell well even during times ofcrisis.” A number of works byPolish contemporary artist Wil-

helm Sasnal, for example,which sold for around z∏.2,00010 years ago, were valued atz∏.400,000 in 2009. Paintings byartist Stefan Gierowski, whichsold for z∏.50,000 five years ago,now sell for around z∏.90,000.One of Mr Gierowski’s paint-ings, “Painting XCIII,” also cur-rently holds the record for themost expensive contemporaryart work ever sold in Poland, atz∏.470,000, said Ms Sokalska.

Most experts agree that beingrepresented by major art gal-leries and museums in Poland, aswell as exposure on the interna-tional market, have the most sig-nificant positive impact on thefuture value of an artist’s work.According to former tennis play-er, art collector and galleryowner Wojciech Fibak, the sumof opinions from critics, curators,dealers and collectors is whatreally drives prices up.

Judging which artists arelikely to become successfulrequires no little expertise, butthat is not the only issue toconsider before buying. Forexample, anyone wishing tosell an artwork within sixmonths of making a purchasemust pay a capital gains tax

(the tax does not apply afterthis period). However, thoseready to sell will also need topay a service fee of around 20percent of the price to thegallery or auction house thathandles the transaction.Often, the fee is negotiable.Anyone wishing to purchaseolder works should also bearin mind export restrictions onworks created 50 or moreyears ago, and on works creat-ed by artists who aredeceased.

Ultimately, while there is agreat deal involved in under-standing art as an alternativeinvestment, for those willing tolearn, the rewards can be largeindeed. One thing that allexperts highlighted was thatexceptional artwork by well-regarded artists always sells,and at high prices. The funda-mental question, then, is howmuch you can afford to pay ●

Log on to WBJ.pl to readan extended interview with

Anna Tomczak, curator at theZach´ta National Gallery of

Art, for an inside look at one ofthe most highly regarded

galleries in the country.

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Polish contemporary artist Wilhelm Sasnal’s painting “Kacper and Anka” (2009)

High prize

Artist Title Year Price Auction house

Stefan Gierowski “Painting XCIII” 1960 z∏.470,000 Rempex

Andrzej Wróblewski “Garbuska-Garbata we wn´trzu” 1955 z∏.390,000 Rempex

Tadeusz Kantor “Zosta∏em porwany przez dziewczyn´” 1988 z∏.335,000 Polswiss Art

Jerzy Nowosielski “Porwanie Europy,” 1976 z∏.295,000 Polswiss Art

Wojciech Fangor “M53” 1968 z∏.232,000 Polswiss Art

Henryk Sta˝ewski Untitled 1963 z∏.180,000 Rempex

Kazimierz Mikulski “Pi´knie zaczyna sie dzieƒ” 1983 z∏.138,000 Agra-Art

Jan Tarasin “Przedmioty III” 1965 z∏.120,000 Rempex

Jerzy Tchórzewski “Syn” 1958 z∏.120,000 Polswiss Art

Teresa Pàgowska “Kolumny z cyklu Figury magiczne” 1983 z∏.100,000 Polswiss Art

Top 10 most expensive contemporary paintings sold at auction in Poland, 2009 – 2010

Source: Galeria Art NEW media

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Cyprus has a small domestic market and exportsare therefore of vital importance to its economy.The remarkable export performance of the islandcan be attributed to a number of industrial prac-tices such as small labour-intensive plants thatare flexible in order sizes, with a well-qualifiedworkforce adept at learning new technologies,modern technology employed that ensures prod-ucts of the highest quality and long shelf life,modern design techniques, quick turn-aroundtimes and improved marketing. All production,packaging and storage procedures adhere strict-ly to European regulations and standards.

Cypriot exporters have also invested in the lat-est technology, enabling them to produce value-added processed as well as fast frozen food and

the introduction of vigorous policies on food safe-ty that has helped promote premium quality pro-duce.

Cyprus has a lot to offer in terms ofexportable manufacturing products, processedfoodstuff and fresh produce at competitiveprices and fast order fulfillment that together withsourcing reliability can safeguard a successfuland lasting business partnership.

The Cyprus Trade Centre invites Polishimporters and distributors for an all-expenses-paid visit to the island, including travel and

accommodation, to explore the possibility oftrading with Cypriot exporters. For further infor-mation please contact the Cyprus Trade Centre.

The Cypriot manufacturers are famous fortheir flexibility and adaptability of their productionto meet both the needs of their customers andthe conditions of foreign markets – a classic mar-keting strategy.

Cypriot businessman as a partnerThose who have developed business contactswith Cyprus know very well how friendly, hos-pitable and trustworthy Cypriot businessmen are.One business visit to Cyprus will provide you withthe opportunity to meet your future businesspartners.Cyprus offers a wide range of high-quality and

modern design products, which are manufac-tured with state-of-the-art machinery.

The Cypriot manufacturers with long experi-ence and international recognition of their prod-ucts offer Polish importers the opportunity forbusiness success with such assets as quality,design and price.

Below you can find industrial products forimport, such as:• AIR CONDITIONING • ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES • ALUMINIUM PRODUCTS • ANIMAL AND POULTRY FODDERS AND

VETERINARY PRODUCTS • BENTONITE • BRUSHES AND ROLLERS • BUILDING MACHINERY • BUILDING MATERIALS • CAR BATTERIES, FILTERS, EXHAUSTS,

RADIATORS AND BRAKE PADS • CARTONS • CLOTHING • COMMERCIAL REFRIGERATORS • CONFECTIONERY • COPPER CONCENTRATES • COSMETICS AND DETERGENTS • DAIRY PRODUCTS • DECORATIVE RIBBONS • DIAPERS • ELECTRICAL FITTINGS • ELECTRODES

• FISH FARMING • FOODSTUFFS • FOOTWEAR • FURNITURE AND MATTRESSES • HIDES, SKINS AND WOOL • HOUSEHOLD CLEANSING PRODUCTS • HUNTING CARTRIDGES AND EQUIPMENT • INDUSTRIAL FASTENERS • INDUSTRIAL MACHINERY AND MOULDS • JEWELLERY • LABELS • LEATHER PRODUCTS • LUBRICATING OILS • MATCHES• MEAT PROCESSING • PAINTS, VARNISHES AND CHEMICAL

PRODUCTS • PAPER PRODUCTS • PESTICIDES • PHARMACEUTICALS • PLASTIC PRODUCTS • PRINTING • RECYCLING METALS, PLASTICS AND PAPER • SAFES • SEWAGE TREATMENT PLANTS • SHIPYARDS • SPIRITS, REFRESHMENTS AND ESSENTIAL

OILS • TIMBER • WATER PUMPS AND IRRIGATION SYSTEMS

Exports of industrial products are of vital impor-tance to the Cyprus economy because of thesmall size of the domestic market. The island’sindustrial sector offers a wide range of productsof agricultural, mineral and manufacturing origin.The main exportable industrial products areSated in the list bellow.

The modern technology employed ensuresproducts of the highest quality and long shelf life.All production, packaging and storage proce-dures adhere strictly to European regulations andstandards. Cypriot manufacturers are constantlyfollowing developments and technologicaladvances in their field of activity.

The main export markets for Cypriot industrialproducts are European Union countries, whichtake up around 50% of total exports. They are fol-lowed by Middle East countries at 23% and otherEuropean countries at 12%.

Cyprus has much to offer.Today because of the “globalization of businessenvironment” the professional buyer is increas-ingly geared towards international markets. Thequality of the final product and reliability of busi-ness partners are crucial to taking final decisions.

Cyprus is not only an excellent holiday desti-nation but also a recognized international busi-ness center with modern and flexible industryand valuable know-how.

Take advantage of what Cyprus has to offer.

Benefits at a glance

1. Advanced technology and productionCyprus’ industry is relatively new. Therefore, thetechnology and equipment meet the latest stan-dards. As a result there are many products ofhigh quality, which are fully competitive in inter-national markets.

2. Cyprus – the European UnionCyprus, after completing the cycle of contactsand negotiations, and having fully aligned withthe EU’s acquis communautaire, since 1 May2004 has been a full member of the Europeanfamily. Thus, by overcoming most barriers, whichmeant tariff and bureaucratic procedures to be

followed between Cyprus and the EuropeanUnion countries before Cyprus joined the EU,new conditions and opportunities have been cre-ated for the development of trade and economicrelations between the business community ofCyprus and member states of the enlarged Euro-pean Union.

3. Modern economic structuresThe business environment and economic struc-tures of Cyprus fully meet European standardsand requirements. This does not only concerncustoms duties and other related procedures,but also issues regarding trade, staff employ-ment, business associations, movement andtransport of goods as well as other activities. A

Polish importer who is purchasing from Cyprus isin a reliable environment.

4. Modern system of transportand communicationCyprus has an excellent network of transport andcommunication, which combined with moderninfrastructure and the advanced level of bankingand other professional services, offers to the Pol-ish entrepreneur the opportunity for the develop-ment of his business activity.The operation of two international airports facili-tates commercial contacts with Cypriot business-men whereas modern ports directly and immedi-ately serve the needs of commerce, with bothPoland and other countries.

5. FlexibilityCypriot manufacturers are famous for their flexi-bility and adaptability of their production to meetboth the needs of their customers and the condi-tions of foreign markets – a classic marketingstrategy.

6. Cypriot businessman as a partnerThose who have developed business contactswith Cyprus know very well how friendly, hos-pitable and trustworthy Cypriot businessmen are.One business visit to Cyprus will provide you withthe opportunity to meet your future businesspartners.

Cyprus offers a wide range of high-quality andmodern design products, which are manufac-tured with state-of-the-art machinery.

The Cypriot manufacturers with long experi-ence and international recognition of their prod-ucts offer Polish importers the opportunity forbusiness success with such assets as quality,design and price.

Manufactured products represent almost65% of the country’s total exports. Theisland’s major industries are involved in theproduction of pharmaceutical products, foodand drinks, clothing, cement, paper products,perfumery, confectionery and cosmetics.There has been considerable expansion inrecent years in the areas of printing and pub-lishing and in the production of chemicals,plastics, etc.The excellent quality as well asthe competitive prices of the Cyprus prod-ucts meets the levels of the most demandingand sophisticated international markets.

All production, packaging and storage pro-cedures adhere strictly to European regula-tions and standards. Cypriot manufacturersare constantly following developments andtechnological advances in their field of activi-ty.

The Cyprus Trade Center in Warsaw canprovide you with any information concerningtrade, arrange your first commercial contactsand forward your interest in doing businesswith Cypriot businessmen. ●

BROUGHT TO YOU BY CYPRUS TRADE CENTER

JANUARY 9-15, 201214 www.wbj.pl

LOKALE IMMOBILIAW a r s a w B u s i n e s s J o u r n a l ’s w e e k l y s u p p l e m e n t o n r e a l e s t a t e , c o n s t r u c t i o n a n d d e v e l o p m e n t • JANUARY 9-15, 2012 LI 17/01

Moniuszki

Tower changes

hands

The BPT Optima real

estate investment fund,

managed by BPT Asset

Management, has sold

the Moniuszki Tower

office building in Warsaw

to European asset

manager Catalyst Capital.

The value of the

transaction has not been

disclosed. Jones Lang

LaSalle advised BPT in

the sale of Moniuszki

Tower while CBRE acted

on behalf of Catalyst

Capital. The Moniuszki

Tower high-rise is

located in downtown

Warsaw and comprises

almost 11,600 sqm of

space.

Concept Tower

commercial-

izationCushman & Wakefield

has become the exclusive

leasing agent for office

space in the

under-construction

Concept Tower office

project in Warsaw.

Located at the

intersection of ul.

Grzybowska and ul.

Karolkowa in the capital’s

Wola district, the scheme

is set to be completed in

the fourth quarter of

2012. The Concept Tower

project, whose investor is

the Concept Development

Group, will be a 15-storey

class-A investment

offering more than 9,000

sqm of leasable office

space. ●

Office

Skanska receives permits for officesThe company has alsolaunched constructionon the second phase ofits Green Cornerscheme in the capital

Developer Skanska PropertyPoland has obtained a buildingpermit for its Atrium 1 officeproject in Warsaw. Locatednear the capital’s ONZRoundabout, the 15-storeyclass-A investment will deliver18,000 sqm of leasable spaceonce it is completed at the turnof 2013 and 2014.

According to the company,Atrium 1, which has alreadybeen LEED-precertified, willbe the most sustainable officebuilding in Poland. The devel-opment is to feature pioneer-ing energy-saving and environ-ment-friendly solutions, in-cluding a geothermal heatingand cooling system which iscurrently used in just a fewoffice buildings in Europe.

“I am very proud that weare starting the construction ofa unique office building whichis going to be a pioneer projecton the Polish market. I amhappy that once again it isSkanska that sets new trendsin green office development,”Waldemar Olbryk, president

of Skanska Property Poland,said in a statement.

The company has alsoreceived the go-ahead to

develop Malta House, anoffice development in Poz-naƒ, Wielkopolskie voivod-ship, which is expected to be

the first LEED-certified of-fice property in the city. Con-struction on the scheme,which will deliver 15,700 sqm

of leasable space, will launchlater this month and finish inQ3 2013.

In related news, SkanskaProperty Poland has launchedconstruction on the secondphase of its Green Corneroffice complex in the Polishcapital. Building B in the com-plex, which just like the otherSkanska schemes will be a sus-tainable project, will comprise13,000 sqm of leasable space.

The Green Corner com-plex, which is located at theintersection of ul. Wronia andul. Ch∏odna in Warsaw’s Woladistrict, has been under con-struction since February 2011and is scheduled to be complet-ed by the end of this year. Skan-ska has recently signed the firsttwo deals for space in GreenCorner’s building A, leasing atotal area of 7,300 sqm.

Skanska Property Polandhas been operating since1997. The company’s com-pleted office investmentsinclude Poland’s first EUGreenBui lding-cert i f ieddevelopments – the DeloitteHouse and Marynarska Pointprojects in Warsaw and theGrunwaldzki Center schemein Wroc∏aw, Lower Silesiavoivodship.

Adam Zdrodowski

New Skanska offices . . . . . . . .15

Wola House scheme . . . . . . . . .15

Wzorcownia project sold . . . . .16

IVG buys

Młodziejowski Palace . . . . . . . .16

Echo Investment malls . . . . . . .16

Property-related stocks . . . . . .16

Notus interview . . . . . . . . . . . . .17

Theme parks in Poland . . . . . . .18

In this issue

1816

German real estate companyIVG Immobilien has acquiredanother office building in Warsaw

Investors and experts areoptimistic about theprospects for planned themepark developments in Poland

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Unidevelopment plans another office building in WarsawDeveloper Unidevelopment,which is currently buildingGrzybowska 81 in Warsaw,the first office project in thefirm’s history, is planninganother office investment inthe Polish capital. The com-pany has signed a prelimi-nary conditional agreementconcerning the acquisition ofa special purpose vehiclewhich will build the WolaHouse office scheme in War-saw’s Wola district.

The planned develop-ment, which will be locatedon Warsaw’s Al. PrymasaTysiàclecia, has alreadyreceived a building permit.

Unidevelopment’s acquisi-tion of the Wola House proj-ect is contingent on the com-pany commercializing a sat-isfactory amount of space inthe investment.

The Wola House schemewill be a class-A facilityoffering nine above-groundand three undergroundfloors with a total of almost33,900 sqm of space, ofwhich more than 19,100 sqmwill be devoted to officespace. The development’sparking lot will offer parkingspaces for 248 cars.

“We see the developmentof projects in the office sec-

tor as a permanent part ofour firm’s activities. Thisyear we started the firstinvestment of this kind andhad great success selling thebuilding to Bank PolskiejSpó∏dzielczoÊci, before con-struction even launched,”Zbigniew GoÊcicki, presi-dent of Unidevelopment’smanagement board, said in astatement.

“The diversification ofthe offer is our way of effi-ciently developing our activi-ties in challenging marketconditions,” Mr GoÊcickiadded.

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The Wola House scheme will comprise almost 33,900

sqm of total space

To subscribe: e-mail subscribe@wbj.pl or call +48 22 639 85 68, ext. 201 and sign up for free two-week no-obligation trial subscription

Warsaw Business Journal presents Real Estate weekly newsletter

• Know about the newest projects before they’re on the market• Keep up to date on the latest tenders and auctions• Learn the latest trends in Poland’s dynamic office, residential and retail sectors • Find out who’s who in Polish real estate

or

JANUARY 9-15, 2012LOKALE IMMOBILIA – REAL ESTATE16 www.wbj.pl

IBC lease

renewalsThree major tenants of

the International

Business Center I and II

office buildings in

Warsaw – Union

Investment, Bouygues

Immobilier and British

Telecom, which occupy a

total of 2,800 sqm – have

extended their

agreements for leasing

space in the buildings.

Two other tenants in the

IBC project – PwC and

Samsung Electronics –

have leased additional

space, which combined

amounts to more than

1,800 sqm. The IBC

scheme is owned by

Accession Fund SICAV.

Mokotowska

Square

building soldDeveloper Yareal Polska

has sold its Mokotowska

Square office and retail

building in central

Warsaw to German real

estate fund Deka

Immobilien. The value of

the transaction has not

been revealed. The

seven-floor Mokotowska

Square facility offers over

8,600 sqm of office space

and almost 1,300 sqm of

retail space. ●

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

on Jan 5 (z∏. mln)

BUDIMEX 77.00 0.65 64.00 109.20 -24.88 25,530,098 1,965.82

CELTIC 17.52 0.11 15.55 24.89 -26.94 34,068,252 596.88

DOMDEV 29.41 -0.31 23.50 50.80 -29.12 24,560,222 722.32

ECHO 3.40 3.34 3.05 5.55 -31.31 420,000,000 1,428.00

ELBUDOWA 96.00 -1.03 87.00 169.90 -43.20 4,747,608 455.77

ENERGOPLD 1.81 -3.21 1.81 4.10 -51.60 70,972,001 128.46

ERBUD 17.40 18.37 14.65 57.00 -69.20 12,644,169 220.01

GANT 6.22 -3.57 5.85 17.60 -62.42 20,499,953 127.51

GTC 8.77 -5.70 8.64 24.60 -63.98 219,372,990 1,923.90

HBPOLSKA 0.81 10.96 0.70 3.01 -73.36 210,558,445 170.55

JWCONSTR 5.78 7.24 4.36 15.70 -62.71 54,073,280 290.91

LCCORP 0.88 1.15 0.85 1.69 -40.54 447,558,311 393.85

MARVIPOL 8.9 -0.56 7.22 10.34 -14.01 36,923,400 328.62

MIRBUD 1.99 0.51 1.94 4.75 -51.11 75,000,000 149.25

MOSTALWAR 16.30 1.88 15.40 59.30 -72.51 20,000,000 326.00

MOSTALZAB 1.33 3.91 1.07 3.00 -55.22 149,130,538 198.34

ORCOGROUP 15.15 4.63 14.00 40.00 -45.39 17,053,866 258.37

PBG 75.85 6.83 56.05 212.00 -63.53 14,295,000 1,084.28

PLAZACNTR 2.04 4.62 1.80 5.15 -58.20 297,174,515 606.24

POLAQUA 5.14 11.98 4.53 20.60 -70.89 27,500,100 141.35

POLIMEXMS 1.66 0.00 1.23 4.02 -58.60 521,154,076 865.12

POLNORD 13.47 -0.96 11.03 33.59 -58.17 23,798,439 320.56

RANKPROGR 13.47 -0.96 11.03 33.59 -58.17 23,798,439 320.56

ROBYG 1.10 0.00 1.04 2.13 -40.86 257,390,000 283.13

RONSON 0.82 0.00 0.77 1.58 -44.22 272,360,000 223.34

TRAKCJA 0.71 4.41 0.65 4.00 -82.47 232,105,480 164.79

ULMA 64.40 -0.77 57.00 88.00 -20.20 5,255,632 338.46

UNIBEP 5.99 0.67 4.47 10.00 -40.10 33,927,184 203.22

WARIMPEX 3.23 9.49 2.95 10.89 -67.21 54,000,000 174.42

ZUE 5.40 -3.05 5.07 14.54 -62.66 22,000,000 118.80

Property-related stocks

IVG acquires M∏odziejowskiPalace in central WarsawGerman real estate companyIVG Immobilien recentlyacquired the M∏odziejowskiPalace office project in War-saw from a firm managed bydeveloper Mermaid Proper-ties. The value of the transac-tion was approximately €22.4million.

Located in central Warsaw,the historical building wasrefurbished last year, becom-ing a class-A office propertyoffering almost 7,000 sqm ofleasable space. Tenantsinclude Poland’s Ministry ofForeign Affairs and consulting

company A.T. Kearney.“It is one of the most high-

profile transactions of last yearand we are pleased to addM∏odziejowski Palace to ourgrowing office portfolio,”Maciej Zajdel, managingdirector of IVG Poland, said ina statement.

“Warsaw remains the focusfor international capital and thisacquisition reinforces the inter-national appeal of Warsaw forreal estate investors [who recog-nize] the long-term strength ofthe Polish capital’s office mar-ket,” Mr Zajdel added.

M∏odziejowski Palace is thefifth office building in Warsawacquired by IVG for its variousfunds over the last 15 months.Earlier the company acquiredthe capital’s Victoria Building,BTC, Ujazdowskie 10 and N21schemes.

CBRE acted as a commer-cial advisor to IVG in itsacquisition of M∏odziejowskiPalace and the Siwek LawOffice provided legal services.DTZ was the exclusive agentfor the selling party in thetransaction.

Adam Zdrodowski

Shopping centers

Echo Investment launches Galeria Amber project in KaliszThe developer has alsosecured financing forits Galeria Venedamall scheme in ¸om˝a

Warsaw Stock Exchange-listeddeveloper Echo Investment islaunching construction on itsGaleria Amber shopping cen-ter project in Kalisz, Wielko-polskie voivodship. The com-pany has just selected EiffageBudownictwo Mitex as thegeneral contractor of the mall.

The value of the compa-nies’ agreement amounts toover z∏.162 million. TheGaleria Amber development,which will be located at theintersection of Kalisz’s ul.GórnoÊlàska and TrasaBursztynowa, is scheduled tobe completed in the secondquarter of 2013.

The four-floor investmentwill offer 33,500 sqm ofleasable space housing 140stores, including a hypermar-ket, and points of services. Amulti-screen movie theateroperated by Helios will also bepart of the scheme. Visitors willhave approximately 1,100 park-ing spaces at their disposal.

A preliminary architectural

concept for Galeria Amberwas provided by Bose Interna-tional Planning and Architec-ture. The Artur Jasiƒski iWspólnicy Biuro Architekton-iczne studio furnished thedesign of the mall.

In related news, EchoInvestment has signed an agre-ement with Raiffeisen BankPolska concerning a €14.35-million loan that it will use tohelp finance its Galeria Venedashopping center project in¸om˝a, Podlaskie voivodship.

“I am glad that the bankhas recognized the potential ofthe investment which is beingbuilt in a small, well develop-ing urban center,” GrzegorzIwaƒski, director of the financ-ing department at EchoInvestment, said in a state-ment.

Galeria Veneda will belocated at the intersection of¸om˝a’s ul. Zawadzka and ul.Sikorskiego and is expected tobecome the largest mall in theregion. The project will offer16,000 sqm of leasable space,75 percent of which hasalready been commercialized.

The design of GaleriaVeneda was furnished by

the Warsaw-based MàkaSojka Architekci studio, incooperation with Echo

Investment’s architecturalteam. The mall is beingbuilt by Instal Bia∏ystok and

is scheduled to be complet-ed in November 2012.

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Blackstone buys Wzorcownia mallThe Blackstone real estate fundhas acquired the Wzorcowniashopping center in W∏oc∏awek,Kujawsko-Pomorskie voivod-ship, from Polish investor anddeveloper Budizol. The value ofthe transaction has not beendisclosed.

The Wzorcownia mall hasjoined King’s Street Retail, acollection of shopping centersfunded and asset-managed byBlackstone that currently alsoincludes Magnolia Park inWroc∏aw, Galeria Twierdza inK∏odzko, Galeria Twierdza inZamoÊç and Galeria Pestka inPoznaƒ.

“Wzorcownia is a uniqueproject, both in terms of itsexcellent location in the heartof W∏oc∏awek and an appealingarchitectural design,” said PaulKusmierz, president of MasterManagement Group, which

manages Wzorcownia and theother King’s Street Retail malls.

He added that the companysees great capacity for growthand improvement in the mall.“Our immediate objective is toincrease the profile of Wzor-cownia through an active mar-keting and branding strategy tofurther grow footfall and salesfor the mall’s tenants,” Mr Kus-

mierz said.The Wzorcownia shopping

center was developed throughthe revitalization of a 19th-cen-tury pottery factory. The mallcomprises 25,500 sqm of GLAand 400 parking spaces. Apartfrom stores, it offers entertain-ment and leisure facilitiesincluding a cinema and a bowl-ing center. Adam Zdrodowski

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Wzorcownia mall is located in a 19th-century factory

Family on its Own mortgagesaccounted for almost 10 per-cent of all mortgages grantedbetween 2007 and June 2011. Inmid-2011, almost 50 percent ofall transactions concerned theused apartments market.

The introduced changeshave already resulted in theexclusion of the used apart-ments market from the pro-gram; they will only impact theprimary market to a limitedextent. The lack of state supportwill divert the attention of somebuyers towards cheaper apart-

ments and, as a result, smallermortgages.

How popular are mortgage bro-kerage services in Poland?The financial services market inPoland is relatively young com-pared to those in WesternEurope but it is developing andgrowing all the time. Undoubt-edly, one of the causes of thegrowing popularity of financialadvisors is the fact that the Pol-ish banking sector is in a verycomplicated milieu.

The differences in banks’

offers and procedures are huge,which often leads to confusionamong clients and a lack ofunderstanding of the require-ments made by banks. It is herethat financial advisors, who arefamiliar with and keep a closeeye on the changing offers andrequirements of banks, canoffer their help.

Poles’ interest in mortgagebrokerage services is corrobo-rated by the constantly improv-ing results of firms that belongto the Financial Advisory FirmsAssociation (ZFDF). In the

first three quarters of last yearmembers of the ZFDF bro-kered mortgages valued at atotal of z∏.12.94 billion.

Developers themselves arestarting to offer mortgage bro-kerage services in increasingnumbers ...There are many differencesbetween a financial advisoryand a mortgage department ofa development firm. The mainadvantage of mortgage advisorsat a financial advisory is the factthat they specialize in bank

products and base their busi-ness on that. Unlike small mort-gage departments at develop-ment companies, large financialadvisories cooperate with themajority of banks in the market.

Financial advisories arecharacterized by their inde-pendence. While calculating aclient’s creditworthiness, theiradvisors do not limit them-selves to one particular prop-erty, which advisors at a devel-opment company do. The lat-ter advisors won’t take properties offered by the com-petition into account whilecalculating a client’s credit-worthiness and the potentialclient wants to be shown awide range of offers. ●

JANUARY 9-15, 2012 LOKALE IMMOBILIA – REAL ESTATE www.wbj.pl 17

Mortgage market

Outlook fair, despite major changes

Lokale Immobilia talksto Robert Pep∏oƒski,president of themanagement board offinancial advisory DomKredytowy Notus,about the prospects formortgage lending in2012 and the mortgagebrokerage market inPoland

Adam Zdrodowski: What is theforecast as far as banks’ mort-gage-lending activity in 2012 isconcerned?Robert Pep∏oƒski: Despite theturmoil in European marketsand the difficulty in forecastingfuture scenarios, the stable con-dition of the Polish economyallows us to predict a relativelygood situation in the mortgagemarket in 2012.

The sector still has consider-able potential. According todata from a Q3 2011 report byAMRON-SARFiN, the totalnumber of mortgages hasincreased to 1.6 million andtheir total volume has alreadyexceeded z∏.300 billion.

This is good news, but thereis worse news as well. The samereport shows that the numberand volume of mortgages grant-ed in Q3 were lower by 4.64percent than in Q2. It is hard totell if this is a one-off decline ora trend which will deepen in thefuture.

Banks were obliged to adopt anew Financial SupervisionAuthority recommendation bythe end of last year. How signif-icant are the changes for futuremortgage-takers?According to the provisions ofthe recommendation, a month-ly installment of a foreign-cur-rency denominated mortgagecannot exceed 42 percent of themortgage-taker’s revenues.Additionally, for all currencies,a shorter-than-before period ofnot more than 25 years is usedfor the purpose of calculatingone’s creditworthiness.

While analyzing a client’ssituation, banks also have totake into account a potentialdecrease in monthly revenuesonce the client has retired.These and other provisions ofthe recommendation have,according to analysts’ estimates,resulted in a decrease of clients’creditworthiness by 6-9 percent.

How will the end of the govern-ment’s Family on its Own subsi-dized mortgage program forfirst home buyers affect themarket?

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JANUARY 9-15, 2012LOKALE IMMOBILIA – REAL ESTATE18 www.wbj.pl

Erbud in

Auchan contractAuchan Polska has

selected construction

company Erbud as the

general contractor of the

shell and core of a new

Auchan hypermarket that

will be developed in

Bronowice near Kraków,

Ma∏opolskie voivodship.

The value of the deal is

z∏.179.5 million.

Construction on the

scheme has just launched

and is expected to be

finished in March next

year.

IKEA center

extension

IKEA has opened the

extension of its

regional distribution

center in Jarosty near

Piotrków Trybunalski,

¸ódzkie voivodship. Due

to the investment,

which was launched in

December 2009 and

cost z∏.160 million, the

facility has been

expanded by 47,000

sqm of space to reach

today’s 150,000 sqm.

“Thanks to the

considerable extension

of the warehouse space

and the employment of

modern technological

solutions we will be

able to serve even more

efficiently IKEA stores

in as many as six

European countries,”

Goran Hansson,

managing director of

IKEA Distribution

Services, said in a

statement.

Promenady

Wroc∏awskie

permitThe first residential

building in Vantage

Development’s

Promenady Wroc∏awskie

mixed-use project in

Wroc∏aw, Lower Silesia

voivodship, has obtained

a building permit. ●

Theme parks

Rollercoaster to success?Two large-scale theme parkprojects are expected to bedeveloped in Poland in theupcoming years. The countryhas to date not seen similardevelopments but will theschemes be financially feasibleas the economic uncertaintypersists?

Last summer a Luxem-bourg-based consortium ofprivate investors said it wouldspend €400 million on a themepark called Adventure WorldWarsaw, located in GrodziskMazowiecki, some 40 kilome-ters from the capital.

The project, which will bebe built and managed by a spe-cial purpose vehicle called LasPalm, will be divided into fivedifferent thematic zones evok-ing various fairy tales and leg-ends. It will also include cine-mas and hotel space. Con-struction should commence inJuly.

For its part, Global ParksPoland, a company thatbelongs to Moshe Greidinger,the co-owner of the CinemaCity Poland multiplex chain,confirmed in December itwould build an investmentcalled Park of Poland in theMszczonów municipality inwestern Mazowieckie Voivod-ship.

The development, whosefirst phase is valued at z∏.2.2billion and is scheduled tobe completed in mid-2015,will feature a theme park, awater park, hotels, shops,cinemas and a number ofother facilities.

Untapped potentialAccording to Sebastian Bar-basiewicz, member of themanagement board of LasPalm, there is large demand inPoland for the kind of enter-tainment that his company’sfacility will offer, especially

since the supply, when itcomes to projects of this scale,is virtually non-existent.

“There is not a single parkin Poland on the scale of thosewhich we know from WesternEurope: Efteling [in theNetherlands] or Europa Park[in Germany]. Those parks arevisited by hundreds of thou-sands of Poles every year,” MrBarbasiewicz said.

He added that theme parksare somewhat resilient to eco-nomic hardship, and likenedthis to how Poles tend to spendmore and more in the Christ-mas period every year despitethe ongoing economic crisis.

“The spending of time withone’s family in a valuable wayis very important for Poles.Meanwhile, today most fami-lies spend their weekends infront of a TV set or in a shop-ping center,” Mr Barbasiewiczsaid.

In his view Poland, with itspopulation of 38 million, couldhouse several theme parks. Henoted that in the Netherlands,a country that is more thantwo times smaller than Polandin terms of population, morethan 10 such facilities operate.

A prime locationCould the fact that both of therecently announced new Pol-ish theme park projects are tobe located in the same part ofthe country be a major prob-lem? Not really, according toAgnieszka Olszewska, an asso-ciate in the retail departmentof Cushman & Wakefield inPoland.

She argued that comparedto the rest of Poland, Warsawand the neighboring locationsmake up a region with a hugepotential for this kind of offer.She noted that the sheer sizeof the capital and the numberof its households and families

with children point to thedemand for such parks in thearea.

“One has to remember thatWarsaw does not have suchattractions; so far we havemostly seen the developmentof water parks and ropescourses in the region. Theinhabitants of Warsaw defi-nitely need such an offer toavoid traveling to popularEuropean theme parks,” MsOlszewska said.

She added that the parkswould help promote Warsawand the whole region. De-spite the parks’ proximity toeach other, their central loca-tion, potential and compli-mentary offers will help themattract visitors, Ms Olszewskasaid.

“If only the projects proveto be characterized by highquality and sufficient scale Iam convinced that both loca-tions will fit perfectly into theentertainment market and

will be successful in the long-term.”

Right time to build?The potential may be there,but why should two suchlarge investments beannounced at a time whenthe prospects for commer-cial real estate are, amid thegeneral economic uncertain-ty in Europe, hard to fore-cast?

Cushman & Wakefield’sOlszewska pointed out thatthe projects are in the plan-ning and finance-securingstage and it will thereforetake a few more years beforethe developments can openfor business.

“Maybe it is worth start-ing such investment in lessfavorable times, so that theycan be opened in bettertimes and at a moment whenthe economic situation willbe more conducive toexpenditures on all kinds of

entertainment,” Ms Olszew-ska said.

Las Palm’s Barbasiewicznoted that the company hadbeen preparing the Adven-ture World Warsaw projectfor almost three years. In2011, the firm managed toreach a number of crucialdecisions: it signed a letterof intent and discussed landand planning issues with thelocal authorities.

“The economic slow-down is not a reason foranyone of us to doubt in thesuccess of this investment.We have a unique, even his-toric, opportunity in front ofus to open the first largethematic park in Poland andthe largest one in this partof Europe,” Mr Bar-basiewicz said.

Despite repeated attempts tocontact the company, GlobalParks Poland was unavailablefor comment on this story.

Adam Zdrodowski

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The two theme parks will be the first investments of their kind in Poland

Details of two large theme park investmentswere announced in Poland last year. Will thedevelopments succeed amid the growingeconomic worries in the country?

JANUARY 9-15, 2012 www.wbj.pl 19MARKETS

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the z∏oty

Currency report

The EUR/USD started theyear on a rebound to over$1.30 but dramaticallyretreated to $1.28 after aseries of unsuccessful bondauctions in European coun-tries including Italy, Hungaryand France. This was despitegood macro news from theUS economy in the form ofthe ISM index and ADPemployment report.

In 2011 Poland did notbreak the 55 percent thresh-old for its debt-to-GDPratio, with the last NBP fix-ing of the EUR/PLN for2011 at z∏.4.41 on December30. From that day on, thez∏oty has been sliding,remaining strongly correlat-ed with the fallingEUR/USD and most impor-tantly, with the Hungarianforint.

The Hungarian govern-ment approved controversiallegislation limiting the cen-

tral bank’s independence,and there is now a dangerthat a deal with the IMFmight not go through. Thesell-off of Hungarian assetsbegan, with the EUR/HUFhitting a record high ofHUF324.

What is surprising is thatinvestors still have not learnedto distinguish Hungary fromPoland and continue to treatthe countries, along with theCzech Republic, as a singleregion. The effect on the z∏otycan be seen with theEUR/PLN advancing all theway to z∏.4.52 and theUSD/PLN climbing to z∏.3.52.Poland’s relatively healthyeconomic situation stands outamong EU states. However,external factors still have a biginfluence on the z∏oty and aslong as the situation in Hun-gary and the euro zoneremains unsolved, the z∏oty islikely to continue to fall. ●

Adam Narczewski, X-TradeBrokers Dom Maklerski SA

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Major indices

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

UNICREDIT 22.00 570.73 30.70 2.89SOBIESKI 310.00 46.92 285.00 113.00NTTSYSTEM 0.59 37.21 1.13 0.41PETROLINV 3.12 36.24 13.00 2.13SELENAFM 6.57 23.96 22.50 5.05

WIG 37,739.39 (January 5 close)

Change for the week: 0.38% 52-week high: 50,371.74

Change year to January 5: -19.45% 52-week low: 36,549.47

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

PBG 75.85 6.83 212.00 53.70KGHM 114.00 3.07 200.03 102.40PGE 21.14 2.13 25.07 15.98TAURONPE 5.45 1.87 6.81 4.65PZU 312.50 1.13 398.60 283.10

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

GETIN 2.60 -63.12 8.00 3.37INTERBUD 5.51 -23.47 17.39 5.30INTAKUS 1.08 -22.30 1.64 0.61REINHOLD 0.96 16.52 6.24 0.93PBSFINANSE 0.47 -11.32 1.53 0.32

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

GETIN 2.60 -63.12 15.29 2.53CYFRPOLSAT 12.70 -5.93 17.69 11.60GTC 8.77 -5.70 24.80 8.56LOTOS 22.30 -4.29 49.50 22.26PGNIG 3.93 -3.68 4.65 3.25

WIG20 2,157.43 (January 5 close)

Change for the week: 0.60% 52-week high: 2,932.62

Change year to January 5: -19.56% 52-week low: 2,089.84

mWIG40 2,159.73 (January 5 close)

Change for the week: -0.65% 52-week high: 2,987.72

Change year to January 5: -23.61% 52-week low: 2,076.52

sWIG80 8,601.73 (January 5 close)

Change for the week: 1.24% 52-week high: 12,932.00

Change year to January 5: -29.75% 52-week low: 8,218.71

NewConnect 40.90 (January 5 close)Change for the week: -1.73% 52-week high: 62.08

Change year to January 5: -34.30% 52-week low: 40.15

WIG-Banki 5,366.81 (January 5 close)

Change for the week: -1.00% 52-week high: 7,387.49

Change year to January 5: -19.11% 52-week low: 4,944.19

DJIA12,415.70 (Jan 5 close)

1.62% (for the week)

CHANGE: 0.75%

(year to Jan 5)

52-week high: 12,876.00

52-week low: 10,404.49

NASDAQ2,669.86 (Jan 5 close)

2.48% (for the week)

CHANGE: -1.23%

(year to Jan 5)

52-week high: 2,887.75

52-week low: 2,298.89

S&P5001,281.06 (Jan 5 close)

1.87% (for the week)

CHANGE: 0.75%

(year to Jan 5)

52-week high: 1,370.58

52-week low: 1.074.77

FTSE1005,624.26 (Jan 5 close)

0.93% (for the week)

CHANGE: -6.02%

(year to Jan 5)

52-week high: 6,105.77

52-week low: 4,791.01

DAX6,095.99 (Jan 5 close)

3.35% (for the week)

CHANGE: -12.26%

(year to Jan 5)

52-week high: 7,600.41

52-week low: 4,965.80

NIKKEI2258,488.71 (Jan 5 close)

0.39% (for the week)

CHANGE: -19.47%

(year to Jan 5)

52-week high: 10,891.60

52-week low: 8,135.79

world stock indices

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Other indices

Signs of a difficult

year to come?

Stocks report

The Warsaw Stock Exchangegot off to a good start thisyear with the blue-chipWIG20 index gaining over 2percent on Monday, January2. The main WIG index alsoended the day almost 2 per-cent higher. But things took aturn for the worse as theweek progressed, as investorswere reminded of the prob-lems facing the global econo-my and, in particular, the factthat the euro-zone crisis hasnot yet been resolved.

Fears of a strong slow-down in Europe werereflected in most of the con-tinent’s markets, whichresponded to disappointingbond yields. Thursday sawEuropean bourses lose anaverage of 1 percent, follow-ing rising French bond yields.

Ongoing financial prob-lems in Hungary affectedsentiment in Warsaw onThursday – the final day of

trading on the WSE lastweek due to a national holi-day on Friday – with the mar-ket dominated by selling.Both the WIG20 andmWIG40 lost around 1.2percent, which effectivelywiped out gains made at thebeginning of the week. Evensurprisingly good data fromthe US labor market didn’thelp improve moods on theWSE on Thursday.

This week is also expect-ed to be a tense one. First ofall, there is the possibilitythat euro-zone memberscould have their credit rat-ings downgraded by S&P. Inaddition, there will be anauction of Spanish and Ital-ian bonds, while the ECB isdue to make announcementson monetary policy. All inall, 2012 is shaping up to beno less volatile on the mar-kets than 2011.

Remi Adekoya

JANUARY 9-15, 2012THE LIST20 www.wbj.pl

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Rafa∏ StrzeleckiPresident

14

System Rewident Sp. z o.o.ul. Rakowiecka 30A, 02-528 Warsaw22 380-0380/22 380-0381info@system-rewident.com.plwww.system-rewident.com.pl

3.47.66.76.5

4.37.87.16.7

61.5%35.9%

2.6%-

✓✓

✓✓

HR and payroll; business consulting; stocktaking;training

FIS Technology Services; UBB Polska; B3System;Stopklatka; SAP Polska; CB Richard Ellis Polska; GrupaPortfolio Real Estate; Soyter; Grupa Heitman; Multico;

Grupa Farmy Wiatrowe

7673

1995

24-

12

Jadwiga SzabatPresident

15

Estelligence Sp. z o.o. ul. I. Krasickiego 35, 02-611 Warsaw22 250-0550/22 250-0550kontakt@estelligence.comwww.estelligence.com

3.56.52.71.5

3.56.52.71.5

65%WND

WNDWND

-✓

--

WND WND

5349

2004

39--

Agnieszka SzwedowiczBoard Member

16

AUXILIUM SA Al. Pokoju 84, 31-564 Kraków12 425-8053/12 425-9147auxilium@auxilium.com.plwww.auxilium.com.pl

4.15.95.44.1

4.56.55.84.4

35%56%

5%4%

✓✓

✓✓

Stock market advice

Doradcy 24; INBOOK; Liberty Group; TELFORCEONE;INTERSPORT Polska; STI Group; ART NEW MEDIA;

Positive Advisor; Odlewnie Polskie; Dom Lekarski; Unima2000; Makolab; Cementownia WARTA; Wojskowa

Agencja Mieszkaniowa; Adesso; Stomil Poznaƒ; Lamda

18729

1995

22-

136

Zofia PodhorodeckaPresident

17

Moore Stephens Central Audit Sp. z o.o. ul. Sienna 82, 00-815 Warsaw22 652-2183/22 323-6550biuro@centralaudit.plwww.centralaudit.pl

3.25.65.34.7

3.35.95.84.8

39%54%

4%3%

✓✓

✓✓

- WND

4842

2005

2513

Janusz Bia∏eckiPresident

18

Baltic Accountants and Consultants KurtIversenAl. Wojska Polskiego 11, 01-524 Warsaw22 869-0666/22 869-0660contact.us@baac.com.pl, www.baac.com.pl

2.64.94.84.3

2.85.35.34.9

69%22%

6%3%

✓✓

✓-

WND WND

2929

1990

1713

Kurt IversenDirector

1st half of 2011 / 2010 /2009 / 2008

Fee split Specialization

JANUARY 9-15, 2012 THE LIST www.wbj.pl 21

Notes: NR = Not Ranked, WND = Would Not Disclose. Research for The List was done in October 2011. Number ofemployees and ownership structure are as of September 2011. All information pertains to the companies’ activities inPoland. Companies not responding to our survey are not listed.Footnotes: (1) Financial year: July 1-June 30; (2) Financial year: September 1-August 31; (3) TPA Horwath consists ofTPA Horwath Accounting Sp. z o.o. and TPA Horwath Horodko Audit Sp. z o.o.

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

Rank

Company nameAddressTel./FaxE-mailWeb page

Revenuefrom

auditing andaccounting

(z∏. mln)

Totalrevenue (z∏. mln)

Accounting /

Audit

Tax c

onsu

ltancy

/O

ther

Audit /

Accounting

Tax c

onsu

ltancy

/M

&A

OtherSelected clients

Totalemployees /

Full timeemployees /Year founded

in Poland Accounta

nts

/

Inte

rnationally

lic

ense

dauditors

/P

ola

nd-lic

ense

d a

uditors

Top local executive / Title

19

Morison Finansista Audit Sp. z o.o.ul. G∏ówna 6, 61-005 Poznaƒ61 654-4102/61 875-2950biuro@morison.plwww.morison.pl

2.94.45.65.8

3.76.57.17.0

33.3%34.7%

6.325.7

✓✓

✓✓

Corporate finance; controlling; investmentadvice; valuations

Mi´dzynarodowe Targi Poznaƒskie; AgencjaNieruchomoÊci Rolnych; Kopalnia W´gla Brunatnego“Konin”; Oponeo; WUPRIN˚; Wittchen; Chata Polska;

PIECBIOGAZ; Totalizator Sportowy; Polskie Radio; PolskieJad∏o; Cracow University of Economics

8752

1989

23-

35

Lidia Skud∏awskaPresident

20

getsix Groupul. Szwedzka 5, 55-040 Bielany Wroc∏awskie71 388-1300/71 388-1310office@getsix.plwww.getsix.pl

2.74.33.1

WND

2.74.33.1

WND

70%-

10%20%

-✓

✓-

Virtual office services; start-up support;business planning and modeling; accounting

services by using customers’ IT systems;payroll and HR services; IT services (Extranet

and ERP application hosting); legal advice

WND

4545

2006

40WNDWND

Monika Martynkiewicz-Frank; Claus Frank; Roy

HeynleinPartners

21

Grupa Gumu∏ka - Audyt Sp. z o.o.ul. Jana Matejki 4, 40-077 Katowice32 790-2294/32 201-1765audyt@gumulka.plwww.gumulka.pl

2.64.13.42.8

4.58.65.84.3

9%39%

38%14%

✓✓

✓✓

Evaluation; opinion polls; EU funds acquisitionfor project development; valuation expertise;

NewConnect; Catalyst; Warsaw StockExchange

FM Polska; PARP; MRR; GK ZARMEN; TauronWytwarzanie; Krajowa Izba Gospodarcza; G∏ówny

Instytut Budownictwa; Agencja Rozwoju Przemys∏u;Warsaw City Hall; ZUS FRD; GK K´ty

7070

2004

918

Rados∏aw Gumu∏kaPresident

22

Korycka, Budziak & Audytorzy Sp. z o.o. ul. Solec 22, 00-410 Warsaw22 522-2390/22 522-2391kba@kba.com.plwww.kba.com.pl

2.04.04.44.2

2.24.55.14.8

53%37%

9%1%

✓✓

✓✓

Accounting advisory; due diligenceJupiter NFI; Apator; PRI Pol - Aqua; Pekao Fundusz

Kapita∏owy; Roto Frank; Uniwheels Production; Gühring

2723

1992

10-3

Ewa OrkwiszewskaPresident

23

FK Partner Sp. z o.o.ul. Tagore’a 3, 02-647 Warsaw22 242-8511/22 242-8510warszawa@fk-partner.plwww.fk-partner.pl

1.53.87.35.4

2.65.97.36.9

61.1%-

0.6%38.3%

✓✓

✓✓

HR outsourcing; training; IT outsourcing;financial advice

BPH TFI; Miejskie Przedsi´biorstwo Taksówkowe;Lexmark Polska; Aptiv Solutions; Przedsi´biorstwo

Miernictwa Górniczego; Grifols Polska

5217

2002

19WNDWND

Krzysztof ¸ogiewaPresident

24

Zespó∏ Us∏ug Finansowo-Ksi´gowych Bilans-Servis Sp. z o.o. Grupa Finans-Servis ul. Zagnaƒska 84, 25-528 Kielce41 368-6669/41 368-6070audyt@bilans-servis.com.plwww.bilans-servis.com.pl

WND2.62.62.5

WND2.72.92.8

18%61%

7%14%

✓✓

✓✓

Economic and financial case studies

Piekarnia Pod Telegrafem Roman Smolarski; Kopalnie iZak∏ady Chemiczne Siarki Siarkopol; Przedsi´biorstwoBudownictwa Ogólnego Kartel; Grupa Polskie Sk∏ady

Budowlane; Zak∏ady W∏ókien Chemicznych Stilon

5223

1991

10-

33

Andrzej MuchaPresident

25

Mac Auditor Sp. z o.o.ul. Obrze˝na 5, 02-691 Warsaw22 649-2765/22 649-2765macauditor@macauditor.plwww.macauditor.pl

1.42.51.41.3

1.52.51.61.4

WNDWND

WNDWND

✓✓

✓✓

Verification of valuations Idea TFI; Opoka TFI; Ipopema TFI; Noble Funds TFI

3511

1993

10-5

Rados∏aw ÂwiderskiPresident

26

MK CONSULTING Sp. z o.o., Sp.k.ul. Mariensztat 8, 00-302 Warsaw22 538-9160/22 538-9161mk@mkconsulting.plwww.mkconsulting.pl

0.91.81.51.3

0.91.81.51.3

100%-

--

-✓

--

MSR/MSSF; controlling; outsourcing; shelfcompanies; accounting advice; HR and

payroll; legal and customs services;liquidations; management reporting;

accounting for EU projects

WND

2321

2005

19--

Monika ZaluskaPresident

27

Staniszewski & Richter Sp. z o.o.ul. Lwowska 10/21, 00-658 Warsaw22 622-4198/22 621-2719sr@auditors.plwww.auditors.pl

0.71.51.41.3

1.11.82.11.9

32%51%

10%7%

✓✓

✓✓

-First Property Group; Ceraco Group; Polfrost; EZO;

Richter Med

2020

1993

222

Marzena RichterBoard Member

28

Agencja Bieg∏ych Rewidentów Badex Sp. zo.o.ul. Reymonta 45, 45-072 Opole77 454-5410/77 454-0898badex@badex.com.plwww.badex.com.pl

1.41.31.61.6

1.51.41.71.6

WNDWND

WNDWND

✓✓

✓✓

WND WND

304

1992

1-

26

Adam KarcherPresident

29

TBR Kowalczyk Sp.j.ul. Indiri Gandhi 11, 02-776 Warsaw22 647-2002/22 644-4346tbr@tbr.plwww.tbr.pl

0.50.90.80.7

0.50.90.80.7

100%-

--

-✓

--

WND APS; Magnolia Polska; AWT International Polska; Papilart

128

1997

6--

Arkadiusz KowalczykManaging Partner

30

Optant Sp. z o.o.ul. Berezyƒska 39, 03-908 Warsaw22 617-2233/22 616-2487biuro@optant.com.plwww.optant.com.pl

0.40.80.80.8

0.40.80.80.8

99%-

-1%

-✓

-✓

-Fleishman Hillard; Vivarto; Fastpoland; Apli Polska;

Navitor

88

2004

5--

¸ukasz KaliƒskiManaging Partner

31

THOMAS Sp. z o.o.ul. Cicha 5, 00-353 Warsaw22 862-8800/22 862-8810thomas@thomas.plwww.thomas.pl

0.30.60.61.2

0.40.90.91.3

WNDWND

WNDWND

-✓

✓✓

WND WND

64

1993

3--

Tomasz WikliƒskiPresident

NR

ANG Poland Sp. z o.o.ul. Z∏ota 59, 00-120 Warsaw22 222-3355/22 222-3366asbpoland@asbpoland.comwww.asbpoland.com

WNDWNDWNDWND

WNDWNDWNDWND

WNDWND

WNDWND

-✓

--

Shelf companies; back-office services;administration services

WND

WNDWND2008

WNDWNDWND

Przemys∏aw OleksyManaging Director

NR

Calanul. Ch∏odna 29, 00-867 Warsaw22 455-2555/22 455-2666info@calan.plwww.calan.pl

WNDWNDWNDWND

WNDWNDWNDWND

WNDWND

WNDWND

-✓

✓✓

WND WND

1241151997

WND16

Arnaud TualManaging Partner

NR

Process Solutions Sp. z o.o.Al. Jerozolimskie 81, 02-001 Warsaw22 695-0295/22 695-0299info-pl@ps-bpo.comwww.ps-bpo.com

WNDWNDWNDWND

WNDWNDWNDWND

80%-

-20%

-✓

--

Bookkeeping and tax compliance; statutoryand international reporting; HR and payroll;

fiscal representation; start-up support;business planning and modeling; corporate

administration

British Telecom; Caterpillar; Gefco; Hutton Energy;Interserve; Toro; Turbomach; WizzAir

2020

2007

18-1

Tomasz TàkielManager

NR

TMF Poland Sp. z o.o.Pl. Pi∏sudskiego 1, 00-078 Warsaw22 456-4500/22 456-4599poland@tmf-group.comwww.tmf-group.com

WNDWNDWNDWND

WNDWNDWNDWND

70%-

-30%

-✓

--

HR and payroll; domiciliary and managementservices; corporate secretarial services

(including shelf companies); banking services;international VAT registration; VAT recovery

for non-Polish businesses; fiscalrepresentation for non-EU businesses;

structured finance services

WND

1021021996

62--

Miko∏aj Pluciƒski; IsidroPeralta Pena, Juraj

GerzeniPresident; Board Members

NR

Trinity Corporate Services Sp. z o.o.Al. Jerozolimskie 56C, 00-803 Warsaw22 379-9440/22 379-9441trinity@trinitycs.comwww.trinitycs.com

WNDWNDWNDWND

WNDWNDWNDWND

70%-

-30%

-✓

--

HR and payroll; management reporting;market entry; corporate secretary; domicile

address; shelf companies & SPVs; co-partnership registration; liquidations; special

projects; asset valuation

WND

1811732004

WND2-

Thomas RavensdaleCEO

1st half of 2011 / 2010 /2009 / 2008

Fee split Specialization

JANUARY 9-15, 2012LIFESTYLE22 www.wbj.pl

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WBJ’s restaurant review feature

Amber RoomAl. Ujazdowskie 13kprb.pl/amber

There are few restaurants inWarsaw where you can eatamong the country’s moversand shakers and there areeven fewer where you can doso without making a deep holein your pocket. But AmberRoom, located in the historicalSobaƒski Palace on AlejeUjazdowskie, is one suchplace.

The restaurant draws itsdistinguished clientele fromthe surrounding embassies,the nearby parliament and the400 members of the exclusivePolish Business Roundtableclub, which owns AmberRoom.

Founded by the late Polishbusinessman and media mogulJan Wejchert, the club’srestaurant, which once servedmembers only, was opened tothe public in 2009.

With a brasserie and sever-al meeting rooms closed to thepublic, members can stillmaintain their privacy whileother visitors can now enjoy

the luxurious atmosphere andelegant cuisine of the AmberRoom restaurant.

Chef Robert Skubisz’smenu is Polish “with a moderntwist,” and greatly influencedby seasonal and local produce.The restaurant also bakes itsown bread, as well as sending adriver to get fresh fish fromthe Mazurian Lake District orBaltic Sea several times aweek.

While the quality of thefood and service is goodenough to satisfy the restau-rant’s high-profile guests(which recently included theking of Sweden and the Polishprime minister), it comes at a

surprisingly reasonable price,for lunch at least.

During the week AmberRoom offers a three-courselunch menu, which changesdaily, for just z∏.79.

And judging by the homelyUkrainian borscht, the freshhalibut served with avocadoand tomato salsa and the deca-dent meringue toped withwhipped cream and cherryjelly, the food is still of thehighest quality, despite itsmoderate price tag.

Alice Trudelle

Reservations: 22 523 66 64,recepcja.palac@twe.com.pl

Jan Wejchert

Amber Room

The Australian Pink Floyd ShowJanuary 21, 8 pmTorwarul. azienkowska 6aWarsaw

Since being formed in 1988 byoriginal members Steve Macand Jason Crawford, The Aus-tralian Pink Floyd Show(TAPFS) has gone on tobecome the foremost Pink

Floyd tribute act in the world,and the only act actuallyendorsed by the original group.Pink Floyd guitarist David Gil-mour even had the band play athis 50th birthday and whenasked to rate them heremarked, “In fact, they arereally very, very good.”

The group has sold morethan three million tickets world-wide so far and has played at

numerous events and venuesincluding the Glastonbury Fes-tival and the Royal Albert Hall.The band’s show in Warsaw willbe the third of four consecutivenights in Poland, with TAPFSalso set to appear in Wroc∏aw,Katowice and Poznaƒ as part ofthe “Exposed in the light”tour. DI

For more informationlog on to torwar.cos.pl

Concert

Shine on you crazy tribute

The Australian Pink Floyd Show

Cirque du SoleilJanuary 19-25, 8 pmErgo Arenaul. GospodyGdaƒsk

Describing its own perform-ances as a “dramatic mix ofcircus arts and street enter-tainment,” Cirque du Soleilhas been entertaining crowds

with daredevil stunts and cir-cus acts for more than 30years.

Founded by Guy Lalibertéand other street artists inMontreal, Canada, the compa-ny now employs more than1,200 artists and has per-formed at major events includ-ing the Academy Awards and

the Super Bowl. However,despite performing for morethan 100 million people acrossthe globe, this is Cirque duSoleil’s first visit to Poland.Tickets for the event arepriced from z∏.125 for adultsand z∏.100 for children. DI

For more informationlog on to ergoarena.pl

Performance

Acrobatic extravaganza

The Marriage of Figaro(Le Nozze di Figaro)January 14 National TheaterPl. TeatralnyWarsaw

First performed in Vienna in1786, Wolfgang Amadeus

Mozart’s masterful operabuffa is a continuation of thestory of the “Barber ofSeville,” and tells the tale ofa single day of madness inthe palace of Count Almavi-va.

This interpretation will see

famed director Keith Warnerproduce his first Mozart operaafter making his name produc-ing a number of Wagner’smost famous compositions.

DIFor more information, log on

to teatrwielki.pl

Opera

A Mozart masterpiece

Cirque du Soleil

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EP President Buzek washonored for developingentrepreneurship and a freemarket economy in PolandAt the end of December, the American Cham-ber of Commerce in Poland awarded thePresident of the European Parliament JerzyBuzek for his contribution in developingPoland’s entrepreneurship and a free marketeconomy.

When presenting the AmCham Award,the chairman of the American Chamber ofCommerce, Joseph Wancer, said that MrBuzek has combined his passion and skills toserve Poland.

“We are proud to honor ProfessorJerzy Buzek with our award in recognitionof the significant role he played in thetransformation of Poland and his excep-tional accomplishments on political,social and scientific grounds,” said MrWancer.

Upon receiving the award, Mr Buzek saidhe hoped that the ties between the US andPoland grow stronger.

“The United States of America is thehome of modern democracy and a secondmotherland to millions of Poles. Those twosimple facts made it clear that when we toredown the Iron Curtain, our two countrieswere swiftly connected by strong economicand political ties,” said Mr Buzek.

He added, “the award I’m receivingtonight is a great honor. I take this award notonly as an acknowledgment of my work, butalso as an inspiration for future tasks.”

Mr Buzek posed for pictures and talked toAmCham members, guests and journalistsafter the official part of the ceremony.

The AmCham Award has been givenout by the Chamber of Commerce since2003. Last year’s recipient was ProfessorLeszek Balcerowicz, a former Finance Min-ister and former president of the NationalBank of Poland. ●

President of the EuropeanParliament Jerzy Buzek receives AmCham Award

Media patronage

Creme de la creme

JANUARY 9-15, 2012 LAST WORD www.wbj.pl 23

Of mice and man lipTech Eye

Techeye likes to ring in the new yearwith panache – zany crime sprees,gratuitous consumption of riboflavin,masterpieces of debauchery thatwould scandalize Bacchus himself,things like that. And, as the old say-ing goes: “the more goats, the bet-ter.”

To our everlasting shame, 2012began with no goats and a distinctlack of panache. In fact, we didn’teven last until midnight, having fall-en asleep while an acquaintancedescribed his attempts to breed acactus that smells like herring. Thenit got worse: to ensure that Techeyewould never forget this ignominiousstart to the new year, some “friends”glued an African pygmy mouse to

our upper lip. Waking up with mas-

sive hangover and a tinymammal attached toyour face is no way tostart a morning, letalone a new year.

But here’s thething – after someaspirin, a nibble ofcheese (for eachof us), and alarge dollop ofd e p i l a t o r ycream, Techeyestarted thinking.Aside from abruised pride and theawkward fact that a (now

furless) pygmymouse has devel-oped amorousfeelings for ourlip, nothing badhappened. And2012 is quicklystarting to lookup. The Con-sumer ElectronicsShow starts thisweek, after all.

Judging by thepre-show press,

organic light emittingdiode (OLED) tech-

nology – which boastssmaller displays,faster responsetimes and morebrilliant colorsthan regular LEDTVs – is going toshine this year.Of course it’s

not the firsttime we’veheard that(that’s right,

CES 2009,we’re looking at

you), but it lookslike some big companies are bet-

ting on OLED. Like LG (lg.com). The South

Korean tech giant is debuting the“world’s largest OLED TV” at CES.We have to admit, with a strapping55-inches of virile display area, this isa dauntingly well-endowed TV.Moreover, LG claims the device willgenerate “the most natural colors ofany TV set at a much lower pricepoint than could have been achievedusing a standard manufacturingprocess.” But before you get tooexcited, keep in mind LG hasn’t

revealed what that price point is. Still, OLED is clearly the new

hotness. It might also be the new del-icateness – LG’s 55-incher is just fourmm thick and weighs a meager 7.5kg, suggesting it may be more fragilethan its lower-tech counterparts andeasier to tip over. Also, it will defi-nitely make you look fat.

CES 2012 will also mark thedebut of Wicked Audio’s Solus head-phones (wickedaudio.com), whichare being touted as “aesthetically

appealing” headphones with the“most impeccable sound yet.” Theyhave a DJ switch, allowing you toturn the sound off in one or the other

ear if you’re into that sort of thing.Price: $100.

Then there’s the Chameleon X-1wireless gamepad mouse fromShogun Bros (shogunbros.com).This actually came out last year, butthe company is hawking new grayand white versions (not pictured) atCES.

The Chameleon is a jack-of-all-gadgets, but master of none. At firstglance it’s a regular old mouse, butflip it over and it’s suddenly an oddlittle gamepad. If you’re feeling friskyyou can even use it as a remote con-trol. But when it comes down to it,the Chameleon X-1 is adequate butunexceptional in all of its roles.

Shogun Bros’ quirky marketingtechnique, on the other hand, is bestdescribed as exceptional but notquite adequate. “Sophisticed” [sic]Norway Nordic chip system? Check.Three million times switch presstest? Check. One press changemode? Check, baby.

Anyway, if you’re interested in agadget that’s clearly suffering anidentity crisis, you can buy theChameleon on Amazon for $60. It’snot the greatest mouse we’ve everseen, but on the plus side it’s unlikelyto befoul anyone’s face. ●

Ever depilated a tiny mammal? Let us know: techeye.wbj@gmail.com

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

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

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

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

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

Galeria 65 ul. Bema 65www.galeria65.com

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

Galeria Asymetria ul. Nowogrodzka 18awww.asymetria.eu

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

Galeria Milano Rondo Waszyngtona 2A(Praga)www.milano.arts.pl

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Museum ofIndependenceAleja SolidarnoÊci 62www.muzeumniepodleglosci.art.pl

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

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

Pracownia Galeriaul. Emilii Plater 14www.pracowniagaleria.pl

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

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

Simonis Galleryul. Burakowska 9www.simonisgallery.com

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

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

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

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

Warsaw Philharmonic ul. Jasna 5www.filharmonia.pl

Warsaw RisingMuseum ul. Grzybowska 79www.1944.pl

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

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

Museums, galleries and venues in Warsaw