june2014

Welcome to the next edition of MSLGROUP’s War-saw Insight. We present this to you with the idea that additional knowledge and insight about the legislative, regulatory, and leadership changes in the Polish government and European Union is worth having. This newsletter is not meant to be exhaustive. Instead, it seeks to provide summary and updates affecting the market and thus, your business. We generate this information via our daily work at MSLGROUP and feel that such infor-mation has a value to our clients and the market.

For MSLGROUP, understanding the markets within which we operate is a guiding principle. There-fore, we believe that our Warsaw Insight will de-liver you a valuable source of knowledge, infor-mation, and news. We present to you the Warsaw Insight with hope that it meets your expectations.

If you need additional information regarding our ser-vices, we would be more than happy to talk to you.

Election results were a big surprise for the third power in the parliament – Twoj Ruch – that re-ceived only – that received only 3.57% of votes with no place in European Parliament. Instead, the populist New Right (Nowa Prawica) of Janusz Korwin Mikke got 7.15% with 4 places in Brussels. Two leading parties were almost equal – with 19 places – with ruling Civic Platform (PO) slightly before the main opposition Law and Justice (PiS).It is still not certain how the election results would infl uence the shape of Polish political scene – smallest right-wing parties will disappear but it’s not decided yet how many of their politicians would move to Law and Justice, and how many to other parties. Nevertheless, it is the fi rst time in many years when, after the next election, the coalition of Law and Justice together with New Right, without ruling Civic Platform, would be possible.

Elections resulted in government changes – Mr Bogdan Zdrojewski (Ministry of Culture) and Agnieszka Kozlowska-Rajewicz (minister respon-sible for equality); new ministers are to be an-nounced in the second half of June.

The European elections were just an beginning of the next election campaign cycle; the local elec-tions are planned for November, presidential and parliamentary – for the second half of 2015.

Soon after the elections, president Barack Obama visited Poland, promising increasing the American military presence in the region. Mr Obama met here, among others, with PM Donald Tusk and Ukrainian president-elect Petro Poroshenko. His visit strengthened the position of president Bro-nislaw Komorowski, who is strongly promoting 4th of June 1989 [fi rst almost-free elections in post-communist Poland] as the important date in pan-European calendar.

Lukasz Jachowicz, head of Public AffairsMSLGROUP Polandlukasz.jachowicz@mslgroup.com

@ljachowicz

ABOUT MSL GROUP

Bogusław Piekarski was appointed by the Super-visory Board of Polimex-Mostostal to the position of vice president for operations. Piekarski has experience in managing large organizations and has gained experience in international corpora-tions such as ABB, Foster Wheeler, and Alstom. Recently, from 2012-2014, he held the position of director of project implementation at Alstom Boiler Deutschland. He graduated from the War-saw University of Technology, Faculty of Electrical Engineering. May 14

Rafał Magryś (deputy minister of internal affairs responsible for public IT systems) has been re-placed by Tomasz Szubiela. Mr Szubiela has man-aging experience in big projects, including the LNG terminal in Swinoujscie, and led various IT and telecommunication sector companies. June 6

Mrs Małgorzata Omilanowska was selected as the new Minister of Culture and National Heritage. Previously she has been under-secretary of state in the same ministry, responsible for supervising departments of national heritage and of cultur-al institutions. As an art historian, she specializes in problems of architecture of the 19th and 20th centuries, theories of art and protection of mon-uments. June 15

Mr Bogdan Zdrojewski (Ministry of Culture) and Agnieszka Kozlowska-Rajewicz (minister responsi-ble for equality will move to European Parliament.

As announced by the Ministry of Treasury, the Prime Minister accepted the resignation of Dep-uty Minister Paweł Tamborski in connection with the declaration of his candidacy for CEO of the Warsaw Stock Exchange. Paweł Tamborski is as-sociated with the capital market. From Novem-ber 2010 to January 2012, he served as head of investment banking at Wood & Company. In 2008-2010 he worked as a managing director at Unicredit CAIB Securities in London. Tamborski had been undersecretary of state treasury since January, 2012. June 7

Since the beginning of May, Paweł Wierzbicki has been CEO of Schindler Polska. Wierzbicki is a for-mer Schindler Service manager for Central & East-ern Europe within the management of Schindler. He replaced Andrzej Stawniak, who has now moved on to the international management struc-tures. May 20

APPOINTMENTS & PROMOTIONS

SUMMARY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIVITY

to choose the form of response, either written or electronic. So far, regardless of the form of com-plaint (oral, in writing, or electronically) the pro-vider was obliged to answer “on paper”. June 6

The Prime Minister met with the President of Goo-gle. Donald Tusk and Eric Schmidt, among others, spoke on Wednesday regarding a plan to launch a Google Campus, a modern center for technology startups, in Warsaw. This will be the third such place in the world after London and Tel Aviv. The Warsaw Campus will open in the fi rst half of 2015. June 4

The Court of Justice for the European Union (CJEU) issued on May 13 Case C-131/12. This rul-ing is extremely important for Internet users as it relates to the scope of liability for Internet search engines. The judgment of the Court, which was bound by a preliminary ruling, refers only to situa-tions where the search phrase is someone’s name. The Court held that in such a situation the oper-ator, in this particular case Google Spain SL and Google Inc., is responsible for the processing of such data. May 13

Important provisions introduced by the amend-ment to the Act on computerization shall enter into force on May 11. These provisions facilitate the implementation of issues and electronic com-munication with public authorities. The new rules provide that if a citizen chooses electronic com-munication with the offi ce, this correspondence will continue take place digitally. May 11

DEFENSEOn Friday, June 6th, Defense Minister Tomasz Sie-moniak participated in the 5th Annual Wroclaw Global Forum. This event featured leading polit-ical and infl uential representatives from Poland, Europe and the United States. Topics represented during this forum were related to transatlantic partnerships, democracy and security. The fo-rum also discussed issues related to the future of Ukraine and Eastern Europe in the context of the annexation of the Crimea by Russia. June 6

ENERGYCooperation in the fi eld of energy, clean coal tech-nologies and solutions for energy effi ciency were the main topics discussed during a trade mission in Japan, chaired by Deputy Minister of Economy Tomasz Tomczykiewicz. The visit took place May 26th-30th, 2014. June 6

The situation concerning the gas system in Po-land has remained stable since the beginning of the Russian – Ukrainian crisis. Currently, deliveries of natural gas within the framework of existing contracts have been executed smoothly and the Polish transmission system operator is in constant contact with the Ukrainian operator. Moreover, the Ministry of Economy together with Gaz - System SA have a prepared response plans for maintaining the stability of the national gas system. May 14

A discussion on “Smart and Effi cient Energy” was held between the Crown Prince of the Kingdom of Denmark, Prince Frederick and Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Economy Janusz Piechocińs-ki. The meeting focused on energy effi ciency as a tool for building a low-carbon economy and the formation of “smart cities” - intelligent and environ-mentally friendly places for residents. May 13

Work has begun on the implementation of the in-tergovernmental agreement on the gas connection between Poland and Slovakia. On April 18, 2014, the Agreement between the Polish Government and the Government of the Slovak Republic on co-operation in the gas pipeline project linking the Polish and Slovak transmission system came into force. The Agreement was signed in Bratislava on November 22, 2013. May 9

NEW TECHNOLOGY AND TELECOMMUNICATIONSRegulation written by the Ministry of Administra-tion and Digitization on the rules for submission and consideration of complaints for telecommu-nications services will come into force on June 8. Now, when making a complaint to the telecommu-nications service provider, customers will be able

FINANCEThe government adopted measures that impose an obligation to invest surplus funds into institu-tions such as: the economy; fi scal institutions; and state-owned cultural institutions, Polish Academy of Sciences (PAN and created by the organizational units); independent public health care (for which the entity is forming Minister, the central gov-ernment authority, province governor or medical school); and provincial funds for environmental protection and water management, in the form of a Ministry of Finance deposit. June 3

Already 901 companies have introduced fl exible working hours. Since August 2013, companies can make working time more fl exible. Most frequently this option is being used in Katowice, Poznan, Kra-kow, Rzeszow and Olsztyn. May 21

Good results for the Polish economy. 3.3% GDP growth in the fi rst quarter of 2014. Gross Domes-tic Product (GDP) in the fi rst quarter of 2014 in-creased by 3.3% year on year, after rising by 2.7% in the fourth quarter of 2013. Such data was re-ported on Thursday by the Central Statistical Of-fi ce (GUS) via a “fl ash” report. May 15

June 5 at Bagram Air Force Base in Afghanistan, a ceremony was held to delegate tasks between the fourteenth and the fi fteenth Polish Military Contingent. The new change mainly concerns lo-gistics and will be responsible for the return of equipment to Poland and the end of the Polish mission in Afghanistan. June 5

Donald Tusk emphasized the importance of the decision to increase the presence of Canadian troops in Poland. “The Prime Minister of Canada remarked that we are witnessing a decision to in-crease the presence of Canadians in Poland,” said Donald Tusk. He added that the situation in the region and the Ukrainian crisis has shown that the increased presence of allied forces on the eastern fl ank of the European Union is more justifi ed than the presence of NATO troops in Italy, Spain and Denmark. “We want to improve the Alliance strat-egy was a logical response to the current situation in the world.” - said the Prime Minister. June 4

During 10th International Conference & Exhibition “Advanced Technologies for Homeland Defense and Border Protection”, Wojciech Dabrowski, President of Polish Armaments Group, pointed out that the modernization of the armed forces de-termines necessary changes in the development of the Polish defense industry. For this purpose, the consolidation of companies as well as scien-tifi c and military partnerships with the industry follows current technological modernization pro-grams- all in order to offer products which meet the needs of the army and at the same time can be competitive on the European market. May 22

SUMMARY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIVITY

The next session of Sejm (Lower House of Parliament) will be held on the 24th, 25th, and 26th of June, 2014.

The next session of Senate will be held on the 3rd of July.

The European Council meeting will be held on 26-27 of June.

The new European Parliament meeting will be held on July 1st. Parliament chooses the President, Members will be assigned to committees.

The European Parliament will elect a new head of the European Commission, probably on 16th of July.

IMPORTANT DATES

JUNE

24 25 26TUE WED THU

26 27THU FRI

3THU

16THU

JULY

1TUEJULY

MSLGROUP is one of the oldest public relations agencies on the Polish market. Every day, our team provides companies, organizations and institutions with advice regarding their reputation and image. We are close to business and we perfectly know present communication challenges. Our rich output and highest quality of services won us Impactor 2010 and 2011 awards for the Agency of the Year.

We are part of the Publicis Groupe – third largest global marketing communication network offering services in the fi elds of public relations, public affairs, Internet and social media communication, corporate communication and event marketing. MSLGROUP has offi ces in over 80 countries, including partner agencies. It works on the territory of America, Central and Eastern Europe, Africa and Asia. MSLGROUP consists of market leading corporate and fi nancial communications agencies including Kekst & Company, JKL, QORVIS, CNC and Publicis Consultants, as well as digital marketing experts and design agency, SAS.

We perceive public affairs activities as a complex communication challenge. We know that nowa-days decisions are made not only in the privacy of ministerial offi ces, and their fi nal shape is largely shaped by, for example, grassroots civil initiatives or social media.For each client we develop a comprehensive tailored strategy, adapted to his needs, expectations and capacities. Among others, our activities include lobbing, media relations and activities in elec-tronic media. Their purpose is to shape public opinion, attract attention to a specifi c issue, promote certain law regulations, build reputation and solve crisis situations.

High ethical standards underlie all our activities. We are entered as a professional body engaged in lobbying activities in the register of the Ministry of Interior and Administration. We act accordingly to the Code of Good Practices of the Polish Public Relations Consultancies Association (ZFPRR).In the frame of the Public Affairs we offer the following services:• Analysis of the environment in which our clients operate,• Identifi cation of stakeholders and creation of a map of infl uence,• Polish and EU legislative process monitoring,• Development of strategy for actions and argumentation,• Creation and implementation of lobbying campaigns,• Development of a public relations actions strategy (including social media),

which support Public Affairs activities,• Crisis situation management.

Copyright (c) by MSLGROUP Poland Sp. z o.o. 2014Permission to use, copy, or distribute this report is hereby granted without fee, provided that the copyright notice appears in all copies. The re-port is originally distributed by MSLGROUP Poland - to be added to the distribution list, please send a request to lukasz.jachowicz@mslgroup.com.

CONTACT:

CEO Corporate & Financial CommunicationsPaweł TomczukTel. +48 600 489 609e: pawel.tomczuk@mslgroup.com

Head of Public AffairsŁukasz JachowiczTel. +48 601 416 560e: lukasz.jachowicz@mslgroup.com

Governmental Affairs Practice LeaderMałgorzata DworzynskaTel. +48 605 296 457e: malgorzata.dworzynska@mslgroup.com

Associate Public AffairsJakub OlekTel. +48 606 319 500e: jakub.olek@mslgroup.com