VOLUME 18, NUMBER 7 • FEBRUARY 20-26, 2011 . z∏.12.50 (VAT 8% included) . ISSN 1233 7889 INDEX-RUCH-332-127 Since 1994 . Poland’s only business weekly in English

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Heads are rolling overthe National Stadium’sdelays

The WSE’s president ispreparing to clean upNewConnect

Polish scientists havegenetically modified pigsfor transplant organs

News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2-5

Business . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6-7

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

Finance & Economics . . . . . . . . . .10

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

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

WSE in Focus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14

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

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

The List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20

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

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

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

REAL ESTATELokale Immobilia

• Blackstone completes

acquisition

• ROBYG president

interview

• Neinver’s Warsaw

outlet

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A new act on pharmaceutical reimbursement iscausing no end of confusion. Will the government

be able to find a cure?12-13

In this issue

Sick and tired

Losing popularityA number of mishaps by the government

have served to undermine support for the

ruling party 4, 11

Nuclear setbacks The first plant is now expected to be at full

capacity five years later than planned, but

who will host it? 6

Interview:Wanda Nowicka

The Sejm’s deputy

speaker is on a mission

to bring women's

issues to the fore

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Malta**CyprusPolandPortugalGreeceGermanySpainItalyUKNetherlands*

FEBRUARY 20-26, 2012NEWS2 www.wbj.pl

German presi-

dent resignsChristian Wulff

announced last Friday he

was resigning as

president of Germany.

The move was announced

after prosecutors called

for his legal immunity to

be lifted. Mr Wulff has

been accused of accepting

a low-interest loan from

the wife of a wealthy

businessman and

criticized for trying to

force the daily Bild not to

publish the story in the

first place. But Mr Wulff

had previously made clear

he intended to remain in

his post. The situation

changed when state

prosecutors in Hannover

asked the German

parliament to end his

legal immunity.

AP style guide

bans use of

‘Polish camps’ The Associated Press has

officially changed its style

guide to rule out the

expression “Polish death

camps.” The entry

banning the term reads:

“Concentration camps.

For World War II camps in

countries occupied by

Nazi Germany, do not use

phrases like Polish death

camps that confuse the

location and the

perpetrators. Use instead,

for example, death camps

in Nazi-occupied Poland.”

Poland’s Foreign Ministry

applauded the move,

stressing that Polish

diplomats and the Polish

community abroad have

for years fought against

the use of the term. The

AP follows The Wall

Street Journal and The

New York Times, among

others, in banning the

term.

Report: shale

not polluting

The process of extracting

shale gas does not lead to

contamination of the

water table or to the

release of excessive

levels of polluting gas

into the atmosphere,

according to a study

conducted for Poland’s

Ministry of Environment

by experts from the

Polish Geological

Institute. The analysis,

which bases its findings

on a study of hydraulic

fracturing performed on a

borehole near the Polish

village of ¸ebieƒ, is the

first comprehensive

report conducted on

behalf of the Polish

government into the

environmental effects of

shale-gas extraction. ●

Alma..............................................................15

APA Wojciechowski......................................15

Atal ................................................................17

Atelier3

Girtler&Girtler..............................................15

Avtech Aviation & Engineering ..................14

Bank Pekao ....................................................7

Bank Zachodni WBK ..................................10

Bentley ............................................................7

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

BRE Bank ......................................................7

Budimex..................................................13, 15

BZ WBK ....................................................7, 10

CBRE Global Investors................................16

Centrex............................................................6

CMS Corporate

Management Services ................................14

Cushman & Wakefield ................................18

E.ON ................................................................6

Edison ............................................................6

EGL..................................................................6

Eni....................................................................6

Ferrari ............................................................7

GasTerra ........................................................6

Gazprom ........................................................6

Getin ..............................................................19

Globe Trade Centre......................................17

GWH Gashandel ............................................6

IMS Health....................................................12

ING Âlàski ......................................................7

Inpro ..............................................................17

Jarre Technologies ......................................23

KBC Securities ..........................................7

LC Corp ....................................................15

Master Management Group ....................16

Mercedes-Benz Polska..............................7

Mermaid Properties ................................18

Moody’s ..............................................10, 19

National Sports Centre............................21

Neinver......................................................15

Parkridge Retail Poland ..........................16

Pekoa SA ..............................................7, 19

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

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

PKO BP ......................................................7

Porsche Warsaw ........................................7

Project Syndicate......................................11

PwC ..........................................................14

Rank Progress..........................................16

Rialto Restaurant ....................................22

ROBYG ................................................15, 17

RWE ............................................................6

Schrack Seconet ......................................17

Shell Energy Europe ..................................6

SMG KRC ..............................................4, 11

TNS OBOP ............................................4, 11

TVN......................................................13, 19

Unibep ......................................................15

VeriFone Poland ......................................17

Warsaw Stock Exchange........14, 16, 17, 19

Warszawska

Spó∏dzielnia Mieszkaniowa......................15

Withings ....................................................23

X-Trade Brokers ................................10, 19

The government submitted itscontroversial pension reformbill for social consultation onFebruary 14, a move which hasgiven new life to the debateabout the pros and cons ofincreasing the retirement age.

The new bill, if enacted,would see the retirement ageincreased incrementally from2013, meaning men will retireat 67 by 2020 and women atthe same age by 2040.

However, the plans, whichwere proposed by the CivicPlatform-led government,have generated widespreaddisagreement among Poland’smain political parties. In socie-ty as a whole, many workersand trade unions are at oddswith business leaders, many ofwhom argue in favor of themove.

Those who support thepension reforms believe thestate will be unable to providefor its retired population in thefuture without raising theretirement age, while those in

opposition say that althoughthe system needs reforming,increasing the length of timepeople have to work is not thefairest solution.

Opinions on the best alter-native are varied, to say theleast. The largest oppositionparty, Law and Justice, wantsto see the system that is cur-rently in place in Canadaimplemented in Poland.Under that system, citizenspay a prescribed amount eachmonth, which guarantees thema standard pension when theyreach the retirement age. CivicPlatform’s coalition partner,the Polish People’s Party,wants to see the retirementage for women reduced bythree years for every child theygive birth to.

Pressing aheadPrime Minister Donald Tusk ispressing ahead with thereforms, despite the con-tentious nature of the bill. “Iknow that this decision does not

spark enthusiasm, but someonehas to make it. We decided thatthis is one of the last momentsto do so,” he said.

Mr Tusk has received sup-port from President Bronis∏awKomorowski, who said changesto the pension system were aninevitable consequence of anaging society and a decliningbirth rate.

In Brussels, the prevailingview is also in line with the Pol-ish prime minister’s.

“Higher unemployment,lower growth, higher nationaldebt levels and financial marketvolatility have made it harderfor all systems to deliver onpension promises,” the Euro-pean Commission wrote in astatement.

Currently 10 percent of theEU’s GDP goes toward pen-sions. The figure is set to rise to12.5 percent by 2060, when asfew as two people could beworking for each citizen overthe age of 65.

David Ingham

z∏.3,666.41was the average gross wage in Poland in January2012, according to the Central Statistical Office.

63% is the share of Poles who disapprove of the primeminister, according to a recent poll by TNS OBOP.

60%is the share of Poles who oppose adopting the euro. In2002, 64 percent supported moves to include Poland

in the single European currency bloc.

12 months is how long the Ministry of Administration and

Digitization wants telecom operators to keep data.Currently they have to safeguard data for 24 months,

the longest period in the EU.

“I was wrong.”Prime Minister Donald Tusk, on his initial position supporting the Anti-Coun-terfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) treaty. He has now asked the EuropeanParliament to reject the agreement.

Quote of the Week

In the market for a new tablet?

A wave of new tablets are entering the Polish market,providing users with faster and better technology. Ascompetition becomes more fierce, companies areincreasingly looking for creative methods to lure con-sumers. Log onto WBJ.pl to find out how thesetablets compare.

On WBJ.pl

Numbers in the News

Company index

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FEB 29 – MAR 1 EXPOCHEMEvent: This two-day meeting allows Polish and

foreign firms in the chemical sector to meet,do business and establish partnerships.

Location: Spodek, KatowiceWeb: expochem.pl

6-8 POLISH ECONOMIC CONGRESSEvent: This congress and its accompanying

conferences offer debate on Poland’s currenteconomic situation, along with discussionson specific issues in each sector.

Location: Warsaw University of TechnologyWeb: polskikongresgospodarczy.pl

6 -9 MIPIMEvent: MIPIM is the world’s leading international

real estate fair. Over 4,000 investors andover 19,000 participants attend these fourdays of workshops, debates and networking.

Location: Palais des Festivals, Cannes, FranceWeb: mipim.com

6-10 CEBIT 2012Event: CeBIT is the world’s largest trade fair show-

casing digital IT and telecommunicationssolutions.

Location: Hannover, GermanyWeb: cebit.de

February/March

DATELINE

Poland’s pension reformsIN THE SPOTLIGHT

Figures in focus

Seaborne trading placesTotal gross weight of seaborne goods handled in all ports,selected EU27 countries in 2010 (in million metric tons)

Source: Eurostat

*Highest in EU27**Lowest in EU27

FEBRUARY 20-26, 2012NEWS4 www.wbj.pl

Internet freedom

Polish government asksEuropean Parliament toreject ACTA treaty

Space technology

First-ever Polish satellitelaunched into space

Prime Minister Tuskhas admitted he waswrong to support thetreaty

Prime Minister Donald Tuskhas completed the about-facehis government started earlierthis month on the Anti-Coun-terfeiting Trade Agreement(ACTA).

“I sent a letter today to allthe party leaders who cooper-ate with Civic Platform and thePolish People’s Party in theEuropean People’s Party,including prime ministers, the[German] chancellor, presi-dents of some countries andthe leadership of the EuropeanPeople’s Party, with a proposalto reject ACTA in the shapethat was negotiated by theEuropean Commission,” MrTusk told a news conferencelast Friday evening.

The PM admitted that theposition prepared by Polishofficials on ACTA over the lastfew months had been “reck-less.”

“I was wrong. … It wouldbe a sin to maintain a mistakenbelief … the agreement doesnot correspond to the realityof the 21st century. The battlefor the right to propertyshould also respect the right tofreedom.”

On January 26, the Euro-pean Commission and 22 EUcountries – including Poland –signed the deal, joining Aus-tralia, Canada, Japan, Moroc-co, New Zealand, Singapore,South Korea and the US. ButACTA also needs to be ratifiedby the European Parliamentand by each of the 27 EUmember states in order to beimplemented in the EU.

From Poland to Europe … Large protests across Polandin January forced the govern-ment to soften its stance onACTA – it halted the ratifica-tion process and held publicconsultations on the treaty.Two weeks later, on February11, tens of thousands of pro-testers marched in some 50European cities, denouncingwhat they saw as an agree-ment that would give govern-ments and internet providersthe means to censor contentand intrude on privacy online.

Over 25,000 protesters ral-lied in several cities acrossGermany, according toReuters. Smaller numbersmarched in Sofia (4,000),Prague (1,500), Paris (1,000),London and Warsaw (a fewhundred each). Countriesincluding the Czech Republic,

Germany, Latvia and Slovakiahave now followed Poland’slead and have frozen ACTAratification.

… and the EuropeanParliamentMr Tusk’s latest commentscome as an increasing numberof MEPs in the European Par-liament have begun to openlycriticize ACTA. Last weekJoseph Daul, a member of theEuropean Parliament andchairman of the EuropeanPeople’s Party, the EP’s largestpolitical group, bluntly toldreporters that “ACTA is dead.”

Although Mr Daul laterissued a milder official state-ment on behalf of his party,comments from other MEPsand decisions by an increasingnumber of EU countries tofreeze national ratificationprocesses seem to have putthe Anti-Counterfeiting TradeAgreement in jeopardy.

Danuta Hübner, a PolishMEP in the European Peo-ple’s Party, told WBJ thatACTA was unlikely to gatherenough support in the Euro-pean Parliament for ratifica-tion.

The European Parliamentis scheduled to vote on ACTAin June.

Alice Trudelle

Rocketry Group at the Stu-dents’ Space Association atthe Warsaw University ofTechnology, told WBJ.

More deorbiting by largernumbers of decommissionedsatellites means there will beless cosmic debris zoomingaround space. This man-madewaste creates a hazard forimportant pieces of spaceequipment.

“Cosmic waste, like oldsatellites which are no longerin use, travels at high speeds ofseveral hundred kilometersper second, and poses a threatto functioning satellites,” MrOkniƒski said.

He explained that there is agrowing need to remove old

satellites, which normally takefour years to completely self-destruct.

“We have created a newtechnology which functionsby extending a long metaltail which creates greaterresistance. Its resistanceshould be big enough for thespeed and the height of thesatellite to drop enough forit to burn up within one year,instead of four years,” MrOkniƒski said.

If PW-Sat’s mission is suc-cessful, it should be destroyedwithin a year’s time. The totalcost of the project was€500,000, according to the Pol-ish Press Agency.

Izabela Depczyk

The satellite’s missionis to test technologydesigned to reduce theamount of man-madedebris in space

Last Monday the first-everPolish satellite was launchedinto space. Called PW-Sat, thesatellite was constructed bystudents of the WarsawUniversity of Technology andscientists from the SpaceResearch Center at the PolishAcademy of Sciences.

The Vega rocket carryingthe Polish satellite waslaunched in French Guyanafrom a spaceport that belongsto the European SpaceAgency.

An hour after the launch,the PW-Sat was detached sothat it could continue on itsmission. Around an hour later,it extended its antenna andbegan sending telemetry datato a communications stationon the ground.

The satellite’s main missionis to test a new deorbiting sys-tem, which it is hoped can beused as a mechanism for self-destruction by satellites thathave completed their tasks.

“This satellite’s main goalis deorbiting, meaning PW-Sat’s mission is to self-destruct,” Adam Okniƒski,coordinator of the Students’

Politics

Steep drop in public support forprime minister, Civic PlatformApproval numbers forboth Prime MinisterDonald Tusk and hisparty have slumpedafter a series ofunpopular moves

Poland’s ruling Civic Platform(PO) party has seen a sharpdrop in public support in recentweeks, after the governmenttook unpopular stances on sev-eral issues, opinion polls show.A survey by SMG KRC earlierthis month saw PO receive just27 percent support, down 6 per-centage points from January,with main opposition party Lawand Justice (PiS) polling at 23percent, an increase of one per-centage point.

A recent TNS OBOP pollpainted an even more negativepicture for Civic Platform, put-ting support for the party at 28percent, 9 percentage pointslower than in January, with PiS

polling just 2 percentagepoints behind.

Another survey by thesame pollster showed that 70percent of Poles were dissatis-fied with the government,while 63 percent said theywere unhappy with Prime

Minister Donald Tusk’s per-formance.

Major misstepsDespite winning an unprece-dented second term in officejust last October, PO and MrTusk have seen their populari-

ty drop as a result of threemajor missteps, said SergiuszTrzeciak, a political scientist atCollegium Civitas.

First, a controversial andseemingly ill-prepared piece oflegislation intended to reformprescription-drug reimburse-ment was met with protests bydoctors and pharmacists uponits introduction at the begin-ning of the year (see CoverStory, pp. 12-13).

Then, the prime ministerpushed forward with the sign-ing of the Anti-CounterfeitingTrade Agreement (ACTA)treaty, which aims to protectintellectual property rights onthe internet. Critics haveargued that ACTA would limitfreedom of expression. MrTusk’s stance sparked largeprotests in several Polish cities,and the government has sinceput ratification on hold, pend-ing the results of a public con-sultation.

“ACTA was a major factor,particularly with young vot-ers, because people who usethe internet are more likely tovote for PO, so it harmedtheir own electorate,” MrTrzeciak said.

Finally, Prime MinisterTusk’s government took heatover delays in the completionof Poland’s new National Sta-dium that led to the cancella-tion of Poland’s much-antici-pated Super Cup Final soccergame. New Sport and TourismMinister Joanna Muchainspired little confidence whenshe asked journalists how the

two teams that compete in theSuper Cup are chosen.

“PO was playing on theargument that ‘we have mademistakes but you have noalternative.’ However, theirvoters are now seeing that they[PO] are not as professional asthey previously pretended tobe,” Mr Trzeciak said.

So how should Civic Plat-form go about battling the neg-ative perceptions? Mr Trzeciaksaid that if the PM were tomake a U-turn and apologizefor his government’s mistakes,it would play into the hands ofthe opposition parties.

“Mr Tusk should stick tohis proposals if he wants toshow he is not a mere politi-cian but that he is a Europeanstatesman, even if this leads toa loss of public support … oth-erwise he will be seen as softfor not sticking to his princi-ples,” he said.

David Ingham

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Surveys indicate that a majority of Poles are unhappy

with Mr Tusk’s performance

“Mr Tusk shouldstick to his

proposals, otherwisehe will be seen

as soft”

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The satellite will test a new deorbiting system

FEBRUARY 20-26, 2012 NEWS www.wbj.pl 5

Photojournalism

Polish photographers awarded at World Press Photo contestThe Poles capturedaward-winning imagesof protests andwrestling

Polish photographers TomaszLazar and Tomasz Gud-zowaty were two of the 57who were awarded in ninecategories in the 55th editionof the World Press Photocompetition, the world’s lead-ing international contest forphotojournalists.

The two Poles were in com-petition with over 5,000 pho-tographers from 124 countries.Tomasz Lazar was awardedsecond place in the category“People in the News,” whileTomasz Gudzowaty won thirdplace in the “Sport” category.

Mr Lazar, a newcomer tothe competition, received theaccolade for a photograph thatdepicts an arrest during theOccupy Wall Street protests inNew York City’s Harlem dis-trict. The 27-year-old was inNew York for a photo work-shop when he started docu-menting the protests. “I wascertainly lucky. I was in theright place at the right time,”he told daily Rzeczpospolita.

Mr Gudzowaty, who haswon several awards in thecompetition since 1999,received his citation for aseries of photos commissionedby National Geographic Pols-ka about Lucha Libre, a ver-sion of freestyle wrestling pop-ular in Mexico. Mr Gud-

zowaty’s pictures have beenpublished in established newsand industry publications, aswell as in several photo books,and exhibited worldwide. He isassociated with Yours Galleryin Warsaw.

The winner of the WorldPress Photo of the Year 2011 isSpanish freelance photogra-pher Samuel Aranda, for aphoto the panel of 19 judgesfelt was representative of theArab Spring movement. Thephoto, taken on October 15,2011 for The New York Timesin Sana’a, Yemen, depicts aveiled woman holding awounded man in her arms.

“It is a photo that speaksfor the entire region. It stands

for Yemen, Egypt, Tunisia,Libya, Syria, for all that hap-pened in the Arab Spring. Butit shows a private, intimateside of what went on. And itshows the role that womenplayed, not only as care-givers,but as active people in themovement,” Koyo Kouoh, ajudge on the panel, said in astatement.

Prize-winning photographsfrom the World Press Photocompetition will be exhibitedin Poland twice this year,between April 27 and May 19in Poznaƒ, and betweenNovember 11 and December 7in Kraków.

Izabela Depczyk, Alice Trudelle

Genetically modifiedpigs could be theanswer to the shortageof human organs fortransplant

Researchers in Poland havegenetically modified four pigsso that they possess a combi-nation of two genes whichmake them genetically closerto humans than other pigs.

Human immune systemswould be less likely to rejectthese pigs’ organs in the caseof a transplant.

The breakthrough, madeby experts at the Institute ofZootechnics in Kraków, bringsscientists closer to being ableto produce pigs whose bodyparts could be harvested foruse in patients.

“This is an important dis-covery, as there is a shortage

of organs available for trans-plant,” professor Zdzis∏awSmoràg, the leader of the proj-ect, told WBJ.

Currently, the four pigs aregenetically close enough tohumans to have their skin,heart valves and cartilage usedin pig-to-human body-parttransplants, “since humanbodies are less likely to rejectthese,” professor Smoràg said.

“The transplant of liver,heart or kidneys has a higherrisk of rejection [by the humanbody],” he added.

“This is why we are contin-uing our work on getting pigswhich have a complete set offour genes which decrease theimmunological barrier. Ulti-mately the goal is to modifythe pigs’ genes enough so thattheir heart, liver and kidneyscould be used for transplant,”he said.

Pigs are similar to humansin terms of their DNA make-up. Some 94 percent of pigDNA matches with the DNAof a human being. The only

other animal that has a closerDNA match is the chim-panzee, with a 98 percent cor-relation.

“We use pigs rather thanmonkeys for two main reasons.First of all, for ethical reasons,mainly monkeys being too sim-ilar, not just in terms of DNAmakeup, to humans. Secondly,the breeding cycle of pigs isfaster than that of monkeys.Also, pigs’ organs are closer tothose of humans in terms ofsize and weight,” professorSmoràg said.

The project, which isfinanced by the state budget, isplanned to run until 2013, bywhich time researchers shouldbe able to produce pigs thathave a special combination offour genes. These will help tolower the immunological bar-rier even further.

However, it will be severalyears before pig organs can beused as transplants by humans,as the organs will have to betested first – on monkeys.

Izabela Depczyk

Genetic engineering

Polish scientists make pig-organtransplant breakthrough

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The organs of genetically modified pigs could one day

be used for human transplants

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Polish photographer Tomasz Lazar took this picture of the Occupy Wall Street protests

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For more information, visit www.tuscanyrural.com,or call us at +39 056 456 7488

Enjoy Tuscanyas the natives do!

We also offer delicious Tuscan cuisine and wines!

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Tomasz Gudzowaty chronicled Lucha Libre wrestling in Mexico

A man whowas found alivein an unheatedshed in Po-land’s TatraMountains hasbeen identifiedby his family asa veteran ofthe Iraq War.

Frostbittenand unable tospeak coher-ently, the manwas only iden-tified after hisfamily saw his image on televi-sion. Only the man’s firstname and the first letter of hissurname – W∏odzimierz N. –have been revealed to themedia.

Responsibility for histreatment is being taken bythe Defense Ministry, whicharranged for him to be trans-ferred from a hospital in thesouthern Polish mountaintown of Zakopane to a mili-tary hospital in Warsaw last

Friday.Thirty-six-year-old W∏odz-

imierz N. served in Lebanonand in the Iraq War beforebeing discharged from themilitary for medical reasons.He disappeared a year ago.

A Syrian doctor who treat-ed Mr N. in Zakopane report-edly spoke to him in Arabicand English, drawing aresponse from the patient inboth languages.

Gareth Price

Mystery mountainman identified aswar veteran

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FEBRUARY 20-26, 2012BUSINESS6 www.wbj.pl

Natural gas

Gazprom offers to lower gas prices in Europe

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Despite the move,Poland’s PGNiG hassaid it will pushforward witharbitration hearings

In exchange for an increase ingas purchases, Russian gasgiant Gazprom has said it maylower prices for Europeanrecipients, including for Po-land’s gas monopoly PGNiG,by 7 to 10 percent.

The announcement wasmade during an investors’

meeting at Gazprom’s head-quarters in Moscow on Febru-ary 10, where company repre-sentatives from firms such asRWE, Shell Energy Europe,E.ON, Eni, GWH Gashandel,Centrex, EGL and GasTerra,also took part in the proposeddiscussions.

Nonetheless, despite thepurported proposal, PGNiGhas released a statement sayingthat it had not received any pro-posal of changes to the com-mercial terms of the contractbetween PGNiG and Gazprom

Moreover, “no representa-tive of PGNiG has made astatement that would describethe proposed price reduction of7-10 percent reported by themedia as attractive,” said Joan-na Zakrzewska, a press officerfrom PGNiG, in the pressrelease.

When contacted by WBJ,Ms Zakrzewska said PGNiGplanned to continue its arbitra-tion hearing against Gazpromin Stockholm to reduce gasprices. She added that the legalprocess was an ongoing one and

could last months. However, Polish daily Parkiet

reported that PGNiG was will-ing to negotiate with Gazpromover its latest proposal.

Italian firm Edison recentlywon a court case to have theprice it pays Gazprom lowered.The ruling will save it approxi-mately $200 million a year.

In 2011, PGNiG purchasedan estimated 9.3 billion cubicmeters of gas from Gazprom, adecrease of almost 22 percentfrom 2010’s figure of 11.9 bil-lion. Ella Pa∏ka

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Gazprom has said it could reduce prices by 7-10 percent

Nuclear power

PGE: first nuclear plant will not reach full capacity until 2025Originally, fullcapacity was expectedin 2020, but the newdate is considered“more realistic”

Polish state-controlled energygroup PGE has announcedthat Poland’s first nuclearplant will be brought up to fullcapacity five years later thanpreviously planned.

PGE, which has beencharged by the government

with overseeing Poland’snuclear-energy plans, revealedin an investment plan that anuclear plant with 1,530 MWof installed capacity will bebrought to full capacity in2025, instead of the originallyplanned 2020. A secondnuclear plant is expected toreach full capacity four yearslater.

“PGE will produce somenuclear power between 2020and 2025, although the latterdate is when the first plant will

be at full capacity,” saidKrzysztof Dragan, an investorrelations official at the compa-ny.

The new date, Mr Dragansaid, was “more realistic” than2020, which is the date stillcontained in the government’sofficial plan.

“The government’s strategywill now also likely be adjustedto reflect our dates,” Mr Dra-gan added.

Planning permit issues andproblems with technology, as

well as protests, are all consid-ered to be potential hurdlesfor Poland’s nuclear ambi-tions.

‘Nie’ to nuclearJust last week residents of themunicipality of Mielno votedagainst a proposal to buildPoland’s first nuclear powerplant in the local village ofGàski, one of the three sitesshortlisted by PGE.

Of the 2,389 residents whoparticipated in the referen-

dum, 94 percent expressedtheir opposition to the plan.

In response to the vote,Deputy Economy MinisterHanna Trojanowska said in astatement that the governmentwould take the views of theMielno inhabitants intoaccount when it comes time todecide where to locate theplant, but that the referendumitself was not well-timed.

“The timing of the referen-dum held without prior debateand discussion, without the

possibility of delivering infor-mation on benefits stemmingfrom such an investment to theinhabitants of Gàski, hasstrongly weakened theprocess,” she said.

Plans are afoot, she said, tolaunch a pro-nuclear publiccampaign in March. The gov-ernment wants to develop thecountry’s nuclear power capa-bilities to reduce Poland’sreliance on coal as a source offuel for producing electricity.

Gareth Price

FEBRUARY 20-26, 2012 BUSINESS www.wbj.pl 7

Banking

Record profits: Polishbanks earn z∏.15.7 bln The banking sectoroffloaded bad debtand increased lendingactivity last year

Polish banks’ combined netprofits amounted to almostz∏.15.7 billion for 2011, themost ever recorded in a singleyear, according to data fromPoland’s Financial SupervisionAuthority.

Polish lenders earned 38percent more than in 2010,when they booked total profitsof z∏.11.4 billion.

An increase in mortgagelending and a recovery in thecorporate sector, as well as anumber of major banksoffloading bad debt, weresome of the principle reasonsbehind the Polish banking sec-tor’s strong showing last year.

“Revenues in H1 of 2011performed nicely, with mar-gins widening,” said MartaCzajkowska-Ba∏dyga, an ana-lyst at KBC Securities. “Thetop line was supported by vol-umes driven by mortgage lend-ing in H1 2011 and corporatelending in H2 2011. There wasstill a relatively strong per-formance on the fee-income

generation side in the first partof the year.”

In the second half of theyear, she said, revenuesslowed down, “so banks start-ed to look cautiously on thecost side.” The bottom line in2011 was also helped by lowernet provisioning driven byrecoveries in the corporatesegment, given strong operat-ing performance of companiesas well as bad-debt portfolioselling.

Poland’s banking sector isdominated by the country’s

five largest banks. PKO BP,Bank Pekao, BRE Bank, INGÂlàski and BZ WBK currentlycontrol 43.32 percent of thebanking sector in terms ofassets, and hold 45.45 percentof the country’s deposits.

BRE Bank’s net profitgrew by 77 percent to z∏.1.14billion in 2011, while INGÂlàski and BZ WBK earnedz∏.880 million and z∏.1.54 bil-lion respectively.

PKO BP and Pekoa SAhave yet to release their fig-ures for 2011. Ella Pa∏ka

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Automobiles

High demand for luxurycars in PolandFerrari has alreadysold all of its carsearmarked for thePolish market in 2012

Sales of luxury cars in Polandare continuing to increase,according to representatives ofshowrooms around the country.

For example, all of the Fer-raris earmarked for the Polishmarket in 2012 had alreadybeen sold, Dante Cinque, thegeneral manager of the Ferrarishowroom in Warsaw, toldRzeczpospolita. He added thathe would try to obtain addition-al cars.

Micha∏ Maske, the market-ing manager for Ferrari War-saw, told WBJ that he could notreveal specific sales figures, butadded that “we are verypleased that we’ve exceededour plans for 2012 already.”

“Our most popular modelsin Poland include the FerrariSS and the Spider 458, whichsell for €316,000 and €230,000respectively,” he said.

According toRzeczpospolita, there were 15Ferraris registered in Poland in2011.

Good sales have also beenreported by Mercedes-Benz

Polska, which saw revenuesincrease 15 percent to z∏.2.45billion last year. Bentley alsofared well in Poland, selling 19vehicles in 2011, up from thenine sold in 2010, said PiotrJ´drach, general manager atBentley Warsaw. He addedthat 2011 was a “special year”and that the company plans tosell 22 Bentleys in 2012.

Pawe∏ Jakubisiak, salesdirector at Porsche Warsaw,said that his showroom sellsaround 130 vehicles a year onaverage, while overall, the Ger-

man car maker sells around500 units per year in Poland.He added that he expects 2011to have brought similar resultsto 2010.

The only factor negativelyaffecting sales, according torepresentatives from bothBentley and Porsche, is anunfavorable EUR/PLN ex-change rate. Over the last threemonths, when the euro costaround z∏.4.5, sales of Bentleyswere not as good, Mr J´drachadded.

Ella Pa∏ka

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The Ferrari Spider 458 is one of the more popular

models in Poland

0

200

400

600

800

1,000

Household deposits Total loans given

201120102009

Banking on growth Value of total loans given and household deposits in the Polishbanking sector (2009-2011), in z∏. billions

Source: KNF

FEBRUARY 20-26, 20128 www.wbj.pl INTERVIEW

Palikot’s Movement

Putting women firstEwa Boniecka: How do youbalance your duties as thedeputy speaker of the Sejmand your membership ofPalikot’s Movement?Wanda Nowicka: The answerto that question has a fewparts. One is that being a par-liamentarian and deputyspeaker of the Sejm is some-thing entirely new for me, andI am learning as I go. Second, Iam now evaluating how best touse the opportunities thatcome with my position forpublic service and for the goodof society. From a technicalpoint of view, when parlia-ment is in session and I func-tion as a deputy speaker, I can-not be active in the party cau-cus. However, between ses-sions I concentrate on myactivities as an MP. And apartfrom my role in Palikot’sMovement, I want to focus onthe things that are the mostimportant to me – most of all,the problems of women.

So I don’t take part in all ofmy party’s activities because Isee my role less as a partici-pant in some current gesturesor events, and more in termsof the realization of my long-term visions, commitmentsand promises. One example ofthis is my recent initiative tocreate a program called “Sejmfriendly to women,” which willinvolve open debates everymonth with different groups ofwomen who deal with variousaspects of the situation of Pol-ish women, and of passingtheir ideas on to politiciansand decision-makers.

I am convinced that weneed to create better lines ofcommunication between par-liament and society and to haveMPs listen to the voice of thepeople, because I am disap-pointed that there are not realdebates in the Sejm. The gov-ernment thinks that it does nothave to listen to any arguments,because it has the power and

the majority in parliament topass any law. So I want to openthe Sejm up to society andimprove the quality of ourdemocracy, to make it moredirect and participatory.

The first open debate willtake place later in February,with womenfrom trade un-ions. It willconcern thegovernment’splan for rais-ing the retire-ment age forboth men andwomen to 67.

How do you see that plan andthe Polish People’s Party(PSL) proposal to reduce theretirement age for women inproportion to the number ofchildren they have had?I understand the general prob-lem: We are living in a globalcrisis, we have a very low birthrate in Poland and we are liv-ing longer. These factors poseproblems for the budget andthe retirement system. Sosome kind of increase to theretirement age would have totake place sooner or later. Buta realistic proposal must be

presented on how to achievethis, while taking into consid-eration the specifics of certainprofessions where people arenot able to work so long forphysical reasons. We also haveto make sure that people overthe age of 60 will actually have

work. But I don’t

think that thePSL proposalfor linking theretirement ageof women tothe number ofchildren theyhave is a goodone, because it

will discriminate against otherwomen and will reinforce thegender stereotype of womenas [predominantly] child-bear-ers. So what we need is a seri-ous public debate about thevarious aspects of these prob-lems, and all interested partiesshould take part in it and beheard.

It seems that since Palikot’sMovement discovered thepolitical realities of workingin the Sejm, it has not man-aged to achieve much success.Would you agree with that

assessment?I do not agree, becausePalikot’s Movement hasbrought up some importantissues in the Sejm. We are in theopposition, so the possibilitiesfor us to influence the legisla-tive process are limited, but wecan do a lot by drawing atten-tion to some problems. So Ilook at certain gestures madeby Janusz Palikot and someother members of the caucus,like [declarations that they willsmoke] marijuana [in the Sejm],as working toward the goal ofraising awareness. At present,the reality of the media is suchthat when – and I agree to theuse of this term with regard tosome of our actions – contro-versial gestures are not made,certain problems go unnoticed.

Palikot’s Movement focuseson controversial moral issues,but does not present a strongstand on social and economicproblems. Why is this?I would not agree with that.We are preparing a socialpackage to deal with variousserious social problems. Incooperation with the well-known leftist activist PiotrIkonowicz, we are working on

a draft bill … that gives sup-port and protection to thepoorest debtors who arethreatened with eviction fromtheir apartments.

Some other projects,among them one that dealswith in vitro fertilization andone – prepared by myself –that concerns family planning,are underway in the Sejm. Allof them have strong socialaspects. We now have a veryannoying situation, where thecenter-right government ispaying very little attention tothe results of its political deci-sions on the social conditionsof the people.

What is your assessment ofthe recent demonstrations inPoland against the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agree-ment (ACTA), and the factthat the protesters haveforced the government todelay ratification?I have already sent my inter-pretation to the prime minis-ter, in which I voiced my reser-vations about the ACTAagreement. In my opinion thatagreement puts those interestsand rights that help big com-panies make profits – particu-

Wanda Nowicka, an MP in Palikot’s Movementand deputy speaker of the Sejm, Poland’s lowerhouse of parliament, talks to WBJ about herparty’s activities, her own initiatives, and aboutthe feminist movement in Poland

“The opinion thatthe feminist

movement has aleftist character isnot entirely true”

FEBRUARY 20-26, 2012 INTERVIEW www.wbj.pl 9

larly the right to protect intel-lectual property – above thesocial interest.

So I will be opposed to theratification of the ACTAagreement by Poland. I alsothink that the traditional defi-nition of intellectual propertyprotection does not fit to andcannot be totally preserved inthe era of the internet, andmost of all, cannot prevail overthe public good. And cruciallyimportant for users of theinternet is that their rights tokeep their personal data pri-vate and to maintain freedomof expression on the internetare preserved.

I think that thematter of freeaccess to culturethrough the inter-net is also involvedhere, and in lessdeveloped and lesswealthy societies,where it is more difficult tohave direct access to culture ina traditional way, the internetplays a big educational andcultural role. So the problemsrelated to ACTA are verycomplicated and controversialand it is a pity that Prime Min-ister Donald Tusk and his gov-ernment decided to begin areal public discussion only inthe face of demonstrationsagainst it.

The majority of members inPalikot’s Movement areunknown to the public andtake a limited role in theactivities of parliament. Doyou believe they can be effec-tive despite this?I am positively surprised bythe quality of our caucus. Evenwhile I do not yet know all ofits members very well, I see thecommon will to cooperate andfoster inner solidarity. Whatunites us is the fact that we all

came to politics because wewant to change the present sit-uation in Poland, and we shareideas which are different fromthose of the old, establishedparties. The people in our cau-cus did not join Palikot’sMovement because they want-ed a political career.

A few months ago nobodygave our party any chance toenter parliament, but ourmembers work hard for theparty in their communities. Allof them are learning the par-liamentary procedures quickly,and many are showing realpolitical talent.

Before entering the Sejm youwere head of the Polish Feder-ation for Women and FamilyPlanning, and have beenfighting for the rights ofwomen for most of your life.As one of Poland’s leadingfeminists, how do you view thepresent condition of feminismin the country?A discussion of the state offeminism in Poland – likeeverywhere in Europe – is avery broad subject. The pop-ular opinion that the feministmovement has a leftist char-acter is not entirely true in allcases. In its historical devel-opment, from the suffragemovement in Britain at theend of the 19th century to thepresent time, feminism hasdeveloped along many paths.

In Poland, it was revived inthe 1990s after being sup-pressed under communism,which officially praised female

workers, but totally ignoredtheir real rights. The feminismof the 1990s was linked to thewhole liberal policy and thevalues of individual freedom.More specific feminist prob-lems and the language toexpress them, like the mattersof right to abortion, equality infamily, sex, and the freedom oflifestyle choices, were exposedin this century. And in the faceof harsh criticism by the con-servatives, feminism in Polandbegan to be linked with leftistsocial groups.

This differentiated Polishfeminism from the American

and West Euro-pean model,where feminismbecame a part ofmainstream think-ing. In the US, forinstance, genderstudies depart-ments are very

well-developed in various uni-versities, and feminism, its his-tory and development are thesubjects of academic studies.

I think that it is a simplisticview that the Polish feministmovement appeals only towomen’s elites in the big cities,because in various forms it hasexpressed itself in smallerlocales and among women’sgroups in local communities.Polish women are changingand their aspirations and viewson many matters are differentthan they were 20 years ago.

So I see feminism in a larg-er context. I see it as a driveby women for independence,real equality in making choic-es in life, a respect for theirdignity however they look,whatever age they are andwhatever they do. Feminism isa part of a mature, tolerantsociety and helps us to under-stand ourselves better ashuman beings. ●

“The government is paying very littleattention to the results of its political

decisions on the social conditions of the people”

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Wanda Nowicka wants to “open up the Sejm” to society and especially to women

FEBRUARY 20-26, 201210 www.wbj.pl FINANCE & ECONOMICS

Urszula Kalata GrykoAttorney-at-law

Holding a sale: regulations for retailers

Legal Forum

Who doesn’t love to shop whenthere’s a sale on? Bargain prices of50 percent, 60 percent and 70 per-cent off the regular price not onlyallow you to buy the products you’vebeen dreaming of, but also providefuel for the economy. Sales arehealthy: they allow businesses to getrid of products that are out of season,outdated or soon to be unfashion-able.

So then, why can’t sales last forthe whole year? Well, one reason isthat it’s prevented by Poland’s com-petition regulations.

A “sale” is understood as the sell-

ing of goods at prices below their costof production or without any margin.If sales continued throughout theyear, some firms, usually smallerretailers, would not survive – theywould be unable to bear the costs ofproduction and delivery withoutprofit. Competition on the marketwould be skewed and only a few busi-nesses would remain.

Note that usually the biggestchain retailers have the means tohold sales. If not regulated, suchpractices could “kill” the smallerplayers in the market.

Therefore, Polish law provides for

regulation on how the largest retail-ers conduct sales. The act of April 16,1993 on unfair competition providesthat a sale held in a facility larger inarea than 400 sqm may be consid-ered as hindering small businesses’access to the market and, therefore,as an act of unfair competition.

As a result, large retailers are gen-erally limited in terms of how theycan conduct sales – but they are notcompletely prohibited from havingthem.

The above-mentioned act pro-vides that the sale will not be consid-ered as an act of unfair competition if

it is organized:(i) twice a year as an after-winter

and after-summer seasonal sale,which lasts no longer than a month;

(ii) because the expiry date of theproducts in question is nearing; or

(iii) during the closing of the busi-ness, whereas the sale shall last nolonger than three months in oneretail facility, or no longer than a yearfor all retail facilities belonging to thebusiness being liquidated.

The above-mentioned act doesnot regulate when an after-winterand after-summer seasonal sale canbe held. Therefore, such events as

after-Christmas sales or after-wintersales, or sales in June or August, canbe considered legitimate. The onlylimitation for the businesses is thatsuch sales may be organized onlytwice a year (so no “second-winter”sale), and only for one month.

So, if you were hunting for a bar-gain to buy that special somethingfor yourself after Christmas, or win-ter, or other seasonal event, youhave one month from the start of thesale.

After that month the sale shouldend if the business does not want toface claims of unfair competition. ●

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

Wages in Poland’sprivate sectorgrow 8.1 percent

The average wage in Poland’sprivate sector rose by 8.1 per-cent year-on-year in January,well above market forecastsof 4.9 percent, and significant-ly more than in December,when wages grew 4.4 percent,according to the Central Sta-tistical Office.

“It is difficult to explainwhat the source of such a sub-stantial acceleration of wageswas without detailed data, butin our view this may be due topayment of bonuses or wagerises in a big company and(only partially) to [a] hike of

[the minimum] wage, whichjumped from z∏.1,386 toz∏.1,500 in January,” BankZachodni WBK analystswrote in a market report.

Employment growth in theprivate sector slowed to 0.9percent year-on-year in Jan-uary, from over 2 percent y/ya month earlier. In January2011, the figure stood at 3.8percent y/y, showing thatthere has been a substantialslowdown in the Polish labormarket, according to BZWBK.

David Ingham

Inflation falls due to stronger z∏otyPoland’s inflation rate fell fora second month in a row inJanuary, to 4.1 percent year-on-year compared to 4.6 per-cent in December. January’sreading also undershot marketexpectations of inflation ofaround 4.2-4.3 percent.

One of the main causes ofthe lower inflation was astronger z∏oty, which cut theprice of imported goods. A lowbase effect due to last year’sVAT hike was also a factor.

Many economists warnhowever that consumer priceswill not continue to fall muchfurther, and that inflation willalmost certainly not reach therate-setting Monetary PolicyCouncil’s target of 2.5 percentany time soon.

“From the monetary policy

point of view, the January CPIreading supports the [Mone-tary Policy Council’s] ‘wait andsee’ stance, as it can monitorclosely the upcoming datafrom the real economy,” BankZachodni WBK analysts wrote

in a research report.“The CPI data also suggest

that the Monetary PolicyCouncil will not be in a hurryto change monetary policy,”the analysts wrote.

Gareth Price

Cold weather

boosts salesThe recent cold weather

in Poland has helped

boost retail sales, as

people rush to stock up

on warm clothing,

reported Parkiet.

Winter-sports

equipment and

clothing retailers are

benefiting the

most from the extreme

cold. Intersport’s stock

price rose by around

20% last Wednesday,

closing at z∏.4.14. The

company’s sales for

January increased by

nearly 30%, to z∏.27

million. Meanwhile, the

stock price of clothing

retailer Vistula rose by

15% to finish at z∏.1.33.

iTaxi start-up After selling his stake in

ITI Group and

withdrawing from

managing online portal

Onet.pl, businessman

¸ukasz Wejchert has

invested in iTaxi,

reported Puls Biznesu.

iTaxi is a start-up that

allows users to locate

and contact the closest

cab drivers using a

smartphone. “This will

allow taxi drivers to use

their time more

effectively. According to

studies, during the day

they have between one

and two hours of

downtime,” Mr Wejchert

told the daily. The

company is currently

testing the project, and

by March it expects to

have 300 cab drivers

participating in the

scheme. ●

3

4

5

6

Jan. '1

2Dec.

'11Nov.

'11Oct.

'11Sep

. '11

Aug. '1

1Jul.

'11Jun

. '11

May '11

Apr. '1

1Mar.

'11Feb

. '11

On its way back down?Consumer price inflation in Poland, last 12 months

Source: Central Statistical Office

Ratings agencies

Moody’s downgrades six euro countriesItaly and Spain wereamong the countriesthat saw downgrades

Moody’s Investors Servicedowngraded six euro-zonecountries and lowered its out-look for three other countriesin the EU last week.

Italy, Malta and Spain’s rat-ings were all lowered to A3 –that’s just four places abovespeculative-grade ratings. Spa-in’s rating was lowered by twonotches, from A1, while Italy’sand Malta’s were broughtdown one notch from A2.

Portugal, Slovakia andSlovenia also saw their ratingsslashed. Portugal was broughtdown from Ba2 to Ba3, while

both Slovakia and Sloveniawere downgraded to A2 fromA1.

Moreover, three otherEuropean Union countries –Austria, France and the UK –saw their outlooks changed tonegative.

Moody’s said the main driv-ers behind the actions included“the uncertainty over (i) theeuro area’s prospects for insti-tutional reform of its fiscal andeconomic framework and (ii)the resources that will be madeavailable to deal with the cri-sis.”

It also cited increasinglyweak macroeconomic pro-spects in Europe and theimpact that these factors will

continue to have on marketconfidence, which Moody’ssays is “likely to remain fragile,with a high potential for furthershocks to funding conditionsfor stressed sovereigns andbanks.”

In a research note X-TradeBrokers said that Moody’s usedthe better sentiment in themarket after Greece’s approvalof austerity measures “toremind investors about theproblems of the euro area.”

“Most telling is the down-grade of Spain by two levels,”the brokerage said, “becausein Spain recently, little hasbeen said about the market.Investors had found that theausterity measures initiated

by the government and theimprovement in the debtmarket were sufficient to

move this country from dan-ger.”

Andrew Kureth

In a bad moodMoody's ratings actions on European sovereign debt last week

Country Ratings action

Austria outlook on Aaa rating changed to negative

France outlook on Aaa rating changed to negative

Italy downgraded to A3 from A2, negative outlook

Malta downgraded to A3 from A2, negative outlook

Portugal downgraded to Ba3 from Ba2, negative outlook

Slovakia downgraded to A2 from A1, negative outlook

Slovenia downgraded to A2 from A1, negative outlook

Spain downgraded to A3 from A1, negative outlook

United Kingdom outlook on Aaa rating changed to negative

Source: Moody's Investors Service

FEBRUARY 20-26, 2012 OPINION & ANALYSIS www.wbj.pl 11

CO-MANAGING EDITOR

GARETH PRICE(GPRICE@WBJ.PL)

CO-MANAGING EDITOR

ALICE TRUDELLE(ATRUDELLE@WBJ.PL)

POLITICS EDITOR

REMI ADEKOYA(RADEKOYA@WBJ.PL)

REAL ESTATE EDITORADAM ZDRODOWSKI(AZDRODOWSKI@WBJ.PL)

COPY EDITORSDAVID INGHAMELLA PA¸KA

INTERNSIZABELA DEPCZYK VERONIKA JOY

CONTRIBUTORSE. BLAKE BERRYEWA BONIECKABRIAN DAVIESLIAM NOLAN

COLUMNISTSADAM NARCZEWSKIANDREW NAWROCKI

PRODUCTION MANAGERPIOTR WYSKOK

GRAPHIC DESIGNER¸UKASZ MAZUREK

CARTOONSPIOTR WYSKOK

MARKETING &SALES

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

MAGDALENA KARPI¡SKA(MKARPINSKA@WBJ.PL)

AGNIESZKA KUCZY¡SKA(AKUCZYNSKA@WBJ.PL)

MARTA CZESZEJKO-SOCHACKA(MCZESZEJKO-SOCHACKAKA@WBJ.PL)

KAROL KOSIOREK(KKOSIOREK@WBJ.PL)

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

SUBSCRIPTIONS MANAGERAGNIESZKA MICHALIK(AMICHALIK@VALKEA.COM)

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

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

Editorials are the opinions of WBJ’s editorial board. Other opinions are those of the authors alone. Comments, opinions and letters should be sent to editor@wbj.pl. Please include a name and contact information and clearly indicate if they are to be considered for publication.

A new European growth agenda

A usterity alone cannot solveEurope’s economic and finan-cial crisis, growth and jobs need

to be promoted with equal zeal. Euro-pean Union leaders now recognizethis – kick-starting growth in 2012 washigh on the agenda at the EuropeanCouncil’s meeting on January 30. Butthe big question remains: how?

The need for immediate action isclear. The euro zone’s economy con-tracted in the last three months of 2011,when even Germany’s economy shrank.The new year is also looking grim.France is flat-lining, as is Britain, andboth Italy and Spain have sunk deepinto recession, while Greece is in its fifthyear of a slump. And at the same timeeuro zone unemployment is at recordhighs, with nearly 50 percent of youngpeople in Greece and Spain jobless.

The economic headwinds are for-midable. Fiscal austerity, high interestrates outside AAA-rated countries,credit cutting by banks, deleveraginghouseholds, weak private-sectorinvestment, and declining exports asthe global slowdown underminesdemand.

Focus on investmentUntil growth resumes, any tentativefinancial stabilization will be extreme-

ly fragile. Recession will hit banks’ andgovernments’ already-weak balancesheets, increasing pressure for fasterdeleveraging. But while gradualadjustment is essential, faster anddeeper cuts are largely self-defeating.Big reductions in private credit andgovernment spending will cause asharper slowdown and thus a viciousdownward spiral. A big new push forgrowth is therefore vital.

So far, the growth agenda has con-sisted largely of structural reforms,which are essential for boosting futureproductivity and flexibility. The crisisdoes provide a political opportunityfor bold moves on this front in manycountries, but structural reforms gen-erally will not generate growth andjobs immediately.

On the contrary, a shake out of lessproductive jobs, for example, would atfirst raise unemployment, increasegovernment outlays, and reduce pri-vate spending. And, because demandis depressed, credit is in short supply,and barriers to enterprise are oftenhigh, it will take longer than usual forbusinesses to create more productivejobs. In short, structural reforms alonecannot be relied upon to stimulategrowth in 2012.

Instead, the immediate focus

needs to be on boosting investmentand exports in economies with a cur-rent-account deficit – such as France,Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom– and stimulating consumption in sur-plus countries such as Germany andthe Netherlands.

Unblock financing, boostexports, consumptionThe European Central Bank hasacted decisively to prop up Europeanbanks; now it needs to support the realeconomy too. While official interestrates are only 1 percent, solvent sover-eigns such as Spain pay more than 5percent to borrow for 10 years, whilecreditworthy businesses in Italy canborrow only at punitive rates, if at all.

So the ECB should do more tounblock the transmission mechanismfor monetary policy, the EuropeanBanking Authority should discourageexcessive deleveraging by insisting thatbanks raise specific capital amountsrather than hit a uniform 9 percentratio; and, where necessary, nationalgovernments should provide guaran-tees for bank lending to small andmedium-sized businesses.

While improving access to finance isvital, governments also need to do moreto boost investment. They should priori-

tize measures to make it easier to start abusiness, lift barriers to venture capital,and introduce temporary 100 percentcapital allowances to encourage busi-nesses to bring forward investment. Atthe EU level, the (callable) capital of theEuropean Investment Bank should begreatly increased, as European Com-mission President José Manuel Barrososuggested in his State of the Unionspeech last September, so that the EIBcan finance a big wave of pan-Europeaninvestment, notably in infrastructure.

Boosting exports is also essential.Deficit countries need to becomemore competitive, increasing produc-tivity while cutting costs. A more com-petitive currency would be welcome:Just as the sterling’s collapse since2008 has lifted UK exports, a weakereuro would help Mediterraneaneconomies regain competitiveness forprice-sensitive exports. A fiscal deval-uation – slashing payroll taxes andreplacing the revenues with a higherVAT – would also help.

Surplus countries, too, must dotheir part, which is in their own inter-est. Just as China needs to allow therenminbi to rise, so Germany – whosecurrent-account surplus exceedsChina’s both as a share of GDP and inabsolute terms – needs a higher real

exchange rate. That means that Ger-mans need to earn higher wages, com-mensurate with their increased pro-ductivity, so that they can afford moreGreek and Spanish holidays. If busi-nesses will not oblige, an income-taxcut would do the trick.

That brings us to fiscal policy.Governments that cannot borrowcheaply (or at all) from markets haveno option but to tighten their belts.But they should pursue smart consoli-dation rather than unthinking austeri-ty. So they should maintain invest-ment in skills and infrastructure, whilecutting subsidies and transfer pay-ments. They should also legislate nowfor future reforms, notably to encour-age people to work longer.

Last but not least, governmentsthat can borrow at unprecedented lowrates – 0 percent in real terms over 10years in the case of Germany – mustplay their role in supporting demand.Would it really be so difficult to seeVAT coming down ahead of the Ger-man election next year? ●

Philippe Legrain is an independenteconomic advisor to the president

of the European Commission.Copyright: Project Syndicate, 2012.

project-syndicate.org

Philippe Legrain

The ‘PiS-vaccine’ wears off R ecent polls clearly show that

the ruling Civic Platform (PO)has taken a serious hit as a

result of mistakes party members andleadership have made since the startof 2012. A February SMG KRC pollhad PO with 27 percent support,down 6 percentage points from Jan-uary. The opposition Law and Justice(PiS) polled at 23 percent (+1 p.p.). ATNS OBOP poll, also carried out inFebruary, was even more negative forPO, putting support for that party at28 percent (9 percentage points fewerthan in January), with PiS snapping atits heels with 26 percent (+4 p.p.).

Three times unlucky PO has already suffered three PRdisasters this year. The first was thepoorly-executed and controversialprescription-drugs reimbursementlaw which came into force on January1 this year, arousing anger, frustra-tion and confusion among doctors,pharmacists and patients alike. Thefiasco was well-publicized and was aterrible start to the year for the rulingparty.

Then came the ACTA treaty con-troversy, as internet users across thecountry protested against what they

perceived to be a bill that will intro-duce too many restrictions for inter-net users. Here, the loudest protestscame from a group which has foryears been a key electorate for PO –the urban youth.

The latest problem for the govern-ment stems from the chaos surround-ing the opening of the newly builtNational Stadium in Warsaw. TheSuper Cup, a fixture that was sup-posed to officially inaugurate the sta-dium, was postponed several timesbefore being canceled altogether.There have also been complaints thatnot everything is up to snuff in thestadium, the cost of which is so farestimated at z∏.2 billion.

Behind the guise of professionalismSports Minister Joanna Mucha hasbeen derided in the press recently forexhibiting a rather limited knowledgeof the field she is supposed to beoverseeing. She recently asked pub-licly who had “decided on” the twosoccer teams that were due to play inPoland’s Super Cup.

Journalists had to point out to theminister that it is the Ekstraklasaleague winner and the Polish Cup

winner that play for the Super Cup,rather than teams that had been“decided” by anyone.

All these events have served toseriously dent the image PO has socarefully cultivated in recent years –namely that it is a party of highly-competent and knowledgeable pro-fessionals.

Prime Minister Donald Tusk, whosays he values pragmatism over ideol-ogy, has had one simple message forPoles in recent years: that while POpoliticians may not be the stuff of vot-ers’ dreams, they are pragmatic, com-petent and much more professionalthan any of their political opponents.

Until now a large number of Poleshave bought into PO’s narrative, butthe government’s recent series ofmistakes has belied the party’s pro-fessional image.

The real cause of PO’s problems But the main reason why PO is get-ting such bad publicity is that the “PiSvaccine” is starting to wear off.

It’s no secret that the majority of theopinion-forming media in Poland aredead set against the idea of the biggestopposition party, the conservative and

nationalist PiS, coming back to power.The mere thought of Jaros∏awKaczyƒski’s party in government againis anathema to most of Poland’s cultur-al and business elite. And so last year,as long as there was a parliamentaryelection on the horizon and even aslight possibility that PiS might regainpower, criticism of PO was muted inmuch of the Polish media.

The notion that “criticizing POonly strengthens PiS” was verbalizedby some well-known publicists as avalid reason to refrain from criticiz-ing the ruling party and to focusinstead on hammering away at PiS.This process is what one PO-friendlypublicist has described as “injectingthe public with the PiS vaccine.”

But now, no major elections arescheduled for at least three years, andthe prospect of PiS returning topower seems so distant and abstractthat it can no longer rally the troopsfor the ruling party.

Gloves off That’s also why the gloves are off, atleast for now, when it comes to themedia’s criticism of PO. Frustrationsabout the ruling party, once discussedonly within journalistic circles, are

now being formulated in newspapers,on television and on the radio. Theeffects of this are evident in therecent polls.

Prime Minister Tusk can react inone of two ways. He can decide that hisgovernment and party need to be jolt-ed into action, and bring out the whip.Or he can say to himself, “Let’s let theestablishment media make all thenoise they want. They still don’t haveany alternative to PO, so when electiontime comes again, they’ll be the onesscrambling to improve our image inthe eyes of the public and bringing outthat PiS vaccine once again.”

It would be much better forPoland, and the long-term health ofPO, if Mr Tusk were to choose thefirst option, since his ministers, in aneffort to keep their jobs, would bemore likely to make fewer mistakesand to govern more efficiently.

But if the prime minister choosesto wave away the criticism, then hisministers will remain complacent –and the mistakes will continue. ●

Remi Adekoya is Warsaw Business Journal’s

politics editor. Read his blog, “The business of politics” on WBJ.pl

Remi Adekoya

FEBRUARY 20-26, 2012COVER STORY12

Polish exports

up, for nowThe EU downturn has

not hurt Polish

exporters, who have

broken sales records.

According to data

compiled by the Central

Statistical Office in

2011, exports grew by

around 33% to €136

billion. Experts fear that

these positive results

will not last long,

however. In December,

month-on-month growth

was just 5%, and

exporters now have to

face problems such as

weakening economies in

partner countries, as

well as a drop in prices

in other countries’

exports.

JPII museum

delayed

A new museum in

Warsaw dedicated to

John Paul II’s life will

not be ready on time to

greet the thousands of

fans who are expected

for the Euro 2012 soccer

championships this

summer, daily

Rzeczpospolita reported.

Due to lack of

funding, the opening of

the museum is now

scheduled for the

second half of 2013.

The multimedia

museum is scheduled to

be part of the Temple of

Divine Providence

complex in Warsaw’s

Wilanów district, which

also includes the

sizable Church of

Divine Providence.

Belka backs

loan to IMF

Marek Belka, the

president of the National

Bank of Poland, has

presented the terms of a

€6.27 billion loan from

Poland to the IMF. The

IMF will use the funds to

help euro-zone countries

that are facing financial

difficulties. The

repayment period, set at

5-10 years (with a

potential for extension),

is expected to have a

neutral effect on Poland’s

foreign-exchange

reserves, which are

currently valued at €76

billion. ●

www.wbj.pl

Pharmaceuticals reimbursement

Searchingfor a cureThe government hopesto put an end to thegrowing storm overthe new Reimburse-ment Act forpharmaceuticals

When Poland’s Health Minis-ter Bartosz Ar∏ukowicz cameto office in November last year,he could not have been readyfor the storm that was about toengulf him as a result of a newact governing pharmaceuticalreimbursement regulations.

The brainchild of MrAr∏ukowicz’s predecessor, cur-rent Speaker of the Sejm EwaKopacz, the legislation, usuallyreferred to as the Reimburse-ment Act, was passed by theSejm last year and came intoforce at the beginning of 2012.It introduced sweeping chan-ges for the industry, from pro-duction, distribution and sale,to prescription of medicinesand other medical products.

The messDuring the long periodbetween the act’s originaldrafting and its passage, themain focus of the media wason how the National HealthFund (NFZ) and patientswould cope with the plannedcuts in expenditure on pre-scription-drug reimbursement.But other unforeseen aspectsof the act wreaked havoc atthe beginning of the year.

In January, doctors andpharmacists staged protestsacross the country against thenew act’s much stricter regula-tions for issuing prescriptions.A new requirement obligingdoctors to ensure that patientsfor whom they write prescrip-tions are covered by publichealth insurance was particu-larly controversial. Previously,doctors had taken patients at

their word. Now, harsh penal-ties for omissions and errorshave come in to force,although there is no central-ized database containing infor-mation on who is insured.

In protest, thousands ofdoctors chose to issue pre-scriptions with a stamp stating:“Reimbursement level to bedetermined by the NationalHealth Fund.” In turn, thedoctors’ protest promptednumerous pharmacies todemand that patients pay thefull cost of some drugs.

With the combined pro-tests threatening to bring thesystem for providing pharma-ceutical care to its knees, thegovernment introduced anamendment to the act. Thiseliminated the penalties fordoctors and allowed them toforgo the task of checkingpatients’ eligibility for NFZreimbursement.

Nevertheless, the processremains to be resolved, leavingan atmosphere of chaos andconfusion.

Pharma sales plungeUnsurprisingly, the pharma-ceutical industry has taken abig hit as a result of thechanges. In January, salesfrom pharmacies in Poland fellby 24 percent year-on-yearbefore tax, according to datafrom global pharmaceuticalmarket information and con-sulting company IMS Health.While this decline is mainlyattributable to the fact thatmany people stocked up inDecember in preparation forthe higher out-of-pocket med-icine prices, experts say thatprotests and strikes also con-tributed.

“The chaos surroundingthe manner of the Reimburse-ment Act’s implementationhas affected each stakeholder

in the pharmaceutical mar-ket,” said Pawe∏ Sztwiertnia,director general of the PolishEmployers Union of Innova-tive Pharmaceutical Compa-nies (INFARMA).

One cause for the confu-sion may be that the HealthMinistry set itself a very tightdeadline to get the act imple-mented on time. For example,regulations covering contractsbetween pharmacies that dis-

pense reimbursed medicinesand the NFZ were onlyrevealed on December 8, just afew weeks before the new sys-

tem was due to start function-ing.

“Clearly, the new law hasnot been introduced in themost effective and transparentway,” said Maciej Kuê-mierkiewicz, director of con-sulting at the Polish branch ofIMS Health. “Some of its regu-lations are still calling for clari-fication or change.”

“Above all, the lack oftransparency and a clear inter-

Brian Davies

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Current Health Minister Bartosz Ar∏ukowicz and his predecessor Ewa Kopacz are at

the center of the storm over the Reimbursement Act

“All stakeholders inthe market are

adversely affected,including patients”

FEBRUARY 20-26, 2012 COVER STORY www.wbj.pl 13

pretation of the legal provi-sions have created a series ofproblems hindering everydaybusiness for drug makers, theirpartners and the whole health-care market – all stakeholdersin the market are adverselyaffected, including patients,”added INFARMA’s Pawe∏Sztwiertnia.

More problems aheadOnce the Ministry of Healthhas tamed the fires of the doc-tors’ and pharmacists’ protests,it is expected to meet withplenty of other problems. Oneof the most serious relates tothe hospital medicine sector.

The hospital sector hasbeen one of the driving forcesbehind the growth of the Pol-ish pharmaceutical market inrecent years, with the Polishgovernment putting an increa-sing amount of money intopaying for high-cost, modern,innovative medicines used inthe treatment of life-threaten-ing and chronic diseases.

This can be seen in thegrowth in expenditure onmedicines used in therapeuticprograms, which function asadministrative frameworks fordefining eligibility for reim-bursement in the case of veryexpensive medicines used inhospitals. Expenditure onthese drugs increased by 25.89percent in 2009, by 27.49 per-cent in 2010, and by 20.5 per-cent in 2011. However, underthe NFZ’s current plan for2012, there will be a 1.4 per-cent reduction in spending ontherapeutic programs, with thetotal set to amount to somez∏.1.65 billion.

With changes to the refer-ence-pricing system used formedicines organized within“limit groups” (medicineswhere the NFZ will only reim-burse up to a certain amount),

hospitals and in-patients mayalso feel the pinch.

As opposed to pharmacies,where patients can pay for thedifference if they buy a medi-cine that’s only partially cov-ered by the NFZ, in hospitalspatients cannot make co-pay-ments for their medicines.Meanwhile, the NFZ reim-burses hospitals only for drugsup to the level of the price ofthe “limit” product. Now thelist of these limit groups hasbecome much wider, and thatcould spell trouble for bothhospitals and patients, ex-plained Mr Sztwiertnia.

“The new system of creat-ing limit groups is much moreliberal than the previous oneand entails the possibility ofproducts which have decided-ly fewer common characteris-

tics being grouped together,”he said. “This is not a prob-lem if there is a generic equiv-alent in a given group thatmeets the price criteriadefined by the limit, is tolerat-ed by the patient and is avail-able in the hospital pharmacy.However, if any of these crite-ria is missing, there is a dan-ger that the drug needed willnot be available,” MrSztwiertnia added.

In short, under the newsystem, the range of drugs puttogether in limit groups ismuch wider, and could con-tain expensive, innovativeoptions, priced well above thegiven limit, as well as cheaperproducts which may be entire-ly inappropriate for certainpatients. And since many pub-

lic hospitals’ debts continue togrow, they are unlikely to wantto cover these extra costs,leaving certain patients with-out the appropriate medi-cines.

Cost-effective treatment?Another major administrativeamendment likely to causeupheaval this year is change tothe system of therapeutic pro-grams, which are used bygravely ill patients. “Drug pro-grams,” are set to replacethem from July, but little isknown about how they willwork in practice.

According to Mr Sztwiert-nia, how this change will becarried out and when it will beannounced remains an openquestion.

Another concern is whethermedicines used in these drugprograms will also be put intothe new, wider limit groups.

“The effects of such a deci-sion could be very serious,considering the fact that medi-cines used in drug programsare used in the case of themost seriously ill patients,patients for whom substitutionwith an equivalent drug foreconomical reasons may notbe appropriate for clinical rea-sons,” he said.

In cases of rarer cancerswhere the only real therapeu-tic option for patients aremodern, innovative and high-cost medicines, there are seri-ous doubts over hospitals’willingness to cover suchcosts. It remains to be seen

how this situation will panout, but many patients will nodoubt be worried about theMinistry of Health’s stance onthis issue.

An uncertain futureData from the Polish phar-maceutical market research

organization PharmaExpertshow that in the first week ofFebruary there was a signifi-cant increase in the sale ofprescription medicines. Thisfollowed a big drop in Jan-uary and was probablyhelped by the amendmentaddressing the concerns ofdoctors and pharmacists.

PharmaExpert expects themarket to stabilize, but warnsthat the new mechanismsintroduced by the Reim-bursement Act will continueto have a negative influenceon the market this year.Indeed, zero growth or a con-traction of the Polish phar-maceutical market remains apossibility.

The NFZ has set aside 4percent less for outpatientdrug reimbursement in 2012than in 2011. The industrywill undoubtedly feel theconsequences of this. De-spite the boom of recentyears, Poland’s drug spend-ing is yet to reach the levelsof fellow CEE countries likethe Czech Republic or Slo-vakia, let alone WesternEurope.

As drug-reimbursementexpenditure has grown, Polishpatients have also come toexpect that more targeted,innovative and expensivetreatments will be available.How the government man-ages an even partial reversalof these expectations remainsto be seen. ●

SH

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Many patients are worried that under the new act, hospitals may not be willing to cover the cost of the drugs they need

“Clearly, the new law hasn’t beenintroduced in the most effective and

transparent way”

TVN lowers

outlook Shares of broadcaster

TVN plunged last week

following reports that the

group had slashed its

2012 guidance because of

a drop in Q4 net profit.

The group explained that

it is unlikely to meet its

forecast of 11% sales

growth this year since

advertisers have been hit

hard by adverse

economic conditions.

Between October and

December, the group

recorded a net profit of

z∏.12 million, against

expectations of z∏.42

million.

Interest in

airport project

Warsaw’s Fryderyk

Chopin Airport will once

again turn into a

construction site. Valued

at z∏.300 million, the

project to rebuild

Terminal 1 is set to start

in the second half of

2012 and last until the

end of 2014. Several

firms have expressed an

interest in the project,

including Budimex,

Warbud, Astaldi, and

Bilfinger Berger,

reported Dziennik

Gazeta Prawna. ●

DAILY EXECUTIVE DIGEST

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Our goal is to have hundredsof companies listed on thealternative platform. This is abig impulse for small entrepre-neurship in Poland,” he toldWBJ.

Both Ms Cimoszko-Sko-wroƒska and Mr Gorczycaagreed that NewConnect’s suc-cess was an important achieve-ment for Poland, and that a fewmistakes on a market which isitself in its early stages of devel-opment were inevitable. Butthey also said that in their view,a few of the 361 IPOs shouldnever have taken place.

Too many companies cur-rently listed on NewConnect“just have the wrong profile,”said Ms Cimoszko-Skowroƒs-ka. “We are in a very sensitivemoment. If companies beingintroduced are wrong or havethe wrong business model forbeing public companies, theninvestors will lose interest.And without investors thismarket doesn’t exist.”

Tougher requirementsMr Sobolewski said details ofthe planned reforms would bemade public “in the very nearfuture.”

They would, he said, tough-en companies’ disclosure re-quirements, as well as raiseawareness among investors tothe fact that the alternative mar-ket is riskier than the main one.

Mr Gorczyca said thatinvestors should have somekind of assurance that compa-nies conducting private place-ments will, in the end, actual-ly list on NewConnect. Privateplacements are a fundinground of securities which aresold without an initial publicoffering.

“There were certain casesrecently where companiesmade those private place-ments and have not listed atthe end of the day. Investorsthat subscribed for their sharesfelt cheated, because having asmall number of shares in acompany that is not listed

equals having assets you can’tdo anything with.”

The WSE should also sendclear signals about its commit-ment to improving the percep-tion of the market’s litigationenvironment, he added. “Theregulations are there, it’sabout market participants hav-ing a belief they can effectivelysue companies and individualswho are responsible for anymalpractice. Right now, theperception is that it’s very dif-ficult to go to court and suc-cessfully sue someone who didnot adhere to market regula-tions and standards.”

Ms Cimoszko-Skowroƒskasaid that authorized marketadvisors should also be muchstricter when selecting and

preparing companies to list onNewConnect. “You have to beprepared to bear the cost ofunproductive time spent ondiscussing business plans withpeople who will never go pub-lic. Like anywhere in theworld, it’s difficult to find goodcompanies. For any 100 com-panies that walk through thedoor, you can maybe find fiveto work with,” she said.

“We authorized advisorsare supposed to be the gate-keepers. Unfortunately rightnow that’s not the case. This isa huge problem because weare losing investors and we arelosing good companiesbecause they don’t want toappear in bad company.”

Alice Trudelle

The president of theWarsaw StockExchange has said2012 will see a cleanupof the bourse’salternative market.Experts say it’s hightime

NewConnect, the WarsawStock Exchange’s alternativemarket, may soon be in for amakeover. Last week WSECEO Ludwik Sobolewski saidthat 2012 would see a“cleanup” on NewConnectand that the exchange will take“very serious steps evenagainst companies which havelisted with us for a long time.”

Although he would not dis-close details of the plannedchanges, Mr Sobolewski saidthe WSE would target compa-nies “with low liquidity, veryweak business perspectives,and those not fully aware oftheir obligations in relation toinvestors.”

The recent case of British

firm Avtech Aviation & Engi-neering has raised questionsabout the quality of some ofthe companies listed onNewConnect. Trading of itsshares was halted after itstopped providing informationto investors.

Although most expertscontacted by WBJ refused toindulge in finger-pointing,many said that the issue needsto be addressed.

“I believe that the qualitybar should definitely be raised.There have been some trans-actions that were certainly notin line with what you wouldexpect in terms of market stan-dards,” said Filip Gorczyca,senior manager at PwC’s capi-tal markets group in Warsaw.

A new age“I think everybody knows thatquality is not a hallmark ofNewConnect. I am reallyhappy Mr Sobolewski madethese comments, because Ithink we really need to take afresh look at NewConnect,”

said Bogus∏awa Cimoszko-Skowroƒska, president ofCMS Corporate ManagementServices, a company that helpsfirms list on the WSE.

“Until now everybody hasbeen focused on bringing newcompanies to NewConnect;this was the measure of suc-cess. We are all guilty of this,”she added.

NewConnect has devel-oped at a fast pace since itslaunch in 2007, with 361 com-panies now listed. Althoughnot a heavyweight when itcomes to the value of its IPOs,in 2011 NewConnect waslargely responsible for the factthat 47 percent of all Euro-pean IPOs were conducted inWarsaw. That made the WSEthe “undisputed leader inEurope in terms of debutingcompanies,” according PwC’s‘IPO Watch Europe’ report.

Mr Sobolewski insists thatthis makes NewConnect a suc-cessful project. “We are notinterested in creating a marketstructure for 10 companies.

FEBRUARY 20-26, 2012WARSAW STOCK EXCHANGE IN FOCUS14 www.wbj.pl

Contact: Aleksander Kowalski

ak@pnplaw.pl

Legal News

BROUGHT TO YOU BY PETER NIELSEN & PARTNERS LAW OFFICE

Indexation of retirement ben-efits and pensions on March 1Pursuant to the act which amends the Acton Retirement Benefits and Pensions fromthe Social Insurance Fund, as well as anumber of other acts, retirement benefitsand pensions will be increased by z∏.71from March 1. Apart from the said bene-fits, other benefits are also to be subjectto indexation, including pre-retirementallowances, social pensions andallowances for war veterans and their fam-ilies.

Interest on loans recognizedas tax deductibleThe individual interpretation by the direc-tor of the Tax Chamber in Warsaw of Jan-

uary 20, 2012 (no. IPPB1/415-1022/11-4/EC) addresses the question of how totreat interest earned on a bank loan.

The doubts of the taxpayer whorequested the interpretation of the TaxChamber related to whether interest on acontracted loan may also be recognizedas tax deductible. The director of the TaxChamber gave a positive answer.

Interest on a loan may be recognizedas being tax-deductible, provided that thefollowing conditions all have been ful-filled: the loan must be contracted in con-nection with income earned by the tax-payer; only the interest already paid isrecognized as being tax deductible; andsuch interest does not increase invest-ment costs. ●

NewConnect

In need of a makeover

Other

Oslo

Deutsche Börse

Luxembourg

NYSE Euronext

NASDAQ OMX

London

Warsaw

47%

25%

7%

6%

5%4%

3% 3%

European IPO breakdownShare of total IPOs in Europe, 2011

Other

Luxembourg

Germany

Oslo

Deutsche Börse

Warsaw

Spain (BME)

London

53%

23%

8%

6%3%

2%2%

3%

Value of total IPOs in Europe, 2011

Source: PwC ‘IPO Watch Europe 2011’

WB

J/A

RC

HIV

ES

Some argue listing so many companies on NewConnect has resulted in quality issues

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WSE CEO Ludwik Sobolewski says the alternative market is a big driver for smallentrepreneurship in Poland

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 • FEBRUARY 20-26, 2012, LI 17/07

LC Corp plans

residential

projects

Wroc∏aw-based

developer LC Corp is

preparing four new

large-scale residential

projects which are

currently at various

stages of the planning

process. Three of the

schemes will be

developed in the

company’s home

market and one will be

built in Gdaƒsk. They

will include a seven-

storey residential

building with

commercial outlets on

ul. Brzeska in Wroc∏aw,

which will be the first

residential project

developed by LC Corp in

the city’s center.

Unibep gets

z∏.39.3 mln

contractConstruction company

Unibep will be the

general contractor of

the first phase of a

residential complex that

Warszawska

Spó∏dzielnia

Mieszkaniowa will

develop on

ul. Niedzielskiego in

Warsaw’s Bielany

district. The value of the

contract amounts to

z∏.39.3 million. The first

phase of the

investment, which is

scheduled to be

completed in August

2013, will comprise two

buildings with a total of

122 apartments. ●

Commercial property

Construction gets underway onROBYG’s first commercial investmentThe first phase ofROBYG BusinessCenter will deliver over8,000 sqm of space

A subsidiary of developerROBYG has obtained a build-ing permit for the first phaseof the company’s ROBYGBusiness Center project inWarsaw, the firm’s first ven-ture into the Polish commer-cial property market.

Designed by the Atelier3Girtler&Girtler architecturalstudio and located on Al.Rzeczypospolitej in the capi-tal’s Wilanów district, theentire development is expect-ed to comprise two phaseswhose total usable space willamount to 35,000 sqm.

The first building in thecomplex, which is scheduled tobe completed in mid-2013, willcomprise over 8,000 sqm ofspace and include approxi-mately 2,700 sqm and some5,700 sqm of retail and officespace respectively.

Talks are now underwaywith potential tenants of thescheme. So far, the companyhas secured Alma Market forits investment. In accordance

with a deal signed in Novem-ber, Alma will take up most ofthe space on the first building’sground floor.

Warsaw Stock Exchange-

listed ROBYG has to datebeen mostly known for itsactivity in Poland’s residentialmarket. The company hasalready built a total of over

2,300 apartments in the War-saw and Tri-city markets withlast year’s sales exceeding1,000 units.

Adam Zdrodowski

Neinver starts construction on second Warsaw outletDeveloper Neinver haslaunched construction on Fac-tory Warszawa Annopol, thecompany’s second outlet cen-ter project in the Polish capi-tal. The scheme is locatedbetween ul. Annopol, ul.Toruƒska and ul. Bia∏o∏´cka inWarsaw’s Bia∏o∏´ka districtand is scheduled to be com-pleted in Q1 2013.

The development, whichis being built by Budimex,will feature 19,700 sqm ofspace and will house 120retail units. A parking lotlocated in front of the build-ing will provide parkingspaces for 1,400 cars.

“Ten years after the open-ing in [Warsaw’s] Ursus [dis-trict] of the first outlet centerin Poland, we are building the

second Factory in Warsaw,this time on the right bank ofthe Vistula River,” BarbaraTopolska, general director ofNeinver Polska, said in a state-ment.

“This part of the city hasbeen developing dynamicallyin recent years and this is whywe have decided to enrich itsoffer with a well-located andcommunicated outlet centerin Bia∏o∏´ka,” Ms Topolskaadded.

The architectural design ofFactory Warszawa Annopolwas furnished by the APAWojciechowski studio. Theinvestment is the first retailproject in Poland to have beenBREEAM certified at theplanning stage.

Adam Zdrodowski

ROBYG offices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15

Neinver’s Warsaw outlet . . . . .15

Blackstone buys new mall . . .16

Rank Progress acquires land . .16

BREEAM for Ogrody mall . . . . .16

Property-related stocks . . . . . .16

ROBYG interview . . . . . . . . . . . .17

Most expensive offices . . . . . .18

Jasna 26 permit . . . . . . . . . . . . .18

In this issue

1716

Blackstone has completed itsacquisition of the Galeria T´czamall in Kalisz

The president of ROBYG talksabout the company’s entryinto the commercial market

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The development will comprise 35,000 sqm of usable space

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Factory Warszawa Annopol is scheduled for completion in Q1 2013

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

FEBRUARY 20-26, 2012LOKALE IMMOBILIA – REAL ESTATE16 www.wbj.pl

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

on Feb 16 (z∏. mln)

BUDIMEX 85.70 0.59 64.00 109.70 -9.98 25,530,098 2,187.93

CELTIC 17.84 0.85 15.55 23.20 -22.03 34,068,252 607.78

DOMDEV 41.88 8.78 23.50 50.80 -11.27 24,560,222 1,028.58

ECHO 3.97 1.53 3.05 5.55 -13.88 420,000,000 1,667.40

ELBUDOWA 106.50 3.40 87.00 168.00 -33.02 4,747,608 505.62

ENERGOPLD 2.30 0.00 1.81 4.10 -39.47 70,972,001 163.24

ERBUD 20.80 -5.45 14.65 49.00 -58.57 12,644,169 263.00

GANT 9.19 0.33 5.85 16.44 -43.79 20,499,953 188.39

GTC 9.41 -13.11 7.91 21.79 -55.80 219,372,990 2,064.30

HBPOLSKA 1.31 11.02 0.70 2.79 -52.36 210,558,445 275.83

JWCONSTR 7.71 9.05 4.36 15.50 -46.83 54,073,280 416.90

LCCORP 1.19 -4.03 0.85 1.69 -25.16 447,558,311 532.59

MARVIPOL 9.70 -1.62 7.22 9.95 1.15 36,923,400 358.16

MIRBUD 2.50 1.21 1.94 4.74 -46.81 75,000,000 187.50

MOSTALWAR 22.21 8.08 15.40 49.00 -53.24 20,000,000 444.20

MOSTALZAB 1.75 4.17 1.07 3.00 -41.47 149,130,538 260.98

ORCOGROUP 17.80 -0.28 14.00 40.00 -43.94 17,053,866 303.56

PBG 78.60 -0.57 56.05 204.90 -60.90 14,295,000 1,123.59

PLAZACNTR 2.74 3.40 1.80 5.15 -34.45 297,174,515 814.26

POLAQUA 7.76 8.53 4.53 19.78 -60.91 27,500,100 213.40

POLIMEXMS 2.00 2.04 1.23 3.76 -41.69 521,154,076 1,042.31

POLNORD 18.15 0.55 11.03 33.55 -44.00 23,798,439 431.94

RANKPROGR 13.48 2.28 8.60 13.60 32.81 37,145,050 500.72

ROBYG 1.37 3.01 1.04 2.13 -27.51 257,390,000 352.62

RONSON 0.97 7.78 0.77 1.58 -30.71 272,360,000 264.19

TRAKCJA 1.34 6.35 0.65 3.85 -65.37 232,105,480 311.02

ULMA 62.00 4.03 57.00 88.00 -24.21 5,255,632 325.85

UNIBEP 5.79 0.17 4.47 9.35 -38.73 33,927,184 196.44

WARIMPEX 4.50 -1.10 2.95 10.89 -57.94 54,000,000 243.00

ZUE 8.15 -4.12 5.07 14.05 -40.90 22,000,000 179.30

Property-related stocks

Rank Progress buys land forshopping center in Pi∏aWarsaw Stock Exchange-listeddeveloper Rank Progress hassigned a preliminary purchaseagreement concerning theacquisition of approximately2.85 hectares of land in Pi∏a,Wielkopolskie voivodship.The company plans the devel-opment of a shopping centerproject at the site.

“It is an exquisitely locatedpiece of land in the very centerof the city. We are convincedthat building a shoppinggallery at the site will be anexcellent investment,” Jan

Mroczka, president of themanagement board of RankProgress, said in a statement.

The value of the purchaseagreement amounts to z∏.17million and is expected to befinalized by August 15 this year.The deal involves Rank Pro-gress’s acquisition of a 100 per-cent stake in Gemar-Umech, acompany that holds perpetualusufruct rights to the land.

Originally, Parkridge RetailPoland planned a shoppingcenter development at thesame location.

Construction on the mallthat Rank Progress plans tobuild in Pi∏a is expected tolaunch in Q4 2012 and finish inQ3 2013.

Rank Progress is currentlyinvolved in retail projects incities such as Chojnice, Grudz-iàdz and Kielce and is openingthe Galeria Âwidnicka mall inÂwidnica next month. The firmis eying spots for new shoppingcenter projects in cities includ-ing Olsztyn, Tychy, Opole, Gli-wice and Siedlce.

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Blackstone completesGaleria T́ cza dealThe transaction wasworth €37 million

Blackstone’s real estate fundshave completed the acquisitionof the Galeria T́ cza shoppingcenter project in Kalisz,Wielkopolskie voivodship, fromWarsaw Stock Exchange-listeddeveloper Rank Progress. Thevalue of the transaction was €37million.

The Galeria T́ cza mall hasjoined King’s Street Retail, acollection of Polish shoppingcenters that are funded andasset-managed by Blackstone

and whose combined leasablespace amounts to more than200,000 sqm.

Apart from Galeria T́ cza,the portfolio includes MagnoliaPark in Wroc∏aw, GaleriaTwierdza in K∏odzko, GaleriaTwierdza in ZamoÊç, GaleriaPestka in Poznaƒ and Wzor-cownia in W∏oc∏awek, with theK∏odzko and ZamoÊç schemeshaving also been previouslyacquired by Blackstone fromRank Progress.

Opened in October 2011,Galeria T́ cza is located indowntown Kalisz and compris-

es 16,100 sqm of GLA, almost100 percent of which is current-ly leased out. The scheme,which includes a five-screen 3Dmovie theater, is, as with theother King’s Street Retail port-folio properties, managed byMaster Management Group.

“We are excited about Gale-ria T́ cza joining King’s StreetRetail as we see tremendousgrowth potential for this brandnew, perfectly located mall,”Paul Kusmierz, principal ofMaster Management Group,said in a statement.

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Galeria T´cza is almost 100 percent leased out

Investor wants BREEAMcertification for Ogrody mallCBRE Global Investors plansto apply for a BREEAM cer-tificate of energy efficiencyand environmental perform-ance for its Centrum Hand-lowe Ogrody shopping center

project in Elblàg, Warmiƒsko-Mazurskie voivodship.

The scheme, which openedin 2002, will soon feature anexpanded area, building onwhich is scheduled to start in

the third quarter of this year.The new building has beendesigned in keeping with therules of sustainable architec-ture, the company said in astatement.

After the expansion, theone-level Ogrody project willget another floor and itsleasable space will increasefrom the current 17,500 sqm to43,500 sqm. The opening ofthe expanded scheme isexpected to take place at theturn of 2013 and 2014.

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The expanded project will feature 43,500 sqm of GLA

FEBRUARY 20-26, 2012 LOKALE IMMOBILIA – REAL ESTATE www.wbj.pl 17

Bronowice

Residence

completed

Developer Atal has

finished construction on

its Bronowice Residence

multifamily residential

project in Kraków. The

company has already

obtained an occupancy

permit for the

development, whose

value is estimated at

z∏.59 million. The

Bronowice Residence

complex comprises 139

apartments,

approximately 80 percent

of which have already

been sold.

Inpro touts

Miko∏ajki

apartmentsWarsaw Stock Exchange-

listed developer Inpro

has sold almost 30% of

apartments in its luxury

condohotel investment in

Miko∏ajki, Warmiƒsko

Mazurskie voivodship.

The current offer

comprises 14 units out of

the total of 19 that have

been planned in the

complex. The investment,

which is being built on an

island on Lake

Miko∏ajskie, will

comprise 77 hotel rooms,

as well as 19 apartments

sized from 31.6-114.8

sqm and priced at

z∏.35,000 per sqm.

New tenants in

Warsaw’s

PlatiniumDeveloper Globe Trade

Centre (GTC) has signed

two lease agreements for

a total of more than 1,500

sqm of office space in its

Platinium Business Park

development in Warsaw.

VeriFone Poland and

Schrack Seconet will

respectively occupy 1,100

sqm and 410 sqm in

building five and building

four of the complex. ●

Developers

Diversifying revenue streams

Adam Zdrodowski: The launchof ROBYG Business Center inWarsaw’s Wilanów districtmarks your company’s firstcommercial investment inPoland. What’s the rationalebehind the firm’s entry into thesector?Zbigniew Wojciech Okoƒski:We bought the land in Wilanówa few years ago in the beliefthat this project would comple-ment the main part of our busi-ness: the development of multi-family residential buildings.

We also came to the conclu-sion that the investment wouldfit the concept of the wholeMiasteczko Wilanów estate.We’ve been involved in thedevelopment of that projectsince construction began.

Apart from housingschemes, the estate will alsofeature office and retail space.Several other developers areworking on commercial proj-ects in the area. This is how themost modern neighborhoods inthe world are designed thesedays.

Your company is not the onlyresidential developer in Polandthat has entered the commer-cial property market of late.Will this trend continue?We can assume it will. For anylarge, experienced developerthat has accumulated a certainamount of capital and land,entering new sectors of theproperty market is a naturalway of developing its businessactivity. It also gives a companydiversified sources of revenueand thus greater security.

How would you respond to theclaim that a company that hasuntil now focused solely onbuilding apartments does not

have the know-how needed todevelop office space?In the case of our company,such a claim would be totallyunfounded. One of our co-owners is active in the officemarket in Israel, so we will beable to use the ample experi-ence that we have gained therein the Polish market.

What will be built in the nextphases of ROBYG BusinessCenter?We are planning 28,000 sqm ofoffice and retail space in thenext, five-floor building in thecomplex. However, it is possi-ble that this space will, in theend, be distributed across sev-eral smaller buildings. That will

ultimately depend on the ten-ants which we will secure forthe investment.

Don’t you face strong competi-tion from the developers thathave already been involved inoffice projects in MiasteczkoWilanów for some time now?We rather see those seeminglycompeting projects as a magnetthat will help promote the loca-tion in general and will attracttenants to the MiasteczkoWilanów estate, from whichour investment will definitelybenefit as well.

We see the area as a promis-ing office location; some of theemployees of the potential ten-ants that could lease space inthe planned offices inMiasteczko Wilanów alreadylive, or will soon live, in theneighborhood.

Are you already planning newcommercial projects in otherlocations in Poland?As for purely office projects in

completely new locations, theirpotential launch will depend onhow successful the Wilanówinvestment is. However, we arenow planning commercialspace within our ongoing andplanned residential projects inWarsaw and the Tri-city area.

One of the buildings in theOsiedle Kameralne estate inthe capital’s Bemowo district,for instance, will mostly featureretail space and offices withjust its two top floors expectedto house upmarket apart-ments.

Will you continue to concen-trate most of your activities onthe residential market in theupcoming years?By all means. We have actuallystepped up our residentialactivity in recent months. Lastyear we managed to sell morethan 1,000 apartments, whichmakes us one of the threelargest developers in the sector.Currently we are building atotal of some 1,300 units in our

Warsaw and Tri-city projects.

Are you planning to expand toother Polish cities as well?No. In the current uncertainmarket conditions that wouldbe too risky. You have toremember that starting devel-opment activity in a new mar-ket is a complex, time- andcost-consuming logisticalprocess.

We will grow in the cities inwhich we are already present.In Warsaw, for one, we haverecently bought land in theBemowo district, where we willdevelop a new housing estatewith approximately 70,000 sqmof usable space. The first phaseof the project alone will deliversome 300 units.

We are also looking forplots in other parts of the city.For instance, we would like tosecure land on the right bank ofthe Vistula River where wehave not yet built a single proj-ect and where we would like toestablish a presence. ●

Lokale Immobilia sits down with ZbigniewWojciech Okoƒski, president of themanagement board of Warsaw Stock Exchange-listed developer ROBYG, to talk about thecompany’s entry into the commercial segmentof Poland’s property market and its plans in theresidential sector

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FEBRUARY 20-26, 2012LOKALE IMMOBILIA – REAL ESTATE18 www.wbj.pl

Warsaw CBD office rents grow in 2011Prime office rent prices grew byan annualized 6.12 percent inWarsaw’s Central BusinessDistrict (CBD) last year, drivenby increased rental activity anda positive economic environ-ment, according to a report byCushman & Wakefield.

The Polish capital was 10th

in a list of European citiesranked by rent-price growth.

Monthly rent for one sqm ofGLA in Warsaw’s CBD stoodat €26.00 last year, comparedto €15.00 in the CBDs of

Kraków and Wroc∏aw, neitherof which experienced annual-ized growth in prime rentalprices.

Cushman & Wakefield doesnot consider the impact of thehigh demand in Warsaw to havebeen particularly significant foroffices in prime locations.

“Record demand for officespace in Warsaw in 2011 (con-tracts signed for more than570,000 sqm) did not signifi-cantly affect the level of rent inprime locations in the city cen-

ter,” Cushman & WakefieldPoland’s Miko∏aj Kowalski-Barysznikow said in a state-ment.

Demand for prime space inWarsaw is expected to remainhigh this year, a factor whichwill leave activity in other cities“largely subdued,” the firm’sreport reads.

Rent-price growth is fore-cast to remain flat in Warsaw,Kraków and Wroc∏aw in 2012,despite expectations of an eco-nomic slowdown.

In Europe as a whole,Moscow’s CBD led the way in2011 with a 41.18 percentincrease in rental rates, fol-lowed by Oslo (15.15 percent),Helsinki (12 percent) andStockholm (9.52 percent).

Declining rents in the mainbusiness districts of Athens (-14 percent), Dublin (-10 per-cent) and Lisbon (-3 percent)reflected the economic trou-bles of Greece, Ireland andPortugal respectively.

Gareth Price

Mermaid Properties obtains building permit for Jasna 26 project in WarsawDeveloper Mermaid Proper-ties has obtained a buildingpermit for its planned Jasna 26office project in Warsaw. Thecompany wants to select a gen-eral contractor for the schemeby the end of March, with thedevelopment scheduled to beready 18 months after con-struction starts.

The Jasna 26 investmentwill involve the revitalizationof a historical tenement houselocated on ul. Jasna in the cap-ital’s central district. It will beturned into a modern class-Aoffice facility that will alsoinclude retail space in its base-

ment and on the ground floor.The revitalization process

will include the developmentof an underground parking lot,as well as two new sections ofthe building. The total area ofthe structure will be increasedby 2,000 sqm to over 5,000 sqmof GLA.

“We are convinced thatJasna 26 is an excellent offerfor all companies for whombusiness image plays animportant role,” ¸ukasz Do∏´-ga, vice president of the man-agement board at MermaidProperties, said in a statement.

He added that consulting,

law, financial and insurancecompanies are increasinglylooking for offices that helpthem build their prestige, aswell as for quality space.“Jasna 26 meets these crite-ria,” Mr Do∏´ga said.

Jasna 26 is not the first Mer-maid Properties scheme involv-ing the modernization of anexisting property and its adapta-tion for commercial purposes.The company previously com-pleted similar projects in War-saw (Prosta 69 Business Centreand M∏odziejowski Palace) and¸ódê (Cross Point).

Adam Zdrodowski

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The former tenement house will be turned into class-A office space

Moscow rulesEuropean cities with largest prime rental price growth 2011, in y/y percentage change

Location Submarket Rental change

Moscow CBD 41.18

Oslo CBD 15.15

Helsinki CBD 12.00

Stockholm Birger Jarls Gatan 9.52

Gothenburg CBD 9.09

Aarhus CBD 9.09

London West End 7.89

Brussels Quartier Leopold 7.55

Antwerp Center 7.41

Warsaw CBD 6.12

Source: Cushman & Wakefield

FEBRUARY 20-26, 2012 www.wbj.pl 19MARKETS

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currency rates

Currency report

Ongoing discussions aboutthe Greek debt crisis and thepossibility of Portugal need-ing a bailout caused uncer-tainty last week amonginvestors, who began to closeprofitable positions, therebypushing the markets into acorrective movement.

The EUR/USD droppedall the way below the $1.30level from $1.33 on Monday,following declines on equities.But the fall was stopped withpositive macroeconomic newsfrom the US, which showedthat the economy there isgrowing faster than expected.

The z∏oty mirrored themoves of the EUR/USD. Astrong z∏oty depreciation lift-ed the EUR/PLN to z∏.4.24and USD/PLN to z∏.3.26,both monthly highs.

This week it was an-nounced that annualizedCPI inflation for January

came in lower than expected,at 4.1 percent. That decreas-es the chance of an interesthike any time soon.

Another factor that con-tributed to uncertainty re-garding the possibility of afurther appreciation of thez∏oty was the Ministry ofFinance’s announcement thatit will exchange EU fundsthrough the central bank,rather than on the marketdirectly. Investors seemed toignore this information whengood macroeconomic newscame from the US. As aresult, the z∏oty regainedsome ground later in theweek finishing at z∏.4.18against the euro and z∏.3.17against the US dollar.

The future direction ofthe z∏oty market could bedecided on Monday, the dayGermany wants a full agree-ment on Greece. ●

Adam Narczewski X-Trade Brokers DM SA

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Major indices

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

WISTIL 14.25 55.74 25.00 5.33INTERSPPL 4.05 36.36 4.47 1.33JAGO 0.28 33.33 0.87 0.15EFH 0.68 28.30 1.04 0.40OLYMPIC 5.85 27.17 7.20 3.25

WIG 41,430.30 (February 16 close)

Change for the week: -0.87% 52-week high: 50,371.74

Change year to February 16: 8.12% 52-week low: 36,549.47

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

ASSECOPOL 52.05 5.15 54.55 34.50POLIMEXMS 2.00 2.04 3.78 1.19GETIN 2.43 1.67 15.29 2.01BRE 295.20 1.37 357.90 203.30PGE 20.36 1.29 25.07 15.98

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

SIMPLE 6.42 -30.82 17.57 5.45MIDAS 0.85 -25.44 4.27 0.62ATLASEST 1.69 -22.83 3.65 1.45JHMDEV 1.12 -20.00 2.25 1.09PEP 19.66 -16.48 32.45 18.15

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

GTC 9.41 -13.11 21.79 7.86TVN 10.66 -9.66 18.53 8.90KGHM 133.30 -6.13 200.30 102.40PKNORLEN 36.00 -4.51 58.85 30.33CYFRPOLSAT 13.99 -2.85 17.69 11.60

WIG20 2,319.33 (February 16 close)

Change for the week: -1.90% 52-week high: 2,932.62

Change year to February 16: 5.71% 52-week low: 2,089.84

mWIG40 2,445.17 (February 16 close)

Change for the week: 0.98% 52-week high: 2,987.72

Change year to February 16: 11.64% 52-week low: 2,076.52

sWIG80 10,186.36 (February 16 close)

Change for the week: 3.16% 52-week high: 12,932.00

Change year to February 16: 18.39% 52-week low: 8,218.71

NewConnect 43.31 (February 16 close)

Change for the week: 0.70% 52-week high: 59.33

Change year to February 16: 4.39% 52-week low: 40.16

WIG-Banki 6,027.74 (February 16 close)

Change for the week: -0.97% 52-week high: 7,387.49

Change year to February 16: 8.74% 52-week low: 4,944.19

DJIA12,904.08 (Feb 16 close)

0.11% (for the week)

CHANGE: 4.09%

(year to Feb 16)

52-week high: 12,924.71

52-week low: 10,404.49

NASDAQ2,959.85 (Feb 16 close)

1.11% (for the week)

CHANGE: 11.75%

(year to Feb 16)

52-week high: 2,961.38

52-week low: 2,298.89

S&P5001,358.04 (Feb 16 close)

0.45% (for the week)

CHANGE: 6.34%

(year to Feb 16)

52-week high: 1,370.58

52-week low: 1,074.77

FTSE1005,885.40 (Feb 16 close)

-0.17% (for the week)

CHANGE: 3.25%

(year to Feb 16)

52-week high: 6,105.77

52-week low: 4,791.01

DAX6,751.96 (Feb 16 close)

-0.54% (for the week)

CHANGE: 11.13%

(year to Feb 16)

52-week high: 7,600.41

52-week low: 4,965.80

NIKKEI2259,238.10 (Feb 16 close)

2.62% (for the week)

CHANGE: 7.92%

(year to Feb 16)

52-week high: 10,862.43

52-week low: 8,135.79

world stock indices

20.0

1

23.0

1

24.0

1

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1

26.0

1

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1

30.0

1

31.0

1

01.0

2

02.0

2

03.0

2

06.0

2

07.0

2

08.0

2

09.0

2

10.0

2

13.0

2

14.0

2

15.0

2

16.0

239,000

39,800

40,600

41,400

42,200

43,00020

.01

23.0

1

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1

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2

15.0

2

16.0

22,200

2,240

2,280

2,320

2,360

2,400

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02.0

2

03.0

2

06.0

2

07.0

2

08.0

2

09.0

2

10.0

2

13.0

2

14.0

2

15.0

2

16.0

22,200

2,260

2,320

2,380

2,440

2,500

10 300

20.0

1

23.0

1

24.0

1

25.0

1

26.0

1

27.0

1

30.0

1

31.0

1

01.0

2

02.0

2

03.0

2

06.0

2

07.0

2

08.0

2

09.0

2

10.0

2

13.0

2

14.0

2

15.0

2

16.0

28,800

9,100

9,400

9,700

10,000

10,300

20.0

1

23.0

1

24.0

1

25.0

1

26.0

1

27.0

1

30.0

1

31.0

1

01.0

2

02.0

2

03.0

2

06.0

2

07.0

2

08.0

2

09.0

2

10.0

2

13.0

2

14.0

2

15.0

2

16.0

240.0

40.8

41.6

42.4

43.2

44.0

20.0

1

23.0

1

24.0

1

25.0

1

26.0

1

27.0

1

30.0

1

31.0

1

01.0

2

02.0

2

03.0

2

06.0

2

07.0

2

08.0

2

09.0

2

10.0

2

13.0

2

14.0

2

15.0

2

16.0

25,600

5,720

5,840

5,960

6,080

6,200

Other indices

Solid gains for

small firms

Stocks report

Though markets continue toseesaw as worries overGreece increase, small com-panies on the Warsaw StockExchange’s sWIG80 indexhad a very strong week.

World stocks rose onMonday, after the Greekparliament passed an addi-tional round of drastic aus-terity measures. Volumes onthe Polish bourse were low,with banking shares continu-ing to see solid gains. Lead-ing the pack were shares oflenders Getin and Pekao,which both gained over 2.5percent. The main WIGindex gained 0.88 percent.

On Tuesday, poor macro-economic news quashed theValentine’s Day spirit formost markets. First,Moody’s decision to cut rat-ings for six European coun-tries and place the ratings ofthe UK and Austria on neg-

ative outlook hurt senti-ment. Then, manufacturingdata for the euro zone forthe month of December wasworse than expected. Mar-kets fell, with the WIGdown 0.38 percent.

On Wednesday, marketsturned around after datafrom both the US and Ger-man economies liftedmoods. On the WIG20 onlyshares of TVN, which fell8.47 percent, were badly hit.

On Thursday, sentimentwas mixed, with the Polishbourse starting out in nega-tive territory. Losses werecut as positive news fromGreece propped up markets.Despite this, the WIG shed0.45 percent.

On Friday, markets onceagain saw large gains afterGreece closed in on a bailoutagreement. The WIG fin-ished 1.76 percent up. ●

Andrew NawrockiWBJ market analyst

Arrested

correction

FEBRUARY 20-26, 2012THE LIST20 www.wbj.pl

IT & Telecoms

Telecom OperatorsRanked by revenue from telecom services in 2010 www.bookoflists.pl

Notes: NR = Not Ranked, WND = Would Not Disclose. Research for The List was conducted in December 2011. Number of employees andownership structure are as of November 2011 unless stated otherwise. All information pertains to the companies’ activities in Poland. Companiesnot responding to our survey are not listed.Footnotes: (1) Grupa TP comprises Telekomunikacja Polska, Polska Telefonia Komórkowa Centertel, Contact Center, Fundacja Orange, Integrated Solu-tions, Orange Customer Service, Otwarty Rynek Elektroniczny, Paytel, PTE, TP Edukacja i Wypoczynek, TP INvest, TP Teletech and Wirtualna Polska.

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

Rank

Company nameAddressTel./FaxE-mail

Web page

Revenue fromtelecom services

(z∏. mln)

Total revenue (z∏. mln)

Net profit (z∏. mln) Installation cost (z∏.)Public network /

Dedicated network /Radio systems

Cellular network:digital /

Cellular network:analog /

Data transmissionnetworks /

Internet access

SMS service /Voicemail /Conference

Connections /Call-back system

Total employees /Year founded /Year licensed

Ownerhship: Polish /Foreign

Top local executive /

Title

1

Grupa TP (1)

ul. Twarda 18, 00-105 Warsaw22 527-0000/22 527-0127biuro.prasowe@telekomunikacja.plwww.tp.pl

7,519.015,715.0

WNDWND

7,519.015,715.016,560.018,165.0

1,184.0108.0

1,283.02,190.0

WNDWNDWNDWND

WNDWNDWNDWND

WNDWNDWNDWND

23,7341991WND

WNDFrance Telecom - 49.8%;

Capital Group International -5%

Maciej WituckiPresident

2

Polkomtel SAul. Post´pu 3, 02-676 Warsaw22 426-1000/22 426-0054www.plusgsm.pl

WND7,457.57,518.68,244.0

WND8,003.98,154.98,879.8

WND1,109.0976.7

1,359.1

WNDWNDWNDWND

WNDWNDWNDWND

WNDWNDWNDWND

WND19951996

PKN Orlen; KGHM PolskaMiedê; Polska Grupa

Energetyczna; W´glokoksVodafone Americas;

Vodafone InternationalHoldings

Zygmunt Solorz-˚akPresident

3

UPC Polska Sp. z o.o.Al. Jana Paw∏a II 27, 00-867 Warsaw22 241-6901/22 241-6900www.upc.pl

512.1948.6WNDWND

WNDWNDWNDWND

WNDWNDWNDWND

WND✓✓-

--✓✓

-✓✓-

1,2011989WND

WNDLiberty Global

Simon BoydPresident

4

EXATEL SAul. Perkuna 47, 04-164 Warsaw22 340-6050/22 340-6022info@exatel.plwww.exatel.pl

WND483.2516.8517.9

WND529.2579.4557.9

WND45.054.815.7

-✓✓✓

--✓✓

--✓-

41619931993

Polska Grupa Energetyczna- 95%None

Zdzis∏aw NowakPresident

5

Telefonia DIALOG SAPl. Jana Paw∏a II 1, 50-136 Wroc∏aw71 781-1601/71 781-1600info@dialog.plwww.dialog.pl

180.9387.4391.0448.0

251.5518.3509.0558.0

18.276.07.0

-287.0

WND✓✓✓

✓-✓✓

✓✓✓-

91919971997

KGHMNone

Arkadiusz Miszuk;Robert Banasiak

President; Vice President

6

Multimedia Polska SAul. Tadeusza Wendy 7/9, 81-341 Gdynia58 666-0300/58 666-0309sekretariat.zarzadu@multimedia.plwww.multimedia.pl

65.0123.0117.0118.0

303.2567.2526.3475.0

35.481.564.150.0

WND✓-✓

--✓✓

--✓✓

1,7301991WND

Andrzej RogowskiWND

Andrzej RogowskiPresident

7

ATM SAul. Grochowska 21A, 04-186 Warsaw22 515-6100/22 515-6600info@atman.plwww.atman.pl

64.8116.890.472.8

169.3401.8286.5267.4

10.621.49.98.9

-✓-✓

--✓✓

--✓-

17219942001

WNDRoman Szwed

President

NR

AlterTEL Sp. z o.o.Al. Jerozolimskie 81, 02-001 Warsaw22 480-4455/22 480-4456info@altertel.plwww.altertel.pl

WNDWNDWNDWND

WNDWNDWNDWND

WNDWNDWNDWND

WND✓✓✓

--✓✓

✓✓✓✓

WND20092009

WNDNone

Szymon KosmalaPresident

NR

Crowley Data Poland Sp. z o.o.ul. Stawki 2, 00-193 Warsaw22 427-3000/22 427-3003info@crowley.plwww.crowley.pl

WNDWNDWNDWND

WND105.3100.998.7

WNDWNDWNDWND

WND✓✓✓

✓✓✓✓

-✓✓-

16019991999

Grupa NetiaNone

Grzegorz EszPresident

NR

dcenter.plAl. Jerozolimskie 81, 02-001 Warsaw22 292-0000/22 292-0001info@dcenter.plwww.dcenter.pl

WNDWNDWNDWND

WNDWNDWNDWND

WNDWNDWNDWND

WND✓✓✓

--✓✓

✓✓✓✓

WND20092009

WNDNone

Rafa∏ KuÊmiderPresident

NR

GTS Poland Sp. z o.o.ul. Marynarska 15, 02-674 Warsaw22 488-8000/22 488-8001info@gts.plwww.gts.pl

WNDWND421.0443.0

WND426.0421.0443.0

WNDWNDWNDWND

WND✓✓-

--✓✓

-✓✓-

WND19972000

WNDPiotr Sieluk

CEO GTS Energis

NR

NASK instytut badawczyul. Wàwozowa 18, 02-796 Warsaw22 380-8080/22 380-8201kontakt@nask.plwww.nask.pl

WNDWNDWNDWND

49.889.585.883.9

7.63.1-1.4-0.6

WND✓-✓

--✓✓

-✓✓-

3211993

-

Treasury - 100%None

Micha∏ ChrzanowskiDirector

NR

Polska Telefonia Cyfrowa SAAl. Jerozolimskie 181, 02-222 Warsaw22 413-6000/22 413-6914pr@t-mobile.plwww.tmobile.pl

WNDWNDWNDWND

WNDWND7.67.9

WNDWNDWNDWND

WND✓✓✓

✓✓✓✓

✓✓✓✓

WND19951996

Polska Telefonia Cyfrowa -7%

Telekom Deutschland - 93%

Miroslav RakowskiPresident

1st half of 2011 / 2010 / 2009 / 2008

Activities

Poles triumphat Pedros Cup

The Pedros Cup, the biggestindoor track-and-field event inPoland, took place in Byd-goszcz earlier this month. Thisyear’s competition comprisedthree events: the men’s andwomen’s pole vault and themen’s shot put.

In the shot put, Poland’scurrent Olympic championTomasz Majewski threw a sea-son best of 21.05 meters to takefirst place, with the 2009 WorldChampion, the US’s ChristianCantwell, taking second with athrow of 20.96 meters.

In the women’s pole vault,Russian world-record holderYelena Isinbayeva came in

first with a vault of 4.68meters. British sensation HollyBleasdale, who broke her ownpersonal best with a vault of4.87 meters earlier this year,failed to match the Russianathlete and came second with4.60 meters.

The men’s pole vault waswon by local favorite ¸ukaszMichalski, who represents theZawisza Bydgoszcz athleticsclub. Mr Michalski led the wayafter clearing the bar at aheight of 5.72 meters. Czechathlete Jan Kudlička and Bri-tain’s Steven Lewis finishedsecond and third respectively.

Marcin ¸ojewski

FEBRUARY 20-26, 2012 SPORTS www.wbj.pl 21

National Stadium

National Sports Centre head resigns over National Stadium delaysThe government iswithholding thedeparting director’sz∏.570,000 bonus

Rafa∏ Kapler, the director ofthe National Sports Centre(NCS), resigned last Mondayfollowing problems related tothe completion of Poland’snew National Stadium inWarsaw.

His position becameuntenable when the PolishSuper Cup final, which wasdue to be played at theNational Stadium, was can-celed recently after the stadi-um’s operators failed toobtain a safety permit fromcity authorities.

Mr Kapler defended hisrecord as president of NCS,the body charged with over-seeing construction of theNational Stadium, saying

that the facility was con-structed in only 32 monthsand at a lower-than-expectedcost.

“Although my participa-tion in this project has cometo an end as a director, I amconvinced that this magnifi-cent facility has the potentialin the future to be not only acenter of entertainment andculture but a profitable andindependent business,” hesaid in a statement.

Despite resigning, MrKapler was set to receive abonus of z∏.570,000 accordingto a contract he signed backin 2008, a fact which has ledto criticism from some mem-bers of the media, as well asfrom Poland’s largest opposi-tion party, Law and Justice(PiS).

PiS spokesperson AdamHofman had called on

Poland’s Minister of Sportand Tourism Joanna Muchato explain why Mr Kaplerwas given such a large bonus.

According to Mr Hofman,the decision to give MrKapler the bonus shows the“ultimate arrogance of thePO government.”

But under increasingpressure, Ms Mucha said lastThursday that the bonuswould be withheld. In an ear-lier statement posted on theMinistry of Sport’s website,Ms Mucha had thanked MrKapler for his effort duringhis time at the NCS.

“I realize that beingattacked by the media, todayhe is placed in an unfavor-able light. I hope that overtime the evaluation of MrKapler’s performance willchange,” she said.

David Ingham

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Tomasz Majewski (pictured) and ¸ukasz Michalski both

won their events in Bydgoszcz

Best seats in the house atEuropean championshipsWith this summer’s UEFAEuro 2012 tournament justaround the corner, tickets forgames at the event’s eightstadiums in Poland andUkraine are selling out fast.

But for those who stillwant to take advantage of theopportunity to get hold of thebest seats in the house, plusenjoy great food and enter-tainment, some packageswithin the UEFA Club Pres-tige range are still available.

The Prestige Platinumrange, which is priced from€1,950 per person for agroup match at Poznaƒ’sMunicipal Stadium, to€13,400 per person for threegroup matches, a quarter-final and a semi-final at War-saw’s National Stadium,offers guests the most exclu-sive environments in which towatch matches.

Those who take up theoffer will have access to a pri-vate skybox for three hoursbefore kick-off and 90 min-utes after, tickets to the game– with seats located just out-side the box and a gourmetmenu provided by Austrianevent caterers DO & CO.

Alternatively, the PrestigeGold package provides abusiness-mixer type environ-ment which allows guests toshare lounges that featurebars and catering pointsoffering both internationaland local cuisine. The offeralso includes match-day tick-ets and live entertainment.Prices per person range from€1,450 for a group game to€23,900 for all the matches inPoland, as well as the final,which takes place in Kiev onJuly 1.

David Ingham

Maciej Rybus to leaveLegia WarszawaLegia Warszawa midfielderMaciej Rybus has agreed tojoin Russian club TerekGrozny on a three-and-a-half-year deal, which couldbe worth more than €3 mil-lion including add-ons.

Terek, which finished lastseason in 11th place in theRussian Premier League,

first spotted Mr Rybus play-ing for Legia against SpartakMoscow in the EuropaLeague group stages earlierthis season.

The 21-year-old, whostarted his professionalcareer at Legia, will join theRussian side after Legia’saway fixture against Sporting

Lisbon in the Europa Leagueon February 24.

In the first leg of theEuropa League matchbetween Legia and SportingLisbon last Thursday, thegame ended in a 2-2 draw,following a late equalizer bySporting’s André Santos.

David Ingham

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FEBRUARY 20-26, 2012LIFESTYLE22 www.wbj.pl

Centre for ContemporaryArt at Ujazdowski 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 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 2Awww.milano.arts.pl

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

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

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

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

Katarzyna Napiórkowska Art Galleryul. Âwi´tokrzyska 32, ul.Krakowskie PrzedmieÊcie 42/44and Old Town Square 19/21www.napiorkowska.pl

Królikarnia National Galleryul. Pu∏awska 113awww.krolikarnia.mnw.art.pl

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

Museum of IndependenceAleja SolidarnoÊci 62www.muzeumniepodleglosci.art.pl

National Museum in Warsaw Al. Jerozolimskie 3www.mnw.art.pl

Polish National Opera atTeatr 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 52www.pma.pl

State Ethnographic Museumul. 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 Rising Museum ul. Grzybowska 79www.1944.pl

Wilanów Palace Museumand Wilanów PosterMuseumul. St Kostki Potockiego 10/16www.milanow-palac.plwww.postermuseum.pl

Zachęta National Art GalleryPl. Ma∏achowskiego 3www.zacheta.art.pl

Museums, galleries and venues in Warsaw WBJ’s restaurant review feature

Rialto Restaurantul. Wilcza 73Warsawrialto.pl

If it’s the taste and experienceof old Warsaw you’re after, thefive-star Hotel Rialto’s epony-mous restaurant will certainlynot disappoint.

Located on ul. Wilcza, notfar from the capital’s historicPalace of Culture and Science,the restaurant’s stylish artdeco and art nouveau interior

speaks of a bygone age thatwas brought to an abrupt endby World War II.

Close enough to the capi-tal’s central business district tobe accessible for a workinglunch, and elegant andauthentic enough to create alasting impression on thosewho are keen to explore Polishcuisine and history, it is theideal place to sample the bestof real Polish cuisine.

Traditional but sophisti-cated dishes such as herringwith hard-boiled egg andonion served under creamymayonnaise, as well as gamepierogi with crispy baconand onion, currently featureon the restaurant’s early20th-century menu. For the

more adventurous, “Pre-war” tripe soup (flaki)served with veal meatballsand accompanying spices isalso recommended.

The restaurant’s choice ofdeserts will come as little sur-prise to those familiar withPolish cuisine, but all areexquisitely presented andfavor seasonal ingredients.

Aside from its early 20th-century menu, the Rialto Res-taurant also offers a three-course business lunch, with teaand coffee, for z∏.85 per per-son. An a la carte menu isavailable in the evening.

Gareth Price

Reservations: 22 58 48 77restaurant@hotelrialto.com.pl

A taste of old Warsaw

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Artur Rubinsteinin MemoriamFebruary 23, 7 pmNational TheaterPl. TeatralnyWarsaw

Artur Rubinstein, a Pole whowas considered one of thegreatest classical pianists ofthe 20th century, will beremembered in a celebrationof the 125th anniversary of hisbirth at the National Theater

this month.Mr Rubinstein, who was

born in ¸ódê, was famous dur-ing his lifetime for being oneof the foremost interpreters ofPoland’s most well-knownmusical export, FryderykChopin, as well as for his loveof the high life.

When questioned onceabout his youth, Mr Rubin-stein is said to have remarked,“It is said of me that when I

was young I divided my timeimpartially among wine,women and song. I deny thiscategorically. Ninety percentof my interests were women.”

At this one-night-only con-cert, 22-year-old Ukrainianpianist Anna Fedorova willplay some of the compositionsmost associated with Rubin-stein, including Chopin’sSonata No. 3, Op. 58.

David Ingham

Concert

Remembering a piano legend

Adidas Originals Rocks the FloorMarch 2-3Soho Factory, ul. Miƒska 25Warsaw

Poland’s biggest hip-hop festi-val returns for its second edi-tion to Warsaw’s Praga districtthis March. The event willbring together four fundamen-tal elements of hip-hop cul-ture: MCing, B-boying (breakdancing), DJing and graffitiart.

In each of the four cate-gories some of the best inter-

national and domestic artistswill be performing, includingPolish rapper O.S.T.R. and USactor and performer YasiinBey, who is also known as MosDef.

Organizers say the aim ofthe event is to “create a spaceto explore new art fromaround the world, whereartists can exchange experi-ences, to show hip-hop cul-ture as a unique andextremely fast-moving com-ponent of modern culture inwhich everyone, regardless ofage or residence, can find

something for themselves.”DI

For more information logon to rockthefloor.eu

Festival

Urban culture in Warsaw

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Warsaw 1939-1944Underground SatireUntil May 20Museum of Caricature andCartoon Art in Warsawul. Kozia 11

Fans of both history and satirehave the chance to visit anongoing exhibition featuringhidden artistic treasures thatwere saved from the periodwhen Warsaw was under occu-pation by Nazi Germany.

The exhibition highlightsthe works of Polish cartoonistssuch as Henryk Chmielewski(who operated during the warunder the pseudonym “Yes”)and Stanis∏aw Miedza-Toma-szewski (known as “Miedza”)and the role their art played inthe resistance movement.

Drawings on displayinclude an image of Hitlerwith the SS symbol for eyesand a swastika instead of lips,as well as an illustration show-ing the Warsaw mermaid“Syrenka” cutting a Germansoldier to pieces with a sword.

There are also examples ofunderground pamphlets andnewspapers, as well as photo-graphs and fragments of thefilm “Forbidden songs.”

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on to muzeumkarykatury.pl

Exhibition

Images from the underground

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FEBRUARY 20-26, 2012 LAST WORD www.wbj.pl 23

Scientific method vs the ‘miraculous’ iPhoneTech Eye

Every day, it seems, Techeye readsabout the miraculous power of theiPhone. Every damned day. Not longago there was a story about a woman

who narrowly avoided joining aGood-Book-of-the-month cult,thanks to a loony-detector app onher phone. The next day we read the

stirring account of Stroppy Bob, whofell out of an airplane, landed on aniPhone (and its owner), and lived totell the tale.

“Is there anything this gadgetcan’t do?” we recently wailed to ourawfully wedded wench.

She thought for a moment before

replying. “It’s rubbish for voodoo.Stick a pin in it and see – only oneyou’re hurting is yourself.”

She’s a smart woman, Tech-eye’s wench is. And she got usthinking – what other things isthe iPhone rubbish at? Wedecided to approach the matterscientifically by crafting a list ofhypotheses and setting out todisprove them.

Our hypotheses:1) An iPhone makes a great

companion for fish.2) When flame broiled, an

iPhone can satisfy any appetite.3) If you record a detailed

list of all your greatest sins on aniPhone and launch it in thePope’s general direction duringa public address using a high-tech trebuchet, then your sinsare instantly absolved and youcan commit, like, 20 new onesbefore God notices.

On the basis of our scientificinvestigation, we can saywith confidence that allthree of these hypothesesare false. Oh, and welearned a few other thingsas well: the Swiss Guards have no

sense of humor and they don’tappreciate anyone lobbing wet,charred phones at their beloved

pontiff. Enough about that,

though. Here’s somethingthat the iPhone does in ablessedly mundane fashion –monitor your baby. Providedyou’ve got a Smart BabyMonitor from Withings(withings.com), that is.

The Smart Baby Monitoris an iPhone peripheral, witha three-megapixel, wide-angle video sensor, a sensi-tive microphone and a speak-er so you can shout “Don’teat the brown stuff!” as yousprint towards to the baby’sroom. The monitoring pro-gram can be set to alert youto changes in movement,sound, temperature andhumidity.

Withings’ gadget alsoworks with the iPad and

iPod Touch. Baby notincluded, although withthe £299 price tag you’dbe forgiven for wonder-

ing.

The iPhone is also good for play-ing music, which you probably knowalready. But did you know it’s goodfor playing music on absurdly expen-sive speakers?

Take a gander at the AeroSystemOne, a dock speaker for the iPod oriPhone from Jarre Technologies(jarre.com). At a cost of just £799and a little self respect – you’re buy-ing a speaker from Jean MichelJarre, after all – you get 240° sounddispersion (with built-in 3Denhancement filters, whatever thatmeans), two 30w high-def tweetersand a 60w subwoofer. And it’sshaped like one of those barrier poststhat airport security always uses.

If that’s not rich enough for you,the company has just announced anultra-swank version of the AeroSys-tem One made of crystal fromLalique. “To create this piece ofwork, 13 master glass-blowers blow,cut and polish crystal with theirexpert hands,” Jarre Technologies isboasting.

In other words, the company hashired guys who can blow crystal withtheir frickin hands. And that –iPhone or no iPhone – is trulymiraculous. ●

Ever been beaten like a rented mule by the Swiss Guard? 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