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ABOUT BUSINESS - 04.2009
The crisis is steering clear of shopping centers
In spite of the significant slowdown in the real estate market, segments of retail space have a chance of escaping the turbulence unscathed. Fewer shopping centers will be opened, but compared to the scale of the slowdown residential market and what is expected in the office space market, retail space will develop dynamically. The total supply of modern retail space in Poland at the end of 2008 amounted to 8.4 million square meters. As much as 73% of that was in shopping centers with a total area of 6.2 million meters; 7% was in retail parks, and 1% was made up of clearance outlets.
More and more hotels
According to data gathered by the consulting firm Cushman&Wakerfield, around 140 hotels in our country are being built or modernized, of which 25% are located in voidvodeship cities, where around 1,500 rooms will be given over for use this year. More than 160 hotels are in the planning phase, with opening dates scheduled for 2010-2013. Many of them are four and five star hotels. Increased investments in economy-class hotels are also visible. Orbis (with the Etap and Ibis brands) is counting on this market. SA’s plans are ambitious, but it is not certain at all whether all of them will be realized given the present global crisis or not.
Germans are buying cars in Poland
Sales of cars in Poland increased by 13.3% in February, compared to January (7.2%). The boom is the effect of re-exporting cars to Germany. As many as 30,200 passenger cars were bought from Polish car dealerships. When the value of the Polish zloty has fallen in relation to the euro, cars from Poland are especially attractive to our western neighbors. Even more so, since the car buyers receive a premium of 2,500 euro, offered by the German government, whose regulations do not specify any particular purchase point. Re-export comprises almost 10% of total sales. On the other hand, the number of imported used cars to Poland was almost identical in the months of January and February, and amounted to 43,700. Compared to February of 2008, the number has dropped by nearly half.
From Italy to Poland
Indesit, an Italian manufacturer of dishwashers, is closing its factory near Turin and moving it to the Polish town Radomsko. Even the protests by 600 workers from the company, which went on for a few weeks and were sometimes so violent that the Italian police had to intervene, did not affect the company’s decision. Up to now, the Indesit factory in None, near Turin, produced 770,000 dishwashers annually, for the entire European market.
The Polish crisis is smaller
TThe eminent Polish economist, prof. Leszek Balcerowicz, former Minister of Finance and Deputy Minister, claims that the effects of the global crisis will be felt to a lesser degree in Poland than in other countries in Europe. We will not avoid recession, but its effects will be smaller than in Hungary, Ukraine, Russia, or in Baltic countries, Balcerowicz says. In his opinion, the Polish authorities have to be aware of the possible costs of further deficits, particularly if it implied accruing more and more interest. This way – according to the professor – Poland would be headed for a trap, just like Hungary.
In spite of the significant slowdown in the real estate market, segments of retail space have a chance of escaping the turbulence unscathed. Fewer shopping centers will be opened, but compared to the scale of the slowdown residential market and what is expected in the office space market, retail space will develop dynamically. The total supply of modern retail space in Poland at the end of 2008 amounted to 8.4 million square meters. As much as 73% of that was in shopping centers with a total area of 6.2 million meters; 7% was in retail parks, and 1% was made up of clearance outlets.
More and more hotels
According to data gathered by the consulting firm Cushman&Wakerfield, around 140 hotels in our country are being built or modernized, of which 25% are located in voidvodeship cities, where around 1,500 rooms will be given over for use this year. More than 160 hotels are in the planning phase, with opening dates scheduled for 2010-2013. Many of them are four and five star hotels. Increased investments in economy-class hotels are also visible. Orbis (with the Etap and Ibis brands) is counting on this market. SA’s plans are ambitious, but it is not certain at all whether all of them will be realized given the present global crisis or not.
Germans are buying cars in Poland
Sales of cars in Poland increased by 13.3% in February, compared to January (7.2%). The boom is the effect of re-exporting cars to Germany. As many as 30,200 passenger cars were bought from Polish car dealerships. When the value of the Polish zloty has fallen in relation to the euro, cars from Poland are especially attractive to our western neighbors. Even more so, since the car buyers receive a premium of 2,500 euro, offered by the German government, whose regulations do not specify any particular purchase point. Re-export comprises almost 10% of total sales. On the other hand, the number of imported used cars to Poland was almost identical in the months of January and February, and amounted to 43,700. Compared to February of 2008, the number has dropped by nearly half.
From Italy to Poland
Indesit, an Italian manufacturer of dishwashers, is closing its factory near Turin and moving it to the Polish town Radomsko. Even the protests by 600 workers from the company, which went on for a few weeks and were sometimes so violent that the Italian police had to intervene, did not affect the company’s decision. Up to now, the Indesit factory in None, near Turin, produced 770,000 dishwashers annually, for the entire European market.
The Polish crisis is smaller
TThe eminent Polish economist, prof. Leszek Balcerowicz, former Minister of Finance and Deputy Minister, claims that the effects of the global crisis will be felt to a lesser degree in Poland than in other countries in Europe. We will not avoid recession, but its effects will be smaller than in Hungary, Ukraine, Russia, or in Baltic countries, Balcerowicz says. In his opinion, the Polish authorities have to be aware of the possible costs of further deficits, particularly if it implied accruing more and more interest. This way – according to the professor – Poland would be headed for a trap, just like Hungary.
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Information published at 6 April 2009