Current issue:
ABOUT BUSINESS - 11.2009
Polish Plumber Laughs at Europe
„The Polish plumber laughs at Europe. Warsaw does not suffer from recession”, reads the title of the article published on Monday in the Italian daily Il Giornale. According to the periodical, there are signs that this year Poland will be „the only European country which has not suffered from recession despite the present crisis.” On Friday, the French daily Le Monde forecasts that at the end of the year Poland will probably be the only European Union member state to achieve economic growth. The daily believes that it is due to the state budget discipline and the weak Polish zloty. „The Polish plumber is not a threat any longer”, claims the newspaper referring to the famous campaign from a few years ago, featuring a Polish plumber. „He is no more the villain of nightmares dreamt by millions of Europeans horrified at the invasion of cheap workforce and broadening of the Union borders. The hero of French, British and Italian jokes goes back home today”, adds the daily published by the family of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. „When the world trade entered the great crisis, the Polish weakness turned into strength, protecting the country from a serious blow”, assesses Il Giornale, noticing also that Polish banks are in better condition than those in neighboring countries, especially in the Baltic states. „The rest of Europe cannot believe it, yet the numbers speak for themselves: Warsaw is the best at recovering from the crisis, at least for the time being”, stresses the Italian newspaper, paying attention to the fact that „Poles remain calm and do not panic in the face of the crisis”.
LOT Changes the Fleet
The LOT Polish Airlines are changing their fleet and preparing to extend the range of their connections. New routes are destined to connect national regional airports with, for example, Egypt, Estonia, Ukraine and Russia. LOT has recently acquired four new Embraers 175. These are the first out of the total of 12 new airplanes which will be delivered by the Brazilian producer by the year 2012. The new planes will enrich the middle- and short-distance fleet of the Polish carrier, which, by the way, is in a very good condition. There are several problems, however, with the Boeing 787 Dreamliner planes which service long-distance flights, as the term of their delivery has been postponed. The American producer yet assures that the long awaited test flight of this plane is scheduled for the last quarter of 2009. Still, the first plane will be delivered to LOT no sooner than in 2011.
Poles are buying
Shopping centers will be expanding after all. According to experts, the crisis is not too bad, and Warsaw is the best place to invest. The advantage of Warsaw is that it has the lowest unemployment (around 2 percent); therefore, the number of retail centers in the city and its vicinity will increase, and profits and clientele are guaranteed, say specialists from the retail real estate market. Over the next year and a half, the amount of retail space in our capital and its surroundings will increase by 140,000 square meters. In subsequent years, the Ursynów shopping center and the Auchan supermarket in Piaseczno will be expanded.
Investors in the capital have many opportunities to develop, particularly in areas on the outskirts of towns where there is more land.
Investments Not That Bad
The flow of direct foreign investments is not that weak as was forecast in connection with the crisis. The value of the investments serviced by the Polish Information and Foreign Investment Agency (PAIiIZ) in 2009 may be the same as that of 2008 and stand at about EUR 1 billion.
Money for Warsaw
Warsaw is to receive over PLN 150 million of the European Union co-financing for two investments of the regional importance, namely for the construction of the intersection of the national route No. 2 with the Siekierkowska Route (Trasa Siekierkowska) and for the reconstruction of the Poleczki Street. The total cost of the two investments is expected to reach some PLN 219 million.
Polish Progress
The Polish economy is on the 72nd place out of 183 world countries as regards the friendliness of the environment, according to the World Bank’s report. It is a little better result than that of last year, when our country was on the 76th position out of the 178 countries reported on. The World Bank’s experts particularly paid attention to the Polish progress as regards access to credits and lowering of the capital required for establishing a company. They also appreciated simplifications in the area of VAT and decreased labor costs.
We Will Have a Polish Black Hawk
Two Polish companies Bumar and Radwar want to build a Polish missile defense, and the American airplane company Sikorsky will expand the production of helicopters and airplanes in Poland. The information was revealed after the end of the International Defense Industry Exhibition (MSPO), the biggest fair of the kind in this part of Europe, which took place in Kielce in August. So far, the Americans have focused on the investments in the Polish town of Mielec, where two years ago they acquired the Polish Aviation Factory (PZL). In summer 2009, the construction of the first complete helicopter was started there. It is expected to be ready by the end of the next year. The Americans are planning to transfer to Mielec the production of the whole Black Hawk helicopter. „The quality of the production in Poland is excellent”, said Bob Kokorda, Vice-President of the Sikorsky Aircraft Corp.
„The Polish plumber laughs at Europe. Warsaw does not suffer from recession”, reads the title of the article published on Monday in the Italian daily Il Giornale. According to the periodical, there are signs that this year Poland will be „the only European country which has not suffered from recession despite the present crisis.” On Friday, the French daily Le Monde forecasts that at the end of the year Poland will probably be the only European Union member state to achieve economic growth. The daily believes that it is due to the state budget discipline and the weak Polish zloty. „The Polish plumber is not a threat any longer”, claims the newspaper referring to the famous campaign from a few years ago, featuring a Polish plumber. „He is no more the villain of nightmares dreamt by millions of Europeans horrified at the invasion of cheap workforce and broadening of the Union borders. The hero of French, British and Italian jokes goes back home today”, adds the daily published by the family of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. „When the world trade entered the great crisis, the Polish weakness turned into strength, protecting the country from a serious blow”, assesses Il Giornale, noticing also that Polish banks are in better condition than those in neighboring countries, especially in the Baltic states. „The rest of Europe cannot believe it, yet the numbers speak for themselves: Warsaw is the best at recovering from the crisis, at least for the time being”, stresses the Italian newspaper, paying attention to the fact that „Poles remain calm and do not panic in the face of the crisis”.
LOT Changes the Fleet
The LOT Polish Airlines are changing their fleet and preparing to extend the range of their connections. New routes are destined to connect national regional airports with, for example, Egypt, Estonia, Ukraine and Russia. LOT has recently acquired four new Embraers 175. These are the first out of the total of 12 new airplanes which will be delivered by the Brazilian producer by the year 2012. The new planes will enrich the middle- and short-distance fleet of the Polish carrier, which, by the way, is in a very good condition. There are several problems, however, with the Boeing 787 Dreamliner planes which service long-distance flights, as the term of their delivery has been postponed. The American producer yet assures that the long awaited test flight of this plane is scheduled for the last quarter of 2009. Still, the first plane will be delivered to LOT no sooner than in 2011.
Poles are buying
Shopping centers will be expanding after all. According to experts, the crisis is not too bad, and Warsaw is the best place to invest. The advantage of Warsaw is that it has the lowest unemployment (around 2 percent); therefore, the number of retail centers in the city and its vicinity will increase, and profits and clientele are guaranteed, say specialists from the retail real estate market. Over the next year and a half, the amount of retail space in our capital and its surroundings will increase by 140,000 square meters. In subsequent years, the Ursynów shopping center and the Auchan supermarket in Piaseczno will be expanded.
Investors in the capital have many opportunities to develop, particularly in areas on the outskirts of towns where there is more land.
Investments Not That Bad
The flow of direct foreign investments is not that weak as was forecast in connection with the crisis. The value of the investments serviced by the Polish Information and Foreign Investment Agency (PAIiIZ) in 2009 may be the same as that of 2008 and stand at about EUR 1 billion.
Money for Warsaw
Warsaw is to receive over PLN 150 million of the European Union co-financing for two investments of the regional importance, namely for the construction of the intersection of the national route No. 2 with the Siekierkowska Route (Trasa Siekierkowska) and for the reconstruction of the Poleczki Street. The total cost of the two investments is expected to reach some PLN 219 million.
Polish Progress
The Polish economy is on the 72nd place out of 183 world countries as regards the friendliness of the environment, according to the World Bank’s report. It is a little better result than that of last year, when our country was on the 76th position out of the 178 countries reported on. The World Bank’s experts particularly paid attention to the Polish progress as regards access to credits and lowering of the capital required for establishing a company. They also appreciated simplifications in the area of VAT and decreased labor costs.
We Will Have a Polish Black Hawk
Two Polish companies Bumar and Radwar want to build a Polish missile defense, and the American airplane company Sikorsky will expand the production of helicopters and airplanes in Poland. The information was revealed after the end of the International Defense Industry Exhibition (MSPO), the biggest fair of the kind in this part of Europe, which took place in Kielce in August. So far, the Americans have focused on the investments in the Polish town of Mielec, where two years ago they acquired the Polish Aviation Factory (PZL). In summer 2009, the construction of the first complete helicopter was started there. It is expected to be ready by the end of the next year. The Americans are planning to transfer to Mielec the production of the whole Black Hawk helicopter. „The quality of the production in Poland is excellent”, said Bob Kokorda, Vice-President of the Sikorsky Aircraft Corp.
Found in our archive:
Information published at 1 November 2009