Krakow Takes Poll Position As Poland's Technology Center

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Published by: Jargon Media Sp. z o.o. Index Number: 236683 ISSN: 1898-4762 NO. 42 WWW.KRAKOWPOST.COM MARCH 6-MARCH 12, 2008 Krakow takes poll position as Poland’s technology center Border guards look to tighten ship Polish and Czech police have strengthened cooperation between the two countries after joining the Schengen zone 2 Polish companies move to Ukraine Polish companies are quickly expanding to Ukraine. In the last year, Polish investments in the eastern neighbor were worth an estimated $640 mln 2 Quality of exported meat improving The quantity of Polish meat being sold to Russia is on the rise, says Artur Lawniczak, vice minister of agriculture 3 Peter and the Wolf: An Oscar story The Polish animation studio’s victory in the Academy Awards this year has set a new record 4 Schindler museum repairs begin The mayor signed a contract that would give Krakow 1.3 bln zloty for 16 development projects 11

The Krakow Post Business Supplement

Check out our IBM and Accounting Plaza recently announced plans to expand their activities in Krakow. Anna Bienkowska Other tech companies that are in Kra- STAFF JOURNALIST kow include Google, HCL Technologies, special pull-out UBS, Electric 80 and Motorola. In addi- Krakow is rapidly becoming an attraction, the popular Polish Internet portals tive place for international businesses to Onet and Interia have their home here. supplement on open or expand offices, especially tech- And CapGemini, Philip Morris and Shell nology and accounting companies. are among companies that have located In fact, so many tech companies are outsourcing offices here. Dutch business moving in or adding facilities that some Krakow Mayor Jacek Majchrowski local officials are dubbing the Krakow sees the IBM and Accounting Plaza deci- area the tech capital of Poland. sions as additional evidence of the wis- in Poland inside! The surge in international companies’ dom of the city’s decision to promote the interest in locating in Krakow has led to a academic prowess of the area as a way Reach your clients before boom in office-building construction. to attract high-tech and business-service they set foot in Krakow. IBM and Accounting Plaza caused ex- companies. Krakow has some of the best citement in the business community re- universities in Poland. The Krakow Post is cently by announcing they would expand Majchrowski noted that in 2002 Kra- currently available their activities in Krakow. They signed kow had only one top-flight office build- on board flights of leases with Globe Trade Center S.A. on ing whereas today it boasts several build- LOT, Brussels Feb. 21 for a lot more office space. ings that together offer more than 260,000 and Lufthansa IBM will now lease 14,000 square me- square meters of space. ters in three office buildings, a 21-percent In fact, Krakow is second only to War- airlines increase from the 11,000 square meters it saw in the amount of new office space had been using. It employs about 1,600 available, according to the consulting people in the area. company CB, which monitors the real-es- Accounting Plaza will lease about 3,000 tate market. square meters, a 66-percent increase from The demand for office space has led to the 2,000 meters it had been using. It em- a jump in the number of office develop- ploys about 350 people. ers in the Krakow area. Analysts project The leased space will be in Globe Trade over 15 new office buildings opening by Center’s three-building Aleja Armii Kraj- the end of 2009. owej office complex. See TECH on page 7 2 The Krakow Post POLAND MARCH 6-MARCH 12, 2008

R E G I O N A L N E W S Canada’s PM Stephen Harper Border guards tighten ship Anti-missile to welcome Czech counterpart

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper an- CIR deals likely nounced early this week he will meet with Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek in Ottawa on Feb. 28 and 29. The two leaders will discuss Czech-Canada coop- ready by eration in Afghanistan, as well as “broader international security and economic matters,” Harper said. “Canada and the Czech Republic share a commit- ment to a principled foreign policy that promotes the NATO summit values of freedom, democracy, human rights and the agence france-presse rule of law,” he said. “Our two countries enjoy a strong bilateral relationship and we cooperate through multilateral di- Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topola- plomacy as reflected in the NATO-led mission in Af- nek said late last week that both principle ghanistan, and our work in organizations such as the agreements over a U.S. anti-missile base in Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe the country could be negotiated by an April (OSCE),” said Harper. 2-4 NATO summit in Bucharest. Topolanek will be accompanied by Czech Defense “The main agreement should be, I will Minister Vlasta Parkanova. not say signed, but I would say negotiated During his two-day trip, Topolanek will also visit Toronto, where he will attend the opening of an exhi- very quickly. On the smaller agreement, bition, and meet with representatives of the 80,000- the SOFA agreement, where there are still strong Czech-Canadian community. some technical problems, I think we will be This year marks the 40th anniversary of the Prague able to complete negotiations just ahead of Spring, in which thousands of Czechs fleeing totali- the NATO summit in Bucharest,” Topola- tarianism arrived in Canada. (AFP) nek said on Czech public television of the April meeting that will gather NATO lead- Ukraine minister rejects part ers and heads of state. of Russia gas deal The second, so-called SOFA agreement A top Ukrainian official late last week rejected – on rules for U.S. anti-missile base staff one of the terms of a gas deal this month with Russia to be stationed in the country – has lagged requiring the creation of a joint venture to distribute behind the main diplomatic deal. Russian gas in Ukraine, news agencies reported. U.S. and Czech negotiators should restart “We think there is no need to form a joint venture negotiations over it Wednesday in Prague to work on the internal market,” Deputy Prime Min- and continue until Friday, Defense Ministry ister Alexander Turchinov was quoted as saying by spokesman Andrej Cirtek told AFP. Interfax and RIA Novosti. He said Ukrainian company Naftogaz was capa- Deputy Czech Defense Minister Martin ble of working alone on the domestic market without Bartak last week suggested this part of the needing to hook up with Russia’s Gazprom. deal over U.S. plans to site a tracking ra- Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko and his dar in the Czech Republic, twinned with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin reached a deal at 10 interceptor missiles in neighboring Po- the Kremlin last week to resolve a row over huge gas land, might only be tied up “within one or debts claimed by Gazprom, which had threatened to two months” if there was an “obliging ap- cut supplies to Ukraine. proach” from the Americans. Turchinov is a close ally of Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, who has criticized last week’s deal. In his televised remarks, Topolanek also The recent wrangling has raised concern in Euro- criticized Polish moves to seek U.S. help pean capitals as it echoes a gas pricing row in 2006 in modernizing its army as part of an anti- that led to disruptions across Europe after Gazprom missile shield deal, amid increasing fears cut supplies to Ukraine, the main transit route to the that attempts by Prague and Warsaw to co- EU. (AFP) ordinate their negotiations with the U.S. are unraveling. Slovakia may never recognize “Their [the Polish] negotiating position, Kosovo’s independence in this sense and fashion, is somewhat argu- Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico warned ear- able according to me, but I hope that we ly this week that his country may never recognize will get agreement with the Americans and Kosovo’s independence from Serbia. Polish-Czech border. that we will go ahead with this project to- Kosovo’s unilateral declaration of independence gether because it is in the interests of Euro- is in breach of international law and as long as that the krakow post Opolet. The binational patrols will be commanded by Such cooperation was initiated earlier by Polish and pean NATO members,” Topolanek said. situation remains Slovakia will not recognize it and police chiefs of the country in which they will be ac- German authorities in the cities of Zgorzelec, Poland, Asked whether the Czechs would sign a might never do so, Fico said on public television. Polish and Czech police forces have strengthened tive. The chiefs will also provide equipment and fuel and Goerlitz, Germany. In Cieszyn, police plan to ex- deal without the Poles, the Czech premier “I cannot exclude that situation,” he said. cooperation two months after the two countries joined for the patrols. The main work will be done by the two pand their collaboration to other areas and to open a said Prague had prepared for “various sce- “Historians compare what is happening today the Schengen zone, which allows citizens to cross the resident officers of the country while the third officer coordination center in a former border checkpoint narios.” in Serbia with what happened at Munich in 1938 border without any control. Last week joint Polish- will mostly serve as translator. For example, he won’t building. Cieszyn has been a city with a mixed Pol- “I do not want to publicize them when or with the Vienna arbitration,” Fico added, refer- Czech patrols started work for the first time. be able to issue parking fines or arrest suspects. ish-Czech-German population since its beginnings in ring to two painful moments in the history of former The patrols consist of three officers: two from the A few dozen policemen have already been trained to the 9th Century. It was divided into Cieszyn and Cesky they still do not threaten,” he added. Czechoslovakia. country in which they operate and one from the other work on both sides of the border. Tesin in 1920 after a border dispute between newly es- Topolanek also excluded “any notable Under the Munich agreement, the largely Ger- country. Such patrols have started work in the city They have learned the basics of the other language tablished Poland and Czechoslovakia. changes” in Russian foreign policy if man-speaking Sudetenland broke away from of Cieszyn, which lies in both Poland and the Czech as well as the local regulations. Their task will be to Since the fall of communism, the cities have expe- the frontrunner in the recent presidential Czechoslovakia to be swallowed up afterwards by Republic, where the city is also known as Cesky Te- increase security in both countries while assisting each rienced growth on both sides of the border. Now they elections, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Nazi Germany. Later, large swathes of Slovakia and sin. The patrols will also work in the border region of Medvedev, succeeds Vladimir Putin as ex- the east of the country were handed over to Hungary other’s national police when abroad. have a combined population of 60,000. under a deal brokered by Germany and Italy under pected. the so-called Vienna arbitration. Fico warned against the possibility of separatists in other parts of the world following Kosovo’s example and declaring independence. The UN should try to find a solution to Kosovo’s situation, he said, adding: “That is the institution Polish companies make move to Ukraine which can take fundamental decisions if some border will or will not be changed.” Slovakia is one of a handful of EU states which the krakow post opposed Kosovo’s independence from Serbia, partly due to fears that this could set a precedent for Slova- Polish companies are expanding to Ukraine. In the last year, Polish kia’s own large ethnic Hungarian minority. investments in the eastern neighbor were worth nearly $640 mln. Serbia argues that Kosovo’s secession violates According to experts, Ukraine has enormous growth potential for UN Security Council Resolution 1244, which was Polish investors. Ukraine offers low labor costs, a big domestic market adopted at the end of Kosovo’s 1998-1999 war and put the disputed province under UN administration and what’s more – easy access to the Russian market. while retaining Serbian sovereignty. (AFP) According to the National Statistics Office, Polish direct investments in Ukraine at the end of September 2007 were worth $639.8 mln. “In comparison to the end of September 2006, their worth increased about 93.6 percent, or about $309.3 mln,” said Michal Falenczyk, sec- Get your message across! retary of the Department of Trade Promotion and Investment in Kyiv. And in actuality, he told the daily newspaper Rzeczpospolita, Polish Ukrainian investments are higher because not all of them are included in the official statistics. “Ukraine offers incredible opportunity for development, similar to what we have seen in Poland,” said Piotr Stepniak, chief executive officer of Getin Holding, a financial services company owned by Leszek Czarnecki. Advertise in Poland’s Bank Pekao spent $100 mln in 2007 to open branches in Ukraine. Two Polish companies – Cersanit and Barlinek – received loans from The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) to support their expansion. Cersanit and Barilnek are floorboard manu- The Krakow Post! facturers, and both trade on the Warsaw Stock Exchange. With an 81-mln euro EBRD loan, Cersanit is building a new factory in Novograd Volinskiy in northern Ukraine. Barlinek, which also has a strong market presence in Western Europe, has used a 39.9-mln euro EBRD loan to further expand operations in Ukraine as well as in Rus- sia, where a construction boom has generated high demand. Contact: Andrzej Kowalski, “There is a new trend of Polish companies investing in other coun- Marketing Manager tries today,” EBRD President Jean Lemierre said in Warsaw. “The financing accords were a good example of how EBRD could help de- +48 (0) 798-683-160 velop Poland’s private sector.” MARCH 6-MARCH 12, 2008 POLAND The Krakow Post 3 EC threatens to take Quality of meat exported Poland to court to Russia increasing cc:sa:Karen Elio

the krakow post The directive also specifies that: “The place of supply of such services – the The European Commission is threaten- services of consultants, engineers, law- ing to take Poland to court unless it makes yers, accountants, consultancy bureaus, changes in the way it collects the value- and other similar services as well as data Kinga Rodkiewicz nary service, signed a memorandum lifting five meat companies have permission to added tax. processing and the provision of informa- staff journalist the ban. sell pork and beef to Russia. The commission has two areas where it tion – are all located in the place where a “We guarantee that Russia will receive Another 60 Polish companies are seeking contends that Poland is applying the tax too customer has established his business or The quantity of Polish meat being sold only quality products,” said Aleksiej certificates that would allow them to export narrowly and not completely implementing has a fixed establishment from which the to Russia is on the rise. According to Artur Gordiejew, Russian agriculture minister. red and white meat to Russia. “The list of the system as called for in 2006. service is supplied.” Lawniczak, vice minister of agriculture, “The imports of produce from third coun- interested companies has been sent to Rus- “If some national rules aren’t changed in The European Commission says the by Feb. 20 Polish companies had exported tries and abuses on behalf of unscrupulous sia,” said Krzysztof Jazdzewski, deputy to the next two months, the European Com- Polish VAT act omitted the category of to Russia 1,240 tons of pork and 334 tons business will be completely prohibited.” the Polish head veterinary surgeon. mission might decide to bring a case before “other similar services,” which means that of beef, just the two months after Russia’s Russia had blocked imports of Polish Exports of food products will become the Court of Justice,” the announcement Polish law has a narrower range than in embargo was lifted. meat since November 2005, citing health easier if the EU and Russia sign an agree- says. other nations of the EU. In 2007, Poland sold to Russia products concerns. ment regarding pesticides in products sent According to the value-added tax direc- In addition, the commission says the worth 454 mln euro. That is equal to 90 Poland said the ban was politically mo- from the European zone to Russia. tive, the place of supply of services shall term “consultants services” used in the percent of Poland’s entire export value to tivated and retaliated by placing a veto on Poland is also working on an acknowl- be deemed to be the place where the sup- Polish VAT law has a narrower meaning all countries in 2005. trade negotiations between Russia and the edgment of Polish veterinary certificates plier has established his business or has a than called for in the commission’s direc- The favorable export situation is the re- EU. by Ukraine. fixed establishment from which the ser- tive. sult of Russia lifting a two-year embargo And some analysts and critics have sug- “We have very good and friendly rela- vice is supplied, or in the absence of such In Poland, consultant services are un- on Polish meat products. On Dec. 19, Ser- gested the bans were used to improve Rus- tions with Ukraine,” said Michal Sawicki, a place of business or fixed establishment, derstood to be special kinds of services gei Dankvert, the head of Rosselkhoznad- sia’s domestic production of meat. the minister of agriculture. “However, with the place where he has his permanent ad- usually limited to computer software and zor (the Russian agricultural watchdog), At present, 54 Polish companies have real sadness we see that there is no reci- dress or usually resides. computer equipment. and Eva Lech, chief of the Polish veteri- permission to trade with Russia. But only procity on economic issues.” Inflation jumps to What’s On? 4.6 in February Check out our weekly entertainment listings at: www.krakowpost.com

agence france-presse Poland is part of the 27- member EU but not of the Consumer prices in bloc’s 15-member euro- eurozone hopeful Poland zone. jumped to 4.6 percent in Poland joined the EU in February year-on-year af- 2004. ter 4.3 percent in January Warsaw hopes to meet and 4.0 percent in Decem- the EU’s Maastricht Treaty ber, the Finance Ministry criteria for adoption of the estimated early this week. European single currency Prices rose 0.5 percent in by 2009 but has refused to February compared to Janu- set a target date for the ac- ary, the ministry said. tual switch from the Polish February’s official infla- zloty. tion figure is due to be re- Keeping annual average leased on March 13 by the inflation below the current Central Statistics Office. EU-set benchmark rate of Inflation for 2007 aver- 2.0 percent is a key criterion aged 2.5 percent, compared for countries seeking to join with 1.0 percent in 2006. the eurozone. 4 The Krakow Post POLAND MARCH 6-MARCH 12, 2008

R E G I O N A L N E W S Canada drops visa for Peter and the Wolf: A Polish Oscar story Poland, others in E. Europe Canada late last week announced it would no longer require citizens of Poland, Slovakia, Lithuania and Hungary to obtain temporary resident visas for a visit to Canada. “Canada enjoys strong ties with these countries,” said Citizenship and Immigration Minis- ter Diane Finley. “Lifting the visa requirement will help build those relationships to the benefit of Canadians and the citizens of Poland, Slova- kia, Lithuania, and Hungary.” The Canadian visa requirement remains in effect for now for citizens of two recent EU members: Bulgaria and Romania. (AFP) Russia protests damage to Red Army memorial Russia has demanded that Czech authorities investigate the vandalism of a Red Army memorial in the country’s second city Brno, the CTK agency reported late last week. The Russian Foreign Ministry has complained that the latest case, where a statue of a Red Army soldier was splashed with dye last week, is the tenth case of damage to memorials or graves in the last year and a half, CTK reported. Such incidents were in breach of international agreements for military cemeteries to be respect- ed, the ministry added. Local authorities in Brno said they immediately cleaned the statue and its base after the attack on Feb. 26. In July last year Moscow also fired off a protest note to the Czech Foreign Ministry after dozens of Soviet war graves were desecrated in a Prague cemetery. That incident came after the Russian consulate in Brno angrily denounced the city’s removal of a hammer and sickle decoration on a local war memorial to the 326 soldiers who died taking the city from Nazi occupiers at the end of the war. The city has promised the symbol will be replaced. Relations between Prague and Moscow have been soured by Russia’s anger at U.S. proposals to site part of an anti-missile defense shield in the country as well as in neighboring Poland. (AFP) Czech PM wants allies Lodz animation team at work. engaged in Afghanistan Martyna Olszowska of Se-ma-for and Polish producer of “Peter and same time, we are afraid of wild nature.” From the beginning Se-ma-for specialized in the Wolf.” Se-ma-for’s partner in the project was Templeton uses the story of Peter, who faces puppet films, but it also produced cartoons, both Visiting Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topola- staff journalist Britian’s Breakthru Films. the dreaded wolf with little help from friends, to for children and adults. nek late last week urged NATO countries to play Most of the 120 people who worked on the $5 show that “wildness” has the right to exist and has Some of the top artists that have worked with a larger role in routing insurgents from Afghani- A Polish animation studio’s victory in the Acad- mln film were Polish. It took them eight months to great value for us. Prokofiev wrote “Peter and the it during its 70 years include mainstream director stan, noting his nation is doubling its troop de- emy Awards this year means it is the only studio finish the job. Zmudzki said the production team Wolf” to acquaint children with symphonic music. Roman Polanski, composers Krzysztof Komeda ployment this year. in the world to have won two Oscars for best ani- based its puppets on those created 100 years ago by Orchestra music accompanies the story that the and Krzysztof Penderecki and animated artists and “Like Canada, we’re calling upon other coun- mated film. Polish artist Wladyslaw Starewicz. Adam Wyrwas narrator presents. That made it a natural for live directors Daniel Szczechura and Piotr Dumala. tries to take their share of responsibility and to Se-ma-for of Lodz won for the Polish-British and Krzysztof Brzozowski made the film versions. orchestras to play the music during the films’ pre- Despite its creative luster, Se-ma-for fell on participate even more visibly in peacekeeping production “Peter and the Wolf.” It won for direc- Marek Skrobecki built the scenery in a studio in mieres in London and Lodz. hard financial times after the fall of communism and peace-building in Afghanistan,” Topolanek tor Zbigniew Rybczynski’s “Tango” in 1983. Lodz. Mikolaj Jaroszewicz of Poland and Hugh Zmudzki said the timing of the Oscar was a in 1989. In fact, in 1999 the studio was put into said following meetings with Prime Minister Ste- This year four Polish films were nominated for Oscars, including Andrzej Wajda’s “Katyn,” about Gordon of Britain took the photos of the puppets godsend for Se-ma-for. “We have to move out of liquidation. phen Harper and several Canadian ministers. that were used to animate the film. our current location (the building’s new proprietor But a group of employees founded the Se-ma- He also indicated that the Czech Republic will the Red Army’s massacre of 20,000 Polish military officers and intellectuals during World War II. “Peter and the Wolf” is an adaptation of the mu- doesn’t want to rent it anymore), and we still don’t for Film Production company to rescue it. The double its number of soldiers taking part in the sical fairy tale that Russian composer Sergey Pro- have a new one,” he said. “This award could be new company has specialized in classical puppet U.S.-led International Security Assistance Force Britain’s Suzy Templeton directed “Peter,” which was animated in traditional style – with pup- kofiev created in the 19th Century. But Templeton leverage in negotiations with authorities, with the animation. in Afghanistan this year to about 550. gave it a contemporary setting, touching on such city government in Lodz.” The company got a shot in the arm when Marek But the Czech parliament must still approve pets – rather than with the new trend of computer animation. problems from today’s television news as evil, Se-ma-for is the oldest and the most honored Scrobecki’s short animated film “Ichtys” won the plan to deploy 120 of its special forces along- fear, aggression and violence. animated film studio in Poland. Established in many awards at film festivals in 2005. side some 435 infantry, he added. The 30-minute-long “Peter and the Wolf” won the best of show award at the world’s most impor- “Lack of understanding between ‘wildness’ and 1947, it has produced more than 1,400 movies that But the Oscar is the studio’s best news yet. It Canada has been pressing NATO allies to send ‘civilization’ fascinates me,” Templeton said. “I have won more than 300 awards around the world. will open the way for Se-ma-for to participate in reinforcements, as well as helicopters and drones tant animated film festival in Annecy, France. “I’m proud that we can say our studio is an believe that somewhere inside us there is a desire Many have been unforgettable stories for Polish other international co-productions, its managers for use by its forces in volatile Kandahar prov- to get back this lost contact with nature, and at the children. say. ince, where its 2,500 troops are based, if it is to Oscar laureate,” said Zbigniew Zmudzki, the head extend its mission to 2011. If none are forthcoming, Canada has said it would withdraw from southern Afghanistan in February 2009 at the end of its current mandate. Topolanek said: “There has not been any fi- Poland looks to conquer sailor shortage nal decision made regarding the location of our troops, be it Kandahar or some place else.” But, he added, “We agree with Prime Minister Kinga Rodkiewicz “The need is especially great Harper that there is no way we can leave Afghani- staff journalist for officers.” stan. It is in our opinion the responsibility of the The declaration “Part- international community and NATO to rebuild Poland needs sailors. nership for the Sea” aims this country.” According to Dr. Zbigniew to show young people that “Afghanistan is like a laboratory or test case Szozda of the Marine Uni- a sailor’s life can be a great for the future whether we’re able to rebuild this versity in Szczecin, there is one. country.” a need for about 40,000 sea- “We should convince “We agree that we must call on the other men. young people that being a NATO countries to participate more visibly, more Some remedies for the naval seaman is an attrac- tangibly in this enterprise.” (AFP) situation have been proposed tive occupation with high in the declaration “Partner- incomes,” said Szozda, an Czechs halve carriers con- ship for the Sea” signed by initiator of the “Partnership” tract with Austria’s Steyr the Ministry of Infrastruc- project. ture. According to initiators The declaration empha- The Czech Defense Ministry is prepared to of the “Partnership” project, sizes that being a sailor com- buy 107 armored personnel carriers from Austri- the entire world, including pares well with working on an firm Steyr Daimler Puch instead of the original land. Marine workers have 199, the Czech business magazine “Euro” report- the EU, has a shortage of shorter contracts, high in- ed on its web page late last week. sailors, especially officers comes and good social care. The ministry and company, a unit of U.S. de- for merchant ships. “Partnership for the Sea” fense giant General Dynamics, will sign a memo- In Poland today there are randum of understanding next week including a about 35,000 seamen. How- is the initiative of marine new timetable for tests and deliveries of the car- ever, the great majority of universities, schools, com- riers, it added. them are on foreign ships. panies and institutions con- The ministry refused to comment on the re- And more than twice that nected with the sea. port, saying that it would release information on number of sailors is needed. The campaign is aimed at negotiations once they have been completed. “We Each year, the Marine the media, educational fairs do not comment on ongoing negotiations, only Universities have about and universities. when there is a result,” spokesman Andrej Cirtek 1,000 graduates. None has The declaration was told the CTK news agency. any problem finding a well- signed Feb. 26 by representa- The government decided at the end of January paid job. tives of the Marine Universi- to give Steyr a second chance to renegotiate the “Because of the great ties in Szczecin and Gdansk, orignal contract of 798 mln euro ($1.18 bln) for development of marine the Polish Naval Academy in 199 vehicles after canceling it in December. transport, there is a very Gdynia, the Polish Chamber If new talks did not bring results by March urgent need for highly quali- of Maritime Commerce and 5, a new tender to supply the carriers would be fied workers to service the the Pro Nautica Foundation launched, it said. (AFP) ships,” Dr. Szozda said. based in Szczecin. MARCH 6-MARCH 12, 2008 POLAND The Krakow Post 5 Polish Poland to return police citizenship to Jews uncovers huge Pietrusiewicz GDFL:1.2:Witold drug lab

*A plaque commemorating the freedom of speech march taken by Warsaw University students in March 1968

Agence france-presse emigrated to Israel or the U.S., were stripped “Anyone who lost their citizenship due to of their Polish citizenship and their properties the 1968 anti-Semitic campaign must regain Poland said early this week it would return were expropriated by the state. it.” citizenship to Jews forced out by the former Their Polish passports were also confis- The petition was launched on the eve of Communist regime in an anti-Semitic purge cated and replaced with a “travel document” the 40th anniversary of the March 8, 1968 50 years ago. that did not allow them to return. pro-freedom student protests which the Com- “These matters (confirming citizenship) Last week Jewish organizations and Polish munist regime used as an excuse to begin its will be dealt with quickly, very quickly,” In- intellectuals petitioned President Lech Kac- purge. During a 2006 visit to Israel, Kaczyns- terior Minister Grzegorz Schetyna told report- zynski to automatically return citizenship. ki vowed Polish citizenship would be returned ers. Between 15,000 and 20,000 Polish Jews, “Among Communist crimes, the infamy of to victims of the purges. many of them Holocaust survivors or the March 1968 remains an event which weighs But with no blanket legislation covering children of survivors, lost their jobs and were particularly on the Polish conscience,” read the issue, exiled Jews are left having to jump forced out of Poland during an anti-Semitic the petition signed among others by award- numerous bureaucratic hurdles. campaign launched by the Communist party winning film directors Andrzej Wajda and A majority of the exiles have refused to in March 1968. Agnieszka Holland as well as Nobel-prize take this route, deeming it an additional hu- The victims of the purge, many of whom winning poet Wislawa Szymborska. miliation.

Agence france-presse duction of these narcotics, who ordered Get your message across! the drugs and what their destination was,” Police announced late last week that said Poland’s national police chief Ta- they had uncovered the largest secret deusz Budzik. laboratory ever to be found in the country Police believe the laboratory had been producing amphetamines for drug traf- in operation for three years and had pro- fickers. With 15 production lines located duced 10 tons of amphetamines over Advertise in in a specially-adapted house near Warsaw, that period, destined for the Polish and the laboratory was twice the size of the Scandinavian markets. After The Nether- previous record illegal operation which lands, Poland is Europe’s top supplier of The Krakow Post! was broken up by police near the Polish amphetamines. Around one third of the capital last September. amphetamines produced by Polish gangs “This is a major blow to the drugs trade is destined for the local narcotics market, in Poland. Officers are currently trying to Contact: Andrzej Kowalski, Marketing Manager while the bulk is trafficked to Germany +48 (0) 798-683-160 determine who was in charge of the pro- and Nordic countries. 6 The Krakow Post POLAND MARCH 6-MARCH 12, 2008 R E G I O N A L N E W S Walesa Diplomat Slovak army takes delivery of Irish PM shocked by modernized MiG-29 fighters The Slovak air force took delivery late last week discharged charged with of 12 MiG-29 fighters modernized by Russian experts in Slovakia as part payment of the country’s outstanding debt, the Defense Ministry told AFP. from U.S. clinic murders of two Poles corruption in The modernized aircraft represented the army’s core fighter force, a spokesman said. agence france-presse Completion of the 1.6-bln-koruna (49.0-mln- euro, $74.2-mln) contract brought the airforce to visa scandal full strength, he added. Former Polish president and Nobel peace lau- “We want at least nine of these fighter aircraft reate Lech Walesa was discharged early this week to be on daily stand-by,” chief of general staff Lu- from a clinic in Texas, four days after doctors fitted bomir Bulik told the Sita news agency. him with a pacemaker, hospital officials said. The MiG-29’s have been refitted to NATO “It has been a long time since I have felt this standards with the biggest improvements in navi- good,” Walesa said before leaving the Debakey gational and avionics equipment. They should be Heart and Vascular Center in Houston for Mexico, operational for up to 15 years. (AFP) where he is due to attend a youth conference. While it is common for patients in the U.S. to be Czech mother wins case wheeled out of hospitals after they are discharged, after failed abortion 64-year-old Walesa “walked out of the clinic on his own, in a nice suit,” Erin Fairchild, a spokeswoman A Czech court ruled late last week that a mother for the hospital, told AFP. receive damages of 80,000 koruna (3,191 euro, Walesa hailed the surgical team, led by electro- $4,830) from a hospital after she gave birth fol- physiologist Miguel Valderrabano, that implanted lowing an abortion operation in what has been de- the bi-ventricular pacemaker defibrillator in a two- scribed as a landmark case. hour procedure late last week. The Brno regional court heard that the 18-year “This is a very good outcome and I am overjoyed old went to her local hospital at Jihlava, in the that I do not need a heart transplant at this time,” center of the country, after learning that she was expecting twins. She and her 16-year-old partner Walesa said as he left the clinic. had agreed they were too young to take on the re- “To other people with heart problems, I suggest sponsibility of becoming parents. they get their hearts checked by physicians in a good A few weeks after the abortion at the end of medical center. 2000 the woman was told by her doctor that she “The world is a beautiful place and I want every- was still expecting one child but that it was impos- one to live in it as long as possible and help other sible to have another operation. people, like I have been helped here,” he said. The woman, now 26, had asked for compen- The pacemaker defibrillator is “designed to sation of 400,000 koruna, partly because she had resynchronize the contractions of his heart and feared during pregnancy that the baby would be improve its function,” Valderrabano said after the born damaged. Although the court refused such operation. an amount, saying it was nearly twice the amount “We expect that the pacemaker, combined with agence france-presse paid to parents who lost a child through hospital the other treatments Mr Walesa has received, may negligence, Czech media said the case is the first lead to a very substantial improvement in how he time that damages have been paid out to an unwill- A Polish diplomat formerly accredited to feels, even to the point of normalization of his heart Malaysia has been charged with taking bribes ing mother. (AFP) function ... and help him get back to his busy and agence france-presse 19-year-old and a 15-year-old in connection for issuing visas to citizens of Bangladesh, India productive life,” Valderrabano said. with the attacks. and Pakistan, Polish investigators said late last Ukraine customs seize week. Days before the device was fitted, doctors at the Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern ex- Both were subsequently released and a cocaine pineapples Identified only as Slawomir K., the suspect DeBakey clinic had implanted a stent in Walesa to pressed shock late last week at the deaths of file in each case is being prepared by police unblock a coronary artery. worked as the Polish consul in Kuala Lumpur Ukraine’s customs seized millions of dollars two Polish builders in savage attacks in Dub- for the country’s director of Public Prosecu- between 2005-2007. worth of cocaine hidden in cans of pineapples, cus- In 2006, he underwent surgery in Italy to “repair lin. The two men were stabbed in the head tions who decides if there is sufficient evi- Investigators from Poland’s Central Anti- toms service head Valery Khoroshkovsky said late a blood vessel that was a bit crooked,” his son, Pol- with a screwdriver recently near their home dence for charges to be brought in a court. Corruption Bureau (CBA) suspect he issued at last week. Cans with 46.7 kilograms of cocaine ish lawmaker Jaroslaw, told AFP at the time. in the suburb of Drimnagh. The spokesman told AFP that a third least 200 visas in exchange for bribes ranging were found in a car being transported from Costa Walesa rose to global fame in 1980 when he Marius Szwajkos, 27, from Szczucin, died youth, aged 17, has been arrested for ques- from 500 to 2,000 euro ($755 to $3,019). Rica to ex-Soviet Moldova via Ukraine’s southern helped lead a massive strike by workers at the He is alleged to have obtained at least 1.1 mln as a result of his injuries and Pawel Kalite, tioning. zloty (312,000 euro, $471,000). Odessa seaport, Khoroshkovsky told journalists. Gdansk shipyard in northern Poland, which led to 26, from Suietokrzysky, died, police said. A Labor Party lawmaker who represents The value of the seized drugs comes to “mil- “The investigation is continuing as inves- the creation of the first free trade union in the Com- The friends had moved to Ireland from the area, Mary Upton, said those involved lions of U.S. dollars,” he said. (AFP) tigators suspect the consul may have issued munist bloc, Solidarity. Poland to look for work more than a year “in this dreadful and horrific attack have be- hundreds more visas for a much greater sum of Slovak policemen jailed over He won the Nobel peace prize in 1983 for his part ago. A police spokesman said there was no smirched the community. money,” CBA official Tomasz Fratczak said. in founding Solidarity, which has been credited with racist motive for the attack, while politicians “While details about this particular attack In August 2007, the suspect was called back fatal torture of Roma helping to peacefully bring down the Iron Curtain, blamed violence linked to Ireland’s youth are still being pieced together, I have long to the Foreign Ministry in Warsaw from his post in Malaysia as investigators began to sift through A Slovakian court sentenced late last week a which divided Europe into Communist East and free drinking culture. Ahern, who is visiting War- held the view that binge drinking and sub- West for more than 40 years following World War evidence. group of policemen to up to eight and a half years saw, expressed his condolences to his Polish stance abuse have reached crisis proportions If found guilty as charged, he faces up to 15 in prison for torturing a Roma man to death, the II. In 1990, the son of a carpenter became Poland’s counterpart Donald Tusk. among a certain group of young people,” first democratically elected president, and served years in prison. A Warsaw court has ordered him Sita news agency reported. “People in Ireland were shocked and sad- Upton said. to remain in police custody for three months The court in the central city of Banska Bystrica one five-year term. His trademark handlebar mous- dened to hear of the violent attack on two In the Dail (lower house of parliament) pending trial. heard how 50-year-old Karol Sendrei was taken to tache whitened by time, Walesa is still as outspoken young Polish men last weekend,” Ahern Sinn Fein Justice spokesman Aengus O Sno- Poland became a member of the EU in 2004 Revuca police station in July 2001, handcuffed to a as he was during the Solidarity days and retains a said. He said Ireland’s thoughts were with daigh said the government needed to address and more recently in December 2007 joined the radiator and beaten throughout the night. (AFP) dry sense of humor. the families and friends of the two men. the youth drinking culture and associated Schengen travel zone allowing free mobility between 24 European states. Police have arrested and questioned a youth violence in Ireland. MARCH 6-MARCH 12, 2008 POLAND The Krakow Post 7 Krakow is new tech capital Picture of Former minister Polish children in faces trial in poverty sex scandal the krakow post

One in four Polish children lives in pov- Courtesy of International Business Machines Corporation erty, according to a European Commission report – and many are hungry, according to other sources. Poland ranks last among the 27 EU countries in child poverty, lower than Romania and Bulgaria. Much of the child-poverty problem in Po- land revolves around the fact that many Polish couples have lots of children. The poverty level that the European Com- mission has set for each EU country is as high as 60 percent of the average salary in the poorer countries. In Poland the poverty level is anything below an annual salary of 1,200 zloty per month. In Poland, the average salary is 2,500 zloty. The poverty level involves subsistence – money available to be spent on food, rent and clothing. Many families can pay for subsistence but lack the money to help their children achieve a better life. For example, they can’t afford books or other educational amenities for their children. And they can’t afford tickets to concerts, the theater or movies – or money for travel. Children in poor families often go hungry. One in three children in Poland goes to school without breakfast, according to the non-profit Polish Humanitarian Action organization. As many as 150,000 children who are going hungry are not part of a national program that provides money for additional nutrition for poor children. Donata Rapacka helps coordinate the Pol- ish Humanitarian Action organization’s Paja- cyk program, which collects funds to pay for school meals for poor children. She says about a fourth of the children who go hungry each day get some meal assistance from the government. Those who want to donate to the Pajacyk program may go to the organization’s Web site at www.pajacyk.pl. They can click on the empty belly of a wooden clown on the site to learn how to give money. Hunger-related illness can take a big toll on children in poor families. If there is fun- gus in the home that parents lack the money to treat, or if there is no money for medicine, agence france-presse tempt to force sexual favors from another a child is vulnerable. Even a trip to an out- house can chill a child to the point that he or female party employee. she gets sick. Polish prosecutors said late last week that The sex scandal rocked Poland’s coali- “Children ill because of poverty are vic- a former government minister will face trial tion government, contributing to a slide in tims” of a flawed social welfare system, said for allegedly forcing a female staffer to have popularity that saw it lose power in a snap Joanna Kluzik-Rostkowska, a former minister sex with him and other officials in exchange election last October. of labor who is now a member of parliament. “If we have any additional funds in the bud- for work. Investigators had formally filed Lepper was once a political outcast, best get, they should be directed to the youngest” for a court hearing against Andrezj Lepper, known for leading commando-style protests among us, she said. the leader of the populist Samoobrona (Self- as a 1990s farm activist which earned him a Many people in capitalistic societies be- Defense) party, said Krzysztof Kopania, a string of court convictions. lieve people should take care of themselves. prosecutor’s spokesman in the central city From TECH on page 1 That is a far cry from the Communist system In May 2006, however, the conservative of the state taking care of those least able to of Lodz. Law and Justice party brought Samoobrona, Krakow residents can expect to see new Galeria Kazimierz area. care for themselves. A trial date has not yet been fixed. along with the far-right League of Polish office buildings popping up in all districts The availability of new office space is But no society with a conscience can turn Lepper, 53, was charged in November Families, into a coalition to shore up its mi- except Old Town, according to city offi- not the only incentive for international its back on needy children. The very reputa- with exploiting his power as party leader to tion of a democratic society is at stake when nority government. cials. companies to come to Krakow. John Lyons it is unable to take care of the most helpless force a woman who was seeking a job with Lepper, who served as agriculture minis- Globe Trade Center S.A. is a prime ex- of Krakow’s IBM operation said the area among it, especially children. Samoobrona to have sex with him and other ter and deputy premier, was fired in Septem- ample of a developer not limiting itself to also has a strong economy, a progressive The Polish government is trying to supply officials in 2001-2002. ber 2006 after a policy dispute, only to re- the market in Krakow, but expanding ianto business environment and good infrastruc- children’s basic needs. Its programs to pay for The offence carries an eight-year prison turn just weeks later as then Prime Minister school lunches and additional nutrition for sentence. Samoobrona’s deputy leader Stan- other regions of Poland. ture. poor children are making a difference in many Jaroslaw Kaczynski sought to stave off the Globe Trade Center, the company witha Then there is the skilled workforce, es- children’s lives. islaw Lyzwinski, also 53, will also be tried ensuing political crisis. whom IBM and Accounting Plaza signed pecially engineers and accountants. But poor children’s needs go beyond sub- on charges of rape and exploiting his posi- Lepper was sacked again in July 2007 af- the leases last month, plans to add two Anna Pankau of Accounting Plaza told sistence. Village children in particular need tion and could face 10 years behind bars, ter a bribery scandal, although he denied any education and skills – such as computer train- Kopania said. more buildings to its array in the area. Gazeta Wyborcza that one reason the coming – to help them break out of poverty. With- wrongdoing and claimed he was the victim It already boasts the Galileo, Newton pany choice Krakow was because its uni- out that help, they will continue living on the In December 2006, 33-year-old former of a feud with Kaczynski. and Edison buildings in its Aleja Armii versities are producing talented account- margins of society as consumers of govern- party employee Aneta Krawczyk accused Samoobrona was swept from parliament Krajowej complex. ing graduates. The graduates it has hired ment benefits rather than providers of the tax Lepper and Lyzwinski of demanding sex in in last year’s snap election, obtaining just money necessary to make society stronger. It will add a Pascal building there as showed Krakow was a wise chose, she exchange for a job. 1.5 percent of the vote compared to 11.4 well. And it will construct a building in the said. Lepper was also charged over a failed at- percent in the 2005 polls.

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R E G I O N A L B I Z Czechs will request Liechten- Estonian port stein tax dodge details Leroy Merlin purchase The Czech Republic will join in the hunt for domestic tax dodgers by asking Germany for details announces profit about a list of people using Liechtenstein as a tax refuge, the Finance Ministry said late last week. “We will make a request for that information. I expect it to be made in a few days,” Finance Min- istry spokesman Ondrej Jakob told AFP. slump after row Conforama furniture stores Jakob would not comment on whether the ministry suspects Czechs of using the Alpine principality to evade local taxes. with Moscow Some companies offer high earning Czechs the possibility of “off-shore” payments in tax havens, but it is not known how many take advantage of the offer, Patria Finance analyst David Marek told the business daily, Hospodarske Noviny. Germany has offered to pass on names to other countries of those holding accounts in the Alpine principality obtained by its secret service, sparking

a scramble by tax authorities worldwide. GDFL:1.2:Ralf Roletschek Up to 1,000 rich German businessmen, sports stars and entertainers are suspected of having cheated the taxman by placing some four bln euro (nearly $6 bln) in secret trusts in Liechtenstein. (AFP) Czech airline CSA returns to profit 2007 Czech airline CSA said late last week it had a 2007 profit of 111 mln koruna (4.43 mln euro, $6.60 mln), returning to the black after three years of losses. The sale of its Prague air cargo terminal boosted net profit to the tune of 50 mln koruna, the airline said in a statement. The sale of its catering operations will only be accounted for in its 2008 results, it added. The airline, which is around 90 percent state owned, made a loss of 396 mln koruna in 2006 and last made a profit in 2004. Operating income rose 800 mln koruna to 23.8 agence france-presse bln koruna, aided by a 350 mln koruna rise in income from scheduled flights. Operating costs fell The Estonian Port of Tallinn, the Baltic Sea’s biggest 240 mln koruna to 23.4 bln koruna, the airline cargo and passenger operator, said late last week that its said. Passengers increased 2.7 percent to 5.6 mln. net profit fell by one fifth in 2007 as trade with Russia The Czech Republic’s center-right government slumped amid a bitter political row. has earmarked the carrier for privatization. The The state-owned group said that its profit fell by airline’s figures are calculated according to Czech 21 percent from the 2006 figure, dropping to 336 mln and not international accounting standards. (AFP) kroons (21.5 mln euro, $32.5 mln). Slovakia approves new trade “Since last May, Russian companies that used Esto- nian ports have tried to decrease transit via Estonia,” accord with Cuba Port of Tallinn spokesman Sven Ratassepp told AFP. Slovakia’s government said late last week it ap- The fall-off was most pronounced in August and proved a proposed new trade agreement with Cuba September, when the group’s profits slid by 40 percent aimed at boosting faltering exports to the country. compared with the same months in 2006, Ratassepp ex- The agreement seeks to build on Slovakia’s for- plained. mer strong trade links with the country during the “The total cut in Port of Tallinn’s net profit in 2007 Communist era. Exports from the former Soviet bloc Central was 21 percent, and the trend is not changing. Russian European country are expected to have dwindled companies still use Estonian ports much less than they agence france-presse Warsaw and Katowice,” Leroy Mer- the Conforama stores. Romaniecka- to around $20 mln (13 mln euro). did before May 2007,” he said. lin spokesperson Anna Romaniecka- Mankiewicz declined to confirm the “Slovakia built around 40 percent of Cuba’s Last year relations between Estonia and Russia French home improvement retailer Mankiewicz told AFP. sum. power plants,” Economy Minister Lubomir Jahn- plunged to their lowest point since 1991, when the Bal- Leroy Merlin late last week announced The deal must still be approved by Having entered the Polish market atek said after the government’s weekly meeting. tic state regained independence from the collapsing So- it had purchased three Conforama fur- Poland’s anti-monopoly, competition 12 years ago, Leroy Merlin has 24 Material prepared for the meeting highlights viet Union after five decades of rule from Moscow. niture shops located in EU newcomer and consumer protection regulators shops with a total 440,000 square me- renewal of Cuba’s ageing power infrastructure as The spark was Estonia’s decision at the end of April Poland from France’s PPR group. before taking effect, Romaniecka- ters of floor space and some 5,000 em- one promising market for Slovak companies, along “The contract was signed Feb. 25 with transport and wood cutting equipment. to move a Red Army war memorial from the center of Mankiewicz said. ployees in a country that is currently The accord does not deal with respect for hu- Tallinn to a military cemetery. and foresees Leroy Merlin’s takeover Polish press reports said Leroy experiencing a building and renova- man rights but relations are at such a level that the Moscow slammed Tallinn for moving the memorial, of three Polish Conforama stores in Merlin paid 45 mln euro ($68 mln) for tion boom. issue can be raised in talks, Jahnatek said. (AFP) which Russians – including many in Estonia’s ethnic Russian community, which makes up around a quarter Lithuanian economy grew Native English Teacher Top Management of the population of 1.3 mln – considered a tribute to the 8.8 percent in 2007 Soviet defeat of Nazism. MINI MINI The Lithuanian economy grew by 8.8 percent For a swathe of Estonians, however, the monument in 2007 compared with the previous year, adjusted was a symbol of the Soviet occupation after World War A school of English in M 31, University degree in data from the national statistics office showed on II, and the government also wanted to remove what had Krakow is looking for a late last week. The final rate was a whisker ahead engineering, 6 years become a flashpoint for protests by ethnic Russian and native English teacher. of top management of the preliminary growth figure of 8.7 percent The position is available Estonian hardliners. experience in leading which was released by the office last month. immediately for a period companies in industrial Although Moscow denied it slapped sanctions on Es- of one year. The value of the country’s output totaled 96.77 cooling, refrigerating sector. bln litas (28 bln euro, $42.15 bln), the office said. tonia, trade between the two neighbors fell sharply after The individual should be Marketing & Sales enthusiastic and creative, Project management. In the fourth quarter of 2007, gross domestic prod- the monument was moved, with the transit sector the Negotiations. Prepare uct (GDP) increased by 8 percent on a 12-month possession of a recognized hardest hit. Enthusiasts!!! teaching qualification technical solutions. Full comparison, the adjusted data showed. Port of Tallinn is made up of five constituent harbors (CELTA/TEFL) and some scope of technical The statistics office’s preliminary figure had in the Estonian capital and elsewhere in the country. You are wanted! relevant previous experi- support: pre-planning. PC. been 7.9 percent. Like neighboring Latvia and ence in work with groups Contact: jerrybarrows@ Estonia, Lithuania has one of the fastest-grow- Estonia and neighboring ex-Soviet Lithuania and is required. yahoo.com ing economies in the EU, which all three Baltic Latvia were significant conduits for Soviet trade with If you are interested in countries joined in 2004, 13 years after winning the West. The three countries, which all joined the EU We are currently looking this vacancy or would like back their independence from the crumbling So- in 2004, have remained major outlets for Russia since further information please Place a career resume here! for people to join our do not hesitate to send [email protected] viet Union. independence. Marketing & Sales team. your CV. RESUME Lithuanian GDP grew by 7.5 percent in 2006 Russia, however, has warned it may stop shipping compared to 2005. exports through the Baltic states over coming years as eng_schoolkrakow@ This year, Lithuanian authorities have said GDP yahoo.com Business/Personal Assistant growth is expected to drop to 8.1 percent, before it upgrades northwestern ports such as its Barents Sea Successful applicants will: slowing further to 5.7 percent in 2009. (AFP) hub in Murmansk. - enjoy the art of selling MINI Place a job offer here! and meeting new people [email protected] Talented, experienced lady

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NO. 01 March 2008

NBSO Krakow supporting trade and investment in Poland represent them. In the case of production, they are makes it very interesting, but also difficult to help that has to do with a lot of bad PR that Poland looking for a company that can produce products sometimes. A company will send you a question, had over the past two years. The Dutch media for them or even take on part of the production. saying “we have product ‘x’ and we would like was extremely negative about Poland. So, as a In case of finding products that they would like to produce it in Poland, find me a company that result, companies didn’t start to think “hey, let’s to import, they are looking for either a wholesaler can do this.” To which we say “sure, I can find it spend a lot of money in Poland.” Now things are or a producer. Basically, what it comes down to for you, but first tell me: what is it?” Because we improving. The media has become much more is just basic information and contacts. Contacts get everything here, like chemicals, IT services, positive about Poland and people are looking into are actually the most important here. We focus telecommunications, nanotechnology, but also the possibilities again. on South Poland but because Dutch companies simple things like leather bags - it makes it an Q: What other organizations are there who just think of Poland as a whole, we don’t limit interesting job. provide similar services? ourselves to it. Q: What interests do Dutch firms have in trade A: Other organizations are commercial Q: The NBSO supports Dutch firms to enter and investment in Poland? partners, such as the Chamber of Commerce foreign markets, while also promoting trade and A: It’s really a wide range and it fluctuates. Up and other consultants. We cooperate with them investment in Holland - what kind of work does to a few years ago there was a big demand from and forward contacts to them, basically, when this involve? the metal sector to relocate production because the company is done with us. Banks are also A: That part is a little bit more difficult. We do Holland just could not compete as a result of offering special help desks for their Dutch clients. promote Holland as a possibility to do business labor costs being too high. At that point, a lot of They offer similar services as we do, because, of with, but I’m a little bit reluctant to do this too smaller metal producing companies moved to course, it makes sense - when they have a client much because it generates demand from the Poland. But that completely stopped now because in Holland, they would like to keep the same Polish side. We get more and more questions everybody who had to move due to competition client for their Polish branch. from Polish companies that would like to do status has moved. Q: Do you work with other Polish government business in The Netherlands, which is great, but There is nobody left. Any company that is still organizations? the thing is that we simply can’t help them much in Holland has found a niche market and is able A: Yes, we’re constantly in contact with them because we are completely focused on helping to compete. because it’s important for us to always be up to Dutch companies coming to Poland, not Polish At the moment we get a lot of questions, not date with the latest information, to be able to companies coming to Holland. We just don’t have of relocating production but actually looking advise the companies in the right way, and also to the tools to assist them. for Polish partners to assist with production. know what the other Polish institutions are offer- Q: The NBSO is a non-profit organization. Economy is picking up, not only in Poland but ing possible investors or foreign companies. Where does it receive support from? also in Holland. So, in this way we cooperate with Polish A: We are a Dutch governmental institution Companies have a lot of orders and they just institutions by providing and sharing information belonging to the Ministry of Economic Affairs can’t handle the demand. so that we are up to date and we can forward their in Holland. Our services are free for Dutch So, instead of moving production, they are contact details and the right people to the Dutch companies. That’s also why our service is limited, looking for a company that can produce for them, investor whenever they need them. and why we only focus on providing basic infor- which is of course more beneficial for the Dutch Q: How has Poland’s entrance into the EU mation and contacts. The moment that a company company and the Polish sector because it just affected interest in investment? makes a decision to come to Poland, our job is means work for both of them, instead of relocat- A: It gave a lot of security and accessibility done. So we just give them contacts to possible ing. And that’s actually something we have been increased. It was just like, “OK, they’re within partners. It usually works fine; I can say that we seeing in 2007 quite a lot. the EU, they have to comply with EU rules, so we are quite effective in this. When we send about Q: What catches companies’ attention towards know what we have to deal with.” It’s this extra 10 addresses there is usually one or two that Poland? Is it something that the NBSO suggests layer of security that really helps. It helps compa- they find they can do business with. I think the to the companies or do they approach you? nies to start looking into the possibility, whereas efficiency rate of the companies that we help is A: They always come to us - we don’t do any before that they would say “OK, forget about usually about 70 per cent. Unfortunately, a similar promotion in Holland. We are here, and if for it, it’s too wild for us, that’s too risky, we don’t system like that in Holland for Polish companies what ever reason a company starts thinking about do it. We prefer to stay in a safe area.” Because, does not exist so they have to use commercial Poland, they will find us. don’t forget, we really assist the rather smaller partners and of course, this is expensive. The The reason why a company will start thinking companies. The big companies have got plenty of really micro companies don’t have the money to about Poland is extremely diverse, but it’s usually capital, they have their own departments, they can pay a consultant. That limits their possibilities to very simple things. do research and they can take this kind of risk. actually do something. For example, they know some Polish people, But a small company, even just a one man Q: The NBSO has offices set up in different or they have Polish people working for them, show or a team of 10 people, doesn’t always have parts of the world. What kind of companies does maybe some of their contacts have Polish the capital to take this kind of risk if it isn’t really Poland attract? partners. sure that at least the basic securities are there. Adelina Krupski business in or with Poland. We mainly focus on A: At the moment there are 18 offices in the Through this kind of social contact they hear: So the entry into the EU really helped a lot - it STAFF JOURNALIST SMEs, so the smaller segment of the companies. world. There is a strong focus on Asia - China “Hey! Why don’t you do this in Poland? I’m from opened up the market, especially for this smaller The assessment is concentrated on providing alone already has 6 offices. The NBSO network is this region and there we do a lot of this kind of segment of companies. The Netherlands Business Support Office information and contacts. We assist companies relatively young, it started about 10 years ago as stuff.” That’s the way of things, that’s how the (NBSO) has been in Poland since 2001, aiming that are in the very first steps of looking into the a pilot project and we’re still a pilot project, actu- first idea pops up, just simply by contact with NBSO Krakow to strengthen cooperation between Dutch and possibilities offered by Poland. They come to ally. We’re still opening up new offices in other Polish people in Holland. Polish people working ul. Karmelicka 27 Polish companies. The Krakow Post had the op- the NBSO asking “is Poland something for us?” countries. In Eastern Europe we are present in in Holland are the best commercial for Poland. 31-131 Krakow portunity to speak with Daniel Heinst, the Chief and we help them to find out if indeed Poland is Poland and there is one other office in Romania. Q: What type of Dutch firms are currently web site nbso.com.pl Representative of NBSO in Krakow. suitable for them. For example, if they want to There are two offices in Brazil, we have offices investing in Poland? [email protected] sell their products in Poland, then we check what in India, one in the U.S. But, for example, the one A: We would like to see some more real The Krakow Post: What is the central aim the market looks like: are there any other products in the U.S. is focusing almost solely on ICT. The investment, but companies are a little bit reluctant Dutch embassy of the NBSO and how is this goal carried out in that are similar? are there competitors? are there office is located in Silicon Valley, so it’s a little bit to do that, they have other priorities. As I said, ul. Kawalerii 10 Poland? any market events? are there fairs, expositions, or of a different station. Here we do everything - we the main focus is on looking for Polish partners, 00-468 WARSZAWA Daniel Heinst: The central aim of the NBSO branch magazines? Very often they are looking get every company, every sector, every branch, like for a joint venture. Real investment is still www.nlembassy.pl is to assist Dutch companies that want to do for a partner - a distributor or an agent that can every idea…any product, we get it in our office. It rather limited compared to other nations. I think [email protected] The Krakow Post Special Business Supplement Business as usual with the Dutch... A conversation with Dutch Honorary Consul Wojciech Zipser

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Daniel van Hoven them.” allowed to issue new passports. Communistic Poland. Not so much the specialization of Polish STAFF JOURNALIST For over 14 years he has been represent- Last but not least, another role for the After the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, more education, but more the fact that Polish ing The Netherlands as honorary consul in honorary consul is the actual promoting of and more Dutch people and companies people are brought up with all around Although large amounts of Poles seek the south of Poland, where he holds office Dutch interests. Talking to the press, visit- came to Poland. Especially banks such as knowledge, makes them very equipped to labor and possibly a new life in The Nether- both in Wroclaw at the official post of the ing various events, delivering speeches and ABN AMRO and ING, but also cash-and- jump in to whatever kind of work the Dutch lands, just a few Dutch head into the oppo- Dutch Consulate and in Krakow at the organizing festivities that are related to The carry giant Makro were among the first to bring along from their country. site direction. Still, more and more people Centrum Niderlandzkie. Netherlands, its culture, holidays, or cus- do business in post-Communist Poland. In So what’s in it for Poland, apart from from The Netherlands come to Poland for Consuls of the Kingdom of The Nether- toms. All of these responsibilities, which not support of that, the Centrum Niderlandzkie work for its people? a holiday, or seeking new chances and pos- lands are there to protect and promote the only touch individuals, but also companies was established in 1993. “The Dutch have a long tradition of sibilities for a different life. In contrast to interests of Dutch people abroad. Zipser that are active or want to become active in But it wasn’t until the second half of enterprising, trading and doing business. The Netherlands where everything is within divides his responsibilities as honorary con- Poland, can count on the help of the consul the nineties that the presence of the Dutch That is still something that has to be three hours of travel, the distances in Poland sul into three categories. First of all, there when needed. really boomed. Especially little and middle built up in Poland. Because in all fairness, are significantly longer. To not totally be is common aid in any case of emergency. Like the career of Zipser, the relation large companies became more and more no private business in Poland is older than dependent on the country’s embassy based When there is an accident, when there is between The Netherlands and Poland goes interested in Poland. The new market ex- the 19 years the country has been freed in Warsaw, The Netherlands instituted a something missing, something stolen, even a long way back. When the Polish empire panded way beyond the borders of Warsaw. from communism. So we have a lot to learn number of consulates throughout Poland. incidents that result in death, or practical was at its peak in the late 16th Century, the Soon Dutch enterprise established itself in from the Dutch when it comes to doing For the Dutch that are visiting, or are based help with immediate Dutch translation. Dutch Republic was started. The newborn other large cities such as Poznan, Wroclaw, quick, pragmatic, efficient and financially in the south of Poland, the person to contact “Also an ordinary conversation with Dutch republic made fame and fortune through Katowice and Krakow. By now, The steady business.” Zipser continues with in times of need is the Honorary Consul of people who are in need of that, belongs to trade, with Poland as an important partner Netherlands is the seventh largest economic an example: “In The Netherlands a thirty the Kingdom of The Netherlands, Wojciech one of the tasks of the honorary consul,” on the continent. To this day, a Polish mer- partner of Poland, behind the “big four” minute visit to a local Chamber of Com- Zipser. Zipser says. chant from those days drawn on the ceiling (Germany, France, Great Britain and Italy) merce is enough to create and have your Zipser, born and raised in Krakow, has Second are consular affairs, such as of the Dutch Senate peeks down on today’s and Poland’s other neighbors the Czech own business. The bureaucracy in Poland at had a long relationship with The Neth- legalizing documents, helping Dutch politicians. On the other side of Europe, in Republic and Russia. the current moment is too large to do it this erlands. He has lived in Amsterdam and people with filing tax forms, or arranging Poland, large parts of Gdansk look similar What makes Poland so interesting for fast.” Speaking of quick and efficient! Rotterdam for over two decades and speaks any kind of social funding or retirement to the cozy center of the Dutch capital, that tiny Western European country with its So The Netherlands can have many the language well. Zipser speaks with admi- pensions. Most common though is the loss Amsterdam. sociable and economically clever people? benefits from Poland, whereas Poland can ration about the Dutch. of documents while traveling, which as a Where The Netherlands went on build- According to Zipser it is a mixture of learn a great deal from the Dutch. “The Dutch are very open minded consequence makes the issuing of a “lais- ing their name as being economical and the low expenses and high quality: “For And that is a balance which the honorary people, who think pragmatically. They are sez-passer” (a temporary permit to travel efficient, the Poles spent the majority of the the Dutch, Poland is a nearby European consul himself tries to keep as well: “I love always looking for solutions, and they ap- without an official document, e.g. your last 250 years keeping their country on the country within the EU and now also within Poland and Krakow, the city where I am proach difficult situations not as problems, missing passport) necessary. In contrast to map. But even during the Cold War, Dutch the Schengen Zone, with relatively low from, but also The Netherlands. but more like challenges. On top of that, career consuls who are employees of the people kept coming to Poland on their typi- labor costs, but with a very well educated In the event that both countries would they have a way with people. Their ap- ministry of foreign affairs, honorary consuls cal holidays with caravans attached to their labor force. The Polish people know their meet each other at the coming European proach to others is open and accessible, so are usually locals and get refunded for their cars. In the eighties there was little business languages by now, and are very well football championships, I wouldn’t know that you immediately feel comfortable with expenses. Therefore, only career consuls are going on between the liberal Dutch and educated.” which side to choose.” Eureko offers Poland full range of insurance products the krakow post Operating Companies not only has local market knowledge protection and finance products. Lastly, Imperio France ment in the region exists in a strategic 33 percent (-1 share) and expertise, but also is strongly committed to customer operates in the Portuguese community, a niche market seg- investment in PZU of Poland, the largest insurer in Poland A privately owned, European financial services group, value. ment in the French Life market. and Central and Eastern Europe, with the leading position Eureko B.V. offers a full range of insurance products and The primary Operating Company of Eureko is Achmea, In addition to these four mature markets, Eureko in both the Life and Non-Life markets. Eureko has sought focuses on building and integrating its business throughout which operates in Luxembourg, Belgium, and The Nether- has been expanding in growth markets across Europe, regulatory approval to increase this shareholding to 36.1 Europe. lands, where it holds the top position in insurance overall. particularly in Central and Eastern Europe. Determined to percent. Registered in The Netherlands, Eureko also has opera- Achmea offers a wide range of insurance and banking strengthen its European position, Eureko owns Union, an The significant presence of Eureko in Poland, which tions in eleven countries, shareholders from eight different services to businesses, institutions and consumers in the insurance company in Slovakia that offers Life, Non-Life it sees as a second home market, is acknowledged as countries, and over twenty thousand employees. Benelux. and Health products, as well as Eureko Sigorta, an insur- its springboard for future expansion in this increasingly Following its philosophy, “local solutions, shared Next in the group is Interamerican, which has been ance company in Turkey. important region. In the future, Eureko will consolidate and goals,” Eureko consists of market leaders located in the established in Greece for over 37 years and holds the No. Confident that European expansion is critical for grow its well-established Dutch position while continuing territories in which its companies operate. Characterized 3 position in both the Life and the Non-Life markets. In long-term growth, Eureko also has growing operations in to focus on its portfolio of selected European investments by a dominant, well-recognized brand, each of the Eureko Ireland, Friends First provides pensions, investments, Romania, Bulgaria and Cyprus. Its most important invest- and exploring growth opportunities across Central and The Krakow Post Special Business Supplement OTTO takes Europe

by storm the krakow post

OTTO Work Force is the runner up in the Dutch world of temporary employment. In 2000 our company began to temp Polish owners of German passports to work in the Dutch labor market. In the meantime, Poland has entered the EU, the borders have opened and we have a broad network of offices throughout Poland and establishments in Slovakia, Czech Republic and England. OTTO has developed into the most important specialist in the EU in the branch of international labor mediation. There are around 3,000 employees working daily for several employers in The Netherlands. We also have hundreds of people working in England. And because the economy of Middle and Eastern Europe is growing rapidly, we are very active in the Polish and Czech temping market. The majority of our employees in The Netherlands work in the field of logistic services and industry – this means labor for low qualified employees. Thanks to the improving economy, the demand for highly qualified personnel grows in other sectors. That is why we are trying to supply this demand with our offer. The establishing of OTTO Tech Force in 2007 is the best proof for it yet. International labor mediation is a job. It is about people who come to a foreign country for a longer period of time to work. Measuring professional knowledge and experience is insufficient. The candidate must be able to function properly in a different culture and setting. Knowing this, OTTO has created a broad “culture fit test” in order to check knowledge of foreign languages, adapting possibilities and home sickness. But even if candidates seem well prepared, it does not mean the end of the responsibility of the temping agency. The transport to the destination country and everyday transport to work and back are a natural part of our service. It also concerns management at work, proper accommodation, social management and educational possibilities. There is no place for weak links in: the chain of management, office work in the temping countries, social management in the living places, everyday transport and management at work. Last year OTTO Work Force grew 50 percent and its ambition is to play an important role in the European labor market. That is why, besides the broad network of offices, OTTO has developed a digital infrastructure to help people with finding work. OTTOJobs.eu is not just job site, but a real job matchmaker. The innovating site matches demand with supply and brings both par- ties to contact via SMS or Internet. This way employers and employees from all EU can meet each other. Europe works. Dutch architect historically influences architecture in Poland Adelina Krupski arrived in Poland in the 1660s. palaces in Warsaw and other regions of Poland. In all, there transept crossing. The corpus of the church is composed of STAFF JOURNALIST While serving the Lubomirski family as a military were around 75 grand buildings constructed according to a wide main nave with three pairs of side chapels. engineer, he commanded the Lubomirski’s artillery for a his design, including the Czartoryski Palace in Pulawy, the Decoration of the nave, walls, and arches exemplifies Tylman van Gameren, a Dutch architect and painter single battle. During this time, van Gameren took on his Krasinski Palace, the Primate’s Palace in Nieborow, and complex baroque art through a mix of artistic architecture, who took the lead in baroque architecture in Poland, is first civilian projects, though he was mainly involved in three rooms in the Lazienki Palace. painting and sculpture. Consecrated in 1705, it combines well known for his great influence on Polish art of the 17th military architecture. After ten years as an artillery officer, In addition, examples of sacral architecture, such as the the artwork of van Gameren and Italian sculptor Baltazar Century. In fact, his accomplishments had such an impact he acquired fame as a court architect and, in 1672, was Church of the Holy Sacrament Order and the Bernadine Fontana. It also contains paintings by Szymon Czechowicz, that Polish encyclopedias define van Gameren as a “Polish granted the title of royal architect. Monks’ Church in Warsaw, the Church of St. Anne in one of the most notable Polish painters of the 18th Century. architect of Dutch descent.” Having left the military, van Gameren took on civil Krakow, and the Royal Chapel in Gdansk, were also built Located across from Collegium Maius, the oldest uni- Born in Utrecht in 1632, van Gameren first studied architecture, designing palaces, castles, gardens, pavilions, according to the drawings of Van Gameren. versity edifice in Poland, the Church of St. Anne was for architecture with a focus on Dutch examples. However, and churches; as his projects were sought by nobles, One of the 40 churches located within the historic centuries considered to be a university building, holding like many local artists at the height of the Dutch Golden bishops, and even the King, the architect soon became rich center of Krakow, the Church of St. Anne is among the official inaugurations of the academic year. Today, it con- Age, he left for Italy around 1650. and famous. most unique and classic baroque masterpieces in Poland. tinues to be very involved with students, often organizing By traveling Italy and Germany, van Gameren became During King Jan III’s coronation, van Gameren was Similarly to the Church of St. Peter and St. Paul, the oldest meetings and activities. familiar with foreign styles of architecture. While in appointed Golden Spur Knight, giving him nobility status. baroque building in Krakow, the Church of St. Anne is Following his death in 1706, van Gameren left a collec- Venice, he earned a reputation as a painter, highly valued Consequently, this allowed him to settle in Poland perma- distinguished for its exquisite architecture and great artistic tion of 118 books and some 1,000 drawings. Unfortunately, for his portrayal of battle scenes. As a result of his travels, nently and, in 1677, marry Anna Komorowska. In 1685, décor. a great number of his sketches and plans were lost in World he drew freely on Italian, French and Dutch trends, which Tylman van Gameren changed his surname to Gamerski. Replacing its older, Gothic structure that was destroyed War II. Currently, the Warsaw University Library holds allowed him to create his own adaptation of baroque clas- Employed by Jan III Sobieski, Michal Korybut Wisnio- by fire, St. Anne’s construction and decoration took place the largest collection of his drawings and designs. In 2003, sicism. Having received an invitation from Jerzy Sebastian wiecki, as well as a number of upper class representatives, from 1689 to 1703. Van Gameren created a temple raised an exhibition in the Warsaw Royal Castle devoted to the Lubomirski, Grand Marshal of the Crown, van Gameren van Gameren drew the designs for the reconstruction of on a Latin cross plan, with the dome resting on the nave- Dutch architect displayed archives and models of his work. The Krakow Post Special Business Supplement Olympia Gallery co-director sees tourism boom All the tourists stay at Rynek Glowny but you are limited there. You could easily walk to Kazimierz or Podgorze, or later in the future take trams to Nowa Huta. Q: How could Krakow promote itself more successfully? A: Nowadays city marketing is very important. In The Netherlands there is always a competition between Rotterdam and Amsterdam for who has the best art and culture festivals. Amsterdam always got the attention. Then a good friend of mine, who was the director of the Rotterdam Festivals, brought all the cultural activities in Rotterdam under one umbrella. This worked. In 10-15 years Rotterdam took all the attention from Amsterdam. There is always an event that is part of these festivals. This would be good in Krakow: to bring all the festivals under one as the Krakow Festivals; it is cheaper and gets more attention. Q: Since 2004 have you only run Olympia Gallery? A: I did not give up my political life completely. It was mixed. I still had projects such as corruption fighting in Romania and reorga- nization of the public administration in Bul- garia. However, I came to the conclusion that most of the projects fail because the people don’t want to fight the corruption in Romania or they don’t want to change the judiciary system. They say they want to, but when you go in there is much resistance. I had been an associate professor for 10 years. For 10 years I had been an official in industries and finance. I worked for 10 years in international affairs and I promised myself to be more creative for the next 10 years. So that’s why I write on my web site. I’ve had some exhibitions, The Pathological Family in Krakow. I’ve published some small books such as The Total Shopping Guide for Krakow. So I got more involved in the social life in Krakow. Q: What kind of art does Olympia Gallery promote? A: It is mostly for young artists who already have a certain recognizable fingerprint so to say that we try to promote. Their work is still quite affordable. A lot of our clients are just starting their own personal art collection. We have done work mostly in Poland but now we are trying to put more attention on going abroad: France, Germany, and The Netherlands. We’ve already sold to the U.S. I have to look into how to promote our art- Monika Stumpo worked. Then there was the romantic reason. even as far as Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan. holocaust tourists. But it is not different than ists abroad. The exhibitions we hold alternate STAFF JOURNALIST When I started here in Krakow I got All the work that had been done since 1993 in other countries. For economy it is OK even between the artists we represent and new involved with people privately and had a was more or less the preparation for the though the best thing is the fact that Poland is upcoming artists. Fred Gijbels is the co-director of the group of friends. From 1993 till 2004 I was in integration of Poland into the EU, which took in the EU. Now it is Olympia Gallery in Kazimierz. He has been Krakow 5 to 6 days a week. I had a girlfriend place in May 2004. Since the preparation going at an amazing involved with assistance programs in Poland here, who is now my life partner and with for the integration into the EU was mostly pace. since he arrived here in 1993, after having whom I now run a modern art gallery. We finished and I was almost 65 and rarely at Q: Why did you worked throughout Eastern Europe. He is a opened the Olympia Gallery in 1999 on Jozefa home; I decided to sell my house in The choose Kazimierz over strong advocate for Polish tourism and sees Street in Kazimierz. Netherlands and move to Krakow to live with the Rynek for your a bright future since Poland’s entrance into Q: Did you notice a difference between the my girlfriend. gallery? the EU. I spoke with Mr. Gijbels in the cafe different cities in Poland? Q: How do you compare Krakow’s tourism A: When I was here Kolory on Plac Nowy. A: Certainly there are regional differences industry to other European cities? in 1995, I said that the that I for sure saw in Gdansk. The business A: I was born and raised in Amsterdam and more creative Bohe- The Krakow Post: What brought you to mentality of people was different than in I frequently compare Krakow to Amsterdam mian artistic center Krakow? Krakow. Krakow is more of a “dreaming” since they are both similar in size and popula- would be Kazimierz. A: I came to Poland for the first time in city. It is full of students who are not used for tion. Amsterdam is an international tourist So it’s the place to be 1993 for an assistance program in Warsaw production, which is not necessarily negative. city. When we came here in 1993 -1995 there for the next 10 years. during the government of Pawlak. The Whereas in other cities, you have to work was a tremendous shortage in accommoda- In my opinion, the city program was about the transparency of public and you have to earn your money. In Krakow, tions. So the people who came to Krakow council failed to open society. Poland had been a very closed country it’s not about earning money – it is just about could only stay for one day. The times have up this district. and they had no idea how to be transparent in being here. However this doesn’t create a changed and now you can see lots of hostels Little attention their policy making. very vigilant mentality. Also Krakow has the and new hotels. The market for tourism is is paid to improve When I was in Warsaw, a member of parlia- pretence of being a very cultural city – a city growing. I think it is still at a low end. It is not Kazimierz. Of course ment asked me to come to Krakow to see if for the artist. the rich who come to Krakow but the back- there were problems we could assist with its new city council. So Q: Did the assistance programs only run packers and what I call the “grey wave.” with the ownership of we simultaneously did the project in Warsaw in Poland? Q: The grey wave? residency in Kazimi- and Krakow. The project in Warsaw went A: I did not work only in Poland. I worked A: The people with grey hair who walk erz, but the city has quite fast; it involved the media in Poland. We in most former Eastern Bloc countries like around in groups. So in Krakow we have the no idea how to make explained how the Western style of journalism the Baltic countries, Romania, the Balkans backpackers, the grey wave and you see the it an attractive district. The Krakow Post Special Business Supplement

Giant Athlon enters the leasing market Van Gansewinkel the krakow post the economical side. And then many of them simply end up running into the verge. These have a huge potential in Poland. We see that looks to Poland see that leasing is simply a better option than damages can be very costly. In Poland people there are a lot of international companies in The Krakow Post: The interview with Eric buying.” are driving recklessly; they don’t want to see Poland who want to do business with us, and The krakow post van Vliet takes place at the headquarters of the Q: With this huge potential on the market the danger and people are simply not careful want to move to our company. But it is also Athlon Atrium building in Warsaw, where the and still a limited amount of suppliers, it must with the cars. important to invest in the market and educate In 1964, 24 year-old Leo van company established itself only a few months be possible to make good profits…. Q: And what about brands? I have the feel- the market. Instead of competing on a depleted Gansewinkel began his own waste ago. A: No, unfortunately not, that is the strange ing that Poles don’t like French cars and rather part of the market with each other we really Eric van Vliet: “We made the choice to thing about the leasing market here. The Poles stick to German products. should aim at the underdeveloped parts of the collection company in the southern come to Poland because of the developments are very cost-conscious, and this means we A: That is not totally true. The Renault La- market. Then there is room enough for every- part of The Netherlands, naming it of the leasing market here. With only 75 have to fight for our clients like we are in a guna is doing well in Poland, even though this body – also for new players on the market. after his family name: Van Ganse- thousand leased cars on the market, Poland has fully saturated market. Also, what I notice is is a problematic car, which is what we rather There is an image problem on the market and winkel BV. a huge potential for us. With these potential that customers are fixated on the starting price. want to avoid as a leasing company. Peugeot is there are many companies that have had bad Then 43 years later, in 2007, Leo developments ahead, we decided to step into When you make a contract you write that also doing well here. The same goes for brands experiences with leasing companies, but we van Gansewinkel sold his company this market at this time because this allows us the company will make, for instance, 30,000 like Opel, Skoda and for instance Toyota. have to show that we really offer a professional for over 800 mln euro to investment the opportunity to become a big market player. kilometers per year. But 85 percent of the People in Poland have a different feeling to product that brings value for money.” in the KKR and CVC consortium. Q: But you know that there are already cars will not drive 30,000 per year, but 25- or this Japanese brand than elsewhere in Europe. A year earlier, this alliance of funds quite a few competitors on the market and maybe 35- or 40,000 kilometers per year. Then In other countries people often think it might already bought AVR, a leader in companies like General Electric are also you have a citation of a breach of contract. And be a good car; but it lacks charisma and status About Athlon Dutch waste treatment from the city considering investing in Poland. that is where things get interesting because and that is why the car is not successful. In of Rotterdam. As a result Van Gan- A: “That is why we decided to enter the here it is not clear for the customer and this is Poland it is the top brand. It has a status almost Athlon debuted on the Polish sewinkel – AVR is one of the five market now, because the growth is booming important for what he finally pays. We call this comparable to Mercedes. Also with Skoda, in market as the next step of their and the amounts of suppliers at the moment “Total cost of ownership.” The Poles only look Western European countries people think very largest waste management compa- continuing development of their nies in Europe with a 1.1 bln euro are still relatively low. Compared to The Neth- at the start price and when you offer the lowest negatively about this car, but here it is highly European strategy. erlands that has about 900 leasing companies, price then you have the deal. But this is chang- valued.” turnover and over 6,000 employees The company is an international across Europe. Poland still has only a few dozen and none of ing and you already notice that the Poles are Q: The past few years the average value of provider of operational full-service them has a big volume yet. The biggest one getting more experience in that matter.” a lease car in Poland has increased to around Although Van Gansewinkel’s car leasing and fleet manage- has 7,000 contracts, so by entering this market Q: With leasing operations in eight coun- 20,000 euro…. home market is the Benelux, the now, you can grow quickly.” tries what can you say is typical about the car A: “What you see is a strong growth of ment, with a focus on the business market. Athlon is currently active in company is active in several coun- Q: With most of the Polish companies still usage in Poland? the salaries on the market. On management tries, such as England, Portugal, buying their cars, how do you convince them A: Well… Poles definitely drive differently level the salaries are already comparable with seven countries: The Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, France, Ger- France and the Czech Republic. to change from buying into leasing? than Dutch people. What you see is that the The Netherlands, and reach their limits. So In Poland, Van Gansewinkel was A: “What we notice is that multinational damage made during the lease period is higher. what you now see is that the car has become many, Spain Poland and via Fleet, companies in Poland are experienced leasers. Compared to The Netherlands, they make an important condition for employment. And Synergy in 35 countries. The launch established in 1998 to look for busi- We don’t have to convince them to lease, they double the amount of damage and compared to this is reflected in the models of cars that are was managed in close co-opera- ness opportunities. It first entered just pick out the lease company with the best Germany this is even three or four times more. leased. A few years ago, the Fiat Seicento was tion with the existing office of the the local market in Krakow in 2000. deal. This is a relatively simple path. With Pol- I think there are two factors that cause this: a lease car. Now you see that hardly anyone is parent company De Lage Landen From then on Van Gansewinkel ish companies it is much more difficult. Many The damage caused by the bad state of roads leasing from the A-segment anymore. Much in Warsaw. Athlon is 100 percent Polska started to expand across of them consider themselves an unhealthy in Poland along with the speed limits. Let’s be more popular are the Ford Focus from the Dutch and like the Lage Landen, the southern part of Poland. Van company if they cannot buy their own cars. honest, in Warsaw it is normal to drive 80 in C-segment and the Opel Vectra and the Passat fully-owned by the Rabobank – a Gansewinkel Polska’s head office You have to change their perception and really the city center and when there is little traffic, from the D-segment. There is an enormous triple A rated bank. is located in Krakow but it offers convince those companies that leasing really people tend to drive 100. Even in Amsterdam increase in the average value of the leased cars professional service in four other is the best option. You have to show them when it is quiet, you simply don’t do that, but in Poland.” cities in the south of Poland, which the many financial benefits (e.g., the cars are here it is different. Q: To operate successfully as a lease are: Tarnnw, Ruda Slask, Olawy not on your balance account anymore, which Q: What kind of damages do you see here company you need to lease around 1,500 cars. and Legnica. With a turnover of makes the ratios with the banks better and in Poland? When does Athlon expect to have reached this Record increase of leased cars leaves the company more money to invest in A: People are much less careful with amount? around 30 mln a year and around their core business). You also have to bring the cars, so in the city you have much more A: “Most companies need three years to The value of leased cars in Poland 200 employees, Van Gansewinkel the discussion out of the emotions that come parking damages and outside the city there break even. Athlon is a huge player in the leas- in the first two quarters of 2007 Polska is one of the larger players with the cars, and you have to approach it from are more damages caused by passing; or cars ing market worldwide and this means we also amounted to 862 mln euro. This is an in the waste market in this part of increase of 24 percent compared to the country. At the moment, Van the same period in 2006. Managing Gansewinkel Polska concentrates Director Andrzej Sugajski of the as- mainly on company and household sociation of leasing companies (ZLP) waste. remarks, “The car market in Poland Future prospects include so- hardly moved for a long-time, and lutions for waste management also the last few years the market problems which are the result of only grew with a few percentages. for instance consumer growth and But if you look at this year, the mar- increasing prosperity in the country. ket is booming.” Poland faces the problem of an According to Sugajski, cumulative ever growing waste production, waiting causes the reason for this and considering the fact that over huge growth from the market. 95 percent of all the waste is being “There has been a change in dumped at waste dumps, Poland tax regulations in Poland and needs to make rapid decisions con- companies wanted to wait for that cerning its waste management. As change. After Poland’s accession a result of these problems, the city to the EU, legislation has been quite stable and this has also been an of Krakow is considering to build argument for businesses to invest in a waste incineration plant for its their fleets.” household waste. The combined lease market for In this field, Van Gansewinkel mobile and fixed commodities in- – AVR has much experience: it creased 70 percent to 4.02 bln euro is the owner of three large waste in the first two quarters of this year. incinerators in The Netherlands. The overwhelming majority, 3.7 The fact that incineration is in the bln euro, was spent on movable company’s field of expertise and goods like cars and trucks. their strong position in the waste “Looking at the very dynamic market, Van Gansewinkel-AVR growth of the first half year, it will be has shown great interest to partici- difficult to repeat this in the second pate as an important player in this part of the year, so we expect the project. total market to grow by another Van Gansewinkel Polska wishes 40 percent for this period,” says to be active in the whole waste Sugajski. chain in Poland. The Krakow Post Special Business Supplement Keukenhof: Most beautiful spring garden on earth

the krakow post bulb profession. In 2008, the exhibition will enter its 59th season. Keukenhof is the place where spring arrives in all Each year a new internal design is made for the its glory. Keukenhof is a historic park covering an area total planting of the park. To achieve this, various sorts Events of thirty-two hectares of tulips, hyacinths, daffodils of flowers are combined and planting is done in several and all the other spring bulbs. The floral displays in layers, so that when the earlier varieties (crocus, Easter Parade and Hats Show March 24, Easter Monday. Hats play Facts and figures the park and the unique flower shows in the various narcissus, etc.) have finished blooming, first the earlier pavilions are a glorious visual feast. And in the midst tulips begin to bloom, followed later by other varieties a leading role. of this magnificent spectacle of colour there are of tulips. In one season three different colours can be Awards won as Europe’s most in the world exquisite works of art. admired on the same spot (the lasagne technique). valued attraction Keukenhof is an unforgettable experience for This year, Keukenhof has chosen China, the 2008 Early Bird Morning people of all ages. It has been one of the most popular Olympic Games and Beijing as the themes for the March 24, Easter Monday. From The bulbs are supplied by destinations in The Netherlands for almost 60 years flower park. 07:00 Keukenhof is unique and famous 93 official exhibitors and is famous worldwide. In addition to the theme highlighting the Olympics Here you can gain inspiration while you relax in the and Paralympics scheduled to be held this year in throughout the world magnificent surroundings of the park that has no less Beijing, the Keukenhof will also be focusing special Birds of Prey Demonstrations It is the largest sculpture park than fifteen kilometers of footpaths. attention on China’s cultural and historical significance March 29-30, 11:00, 14:00 It is one of the most popular at- in The Netherlands For children, there is an exciting playground: a through special events, the inspirational garden and a tractions in The Netherlands and large maze and an animal paddock. Keukenhof is a variety of shows. Summerbulb Weekend unique experience and guarantees the most fabulous An enormous dragon is also slowly awakening has clocked up more than 42 mln There are 15 kilometers of foot- photos. underneath the soil: this spring, 24,500 tulip and grape April 11-13 Where Keukenhof is situated now, was a hunting hyacinth bulbs will burst into bloom, forming a 15- by visitors in the last 58 years paths 7 mln flower bulbs planted area in the 15th Century. Herbs for the kitchen of the 10-meter floral mosaic of this traditional Chinese Flower parade from by hand castle of Jacoba van Beieren were also collected here; symbol. Noordwijk to Haarlem It is the largest bulb flower park in hence the name Keukenhof. The 7 inspired gardens at Keukenhof are an ideal At the moment the estate belongs to a corporation. source of inspiration for your own garden. Each garden April 26 the world More than 2500 trees in 87 On the initiative of the Lisse mayor of that time and a has its own theme. For instance, there is a long, narrow varieties number of leading flower bulb growers and exporters, city garden with colourful borders and beautiful vases Birds of Prey Demonstrations It covers an area of 32 hectares, 4.5 an open-air flower exhibition was organized here for and pots. With its serene colours, combined with May 11-12, 11:00, 14:00 the first time in 1949. This expanded to an annually unique bright accents, the enclosed Mediterranean mln tulips in 100 varieties New in 2008: world’s largest tulip recurring event that has always drawn great numbers garden emanates soberness, spirituality and reflection. of visitors from all over the world. This is how Keu- The shapes in the round garden have been used in a Early Bird Morning kenhof became the park that we now know. The spring more traditional way, a typical cottage garden, with an May 12, From 07:00 It is the most photographed place www.keukenhof.nl flower exhibition is a beautiful display window for the attractive mix of bulbs and perennials. Board of Tourism invites all to taste Hidden Holland the krakow post helpful tips on Hidden Holland. Travelers can search by category In 2008, visitors to Holland can or region and can also view the top liven up their holiday with a visit to five most viewed articles. the country’s best kept secrets. Un- The web site contains informa- A few sightseeing tips… der the title “Hidden Holland,” The tion on a number of gems, hidden Netherlands Board of Tourism & treasures in Holland that are Conventions (NBTC) has launched unfamiliar to most foreign tourists. Spending the night in lithic tombs in Drenthe a series of tips this year on the most These gems have been categorized the Harlingen lighthouse unusual spots in Holland, places into three themes: Culture & Sailing the canals of Utrecht that are not well known to the History, Land & Water and Gas- wider community. tronomy & Lodging. Dining in a greenhouse in a gondola These gems have been selected Travelers can get tips on throughout the country in the areas unusual accommodations and Wandering through the Going on a canoe safari of Culture & History, Land & Wa- restaurants as well as original site caves of Maastricht through Noord-Holland ter and Gastronomy & Lodging. of interest and activities that can A special web site, which is be done during their trip. All gems available in six different languages, have been selected based on exclu- Stepping back in time at the mega- www.holland.com/hidden has been launched to give travelers sivity, quality and originality. The Krakow Post Special Business Supplement Theme for 2008: Amsterdam Hidden Treasures

cutters transform these rough stones into brilliant Talent on the waters diamonds. Through a variety of diamonds, you will From Aug. 16-24, classical music can be enjoyed at be shown how their quality is determined. Gassan some of the most unique locations in Amsterdam, with Diamonds is situated in a monumental building (1878) the annual Grachtenfestival (Canal Festival). by the Waterlooplein. www.grachtenfestival.nl www.amsterdamdiamond.nl

Intimate pop concerts FASHION & DESIGN Prince, the Rolling Stones and James Brown are A breeding ground for creativity, Amsterdam just some of the artists that have performed on the is without doubt one of the leading design cities in main stage of Paradiso. Paradiso is the most famous the world. Whether it is industrial design, graphic stage in The Netherlands, but there is more than meets design, fashion or architecture, the city never ceases the eye in this pop temple by the Leidseplein. Up- to produce new talents and ideas. Many of these in- and-coming bands and artists perform upstairs in the novations are found in the most unexpected of places. intimate Kleine Zaal (small hall). For a small entrance Discover cutting-edge developments in fashion and fee, you can catch the big names before they get big. design in a spacious round former chapel, feats of www.paradiso.nl modern architecture along the archipelago or—further back in time—icons of the Amsterdam School style CITY HISTORY of architecture. Amsterdam Fashion Week takes place Amsterdam has an abundance of history, and this is twice a year and the annual design month, Amsterdam reflected in its many monumental buildings. The Royal Design, is held in September. Those looking to take Palace on Dam Square, the Nieuwe Kerk and the ring a bit of “Dutch Design” back with them need only to of canals all lay before you as you stroll through the follow the insider tips… city. But a city this rich in history is bound to hold some fascinating secrets. Nestled behind the regal All about architecture facades and ornate gables are countless courtyards The architecture center ARCAM is a treasure for built during the 17th Century to house elderly widows. anyone interested in architecture or municipal develop- Along the River IJ stands a tower where sailors once ment and looking for exceptional places and buildings bid farewell to their wives. A former 15th-Century in the city. cloister and now home to some of the finest classical www.arcam.nl music is tucked away from the bustle of Amsterdam. Even the nature boasts an exceptional history, with Amsterdam School a 19th-Century zoo and one of the oldest botanical Het Schip, one of the finest examples of the archi- gardens in the world, the Hortus Botanicus. Begin your tecture movement “Amsterdam School.” Explore the hunt for hidden treasures and get swept back in time... sources of inspiration, the history of the building and the restored interior of the residence. Creatures abound www.hetschip.nl At the edge of the city center is The Netherlands’ the krakow post Ons Lieve Heer op Solder PERFORMANCE oldest zoo, Artis Royal Zoo. 19th-Century atmosphere, Fashion shops (Our Lord in the Attic) Amsterdam is a dynamic platform for talent. age-old trees, monumental buildings and sculptures Along the PC Hooftstraat you will find all the de- A wealth of cultural jewels is revealed in 2008 This hidden church “in the attic” of a 17th-Century In addition to major concert halls such as the and of course the animals and a new butterfly pavilion. signer labels such as Louis Vuitton, Gucci and Chanel, with the theme year, Amsterdam Hidden Treasures. merchant house on the Oudezijds Voorburgwal built Muziekgebouw aan ‘t IJ, Muziektheater, Paradiso, The Artis planetarium is the only one of its kind in but there are plenty of places across the city that offer Pioneered by the Amsterdam Tourism & Convention during the Reformation. Splendid works of art, ornate Heineken Music Hall and Concertgebouw, the city is Europe to use a unique digital projection system. top quality fashion as well. Board (ATCB), the theme allows visitors from The furniture and an atmosphere that will whisk you back home to several unconventional festivals and smaller www.artis.nl At Van Ravenstein (Keizersgracht 359) for Netherlands and abroad to discover the lesser-known in time. venues where the big names perform before they get example, you will find high fashion by well-known attractions of Amsterdam. www.opsolder.nl big. IJ beer Dutch and Belgian designers such as Viktor & Rolf The theme year will delve into four domains: art, These fringe performances and locations take the Everyone is familiar with the Dutch brand Heinek- and Martin Margiela. performance, history and fashion & design. With Living on the water limelight in 2008. en, but in a charming windmill and former bathhouse Avant-garde creations by young designers can be a treasure trove of cultural offerings, Amsterdam For those curious to know what a house on the From a jazz cafe in a cellar, a dance theatre in the along the River IJ something different is brewing. The found at Young Designers Unlimited (Keizersgracht distinguishes itself from other European destinations water looks like from the inside, a visit to the Woon- attic and art literally underground, to ethnic beats in Brouwerij ’t IJ (IJ Brewery), in a charming windmill 447). Fashion institute AMFI has their own hip cloth- and emerges a tenacious, intense and innovative bootmuseum (Houseboat Museum) is a must. the park and classical music on the water. Fans of and former bathhouse along the River IJ, offers a great ing shop, Individuals (Spui 23). city. Many of these intriguing treasures can be found www.woonbootmuseum.nl the big screen can treat their imaginations during the selection of brews, and is open daily from 15:00 to Every six months some thirteen fashion students listed in this feature. Journey through and discover Amsterdam Tulip Museum on the Prinsengracht Amsterdam Fantastic Film Festival or indulge in the 20:00. www.brouwerijhetij.nl present their new collection here. Amsterdam’s historic secrets and contemporary trea- reveals one of the country’s lesser-known facts: that classics at the Filmmuseum. There is something to see A visit to the shop of famous designer Alexander sures. From unique museums and feats of architecture, these so-called Dutch flowers originally come from or hear every day of the year. Clandestine courtyards van Slobbe, Orson + Bodil (Herengracht 280), is pos- to special concerts, creative festivals, modern design Turkey. There is also a film shown on Dutch flower Tucked away behind the street facades and canals sible by appointment only. Concept store SPRMRKT and the best places to shop. A treasure trove of art, bulb fields and a modern tulip nursery. Jazz in the underground chamber of Amsterdam’s inner city are countless courtyards. (Rozengracht 191-193) has both vintage clothing performance, history, and fashion & design is ready to www.amsterdamtulipmuseum.nl A special underground chamber of the Concert- Most of them were built in the 17th Century as a form as well as exclusive, new fashion. Further in the 9 be discovered. gebouw, known only to a select few and normally of Christian benevolence. Straatjes (9 Streets) district: stylish ladies fashion with Biblical garden inaccessible to the general public, will be transformed www.jordaanweb.nl a twist at 2PR (Gasthuismolensteeg 12), Dutch design ART Biblical trees, shrubbery and plants including into the Robeco Jazz Cafe in July and August. label Analik (Hartenstraat 34-36) and Lock Stock & A visit to Amsterdam is not complete without a acacia, mulberry, fig, Madonna lily and date palm can www.concertgebouw.nl Portuguese-Israeli Synagogue Barrel (Hartenstraat 26). Men’s fashion at Cowboys 2 visit to one of the world-renowned museums the city all be found in the blossoming garden of the Biblical Upon completion in 1675, the Portuguese-Israeli Catwalk (Utrechtsestraat 107). is home to. Museum. Truly a place of sanctuary in the heart of a Culture Park Synagogue was the largest synagogue in the world. As To complete your outfit with a pair of incredible Famous works by Dutch masters grace the walls of bustling city. www.bijbelsmuseum.nl The terrain of the former coal gas factory has colossal and austere as the building is, the entrance is shoes designed by Jan Jansen for men (Vijzelstraat the Van Gogh Museum and the Rijksmuseum. Amster- spread its wings to become the vibrant Westerpark a challenge to find. In one of the buildings’ annexes is 111) and ladies (Rokin 42). dam also offers a great many hidden treasures which Catholic walking tour Culture Park. the famous Ets Haim library. can be discovered off the beaten track. The Catholic history of Amsterdam is brought The culture park is home to a progressive night www.esnoga.com / www.etshaim.org A plethora of purses Explore a unique 17th-Century conventicler, a to life with a city walk along three museums around club (Flex Bar), a cinema (Het Ketelhuis), a culinary The Tassenmuseum Hendrikje (Museum of Bags biblical garden or a beautiful estate with a collection of the Dam Discover pilgrim insignias from the Middle design studio (Proef) and a variety of cultural and Sparkling treasures and Purses) is the only museum in the world that portraits of an old Amsterdam family. Ages at the Amsterdam Historical Museum, forbidden culinary establishments. Several events are held here For over 400 years, Amsterdam has been the top houses such an extensive and specialised collection. Visit a museum dedicated to tulips, a museum areas of the Nieuwe Kerk and a secret pulpit normally throughout the year including International Fashion diamond city in the world. At Gassan Diamonds on The collection comprises some 3500 items spanning which houses thousands of miniature masterpieces by concealed under the altar in the Ons’ Lieve Heer op Week, the arts fair and the children’s film festival, the Nieuwe Uilenburgerstraat you can learn everything 500. www.tassenmuseum.nl world-famous artists, or a floating museum about life Solder (Our Lord in the Attic). Cinekid. there is to know about these precious stones. Take on the water. www.amsterdamcitywalks.com www.westergasfabriek.nl a free tour of the factory and find out how diamond www.amsterdamhiddentreasures.com

MARCH 6-MARCH 12, 2008 BUSINESS The Krakow Post 9 China to buy 150 Ikea wants to helicopters from double Polish Poland’s PZL Swidnik

retail outlets agence france-presse A standard version PZL Sokol helicopter costs $4.0 mln (2.6 mln euro), while a SW-4 China will buy 150 helicopters from Poland’s costs less than $1,000,000. PZL Swidnik over 10 years under an agreement “We also intend to assemble our PZL Sokol signed between the Polish aircraft firm and Chi- machines in China,” Mazur said, but declined to na’s Jiujiang aeronautics plant, PZL Swidnik provide further details. confirmed late last week. According to Poland’s Rzeczpospolita daily, “It is a framework agreement for co-opera- PZL’s Chinese partner is preparing the ground tion over a decade. We will deliver three types for the assembly plant. Poland’s State Trea- of helicopters: PZL Sokol, PZL Kania and SW- sury controls 87 percent of the PZL Swidnik 4, according to orders that will be specified on aeronautics manufacturer, while the remaining a yearly basis,” PZL Swidnik spokesman Jan shares are held, among others, by the municipal- by early 2015 Mazur told AFP. ity of Swidnik, southeast Poland. agence france-presse Horoszczak said that most of the new outlets would be built Swedish furniture maker and retailer Ikea announced in suburban shopping com- late last week that it planned over the next seven years plexes belonging to Ikea, which to more than double its outlets in Poland from seven rents out business space to other to 15. companies. “Ikea will open eight new stores in Poland by 2015. Ikea is already building two The cost of building each one will be around 120 mln such centers: a 150-mln-euro zloty (34.1 mln euro, $51.8 mln),” Karolina Horoszc- site in the central city of Lodz zak, spokeswoman for Ikea Poland, told AFP. Ex-Com- and an 80-mln-euro one in munist Poland, which joined the EU in 2004, has en- Poznan, in western Poland. joyed several years of robust economic growth. Poland is also a major produc- A construction and renovation boom has in turn fed tion base for the Swedish giant. demand for home furnishing from the growing middle It is the second-biggest produc- class in this country of 38 mln people. er of Ikea furniture, manufac- Ikea already has seven stores in Poland, mostly on turing 16 percent of the group’s the outskirts of the country’s major cities, and plans to products. China is the biggest upgrade several of them. producer with 22 percent. Reach your clients before they set foot in Krakow. The Krakow Post is on board LOT, Brussels and Lufthansa airlines 10 The Krakow Post WARSAW MARCH 6-MARCH 12, 2008 Reach your clients before they set foot in Krakow. The Krakow Post is on board weekly flights of LOT, Brussels & Lufthansa airlines. Warsaw residents hit streets in protest

Kinga Rodkiewicz “One of the most dramatic forms of threatened by corruption: privatiza- GDFL:1.2:Janusz staff journalist corruption is this daily corruption, e.g. tion, management of public property, giving bribes to ticket-inspectors,” activities of special purpose funds and Dozens of people took to the streets Hubert Kubik, coordinator of the pro- agencies, public procurement, quotas in Warsaw on Feb. 29 to protest against test, told the daily newspaper Gazeta and licenses, tax administration, cus- bribery. The demonstration took place Wyborcza. toms, inspection bodies, the police on the National Day Without a Bribe. According to the Transparency and funding scientific research.” The word of the day was: “I don’t Organization, 5 percent of those sur- According to Polish law, acceptance give, I don’t take any bribes.” veyed in Poland said they had paid of a bribe is punishable by 6 months The demonstrators – representa- bribes in the past year. Based on this to 10 years imprisonment. Public ser- tives of students, local councils and information, the organization assumes vants who accept considerable mate- social organizations – burned enve- that each year 2 mln people in Poland rial gains or the promise of such gains lopes in front of the hospital on No- pay bribes. are subject to two to 12 years. wogrodzka Street. Passers-by were The number is probably even high- Bribery is defined as an act imply- given figs, a Polish symbol of the fight er, because some people won’t admit ing that money or a gift alters the be- against bribery. paying bribes. havior of a person in ways not consis- The National Day Without a Bribe For comparison: only 1 percent of tent with the duties of that person. was organized by the Normal Country the respondents in Switzerland and The bribe may include money, Organization, which includes: law- Sweden said they had paid bribes. goods, property, preferment, privi- yers, engineers, businessmen, econo- The Supreme Audit Chamber leges, or any promise or undertaking mists, architects, doctors and many (NIK) has uncovered substantial evi- to induce or influence the action, vote others who are against corruption, dence of corruption and identified the or influence of a person in an official demagogy and depravation. following areas as “most seriously or public capacity.

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Good rates and top quality. Contact: Andrzej Kowalski, Marketing Manager [email protected] +48 (0) 798-683-160 MARCH 6-MARCH 12, 2008 KRAKOW The Krakow Post 11 Schindler art museum repairs begin Grazyna Zawada Krakow together with Bunkier Sz- by the movie “Schindler’s List,” was Staff Journalist tuki gallery and Malopolska regional owned by the late Oskar Schindler, authorities resulted in a temporary the industrialist credited with saving Last week the mayor signed a con- exhibition of the art collection in the lives of 1,200 Jews during the tract that would give Krakow over 1.3 Sukiennice building. Entitled “At Holocaust of World War II.) bln zloty for 16 development projects Last! Something New,” the collec- A design contest for the Krakow not only in the city, but throughout tion showed the enormous potential museum was won by an Italian group the Malopolska region. One of those of Polish modern art and the need for led by Claudio Nardi. The jury ap- projects is building a contemporary a permanent museum. preciated the simple and harmonious art museum in a part of the former The debate about creating tempo- design, which doesn’t disturb the sol- Schindler factory in Zablocie area. rary art collections throughout Poland emn atmosphere of the factory. As previously reported, Krakow and opening official city and regional “Now the design process is over has a significant collection of con- museums of contemporary art started and we’re applying for an official temporary art works, some of them in 2004. Since then, Krakow’s dis- building allowance,” said Katarzyna world-famous. The art, worth more cussions, sometimes stormy, on the Zapal, the director of the Council than 1 mln zloty, is still growing, yet location of a future museum have in- Buildings Management Board, the four years after its establishment, the cluded the old Main Railway Station institution that officially takes care of collection is still “homeless.” buildings, former Schindler factory the former Schindler factory. “Our collection is an uninstitution- buildings or a completely new place. “The city has been granted 6 mln alized outcome of passion that has Finally the mayor decided that the zloty from the EU for building the developed in Poland through the last former shop floors of Schindler’s museum and has passed a bill appro- 25 years,” said Anna Maria Potocka, factory would be the most appropri- priating municipal funds for the in- the director of Bunkier Sztuki gal- ate location, provided that they were vestment, but final costs will be cal- lery, who is part of the campaign to separated from the Schindler and culated later. In September we plan open a museum in Krakow. Jewish museums located in adminis- to launch a tender for construction Last summer, an extraordinary trative buildings. services, and the opening is planned effort by the National Museum in (Schindler’s factory, made famous for 2010.” 16th Career Days at Economy Uni Grazyna Zawada Capgemini and IBM, plus Polish com- staff journalist panies such as Bank BGZ and Agora. “This year’s edition was definitely The yearly Career Days fair has be- better than last year,” said Martyna come one of the most important events Tonia, a member of the Polish branch on the business calendar of Krakow. of AISEC and one of the coordinators Organized since 1992 by AIESEC, of Career Days. the international student develop- “This year we had 73 participating ment organization, Career Days is companies, which is even more than the biggest job, student training and the previous year. We expected 10,000 placement fair in Poland. Attended students to visit this event and three by 50,000 students and 150 different hours before closing this number was companies, it takes place in the spring almost exceeded. I find such atten- in major cities and twice a year in dance a great success. Warsaw. “What’s more, this year’s Career The project is composed of two Days were supplemented by the Acad- parts: the fair and an Academy of emy of Skills. Skills. The academy is several days’ These international companies that cycle of courses and workshops about decided to present themselves at our job searches, personal development fair have proven that this event is of and solving interesting business prob- the highest quality.” lems. This year’s three-day cycle of This opinion was confirmed by such certified courses enjoyed great inter- companies as UBS, a Swiss investment est among students, especially when it bank that is opening a service center in came to time management and open- Krakow and took part in Career Days ing one’s own business. to search for workers. The fair itself is an all-day event According to UBS representatives, where students form invaluable con- Krakow has a great academic potential tacts with potential employers, learn and offers a wide range of develop- of job vacancies, leave their CVs and ment possibilities. apply for jobs. UBS had been considering both This year’s Krakow fair was attend- Prague and Krakow for a service cen- ed by 73 international companies such ter, and Krakow won due to its aca- as Shell, PricewaterhouseCoopers, demic potential. krakowpost.com

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Contact: Andrzej Kowalski, Marketing Manager +48 (0) 798-683-160 12 The Krakow Post KRAKOW MARCH 6-MARCH 12, 2008 Feminist march on Women’s Day

Majka Sokal During Communist times, Wom- as strong women. Feminists (of of feminist academic and activist Julie Land en’s Day was a socialist-political all genders) bring public attention circles in Krakow. Staff JournalistS holiday, first observed in Russia to a number of relevant issues, Candidates for the award are after the October Revolution in including abortion, lesbian rights, the authors of feminist books pub- Women’s and lesbian organi- 1917. transgender rights, equal pay and lished in 2006 or 2007, and the zations are joining in Krakow this However, the holiday has deep- unpaid domestic work. prize, to be awarded in the fall, is week to put on a series of events er roots, as the first International Every year in Krakow, the or- sponsored by NEWW. in association with Manifa, the Women’s Day was organized in ganizers of Manifa present a list In the past, Manifa itself (the yearly feminist celebration orga- the U.S. on Feb. 28, 1909, by the of postulates to the public and the march) has met with opposition nized in larger cities throughout Socialist Party of America. One of media. They highlight issues of from certain groups such as All Poland. the first occurrences of Women’s particular concern, which femi- Polish Youth, whose members The keystone event of the Day in Europe was on March 8, nists believe are neglected the rest did not hesitate to resort to hateful week, as with every year, is the 1913, just before of World War I, of the year by the government, speech and even violence to stop march known as Manifa, which when women across the continent politicians, the media, and are the march. will take place late last week, held protests for peace. generally excluded from public The organizers this year hope March 8. In both the U.S. and Western discourse. that the march will go off without The march will begin at Bar- Europe, the holiday was observed Today, March 7, in preparation incident. bakan Gate (where ul. Florianska until the late 1920s, when it fell for Saturday’s march there will be Since Monday, feminist events, meets the Planty) at 14:00 and out of popularity, to be revived by a “warm-up” party in Kawiarnia such as film screenings, concerts, will finish at Wawel Castle at the the feminist movement during the Naukowa (ul. Jakuba 29). workshops, discussions and music end of Grodzka Street. 1960s. Those interested have been videos, have been taking place in This year’s slogan for the cel- Currently IWD is observed encouraged to bring materials to various locales throughout Kra- ebration is “Manifa: ______in a large number of countries make posters and banners for the kow. Choose your own slogan. We just throughout the world and is enjoy- march. In addition to the march Organizations taking part in- want to be free.” ing increasing popularity. and concert on Saturday, a contest clude: Love Without Borders), After the parade, there will be a Traditionally on Women’s Day for a new feminist book award Women’s Space, Autonomous free concert by a local all-woman in Poland, women receive flowers, will be announced at eFKa Wom- Foundation, eFKa Women’s band, The Dolls in The Stranger stockings and chocolates from the en’s Foundation at 17:00. Foundation and Crisis Interven- Cafe (ul. Dietla 97), at 20:00. various men in their lives (stu- The announcement will be tion Society. Manifa is the Polish term for dents, coworkers, husbands, boy- made by a special guest, the well- For more information, please the feminist march, which has friends, employees, etc.). known American feminist Ann visit Manifa’s blog: http://mani- taken place every year on Inter- However, Manifa, the feminist Snitow of the Network of East fakrakow.blox.pl or to get in touch national Women’s Day (March celebration, is more about ex- West Women (NEWW). online with the organizers, write 8) since the fall of communism. pressing power and being visible The idea for the prize came out to: [email protected]. Harbinger of metro-area ticket

Grazyna Zawada tegrated tickets have been Staff Journalist how to divide the income between the train and tran- Those living in the Krz- sit operations and coming eszowice area west of Kra- up with standard discounts. kow have begun using the The train and transit sys- same ticket for travel on tems have different discount trains to and from Krakow systems. and on public transit within One of the long-term the city. hopes of area transit plan- Warsaw and some other ners is for a suburban rail- cities in Poland have been way system with convenient using an integrated transit transit transfer points. Such ticket for some time, but a system would make inte- it’s a first for Krakow. The grated transit tickets more experiment got under way attractive. March 1. Planners also hope some The first step toward an day to have an integrated integrated ticket was the ticket that covers minibus city introducing the Krakow transit. The city has had Municipal Card in 2005. It unsuccessful talks about the carries a computer chip that issue with minibus owners, allows the train system and who are entrepreneurs rath- the city transit operation, er than city employees. MPK, to divide the income The talks have dead- from commuters’ trips. locked over the issue of how Now commuters can buy to divide integrated-ticket a Krakow Municipal Card money among the train sys- with a Polish National Rail- tem, city transit system and way system sticker. It enti- minibus owners. tles the customer to use any Although the Krakow city transit line plus a sec- Municipal Card system can ond-class train fare between eventually be applied to all Krakow and Krzeszowice. train and transit options, it The integrated ticket is requires special computers about 10 percent cheaper and card readers – and they than the combination of aren’t cheap. train and transit tickets. In The center-right Civic Krakow it applies to both Platform Party, which has a tram and bus lines. majority in the City Coun- In coming months in- cil, wants to liberalize the tegrated tickets will cover area’s transportation market train tickets between the so that private carriers can Miechow, Trzebinia, Boch- pick up and drop passen- nia and Tarnow districts and gers at city bus stops. It also Krakow – and Krakow’s wants an integrated tran- transit system. sit ticket that covers both The City of Krakow government-provided and eventually wants to intro- private-company-provided duce integrated tickets in transportation services. the entire metropolitan area. Councilman Pawel Su- Mayor Jacek Majchrowski larz said long-term transit has said they will smooth contracts have prevented travel throughout the area. the liberalization plans from Irena Cebula of the moving forward. Malopolska Province Once the contracts lapse, Governor’s Office said the the project should be able to main obstacles to adopting get off the ground, he sug- metropolitan-area-wide in- gested. MARCH 6-MARCH 12, 2008 KRAKOW The Krakow Post 13 New furore on Plac Nowy...

Eva Spohn Councillors, but also by the prospect of Plac force behind the liberalization of the rules, complete at some future date. GDFL:1.2:Eve999 Staff Journalist Nowy being turned into a permanent “Okto- and telling residents to move away if they At this week’s meeting, both representa- berfest” at a time when the city says it wants don’t like the changes. They have announced tives of the city’s architecture and art de- The drama surrounding the future of Plac to discourage alcohol-based tourism. plans for a competition for a new masterplan partments stressed that any redevelopment Nowy deepened late last week when local The residents have launched an associa- for the square and allocated 200,000 zloty of Plac Nowy needs to be done holistically residents met with City and District Council- tion, “Przyjazny Kazimierz” (Friendly Ka- from the city’s budget for this. together with the surrounding streets. No one lors, representatives of the city’s architecture zimierz) to push for a more sustainable ap- The company that administers Plac Nowy doubts that Plac Nowy needs to be developed and art departments, as well as representa- proach to the development of the Plac and since 1992, Kazimierz sp. z o.o. had its con- but to the members of Przyjazny Kazimierz, tives of the company that administers the the surrounding area; one idea is to start a tract renewed for a further 30 years in 2002, it seems inappropriate for this to be left to a only trading market square in Kazimierz. market for local and regional produce, simi- apparently without a public tender. privately owned company with no previous To date, the drama has been unfolding in the lar to the farmers’ markets that have sprung The company is owned by 28 individuals, experience of urban regeneration and a duty pages of the local media, and this was the up in the UK over the last few years and a few of whom are traders, and they enjoy to maximize profits for its shareholders. first time the stakeholders met face to face. which are now proving to be valuable tourist preferential rates for their pitches, their trad- Plac Nowy was formed in the 1800s as a It all started back in September 2007 attractions. They have also set up a petition ing expenses being covered by the company, trading place for both the Jewish and Polish when local residents read in their morning for the resolution to be revoked. and their share of the profits (274,000 zloty communities. papers that the City Councillors had passed a The petition can be signed at the Archetyp in 2006). The “Okraglak” in the middle was built resolution that will allow the sale of alcohol Gallery on Plac Nowy and has almost 500 At the meeting, the president of Kazimi- in the late1800’s and was the only place in on all 18 of Krakow’s markets from 06:00 signatories so far, with support coming from erz sp. z o.o. said that none of her sharehold- the city where you could buy kosher and to midnight and to 02:00 only on Plac Nowy as far afield as the UK, France and the U.S. ers planned to apply for an alcohol license, non-kosher meat. Butchers still operate there within 2-3 years. A local market research company canvassed but that they did want to open an open-air but the outer spaces are rented to vendors of The residents of Plac Nowy say they al- the opinions of local residents and found 75 café serving coffee, tea and cakes once daily household items and fast food, including the ready suffer from a rubbish and noise prob- percent of the 353 residents contacted to be market trading had finished. It was suggested infamous Endzior. lem and that the local authorities and the ad- against the changed regulations. by the District Councillor that she sign the The fruit and vegetable stalls operate dai- ministrator of the square are unable to cope. The City Councillors seem unmoved by petition to revoke the regulation allowing ally, on Sundays there is a clothes market and They are unhappy, not only about the lack of the protests, citing their support of local cohol sales, but she demurred, preferring to for early risers, Tuesday mornings see trade consultation by their democratically elected business and attracting tourism as the driving wait until the modernization of the Plac was in birds and live animals. Stand up, brothers, for International Men’s Day! John Marshall sible. Staff Journalist As I say, women have it all and yet they still want more. Shopping, gossip, never-ending dis- Health warning: Failure to insert tongue cussions about the big “O.” Women have never firmly into cheek may result in sense of humour had a problem bonding. We should learn from loss … them, brothers. We should embrace the concept I’d like to talk specifically to the men today, of bonding in the best and only ways we know about male bonding. Did I say I’d like to? Let how. On International Men’s Day. let it be the me be honest. I have to. Brothers, I was ordered duty of every man to get together with his fel- to write this at the last minute by Ania Becows- low man to drink vast quantities of beer, play ka, my radical feminist hard-ass landlady. Not or watch marathon soccer matches or cricket only that, but Ania knew very well that I had games and, at the end of it all, possibly even just finished teaching after a five beer, four- fight drunkenly with each other before declar- hour sleep hangover and wanted nothing more ing in hushed, reverent tones that “You’re my than to crawl into bed and die. This, brothers, is best mate, you are. I love you,” throwing our a perfect example of why we need more male arms around each other and cracking open an- bonding. other beer. You know, we hear so much these days Should any woman foolishly choose to in- about women and how much of a problem life terfere with these new Men’s Days traditions, can be for them: it’s a patriarchal society; wom- she shall forfeit the right to criticize both his en can’t do this; they can’t do that. It’s time for driving and love-making skills for a period of manifesta, they say! But what about men? Do not less than one month. you think, ladies, that life’s a bowl of cherries We are under siege, brothers. The very con- for us? No, it isn’t! Just for a moment, I would cept of the male has never looked so precarious. like you all to stop and think about the plight of It is up to us now to bond together and fight the poor, much-malingned, modern male. rampant feminism with our tried and tested It’s been said before that the male is an en- tools: alcohol, competitive sports and an over- dangered species. “What exactly is a man for?” interest in the female anatomy. It is a difficult the feminists cry. “Show me something a man challenge I place before you but, together, we can do that a woman can’t do better!” Well, will win through. Good luck, brothers! perhaps there is one thing. But even the thing P.S. I was just finishing this article when I we do possess that women don’t is becoming noticed this piece of news. Apparently, strikes rapidly redundant with advances in fertiliza- and mass demonstrations are being planned by tion techniques and genetic engineering. Yes, women across the world following the shock guys, it seems even your mini-me is suffering announcement by lawyers that women don’t an identity crisis. really have the vote after all. Lawyers working But should we be downhearted? Should we on behalf of the Coalition of Incredibly Bigoted give in to the inevitable, put on our oven gloves and Reactionary Sods have found that, while and set our lives for Gas Mark 5? No! Resist, many enfranchisement laws go back nearly my brothers! Unite! Together we can fight one hundred years now, they all, coincidentally, this scourge of overreaching feminism, which came into force on the same date, April 1, April threatens our very manhoods! Fool’s Day, thereby making them all null and I hereby declare today, 6th March, to be In- void. The Krakowian emergency services are ternational Men’s Day. From this day forward, warning of major traffic delays during the dem- may this day be a beacon, a bastion, of hope onstrations, although the number of accidents is for the tired, the hungry, the oppressed males predicted to be lower than usual, ‘cos you know of the world. Let us bond together, brothers, in what bad drivers women are. the hope of a better life; let us bond: through John Marshall also writes and appears on John Marshall beer, through sport, and through a never-end- the weekly Krakowian English-language radio ing stream of sexist comments, dropping words show “Expat Radio” every Sunday morning, 10 such as “fit” into conversations wherever pos- to 12, 102.4FM or via www.radioalfa.pl.

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Mary Andrews sounds like the Western When Mr. Marshall English Teacher snob he is when he states talks about money and that he is, “largely able to that he wants lots of it I was struck by John cherry pick from Krakow and here in Poland, it is a Marshall’s “An Immi- and Poland only experi- surprise. Dude, I grant’s Thoughts on Re- ences and realities I wish With one mln Poles or turning to Krakow” which to.” Immigrants don’t get more working abroad to was so appeared in The Krakow to “cherry pick.” make more money, one talking Post two weeks ago. That luxury is reserved would hardly think of Mr. Marshall is a staff for rich people and that is Poland as a country where about writer for The Krakow Post exactly what Mr. Marshall one could make lots of and Mr. Marshall, as my is although he spends quite money (unless you are a Scotland... advanced English students a bit of time defining him- rich foreigner). so aptly stated, is a lost self as other. Most of my Polish man. His article is full of First he writes that he friends make very little, contradictions and hardly is an immigrant arguing can’t afford a very big persuasive. that expatriate doesn’t suit apartment and usu- What he has to say is him because he is not here ally have to share with hard to follow, and lacks in Krakow temporarily. a friend. I tutor a young a cohesive and coherent Then he goes on to correct girl and this family of flow. He also makes too himself and states that he four probably lives in many assumptions which a is first and foremost an about 40 square meters! bit of research on his part expatriate, then an immi- Mr. Marshall also asserts could have eliminated. grant and finally he is an he wants to be like other Did he decide to leave asylum seeker. immigrants who don’t his error “na koncu” intact Mr. Marshall, if he have to work very hard. to illustrate he doesn’t ultimately decides to stay What a notion. I’m from know much Polish? here, is simply an Eng- New York where there are Of course my students lishman permanently millions of immigrants and caught this error right living in Krakow. It’s not they work really hard. The away and thought it was as dramatic and lofty as Poles in New York usually funny that it had not been Mr. Marshall might like, gravitate to construction corrected. but it’s a whole lot more work or cleaning apart- I’m surprised that an in- accurate. Further on in ments and are at their jobs dividual who has decided his article, Mr. Marshall long hours with little pay. to make Krakow his home feels the need to misquote I don’t believe that most has still has not progressed Shakespeare which is an people would consider to the level of Podstawowy insult to both his talent immigrants as a group of (breakthough level) and and artistry. Arguably people who don’t have to admits that his knowledge one of the greatest writers work very hard – quite the of Polish is basic at best. of all times, his work has opposite. I have lived in Krakow stood the test of time in Finally I want to let for a year, and although terms of its brilliance, wit Mr. Marshall in on a little I wish my Polish were and humor. secret. He is not off the better, I am fairly cer- It’s a literary faux pas radar, and he is not a little tain it is better than Mr. on Mr. Marshall’s part to out of focus. Marshall’s. rewrite William Shake- Every time he says some- Although Mr. Marshall’s speare’s poetry to suit his thing, he becomes visible time in Krakow is longer needs. After Mr. Marshall and everyone knows he than mine (his 2 years rewords Shakespeare, he is from an English speak- versus my one), it doesn’t doesn’t even use it effec- ing country. He possesses preclude me from asking tively to make his point. a different attitude about him why it is that he feels This famous quote life, hasn’t experienced a “blissful ignorance” on comes from Macbeth and communism or oppression the bus because he can’t Ross is the messenger who and can, at any moment, understand Polish and says “Alas, poor country! return to England. He yet when he gets home, he Almost afraid to know doesn’t really get to decide “fires up some BBC com- itself.” whether he wants to be edy.” Why doesn’t he want Ross is referring to visible, invisible, out of to remain in this blissful Scotland and not England. focus, different, on or off ignorance? I think it is The comparison between the radar. He is a foreigner most likely because there present day England (as and will always be one. It is nothing blissful about Mr. Marshall substitutes) doesn’t matter if he thinks ignorance. is not even close to the of himself as a resident, I get the impression that horror and heinous acts has a tax number or starts Mr. Marshall is able to that Macbeth has orches- his own business. He is wax poetic about Krakow trated in his unrelenting simply an Englishman just as long as he can and crazed obsession to be who has decided to live in escape it on some level. He King. Krakow. MARCH 6-MARCH 12, 2008 CLASSIFIEDS The Krakow Post

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