Polish Business Survey
Cefic to build five retail schemes
The French Cefic has announced that it will invest over PLN410m in the construction of the Arkadia shopping centre in Warsaw. Arkadia will be the most expensive shopping centre so far built in Poland. A further EUR25m - EUR30m will be spent on the Wilenska centre, mainly from credits raised abroad. Carrefour will be the anchor tenant of all the proposed sites.
The Arkadia centre will be next to the Gdańsk station in the northern part of the capital and will have 110,000sqm of space. Other than Carrefour and a shopping gallery, there will be a DIY centre, 16 screen Ster Century cinema and an entertainment centre. The centre should open around the beginning of 2003.
One month ago Cefic Polska started the construction of the Wileńska centre on land let by the railway authority. This centre should open in the second half of 2001 with 90 shops. The Turzyn centre in Szczecin is also underway with opening set for the first half of 2001. Similar centres will open in Gliwice and Bydgoszcz. The main tenants of this centres will be Euro RTV-AGD, Cubus, Sephora and Giacomelli Sport.
Volvo renovates bus factory
Volvo has invested around USD50m in renovating a bus factory in Wrocław which will produce over 1,100 vehicles per year from 2001. The plant will employ more than 2,000 people. Buses from Wrocław are exported to Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy and Belarus.
Management buys energy shares
Members of the board of Wroclaw s Kogeneracja power station are hoping to buy a large slice of their company. It is rumoured that PLN5m may be in play here.
According to Piotr Sztura of the power station each manager has shown an interest in obtaining at least PLN100,000 worth of shares.
On19 May shares of the power plant will be offered to investors on the Warsaw stock market. Profit over the next four years is forecast between PLN12.2m and PLN43.8m although in the same time PLN373 will be needed for investment.
Citigroup to swallow Handlobank
Citigroup is planning to open three banking institutions from Bank Handlowy including the complete incorporation of retail bank Handlobank and its 100,000 clients. Today the banking watchdog must decide on the future of Bank Handlowy and if the Americans can take 66 percent of the shares in the Polish company.
Deficit getting alarming
Recently released deficit figures for March have worried economic analysts. It is already obvious that the deficit will be at least as large as last year s and even optimists think it will be around seven or eight percent of GDP. The deficit for March on the current account was between USD1.1bn and USD1.3bn. The export deficit in March increased from USD954m in February to USD1.4 bn. At the same time last year the deficit stood at USD833m. The high cost of the dollar has been blamed for this.
Windows in Katowice zone
PWC window manufacturers Tras Tychy will open a new factory in the Katowice Special Economic Zone. The plant cost PLN4m and will produce 100,000 windows per year.
Swiss want another cement works
The provincial government office in Gdańsk has chosen an investor for the privatisation of the Wejherowo cement works. Whereas the name is not officially known, rumour has it that it is the Swiss Holderbank. This company is currently fighting with the German Dyckerhoff for control of the Saturn cement works. If the Swiss are successfull in both ventures they will be a new strong player on the Polish market.