Polish Business Survey
Super Krak to open aquapark soon
In two weeks time Kraków will have an aquapark. According to developers Super Krak this will be the largest park of its type in Central Europe. Managing Director Janusz Bielecki claims that the investment cost PLN100m to build. The aquapark has been located next to OBI and Geant hypermarkets.
It is somewhat uncertain if the Kraków project will be successful and opinions vary as to the soundness of an investment in an aquapark. Paulina Górska of British-American estate agents Jones Lang LaSalle considers that an aquapark is a long term investment which has not yet gained any popularity in Poland. Nonetheless she considers it to be a good idea to locate it next to a shopping centre.
Piotr Kaszyński, retail expert at estate agents Healey and Baker does not agree with this opinion and considers that the location of this project certainly gives it no guarantee of success whatsoever.
Janusz Bielecki claims that Super Krak will build more aquaparks in Warsaw, Poznań, Łódż and Wrocław. This will cost around PLN300m - PLN400m. This cash will come from their own funds and credits. Bielecki also claims that he had considered taking his company public in order to obtain funds but a quicker way of raising cash is to sell buildings around the site.
From coal mine to sauna
Preparatory work for the construction of a shopping and cultural centre have started in Katowice. The centre is to be built on land which was once a coal mine. It will include 90,000sqm of space on 28 hectares. The scheme will include a 24,000sqm hypermarket, a two floor shopping mall and a three floor cultural and entertainment centre to include a bowling alley, fitness centre, sauna and a twenty screen multiplex. There will also be 5,000 parking spaces. The investment should be completed by 2002 and will employ between 2,500 -3,000 people.
Aid for fishing ports planned
It is possible that sometime this year the government will start a PLN30m three year programme to aid fishing ports. Later an electronic auction system may also be introduced.
Pepsi-Cola consolidates Polish factories
In a few days time a company belonging to the American PepsiCo will start trading called Pepsi-Cola General Bottlers Poland. PGBP will handle the Polish production of pepsi-cola. PepsiCo will be investing between USD10m - USD20m in increasing production capacities although no new factories are planned. The company shall also shortly be taking the production of Lipton Ice Tea from Unilever.
Brewery investing PLN70m
Management from the Kasztelan brewery in Sierpc near Płock is to invest PLN70m in modernisation. By 2003 the brewery hopes to produce 100m litres of beer annually for the Polish market.
Coal cost worries investors
The NRG consortium, Marubeni and GE Capital are hesitating before signing on the dotted line over the purchase of the Rybnik power station. The investors are worried about the high cost of coal. The solution could be the signing of contracts for several years or the purchase of mines.
Coal prices to stabilise
In March 2000 the average price of coal was PLN127.62 per ton. In March 1999 it was PLN113.99 zł. In April of this year the cost fell to PLN125.74 although in the opinion of industry analysts the cost should return to its March position by September and then to the end of the year it should not go down again.
Fraud hurting pension funds
The pension funds are having increasing problems with bent financial advisors who are falsifying the signatures of new clients and then claiming commission. These commissions may then be paid before the fraud comes to light. Some of the funds have suffered losses now running into hundreds of thousands of złoty because of them.
Holderbank enters Poland
According to as yet unconfirmed reports the Gdańsk provincial office has decided to sell the Wejherowo cement works situated to the north of the Baltic port of Gdynia to the Swiss Holderbank concern. The Swiss are also competing with the German Dyckerhoff to gain control of the Saturn cement works and it would appear that they also want a stake in the Wysoka facility. There are currently five major international cement concerns in Poland: Lafarge, Heidelberger, CRH, Dyckerhoff and Readymix. The sixth will now be Holderbank, the largest cement producer in the world.