Polish Business Survey
More motorway tales
Poznań based Autostrada Wielkopolska (AW) is claiming that it is at last ready to start work on the 150km section of the A2 between Nowy Tomyśl and Konin. The company is now preparing project documentation, the cost of which is estimated at EUR16m. Andrzej Lewandowicz, MD of AW, also considers that the company will have the necessary permits in the second half of next year.
Leasing rail
Domestic rail wagon producers are likely to shortly be getting orders for PLN60m worth of rolling stock. One thousand wagons are needed and are to be acquired by leasing.
Biscuit investor needed
Chocolate wafer manufacturer Nusscat is now desperately seeking a partner willing to put PLN7m into the business. If no-one comes forward then specialists from the sector think the company will be unable to continue production.
Small bank introduces internet
Gdynia based Bank Komunalny, which has only eleven branches, has announced that it will open an internet based service as from May 2001.
At the same time it said that it failed to achieved its target of a twenty percent increase in profits for this year.
More receipts and more losses
Netia, the largest independent telephone operator in this country has announced that it had receipts of nearly PLN314m in the first three quarters of this year although its net loss increased to PLN82m.
Banking on small business
Raiffeisen Bank Polska is targeting small and medium sized businesses. It has announced that it intends to double its client based from 3,000 such firms to 6,000 by the end of next year.
Something fishy at PZU
This month treasury minister, Andrzej Chronowski, tried to cancel the privatisation contract for the largest domestic insurer PZU. Opinion pollsters Pentor conducted a survey of what people think of government intentions. Most people in management positions admit that they do not understand what the government is up to but they think that the final aim is for the state to regain control of PZU. Fifty five percent of those asked think that Andrzej Chronowski wants to keep the best jobs at PZU for his friends and proteges. The person closest to him in this affair is minister Grzegorz Wieczerzak who lost his earlier job at PZUŐs life company. Another person likely to benefit from this skull-duggery is Władysław Jamroży who was once the managing director of PZU and is now a close associate of Andrzej Chronowski. To put this in a larger picture, as many as twenty percent of those polled say that the whole government and AWS party is involved in what they see as ChronowskiŐs cronyism.
Poor delivery on sales
In the first ten months of this year, buyers were found for 27,000 delivery vehicles, this represents a 22 percent drop on sales as compared to the same period last year. Analysts think that the percentage drop could get even worse before the year is out.
TFL out of leasing
Wrocław based Towarzystwo Finansowo-Leasingowe has announced that it will sign no more leasing contracts and hopes to sell its entire client base. It is rumoured that the company has losses of around PLN80m-PLN90m and those banks which have backed the TFL might find themselves also losing this much.