Life / Poland A, Poland B [75]

That's fine if you are sitting on top of oil like Pemex or Aramco but in Poland there is only one such company - KGHM, who have cut their dividends drastically but increase the salaries to the PiS functionaries on the board.

In other businesses then the Polish consumer does pay if PiS uses these as Bankomats to fund their giveaways - a prime example is the banking tax. It has cut bank profits in half but the banks are now recouping it by passing a lot of extra charges on to customers and especially to small businesses - for example my own bank charges for a modest spare time consulting business are over 500 zloty this month. PZU are increasing premia and the power and oil companies also increasing their charges.

I am not totally against a portion of strategic companies being state owned so long as they don't interfere too much in the mgmt. or the free market.

News / Mass-media in Poland: which are left wing, right wing or centrist? [44]

I think a lot of Poles both urban and rural have a belief in personal responsibility, freedom to make money, low taxes, freedom to do what you want that is closer to Britain and the US than it is to say Germany or France. That is basically the camp I am in.

But Its interesting to see the huge impact of the 500+ and it's many unforeseen knock on effects (like a huge increase in rural Poles taking their first foreign holidays). People have not really had any handouts for 30 years and now they have one they like it !

Poles rarely think or talk about about gay marriage, transgender issues etc and immigration is not a day to day issue here. The biggest political questions remain around health, education, childcare, infrastructure and corruption. It is sad that so much of the debate about identity issues is merely an excuse to stir up hatred and deflect from real problems

News / Polish Independence Day March in Warsaw. Is it going to be the biggest march yet? [1530]

I dont want to silence discussion - i just find your obsession with it more and more disturbing. Its in almost every post and i was also surprised about you linking to the beheading video.

I dont know what your strike was about but i wonder what kind of websites you were visiting in the meantime

News / Polish Independence Day March in Warsaw. Is it going to be the biggest march yet? [1530]

Yes I understand the issue - I read the reports about it. But this thread is about the Independence Day March - if anyone could be bothered to go back through it I reckon Dirk has mentioned rapes 200 times.

News / Polish Independence Day March in Warsaw. Is it going to be the biggest march yet? [1530]

Your constant talking about rape was boring but now it is getting pretty creepy.

Life / Poland A, Poland B [75]

It is something new - before PiS the Ceo of Lotos had been in post for a long time and on the board for 15 years.

The current guy is a 37 year old middle manager from Deutsche Bank. Many of the people coming in are way too inexperienced.

Life / Poland A, Poland B [75]

Lotos has been through 4 CEOs since PiS took over. Similar story at PGNiG.

Life / Looking for a hilly Polish town with commie flats [6]

Could be Jelenia Gora or Walbrzych in SW Poland - both have those kind of deskii strung out along a valley edge. There are also a few towns between Katowice end the Czech border that look like that - Rybnik, Jastrzebie, Skoczkow etc

Law / Inheritance and Gift tax for non-resident Polish Citizens - laws in Poland? [10]

Inheritance tax law generally follows citizenship rather than residence but basically if you are rich all govts who have taken your money at some point will try one last heave to get your hard earned assets. In the UK there are famous cases about people who got screwed for death taxes because they had kept up their subscriptions for the golf club or some local operatic society.

The Polish law refers to citizenship too - if you are talking about serious amounts then rather refer to a lawyer and especially check the double tax treaty with Canada. You won't be the only person in this boat as the Polish community in Canada is quite wealthy and the generation of emigrants form the 60s and 70s are dying.

Incidentally the whole topic is under debate because of the exit tax the Polish govt wants to introduce on people who change their tax residence - is it constitutional that the people who pay the exit tax then lose out in Polish inheritance tax (on assets that have already been taxed once) ?

Life / Poland A, Poland B [75]

Because I am no special fan of PO or PSL - there was corruption under their rule and they spent much of their time in protecting vested interests. What else do you want me to say ? Life is not a football game where you are obliged to support one side.

The KNF affair has everything to do with PiS - they were willing to change legislation just to punish one guy. The exposure did not come from them. Their reaction was to use public media to rake up scandals and non scandals from 10 years ago - as if to say "yes we are corrupt but this is the normal way of things".

Life / Poland A, Poland B [75]

No - it is an example of a govt willing to change a law to punish one company and offering bribes to stop that happening. That govt and the KNF are both run by PiS appointees.

What happened before is not the issue - of course there was corruption in previous governments but this one came to power saying they would clean up institutions. The KNF is one of the key independent checks on politics and putting corrupt and incompetent idiots in charge is extremely risky for the economy - as evident also in the Sowa tapes and the Amber gold case.

Life / Poland A, Poland B [75]

Why is the KNF affair not PiS corruption ? PiS appointees conspiring with PiS govt to pursue a change of law in the PiS run parliament.

So that is one significant and dangerous example.

state run companies are now loaded with unqualified PIS appointees on fat salaries bringing no expertise and robbing shareholders (most sensible people exited these 2 or 3 years ago).

Life / Poland A, Poland B [75]

I am fine with them voting Trump - they live in the states and they can vote for who they want. I don't really have an issue with voting for PiS. What I do hate is them trying to lobby the US govt about things they don't understand like the Constitutional Court.

Life / Expat Communities in Far-Western Poland [46]

Can we remember that they have been living there for several generations and have as much right to be there as anybody from Germany does

Life / Poland A, Poland B [75]

Could be - but its also pretty similar to a map of average incomes, who pays tax and levels of education ;)

Life / Expat Communities in Far-Western Poland [46]

Why not take a drive along the border and scope it out for yourself ? Assuming you are not a troll you sound very naive. If nothing else taking a drive you will see some nice scenery and drink some pretty good beer in the evenings.

The Czech border is far from conservative - until recently it was a mini Sodom and Gomorrah with hookers, drugs and cheap alcohol for German tourists. That has changed as Czech gets richer but it's not famous for a traditional way of life - the homes of departing Germans in 1945 were partly filled up with Slovaks and Roma and it's been a specific place ever since.

The Polish border is quite conservative but there are only a few towns that are within an easy commute of Germany - there are only a handful of bridges and rail and bus connections are very slow. Emigration from the Lubuskie region and the border parts of Dolny Slask has been quite high - both to other EU countries and to richer Polish towns.

Life / Expat Communities in Far-Western Poland [46]

Maybe try Pennsylvania - you can even a get a traditional low emission horse and cart.

Life / Expat Communities in Far-Western Poland [46]

So you want to live a more traditional society but keep the benefits of the German labor market amd maintain access to the German social security ? Why not dive in with both feet and use the Polish system ?

In reality you will find few realistic options within an hours commute of the border - Szczecin maybe or Karlovy Vary in Czech which has quite a number of German retirees. But we are talking about maybe a few hundred people, not thousands.

Travel / Can't eat onion and going to Poland, tips on food needed [11]

Wow ! Bummer allergy.

It will rule out a few Polish dishes but barszcz should be safe (beetroot soup) assuming it's not made with meat stock.

After that I am struggling - you might be living off fruit, donuts and ice cream.

Pierogi is possible but you need to tell them to hold the onion garnish.

Work / Expected Salary Level with Intel in Poland (Gdansk) [9]

Sounds very high - in most Polish businesses you would be very senior to get that. But no idea about software so wait for someone who does know.

Life / Babysitting in Poland - unwritten rules [7]

I am guessing it's a Christmas party - when Poles get dressed up then they often make it a big night out. Since they trust you I would not make a big deal of it, just make sure they return the favor to you when you have an event on. Still it's a bit rude that they didn't sms you to check you were ok with them coming back later.

News / Poland blocks any action on climate change [569]

What a loss to the medical profession

Work / Salary & cost of living in Warsaw, Poland [29]

You could survive on 100 zloty a day. Live comfortably on 150

News / Poland blocks any action on climate change [569]

Then they can use their horse and cart !

News / Poland blocks any action on climate change [569]

Of course its proportionally more - just like taxes on booze, cigarettes and chocolate. Thats because some prople have less money. But like all of those it is a tax based on personal choices - not the same as a compulsory tax on income.

News / Poland blocks any action on climate change [569]

How is fuel tax regressive? It hits rich people harder - they have more cars, bigger engines, live further from town and are less likely to use the metro or bus

News / Poland blocks any action on climate change [569]

Agree with that Maf but in Polish case its not just about climate change but also about redcing smog - and the smog problem is definitely not a hoax - i can see it now out of my hotel window

Study / Graduate school in mathematics as foreign student in Poland [2]

I don't think they would be out of your league - rather the opposite problem, the students would be of a high level but the teaching and facilities far behind what you are used to (but also far cheaper)

Not sure it would be a logical step - Why not just look for a job in Poland straight away ? If you speak Polish and have citizenship there is probably work For someone with your level of education.

Travel / Anybody VERY familiar with bars in Warsaw? [22]

If you want a pure expat bar then Legends on Emilii Plater - more British than American though

There are two bars in Hala Koszyki, Cma and the one in the middle where I would say a third of the customers are foreign and you can normally get chatting to someone.

At the corner of Wilcza and Hoza there are 5-6 bars where plenty of people speak English - Beirut, Pacific, Kraken, some gin bar which name I forgot etc.

I don't really drink in Nowy Swiat but if I do then it's in Max - just be careful of talking to women in there, they are normally part of a scam from the nearby clip joints.

News / EU confirms it will take action against Poland over court reforms [554]

Of course - i am aware of it. Prople who organised killings during martial law should be tried.

However internment of activists was not the same as nazi death camps and little will be gained by raking over the issues.