News / Products from Poland and other Slavic countries that would you suggest to global market ? [35]


Exactly. This is what Poland should be encouraging - there's a lot of people here with a lot of talent, and they would be wasted/unwilling to work in large industrial facilities.

Problem is, such companies can only flourish if they're supported financially (through export credits, for example) while being left to get on with it. PiS could never entertain such a business model, because there wouldn't be highly paid jobs for their supporters there.

Life / If UK votes to leave the EU - what repercussions for British people living in Poland? [32]


There's just no realistic alternative plan. Cameron knows that the EU will make sure that EU capital flows through Frankfurt and not London, which would be a hell of a shock to the UK economy - and the price of keeping the City as the financial centre would be EEA membership, which puts the UK in a less favourable position than before.


Not only those two, but others as well. It's clear that any privileges will have to be paid for, either in cash or in beneficial treaties.

News / Products from Poland and other Slavic countries that would you suggest to global market ? [35]


... why? We need successful banks so that they have money to lend to others. That's how modern economies work - when the banks stop lending, everyone is in trouble. Poland has enough trouble with the SKOKi being in a financial mess - I can't imagine the horror if more banks were in financial trouble.


That's because VW have decades of cutting edge experience, whereas Poland has next to nothing in that field. Encouraging the development of a Polish supercar makes perfect sense, however - you don't need a perfected assembly operation, but you need a lot of highly talented employees.


That's because they are. Where do you think the money is coming from to fund such operations? You're trying to use Gierek-era economics here, which caused Poland to be in the deep brown stuff for what, 2 decades? It makes far more sense for Poland to produce luxury goods that are actually easier to produce, because you don't need to fight against long established international companies with very deep pockets.

Trying to establish big heavy Polish industries is what was tried in the 1970's and it failed miserably. We don't need to go there again.

Life / If UK votes to leave the EU - what repercussions for British people living in Poland? [32]


The only clueless one is you if you think the UK is going to be able to suddenly go it alone. The world has changed since the 1970's, and anyone that knows anything about the EU knows that they are incredibly tough to negotiate with, hence why Switzerland was forced into Schengen and the Dublin Convention.


Indeed, and British membership is assured. With it comes membership fees, which means paying for Polish structural funds.

If you think the UK can survive outside of the EU and EEA and can negotiate individually with the EU, you're in dreamland. The EU would love nothing more than to destroy the City of London and transfer all that lovely financial business to Frankfurt after Brexit.

News / Products from Poland and other Slavic countries that would you suggest to global market ? [35]


Don't try and change the topic - you claimed 1989-1995, not 1989-2015.


Given that Pekao has expanded massively since 1999 (it used to have the monopoly on foreign transactions, which was then taken away in the 90's and it was a shell of its former self, combined with some small retail operations) - basic economics should tell you that it's obvious why it's worth much more now. Unicredit invested a considerable amount into the bank, and as a foreign-owned bank, it was often the first choice for foreign commercial clients as it knew what it was doing. Don't try and make out as if it was an incredibly wealthy bank that was privatised for peanuts - it's simply not true.

I've found the figures for 1999. Pekao SA turned over about 5.3 billion złoty that year and made a profit of around 136 million. So - if your figure of 5-6 billion złoty is right, then the government made a decent deal there. Furthermore, shares were on sale then for 49zł. These days, they're worth about 142zł. It's not exactly a huge increase compared to the rise in value of other assets.

I'm not familiar with BPH so I won't comment there.


Anyone that's familiar with Polish banking history knows that PKO BP was in a terrible mess in the 1990's. If it wasn't for the fact that it was too big to fall, it would've fallen - it's only in the last 10 years that it really started to become the dominant retail bank. One huge problem that PKO BP had (and possibly still has, I'm not sure) is that they had a ridiculous amount of bad loans.


As they should have been. It was vital to create some genuine competition in the banking market and allow privatised banks to consolidate with other privately owned banks. We're seeing the end game now, but for a long time, Poland had far, far too many banks. Even today, the problems caused by small banks (such as with the blatantly corrupt SKOKi) can really hurt the government financially.


Your assessment is based on those banks hypothetically performing as well as they have under state ownership. It's nonsense.


As far as I know, there weren't many successful banks in Poland in the 1990's. WBK and Bank Sląśki come to mind, but most of them were just small regional banks.

Life / If UK votes to leave the EU - what repercussions for British people living in Poland? [32]


What might EAA membership be?

Brexit is largely a false flag anyway. The UK will need to continue in a close relationship with the rest of the EU, and with it comes financial and other responsibilities. Ask the Swiss or Norwegians how much independence they have ;)

News / PiS to impose blanket retail tax in Poland [291]


Nope, but the latest PiS nonsense is that they'll have an 'amended' plan in place by the end of the month. The European Commission is already making it crystal clear that any tax that appears to target foreign retailers will be unlawful, and the whole thing is quite likely to be dropped.

Hello to higher VAT as a consequence.

ft.com/fastft/2016/02/10/polands-retail-tax-may-wipe-out-tescos-polish-earnings-moodys/


As mentioned earlier, margins are tiny in retail. If Tesco and Carrefour can no longer make a profit in Poland, they'll leave - and many jobs will be lost. Polish retailers won't replace them, because they simply don't have the supply chains or finance needed.

Life / If UK votes to leave the EU - what repercussions for British people living in Poland? [32]


It all depends how post-exit UK would behave. Any attempt to impose serious restrictions would be met equally harshly - which is why it doesn't suit anyone for them to be in place. At the end of the day, the UK needs close links with the EU and vice versa, hence why Brexit is rather more likely to be combined with EFTA membership and with it EEA membership. Anyone dreaming of the UK having a similar position to Australia or the USA in relation to the EU is in dreamland, definitely.

Don't forget the little carrot held by the EU - should the UK leave, there's a very high chance that a tax on non-EU financial transactions will be introduced. That'll destroy the City of London overnight.


The oil price is irrelevant - the vast majority are pro-EU and would be rightfully furious if England took the UK out of the EU against their wishes. The SNP are headed for another huge win in the election this year, after all.


Of course, it's assuming that Cameron will actually call a referendum.

Life / If UK votes to leave the EU - what repercussions for British people living in Poland? [32]


There's no way that the UK is going to lose a large amount of workers like that easily. There will be controls on claiming benefits and so on (most probably : they will simply demand that you have at least permanent residency in order to use the benefits system) - but there won't be any restrictions. The freedom of movement (both ways) is so well entrenched now that even Brexit wouldn't change much.


The Spanish wouldn't be particularly bothered, as if the Brits left, others would simply replace them.

The biggest problem with Brexit is that Scotland is likely to hold a snap referendum on leaving the UK and staying in the EU - and all the polls suggest that Scotland would vote Yes for independence in that case.

News / Products from Poland and other Slavic countries that would you suggest to global market ? [35]


That's exactly the problem. No-one is going to invest in creating solid Polish brands when the government is openly hostile to private business. Why bother, when you can take your capital and create a business somewhere far more friendly? It simply doesn't make sense for any investor, Polish or otherwise.

The problem Morawiecki is going to have is that PiS focus on large, heavy industries. They're not going to provide meaningful support for medium sized companies that want to buy a warehouse and get on with production.


I'm waiting too. It can't be so difficult, surely.

News / Demonstrations in Poland in defence of democracy. [2554]


And on the 13th December, and on the 11th November, and on the 6th January, and many many days.

News / Demonstrations in Poland in defence of democracy. [2554]


What tarnished image? The last polls showed that KOD are more popular than the government.

Off-Topic / I need advice on baby clothes problem? [5]


Terribly rude. You were given the stuff to use and to hand on to the next person that might need it, not to sell it because you've mismanaged your finances. If you didn't need it, you should simply return it with a thank you message.

UK, Ireland / Do Polish People Litter their own country (just like they do in the UK)? [84]

As if the average farmer thinks about anything other than money.

News / Products from Poland and other Slavic countries that would you suggest to global market ? [35]


Plenty of them.

Polish clothing in particular is very fashionable - there are plenty of successful boutique designers that sell few and sell expensive, and there are some youth labels that are worn by pop culture figures. Don't make the mistake of assuming that just because they aren't cheap and cheerful like H&M and Zara, they aren't popular.

Poland is actually developing quite the reputation internationally for high quality, expensive products. I can't think of any downmarket Polish product except Reserved and fellow brands - it's all high end stuff. Vistula, Wolczanka - all getting a decent reputation internationally for doing decent clothes.

Likewise with yachts - Poland is doing ridiculously well when it comes to producing them.

Perhaps these products aren't on everyone's lips, but that's no bad thing. I'd rather Poland was known for high quality products than cheap mass produced rubbish.

News / PiS to impose blanket retail tax in Poland [291]

Really, Polonius, you could stop being such a lying SOB. PiS have appointed endless unqualified puppets to many top public sector jobs, with their only real qualifications being that they supported PiS when they were in opposition. The constant flip-flopping over the retail tax shows that they have no real talent in their ranks, only people that suck up to Kaczyński.

News / PiS to impose blanket retail tax in Poland [291]


You mean the Polish nation is serving PiS by providing funds for their nepotism, right?

News / PiS to impose blanket retail tax in Poland [291]

Why would they care about poor people suffering? They're too busy enacting TKM and enjoying ridiculously high salaries at the expense of the State. All those kids that did a lot of donkey work for PiS are now enjoying highly paid state jobs doing precisely nothing.


I think we can expect a rise to 25% or even 26% under the guise of "emergency budget provisions" due to "PO incompetence" or some such nonsense.

News / Products from Poland and other Slavic countries that would you suggest to global market ? [35]


Always easy to spot a PiS supporter, because they blindly spout such things as facts without actually providing any evidence.

Which high-quality manufacturing lines? Most Polish businesses were hopeless once the market opened up to Western competition - the products were simply not desirable for CEE buyers (Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary) and other markets simply didn't have the money to buy (Romania, Bulgaria, ex-Yugoslavia, ex-USSR) - and the technology was way behind Western technology at that point. The Western companies came in and invested heavily in production facilities, hence why some ex-state owned facilities are now successful while others (that didn't have Western cash injections) have failed miserably.

A simple knowledge of COMECON economics will tell you that when the whole thing collapsed, most Polish industry collapsed too because they simply had no customers anymore. These businesses were only viable because they had guaranteed customers - which was all backed with the petroruble.

Which banks were allegedly sold for 2-3% of market value? For kicks, let's talk about the only two banks privatised between 1989-1995, shall we?

Wielkopolski Bank Kredytowy - 30% sold to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, 27% sold at an IPO, 20% to employees and the State kept the remaining

Bank Sląśki - 26% sold to ING, 31% sold to the public through an IPO, 10% to employees and the State kept the remaining shares.

No other banks were privatised between 1989-1995 as you claim. In fact, not even half the shares were sold to foreign owners during that time.

News / PiS to impose blanket retail tax in Poland [291]


Perhaps you should tell us, given that you spent the entire 8 years of the PO government doing exactly that.

Anyway, the tax is dead. We can expect a rise in VAT.

Life / If UK votes to leave the EU - what repercussions for British people living in Poland? [32]


None, I think. We'll almost certainly see a deal done with the EU to keep full freedom of movement, with perhaps only a bureaucratic requirement similar to what existed between 2004-2011. It's just unthinkable that all the Brits in Spain would return home, for instance - the UK doesn't want all those criminals returning as well ;)


The only thing I can see happening is that anyone caught committing a crime from Poland (or from France, whatever) will be immediately deported if it results in jail time.


You know, it could well be used as an excuse to renegotiate Poland's funding full stop.

News / Products from Poland and other Slavic countries that would you suggest to global market ? [35]


For an attorney, you're remarkably ignorant as to history. 99% of assets weren't sold, and many of the existing production facilities date from after 1989.

Please focus on the topic only and restrain from making remarks toward another member of this forum


Wow. I mean, just wow.

Do you know the kind of investment needed to produce a viable, mass produced car? What about aeroplane engines? These things are highly specialised and produced by a handful of companies - Poland doesn't have the money to invest in the huge amount of R&D needed to produce a viable product in such fields.

Real Estate / Real Estate current condition in Sopot area (checking the market) [21]


Actually, a lot of them are oddly drawn to the Ostsee. It's quite a common destination among older Germans that don't want to travel far - a lot of the resorts in zachodni-pomorskie are quite well set up to deal with German tourists for instance.

News / PiS to impose blanket retail tax in Poland [291]


The claim is that delivery companies will be forced to either charge 40zł to the receiver (plus their fees) or the seller will have to prove that the shipment is registered with the tax office in Poland.

However, it looks like the whole thing is falling apart. I found an article on wPolityce (a PiS mouthpiece) which claims that the tax-free amount is about to be raised considerably, the minimum tax rate will be raised considerably and the progressive nature of the tax will be dropped in favour of a single high rate above x złoty. The extra tax for opening at the weekend will also apparently be dropped.

I don't see the tax happening. The European Commisison already told Hungary that it wasn't on to charge a tax that was going to punish larger retailers only, so it's likely that the tax will simply not happen. Typical PiS incompetence.

wpolityce.pl/polityka/281415-rzad-beaty-szydlo-slucha-przedsiebiorcow


Notice how Polonius used exactly the same line about Szydło's government listening - which means that TVP1 and wPolityce repeated the Party line and nothing more. TVP, independent? Hahaha ;)

News / PiS to impose blanket retail tax in Poland [291]


Still waiting for your link to confirm that PiS are rethinking the retail tax after the last demonstration.

As for what you say - you've forgotten one cruical aspect : Polish companies also tend to relocate abroad when they start becoming successful on a European level. LPP (owned of Reserved and many other Polish brands) did just that recently.

News / PiS to impose blanket retail tax in Poland [291]


Not a word about it online, so it looks like you've just made it up.


Hush, child. The Polish consumer and supplier will be paying the tax, not the supermarkets.

News / PiS to impose blanket retail tax in Poland [291]

As was only to be predicted...

thenews.pl/1/12/Artykul/240306,Thousands-of-shopkeepers-protest-retail-tax-in-Warsaw


As we've been saying all along, this tax will destroy Polish retailers and allow the foreign-owned supermarkets to dominate the Polish retail landscape.

Life / Dentists in Poznan - Does anyone have an experience with them? [3]

There's only one dentist I would trust - dentopolis-poznan.pl/

They did a great, great job with an emergency dental operation on me a while ago - and I've used them ever since. The nice thing is that the prices are on the website, so there's no surprises.

Steer clear of anyone with the name "exclusive" or "luxury" and so on - it's likely that you'll pay a fortune for a nice waiting room and the treatment will be rubbish.

News / PiS to impose blanket retail tax in Poland [291]


Which still wouldn't help matters, because Biedronka would simply force the suppliers to take less money and the money would be used to lure customers in the shop through promotions and giveaways.

Price controls work, but only if you want your country to resemble modern day Venezuela.

Study / When does the new Polish fluency exams arrive? [3]

The law changed last summer, and from what I know, they're still working on the exact details. The idea is that language schools, universities, etc will be able to conduct the exams on their own schedules - so probably with the change of government, everything is in a state of flux and uncertainty.