Rostowski Preparing Miracle

Miracle Worker

“Those same politicians and economists who were heralding a complete economic breakdown last year are now spreading panic all over again,” says Jacek Rostowski, Minister of Finance, in his letter to Gazeta Wyborcza. In 2010 Poland’s debt will reach PLN 740 billion or approximately PLN 20,000 per person. Rostowski admits that the debt is nearly at 55% GNP and calls it a “potentially high-risk figure”. However, it is not a reason to “spread catastrophic visions,” he adds. This is the minister’s reply to a letter written by a group of 10 economists who, worried by the dramatic rate of increase of the national debt, are calling on the government to implement appropriate reforms.

Leszek Balcerowicz also agrees that reforms need to be introduced as soon as possible. Balcerowicz insists that the government ought to limit certain retirement benefits, speed up the privatization process and ensure that social needs will be adressed in a more sensible manner. Rostowski has promised that at the beginning of 2010 the government will adopt a new economic agenda which will: focus on the review; take away some retirement-related privileges; implement a privatization programme (the government intends to gain approximately PLN 25 billion from the sale of public property) as well as introduce an “expense rule” or a limit on the yearly increase of budget expenses. According to Rostowski, this plan will make it easier for Poland to be considered one of the top five least-indebted European countries after the end of the world economic crisis unless the parliamentary opposition and President Kaczyński “get in the way”. Should that be the case, the implementation of the economic reforms will have to be postponed until a “responsible person” is elected president, adds Rostowski.
Gazeta Wyborcza

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Baby Boom Coming

Future in Their Hands

The Warsaw demographic explosion is imminent. In 2009 the number of births in the capital was twice as high as at the beginning of the decade. We are closing in on the records of the 1980s. In 2000 about 11,700 babies were born in Warsaw. Based on data provided by the Central Statistical Office (GUS), the number of births in 2009 is expected to be around 20,000. “The current situation is perfect for construction companies as the demand for housing is steadily rising. The number of births per 1,000 inhabitants is nearly as high as it was in the record year of 1985 – the peak of the demographic boom,” says a Reas analyst. “But the current peak is yet to be reached, and that will take place around 2011-12″.

The increasing birth rate of today is related to the baby boom that occurred in the 1970s and ’80s – those born then have families of their own now. In Warsaw the number of marriages is following a similar upward trend – from 8,100 in 2000 to about 10,000 this year. The baby boom will soon have one adverse effect – the overcrowding of nursery schools, especially in those developing districts where many young couples are already residing or are planning to move to. Before the need for a higher number of nursery school arises though, more day-care centres will be needed also. “For many families the high cost of providing individual care for their child is a huge financial obstacle, often one they cannot overcome. Day-care centres located near the workplace and financed partly by the employer is a solution that is not only very convenient for parents but also one that takes much pressure off Warsaw’s authorites,” says Magdalena Janczewska, a social issues expert.
Gazeta Wyborcza

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Merry Chrimbo from Newzar

Merry Christmas

Holiday time! The Newzar team would like to wish all our wonderful readers a particularly Merry Christmas and festive holiday period. May all your Yuletide dreams come true, may you all be healthy, hearty and happy. Have yourselves a Merry Little Christmas.

Love and Peace,

The Newzar Team

Easter Eggs at Roundabout

Eggs on the Landscape

As many as five skyscrapers will be built in the vicinity of Daszyński roundabout. They could be egg-shaped so that they do not block out the sunlight. The towers will be constructed on a 2-hectare plot of land enclosed by Prosta, Towarowa and Sienna streets. The land is owned by two companies, Pro Urba from Spain and Ghelamco from Belgium. All the buildings are being designed by Andrzej M. Chołdzyński, well-known for his work on the Wilson Square metro station as well as the new stock market.

A triangle-shaped plot of land along Towarowa Street will be the site of three buildings, one of which is 86 metres in height, the other two are 130 metres high. The egg-like shape is thought to be ideal as it will limit the blocking of sunlight by the skyscrapers. The three buildings will be connected to each other at the top by a three-floor structure, on the roof of which grass will be planted. The towers will offer 100,000 square metres of office space, nearly twice as much as the total area of the large business centre in Galeria Mokotów. The lower levels are expected to have as much space for shops and the like as one third of Galeria Mokotów, while the underground garages will be large enough for 1,000 cars. All the investments are in the very early stages of preparation and development. The buildings are likely to be completed around 2015, after the Warsaw Spire building is finished and after the completion of the main part of the second subway line.
Gazeta Wyborcza

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Al-Qaeda Planned To Attack Poland

Thwarting Bin Laden

Al-Qaeda was planning a terrorist attack in Poland, but the Polish intelligence agencies thwarted the plan, we learn from Angora magazine. According to Angora’s journalists the secret operation (codename “Stand”) was carried out by the Internal Security Agency (ABW) and the Foreign Intelligence Agency (AW) in cooperation with the CIA and the German secret service. The operation began in 2005 when American intelligence agencies informed the Polish authorities about a possible Al-Qaeda terrorist attack in Poland during a large event. However, when Poland and Ukraine won the battle to organise Euro 2012, terrorists postponed their attack until the tournament. Several explosives were supposed to be planted in the structure of a renovated football stadium and detonated during one of the Euro 2012 matches, but the Polish intelligence services learnt of these plans and kept the terrorists under strict surveillance. They were then allowed to plant their bombs in the stadium after which Polish bomb disposal units found and secured the explosives, which were later detonated in a training ground in Kazuń.
Onet.pl

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Over the Slump

Poland On the Up

Industrial production is starting to pick up. A 3% GNP increase in the 4th quarter of 2009 remains a possibility. Analysts were fairly certain production will eventually get back on track after a disappointingly long slump. They were expecting a 65% jump in November. On Thursday, December 17, the Central Statistical Office (GUS) announced an increase of 9.8% over the whole of 2009. It is the best result since April 2008 and one that is unique in comparison to the rest of Europe. Production is still following a moderate downward trend in the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Great Britain while in October it showed a 13% decrease in Hungary and Germany.

Poland and Ireland are the only countries where production is on the increase. Why are we recovering more quickly? “The Polish economy is different, it is somewhat closed. Export accounts for 40% of GNP, meanwhile in Hungary it is nearly 80%,” explains Radosław Bodys, a Merrill Lynch economist. What is giving our factories that much-needed momentum? Mainly exports, which are improving steadily. The second crucial factor is the fact that consumer spending is on a much higher level in Poland than it is abroad. “In the EU, people are spending increasingly less while the rate of savings has reached record proportions. In Poland the opposite is true: consumption is rising faster than people’s incomes while the savings rate is falling”, explains the Ministry of Finance. Two statistical factors have made these results slightly easier to achieve: we are comparing the current data to that of one year ago, and that was when the financial crisis was at its worst. In  addition, there was one working day more this year. Most economists expect economic growth in the fourth quarter of 2009 to surpass 2%, the Ministry of Finance’s estimation is 2.5%.
Gazeta Wyborcza

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Ski Season Around the Corner

Skiing in Poland

It is freezing in the Beskids, so the snow guns are working at full steam. Although officially the ski season kicks off tomorrow, some ski lifts have already been open today, like the upgraded chairlift in Wisła-Nowa Osada. During  the season last year, skiers had to use the run-down two-person T-bar lift at Czupel. But this time, the old lift has been replaced by a new cable car system, designed to carry 1,800 skiers per hour, with a 900m (about 3,000 feet) long track. The passenger cabins feature four-person comfortable couches to sit on. Also today, chairlifts at the Soszów Ski Station and at the Stożek ski centre in Wisła ran for the first time. On Saturday, Czantoria in Ustroń and Zagroń in Istebna will be open for skiers and snowboarders, as well as Cieńków, Rowienki and Kiczera in Wisła. The new season at lesser-known ski slopes will commence in a few days.
Polska

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Going To The Movies

Polish Movies

Since the last Gdynia Festival, there have been far more positive reactions to what the Polish movie industry now has to offer. Here is a sneak preview of what will be on at the movies in 2010 and 2011. “M20″ is a story about two brothers going to their father’s funeral. In his will, the man leaves them an old Warszawa M-20, an extraordinary car as one of its passengers was Karol Wojtyła. The two main characters are symbolically played by Adamczyk and Woronowicz, who have both starred in films about Pope John Paul II and priest Jerzy Popiełuszko, respectively. The première is scheduled for April 2010. “Trick”, likely to hit movie theatres in March of 2010, is a contemporary political thriller set in modern-day Poland. The main character, a money forger currently serving time in prison is given an offer he cannot refuse, and one that might set him free. The film’s director says that he was inspired by the American thrillers of the 1970s and French police thrillers. “The Lullaby” (Kołysanka) is a film Juliusz Machulski is currently working on. It is a horror movie set in a Mazurian village about a family that makes objects out of clay. Whenever the family appear, people start disappearing. Robert Więckiewicz who plays the father of the family hopes that viewers will find the movie rather funny. “Nothing is obvious or straightforward in the film, and no heads are chopped off,” says Więckiewicz. The film should hit cinemas in February next year. On June 28, Jerzy Hoffman, another top Polish director, will begin shooting a movie, yet to be given a title, about the Russian-Polish war of 1920. With an estimated budget of PLN 20 million and computer-generated special effects, the film promises to make interesting viewing. Some historic figures such as Piłsudski and Lenin will also appear in the film. The 110-minute première is set for August 25, 2011.
Gazeta Wyborcza

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We All Love Markets

Markets Come Top

Warsaw loves markets. Half of us shop there, most of us are in favour of setting up one-day markets in certain areas of the city. Not many people are concerned by the often dirty and run-down surroundings of open-air markets. “Our goal was to learn about the shopping habits of the people of Warsaw and the role market trade plays in them,” explains Marcin Ochmański from the city hall press office. The opinion poll conducted by SMG/KRC at the beginning of November leaves no doubt: Warsaw’s inhabitants clearly love markets. All this in a city where the ‘Kercelak’ market has been gone for a dozen or so years and ‘Różyc’ market is nearing its end. The poll results reveal that local open-air markets are more popular than super- and hypermarkets, in spite of the fact that the latter theoretically offer much more to the potential customer and are often located within large shopping centres.

Over 45% of those who participated in the poll chose small local markets over supermarkets while 41% prefer large shops. However, it is the proverbial ‘warzywniak’ (vegetable market), or small, local, often family-owned stores that are the most popular by far, with 68% regular customers. On Monday, December 14th, a modernisation project of one of the best-known Warsaw markets, the ‘Zieleniak’ near Grójecka Street, was revealed. Designed by JEMS Architekci, this open-air/pavilion combination promises to be a high-quality novelty in Warsaw. If all goes according to plan, the new ‘Zieleniak’ will welcome its first customers in early 2011. Warsaw city hall is also looking forward to implementing an idea that has already proven successful in many European cities, that of setting up one-day markets that will mainly offer fresh food. The process of making this idea a reality has been slow, as only 6 Warsaw districts responded positively to the project when it was first announced in 2008. Now Bemowo district remains the only district willing to put the plan into action. “That is just too bad. The city is incomplete without open-air markets,” says Grzegorz Buczek, an urban development expert.
Gazeta Wyborcza

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Tatras in Ice

Christmas Scene

Winter has already taken over the Tatra Mountains, and although there is not much snow yet, tourist trails are covered in a thick sheet of ice. Rescuers from the Tatra Mountains Volunteer Rescue Service (TOPR) are reminding tourists to make sure they are equipped with crampons and ice axes before heading for the mountains. “Kasprowy Wierch is covered in a 45cm (18 inches) thick layer of snow, and the temperature has fallen to minus 15 Celsius (5 Fahrenheit)”, said the duty meteorologist. Currently (as of the 17^th of December), the danger of avalanche is low (level 1), but rescuers emphasise that it is crucial to adjust the plans of trips to the conditions in the mountains and to your climbing experience. According to weather forecasters, the upcoming days will bring a hard frost. The temperature in the Podhale region may fall even below 20C (minus 4F).
Rzeczpospolita

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