Investor

The quarterly of the American Chamber of Commerce in Poland

American

Vol. XXIII, No. 1 ISSN 1506-3240

WINTER 2013

www.amcham.pl

A long way to go
Polish rms investing abroad still nd the US market too big, too expensive and too far away
INSIDE: Whats new with Obama 2.0? AmCham CEO Forum Manufacturers' Forum Membership Directory US Ambassadors policy speech COMPANY PROFILE: CDM Smith DLA Piper FOCUS: Executive chef of the Sheraton Krakw German Marshall Fund Steel industry

Do not miss the opportunity to sponsor AmCham events in 2013!

In this issue
Contents

COVER STORY:
WINTER 2013 Vol. XXIII, No. 1

Polish firms investing abroad still find the US market too big, too expensive and too far away, p. 10
talk about the rms business growth strategy, p. 35 FOCUS Good food is the goal A young executive chef feeds guests at the Sheraton Krakw and travels the world to assure that the Polish soccer team starts every game on the right gastronomic foot, p. 38 Thinking outside the tank Andrew A. Michta, Senior Transatlantic Fellow and Director of the German Marshall Funds Warsaw ofce, talks about the agenda for Poland, p. 40 Room for improvement Jerzy Kozicz, president of CMC Zawiercie, talks about the steel industry in Poland, p. 41

A long way to go

MONTHLY MEETING November Whats new with Obama 2.0? Poland hopes for a reboot of political relations with the US in the next four years, p. 16 CEO FORUM Brave new world With all their vices and virtues, Polish executives are good material for facing the business challenges of the future, p. 19

AmCham Business Mixersideal for marketing your brand, new logo, new product or service. We bring together 150 AmCham guests; sponsors can invite their own to these after-hours cocktail parties that are popular places to meet, network and get your name out to a wide audience. The cost of organizing a mixer ranges from PLN 15,000 to PLN 20,000 depending on the venue, menu and extras. Mixers can be co-sponsored by several companies. Fourth of July Picnicmarketing to a Warsaw-wide audience with family fun and associating yourself with the American brand. Planned for July 6, 2013, this is the biggest event on the American social calendar in Poland, with an all-American family atmosphere. Hosted by AmCham since 1994, we always ensure a great time for over 1,000 AmCham friends and families. Annual General Meeting (AGM) & Christmas receptionthe most exclusive AmCham membership event of the year. This year-end business meeting and Christmas party brings together 100 top AmCham executives for a very pleasant evening. AmCham CEO Forumsfor more targeted branding with an intellectual business component. These high-level discussion panels, followed by a cocktail reception, bring together over 50 AmCham CEOs, exclusively. The cost of organizing a CEO Forum is around PLN 15,000 and we do only three a year. "AmCham Diner" at the Krynica Economic Forumexposure to a high-level audience; association with American values; casual advocacy. Because we made such a splash the rst time around, we may do it again! Here is an all-American venue for meetings and casual discussions with high-level and wide-ranging Forum participants, with a program of interviews and panels for focused topics. A strong showing of the best the US has to offer in terms of culture and businessand how close that is to the hearts of Poland. Wrocaw Global Forumthe prime US-associated forum for which AmCham will be creating the business component as of 2013. In partnership with US-based think tank the Atlantic Council and the City of Wrocaw, this forum is a high-quality event focusing on Polish and regional issues. The program and details will be determined together with our partners. It will be an opportunity to continue the dialogue and momentum created during the Business Summit. AmCham Krakw and AmCham Wrocawa wide range of possibilities for business development and marketing in these major metropolitan areas. For more information please contact Anita Kowalska at anita.kowalska@amcham.pl or call her at +48-22-520-5994

MANUFACTURERS FORUM EXPERT Weathering the storm AmCham member compaThe writing on the wall Scientic analysis of handwritnies active in the manufacturing sector met in Noing can be surprisingly helpful in assessing job candivember in Katowice to share their experiences dates and business partners, p. 42 tackling the market slowdown and to interface with local ofcials and suggest solutions involving A blast from the past Tax regulations between the EU Polands national and regional governments, p. 22 member states resemble solutions Poland and the US have had since 1974, p. 43 CHARITY DRIVE 2012 For the 17th consecutive year, the AmCham FounHow far does the directive go? There are limits to the dation arranged and executed its holiday Charity application of EU public procurement rules when it Drive to provide assistance in cash and kind to comes to defense and security, p. 44 those in need, p. 26 Rules to be amended Poland takes its time adjusting AMCHAM MEMBERSHIP DIRECTORY to new EU regulations on short selling, p. 45 Alphabetical list of corporate and individual members as of December 15, 2012, p. 27 Major VAT changes ahead The most extensive set of amendments to Polands VAT Act in nearly a decade ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING will become effective in April 2013 and January 2014, p. 46 Opening a new chapter AmCham welcomes the new US ambassador, p. 32 EVENTS COMPANY PROFILE Halloween Business Mixer, p. 47; Monthly Meeting in November, p. 48; Manufacturers' Forum, p. 49; CEO Going where the gas is Kevin P Molloy, Vice Pres. Forum, p. 50; International Christmas Meeting in ident and Oil and Gas Sector Leader of CDM Wrocaw, p. 52; Annual General Meeting, p. 54 Smith, talks about the companys business plans for Poland, p. 34 DEPARTMENTS A client-driven law rm Sir Nigel Knowles, manWhat's on AmCham website, p. 2; Letter from the Chairaging partner of DLA Piper UK, and Dr. Krzysztof man p. 3; Newsline p. 4; Agenda, p. 7; Guide to AmWiater, managing partner of DLA Piper in Poland, Cham Committees, p. 56.

WINTER 2013 AMERICAN INVESTOR

YOUR AMCHAM

Your American Investor

Our website
Whats on

Letter from the Chairman

www.amcham.pl
Y our online guide to AmCham activities

Greetings to all of you in 2013!

BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Joseph Wancer Deloitte
Chairman

ast year was intense and challenging in various ways. AmCham met its objectives with success, as we mentioned at our Annual General Meeting in December. Whatever we did last year is now history. There is no time to waste dwelling on the past. We must focus on issues that we face in 2013 and onwards. The newly elected Board will undoubtedly

MEMBERS Joanna Bensz

PM Group

John Lynch
Lynka

offer leadership and wisdom to our organization in its endeavors to effectively address the key outstanding topics that still hinder American investments in Poland. Resolution of these issues is important for US as well as Polish firms, since in most cases they refer to generic causes of severe bureaucracy and imperfections of the administrative, legal and tax systems in Poland. The fu-

Xavier Douellou
3M Poland

Roman Rewald
Weil Gotshal

Paul Fogo
Miller Canfield

Anna Sieko
IBM

Judith Y. Gliniecki
Wierzbowski Eversheds

Richard Lada Laurie St. Aubin

ConocoPhillips

Tony Housh
APCO Worldwide

Joseph Wancer
AMCHAM CHAIRMAN

ture growth of the Polish economy depends on greater efficiency of local systems.

Krzysztof Kapa
McDonalds

It is quite evident that other international chambers of commerce in Poland have also increased their activities by becoming more visible in addressing their concerns. Personally, I welcome this rising

SPONSORS

competition, since it behooves us to become more responsive to the vital problems and issues facing us every day of our operations here. I believe we, AmCham, should become more marketing- and PR-driven, stronger in external communication with public authorities, the business community and the media. To do so, we need to rely on you, our members, to provide AmCham with top-quality input on a more frequent basis.

Download this magazine!

American Investor is available in full as a pdf for download from the www.amcham.pl website. Go to "About Us" in the horizontal menu, and choose American Investor Magazine from the pop-up menu. You can download past issues of American Investor dating back to October 2010.

Regions
AmCham may be closer than you think. Apart from Warsaw, AmCham has two regional branches which are active all year long and offer many exciting opportunities to interface with regional business leaders and politicians. To nd out more about our activities in Krakw and the region of southern Poland, and Wrocaw, go to Regions in the horizontal menu bar, and pick your region of interest.

In some areas, this is already happening. But not everywhere. The committees must take more responsibility for concluding projects and reviews on a timely basis, with hard data analysis and input. If we want to be counted on by local authorities and business and social leaders to pursue vital changes in Poland, we need to strengthen our information output and our image. I trust that the direct cooperation between AmCham committees and the Board will grow and deepen in 2013, allowing the chamber to operate with higher efficiency than in the past. Lets capitalize on our strengths and deliver what the Polish market expects: added valuefor the market and for American investors.

Calendar
By clicking on red links in the Calendar you may visit photo coverage of our past events. Blue links will take you to the announcements of upcoming events.

Policy Watch
Intelligence: For AmCham position papers, policy statements, ofcial letters to government ministers and research papers, visit the Advocacy link on the horizontal menu to download the latest AmCham position papers.

Events
AmCham Monthly Meetings are one of the flagship events organized by the chamber. While American Investor covers each Monthly Meeting extensively, including full-page pictorials, you can search through picture archives of past events that include never previously printed material. Just go to Events and Activities, pick Monthly Meetings and scroll down for links to archived events.

Best regards,

Other useful sites

US Chamber of Commerce http://www.uschamber.com American Chamber of Commerce to the European Union http://www.amchameu.be AmChams in Europe http://www.amchamseurope.com

AmCham Auditor:

American Chamber of Commerce in Poland 2013. All rights reserved.

2 AMERICAN INVESTOR WINTER 2013 WINTER 2013 AMERICAN INVESTOR 3

YOUR AMCHAM

Newsline
News from AmCham and its members
3M placed 2nd among the most respected employers in industrial manufacturing in a ranking compiled by Antal International in association with the Business Centre Club. The ranking was based on a survey of 1,500 managers and specialists in different business fields. Piotr Salawski, HR director at 3M Poland, said he was proud that the high employment standards at 3M were noticed by Polish experts. Our organizational culture rests on cooperation and mutual inspiration, he said. 3M employs over 1,600 people in Poland.

HOT DATE
Event: Business Mixer Place: National Stadium, Warsaw Time: 6:30 P.M.

Feb.21.13

AMCHAM STAFF
Executive Director director@amcham.pl

3M

Dorota Dabrowski Marzena Drela

Deputy Director marzena.drela@amcham.pl

Events & Media Manager anita.kowalska@amcham.pl

Anita Kowalska

Office Manager robert.kruszyna@amcham.pl

Robert Kruszyna

Membership and Committees Coordinator barbara.pocialik@amcham.pl

Barbara Pocialik-Malinowska Marta Pawlak

AmCham Poland

Policy Counsel marta.pawlak@amcham.pl

AmCham in Krakw
krakow@amcham.pl

Monika Pilarska Joanna Bensz

AmCham in Wrocaw
amcham.wroclaw@pmg.pl

cally. Wancer added that this year AmCham may add another regional office, in the Tricity area of Gdask, Gdynia and Sopot. The chairman reported that AmChams financial status was sound, with a surplus generated in 2012. The audit was carried out by PwC. Wancer also said that this year AmCham will reinforce its lobbying efforts, focusing on public procurement law to assure that it is more competitive and offers a level playing field for both Polish and foreign companies. Wancer thanked all the member companies for their support and said that AmCham is set to continue to deliver good value for money for its members. The main sponsor of the Annual General Meeting was CDM Smith, with in-kind sponsors includingStarbucks, Dobre Wina, PepsiCo,Bose, Este Lauder,Promotorzy, LOTPolish Airlines, theKociuszko Foundationandthe SheratonWarsaw Hotel. The 2012 AmCham Student Essay Contest Grand Prize Winner was Marek Maj, representing Talisman Energy Polska. The runnersup were Valerie Popow (Finacorp Polska), Nikola Gutowska (Animex) and Karolina Fonfara (Fluor).

tries globally, including 7 in South America. In other news, Baker & McKenzie has been selected by the Ministry of Treasury as legal advisers in the merger of two chemical companies, ZA Tarnw and ZA Puawy, both specializing in fertilizers. Baker & McKenzie also advised Canal+ in its acquisition of a controlling interest in television station TVN and the merger of the Cyfra+ and n digital platforms.

Boeing

Boeing and flagship carrier LOT Polish Airlines celebrated the delivery of the first Boeing 787 Dreamliner. The event was held at Boeings Center for Future Flight Aviation in Mukilteo, Washington. The delivery makes LOT the first carrier in Europe to operate a Dreamliner. LOT will fly eight Dreamliners, serving long-haul connections between Warsaw and Chicago, New York, Toronto and Beijing.

by the city. Meanwhile, the Polish State Treasury has named Citi Handlowy the best dealer in Tbonds, in a ranking of 16 banks. In other news, Citi Handlowy and German bank KFW have signed an agreement for Citi Handlowy to distribute EUR 30 million in loans to investors in energy efficiency programs, the first such contract in Poland by KFW, which is one of the two providers of financial aid for energy efficiency through EU programs for SMEs and municipalities.

CBRE
opened a new branch office in Krakw. Located in the Old Town, it will focus on Krakws office leasing market.

DLA Piper

Capgemini

Tom Wiok

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

tomasz.cwiok@amcham.pl

chrisTopher smiTh
christopher.smith@neostrada.pl

EDITOR-AT-LARGE

Printing

Q Invest Ltd +48 22 424 6600 To contact AmCham please write or call: ul. Emilii Plater 53, WFC 00-113 Warsaw tel: +48 22 520 5999 fax: +48 22 520 5998 e-mail: office@amcham.pl www.amcham.pl
American Chamber of Commerce in Poland 2013. All rights reserved.

American Investor is the official publication of the American Chamber of Commerce in Poland. It is a voice for foreign investors and the business community in Poland. The magazine strives to keep our members and other readers up to date by following chamber news and reporting on the leading trends in business and policy. Letters to the editor should be e-mailed to tomasz.cwiok@amcham.pl photo on the front cover and on page 12 by Magorzata Sellery. Model: Stephen Sellery. Copyright 2013. Used by permission.

Members of the American Chamber of Commerce in Poland approved the 2012 Annual Report and elected the new Board of Directors at the AmCham Annual General Meeting on December 10, 2012, at the Sheraton Warsaw. The members of the new Board of Directors for the 20132014 term are Joanna Bensz (PMGroup), Xavier Douellou (3MPoland), Paul Fogo (Miller Canfield), Judith Gliniecki (Wierzbowski Eversheds), Tony Housh (APCO Worldwide), Krzysztof Kapa (McDonalds), Richard Lada (eremel consulting), John Lynch (Lynka), Roman Rewald (Weil Gotshal), Anna Sieko (IBM), Laurie St. Aubin (ConocoPhillips) and Joseph Wancer (Deloitte). In picture, the vote counting commettee at work: Katarzyna Ryziska (PwC), Marzena Drela (AmCham Deputy Director) and ukasz Guch (PwC). Highlighting the milestones for the chamber in 2012, AmCham Chairman Joseph Wancer singled out the US-Poland Business Summit in June, of which the chamber was the main organizer, and the chambers strong and prominent presence at the Krynica Economic Forum in September. Wancer also said that the AmCham committees, which create the agenda for the chamber, have done a great job and are closely following market trends and legislative developments. He said that AmCham is growing stronger by relying on the resources and dedication of the member companies and the great work of the AmCham team led by executive director Dorota Dabrowski. Wancer also praised the managers of the two branch offices, Monika Pilarska in Krakw and Joanna Bensz in Wrocaw, for their efficiency, strength and resolve in promoting the chamber by organizing events lo-

AmCham Krakw

IT outsourcing and technology consultancy Capgemini announced that its total employment in Poland exceeded 5,000 at the end of 2012. Capgemini entered Poland in 1996. It focuses on providing IT solutions to the telecommunications, banking, insurance and public service sectors. Its main unit, Software Solutions Center, is in Wrocaw. Polish software engineers also participate in mobile applications projects for global clients. CDM Smith, a design and project management specialist, recently expanded its services in Poland by adding construction capabilities to support oil and gas development. This new regional capability supports the companys existing technical and regulatory expertise in the rapidly evolving energy industry. According to VP Kevin Molloy, CDM Smith has assembled a comprehensive team of design and regulatory experts and construction professionals to support energy development companies as they explore hydrocarbon opportunities in the EU and around the world. The shale gas team at CDM Smith has already completed its first project for Marathon Oil, constructing an exploration well pad and access road, and is also supporting Chevron in permitting, design and construction of up to six well pads and related infrastructure. The City of Warsaw has renewed its contract with Citi Handlowy to operate the citys bank accounts for the next 5 years. Warsaw Mayor Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz praised the bank for delivering innovative services in cash-flow management and account integration. According to Citi Handlowy CEO Sawomir Sikora, the bank has new solutions to better service the largest municipal budget in Poland, including new ATMs to be installed across municipal offices and a prepaid card system for recipients of benefits administered

CDM Smith

At a business mixer in October, AmCham Krakw bade farewell to US Ambassador Lee Feinstein and welcomed new US Consul General Ellen Germin. The ambassador thanked the members of the chamber for their cooperation. He said that the economic relations between the US and Poland are good but have room for improvement, especially when it comes to boosting trade between the two countries. The mixer took place at the historic Jagielloski Room of Collegium Maius, the oldest building of Jagiellonian University. The event was sponsored by RR Donnelley, Ernst & Young, Cooper Standard, CMC Zawiercie, Motorola Solutions, UPS and Fluor. Pictured: Lee Feinstein, Ellen Germin, Monika Pilarska (AmCham Krakw Branch Director) and Paul Fogo (member of the AmCham Board).

According to experts at commercial real estate consultancy CBRE, the Polish office market has seen increased demand and many new developments. In the warehouse market, growth in leasing activity has led to a limited amount of new space and lower vacancy rates. Even though Polands GDP growth has slowed, the demand for office space is holding strong, CBRE said. In the first three quarters of 2012, 455,000 m2 of office space in Warsaw was leased, and in the whole of 2012 more offices were rented than in 2011. A recent deal in Warsaws Mokotw business district was the lease of 2,200 m2 at the Ambassador office building (pictured). CBRE represented the owner, Kronor Real Estate. Warsaws Powile district is also becoming an attractive destination for office tenants, who value its central yet quiet location and competitive rents. At the end of 3Q 2012, the office vacancy rate in Powile was below 1%. In 2014 and 2015 the supply of new office space is expected to increase substantially, with 2014 expected to be a record year. According to the information from developers, CBRE said a total of 52,000 m2 will be completed in four new office projects, one already under construction and the others to start soon.

DLA Piper concluded its Young Design Talent competition by awarding first prize to Ewa Guniewska, a 2012 graduate of the Warsaw Academy of Fine Arts (ASP). The goal set for the contestants was to design an office gadget reflecting the values that guide DLA Piper. The judges included Dr. Wojciech Maolepszy (ASP), Prof. Krystyna Szczepanowska-Kozowska (DLA Piper) and Agnieszka Jankowska (DLA Piper). The winning work, entitled Qubik (pictured) is handed out by DLA Piper to its clients and friends.

Hewlett-Packard

Citi Handlowy

Cushman & Wakeeld

Baker & McKenzie

Law firm Baker & McKenzie has joined with Estudio Echecopar, a leading law practice in Peru, to become the first international law group with a presence in the country. Baker & McKenzie now operates 72 offices in 45 coun-

Commercial real estate consultancy Cushman & Wakefield has let more than 70% of the retail space at Galeria Katowicka (pictured in the next column), one of the largest retail projects to be delivered soon in Central & Eastern Europe. Galeria Katowicka is a 46,000 m2 mall in the heart of Katowice, beside the main train station. Tenants will include a supermarket, multiplex cinema, and numerous retailers. The project is scheduled for completion in the second half of 2013. In other news, Cushman & Wakefield has

Hewlett-Packard has opened a business

AMERICAN INVESTOR WINTER 2013

WINTER 2013 AMERICAN INVESTOR

Newsline
News from AmCham and its members
process outsourcing center in d at GTC University Business Park (pictured on the previous page). The venture is dedicated to providing advanced solutions for finance, accounting, HR and administration. Our key to success is the ability to provide highly specialized services for organizations active in different types of business globally, said Renata Sima, head of Outsourcing Services at HP . Employers are cautious about hiring new people in the 1st quarter of 2013, HR specialist Manpower Group revealed in its quarterly survey of employers in Poland, the Manpower Employment Outlook Survey. Sectors such as transport, logistics, retail and wholesale trade show the largest changes in demand for new jobs. But pessimism prevails. Among 750 employers polled, only 9% said they plan to hire new people in 1Q 2013, 15% said they will cut jobs, and 73% will hold steady. The polling shows a growing pessimism in the labor market, said Iwona Janas, GM of Manpower Group in Poland. Many firms have halted new projects, but the beginning of the new year is always a difficult time in the labor market. To add insult to injury, there are negative signals from the eurozone countries. The Warsaw Marriott Hotel has been honored by the World Travel Awards with the prestigious title of Polands Leading Business Hotel 2012. The World Travel Awards have been given for the past 19 years to companies that stand out significantly in the travel industry. This year, over 180,000 industry professionals from all over the world voted for the best products in the hospitality industry. that have now formed it.

Agenda
Starwood Hotels & Resorts
Following a PLN 50 million refurbishment in

Intelligence from AmCham Committees

mately USD 2.5 billion. But that is not all. The Ministry of Defense estimates that the cost of Polish troops in Afghanistan is nearly USD 1 billion. In 2013, however, Polands presence in Afghanistan will shift from military to training, which will let military planners redirect a substantial portion of the budget elsewhere. A huge portion will go into replacing the equipment destroyed or demolished in Afghanistan, including armored personnel carriers, helicopters, helicopter guns, and radio equipment, Winid explained. The replacement may take approximately three years, so the results may be seen in 2017. The nancing priority in 2011 was special forces. They absorbed nearly USD 20 million. Earlier, most development funds went to support the Air Force, including the Hercules program and control and communication systems used by the Polish special forces in Afghanistan, and other programs connected with the Polish presence in Afghanistan. In the future, however, Poland will not buy second-hand equipment, as some such equipment Poland purchased in the past has failed to meet expectations. We would like to focus on new equipment, because sometimes it costs less to buy new than to buy used and x it. Poland is focused on several defense system priorities. One of them, codenamed AGS for Alliance Ground Surveillance, is a program Poland has returned to after a period of hesitancy. We hope the program will develop according to schedule and the rst Global Hawks will be operational in 2015, Winid said. He noted, however, that there are questions on how the Polish defense industry may participate in this program. This is something that Poland wants to renegotiate, especially when it comes to what extent the Polish defense industry may be involved in it. We hope that Poland will participate not only in the program as such, but in its industrial component as well, Winid said. The Missile Defense Program, scheduled to be operational by 2018, has been developing well, with construction in full swing in Romania and Turkey. There are issues, however, including the rules of engagement, command and control issues, and legal problems that may arise, all currently being discussed. Poland has its own missile defense system, codenamed the Shield of Poland. This system is old and technologically inadequate to present-day demands, as it uses 1970s and 1980s technology developed in the Soviet Union. Although it is modernized and undergoes proper maintenance, the system will gradually be taken out of service. Poland will thus have to purchase new systems for its own missile defense. Special emphasis will be placed on short-range missiles so Polish troops are protected directly on the ground. Winid also said that the Polish Air Force will undergo a structural overhaul, as the Su-22 Soviet ghters will be taken out of service and their replacement will have to be purchased. Winid noted that along with its own budgeting, Poland has been receiving substantial assistance in loans, under various nancing structures, totaling USD 47 million in 2010, USD 34 million in 2011, and USD 24 million in 2012. Other support money from the US, approximately USD 2 million annually, goes through the International Military Education and Training Program. It covers the cost of training Polish ofcers in the US at different academic levels. Most likely, Winid said, this program will continue in 2013.

Orco Property Group

Business Technology & Services /SME & Entrepreneurship Committees

At a joint session of AmChams Business Technology & Services Committee and SME & Entrepreneurship Committee in December, members discussed the benets of IT leasing. The speaker was Patryk Nosalik, country manager of CSI Leasing. Nosalik said that CFOs and other people responsible for balancing budgets see different opportunities for their companies in leasing IT infrastructure. They may include avoiding purchasing and payment processes with IT suppliers or managerial tasks related to owning and managing IT infrastructure, such as non-core administrative tasks and software and hardware upgrades. Leasing is a good management practice that shows that a company is thinking of every possible way to improve how its IT is being run, Nosalik said. To back his points, Nosalik presented case studies of how large and medium-sized companies have beneted by sourcing their IT equipment through leasing. He also gave an overview of the issues nancial institutions look at in IT leasing deals, including the problems that stem from different types of software licensing agreements.

Manpower Group

Marriott Warsaw

Pawe Oszczyk, executive chef of La Rotisserie restaurant in Warsaw, owned by Orco, has contributed seven recipes of traditional Polish dishes to a coffee-table cookbook published by Bosz. Polish First Lady Anna Komorow-ska also contributed a recipe for the book, which was shortlisted for the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards as the best Polish cookbook for professionals. The winners will be announced at the Louvre Cookbook Trade Fair in February. In other news, La Rotisserie was voted the Best Hotel Restaurant in a poll of readers of the Warsaw Insider. La Rotisserie Restaurant is located in the 5star Mamaison Hotel Le Regina Warsaw in the citys New Town.

early 2013, Warsaws Bristol Hotel will become the first in Poland to join Starwoods Luxury Collection brand. Luxury Collection Hotels & Resorts is a chain of 80 hotels in 30 countries offering top-quality service in conjunction with access to local tourist attractions. The brand includes such properties as the Hotel Grande Bretagne in Athens, the Hotel Imperial in Vienna, and Al Maha Desert Resort in Dubai. The Bristol, an historic property that opened in 1901, is on Krakowskie Przedmiecie, next door to Polands Presidential Palace. In November, the Sheraton Warsaw was the

Energy & Environment Committee

Eduardo Sastre, a technical reviewer at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, an independent regulatory body in the United States that deals with licensing, regulating and overseeing the commercial use of nuclear energy, met with the AmCham Energy & Environment Committee at two separate sessions in December to talk about how the NRC and the nuclear sector are cooperating with stakeholders in Poland to help the country build a safe and secure civilian nuclear power program. Having presented the physical, scientic and technological aspects of how nuclear energy is produced, Sastre focused on the practical side of working with the nuclear sector by presenting some of the NRCs experience in overseeing the 104 existing nuclear reactors in the US, which produce some 20% of the electricity consumed in the US. Sastre said that the 104 reactors come from four different vendors and operate at 65 different power plants. The reactors utilize 80 different designs. Those built in the 1960s and 1970s use different design features than those built later. For the NRC, the variety of designs posed a challenge when overseeing the safety standards that different plants followed. But when the agency added more safety requirements, different vendors had different ways of complying with those requirements. This only added to the risk. Sastre noted that the US planned to have some 300 nuclear plants by now. Some 200 projects fell through, however, including 50 that were already under construction. The economy was to blame, but also the lack of safety standards and inadequate project coordination between the different parties involved in those projects. The NRCs experience is not limited to the US. Internationally, the agency is involved in monitoring 434 nuclear reactors that deliver roughly 14% of the overall energy consumption in the world. Sastre said that in nuclear energy, one of the most important aspects is that the industry safety standards are available to the public. Everybody knows exactly what we need and how we control the plant so it operates safely.

Panattoni Europe

Defense & Security Committee

In November, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Bogusaw Winid met with the AmCham Defense & Security Committee to discuss the Polish-US defense relationship and how Polands relationship with neighboring countries may be a benet for the defense sector in Poland. Winid said that Poland has transformed its place on the map of global security because of its strong and stable economy, with a solid defense and security budget. This is a very welcome change, Winid said. He said that Poland has made it mandatory to spend 1.95% of the countrys budget on defense and security. Since Polands GDP has been growing, it has more to spend year-onyear. This is a unique situation among EU countries, Winid said, as most of them have made cuts to their defense budgets, and some nearly eliminated defense expenditures to tackle the negative effects of the economic crisis. Winid said that Polands 2012 budget for defense was USD 8.9 billion, including USD 2.2 billion on modernization and procurement of new equipment. This means that approximately 30% of the defense budget is spent on new equipment. It is a very healthy percentage, and in fact an agreed NATO model, Winid said. For 2013 it is forecast that 26% of the entire defense budget will go to the acquisition of new equipment, which will translate into approxi-

Members on the move

After 20 years, Lesaw Kuzaj, president of GE for Poland and CEE, is leaving the company. Kuzaj was instrumental in supervising the development of GE in Poland, where it now employs 10,000 people, including Bank BPH, three product facilities of GE Power Controls, owned by GE Industrial Solutions, and one controlled by GE Aviation. Kuzajs replacement had not been named when American Investor went to print.

GE

Industrial real estate developer Panattoni Europe has extended two leases at Panattoni Park Bonie I and II with publishing distributor Alfa Logis (10,918 m2) and pharmaceutical distributor Poltraf (7,200 m2), bringing the developers vacancy rate at Bonie down to zero. In other news, Panattoni Europe was named Warehouse Developer of the Year in the prestigious Eurobuild Awards 2012, organized by industry magazine Eurobuild CEE. The awards gala was held in December at the Hilton Hotel Warsaw. Industrial engineering and project management specialist PM Group has completed the bare shell stage of construction of a hamburger bun facility for Fresh Start Bakeries from the Aryzta group. The 14,000 m2 project at the Invest-Park special economic zone in Wabrzych is scheduled for completion in March of this year. Salans has merged with Fraser Milner Casgrain and SNR Denton to form one of the worlds largest legal groups, with over 2,500 lawyers in 79 offices and 52 countries worldwide. It will operate from 1Q 2013 under the name Dentons. According to Tomasz Dbrowski, managing partner of Salans in Poland, Dentons will be a unique global law platform that will utilize the best of the three different cultures and the histories of the firms

PM Group

Agnieszka Tucharz was appointed general manager of Mamaison Hotel Le Regina Warsaw. Tucharz joined the boutique hotel in 2004 as sales director following a career with international hotel chains in Warsaw. After two years she was promoted to general manager of Mamaison Residence Diana Warsaw, which she successfully ran for nearly 7 years.

Orco Property Group

Salans

venue for the 4th annual charity dinner Tastes of Good, held by Starwood Hotels & Resorts and the Orimari Foundation. The dinner culminated in a charity auction of six dishes prepared by executive chefs from Sheratons in Warsaw, Krakw, Pozna and Sopot as well as Warsaws Bristol and Westin hotels. The event raised PLN 409,000, which was donated to the Childrens Clinical Hospital in Lublin. In picture, first row: Micha Tkaczyk (Le Mridien Bristol), Artur Grajber (Sheraton Warsaw), Janusz Korzyski (Westin Warsaw), Tomasz Leniak (Sheraton Krakw). In other news, the Sheraton hotels in Warsaw, Krakw, Pozna and Sopot have earned Green Key certification, an international standard for hotels that reduce their environmental impact, educate their staff on ecology, and conduct related CSR projects. The hotels managed to cut power consumption by 30% with new energy-saving lighting and water consumption by 20% with new water management systems, and introduced sorting of trash for recycling.

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Agenda
Sastre said that in this process, openness and communication with public opinion are key. If the people trust you, if they know what you are doing, that means that they understand how the nuclear technology works and they can help the industry. Sastre noted that it is a good practice in the US that the members of the public can visit a nuclear station once or twice a year and see how it works and how it looks from the inside. It is very important to them to be able to do so, Sastre said. It also engages the industry, so it knows it has to be dedicated to explaining to the public what the industry is doing. Safety culture is another big part of the nuclear energy sectormaking sure that everybody involved in nuclear energy acts if they see something is wrong, because they are the rst line of defense. Meeting with AmCham for the second time, Sastre covered the issues of decommissioning old nuclear reactors and highlighted the benets of nuclear energy in light of the environmental challenges the world is facing today. He said that the rise of the nuclear power sector in the last few decades has stemmed from the fact that only 3.3 grams of CO2 is released in producing a kilowatt-hour of electricity in a nuclear power plant. By comparison, coal energy emits 800 g of CO2 per kWh. This has a signicant impact on the choice of energy sources, given the growing concern over climate change and regulations on CO2 emissions. Another plus is that while nuclear waste is still a huge issue, the problems associated with coal waste are much more pressing when it comes to such factors as storage dumps. Nuclear energy even looks like a winner when compared to solar technology as we know it today. According to Sastre, to reach a capacity of 1 gigawattthe energy output of an average power planta solar farm would have to cover 155 square kilometers with solar panels in summer and over 600 square kilometers in winter. Sastre also said that while wind and solar do not emit CO2, they are not baseload energy sources as they only deliver energy when their stimulatorswind and lightare present, which is not a constant. By contrast, nuclear is a baseload energy source, as are coal and gas. But in comparison with them, nuclear, owing to its low-emission technology, is in Sastres view the best source of energy for the decades to come.

Intelligence from AmCham Committees

cuss the impact of EU environmental regulations on the competitiveness of Polands economy. Jaczewska said that Poland will adhere to the European regulations on CO2 emissions and the use of renewable energy sources by 2020. Jaczewska observed that the best long-term development scenario for the Polish energy sector is to look at energy efciency as the key component of the entire energy policy, which aims at boosting the sustainability and efciency of the Polish economy. She said that while there is no reliable environmentally neutral energy source, with energy efciency all sides of the energy equationproducers, environmentalists and consumersare winners. She added that if climate change is to be stopped, governments must reject strategies that do not guarantee the reduction of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. This means that some policies that seek to reduce carbon emissions to the atmosphere but do not guarantee the efciency of their solutionssuch as CO2 storage, which may result in carbon leaksshould not be pursued. She also said that the theories that cast CO2 as the main culprit responsible for global warming must be revisited in light of new studies which suggest that other gases, such as methane, may be even more problematic. The EU must not focus entirely on CO2 reduction in its global warming policies, she said. Jaczewska added that the CO2 emissions reductions dened in the Kyoto Protocol are somewhat outdated, because some countries that were identied as developing are today developed and thus fall under a different CO2 emissions regime. We are recreating everything from scratch, she said. She added that while disputes about best practices in reducing greenhouse gas emissions are pending, the European CO2 reduction policy is in full swing, and in 2013 Poland and other member states will negotiate new agreements with the European Commission to better coordinate execution of the policy across the EU. In these negotiations, Poland will maintain its position aimed at protecting jobs and the competitive edge of the Polish economy. into the Baltic Sea, but everything would be served from Hamburg as it had been for the past 35 years. Wenzel noted that after over ve years in business, DCT Gdask, as the largest sea container transportation hub in Poland, has managed to attract over 55% of container handling, among all of the ve container ports in Poland. The revolutionary aspect of DCT Gdask, Wenzel explained, is that the way Poland has developed its economy, there is no need for the country to be a land transportation corridor leading from the West to the East. Instead, there is a real business opportunity for Poland to play the role of a gateway to Europe from the East by water. Wanzel explained that container transportation has minimized the cost of logistics. A container from China, whether discharged in Rotterdam or Hamburg or anywhere else on the northern European coast, costs approximately the same to transport no matter which port it goes to. However, the cost of transportation on land within Europe may exceed the cost of transport from China to Europe. A container that has to travel on land from Rotterdam or Hamburg to Warsaw may cost more than its transportation from China to Europe via a deepwater port, Wenzel explained. There are additional negative points to land transportation, such as the emission of CO2 and the time it takes for the container to travel. This is why the deepwater port in Gdask makes such a difference. The port, which at present employs 500, will also create tens of thousands of jobs in the next few years simply because of all the logistic operations associated with it. Most important, however, is the strategic signicance of DCT Gdask. Now many multinational companies prefer to serve the European and CEE markets from their old base in Western Europe. DCT Gdask gives them an opportunity to rethink this strategy and start using Poland as their base to serve CEE, including Russia, Ukraine and maybe one day Belarus. With this, Wenzel said, the companies may differentiate between the low-growth markets of Western Europe and the high-growth and high-potential markets of Eastern Europe, and generate signicant savings in their logistics costs. her interest in skydiving. This is how the idea for the consultancy was formed. Waniewicz established it in partnership with two of her colleagues, one of whom was an experienced pilot and aviation engineer, while the other had signicant experience in trade. They hoped that their shared experience would converge under one roof. That was not to happen, however. When she realized that her partners engagement in the company and commitment to succeed were lower than hers, she decided to go it alone. I had to learn everything from scratch, she said, explaining that her educational background is in the humanities, not engineering. I ended up having to learn all the technical details of aircraft as well as aviation regulations. It was a big challenge. She said she never regretted her decision to go on her own. Only if you do something out of your inner feeling, something that feels right for you, can you really succeed, she said. Your commitment is right then, and your attitude is correct. Waniewicz said that thanks to this attitude, she was able to develop her consultancy further. With new people on board, the company has tapped into new projects and is actively looking at different markets and products. There are not too many companies in the marketplace that combine the knowledge of business and aviation, she said. She added that as for 40 years there was almost no private aviation in Poland, the market now lags behind the West, but this also opens up wide opportunities for a company like hers. There are rms that want to enter the aviation market in Poland but dont know how, she explained. Waniewicz said that the most important aspects of her business are high ethics and commitment to customers. These she could achieve by being independent. This is something I very deeply believe in, and it has worked for me because my customers appreciate this attitude. She said that despite being a small company, she managed to develop relations with the aerospace industry not only in Poland but globally, which in fact is a must in this business. The US and Europe are the biggest aviation markets, she said, adding that deals with Australia and Africa are not unusual either. Waniewicz noted that the civil aviation market in Poland has a long way to mature, especially when it comes to its professionalism and business ethics. Most of the people active in aviation in Poland come from military and airclub backgrounds, she explained. They are still learning from their mistakes. She said that while the general business aviation market has huge development potential in Poland, it is still tied down by the aviation authorities, who are rigid and inexible. We need a generational change there, Waniewicz said. At a separate event, in November, Krzysztof Ogonowski, president of BPI Group, and Alexandre Tissot, innovation director at BPI Group, met with the SME & Entrepreneurship Committee to discuss issues of innovation and knowledge transfer in corporate restructuring. Ogonowski explained that the process of restructuring a company always has a business goal the managers of the company want to achieve. Reshufing human resources and their responsibilities is therefore a way to achieve that goal. The transfer of knowledge is not an end in itself but serves the business goals of the company. But if people move, knowledge moves with them. It is the objective of each manager to maintain the knowledge within the company while restructuring it, but they do not always succeed in keeping the people they need to keep. In most cases, they learn about their mistake when it is too late. On the other hand, it is very difcult to dene what successful knowledge transfer should involve and how to transfer the critical bits of knowledge to the people who should possess the knowledge after the transformation is complete. Ogonowski said that based on its experience with clients, BPI Group compiled a report that analyzed key components of knowledge transfers against the effects achieved by specic transformation processes, such as mergers and acquisitions, in companies with over 200 people on the payroll. If anything, those examples show the best practices of how to capture knowledge in the transformation process and pass it successfully to the right people in the company. Tissot presented some of the key points of the BPI analyses. He said in most companies there is one specic person who has accumulated the knowledge of how to deal with specic problems and issues that are critical for the companys business. It is difcult to translate this persons experience into a coherent formula or process so other people can tap into it when needed. In other words, it is difcult for the company to capitalize on the experience of this one person. That particular knowledge must remain in the company, however, and the challenge is to nd the way to do it. Tissot noted that all workers exist within their organization and undergo internal processes. When the processes are right and fulll their purposes, they may become the right models to follow. But Tissot admitted that this is only in theory. If that worked, we would not need human beings in companies because articial intelligence would do. In reality, companies are not organizations where simple processes are followed. Companies are organizations where social processes take place. This means that if one person goes and another takes his or her place, the new person will not do the same things and will not have the same way of doing the job as the old person did. The role of a knowledge transfer manager or consultant is to reveal the way the company works across the matrix of the knowledge it really utilizes. Tissot added that the transfer of knowledge is essential in todays companies because the paradigm of business has changed. In the past it was believed that customers are a companys main asset. Today it is the knowledge of a company that is its most important asset, because the companys capacity to apply its knowledge and innovate is what allows it to continue contributing to the market, delivering added value and staying in business.

Tax & Financial Services Committee

In November the AmCham Tax & Financial Services Committee held a panel discussion on the latest trends in outsourcing of nancial functions and implementation of nancial systems, as well as best practices to follow in the process of implementing new systems. The panelists were Marcin Sidelnik and Jan Wacawek from PwC, Ernest Frankowski and Przemysaw Skorupa from Deloitte, Beata Niedzika-Rosa from IBM, and Maciej Romanowski from GE. The panelists explained that global companies are eager to consolidate some of their business processes to be more effective and keep all relevant global data in one place for ready access. This trend will be on the rise, and in time companies that are not global will also start tapping into such solutions. While 15 years ago companies established their own shared services centers to lower costs, today the economic aspect is not the only reason to do so. Companies now look for locations that offer access to a deep pool of well-educated workers. India is still in the lead as the most preferred location for shared services centers, mainly because of the quality of its workforce, as well as the 20 years of history in working in outsourcing. One of the most important things in outsourcing a business process is to keep local managers engaged in the outsourcing process. This is not easy to achieve, because outsourcing decisions are made by corporate headquarters. This forces local managers to the sidelines of the implementation process, in the belief that the team sent in by headquarters will handle all aspects. But it is important to keep the local managers focused, because even if a business process is outsourced some of its functions may still remain local. Legal aspects of having a business process outsourced to another country were also on the agenda, with a special emphasis on outsourcing outside of Poland and how local jurisdictions may affect the processes.

Infrastructure Committee
In October the AmCham Infrastructure Committee held a meeting with two members of senior management at DCT Gdask SACEO Boris Wenzel and Senior Director Adam onowskiwho talked about how the new deepwater container terminal in Gdask competes with terminals in Rotterdam and other Baltic transportation hubs in Western Europe. Wenzel said that DCT Gdask, a project that took two years to complete and cost EUR 190 million, has changed the universal belief that there would never be any large vessels going

SME & Entrepreneurship Committee

Maja Waniewicz, aviation consultant and founder and general manager of Skyeet, met with SME & Entrepreneurship Committee members in October to share her experience leading a small company through the times of a agging economy. Waniewicz said that in her business decisions she has been guided by both cold calculations and her passions. A seasoned skydiver, Waniewicz wanted to combine business with

EU Affairs/Energy & Environment Committees

Beata Jaczewska, director of the Department of Economic Development at the Ministry of Economy, met with AmCham members at a joint meeting of the European Union Affairs and Energy & Environment Committees to dis-

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Polish expansion in the US

A long way to go
Polish rms investing abroad still nd the US market too big, too expensive and too far away
hen US Ambassador Stephen Mull met with AmCham in December, he noted in his policy speech that Polish companies are becoming significant providers of foreign direct investment to the world, and it would be a good idea to have more of them choose the US. Indeed, in recent years, some Polish companies have made spectacular entries into the US market. One of them was AmRest, a company that develops casual dining chains in Poland and other countries, with such brands as KFC, Pizza Hut, Freshpoint, Burger King and Starbucks in its portfolio. In 2008 AmRest acquired a controlling interest in the franchise restaurant chain Applebees Neighborhood Grill & Bar. With the deal, the Polish company acquired control of over 100 restaurants in the US and, as market analysts underlined, made a strong entry into the worlds largest market for casual dining. But in mid-2012, AmRest divested from most of the restaurants, which market analysts said reflected AmRests focus on pursuing business closer to homein Western Europe, Central & Eastern Europe, and Russia.
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Polish expansion in the US
Last year saw a major acquisition by Polish producer of copper and silver KGHM Polska Mied in Canada, but indirectly in the US. With the acquisition of Canadas Quadra Mining for almost USD3 billion, the state-controlled holding company KGHM became the owner of two copper mines in the US: the Robinson mine in Nevada and the Carlota in Arizona. It was the largest overseas acquisition by a Polish company ever. Pharmena, a pharmaceutical company listed on the Warsaw alternative market NewConnect, bought US pharmaceutical specialists Cortia Corp. in 2011. Pharmena, which is part of the PGF pharmaceutical group, acquired Cortia for its advanced research on an innovative drug against the hardening of tissue, which Pharmena plans to introduce to EU markets. Also of note was the 2008 acquisition of Utah-based Occidental Resources by Petrolinvest, a Polish company that explores for oil and gas. Petrolinvest has now tapped into Occidentals exploration sites in many different parts of the world, including Kazakhstan. Focus on europe The list of acquisitions and greenfield investment projects made in the US by Polish companies is short. There are only a handful of Polish companies that have invested in the US, and the ventures have not been typical FDI projects that would signal the expansion of Polish companies abroad. For instance, the acquisition by KGHM (technically in Canada) was worth nearly three times as much as the total accumulated Polish FDI to the US before that time. It also added 5,500 jobs now managed by a Polish company in the US, out of the estimated total 10,000 jobs that Polish investors maintain in the US. The US is not anywhere near the top of the agenda for Polish investors. This is clearly reflected in research results. According to a study of Polish FDI by a group of economists at Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toru, presented in December 2012 at a conference held under the auspices of the Ministry of Economy, Polish companies are expanding mostly in the developed markets of Western Europe. The head of the research team, Prof. Wodzimierz Karaszewski, said that because of their competitive edge, Polish companies have been interested for some time in getting into developed markets. By 2005, 90.3% of all Polish FDI went to European countriesthe closest developed markets there are. Interestingly, Switzerland attracted some 30% of Polands FDI in value, most of that in the form of transit capital investments channeled to other countries through Switzerland thanks to favorable Swiss regulations on financial holding companies. Asia was the second most popular continent for Polish FDI, with 4.1%, followed by North America (2.8%), Africa (1.4%) and the rest of the world (1.4%). Six years later, by the end of 2011, the geographical distribution of Polands FDI had changed very little. Indeed, European markets proved to be even more interesting, as 91.3% of Polands FDI went there. By then, Switzerland attracted only 5% of that amount. North America did rise to a distant second, attracting 4.4% of Polands FDI, while the share of Asia dropped to 2.5%. Africa fell to 0.4%, and the remaining continents remained at 1.4% of Polands total FDI. in search of new markets The main reason Polish companies invest abroad is the drive to expand to new markets, the Polish FDI research has shown. Thus the largest percentage of Polish FDI projects by value was in trade (41%), followed by services (36%) and production (16%). Polish companies investing in the EU are powered by the need to utilize their own production or trading capacity. When investing in CEE countries outside of the EU, they also look at the growth potential of the emerging markets. Factors that impede FDI outflows to the old EU countries include market saturation, high competitiveness, labor costs and other costs, including real estate. In the new EU member states, the most discouraging factors for Polish investors are market saturation, followed by the lack of government backing and the relatively high risk of doing business there. In CEE outside of the EU, the most important barrier for Polish companies is high business risk, combined with heavy bureaucracy, the lack of clear and stable business regulations, and corruption. Why not the Us? The economists in Toru did not analyze the US market in terms of the most encouraging and discouraging factors for Polish FDI. However, in line with the findings for Europe, the fact that the North American market is highly developed would presumably make it a desirable location for FDI. Yet, while the US and Canada did rise in the chart of Polands FDI destinations in 20052011, their share compared to Europe remains small. One reason for this, as explained by Mariusz Rado of the Warsaw School of Economics, a panelist at the Ministry of Economy conference, is that geographic distance plays a significant part in deciding where to invest, especially in manufacturinga sector that has generated 11% of Polands total FDI outflows. Rado observed that manufacturers tend to invest in countries that are cheaper than Poland when it comes to production-related costs such as labor. This is an important factor, especially in light of the fact that nearly 20% of large Polish corporations have manufacturing facilities abroad. But there are other reasons. According to Marek Koczko, secretary of the Polish Chamber of Commerce, the US is perceived as a complex marketa far distant land, expensive to get in and very competitive. According to Hubert Wochyski, president of Planet Soft, a business application development company from Gdask, one of the main barriers to successful entry to the US is the lack of affordable information about the market. Market research costs thousands of dollars, he said. If there were an agency that would offer such information, it would help to do business in the US. Another information-related problem is the lack of access to industry-by-industry whos who data, but there is some assistance available. We often ask the Polish Embassy in the US to find the right people we want to talk to and set up meetings with them, Wochyski said. The embassy helped many times. Apart from adequate and affordable market information, there is another barrier that is more psychological than real: the visa requirement for Polish travelers to the US. As Sawomir Majman, president of the Polish Information and Foreign Investment Agency, which handles major inward FDI projects, said at the US-Poland Business Summit in 2012, Polish businessmen prefer to invest in Germany instead of going through the humiliation that the application for a US visa involves. Marek Koczko noted that the fact that Poland is not part of the US Visa Waiver Program must be considered by anyone thinking of traveling to the US: They are afraid that it is a complex problem to obtain the right visa, and that they or some of their people may be refused a visa. So its much better not to ask at all. The burden of visas was echoed by others. According to Wochyski, When we have to send our person to the US on short notice, it is a big problem when he or she does not have a visa yet. For Remigiusz Kocielny, president of Vivid Games, a producer of games for mobile phones, life would be easier without visas, even for Poles who have already received one. The last time I traveled from the US to Poland, he explained, the visa officer did not take the [Form I-94] slip. I noticed it only later in Poland. I followed the instructions from the website and mailed the form to the immigration authorities. But Im not sure whether the next time I travel to the US in February it is going to be hassle-free or not. As far as Polish businesspeople are concerned, it seems that whatever reasons the US may have had for not bringing Poland into the US Visa Waiver Program when Poland became a member of the EU and a party to the Schengen Agreement, they are irrelevant today and for the future. pleasant surprise While major acquisitions by Polish firms in the US and Canada have been one-time deals, the American story of Inglot Cosmetics, a privately held producer and retailer of beauty items, still continues to expand. The company set up its first store on American soil in New Yorks Times Square in 2009. Since then it has progressed to nearly 30 stores, mainly thanks to smooth cooperation with the retail chain Macys. Speaking at a session on investing in the US at the US-Poland Business Summit in Warsaw in June of last year, the companys president, Zbigniew Inglot, said that it took years of research and experience gained in other markets before Inglot decided to invest in America. The US was number 25 or 26 on our list of the countries we wanted to enter, Inglot said. Before establishing its flagship store in the heart of Manhattan, Inglot was already present across Asia and South America. Paradoxically, Inglots relatively late entry into the US market was caused by the high attractiveness of the US market. It is a market where the company could not afford to fail. In its business, the right location is key. Thus Inglot waited for the moment when it could seize the highest-profile location imaginable. The key to our success was that our first store was at the corner of 48th Street and Broadway in New York, Inglot said. We managed to get this place because of the crisis in the US. There were a lot of empty places in premium locations all over the world. We took that opportunity. After a few months of observations, we started to open new stores in the US. Inglot is now in 18 US cities. Once Inglot took the plunge, it found a receptive market. The US consumer, unlike the German one, for instance, is open to new brands and buys quality products, he explained. In turn, the US business regulations are clear, simple and stable. For Inglot Cosmetics, the firms entry into the US market has marked a new chapter in its history. Now we are rebuilding our company, Inglot said. We have to develop our warehouses and so on, and we are ready to go further and continue investing in the US. It is also e-commerce, collaboration with Macys, and we would like to start a franchise system. Top of the world While many brick-and-mortar companies may expand to different countries before they eventually decide to zoom in on the US, for Polish software developers the US market is way more important than any other market, even the Polish one. When it comes to the US market, we are extremely interested in expanding there, said Hubert Wochyski, whose company Soft Planet runs an ongoing advertising campaign for its flagship productdata integration software for companieson trade sites in the US. The US is a big and affluent market, Wochyski said. In his view, the best part of the US market is that it is business-driven, with no strings attached. American clients are open to new, innovative solutions and quickly grasp the kinds of benefits they may get with new software, Wochyski said. When they see the benefit, they buy the product, even though the application of the product requires investment. Wochyski noted that such a straightforward business attitude is rare in Europe, where many projects are implemented with financing from the EU: You may have a product that clearly delivers benefits to the potential client but does not comply with some of the program requirements. So the

Manufacturers tend to invest in countries that are cheaper than Poland when it comes to production-related costs such as labor. This is an important factor, especially in light of the fact that nearly 20% of large Polish corporations have manufacturing facilities abroad.
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Geographic distance plays a significant part in deciding where to invest, especially in manufacturing a sector that has generated 11% of Polands total FDI outflows.

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Polish expansion in the US
decision to buy is not a pure businessbased calculation. For Kocielny from Vivid Games, a B2C company, the benefits of being present in the US are incomparable to any other market. The US market is the most important for us, he said. In the US we can generate the highest sales volumes, owing to the highest saturation rate of smartphones. In Asia, for instance, a market where we also sell, customers are more interested in freeto-play software. In the US, consumers are happy to pay for something they like. Apart from the highest rate of consumers using smartphones and willing to buy new games, Kocielny noted that credit card payment is commonplace for American consumers, unlike in other markets. There are many smartphone users in Poland who refuse to submit their credit card details over the Internet, he said. Apart from the pros stemming from consumer attitudes, Polish IT companies find the US market the most important place from the strategic point of view. In the US we tap into intellectual capital, said Kocielny. Vivid Games cooperates with Silicon Valley entrepreneur Paul Bragiel, cofounder and managing partner of i/o ventures, an early-state startup accelerator. He is our source of information on market trends and whats going on in the industry, Kocielny said. Government backing With outgoing Polish FDI growing, investors naturally expect Polands diplomatic missions to do their best to back up their investment projects and protect Polish interests. However, the practice is far from perfect. The businesspeople at the December conference on Polands outgoing FDI were outspoken in their criticism of the way the Polish consulates work in this respect. They spoke in unison of the lack of systemic solutions for how Polish investors should be served by their countrys diplomats. They said that today, the personal attitudes of the diplomats appointed to serve Polish interests in foreign countries are key to whether investors receive effective aid or not. They also criticized the atomized efforts of nearly 100 different agencies that are responsible for the promotion of Poland abroad. The common perception is that many trade missions sent abroad by various central and local government agencies fall short of their goals, with participants often devoting more energy to sightseeing and shopping than their statutory tasks. Poland is also not known for having a strong presence at most trade fairs, due to the lack of funding this requires. Even though Poland is one of Europes major food exporters, at the Fancy Food Show 2009 in the US, Poland looked like a newcomer to the food market compared to France, Italy or even Romania, and did not convey any ambition to change this status. But the Polish government has taken note of the expansion of Polish companies abroad, and attending to their needs is a new phenomenon for the government. According to Deputy Minister of Economy Ilona Antoniszyn-Klik, who spoke at the December conference, For a long time Polish companies were not a player in the world FDI market, with annual outward FDI of EUR 50 million. But since our outgoing investment reached EUR 5 billion a year, we have changed our attitude. Antoniszyn-Klik said that the Ministry of Economy, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Presidents Chancellery have changed their attitudes. This was especially notable in 2011. We know that we need to boost the competencies of our diplomatic teams, she explained, and add the economic component to each official foreign visit our government ministers take. She noted that there are countries in which a component of political backing is indispensable for Polish companies. Referring specifically to the US and Canada, Antoniszyn-Klik said that Poland will call for creation of trade regulations on the global level, a process for which Poland will seek the support of other EU states. Meanwhile, however, there are no signs that the ministry will come up with a coherent promotional program targeting America. There are many small programs that offer different types of assistance to companies attending trade fairs and other business events, but not in the US. Priority is attached to much closer markets, including France, the UK and Germany, but also Russia and Turkey. But thinking big in other directions, last year the Polish government launched Go China, a program aimed at helping medium-sized companies enter secondary markets in China. Go Africa is expected to be launched this year. When it comes to promoting Polish interests in the US, the Ministry of Economy seems to expect Polish companies to establish their own Polish chamber of commerce there as the ultimate solution. selectUsa Some of the problems Polish investors face when looking at the US may be solved by a new initiative launched by the US government in 2011, SelectUSA. Operated through the Foreign Commercial Service, it is the first federal government program to promote and facilitate inward investment in the US. According to Steve Olson of the US Department of Commerce, Executive Director of SelectUSA, who spoke at the USWINTER 2013 AMERICAN INVESTOR 15

A question of perception
The US markets look different from across the Atlantic than they do to companies that have actually experienced them.

Too distant geographically

Warehouse and logistics infrastructure in placeshipping costs comparable to elsewhereall global shipping companies present on the market

Too expensive Value for money Too competitive markets are saturated US customers welcome new brands US companies buy if they see benefits

Poland Business Summit in 2012, efforts assisting foreign investors had always been handled primarily at the state and local levels. But what we realized is that this investment is so important to the US economyjobs, competitiveness, growing our manufacturing basethat we need to have a federal presence to help those economic development organizations at the state and local levels, and foreign firms. SelectUSA provides a number of services that may be helpful to Polish firms. First and foremost it can act as a portal, a single point of entry for a Polish firm that views the US in total as large and overwhelming. You can come to SelectUSA.gov and we will introduce you to the appropriate economic development organization if you express a geographic preference, Olson explained. Or if you want to invest in a particular business, we can introduce you to a trade association in that business that could help you decide where to invest and how to do it. We also have our developing toola cluster map of the US that shows industry sectors by geographic locations. We have a number of these in many different industries. We can also help educate Polish firms on how to invest in the US. We provide information on federal assistance programs that might be relevant and, of course, state

and local programs that are there to encourage foreign investment. The other thing that SelectUSA can do is act as an ombudsman for Polish firms thinking of investing in the US. It is aftercare for companies that have already invested in the US, Olson said. This care may come in many different forms. It could be help interpreting FDI regulations, for examplewe have done it many times to provide clarity to the investor and let the investor know what it is that they need to do to comply with the US regulations. By the same token, we can act as a go-between with the US agency that is primarily involved in the issue, and flag the issue for them and make sure it is getting the attention it deserves. Olson also mentioned visas. One of the issues that we get asked to assist in is the visa question. The State Department has a referral program that we take advantage of, and we are able to flag a particular case for review for them so it gets the proper attention. He went on to explain that SelectUSA can work with the firm involved to provide the guidance they may need so that the visa application process goes as smoothly as possible.

Non-metric system Needs getting used a drag for engineers to Safety and legal Stable and transparregulations much ent regulatory different frameworkno strings attached Polish businesspeople need a visa to travel to the US and fear rejection Market data too expensive Visa application process is smooth once issued, a tourist visa is valid for 10 yearsthe rejection rate is falling SelectUSA, a federal agency, can help contact SelectUSA through the US Commercial Service in Warsaw

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Monthly Meeting
November 2012

Photos by AGENCJAREPORTER

Whats new with Obama 2.0?

Poland hopes for a reboot of political relations with the US in the next four years
fter every presidential election in the US, AmCham invites a panel of experts to its November Monthly Meeting to discuss the political implications of the democratic process in the US for Poland, Central & Eastern Europe, and the European Union. The US, it seems, is completely uninterested in Central & Eastern Europe, said Tomasz Wrblewski. He noted that the lack of a coherent policy for the region, and more specifically for Poland, makes the Polish government look at the opportunities that further integration with the EU offers. There are a lot of issues to discuss there for Poland, he said, including the EU social agenda and the unions fiscal policies. So getting closer to EU integration is going to be exciting. Wrblewski added that the process will also lead to Polands adoption of the euro. I hope that by 2016 Poland will be a part of the eurozone and its fiscal system will be

AmCham Board Member Tony Housh moderated the discussion with panelists Bartosz Wglarczyk, Andrew Michta and Tomasz Wrblewski

completely integrated with that of the union. cooperation in national defense Prof. Andrew Michta noted, however, that the relations between the US and Poland in the defense sector have evolved enormously. He said that it was President Obama who requested that NATO draw up a contingency policy for Poland and the CEE region. He also said that when Poland went through the F-16 acquisition process, it had great political implications, because it means that the country has bought a platforma relationshipwith the US Air Force and the industrial sector. This relationship, Michta noted, has developed to the point of establishing a US air base in Poland, something which only a few years ago was perceived by political analysts as hardly possible. For Michta, the cooperation in defense between the US and Poland is the way to go.

I see more opportunities for Poland and the US to come closer, because Poland is positioned to become a regional security provider in the Baltic and North European area, he said. That is something that I hope the second Obama administration will appreciate, and come up with a set of ideas and very concrete suggestions of how the US defense industry can cooperate with Polands security sector. In the area of national security, however, Bartosz Wglarczyk observed, The US does not need or want any backing from Europe. Part of the problem, he explained, is that what the White House needs is one telephone line in Europe, that Henry Kissinger talked about, which the US president can call to learn the EUs position on certain security issues. As long as there is no such telephone line for the US president, the US will not be able to work on a strong security policy with Europe. Now, according to Wglarczyk, There is

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Monthly Meeting
November 2012
no such thing as a European security and defense policy, and therefore there is no such thing as a transatlantic security and defense policy. There are only bilateral relations between the US and other countries in Europe. Wglarczyk added that instead of the US, Poland should focus its security and defense policies around the EU and use its EU membership to help the union create its own security and defense policy. This can be done if Poland becomes a strong part of the EU, he said. economic cooperation According to Wrblewski, the reelection of Barack Obama is not going to have any significant impact on US-Polish economic relations, as they may improve only after the US economy gets better. The US leadership has to focus on monetary policies to help the US economy, he said. Right now Obama does not have a good record when it comes to new job creation, as his administration created only half the expected number in its four years in government. Wrblewski added that within the next two years the situation may change for the better. When it does, he said, It will have a big impact on Polands economy as well, because Poland is becoming an export country. While its main export markets remain the EU countries, the US market is also increasingly looked at by Polish companies. Wrblewski also noted that economically, Poland is in a vacuum when it comes to its relations with the US. There is no comparison between US-Poland business ties and those of the US and Germany or the US and France, he said. There may be differences in official government policies between the US and those countries on the government level, regarding such issues as Afghanistan or the Middle East, but when it comes to business interests the US and those countries are in unison. It will take a long time before Poland can hope to establish such business relations with the US as those countries have established. Worrying signals Talking about the implications of Obamas reelection, Wrblewski mentioned the growing political and economic influence of Russia in Central & Eastern Europe, made possible thanks to the Obama administrations increasing flexibility in its relations with Russia. This is of concern, Wrblewski said. He explained that the process is known in Poland as the Gaspromization of Central Europe (after the Russian state-owned producer and exporter of natural gas). Meanwhile, neither Poland nor the EU, both depending on Russia to provide natural gas, is militarily or economically prepared for any challenge from Russia. Things that happened in Lithuania or Ukraine should be a good example of what may happen, Wrblewski warned. Lessons to learn The reelection of Barack Obama, was, above all, viewed by the panelists as an opportunity for the US administration to learn from its mistakes and change its political course toward Poland and the CEE region. Wrblewski said that the US government should not overestimate the importance of the closeness between Poland and the US when it comes to shared values, which, he said, characterizes thinking about the US in Poland. Those shared values do not mean in reality that Poles are more open to US investment than they are to investments from other countries. And vice versa. Andrew Michta noted that there is a disconnect between how the Polish-American relationship works at the level of state-tostate cooperation and general sentiments down on the ground. When we look at the results of a survey conducted by the US German Marshall Fund in 2012, he explained, Poland is arguably less pro-American in terms of the responses than at any other time in postwar history. The Obama win is an opportunity to realign this perception to at least what it is on the government-to-government working level, which is very good. He went on to say that there is a perception that there is a distance between the US president and Poland. This is where major work needs to be done to improve the public perception of the US and the US government in Poland, Michta said. It is not about any major policy adjustments. It is about a better understanding of what stimulates regional policies and the kind of historical experience that is involved in it. The US has to be much more sensitive to what people in the Baltic region and Central Europe say and what they are concerned about in terms of their economic development, well-being and security. The US will not restore confidence from Poland and other countries in the region until it fully understands and actually embraces the political context of political thinking in the region. The US has to be aware of this and build its long-term security interests in a way that embraces the security interests of individual states the US allies with. In this, Poland is a major US ally in the region, and should be treated as such.

CEO Forum
Future challenges in management

Andrew A. Michta is Professor of International Studies at Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee, and a Senior Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, DC. He is also Senior Transatlantic Fellow and Director of the Warsaw office of the German Marshall Fund of the US, and a member of the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London.

AmCham Chairman Joseph Wancer introduces the discussion panel. In the background, panel moderator Jan Cieski (Financial Times), Anna Sieko (IBM) and Mik Kuczkiewicz (Hay Group).

Brave new world

six sweeping megatrends The rst trend is Globalization 2.0. According to the report, globalization is no longer a linear shift toward a more connected, unied global market. Today, globalization has reached the state of a matrix of interconnected business factors that are increasingly unpredictable. Yet, as Kuczkiewicz put it, Very few businesses can have an international reach without actually being global. They have to be present where their clients and customers are present. Another trend is Climate and Environmental Impacts. Kuczkiewicz explained that in the era of global warming, companies must limit their eco-footprints and cut the use of ever-scarcer resources. The ecological sustainability of business is a major departure from the old way of thinking and requires a completely new approach to the issue of resource management. Hurricane Sandy left parts of New York without electricity, Kuczkiewicz pointed out. The only people who were able to continue to live a normal life were those who had solar panels. In his opinion, this has huge implications for how businesses will evaluate power sources in the future. Another megatrend identied by Hay

Tomasz Wrblewski is a renowned editor and publisher. He studied journalism at the University of Houston and worked in the US for Newsweek and the Washington Post. In Poland he has edited and published some of the largest magazines, including the Polish editions of Newsweek and Forbes, the weekly Wprost, and one of Polands leading dailies, Rzeczpospolita.

Bartosz Wglarczyk describes himself as a multimedia journalist. His professional career includes editing the lifestyle magazine Sukces, working as a reporter for the private television network TVN and for Gazeta Wyborcza, where he was deputy foreign editor and foreign correspondent.

he challenges that senior-level managers face in an ever-changing business environment were on the agenda of the AmCham CEO Forum in November. Members of the discussion panel, moderated by Jan Cieski, Warsaw and Prague correspondent of the Financial Times, were Mik Kuczkiewicz, General Manager of Hay Group Poland, and Anna Sieko, President of IBM Poland, with a presentation also by Wadysaw Szwoch, IBM Global Services Leader in Poland and the Baltics. They focused on management challenges that have been projected by two separate studies: Leadership 2030, compiled by Hay Group in cooperation with German-based foresight company Z-Punkt, and the latest edition of the IBM CEO Study, a global survey of senior managers. First to speak was Mik Kuczkiewicz, who underlined the main ndings of Leadership 2030. He said that to successfully develop the combination of skills and qualities that business leaders will need in the immediate future, they have to drop the old way of thinking and corporate behavior that propelled them throughout their professional careers. This is due to six megatrends identied in the survey that are changing everything about the business environment as we used to know it.

With all their vices and virtues, Polish executives are good material for facing the business challenges of the future
Group, Demographic Change, focuses on the management implications that stem from the fact that developed nations populations are aging and stagnating, while populations are booming in the less-developed world. The result is migration, skill shortages, and an intensifying demand for talent. In other words, as Kuczkiewicz put it, Demography is against the needs of the management. Apart from demographic issues, the new generations are different from the old ones. Under another megatrend, identied in the Hay Group report as Individualization and Value Pluralism, people today expect more freedom of choice. Careers are an important part of their quest for self-expression, but their loyalty is more likely to be directed toward social networks than employers. Young people need to believe in something, Kuczkiewicz said. They need to have a meaningful role in the organization they are a part of. As long as they are not positioned that way, they will not show any loyalty. Their personal ambitions, their attachment to family, and their personal values are much greater than their attachment to the company. Kuczkiewicz also noted that today there are not enough people in lower- and mid-level management. Tomorrow there will not be

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CEO Forum
Future challenges in management

enough people in senior management. So we need to make sure we can identify those people, to keep them motivated and attached to the company so they are there when the company needs them as senior managers. Digital Lifestyle and Work is another megatrend that according to Hay Group will have a critical impact on how companies are managed in the future. The problem is that technology is tilting the balance of power towards employees. Always-on people can work anywhere and form large, powerful personal and business networks. The same digital trends are also turning customers into partners. New career paths, standards and structures are needed if businesses are to take advantage of this trend. Young people are obviously much more procient in using new technologies than older generations, Kuczkiewicz noted. People of my generation often have to cross a tremendous threshold to tap into the newest information technologies. For younger people it is not a big deal at all. Along with digital lifestyles comes another megatrend, Technology Convergence. Today, four tech areas are converging fast, promising the sharpest technology shifts in history. Nano, bio, information and cognitive technologies are already transforming areas like medicine, energy and manufacturing. We thought that telecommunications was about calling each other, Kuczkiewicz said. Today we see that the telecom business is about many things, such as data transmission and different multimedia serves. Voice calls are becoming only a small fraction of it. Concluding his presentation, Kuczkiewicz noted that several of these trends have already been researched intensively. But they have not, until now, been researched in the context of leadership. Nor have these six particular megatrends ever been investigated in one single piece of research. According to Kuczkiewicz, one conclusion clearly emerges from the Hay Group study: Leadership is for everyone, and not only the few gifted individuals with personal charisma. Leadership does not involve only those people at the top of the organization, but all people that work for the organization. Leadership is about leading other people to be leaders themselvesto be visionary, resonant and enthusiastic about what they do for the company.

Leadership is for everyone, and not only the few gifted individuals with personal charisma. Leadership does not involve only those people at the top of the organization, but all people that work for the organization.
Mik Kuczkiewicz, Hay Group

What do these megatrends mean for managers? According to Kuczkiewicz, full operationalization is one challenge. It is about having a special development program for managers which helps them operate in a matrix. When you work in a delocalized and decentralized organization, and telecommunication is the only means of getting hold of each other, then you need to know how to run an organization in which you have dozens of people who participate in decision-making processes who may not be physically present there. The old world in oblivion The next to speak was Wadysaw Szwoch, who took the stage to present the results of the IBM CEO Study, compiled from interviews with 17,000 CEOs in 64 countries, including Poland. Szwoch noted that for the rst time in the ve annual studies that IBM has completed so far, technology, including nanotech and biotech, was identied as the number one factor inuencing companies. Szwoch explained that technology creates new markets, but CEOs fear that if they dont keep developing new technologies for the markets they are in, they will lose the markets. It is even more fear than real opportunity, Szwoch said. Look at Kodak. It was atop the market a few decades ago, and now it is insignicant. The entire CD producing industry is gone. The pace of change is so fast that if you dont play in the technology area, you can be gone in a year or two. When it comes to areas where the value for a company is created, some traditional areas such as human capital, customer relations and innovation still hold true. However, they require a different approach on the part of senior management. As for human capitalthe number one generator of value for companiessenior managers today must forget the old ways of controlling their people. As Szwoch explained, This is because the world is so connected that people can only be managed through values that they share. Other factors can no longer be controlled by the company. A new approach to human capital management is a must. This is because the world is now connected, Szwoch said. We need to work with partnerships, to work with other companies. You cannot limit your people to

their own environment. You cannot control them. You need to open the world to them so they work with external companies. When it comes to customer relations, Szwoch said one thing is for sure: The old world of customer segmentation is also gone. Today, it is about understanding single customersunderstanding what he or she does across different domains and crafting your service offer for that very individual. Thats how customers are now being handled. How are we going to understand what our individual customers are doing, to be able to craft products or services just for them? According to Szwoch, We need to understand what our customer does across many different areas, including social media and others. This takes a lot of data to process, and may lead to offering fewer products and services but some that are really needed. In turn, partnerships are a must today, the IBM CEO Study suggests. The world is so connected today that the old strategy of launching a new service to the marketplace to then collect a premium on is gone, Szwoch said. It has been gone for a long time. Today, the new markets are created through partnerships, other companies that open their world for you and really work with other people who have the understanding of several market niches that you are interested in too. Szwoch stressed that it is impossible for an individual company to have a strategy on its own through which it offers a new product or service and successfully collects a premium on it. You have to open up for external companies who have a better understanding of new niches and local markets, Szwoch said. The name of the game going forward is not to be a player on the market that we already know, but to create new markets, because old markets are disappearing faster than we were used to seeing before. And the best partnerships are at the human level. Local perspective Jan Cieski, who has long experience covering business in Poland and elsewhere in Central & Eastern Europe, noted that while the two reports cover global trends and thinking that apply in high-tech, cutting-edge companies, one of the specics of the Polish economy is its relatively low application of innovation. He said that Polish companies generally just take business models developed in the US or

Western Europe and adapt them to the local conditions. There is little cutting-edge innovation in Poland, he said. It is recreating things for the local market, such as Allegro or Onet, but not creating new things. Anna Sieko agreed that a statistical approach does suggest that innovation is not as frequently applied by Polish companies as it is by companies in the West. Poland is indeed at the bottom of innovation ratings in the EU countries, she said. One of the reasons is the relatively low Internet penetration in Poland. Internet penetration is today the key to globalization and developing new ways of communication. But some 40% of Poles do not use the Internet. A particularly high percentage of these out-of-touch people are in the 50+ age group. Sieko said that nearly all the former Soviet Bloc countries seem to be followers of innovation and not creators (except for Estonia, the birthplace of Skype), and in this respect Poland is not an exception. But when it comes to quality, innovative programming, Polish software developers are at the forefront of global competition. IBM has one of its cyber security centers in Poland because Poles are good hackers, she explained. You have to be a hacker to be in cyber security. According to Mik Kuczkiewicz, Poles are not exactly famous for innovation. But Poles are in the forefront of software development for the gaming industry, he said. So the capability is there. Another issue raised by Jan Cieski was the characteristic tendency of many Polish executives to micromanage their enterprises. Such a top-down management system is in contradiction to world trends today, he noted. According to Kuczkiewicz, hands-on management is the predominant form of management for many Polish companies. But there comes a moment when they know they have to introduce a net type of management, he said. They hire people from outside, but are not inclined to hire consultants. They try to develop solutions themselves. Kuczkiewicz diagnosed the problem as an aversion to failure which is typical of Polish attitudes to business. Poles have it in their culture: They hate failure. As long as it is not going to be generally acceptable to fail in business, Poles are not going to be innovative businesspeople, because you cannot really

manage innovation and how it is going to perform at the marketplace. Kuczkiewicz said that the biggest challenge for managers in Poland is to have their workers accept that they have to operate in an ambiguous environment and make certain decisions by themselves. Polish workers want things to be outlined and well-dened, he said. But managers cannot tell everything. They can show a certain vision and a goal to achieve, but how to get there is the business of the workers, not the top people. But Poland is very diversied when it comes to leadership styles, according to Kuczkiewicz. Big, state-owned companies often have the ambition to introduce new, modern, more efcient ways of management. However, they have to face the big inertia of large companies, and oftentimes the inertia is too large a force to break. According to Anna Sieko, the problem of the top-down management system in Poland originates in history, as many large businesses used to be family-run enterprises. This is changing. Today such companies tend to hire managers with international experience, Sieko said. So professionals are taking over the boards of Polish companies, while families try to stay out of the managing. This is happening because of globalization. Sieko explained that families that own companies realize that experienced managers with an international outlook can better protect their family business from market threats. Another cultural issue, pinpointed by Cieski, was an apparent lack of teamwork skills that characterizes Polish managers. For Kuczkiewicz the problem lies in a relatively high level of education. He said that Poles seem to be more intelligent than people in the West, hence their high self-esteem and strong inclination to work on their own. But being intelligent for intelligences sake is not enough, Kuczkiewicz said. There is no intelligent approach to teamwork in Poland. It is still a sort of rocket science. Twenty years ago in the West, teamwork was considered one of the basics of education. This is why Polands managers have an inability or a very low ability to work as a team. There is a lot in which Polish managers have to catch up to managers in other countries, who are perhaps less-proud individuals but are able to use synergies between people.

But Sieko said the situation is slowly improving. Collaboration and teamwork are crucial in the IT sector, she said. We are happy to see that there are universities in Poland that have started teaching how to work as a team. Good material abroad Both panelists agreed that with all the educational vices and cultural handicaps in Poland, Polish executives, especially in middle management, generally pass their tests with ying colors as they rise up the ranks and move to larger corporate structures outside of Poland. Kuczkiewicz said that on average, Polish managers are more successful working outside of Poland than their counterparts from a number of other countries. Poles are usually more exible and entrepreneurial. They are more autonomous in their thinking, and take risks. Maybe they are not good at teamwork, but those who actually get sent abroad are really the very best managers that can be. Kuczkiewicz also noted that Poles are much more cosmopolitan and open to other cultures than a lot of other nations. Sieko agreed, adding that executive-level managers from Poland who already work for IBM in the Middle East or China and in the companys European headquarters in Paris are doing well. They are respectful of other cultures, which is absolutely critical in doing business in other countries. She noted, however, that while the careers of Polish managers abroad may look spectacular in light of the general perception of Poland as an economy on the fringe of global trends, there are instances of excellent management teams winning important battles in Poland. Sieko pointed to the case of the online auction site Allegro.pl, which displayed an example of modern leadership in Poland by fending off competition from eBay: The US company came to Poland, but after a year of unsuccessful attempts to win market share, it could not beat Allegro and closed its operations in Poland. It speaks volumes about all the points on management of the future: collaboration, partnerships, client relations. So, indeed, innovation is low in Poland, but our economy is not provincial.

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Collaboration and teamwork are crucial in the IT sector. We are happy to see that there are universities in Poland that have started teaching how to work as a team.
Anna Sieko, IBM

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Manufacturers Forum
Future challenges in production

Weathering the storm

AmCham member companies active in the manufacturing sector met in November in Katowice at the 5th AmCham Manufacturers Forum to share their experiences tackling the market slowdown and to interface with local officials and suggest solutions involving Polands national and regional governments.
does not seem to be a competitor for Poland when it comes to the allocation of foreign direct investment in manufacturing. Chinas cost differential is quickly coming down, Fogo said, and I would guess that many US manufacturers that are currently in China will start to look to CEE to locate their manufacturing. This is because rising energy costs are going to affect manufacturers across the world, and they will decide that their transportation costs are too high and it is more cost-effective to locate their plants closer to the end users. One reason Poland is still an attractive place for foreign investors is that the countrys economy is growing, thanks to good diversification between the production and services sectors. As noted by another speaker, Marcin Mrowiec, chief economist of Bank Pekao SA, one of the largest banks in Poland, other countries such as France, the UK and Greece relocated their production facilities to cheap-labor countries in the last decade. As a result, the manufacturing sector now contributes only 12.8% to these countries GDP On the other end of . the spectrum are the most economically healthy Scandinavian countries, with their manufacturing sectors contributing nearly 20% to GDP Mrowiec said that Poland, with . 17.6% of its GDP being generated by the manufacturing sector, remains a relatively healthy economy. Mrowiec also noted that when it comes to employment, companies in Poland adjusted their workforce to their production potential around 2008. While the process of downsizing is still taking place, he would not expect any major layoffs this year. Companies are cautious with reductions, he said. Mrowiec said that despite the universal perception that the real estate industry is in crisis, employment in this sector has grown by 20% since 2008. While the sector will continue to idle people in 2013, he said, It will not be a dramatic process. According to Mrowiec, wages have risen since 2008 by about 4% a year in the industry sector, but the process has been significantly slowed down in recent months. He said that Polands attractiveness for investors stems from relatively low costs, including wages that are low when compared to work efficiency. Those areas will lose significance in time, however. Mrowiec said that wages in Poland will keep growing by 3.5-4.0% a year. It is important, therefore, that Poland should improve some other of its economic factors, including the efficiency with which it utilizes innovations in the economy. Boosting innovativeness is more important, as in the future the number of people at the productive age will decrease. poland in the lead All panelistsexcept for those representing the steel industryagreed that despite the economic crisis in Europe, Poland remains an attractive location for investors. According to Jan Przepira, president of RR Donnelley Poland, an industrial printing company with four printing plants in Poland, the law in Poland is stable, and the labor law provides more flexibility for the employer than in other EU countries. We have operations in Eastern and Western Europe, he explained, and we know how difficult it is to run our business in some of those countries just because of the labor-related regulations. Przepira urged lawmakers not to experi-

ment with the labor law, so that what is good in the Polish labor law remains. Poland is relatively liberal for the employer, he said, especially when compared with Germany and Hungary. Przepira also noted that the constant development of infrastructure has had a positive impact on business, especially for a company that sends hundreds of trucks with its products to customers all over the continent. The semi-liberal market for electricity offers some incentives for the company. The deregulation of the energy market, which is far from perfect, has delivered some benefits for our company, he said. The mechanism has started to work for us. We have seen a positive trend in energy pricesthey went down recently. I dont know if this is going to be a long-term trend. The future looks good Jacek arnowiecki, director of the General Motors plant in Gliwice, said that the plant has a future because it is in Gliwice that production of the new generation of Astras will take place starting in 2015. The company has already begun preparations for the launch. In 2013, the Gliwice plant will produce six different models of Opels, including a new convertible which will roll off the assembly line in the spring. While the future of the Gliwice plant looks good, it does not come without problems related to the economic slowdown. arnowiecki said that in 2011 the company registered the first symptoms of economic decline in the automotive market in Europea bad sign indeed, as 98% of the companys production is sold in Western Europe. Our production volume declined from 180,000 units in 2011 to 130,000 units in 2012, he said. arnowiecki noted that the Gliwice plant has braced itself for impact, as automotive experts forecast that the market recovery will be slow. They forecast it will take the industry until 2018-2020 to reach the sales levels from 2007the best year for the automotive industry in the last decade, he said. We expect to see the first sight of an improving market in 2014-2015. Joanna Bensz, AmCham Wrocaw branch director and a member of the management board of PM Group, noted that GMs success in Poland is particularly extraordinary considering that there is little appreciation of our automotive industry in the US, where Central and Eastern Europe is seen as a black hole on the automotive map of the world. Referring to her experience at a recent auto show in Detroit, Bensz said, Everybody in the US is talking about China and Brazil. The GM example shows that companies that invest in Poland very rarely withdraw from Poland. Most commonly they

reinvest, and the amounts of money in reinvestments are much higher than in the original investments. step by step John Lynch, member of the AmCham Board of Directors and president of promotional textile company Lynka, confirmed the positive view of Poland as a place for investment. He noted that over the years, Polands pros for investors have evolved. Twenty years ago it was cheap labor as the top item on the investors list, he said. But the quality of labor was an issue, and investors were talking about investing in Slovakia and the Czech Republic. Today, Polands labor force has developed its skills significantly. Lynch noted that the general improvement of skills also holds true when it comes to government institutions responsible for helping foreign investors. A year ago I received a report from PAIiIZ about the reasons why foreign companies should invest in Poland, and it was not so good. It was missing some of the most important points. Two weeks ago I received from PAIiIZ a brand new color PowerPoint presentation, and it could have been prepared by McKinseyextremely professional, with all the information and all the charts that it should have. The same goes for local administration, Lynch said. Today there are heads of local administration who are quintessentially business-friendly and know how to sell their regions to investors. Lynch noted that the general perception of Poland by the international investment community has changed for the better too: The image of Poland has also changed dramatically. Poland is no longer viewed as backward and gray. Today, the reasons investors come to Poland are the countrys educated workforce and the management teams available in the country. Polish managers are among the best in Europe. So it is not low-cost lower management, but highcost higher management that has become a big plus of Poland. Lynch also said that the constant development of infrastructure is a big plus for companies like Lynka, which is in Poland to be close to its markets in Western Europe. This is almost reason number one why we are in Poland and many other companies are in Poland, he explained. I dont see China as a threat for Poland in manufacturing, save for some sectors. Getting out of a hole Grzegorz Czul, general director of Fluor Poland, a subsidiary of one of the worlds largest project management and engineering design companies, said that when Fluor acquired a factory in Gliwice in 1995, it intended to tap into an inexpensive engineer-

ing force that would have the capacity to work on international projects. Since then the Polish operations have evolved to embrace the chemical, petrochemical and refinery sectors. Czul said that once the investment heyday in those industries ended, Flour was forced to downsize its engineering force from 640 in 2008 to 300 a year later. Now, thanks to new investment activities from the Azoty Tarnw Group and other privately-owned chemical companies, Fluor hopes to tap into promising new projects. Czul added that foreign companies have been investing in the automotive sector in Poland, and this is where most of Fluors workflow comes from today. Our clients look for quality services for reasonable money, he said, and this is why our Polish team is busy working. Quality for a good price Another panelist, Dominik Kania, general manager of Woodward Governor Polska, an engineering and manufacturing company, said that thanks to client diversification, the company has not been hit by the economic slowdown in Poland. While we see an economic downturn in some sectors, such as aerospace, we are diversified and successfully deliver now to the energy sector, which has not been hit by the crisis so much yet. Kania said that as part of a huge US corporation, the Polish operations of Woodward Governor can work on international assignments, delivering quality for a cost significantly lower than in other parts of the world. When the company cuts costs and jobs we are not going to be the first one to see it, Kania said. Even if we have to cut overall, we are probably the last on the list. The first is the US, then Western Europe, and then us. Kania also noted that it is the companys policy to be close to its customers, so there is no threat that the Polish operations may be closed and the production relocated to China. China is not a competition to our Polish operations, he said. China is not cost-competitive anymore, and the culture in Poland is much closer to that in the US, which is a big plus. Best-case scenario Speaker David Hardiman, operations manager at 3M Poland, said that the 20 years of 3Ms presence in Poland has been a rewarding experience in a lot of ways. In Poland, he said, the company has been able to execute its full cycle of investments. Typically the investment starts with sales and marketing, growing to manufacturing and then to R&D and laboratory resources, Hardiman said. This is exactly how the Polish operations of 3M developed. We have 1,500 employees in Poland, Hardiman said, and the num-

hen discussing the crisis in Poland, market analysts often say it depends on the industry you are in. Paul Fogo of Miller Canfield, a member of the AmCham Board of Directors who spoke for the chamber at the forum, subscribed to this point of view. He said that the crisis may be seen in such sectors as real estate and construction, but when it comes to high tech, there is no crisis and things are going in the right direction. Fogo noted that despite the crisis in Europe, Poland is still holding strong, and that is why US business in the country continues to expand. But this does not mean that the process is problem-free. Energy costs are a big unknown facing all businesses in Poland, not only major manufacturers or huge energy consumers like steelworks, Fogo said. Poland is the only country in the EU that does not provide any subsidies to heavy users of electricity. Some manufacturers say that if Poland does not do something about its energy costs, they may be forced to leave Poland. On the bright side, Fogo noted that China

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Manufacturers Forum
Future challenges in production
ber is expanding. In Poland we have done a lot of manufacturing investment in Wrocaw, and now in R&D, where we have 35 people. In Poland we have been able to leverage some of our investments that we made through acquisitions that are now really growing and expanding, especially in special economic zones. Now we are looking at how we can make our products better through customization to the local market and to CEE markets. Hardiman said that 3M has the opportunity to hire good people here, which is quite helpful as we continue to expand and grow our operations in Poland. Hardiman explained that it is essential for 3M to expand outside of the US, because that is the way to keep growing the business. In 2012, some 65% of our sales come from international operations, not from the US. In the matrix of operations outside of the US, Poland plays an important role. This is why the next step for 3M in Poland is to upgrade the supply chain and lower the costs of production, to create a super-hub, because the Polish operations also support the growing activities of 3M in Turkey and Russia. Having our facilities well-developed in Poland helps to further establish our success in the future as we continue to expand our operations, Hardiman said. PM Groups Joanna Bensz added that while it is not always known to international investors, Poland is a good country to invest in, especially when investors want to expand their sales to Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. The Katowice Special Economic Zone is the best example of how successful they can be, but other areas also appear. It is not so well-known yet, but there is a growing cluster of food companies around the Opole region, she said. The leading international food companies are already there. Despite that, she noted that other countries, such as Turkey and Serbia, are emerging as strong players, attracting more and more foreign direct investment in their manufacturing sectors. Poland has to do its best to market itself to the international investment community in order to remain in the limelight. katowice, silesia and american investors The 5th edition of the AmCham Manufacturers Forum, held in Katowice, the capital of the province of Silesia, testified to the municipal and regional authorities continuing strong commitment to work closely with the foreign investment community to attract new investors and create the best opportunities for them that the local government can. This determination was best described by Adam Matusiewicz, the speaker of the Silesia parliament, who said that investments by American companies are of significant value for the region because they help to transform it from one dominated by heavy industry to a region with a modern, diversified economy which embraces manufacturing and business services. The symbol of such changes is the General Motors factory in Gliwice, Matusiewicz said. We hope that the presence of American investors will be growing in the region yearon-year, and that it will benefit the investors as well as the local population. investment opportunities Katowice Mayor Piotr Uszok said that American companies bring new technologies to the region in both manufacturing and business process offshoring, and their positive impact in the region is universally recognized. We value very highly the investments by Rockwell Automation, Uszok said. When it came here, the company declared that it would create 300 new jobs, but so far it has created 700 jobs. The mayor added that the manufacturing sector has been developing especially well in the Katowice Special Economic Zone, and noted that while manufacturing tends to develop in the regions outside the Katowice city limits, new jobs created in recent years in the capital of Silesia have mainly been in the service sector. Currently some 40% of employees in Katowice work in the service sector, he said, some 25% in manufacturing, 25% in trade and 9% in the financial and insurance sector. Uszok observed that one of the selling points of the Silesia region for investors is that they can tap into the deepest pool of the educated workforce in Polandestimated at 700,000who live in the 14 cities that comprise the Silesian Metroplexthe largest network of cities in Poland, with over 2 million inhabitants. Unlike in other parts of Poland, thanks to the relatively good transportation and road network the workforce in Silesia is characterized by high mobility. As Mayor Uszok noted, in such cities as Tychy, Gliwice, Sosnowiec and Katowice, only 20% of the workforce employed there lives there. The rest commute from elsewhere around the metroplex. As a mayor who has successfully utilized millions of euro in EU structural aid for the development of the infrastructure in Katowice, Uszok said that in the next European financial perspective of 20142020, Polish cities may not be able to obtain as much money as they could in 20072013. Therefore, he said, he hopes it will be the private sector which will supply the money needed for further development of the city and the region. It will be a major challenge and opportunity for the private sector to take upon themselves the role of financial investor, Uszok said. economic zones diversify One of the major magnets that attract investment and reinvestment in the manufacturing sector is special economic zones, where investors receive incentives such as tax holidays and other financial help. The largest zone in Poland is the Katowice SEZ, which despite the economic slowdown ended 2012 with a better result than in 2011. According to Piotr Wojaczek, president of the Katowice SEZ, The number of investment projects okayed in 2012 was 20% higher than in 2011. In his view, one of the reasons SEZs attract investors is that they diversify their offer to fit their potential. Not all SEZs are the same today, Wojaczek said. Those that attract the largest numbers of investors are located in southern Poland, along the A1 highway, and in Pomerania. Those SEZs respond to the markets needs. Wojaczek explained that the managers of SEZs have dropped the standard model of offering a plot of land for investors to buy, focusing instead on delivering diversified services for investors and entering into alliances with academia to develop a quality labor force for investors in the future. Silesia Automotive, a platform set up by the Katowice SEZ, links automotive companies with academia and the labor market to breed future specialists in such areas as engineers specialized in quality assurance, Wojaczek said. He predicted that other SEZs in Poland will sooner or later start developing such solutions for investors, in order to maintain a sustainable business proposition. Flexible labor force Even as Poland continues to generate GDP growth, the overall economic crisis in Europe has affected the manufacturing sector in Poland because most manufacturers here export their products to other EU member states. With declining markets there, they need to be flexible when it comes to output. This, in turn, affects their production potential and calls for reductions in employment. Some companies, such as General Motors Polska, had to move their production from three shifts to two, while taking care of their redundant personnel. We have a surplus of 300 people, but our strategy is to keep them, GMs Jacek arnowiecki said. We have a plan to employ them in other locations, including Germany and Belgium. He noted, however, that while GM does its best to keep its workers employed, the labor inspectorate is skeptical and is closely reviewing the legality of GMs solutions. According to arnowiecki, it is in Polands best interest to keep its Labor Code as flexible as possible, especially when the cost of labor risesand it will in timeand the economic efficiency of manufacturing goods in Poland becomes an issue. Another speaker, Grzegorz Smoka, HR director at General Motors Poland, reinforced the message of the need for a flexible Labor Code, saying that employers in other EU countries can resort to such tools as shortened work time and overtime banking, which are not available in Poland. He noted that while further liberalization of the Labor Code may not be something the labor unions in Poland are looking forward to, the bottom line is that with more flexible regulations in the Labor Code, thousands of workers will be able to keep their jobs. Otherwise, they would just be fired. students and internal outsourcing Quite a different problem was addressed by Teresa Walewska, HR director at RR Donnelley. Every summer, the company has a shortage of workers available to operate the printing and production lines. The summer holiday season is when all of our workers want to go on vacation, while the company has to deal with an increased number of assignments, Walewska said. To meet our orders, we cooperate with universities in Kharkiv and Lviv, Ukraine, which send us students for 23 months of apprenticeship. They work and learn, and the best of them have a chance to get a real contract with us. Another way of dealing with the staff shortage is for RR Donnelly to outsource its entire printing line. We outsource our machines and our operators, Walewska explained. The manpower to handle all other processes, such as packaging, inserting and other simple jobs, is delivered by another company. It is a very efficient system for us, because it helps us keep the costs under control. According to Barbara Kaleta, HR director at CMC Zawiercie, this is not a solution a steel mill can use, because a certain degree of knowhow and experience is required for people to staff the production line. Kaleta said she would like to see more help from the state to allow steel mills to apply more flexible employment practices when the market is flagging. Kaleta noted that in many EU countries, the salaries of workers who do not produce anything but remain employed are covered by the state. There is an urgent need to have similar regulations in Poland, she said. Marta Fotyn, HR director at Foster Wheeler Polska, observed that flexible forms of employment are not welcome by Polish workers because they associate them with imminent job cuts. This is frustrating for the workers, Fotyn said. In turn, frustrated workers are not effective. In addition, because of the overall economic crisis, the workers may be affected indirectly by job cuts, when their family members lose jobs. To cope with the stress, Foster Wheeler has developed a wellbeing program to help employees adjust mentally to the new situation. The program, introduced in 2011, consists of individual coaching on how to deal with stresses that may arise at work and in private life, as well as workshops to deal with professional burnout. According to Fotyn, the program has been so effective that in November the management board allocated funding to continue it in 2013. While the need for new, flexible, innovative forms of employment seems inevitable, a major shift in the mentality of the workers is necessary, according to Marek Wrbel, director of Hays Poland. He said that in Poland, the concept of temporary workers is mostly associated with simple blue-collar jobsunlike in Germany, where many highly qualified engineers are happy to be temps. Usually temporary employment for engineers is used in areas that by their nature are project-oriented, Wrbel explained. These include quality assurance and other areas of project development. a conundrum in steel While business opportunities lie ahead for manufacturers in most sectors, those in the steel industry have a different story to tell. They complain about VAT-free imports of steel from abroad, and fixed energy prices. According to Jrg von Weiler, president of Filigran Polska, a producer of steel elements and bars for construction, some 7% of the market, measured in value, has been taken over by VAT-free importers of steel. There are tested approaches to this problem that have been successfully implemented elsewhere, he said, but they have not yet been implemented in Poland. Another problemfixed energy prices is a real handicap for steel producers in Poland, who are massive consumers of electricity and gas. According to Kumar Ghosh, vice president of Arcelor Mittal Poland, flexibility in negotiating energy prices is indispensable for an industry which since 2008 has been facing a downturn on the global scale. To depict the scope of the downturn, Ghosh pointed out that Arcelor Mittal had to take offline 13 blast furnaces out of the 29 it operated in Europe. But for Ghosh, this is a natural way of dealing with a marked downturn. We monitor the global situation and we know how to adjust to it, he said. We are not surprised. What we are surprised about, however, is that Poland has not done anything to boost its competitiveness when it comes to the flexibility of electricity prices for huge power consumers. Ghosh noted that the global prices of steel have fallen from over USD 200 per tonne in 2008 to below USD 100 now. At the same time, the cost of transportation has gone up. This makes Poland a very advantageous position geographically for the production of steel, he said. However, as he explained, in the steel industry there are three major cost items: raw materials, labor and energy. Unfortunately the cost of energy in Poland is not the best. We have been severely impacted by it. Ghosh also said that the government has to take a pragmatic and practical position on this: We are not asking for a favor. We ask that the government create a level playing field for the steel industry vis--vis other EU member states. Another speaker, Wojciech Wicawik, operations director at CMC Zawiercie, confirmed the expectation that the government take action. We understand that energy in Poland is coal-based and costs more because of CO 2 allocations, but other taxes, such as excise tax and the so-called color feesone price for coal-based energy, and a different, lower price for renewable energycan be lowered for huge energy consumers, he said. Meanwhile, other EU countries offer discounts to massive energy consumers. This is a big competitive disadvantage for us and for the entire Polish economy. According to Marcin Jakubaszek, a lawyer at Miller Canfield, there is room within the EU regulations to apply different rates of excise tax for different energy consumers. The European directive that specifies excise tax on energy consumers gives room for special, lower rates that may be applied to huge energy consumers, he said. Many EU member states actually use this directive. This issue has been discussed broadly for a considerably long time now. Jakubaszek noted that there are some signals that the need to introduce price differentials for massive energy consumers may be recognized in Polish legislation. In January 2012 the term heavy energy consumers was introduced into the Excise Tax Act, Jakubaszek said. While the introduction of this term has not been translated into any tax relief, the fact that such a term appears in a legal act is meaningful because it may bode well for the future of companies who meet this definition. It is a sign that this issue had been noticed by the government and the parliament. I think the issue is on the radar of the lawmakers. According to Jakubaszek, now is the time for lobbying activities to demonstrate the economic costs of neglect in speedy implementation of tax relief for heavy energy consumers.
You can find video coverage of this event at www.youtube/amchamkrakow

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AmCham Charity Drive 2012

Membership directory
Corporate members as of Dec. 15 2012
No Company Name 1. 3M POLAND Sp. z o.o. A 2. ABBOTT LABORATORIES POLAND Sp. z o.o. 3. ABBVIE POLSKA 4. ACCENTURE Sp. z o.o. 5. ACCREO TAXAND Sp. z o.o. 6. ACE EUROPEAN GROUP LIMITED, Branch in Poland 7. ACHIEVE GLOBAL 8. ACXIOM POLSKA Sp. z o.o. 9. ADECCO POLAND Sp. z o.o. 10. ADVENT INTERNATIONAL Sp. z o.o. spka komandytowa 11. AECOM Sp. z o.o. 12. AES POLAND WIND Sp. z o.o. 13. AGRI PLUS S.A. GROUP 14. AGS WARSAW 15. AIG/LINCOLN POLSKA Sp. z o.o. 16. AIR PRODUCTS Sp z o.o. 17. ALPHA HR SOLUTIONS Sp. z o.o. 18. ALPHA IT SOLUTIONS Sp. z o.o. 19. ALVAREZ & MARSAL POLAND Sp. z o.o. 20. AMERICAN EXPRESS 21. AMERICAN SCHOOL OF WARSAW 22. AMGEN Sp. z o.o. 23. AMWAY BUSINESS CENTRE-EUROPE Sp. z o.o. 24. AMWAY POLSKA 25. ANIMEX Sp. z o.o. 26. ANTENNA VOLANTIS LIMITED Sp. z o.o. Oddzia w Polsce 27. AON HEWITT Sp. z o.o. 28. APCO WORLDWIDE Sp. z o.o. 29. APOLLO-RIDA POLAND Sp. z o.o. 30. ARCHER INC. 31. ARUP 32. AVAYA POLAND Sp. z o.o. 33. AVIS 34. AVON COSMETICS POLSKA Sp. z o.o. B 35. BAE SYSTEMS (POLAND) Sp. z o.o. 36. Baker & McKenzie Krzyowski i Wsplnicy Sp. k. 37. BAKER TILLY POLAND Sp. z o.o. 38. BANK BPH SA 39. BANK HANDLOWY W WARSZAWIE SA 40. BANK POLSKA KASA OPIEKI S.A. 41. BANK ZACHODNI WBK S.A. (part of Allied Irish Banks Group) 42. BANKOMAT 24/EURONET Sp. z o.o. 43. BASELL ORLEN POLYOLEFINS Sp. z o.o. 44. BAXTER POLAND Sp. z o.o. 45. BMW GROUP 46. BNK Polska Sp.z o.o. 47. BOEING INTERNATIONAL CORPORATION Oddzia w Polsce 48. BOSE Sp. z o.o. 49. BOSTON SCIENTIFIC POLSKA Sp. z o.o. 50. BP POLSKA Sp. z o.o. 51. BPI POLSKA Sp. z o.o. 52. BRISTOLMYERS SQUIBB POLSKA Sp. z o.o. 53. BROWAR NAMYSW Sp. z o.o. 54. BROWN BROTHERS HARRIMAN 55. BROWN-FORMAN POLSKA Sp. z o.o. C 56. C.H. ROBINSON POLAND Sp. z o.o. 57. CA Sp. z o.o. 58. CAN PACK S.A. 59. CAPGEMINI POLSKA Sp. z o.o. 60. CATERPILLAR FINANCIAL SERVICES POLAND Sp. z o.o. 61. CBRE Sp. z o.o. 62. CDM SMITH 63. CEC GOVERNMENT RELATIONS Sp. z o.o. 64. CEERES Sp. z o.o. 65. CELLANTENNA Sp. z o.o. 66. CENTRAL EUROPEAN DISTRIBUTION CORPORATION 67. CGI Information Systems and Management Consultants (Polska) 68. CH2M HILL POLSKA Ltd Sp. z o.o. 69. CHADBOURNE & PARKE LLP (through a Polish Partnership) 70. CHARTIS EUROPE S.A. Oddzia w Polsce 71. CHEVRON POLSKA ENERGY RESOURCES Sp. z o.o. 72. CISCO SYSTEMS POLAND Sp. z o.o. 73. CITRIX SYSTEMS POLAND Sp. z o.o. 74. CMC ZAWIERCIE S.A. 75. CMS Cameron McKenna Dariusz Greszta Spka Komandytowa 76. COCA-COLA POLAND SERVICES Sp. z o.o. 77. COLGATE-PALMOLIVE POLAND Sp. z o.o. 78. COLLIERS INTERNATIONAL POLAND Sp. z o.o. 79. CONOCOPHILLIPS E&P POLAND Sp. z o.o. 80. COOPER STANDARD AUTOMOTIVE POLSKA Sp. z o.o. Person in charge Xavier Douellou Position Managing Director Company website www.3m.com.pl Sawomir Chomik General Manager www.abbott.pl Jarosaw Oleszczuk General Manager www.abbvie.pl Jarosaw Kroc Chairman of the Board www.accenture.com Jarosaw Antosik Member of the Management Board, Partner www.taxand.pl Przemysaw Owczarek Director www.aceeuropeangroup.com Peter James Strupp Chairman of the Management Board www.achieveglobal.pl Agata Szeliga Staszkiewicz Member of the Board www.acxiom.pl Anna Wicha Country Manager www.adecco.pl Monika Morali Enowicz General Director www.adventinternational.pl Jarosaw Karpiejuk General Manager www.aecom.com Krzysztof Pilch Senior Project Manager www.aes.com William Kean President www.agriplus.pl Antoine Duquesnay Polish Branch Manager www.ags-worldwide-movers.com Brian D. Patterson Managing Partner www.aiglincoln.com.pl Piotr Wieczorek Member of the Board www.airproducts.com.pl Justyna Iwaszko Managing Partner www.alphasolutions.eu Donal Charles Bailey Business Development Manager www.alphasolutions.eu Thomas Kolaja Member of the Board www.alvarezandmarsal.com Zbigniew Filipowicz Country Manager www.americanexpress.pl Terry Gamble Director www.asw.waw.pl Christophe Bourdon General Manager www.amgen.com Przemysaw Siuda General Manager www.amway.com Anna Pietrzak General Director Poland www.amway.pl Andrzej Pawelczak PR Director www.animex.pl Jarosaw Malanka Branch Director www.antennasoftware.com Edward Robert Stanoch Managing Director www.aon.com/poland Tony Housh Senior Counselor www.apcoworldwide.com David Mitzner President www.apollorida.com.pl Magdalena Bicz Director of Administration www.archermobile.com Andrzej Sitko Director www.arup.com/pl Wojciech Gaewski Chairman www.avaya.com Radosaw Lesiak Vice President www.avis.pl Srdjan Mijuskovic Senior Vice President Central & South Eastern Europe www.avon.com.pl Ewa Nowaczewska Head of Business Development www.baesystems.com Marcin Gmaj Managing Partner www.bakernet.com Krzysztof Wojewoda Sales Manager www.bakertilly.pl Richard Gaskin President www.bph.pl Sawomir S. Sikora President, CEO www.citihandlowy.pl Cezary Wgierski Communication & Marketing Support Ofce www.pekao.com.pl Artur Chodacki Corporate Banking Director www.english.bzwbk.pl Marek Szarski President www.euronetworldwide.com Steve Dwyer President www.basellorlen.pl Pawe elewski General Manager www.baxter.com Andreas Biehler Managing Director www.bmw.pl Kelly Brezger General Manager www.bnkpetroleum.com Henryka Bochniarz President, CEE www.boeing.com Witold Lisowski General Manager www.bose.pl Marcin Gobicki Regional Director Poland, Eastern Europe & Central Asia www.bsci.com Bogdan Kucharski Chief Executive Ofcer www.bp.pl Micha Kurtyka President www.bpi-group.com Gianluigi Lisi General Director www.b-ms.pl Ryan Gostomski Chairman of the Board www.browarnamyslow.com.pl Beth Haddock Associate General Counsel www.bbh.com Andrzej Janota Managing Director n/a Joseph Kozlak Branch Manager www.chreurope.com Micha Furman Country Manager www.ca.com Magorzata Podrecka Legal Counsel www.canpack.com.pl Frank Wagenbauer CEO www.pl.capgemini.com Jarosaw Myszkowski Country Manager www.cat.com Colin Waddell Managing Director www.cbre.com Krzysztof Bytomski Country Manager, President www.cdmsmith.com Marek Matraszek Director and Founding Partner www.cecgr.com Randy Michael Mott President www.ceeres.eu Renata Schluss Vice President www.cellantenna.pl William Carey President & CEO www.cedc.com Dariusz Gorze General Manager www.cgi.com Ruben Robles Vice President www.ch2m.com Wodzimierz Radzikowski Managing Partner www.chadbourne.com Agnieszka odziowska-Kulig President www.chartisinsurance.com John Claussen Country Manager Poland www.chevron.com Dariusz Fabiszewski General Manager www.cisco.pl Ondrej Marek Regional Marketing Manager www.citrix.com Jerzy Kozicz Chairman of the Management Board www.cmcpoland.com Andrew Kozlowski Managing Partner www.cms-cmck.com Paul Woodward Operations Director, Northern Central Europe www.cocacola.com.pl Wojciech Krl General Manager www.colgate.pl Monika Rajska Woliska Deputy Managing Partner www.colliers.com Laurie St. Aubin President of the Board www.conocophillips.com Piotr Gska Director of Operations Poland, Chairman of the Board www.cooperstandard.pl

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By Anita Kowalska, AmCham n 2012, for the 17th consecutive year, the AmCham Foundation arranged and executed its holiday Charity Drive to provide assistance in cash and kind to those in need. This year the AmCham Charity Drive delivered assistance to the Single Mothers Shelter in Somczyn, a shelter for victims of domestic violence in Brochw, and eight foster homes across the country (two in Bochnia and one each in Biaystok, Grabinek, Otwock, Rzeszw, wiebodzin and Warsaw). Our charity program is run very hands-on, with the aim of reaching out to specic needs and supporting developmental programs.

In what has become a tradition, as coordinator of the Charity Drive, I went with Adam Tomczak from X-press Couriers to visit the Single Mothers Shelter in Somczyn to bring

plasma TV and educational items to the children at the foster home in Biaystok. The same home was chosen by Boeing International to provide nancial help, and New Gas Contracting donated 100 brand-new winter jackets for children. Special thanks go to the employees of LeasePlan, who sponsored all the Christmas gifts that were mentioned in the individual letters to Santa Claus from the children at the foster home in Bochnia. The gifts were given to the children at their Christmas Eve celebration at the foster home. We are also very grateful to X-press Couriers and the Sidemka courier company for arranging the logistics of transporting the boxes to their destinations. Without their help the drive would not have happened.

1. The AmCham team packing the goods. 2. Toys meet their new owners. 3. Santa Claus visits the foster home in Bochnia. 4. Anita Kowalska, who coordinated the program, visits the children at the Single Mothers Shelter in Somczyn. 5. Children from the foster home in Bochnia tell Santa how they like their new toys. 6. The AmCham office stuffed with goods donated by members.
Because of our engagement and the relationships we have built, we can help in ways that really matter. This year we continued our support for the Single Mothers Shelter in Somczyn by proChristmas presents and sweets for the children. The children could not wait for their presents, especially the youngest ones one-year-old Zosia and two-year-old Mikoaj,

viding them with basic articles, such as coal for winter heating. After installing central heating last year, the living conditions at the shelter are much better now, and with the additional nancial help from EuRoPol Gaz the shelter could renovate the roof and paint the walls.

the newcomers, who will spend their rst Christmas at the shelter. The AmCham Charity Drive this year has been another great success. Anyone visiting the AmCham ofce the week before Christmas would be amazed at the quantity of cartons that overowed the AmCham ofce space. Thanks to the generosity of our sponsors, we were able to send almost 100 cartons of goods to children across the country. The most generous donor this year was Procter & Gamble, which provided four full pallets of cleaning products, which will go to all the foster homes and the single mothers shelter. The quantity of goods should be enough to last them a whole year! To name just a few of the most generous in-kind donors: Panattoni Europe contributed the proceeds from its annual business party to the AmCham Charity Drive, donating a

ur warm thanks to sponsors who provided in-kind goods, corporate grants and cash donations from their employees: Antenna Volantis Limited Boeing International Corporation CB Richard Ellis (Aneta Mandziuk) CDM Smith Capgemini Colgate-Palmolive (Poland) Crown Relocations Este Lauder EuRoPol Gaz General Electric HBO Polska Hyatt Regency Warsaw Imperial Cinepix International Womens Group (Cristina Michta) LeasePlan aszczuk & Partners Tomasz Maj Marathon Oil NCR Polska New Gas Contracting Panattoni Europe Pepsi-Cola General Bottlers Procter & Gamble Sheraton Warsaw Hotel Jzef Sobolewski Sotel Warsaw Victoria Brenda VanHorn (US Embassy) The Walt Disney Company (Polska) X-press Couriers

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Membership directory
Corporate members as of Dec. 15 2012
No Company Name Person in charge Position Company website Jerzy Bystrowski Director of the Board www.woe.edu.pl 81. COPERNICUS FOUNDATION IN POLAND Pawe Pytlakowski Director of Sales & Marketing www.courtyard.com/wawcy 82. COURTYARD BY MARRIOTT WARSAW AIRPORT 83. CPC EXECUTIVE SEARCH Janina Obniska Managing Partner www.cpc-executivesearch.pl Marek Gul Country Manager www.csfb.com 84. CREDIT SUISSE (POLAND) Sp. z o.o. Jarosaw Roszkowski Chairman of the Board & CEO www.cidg.pl 85. CROWLEY INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT GROUP 86. CURVER POLAND Sp. z o.o. Piotr Roman Serbiski Operations Manager www.curver.pl Richard Petersen Managing Partner www.cushmanwakeeld.com 87. CUSHMAN & WAKEFIELD POLSKA Sp. z o.o. D Pablo Martinez General Manager www.dalecarnegie.com.pl 88. DALE CARNEGIE TRAINING 89. DEBENEDETTI MAJEWSKI SZCZENIAK Kancelaria Prawnicza Sp.K. David DeBenedetti Partner www.dms.net.pl Maciej Filipkowski General Manager www.dell.pl 90. DELL Sp. z o.o. Marek Metrycki Ofce Managing Partner www.deloitte.com/pl 91. DELOITTE Dariusz Adamek Country Director www.delphi.com 92. DELPHI POLAND S.A. Angelo Pressello Managing Director www.dir.com.pl 93. DIRECT COMMUNICATION Sp. z o.o. Krzysztof Wiater Managing Partner www.dlapiper.com 94. DLA PIPER WIATER sp.k. Leonidas Kolaitis Director Operations CEE www.dowcorning.com 95. DOW CORNING POLSKA Sp. Z o.o. 96. DOW POLSKA Sp. z o.o. Robert Stankiewicz Country Manager www.dow.com Thierry Marin DirectorCentral Europe www.dupont.com.pl 97. DUPONT POLAND Sp. z o.o. E Marcin Klammer Partner www.echarris.com 98. EC HARRIS Sp. z o.o. 99. EDELMAN POLSKA Sp. z o.o. Barbara Kwiecie Chairman of the Board, General Manager www.edelman.com.pl 100. EEZ Sp. z o.o. Krystian Stachowiak President of the Management Board www.eez.pl Grzegorz Gutkowski Vice Chairman www.efektech.com 101. EFEKT TECHNOLOGIES Sp. z o.o. 102. EGON ZEHNDER INTERNATIONAL Sp. z o.o. Borysaw Czyak President www.egonzehnder.com 103. ELI LILLY POLSKA Sp. z o.o. Tomy Vahevaara Managing Director www.lilly.pl Adam Wojtkowski Country Manager www.emc.com 104. EMC COMPUTER SYSTEMS POLAND Sp. z o.o. 105. EMERSON PROCESS MANAGEMENT POWER & WATER SOLUTIONS T omasz Kosik Sales Director Central & Eastern Europe www.emersonprocess-powerwater.com 106. ENTERPRISE INVESTORS Jacek Siwicki President www.ei.com.pl Jerzy A. Koajtis Principal www.environcorp.com 107. ENVIRON POLAND Sp. z o.o. Janusz T. Lichocki President www.epstein.com.pl 108. EPSTEIN Sp. z o.o. Irmina Nielubowicz Ofce Head www.erm.com 109. ERM POLSKA Sp. z o.o. 110. ERNST & YOUNG S.A. Duleep Aluwihare Country Managing Partner www.ey.com/pl Magdalena Kamiska General Manager www.esteelauder.com 111. ESTEE LAUDER POLAND Sp. z o.o. 112. EURODENTAL Sp. z o.o. Micha Siciski President www.eurodental.pl 113. EUROMEDIC INTERNATIONAL POLSKA Sp. z o.o. Piotr Janicki President of the Board www.euromedic.pl Martin Bauer President www.securities.com 114. EUROMONEY POLSKA S.A. 115. EXPRESS MAP POLSKA Sp. z o.o. Janusz Przeorek President www.e-map.pl 116. EXXONMOBIL POLAND Sp. z o.o. Ville Ylosjoki Poland Lead Country Manager www.exxonmobil.com F 117. FCM TRAVEL EXPRESS Sp. z o.o. Tim Hyland Managing Director www.travelexpress.pl 118. FEDERAL EXPRESS POLAND Sp. z o.o. Michael Muehlberger President www.fedex.com/pl 119. FEDEX TRADE NETWORKS TRANSPORT & BROKERAGE (POLAND) Sp. z o.o. Micha Rene Country Manager Poland www.ftn.fedex.com 120. FINACORP (POLSKA) Sp. z o.o. Stan Popow Managing Partner www.nacorp.pl 121. FIRESTONE INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTS POLAND Sp. z o.o. Pawe Gajda Plant Manager www.restone.polandtrade.pl 122. FISERV POLSKA Sp. z o.o. Aleksandra Gren General Director www.serv.com 123. FLEISHMANHILLARD Sp. z o.o. Julia Kozak Managing Director www.eishman.pl 124. FLUOR S.A. Dave Gibson General Manager www.uor.pl 125. FOCUS RESEARCH Sp. z o.o. Richard A. abiski President, General Manager www.focusmr.com 126. FOREVER LIVING PRODUCTS POLAND Sp. z o.o. Jacek Kandefer Managing Director www.pp.com.pl 127. FOSTER WHEELER ENERGIA POLSKA Jarosaw Mlonka President & CEO www.fwc.com 128. FRANKLINCOVEY CEE (DOOR Poland Group) Marek Choim Group President www.franklincovey.pl 129. FRITO-LAY POLAND Sp. z o.o. Oswald Barckhahn Chairman of the Board www.fritolay.pl 130. FUNDACJA TECHSOUP Nick Eyre President www.fundacjatechsoup.pl G 131. GE INTERNATIONAL SA, Oddzia w Polsce Agnieszka Jankowska Government Affairs Director www.ge.com 132. GENERAL MOTORS POLAND Wojciech Mieczkowski Managing Director www.opel.pl 133. GENZYME POLSKA Sp. z o.o. Pawe Mikiewicz General Manager Central European Cluster North www.genzyme.com 134. GILEAD SCIENCES POLAND Sp. z o.o. Micha Kamierski General Manager, Member of the Board www.gilead.com 135. GOODYEAR DUNLOP TIRES POLSKA Sp. z o.o. Jacek Pryczek President & Managing Director www.goodyear.pl 136. GOOGLE POLAND Sp. z o.o. Artur Waliszewski Country Manager www.google.pl 137. GREENBERG TRAURIG Jarosaw Grzesiak Managing Partner www.gtlaw.com 138. GUARDIAN CZSTOCHOWA Sp. z o.o. Zsolt Erdosi Managing Director www.guardian.com H 139. HALCROW GROUP LIMITED Krzysztof Celiski Branch Director www.halcrow.com 140. HANSBERRY COMPETITION Dorothy Hansberry-Bieguska Founder www.hansberrycompetition.com 141. HAY GROUP Sp. z o.o. Mik Kuczkiewicz Chairman of the Board www.haygroup.pl 142. HAYS POLAND Sp. z o.o. Micha Mynarczyk Managing Director CEE www.hays.pl 143. HBO POLSKA Sp. z o.o. Aleksander Kutela President www.hbo.pl 144. HEIDRICK & STRUGGLES Robert Szymaski Partner in Charge www.heidrick.com 145. HERMAN MILLER LIMITED Maciej Karbownik Manager Russia & Eastern Europe www.hermanmiller.co.uk 146. HEWLETT PACKARD Pawe Czajkowski Managing Director www.hp.pl 147. HEWLETT-PACKARD GLOBAL BUSINESS CENTER Agnieszka Orowska Managing Director www.hp.com 148. HILL INTERNATIONAL Sp. z o.o. Jacek urawski Vice President www.hillintl.com.pl 149. HILTON WARSAW HOTEL & CONVENTION CENTRE (HGC S.A.) Erwin Vergoog , General Director www.hilton.com 150. HINES POLSKA Sp. z o.o. Mieczysaw Godzisz Managing Director www.hines.pl 151. HJ HEINZ POLSKA S.A. Adam Dyszyski Managing Director www.pudliszki.pl 152. HONEYWELL Sp. z o.o. Wojciech Krajewski Chairman www.honeywell.com.pl 153. HSBC BANK POLSKA S.A. Tomasz Braun Board Member www.hsbc.pl 154. HUDSON Ewa Ciszek Country Manager www.hudson.com 155. HYATT REGENCY WARSAW Heddo Siebs General Manager www.warsaw.regency.hyatt.com I, J 156. IBM POLSKA Sp. z o.o. Anna Sieko General Manager www.ibm.com/pl 157. IMPERIAL CINEPIX Sp. z o.o. Sunil R. Shah President www.imperial-cinepix.com.pl 158. INSTANT POLSKA Sp. z o.o. Anthony Narushka General Manager www.instant.com.pl 159. INTEL TECHNOLOGY POLAND Sp. z o.o. Tomasz Klekowski Territory Manager CEE www.intel.pl 160. INTERCONTINENTAL HOTEL WARSZAWA Marten Schoenrock General Manager www.warsaw.intercontinental.com 161. INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE Carina Pierre Rochard Regional Director www.global.nytimes.com No Company Name 162. INTERNATIONAL PAPER POLSKA Sp. z o.o. 163. IRON MOUNTAIN POLSKA Sp. z o.o. 164. IT WORKS SA 165. JOHN DEERE POLSKA Sp. z o.o. 166. JOHNSON & JOHNSON POLAND Sp. z o.o. K 167. K&L GATES 168. KAJIMA POLAND Sp. z o.o. 169. KAUYSKI & MADEJA Sp. z o.o. 170. KATO LABS Sp. z o.o. 171. KELLY SERVICES POLAND Sp. z o.o. 172. KLINEMAN ROSE & WOLF POLAND Sp. z o.o. 173. KPMG Sp. z o.o. 174. KRAFT FOODS POLSKA S.A. 175. KREVOX EUROPEAN ENVIRONMENTAL CENTRE 176. KROLL ONTRACK Sp. z o.o. 177. KULCZYK INVESTMENTS 178. KULCZYK SILVERSTEIN PROPERTIES Sp. z o.o. L, 179. LE ROYAL MERIDIEN BRISTOL 180. LEASEPLAN FLEET MANAGEMENT (POLSKA) Sp. z o.o. 181. LEVI STRAUSS POLAND Sp. z o.o. 182. LIONBRIDGE POLAND Sp. z o.o. 183. LITTLE LEAGUE BASEBALL & SOFTBALL EMEA Region 184. LOCKHEED MARTIN GLOBAL INC. S.A. 185. LYNKA PROMOTIONAL SOLUTIONS 186. ASZCZUK I WSPLNICY sp.k. M 187. MANPOWERGROUP Sp. z o.o. 188. MARATHON OIL POLSKA Sp. z o.o. 189. MARRIOTT HOTEL 190. MARS POLSKA Sp. z o.o. 191. MARY KAY COSMETICS POLAND Sp. z o.o. 192. MASSIVE DESIGN Sp. z o.o. 193. MATTEL POLAND Sp. z o.o. 194. MAZARS POLSKA Sp. z o.o. 195. McDONALD'S POLSKA Sp. z o.o. 196. MEDICOVER Sp. z o.o. 197. MEDTRONIC POLAND Sp. z o.o. 198. METLIFE AMPLICO 199. METROPOLITAN ZOOS Sp. z o.o. 200. MEYER TOOL POLAND 201. MHS HEALTHCARE SERVICES GmbH 202. MICHAEL PAGE INTERNATIONAL (POLAND) Sp. z o.o. 203. MICROSOFT Sp. z o.o. 204. MILLER, CANFIELD, W Babicki, A. Chechowski i Wsplnicy Sp.k. . 205. MITSUBISHI CORPORATION 206. MODE ORY S.A. 207. MOTOROLA MOBILITY Sp. z o.o. 208. MOTOROLA SOLUTIONS POLSKA Sp z o.o. 209. MSD POLSKA Sp. z o.o. N, O 210. NALCO MOBOTEC POLSKA Sp. z o.o. 211. NARODOWY FUNDUSZ INWESTYCYJNY OCTAVA S.A. 212. NCR Polska Sp. z o.o. 213. NEW GAS CONTRACTING 214. NORDSON POLSKA Sp. z o.o. 215. NORTON ROSE PIOTR STRAWA I WSPLNICY Sp. k. 216. NOVARTIS POLAND Sp. z o.o. 217. OPTIMA SA (PART OF DOLLAR FINANCIAL GROUP) 218. ORANGE 219. ORANGE PRODUCTS EUROPE Sp. z o.o. 220. ORCO PROPERTY GROUP 221. OTIS Sp. z o.o. P 222. PANATTONI EUROPE 223. PARSONS BRINCKERHOFF 224. PEPSI COLA GENERAL BOTTLERS Sp. z o.o. 225. PFIZER POLSKA Sp. z o.o. 226. PHILIP MORRIS POLSKA 227. PITTSBURGH GLASS WORKS (POLAND) Sp. z o.o. 228. PM GROUP POLSKA Sp. z o. o. 229. POLISHUS FULBRIGHT COMMISSION 230. POLISH ENERGY PARTNERS S.A. 231. POLSKA GRUPA ENERGETYCZNA SA 232. POLSKA TELEFONIA CYFROWA SA (T-Mobile) 233. PRATT & WHITNEY a United Technology Company 234. PRIME CAR MANAGEMENT S.A. 235. PRINTPACK POLAND Sp. z o.o. 236. PROCTER & GAMBLE DS POLSKA Sp. z o.o. 237. PROLOGIS 238. PWC Person in charge Position Tomasz Berbeka President of the Board Iwona Waach Commercial Director Leszek Rodeski President Mirosaw Leszczyski General Manager Pawe Chrcicki Managing Director Maciej Jamka Managing Partner Koji Oura President Richard Kauyski Managing Director Janusz Woejko President Agnieszka Walter Country General Manager Magorzata Piotrowska Chairperson of the Board Peter Kay Partner Zoltan Novak General Manager Tadeusz G. Krelewski General Director Adam Kostecki Sales Director Dariusz Mioduski President of the Management Board Piotr Krawczyski Managing Director Michael Goerdt Sawomir Wontrucki Dorota Gutkowska Jacek Stryczyski Beata Kaszuba Robert Orzyowski John Lynch Justyna Szpara Iwona Janas Carl R Hubacher Albert Helms Jarosaw Kutelski Ewa Kudliska-Pyrz Przemysaw Stopa Guy Wiesienburger Michel Kiviatkowski Kristof Hanko Loic Fretard Wojciech Jeewski ukasz Kalinowski Jonathan Campion Micha Skowski Wesley Berkovsky Jerome Lafuite Jacek Murawski Richard Walawender Kunihiko Uchimura Magdalena Mirski Arek Zawada Ewa Porbska ukasz Zybaczyski Piotr Hajewski Piotr Rymaszewski Baromiej liwa Jakub Zamaniec Jarosaw Rutkowski Piotr Strawa Managing Alexandra Bishop Dominik Wielinski Tomasz Nowakowski Mariusz Leoniak Alicja Kociesza Stephen Ewer Robert Dobrzycki Witold Rusin Oswald Barckhahn Ofra Feinmesser Aleksander Grzesiak William Hall European Con Murphy Magorzata Krasowska Zbigniew Prokopowicz Robert Koski Miroslav Rakowski Zbigniew Gradowski Grzegorz Czarnecki Steve Snowden Marek Kapuciski Ben Bannatyne Olga Grygier Siddons Company website www.ipaper.com.pl www.ironmountain.com.pl www.itworks.pl www.deere.pl www.its.jnj.com www.klgates.com www.kajimaeurope.com www.kaluzynskimadeja.com www.kato.pl www.kellyservices.pl www.krw.com.pl www.kpmg.pl www.kraft.com www.krevox.pl www.krollontrack.pl www.kulczykinvestments.com www.ksprop.com

Director General www.lemeridien.com/warsaw Managing Director www.leaseplan.pl General Manager Eastern Europe & President www.eu.levi.com/pl Country Manager Poland & Slovakia, President www.lionbridge.com EMEA Region Director www.eteamz.com/llbeurope Executive Director www.lockheedmartin.com President www.lynka.com.pl Managing Partner www.laszczuk.pl General Director www.manpowergroup.pl Director www.marathonoil.com General Manager www.marriott.com/WAWPL Corporate Affairs Director www.mars.pl General Manager www.marykay.pl President, Chief Architect www.massivedesign.pl Country Manager www.mattel.com Managing Partner www.mazars.pl Managing Director www.mcdonalds.pl Director of Medicover Hospital www.medicover.pl Finance Manager www.medtronic.com CEO www.metlifeamplico.pl President www.metropolitan-krakow.com Finance Director www.meyertoolpoland.pl Managing Director www.centene.com Managing Director www.michaelpage.pl President www.microsoft.com/poland/ Senior Partner www.millercaneld.pl General Director www.mitsubishicorp.com Member of the Supervisory Board www.mlodeorly.com Regional Sales Director www.motorola.com/Consumers/PL-PL/Home President www.motorola.pl Managing Director www.msd.pl Sales Director President President of the Board Managing Partner General Manager Partner Country President President & CEO Executive Director Commercial Manager Sales & Marketing Director for Poland President Regional Partner Country Director Chairman of the Board Country Manager Managing Director Operations Manager Managing Director Executive Director President Adviser to the Board Chairman of the Board In-Country Program Manager Chief Executive Ofcer Site Director General Manager President Managing Director www.nalco.pl www.octava.com.pl www.ncr.com www.newgas.pl www.nordson.com.pl www.nortonrose.com www.novartis.pl www.optima.pl www.orange.pl www.orangeproducts.com www.orcogroup.com www.otis.com.pl www.panattoni.com/pdceurope.cfm www.pbworld.com www.pepsi.pl www.pzer.com.pl www.pmintl.pl www.pgw.glass.com www.pmg.pl www.fulbright.edu.pl www.pepsa.com.pl www.gkpge.com www.t-mobile.pl www.pratt-whitney.com www.primecar.com.pl www.printpack.com www.pg.com www.prologis.com www.pwc.com/pl

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Membership directory
Corporate members as of Dec. 15 2012
Person in charge Position No Company Name R 239. RAIFFEISEN BANK POLSKA S.A. Krzysztof Lubkiewicz Head of International Desk 240. RANDSTAD Sp. z o.o. Kajetan Sonina General Director Kathryn Buer Sr.Regional VPCentral Europe and the Baltics 241. RAYTHEON INTERNATIONAL, INC 242. REGUS BUSINESS CENTRE Sp. z o.o. Maciej Skrski General Manager 243. ROCHE POLSKA Sp. z o.o. Agnieszka Kosowska Legal Director 244. RR DONNELLEY EUROPE Sp. z o.o. Jan Przepira Vice President Dorota Czarnota Managing Partner, Poland & CEE 245. RUSSELL REYNOLDS ASSOCIATES Sp. z o.o. S 246. SABRE POLSKA Sp. z o.o. Michael Dietz Member of the Board Tomasz Dbrowski Managing Partner 247. SALANS Marynika Woroszylska-Sapieha President 248. SANOFI-AVENTIS Sp. z o.o. Alicja Wiecka Country Manager 249. SAS INSTITUTE POLSKA Sp. z o.o. 250. SHERATON WARSAW HOTEL Thomas Schoen General Director Piotr Dobrowolski Member of the Management Board 251. SIEMENS Sp. z o.o. 252. SIKORSKY EUROPE Stanley J. Prusinski Director, Sikorsky Europe 253. SILGAN WHITE CAP POLSKA Sp. z o.o. Marek Rajca General Manager 254. SITEL POLSKA Sp. z o.o. Antonio Dos Santos Director 255. SOCIT GNRALE S.A. Oddzia w Polsce Stphane Hild Country Head Yann Gontard Managing Director 256. SODEXO POLSKA Sp. z o.o. 257. SOFITEL WARSAW VICTORIA Jean Michel Lathuilliere General Manager Micha Gryglewski Executive Director 258. SONY PICTURES GLOBAL BUSINESS SERVICES Sp. z o.o. Andrzej Maciejewski Managing Director 259. SPENCER STUART POLAND Sp. z o.o. Peter wicicki Managing Partner 260. SQUIRE SANDERS WICICKI KRZENIAK sp.k. 261. STEELCASE S.A. Przedstawicielstwo w Polsce Elbieta Gajowska Dealer & Marketing Manager 262. STRZELECKI ENERGIA Sp. z o.o. Pawe uk Country Manager 263. SWIFT AVIANA CARGO SERVICES Sp. z o.o. Alam Chaudry Chairman T, U, V 264. TALISMAN ENERGY POLSKA Sp. z o.o. 265. THE WALT DISNEY COMPANY (POLSKA) Sp. z o.o. 266. TRAVELPORT Sp. z o.o. .P 267. TRUSIEWICZ SIWKO Kancelaria Prawna SP . 268. UBS AG Przedstawicielstwo w Polsce 269. UL INTERNATIONAL POLSKA Sp. z o.o. 270. UNIPHARM, INC. 271. UNIVERSAL EXPRESS Sp. z o.o. 272. UNIVERSAL LEAF TOBACCO POLAND Sp. z o.o. 273. UPC POLSKA Sp. z o.o. 274. UPS POLSKA Sp. z o.o. 275. URS POLSKA Sp. z o.o. 276. VF POLSKA DISTRIBUTION Sp. z o.o. 277. VIKING PETROL SAHASI HIZMETLERI SA Oddzia w Polsce 278. VISKASE POLSKA Sp. z o.o. Tom Maj Managing Director Katarzyna Westermark Managing Director Marcin Pilarski Managing Director Eastern Europe Rafa Trusiewicz Partner Marcin Jarkiewicz Head of the Representative Ofce, Executive Director Bogdan Maliszewski Branch Manager Czech Republic & Poland Ernest Bartosik General Director Stefan Hildt Member of the Board Wojciech Lik Chairman of the Board Simon Boyd President Piotr Sitarek Country Manager Tomasz Krawczyk President of the Board Marek Hicz Managing Director Robert Dunn Vice President & Country Manager Monika Pywaczewska Managing Director Company website www.raiffeisen.pl www.randstad.pl www.raytheon.com www.regus.pl www.roche.com www.rrdonnelley.eu.com www.russellreynolds.com www.sabre-holdings.com www.salans.com www.sano-aventis.com.pl www.sas.com/poland www.sheraton.pl www.siemens.pl www.sikorsky.com www.silgan.com www.sitel.pl www.sgcib.com www.sodexo.pl www.sotel.com n/a www.spencerstuart.com www.squiresanders.com www.steelcase.com/uk www.huttonenergy.com www.swiftaviana.com www.talisman-energy.com www.disney.pl www.travelport.com www.ts-kancelaria.pl www.ubs.com www.ul.com www.unipharm.pl www.uer.pl www.universalleaf.com www.upc.pl www.ups.com www.ursglobal.com www.vfc.com www.viking-intl.com www.viskase.com www.wardynski.com.pl www.warnerbros.com www.mba.uw.edu.pl www.destinationwarsaw.com www.sheraton.com/krakow www.weil.com www.business.westernunion.pl www.westinghousenuclear.com www.whirlpool.com www.whitecase.pl www.eversheds.pl www.woodward.com www.wrigley.pl www.atkinsglobal.com www.xerox.com.pl

W, X 279. WARDYSKI & PARTNERS Tomasz Wardyski CBE Founding Partner 280. WARNER BROS. ENTERTAINMENT POLSKA Sp. z o.o. Waldemar Saniewski Managing Director 281. WARSAW - ILLINOIS EXECUTIVE MBA Tomasz Ludwicki Managing Director 282. WARSAW DESTINATION ALLIANCE, FOUNDATION Alex Kloszewski Chairman & Managing Director 283. WAWEL HOTEL DEVELOPMENT Sp. z o.o. Stijn Oyen General Manager 284. WEIL, GOTSHAL & MANGES Roman Rewald Partner 285. WESTERN UNION BUSINESS SOLUTIONS Joanna Rybus Country Manager Poland 286. WESTINGHOUSE ELECTRIC COMPANY Mats Olsson Business Development Manager 287. WHIRLPOOL POLSKA Sp z.o.o. Mariusz Dbrowski General Manager Poland & the Baltics 288. White & Case P Pietkiewicz, M. Studniarek i Wsplnicy - Kancelaria Prawna s.k. Pawe Pietkiewicz Partner . 289. WIERZBOWSKI EVERSHEDS Judith Gliniecki Partner 290. WOODWARD GOVERNOR POLAND Sp. z o.o. Dominik Kania Executive Director 291. WRIGLEY POLAND Maciej Wysocki Chairman of the Board 292. WS ATKINS - POLSKA Sp. z o.o. Stephen Novis Managing Director 293. XEROX POLSKA Sp. z o.o. Marzena Tarkowska Country General Manager

Individual members as of Dec. 15 2012

Member 1. Elisabeth Asiri 2. Adam Bergmann 3. Alain Bobet 4. Brian Bode 5. Bogy Cimoszko Skowronski 6. Dario Cipriani 7. Andrew Davis 8. Adam de Sola Pool 9. Peter Dembinski 10. Maksymilian Ebenstein 11. Richard Engel 12. Ewa Esquerra 13. Kenneth Globerman 14. Thomas Gresk 15. Irene Grzybowski 16. Kent Holding 17. Chris Hutchinson 18. Adam R. Karasch 19. Izabella Kawczynski Contact phone +48-601-779-454 +48-664-444-777 +48-513-190-208 +48-887-500-434 +48-22-436-7420 +48-608-000-511 +48-22-456-4500 +48-22-756-3232 +48-602-677-600 +48-600-810-100 +48-508-047-510 +48-602-722-622 +48-798-234-447 +48-728-961-044 +48-601-802-040 +48-22-578-3000 +48-507-627-608 +48-600-880-565 +48-604-601-050 Member 20. Sylwester Klarowicz 21. Jon Kolasinski 22. Jolanta Koman Tourel 23. Steve Krupa 24. Richard Lada 25. Bill Livingstone 26. Matthew Lynch 27. Michael Majchrzak 28. George Michalski 29. Martin Miszerak 30. Kurt Montgomery 31. Don Mucha 32. Anya Margaret Ogorkiewicz 33. Wodzimierz A. Paszkowski 34. Bret Schlussman 35. Michal Scholtes 36. Alex Shannon 37. Adam Skowronski 38. Christopher Smith Contact phone +48-668-133-034 +48-500-206-227 +48-604-993-366 +1-847-564-1931 +48-601-207-357 +1-512-582-2158 +48-602-333-022 +48-501-092-102 +48-606-917-000 +48-605-953-261 +48-695-877-770 +1-602-402-2641 +48-510-419-141 +48-22-835-3000 +1-212-533-9090 +48-501-700-522 +48-501-515-740 +48-603-774-496 +48-22-616-0062 Member 39. Craig Smith 40. Andrzej Szadzinski 41. Tadeusz Szostak 42. Jerzy Thieme 43. Stanley Urban 44. Gedeon Werner 45. Paul Zalucky Contact phone +48-604-144-769 +48-58-307-2626 +48-605-404-001 +48-601-282-812 +48-502-709-190 +48-515-171-799 +48-606-802-998

th

For information on how to become a member contact Barbara Pocialik at +48 22 520 5999 or write to barbara.pocialik@amcham.pl

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Monthly Meeting
Annual General Meeting

Opening a new chapter

Photos by AGENCJAREPORTER

AmCham welcomes the new ambassador

Stephen Mull was confirmed as US Ambassador to the Republic of Poland on September 22, 2012, and sworn in by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on October 24. He served as Executive Secretary of the State Department from June 2010 until October 2012. Before that, he served from August 2008 as Senior Advisor to Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs William Burns, in which capacity he coordinated US diplomatic efforts on Iran, managed the State Departments crisis response during the Russian-Georgian war of August 2008, and led negotiations on a range of US national security issues, including the agreement permitting US military resupply flights to Afghanistan through Russian airspace. He was Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs in January 2007August 2008. Mull served as US Ambassador to Lithuania in 20032006 and Deputy Chief of Mission at the US Embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia, in 20002003. His other overseas assignments have been in Poland, South Africa and the Bahamas. In Washington, he also served as Deputy Executive Secretary of the Department of State, Director of the Office of Southern European Affairs, and Deputy Director of the Operations Center. Mull is the recipient of two Presidential Meritorious Service Awards, the Baker-Wilkins Award for Outstanding Deputy Chief of Mission, the Director Generals Award for Reporting, two Superior Honor Awards, two Distinguished Honor Awards, and more than ten Senior Foreign Service performance awards. He joined the Foreign Service in March 1982, and holds the rank of Career Minister.
he Annual General Meeting in December was a natural occasion for the new US Ambassador to Poland, Stephen Mull, to meet with AmCham members and deliver his policy address to the chamber. Ambassador Mull attended the meeting with the head of the Political Section, Martina Strong, and Commercial Counselor William Czajkowski. Accepting the honorary chairmanship of the chamber for the duration of his mission to Poland, Ambassador Mull acknowledged the role of the chamber in facilitating Polish-American economic relations. Although Im new as an ambassador, I know so much about the successful record that the chamber has accomplished, he said. You are doing a great job and Im looking forward to working with you on how I can best expand our partnership during the next few years that Ill be honored to serve as ambassador in Poland.

firms are active in almost every sector of the economy in Poland. The US is the 7thlargest investor in terms of the number of active companies in Poland. Our Commercial Section every day receives enquiries from companies of all sizes that are interested in the Polish marketon average, about 50 US firms a week. To help the US Commercial Service in Poland, the embassy is participating in a State-developed project known as Direct Line Business. Through Direct Line, I will chair conference calls with US companies that are looking for Poland as their possible market, Mull said. These calls will give an opportunity to companies headquartered in the US to directly engage with me and our embassy team on specific topics of interest. I will be delighted if some AmCham members could join Direct Line. Mull also encouraged AmCham members to cooperate with the embassy: Im interested in hearing ideas for future projects that we should work together on. The ambassador said that US diplomacy firmly supports the promotion of American

technology. In Poland, he said, the embassy is working closely with the shale gas industry, the Ministry of the Environment and the Polish Geological Institute to share best practices and increase public understanding of this cutting-edge resource. When it comes to nuclear energy, which is also a key component of the diverse energy mix for Poland, Mull said that the US remains engaged with Polands National Atomic Energy Agency and other institutions. Nowhere is the connection between business and government more clear than in energy security, he explained. Promoting a diverse energy mix has been and will continue to be a primary focus of our work at the embassy. a two-way street The ambassador noted that while Polands economy has been steadily growing, the private sector is looking for business opportunities abroad. Polish firms have recently begun establishing a presence in the US market. So far they have invested close to USD 1 billion in US markets, he said. We

intend to continue to promote the US market as the premiere destination for Polish global expansion. One of the ambassadors priorities in his mission in Poland is to increase the number of Polish students attending college and university in the United States, as the numbers have dropped significantly in recent years. I know that you will all agree on the importance of American higher education, so I look forward to developing a plan for answering that call, he said. Ambassador Mull concluded his speech by saying that Polish-US relations have been so dynamic over recent years thanks in huge part to the excellent foundation that American businesses have established here. You can count on my support for doing everything possible to ensure your continued success.

commerce and technology Mull noted that while it is the first time he has served as US Ambassador to Poland, the country is not new to him. He first came here in the 1980s as a US diplomat and has followed the economic changes that have taken place ever since. Poland is a thriving, prosperous country, he said, with business reflecting the countrys impressive economic growth. Mull went on to say that in 20082012 Poland has accumulated GDP growth of 15.8%growing faster than any other EU member state. Although the 2012 numbers indicate slower growth, it is still projected that Polands GDP growth was the highest in the EU. Mull said that part of the success must be attributed to US investors in Poland, who have helped the country to see how much can be done when it is committed to business. He pointed out that American

Polish-US relations have been so dynamic over recent years thanks in huge part to the excellent foundation that American businesses have established here. You can count on my support for doing everything possible to ensure your continued success.
Stephen Mull

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Company prole
CDM Smith DLA Piper
many projects associated with water management, treatment and reuse around oil & gas and industry as a whole. We are currently addressing these needs in Poland and see further projects developing. We also see unique opportunities to use Warsaw as a central point of service for our client base in Central Europe. CDM Smith uses design centers to service regional project needs, and we see our Polish operations as a great asset to continue to do this for our client base throughout Central Europe. how would you describe your corporate culture? At CDM Smith, we work togetherin teams and in partnership with our clients to solve complex environmental, engineering and infrastructure challenges. Together, we create a learning culture, dedicated to nding a better way for our clients, for the planet, and for each other. The CDM Smith organization operates under a set of core valuesexcellence, initiative, shared commitment, integrity and teamworkthat represent the fundamental principles that guide our collective and individual decisions, strategies and actions. This culture is what has driven our success in Poland, as we have developed a team of local regulatory, engineering and construction experts integrated with a global oil & gas technical team with the goal of making shale gas development a success in Poland. What about corporate social responsibility? CDM Smith is committed to continually improving environmental value, quality of life, and economic prosperityfor the rm, our clients, and the communities in which we live and work. We understand that our solutions must meet the current needs of our clients while preserving resources for future generations. In our service to clients, as well as our own operations, CDM Smithstrives to achieve the sustainability triple bottom line of environmental stewardship, social responsibility and economic growth. In addition, our employees have a strong commitment to helping communitiesour own and those in need around the world. We are active, caring citizens who contribute thousands of hours annually to civic and charitable causes. We are global citizens, answering the call of those in distressed communities, helping others to help themselves, and creating legacies of hope for future generations. We volunteer in schools, non-prot organizations, civic events, and environmental cleanups. We donate funds and volunteer our expertise for projects with Engineers Without Borders, Water for People and other similar organizations.

American Investors Tom wiok talks with Kevin P. Molloy, Vice President and Oil and Gas Sector Leader of CDM Smith, an engineering and project management company specializing in infrastructure projects for a diverse range of sectors, about the companys business plans for Poland
how was 2012 for cDm smith in poland? First, thank you for the opportunity to be part of the American Chamber of Commerce in Poland. We have truly enjoyed your support and efforts. It is a valuable organization for all of us. For CDM Smithand many people in Poland2012 was an exciting year. We exceeded our sales and revenue goals, grew signicantly, and expanded our service platform. CDM Smith has benetted from having historic operations in Poland and clients that have been great partners in driving unconventional shale development. Leveraging our local expertise and global technical strength, we have seen excellent results. The industry remains very dynamic and we continue to look for opportunities to provide value to our customer base and achieve mutual success. CDM Smith is honored to be part of this very exciting time in Poland. cDm smith announced that it has expanded its construction capabilities. What is the company's development strategy for poland? CDM Smiths strategy is to provide fullservice consulting, design, construction and operations to our clients around the globe. Adding construction capabilities in Poland is an extension of our global strategy. We are currently completing construction projects for oil and gas clients, and we are actively pursuing additional construction work across other sectors. We are focused on our clients needs in Poland, and plan to partner with them to provide integrated solutions in water, environment, transportation, energy and facilities across the entire project life cycle, from planning and engineering through construction and operation. What are the factors that contribute to the growth of your business in poland? The key contributors for our growth have been strong teams, local institutional knowledge, industry nimbleness, and a global perspective on client expectations. We have beneted greatly by having an engaged team consisting of regulatory, engineering and construction experts, a client base that is truly interested in partnering for success, and subcontractor teams that
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Going where the gas is

A client-driven law rm
American Investors Tom wiok talks with Sir Nigel Knowles, co-managing partner of DLA Piper globally, and Dr. Krzysztof Wiater, managing partner of DLA Piper in Poland, about the rms business growth strategy
We talked exactly five years ago, when DLa piper was 6 months old in poland. You told me then that your goal was to create a great law firm. Do you think you have succeeded? Krzysztof Wiater: Yes. Our law firm is a great company. It is not only thanks to its lawyers but the entire team, including the support personnel. Im really proud of them. Our young people are very attached to our firm. They are self-motivated. It seems to me sometimes that they are much more dependable than I am. But I know that Im leading this firm in the right direction to become one of the key law practices in Poland. What is the significance of being a part of DLa piper? Wiater: It was not by coincidence that we decided to build this firm with our friends with DLA Piper. When I started my career as a lawyer, for many years I was looking for a good partner that would drive my company safely in the right direction. DLA Piper proved to be exactly the right partner. The support and understanding we have received over the years here in Warsaw have been phenomenal. I know that with DLA Piper, we are heading towards becoming one of the best law firms in Poland. a very good result as compared to other European countries. Poland is seen as a very solid, resilient place to be. An Ernst & Young survey suggests that Poland is the 7th-most welcoming country to invest in globally. And foreign companies are investing. On the other hand, Polish companies want to transact all around the world. So all the requirements that DLA Piper looks to have established in any place it does business are present in Poland. how would you evaluate DLa piper Wiater after over five years working together? Knowles: Our clients want us to be here and we have a great team. If you look at the progress we have made in five-and-ahalf years in Poland, it is pretty stunning. We have a headcount of 100. If you start about the time when the global financial crisis starts and you live through it and get to a hundred people, you must get something right. And that something right has got to be that youve done someenergy, including oil, gas and renewable energy, but also technology, manufacturing, healthcare and defense. But what is probably unique is that we are always looking for some kind of differentiator between us and our competitors, and I think that we are much more focused on bringing our clients not only advice but also solutions. This is something that in each sector is extremely important to our clients. So this is an important aspect of our business. Also, the type of investment that we can do for our clients is what distinguishes us. We aim at offering the best long-term relations. We are not interested in just one-off projects, but in building long, stable relations with all clients. A substantial portion of our clients have been with us longer than three to four years. There are clients who have been with me for 20 years now, since the time I started my career. So thats our approach.

Photo courtesy of Kevin Molloy

have displayed great initiative and attention to detail. Our staffs long history in Poland has helped us navigate the best path forward on projects and capture Polands rich heritage and stakeholders values for success. CDM Smith has had to remain exible to balance challenging economics, dynamic industries and regulatory hurdles. Our global experience and client relationships have been a major factor in our growth. Understanding the values and needs of clients, especially those from the US, and delivering them locally, is critical for success. We will continue to capitalize on these areas for success in the future. I also have to acknowledge that there was a little serendipity to our success in Poland to date. There was a fortuitous alignment of our existing resources and an industry need that materialized as Poland became one of the rst countries outside the US to develop unconventional shale. When it comes to new projects in poland, what are the companys plans? CDM Smith sees a lot of potential in Poland, in areas both directly and synergistically aligned to shale gas development, as well as within the Polish economy as a whole. One of our top priorities is furthering the water service industry in Poland. CDM Smith is universally known as a water rm, and we have developed and executed

Knowles: There are three aspects to a lawyers life. There is the office in which he or she works. There is the practice group of which he or she is a part. And then there is also the whole notion of sectors, where clients expect you these days to understand their business and to be able to help how important is them. poland in DLa Krzysztof menpipers global optioned investing erations? in the relationNigel Knowles: Our ship with clients. vision is to be the It is very imporleading global busitantand this is ness law firm. The what we base our purpose of that viDr. Krzysztof Wiater and Sir Nigel Knowles at DLA Piper Wiater in Warsaw philosophy onto sion is to be able to give the best advice and invest in the relaact for the strongest local, national, conti- thing that your clients want and support. tionship, including investing in the nental and global clients wherever they do So the facts speak for themselves. knowhow of each of the sectors in which business around the world. Poland has a our clients are strong. If you know whats population of nearly 40 million, strong What is driving your business forin the clients inbox or whats on the GDP growth and very strong indicators, ward in poland? clients agenda, or what are the issues of for example debt to GDP is 50%, which is Wiater: Our focus is on such sectors as
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Company prole
DLA Piper
the day for the sector that the client works in, you can become their trusted adviser and therefore add more value. You then can get repeat work, and you end up with a partnering type of relationship. Thats what we are trying to do. If we invest in a relationship with clients and become a clients trusted adviser, we cannot ask for anything more. Thats what we strive to achieve, and being sector-relevant is a significant component of that. Do your lawyers go through any special training to get the best possible understanding of the sectors their clients are in? Knowles: Most of our technology lawyers are experts in technology. When it comes to the hospitality and leisure sector, for instance, our lawyers know everything about this industry. They are simply interested in what the job is. Wiater: The IT sector is one of the most dynamically developing. But we dont follow the trendswe are part of them. We are one of the first law firms to use the cloud computing model, for instance. When we got into cloud computing a year ago, we were a step ahead of our competitors, who at that time would not even consider resorting to the cloud. Today we have a very good understanding of this environment, and it shows that we are always open to new challenges. As a law firm you can be innovative, technologically advanced and capable of adjusting your business to the same path of development your clients are on. Knowles: DLA Piper has a chief technology officer who is not a lawyer and who looks after our technology infrastructure. He is really great. Two weeks ago I wanted to talk at a conference in Sydney, Australia, but I could not be there. In the end I opened the conference by our own internal conferencing facility Lynk. I could appear on a big screen in a hotel conference center in Sydney and deliver the opening address at 10:30 on Thursday evening for me, which was 8:30 Friday morning in Sydney, and saved EUR 10,000 in airfare. Wiater: We are investing in the technical knowledge of our lawyers. It may be IT or other sectors. We decided that our lawyers should be not only good lawyers but also good in business management and understanding business at large. Some of them have started MBA programs, because they know that they as well as our practice can benefit much more by being on the same page as our clients when it comes to understanding business.
36 AMERICAN INVESTOR WINTER 2013

We also have separate programs for all our associates and partners to develop their understanding of different business aspects. The law today is not only about being a lawyer, but about being a professional with a holistic approach to life, so the law firm you work for can be one step ahead of the competition. Knowles: We are the only firm to have the DLA Piper Harvard Leadership Program, in which we select 17 partners a year, out of our 1,500 partners globally, for a weeklong residential course at Harvard Business School in the US. We also have the Role of Leader course, dedicated to the persons who are in charge of each practice group, who have that unique position of having the reporting line to the head of the office or the reporting line to a practice group head. We put a lot of effort into training people and getting consistency and a good, constructive culture. What is your business development vision? Knowles: We all believe that the global legal market is worth USD 300 billion a year. Historically it has always been thought that USD 200 billion of that 300 billion is spent by US corporates in the US and around the worldalthough thats changing, and more of the spend is occurring around South America, Africa, China, Southeast Asia and Australia. In relation to that USD 300 billion annual legal expenditure, no law firm has got 1% of the market, in fact nowhere near 1%. This is much different when comparing it with the accountancy profession, where a handful of big companies have around 20% of the total expenditure in accounting. So consolidation in the legal market was always bound to happen as globalization took up pace. There are more and more international companies wanting legal services over greater, diverse areas. Then, of course, youve got the global financial crisis, where heads of financial departments were under pressure to cut costs. One way of cutting costs was to use one law firm instead of a number of firms. If they found a firm that was in all the places that they were and had all the practice groups they needed to utilize, with the sector expertise they were in, then they could start to use one law firm over more practice groups and geographies and make themselves more effective and efficient. They could also get a better value proposition from the new law firm, because they would be getting to use it more. Then corporate knowledge would build up within the law firm, and it would become a more and more effective and

trusted adviser. This has been seen as the way to go. I think we will find that there will be very intense consolidation and merger activity in the market for legal services, and there will be one company that sooner or later will get to that 1% of the market and beyond that. I also think that well find that it will be driven by globalization and the global financial crisis, and a desire on the part of all companies to be generally more efficient. That intensity will continue apace now.

buying patterns of general counsel and heads of legal departments have gone through a paradigm shift. The old days arent going to return. It is a new world we are heading for. i understand there are some csr programs in place at DLa piper Wiater now. What are they? Wiater: We have so far published two editions of a catalogue of small businesses in Warsaw that the members of our firm recommend. These are restaurants,

We are also engaged in many local initiatives. Our lawyers meet with children in daycare facilities on the poor side of Warsaw and help them engage in different arts and cultural activities, such as lmmaking or painting. Of course the easiest way would be to donate money to those institutions. But nothing is as effective as spending your time, because what you are contributing then is your personality, your knowledge and experience. You rst need to understand the situation the person you want to help is in. When you do, you dis-

it seems that you put a lot of emphasis on personality and character in your firm Wiater: Indeed, we are not looking to have only excellent lawyers. Of course we want to have the best lawyers possible, but even more we want to have excellent human beingsindividuals who are excellent personalities outside of the business world too. This is the kind of people we really like to work with. how do you see 2013 for the company in poland and globally? Wiater: We have the Japanese, French and Spanish desks in place. But we hope to grow our personnel to 150 people by late 2015 or early 2016, including lawyers and support staff. It is an ambitious goal in the flagging economy, but in the past each year we have exceeded our annual growth plans. We are constantly committed to investment, and we actively search for new clients. Knowles: Throughout the global financial crisis we never stopped investing in business. We have always got investment that we have made that is there to mature and to make the business better. It is an evolving process. On January 8 we open our office in South Korea. It is a good beginning of 2013. We know that we attract a lot of interest from serious law firms around the world that we are talking to at the moment, as they see that we could be a better solution for their clients. I anticipate that the current trend of clients seeing DLA Piper as a better solution for them, as a result of our diversity of proactive groups and geography, combined with our sectoral expertise, will continue to attract market share in Poland and elsewhere. But some other things will not change. Fundamentally, you have to work hard. You have to work hard to please the client. But if you think that you have the right vision and you are with a bunch of really great people, you put that hard work in. And it is a real pleasure to see that hard work pay off. That energizes you to keep doing it. Wiater: Im very much responsible for building the strategy for DLA Piper Wiater. I see that some of our clients look not just for a lawyer but for a trusted adviser. That is the beauty of this business, because there is still room for growth offering this type of advisory, in which our overall knowledge and expertise play a significant part.

Photos by Tom wiok

If you think about the worst place in the world to be for a midsize law firm, it is London. With no other offices and nothing different to sell from any of the other law firms, what do you do then when there is no GDP growth and no available new market? A lot of law firms will discover that they can no longer invest their way into achieving what was their strategy without binding themselves together and trying to get something bigger and more appealing to the clients. There will be law firms which will not be able to afford it now. It is going to be a very interesting time for them globally. The end result is that the

stores, a place which has a working stereographic projector dating from the early 20th century, and other interesting business ventures in Warsaw that we want to promote and help. This is pure social responsibility, because they are too small to be our clients. But it is our strong conviction that we need to support small, local businesses. We also participate in other programs. One of them is maintained by our global network and helps spread knowledge and understanding of the law in underdeveloped countries. Our lawyers volunteer. Last year our associate went to Tanzania to teach students there.

cover that your time and your personal efforts are the most benecial aspects of your help. So the key point is that we get involved in programs that can utilize not only our money, but also our time and personalities. I have to say that we do not press our people to participate in such programs. It is just enough to let them know what projects they may consider, and they just pick what they think suits them best. We never really needed to encourage our people to do that. We have a relatively young team, and maybe they are still idealists or maybe they are just well-educated and keen to help others.

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Focus
Executive chef
When the time came to select the school that would give him the education he needed for a future professional career, Leniak had narrowed his choice down to two: cook or barman. I wanted to be both, he says. Eventually I decided to be a cook, because somebody explained to me that it is much better to excel in one field than be average in many. Soon Leniaks love affair with the professional restaurant kitchen began. The restaurant I had my apprenticeship at had great, inspiring, old-school chefs, who instantly became my role models, Leniak says. It was thanks to them that I realized that professional cooking was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. He became chef of that restaurant at the age of 19. Then he bade it farewell to try his hand in a new place. He led it as chef for only a few months when his talent was spotted by a headhunting organization recruiting for a new hotel in town. He was reluctant to leave the new place, feeling he had not been there long enough to make a distinctive mark. But after a succession of interviews he decided to join the staff of the Sheraton Krakw as sous-chef. It was 2004, and Leniak was all of 23. The Sheraton Krakw marked another pivotal point in his professional career. His new boss, Daniel Mayor, executive chef of the hotel restaurant, had a profound influence on the young sous-chef. Major was a great professional, Leniak says. He was extremely well-organized and taught me how to manage all aspects of the kitchen business, including recipes, workflow, cost management... He was incredible! Im still grateful to him for what he taught me. In three years working under Mayor, Leniak developed a distinct blend of management skills and creativity at the kitchen station. In 2007 Leniak was promoted to executive chef of the Sheraton Krakw, a position he successfully holds until now. Leniak has a love affair with the professional restaurant kitchen The soccer team calls In the meantime, Leniaks talents were spotted by yet other people, this time in the sports arena. Following a succession of interviews, in 2006 Leniak accepted the position of executive chef of the Polish National Soccer Team. It was another stroke of good luck, Leniak says. Working for the national team is like working for a ve-star restaurant. After years of experience, Leniak no longer needs to consult his new menus with the teams physicians and dietitians. The most important thing is to select the right, ecological produce, he says. The most important meal is the one served before the match. It always contains light products and no fats. But it has to be energetic and must be served at the right time before the match. But working for the soccer team is not only about meal composition. It is also about going to an unknown hotel two or three days before the arrival of the team, meeting the executive chef there and the staff, and blending with them just in time to deliver meals for the players that absolutely meet all their specific requirements. I have learned to be assertive, Leniak says. I have worked with kitchen personnel in all parts of the world, in all cultures. I have always managed to have them deliver according to our standards, although sometimes it was a close call. a question of produce Despite his extensive travels for the soccer team, Leniak spends the bulk of his professional time at the Sheraton Krakw. When composing new menus there, it is Polish produce he most enthusiastically turns to. There are incredible produce items in Poland that are worth using, Leniak says. There are different types of grains, lentils, and flax-seed that need to be rediscovered in Poland. Leniak is lukewarm on the meat delivered by domestic producers, however. Unfortunately, meat farming is based on the principle of quantity, not quality, he says. But this is slowly changing, as far as I can see. Recently I had a meeting with a Polish farmer who had just commenced the production of seasoned beef. The quality was excellent! I love it because it means that quality meat can be produced in Poland. I hope that in the future there will be enough quality meat available from local farmers in Poland so we do not have to buy from Japan or Argentina. When it comes to fish dishes it is another story. There are only a few types of fresh fish available in Poland, Leniak says. So we cooperate with a supplier in Germany who, three times a week, brings fresh fish to our hotel from the largest food market in Rungis, just outside of Paris. Team building With 45 people under him, Leniak has grown to be as devoted to the art of management as he is to cooking. Cooks who apply for jobs at his kitchen do not need to boast about great experience. Cooking is such a broad theme that you never stop learning in this business, he explains. What they do need to have, however, is unconditional devotion to cooking. The most important thing I look forward to hearing from a candidate at the interview is that cooking is his or her passion. Passion is an indispensable ingredient of creativity in the kitchen. You are not going to create anything new and amazing if you dont have a passion for cooking. But another personal quality that Leniak is looking for in young, aspiring cooks is modesty. I dont trust individuals who boast about their abilities, he says. When somebody asks me if Im good, I always tell them to visit our restaurant and judge for themselves. Such an attitude is important in a cook, because a good kitchen is about experiencing food, and it is our job to offer that experience. For Leniak, his profession is more than just a professionit is a way of life. You are not going to make a difference in this job unless you devote yourself to it entirely, he says. He jokes that the key to success in this business is having an understanding spouse. But then he adds that what he misses most in his job is the time to actually work at the kitchen station. Because he manages people, his other passion has become the study of motivational theories and practices. There are different individuals, different characters among your kitchen staff. You have to know how to reach out to each one of them. This is essential because without a great team, even the greatest chef is nothing. It is teamwork, Leniak says. You need to run a team of well-trained professionals who do their best to keep our guests satisfied every day. It is not an easy task. Leniak is proud that members of the team very rarely quit. combining experiences The jobs at the helm of the Sheraton Krakw kitchen and as executive chef of the Polish National Soccer Team both offer a lot of tough and unique professional challenges. Leniak is fully aware of this, and hopes that one day he will be able to transform some of his experiences into a book. I dont want it to be yet another cookbook, Leniak says. I want it to be a book which will open the readers eyes to the issue of quality food and its impact on peoples health and wellbeing. Leniak says that a good selection of food can work miracles for the bodya fact that does not seem too widely known but nevertheless is extremely important for people today, who live in stress and constant rush. I lost 35 kilograms in a few months just because I used proper foodfood that suits my body, he says. It is only the food I could count on, because with my present lifestyle I have no time to spend at the gym. The book, which Leniak has already begun researching, will be a compilation of recipes from different parts of the world he has visited in his travels with the Polish soccer team, served up with the insight of a professional whose life is devoted to the kitchenmost days, the kitchen of the Sheraton Krakw.

Despite his extensive travels for the soccer team, Leniak spends the bulk of his professional time at the Sheraton Krakw

Photos courtesy of Sheraton Krakw

Good food is the goal

omasz Leniak, executive chef of the Sheraton Krakw, has always had an insatiable interest in food. As a young boy he would peruse his mothers cookbooks for a dish he thought he would like. Then he would ask his mother to pre-

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A young executive chef feeds guests at the Sheraton Krakw and travels the world to assure that the Polish soccer team starts every game on the right gastronomic foot
pare the dish, to test his own instincts. As the years went by this inclination toward food took a new form. Leniak would go to selected restaurants in Krakw, his hometown, to sneak a peek at how a real restaurant kitchen worked.

According to Leniak, there are incredible produce items in Poland that are worth using

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Focus
Transatlantic relations Steel market

Thinking outside the tank

What are the mission and the specic areas of your work here in poland? The German Marshall Fund of the United States is an American think tank, but we started as a foundation, so I may say we are a foundation and a think tank. Some of our ofces, such as in Bucharest and Belgrade, are still grant-making. They give money for programs and privatization and similar things, so they fulll the role of a foundation. On the other hand the Polish ofce, which opened in May 2011 as our seventh ofce, is more like our ofces in Brussels, Paris and Berlin, which are focused on network building and analytical work. We work with the local think-tank community. We do a lot of partnering with the government-related Polish Institute of International Affairs (PISM), but also with non-governmental organizations such as Demos Europa and the Center for International Relations (CSM). We organize meetings, conferences, and other events that deal with issues we believe to be central. My portfolio includes energy security, for obvious reasons. We have done a number of events on shale gas and unconventional energy. We are about to launch a new program on energy that will focus not so much on these large conferences but seminars and analytical publications, trying to inform the debate in Poland about why shale gas and unconventional energy in general is a really critical foundation for commercial relations between the US and Poland. We also work on democracy promotion. Most of our programming that reaches to the Eastern Partnership countries goes through this ofce. Some of the funding may be covered by our Berlin ofce or directly from Washington, DC, but most of the organizational work is done from Warsaw looking to the East. The next major area of our work in Poland is to build networks between nongovernmental organizations, but also work with governments, in Poland, Scandinavia, Central Europe and Germany, on some key issues that are now on the menu. For example, in 2012 we did a conference in Poland, in cooperation with the Marshall Center in Germany, which is a governmental organization, an American-German partnership, on defense, economics and the age of scarcity. In December last year we did a conference on the current,
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American Investors Tomasz wiok talks with Prof. Andrew A. Michta, Senior Transatlantic Fellow and Director of the German Marshall Funds Warsaw ofce, about the agenda for Poland.
to Europe. We just hosted a group that was here in Warsaw. Another project that we develop is our Youth Transatlantic Network Initiative. We are trying to create a program that will allow a number of young Poles to meet with American politicians, speakers, journalists and think-tankers who come to Poland, to talk about America and Poland and the key issues, all in informal settings. This is important because we are talking about our countries not knowing each other very well anymore, because of the visas and other barriers. We want to create an environment where young Poles can meet Americans and learn about their points of view. how about your analytical work? One of our key products is Transatlantic Trends, an annual polling report on what people in America and Europe believe their relationship to be. It is an extremely respected and very expansive study. We have a sample of 1213 EU countries and the US. This year we have added Russia to it for the rst time, and we ask some of the critical questions about security cooperation, the importance of Europe to the US, and individual public responses to crises like nuclear weapons and others. We try to build a trend. It is a project that has been in place for several years now on how this relationship is changing. It is broadly used by journalists and politicians. how can amcham members get involved in your activities? Come to our events! We advertise on the AmCham network and make sure the organizations members get invitations to our events. Secondly, if you want to partner with us on some of the projects, my door is always open. If you have ideas that the companies think should be done here in such areas as energy security and others, do contact us! We are a platform. We create a space for public debate by bringing together different stakeholders on the US corporate side and from the Polish side. We dont advocate for any particular product or policy, other than we want to make sure that the relations between the US and Poland are as strong as they can be. So for any initiatives from the AmCham side where we can help develop these projects or ideasby all means pick up the phone or send me an email!

Room for improvement

AmCham Krakw Director Monika Pilarska talks with Jerzy Kozicz, president of CMC Zawiercie, about the steel industry in Poland.
it has already been 9 years since cmc invested in poland. could you update us on the situation in your company and the steel industry in poland? In December 2003, Commercial Metals Company acquired 71% of the shares of Huta Zawiercie from Impexmetal. Renamed CMC Zawiercie SA, the company is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Commercial Metals Company and is the largest long steel producer in Poland, with revenues exceeding USD 1 billion a year. During those 9 years, the company invested more than PLN 1 billion, mostly in increasing the finished goods production capacity, but also expanding downstream and upstream capabilities. We are the second-biggest US investor in Poland, after GM. Our steel mill is one of the most modern and efficient in Europe. Although the Polish economy has been doing quite well during the last three years, with a positive trend in steel consumption, we have to remember that in Europe, with free trade and no borders, the steel industry must be analyzed in the broader perspective, focusing more on regional markets rather than the domestic market itself. Europe will be the only continent in the world where steel consumption is lower in 2012 than in 2011. In effect, the European recession has influenced the condition of the Polish steel industry in 2012. poland is a net importer of steel. What could be done to reverse this situation and improve the competitiveness of polish steel mills? It is alarming that Poland is a net importer of steel despite the fact that Polish steel production is one of the most modern and efficient in Europe. The main reason for the net import situation is that the Polish government has been less supportive of the Polish manufacturing industry for many years. The Polish steel industry does not have a business environment comparable to our competitors in other EU countries. We pay the highest prices in Europe for electricity and gas. Not only are all of our competitors in Europe exempt from excise tax on energy, but they also pay substantially lower parataxes to support the EU climate policy, as well as considerably lower distribution costs. What seems to be a positive developand European statistics, it is estimated that about 50% of the Polish consumption of this product has been subject to VAT fraud for the last two years. This is a startling statistic, with an incredibly negative effect on the Polish steel industry. Through the Polish Steel Association, we informed the Ministry of Finance about one year ago of the scale of this fraudulent scheme. In spite of these efforts, the situation has not improved. On the contrary, statistics through 8 months of 2012 show that the scale of this problem has increased. This situation has generated a loss of hundreds of millions of zoty in tax receipts for the Polish state budget in 2011 and 2012 and undermined the competitiveness and production levels of Polish producers. The Polish Steel Association is continuing discussions with the Ministry of Finance regarding measures to address this issue. We do appreciate these attempts, but the industry needs prompt and definite actions. In my opinion, implementation of a reverse charge mechanism for VAT by the Ministry of Finance would eliminate this pathology. Such a solution proved appropriate for scrap. Before that, the Polish government had also been losing hundreds of millions of zoty annually as a result of its failure to implement those changes in the law. poland has a very high unemployment rate. What should the polish government do to address this issue, taking into account a potential recession? In my view, the Polish government should look at the recent crisis in Europe in 20082009 and review which countries coped with the crisis in the most efficient way from an unemployment point of view. There is no doubt that Germany and Austria came through the crisis with the lowest unemployment rates, due to their systematic approach. In those countries, governments stepped in and promoted solutions where during the slowdown period employees were sent on a leave of absence, when the government paid a substantial portion of their salaries. The solutions applied in Poland during the crisis did not prevent job losses. Governments, like businesses, should always review how their competitors cope with a given issue and draw conclusions. I hope this time that will be the case in Poland.

Photo courtesy of GMF

Photo courtesy of CMCZawiercie

ongoing debate on how Poland goes about air and missile defenses and how NATO does it. So whatever the current important issues are in the security and economic areas, we try to address them. how about network-building? One of the things that we focus on in Poland is the Marshall Memorial Fellows Program. We partner with the Center for International Relations (CSM). This program allows us to select from different countries a small number of very promising young intellectuals, politicians and administrators, and we send them to the US. But they visit not just Washington and New York, but go to Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado This is because we want them to see the US outside of the two coastal areas. We want to show them our local government and local businesses. So they go for several weeks, and then they come back and become alumni for our organization, and we stay in touch with them and try to foster networks. It is a very successful program. We also bring people from the US here, so it is not just Europeans traveling to America but it is also Americans traveling

ment for the industry is that the current draft Energy Law prepared by the Ministry of Economy incorporates a reduction of para-taxes for energy-intensive companies. This is a first potential step to reduce our competitive disadvantage relative to other European producers. It is obvious that the legislative process in Poland is very time-consuming, so it will take some time before it potentially becomes law and we see lower energy bills. There have also been discussions concerning reduction of excise taxes on the governmental level, but these changes can only be implemented after closing of Polands excessive budget deficit procedure. The key to success of the most developed countries is supporting the growth of domestic manufacturing to ensure low unemployment and interesting jobs for new graduates. The other negative aspect significantly affecting the situation in the Polish steel market is the massive VAT fraud on imported steel products. Rebar is the best example of this pathology. This single product accounts for about 14% of total steel consumption in Poland. Based on a comparison of Polish import statistics

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WINTER 2013 AMERICAN INVESTOR

Expert
Graphology Tax law

The writing on the wall

Professional analysis of handwriting can be surprisingly helpful in assessing job candidates and business partners
raphology is a science that correlates handwriting patterns with personality traits. Professional graphologists are trained in the interpretation of handwriting patterns and their relationship to the writers personality. Graphologists identify personality traits based on the thorough study of a handwriting sample. In recruitment, graphology provides a unique, precise personality profile, which supports executives in choosing appropriate key personnel with minimum risk. Graphology portraits are also a valuable decision-making tool in assessing the compatibility of potential business partners. It is a method that combines the effectiveness of a personality assessment with convenience for the customer. The personal touch of handwriting provides stunning insight
By Lucyna Baca-Lnn, Founder and Director, Graphology Solutions Group

A blast from the past

are essential for companies to grow and develop. Graphology assessment is a method of remote personality analysis, which reduces additional costs. Convenience, because there is no need for direct contact between the graphologist and the client, and easy access to graphology analysis are advantages of graphology opinions. There is also anonymity, which provides a sense of security, privacy and neutrality essential when making an assessment of key personality elements. These advantages in a business context are clear and concrete. national traits Graphologists observe characteristic handwriting patterns across different nations. People in almost every country in the Western world write using the Latin alphabet. However, within the West, there are significant differences in how letters are formed by representatives of different nationalities and countries and, accordingly, in the characteristics of their handwriting. American handwriting represents a combination of many national traditions, resulting in a compilation of free and sweeping handwriting. Research has shown that American handwriting generally resembles the salesperson type, indicated by signs of dynamism, materialism and extroversion in script. In England, writing tends to be rather simple, without flourishes, displaying reserve and respect for traditions. The Spanish hand is distinguished by its expression of old-world pride in large, old-fashioned, dignified capital letters. Intense but controlled emotionality may also be visible in Spanish handwriting. The French tend to write small, suggesting a more logical approach to life. Italian script reflects a sense of rhythm and grace and an emotional, sociable nature. German handwriting tends to appear more angular and precise than that of other nations. The national characteristics of handwriting are not a constraint for a graphologist preparing a professional opinion. They are a significant indicator, and support the graphologist in reaching an opinion. ethics in graphology Professional graphology findings are made for ethical purposes to support executives in top management personnel selection processes and in compatibility assessment processes for prospective business partners. Graphology opinions need to be prepared in compliance with established American and European criteria and standards in this area. Professional graphologists are required to comply strictly with the ethical principles specified in the European Code of Ethics for the profession, established in 1992. Graphology opinions must be used in an ethical manner and for a worthwhile purpose. The graphology profession demands a high level of ethics, integrity and responsibility on the part of the graphologist. Beyond computers Graphology has a long and honorable history, going back to ancient China and Egypt. It is a respected and effective tool in personnel selection and compatibility assessment processes within companies. Graphology findings help highlight what added value a prospective employee or business partner can bring to the company. An in-depth graphology analysis helps businesses arrive at well-founded conclusions in recruitment and compatibility assessment processes, while minimizing the risk of selecting inappropriate personnel. It can thus be a valuable decisionmaking tool for HR management. It also shows that the ancient art of handwriting continues to be relevant and revealing in our wired, digital age.

Tax regulations between the EU member states resemble solutions Poland and the US have had since 1974
fairly long time ago, on June 3, 2003, the Council of the European Union adopted a directive (2003/49/EC) on taxation of interest and royalties, popularly known as the I+R Directive. The main goal of the directive was to eliminate withholding tax on cross-border payment of interest and royalties within groups of companies by abolishing withholding tax on royalty payments and interest payments in an EU member state. Pursuant to the directive, interest and royalty payments shall be exempt from any taxes in a member state provided that the beneficial owner of the payment is a company or permanent establishment in another member state. How the directive works may be best exemplified by the following situation: If a parent company based in one member state finances a subsidiary based in another member state with debta loanthen the interest accrued on the principal at the source (where the subsidiary is based) and payable (being transferred) to the parent company (in the other member state) shall be exempt from any taxes in the member state where the subsidiary is based, provided that the specific conditions for the tax exemption are met. The I+R Directive applies to companies that meet the following conditions: They are subject to corporate income tax in the EU. They are tax residents of an EU member state. They are in one of the corporate forms listed in the annex to the directive. Initially the annex included only the types of companies existing in countries that were EU member states at the time the directive was

By Marcin Jakubaszek, partner, attorney at law at Miller, Caneld, W. Babicki, A. Chechowski i Wsplnicy Sp.k.

When to apply graphology analysis? Graphology can effectively support executive decisions in the final stage of the personnel selection process, when two or three applicants are shortlisted by the selection committee. Practice shows that graphology assessments, advising on the strengths and weaknesses of the candidates, provide the most effective support to the selection committee at this stage of the recruitment process. Graphological opinions lend support to the personal evaluations by the members of the selection committee, complement or question them. They observe and assess applicants An in-depth graphology analysis helps from different angles, helping businesses arrive at well-founded conreveal their pluses and miclusions in recruitment and compatinuses. Graphology analysis is a bility assessment processes. decision-making tool providing a differentiated view of the candidates personality. Graphology portraits may prove to be a precious tool in the compatibility assessment process for into a persons psyche and life sit- cisiveness, dynamism, equilibprospective business partners, uation. Graphology may also serve rium, extroversion, goal orientawhen the candidates have been as a remote assessment tool for tion, harmony, imagination, indethe writers personality profile, pendence, introversion, logic, mo- narrowed down to the few who leaving no room for premeditated tivation, organization, originality of seem most appropriate. responses by the candidates. ideas, practicality, reliability, sense advantages for business Thus graphology portraits may of priorities, speed of thinking, Graphology analysis allows for provide an authentic picture of stability, suppleness of mind, the author of a sample of handtenacity, and many other personal- an assessment of personnel profiles with a claimed accuracy writing. The authenticity of the ity traits of the person being asof 95%, potentially generating personality assessment profile of a sessed. substantial economic value to job candidate or business partner Such analysis provides a deep is invaluable for an employer or a and thorough assessment of a can- companies. The appropriate business owner. didate for a specific position in the personnel selection decisions
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structure of graphology analysis Graphology analysis has a defined structure and order which a professional graphologist obliged to follow strictly. A graphology portrait of a candidate is prepared according to knowledge based on research and experimentation. It includes an assessment of key personality elements, in the area of intellect, emotivity, activity and adaptation skills of a prospective employee or business partner. It also enables discovery and assessment of key personality traits such as the ability to give and take orders, the ability to keep cool under pressure, the ability to work with others, adaptability, ambition, attention to detail, authority, clarity of judgment, clarity of thinking, common sense, communication, concentration, confidence, consistency, creativity, critical mind, de-

company or a prospective business partner. Professional graphology analysis applies the findings of Jung, Hippocrates, Le Senne, Freud, Adler and other well-known psychologists.

adopted. Under a directive of April 26, 2004, the list was expanded to include types of companies from the new member states which joined the EU on May 1, 2004, including Poland. The Council also gave some of the new member states grace periods permitting them not to apply the directive immediately upon EU accession. Poland has been allowed a grace period until July 1, 2013, to implement the I+R Directive. What does the Us have to do with this? From July 1, 2013, forward, Poland will not apply withholding tax to interest or royalties payable to the companies elsewhere in the EU of the types identified in the I+R Directive, provided that the conditions set under the directive and na-

the EU Poland has been granted a grace period to achieve full implementation of the I+R Directive, Poland has been applying such principles for many years in relation to the US. The deadline for Poland to apply the directive in relations with all other EU member states is approaching, but for nearly four decades Poland has been treating USbased companies in a more preferential way than it now treats companies from elsewhere in the EU. The directive applies to both interest and royalties, however, while the treaty provides an exemption from withholding tax only on interest. Art. 13(1) of the treaty states the same principle with respect to royalties, but Art. 13(2), when combined with national regulations, leads to

As far as interest is concerned, Poland long ago provided for an exemption on withholding tax on payments to US residents.

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tional law are met. What about the United States? Poland treats the US favorably with respect to withholding tax on interest under the October 8, 1974, tax treaty between the US and Poland. Under Art. 8(1) of the treaty, interest arising in one contracting state and paid to a resident of the other contracting state is exempt from tax by the first contracting state. Thus, while as a member of

application of different rules to royalties payable to US residents than those applied to interest paid to US residents. Still, as far as interest is concerned, Poland long ago provided for an exemption on withholding tax on payments to US residents. Now Poland is finally going to apply the same principle to the 26 other EU member states.

WINTER 2013 AMERICAN INVESTOR

Expert
Public procurement law Securities law

How far does the directive go?

awarded in the eld of defense and security by the contracting authorities and entities dened in the directive. Contracts awarded in the eld of defense and security that are not covered by the directive are, as a general rule, subject to the regime of the Classic Procurement Directive (2004/18/EC) or the Utilities Procurement Directive he Act of October 12, 2012, of the European Union is of vital Amending the Public Proimportance. Art. 346 provides an ex- (2004/17/EC), unless a specic exemption is provided under EU curement Law and the Act emption from application of the on Concessions for Construction treaty by a member state with regard law. The denition of a contract Works or Services was published on to essential interests of national secovered by the Defense ProcureNovember 19, 2012, and will go into curity. This also means that the ment Directive relates to two effect on February 20, 2013. A large award of a contract otherwise covbases: defense and security. In part of the amending act is focused ered by the Defense Procurement terms of defense (military), the on implementing into the Polish Directive may be subject to an exlegal system the rules of the Deemption if it is necessary to protect scope of the directive is based on TFEU Art. 346 and covers, in fense Procurement Directive essential interests of the member (2009/81/EC). states security or if it would require general, any and all contracts related to military equipment The EU law on procurement in a member state to supply informa(supplies, services and works). the elds of defense and security tion the disclosure of which it conIn terms of security, the directive was created on the assumption that siders contrary to the essential inis applicable to sensitive prothe gradual establishment of a Euro- terests of its security. curements for security purposes, pean defense equipment market is This situation may arise with reessential for strengthening the Euspect to contracts for defense or in- involving access to classied information. ropean Defense Technological and ternal security where even the speThe directive species four Industrial Base and developing the cic provisions of the directive are military capabilities required to im- not sufcient to protect the member categories of contracts that fall within this scope: plement the European Security and states essential security interests. a) The supply of military equipDefense Policy. At the same time, as However, the potential application a general principle, national security of such exemptions should be inter- ment, including any parts, components and/or subassemblies remains the sole responsibility of preted narrowly so that the free thereof each member state, in the elds of movement of goods and services is b) The supply of sensitive equipboth defense and security. infringed to the slightest extent ment, including any parts, comThe Defense Procurement Direc- possible (see Commission v. Spain, tive is aimed at establishing a legEuropean Court of Justice judgment ponents and/or subassemblies thereof islative framework for the new Euro- of September 16, 1999, Case Cc) Works, supplies and services pean market for defense equipment. 414/97). directly related to the equipment Accordingly, it is beyond any doubt Consequently, a member state that the Polish public procurement that intends to award a contract cov- referred to in points (a) and (b) for any and all elements of its life market will witness a momentous ered by the scope of the Defense cycle change involving the extension of Procurement Directive without fold) Works and services for specithe public procurement regime to a lowing the procedures set forth in new sector, namely defense and se- the directive, relying on the exemp- cally military purposes or sensitive works and sensitive services. curity. So far, in most cases, protion in TFEU Art. 346, must The directive incorporates the curements of this type have been demonstrate the necessity for the denition of a contract as used made outside the regime of the Pub- exemption in order to protect the in the other two procurement dilic Procurement Law. The interpre- states essential security interests. rectives. tation of the new legal provisions will The circumstances should be asbe largely inuenced by the wording sessed on a case-by-case basis, with of the Defense Procurement Direc- due regard for the security interests Defense procurement Military (defense) purposes are tive, including with respect to the and measures in question and the served by contracts for the supcontracts and entities covered by the principle of proportionality. Howply of military equipment, innew rules. ever, the basic rule is compliance cluding any parts, components with the procedures set out in the and/or subassemblies thereof; Treaty exemption directive. works, supplies and services diWhen assessing what contracts must rectly related to such equipment; be awarded in compliance with the contracts covered and works and services for Defense Procurement Directive, Art. The Defense Procurement Direcspecically military purposes. 346 of the Treaty on the Functioning tive applies to specic contracts
44 AMERICAN INVESTOR WINTER 2013

Rules to be amended...
poses and involve, require or contain classied information. Such procurements relate to non-military matters that are of an equally sensitive nature, e.g. in places where the same missions are carried out by military forces and non-military services, or in situations where the procurement is intended to protect the security of the EU or member states against serious threats from nonmilitary or non-governmental entities on their own territory or outsidefor example, operations of the police, border guards, customs services, civil security services, or the like. At the same time, in order to be regarded as security-related, the award of the contract must be connected with classied information, meaning any information or materials, irrespective of form, character or manner of presentation, that are characterized by a specic level of condentiality or protection for security reasons and whichfor the sake of state security and in compliance with relevant provisions of lawrequire protection against any form of embezzlement, damage, removal, disclosure, loss, access by unauthorized parties, or any other threats. entities covered The Defense Procurement Directive applies to contracts awarded by contracting authorities or entities. These are the same units that are covered, as a general rule, by the regime of the Classic Procurement Directive or the Utilities Procurement Directive, such as the state, local governmental units, public entities and associations thereof (contracting authorities), and, in the utilities area, also certain private companies if they operate on the basis of special or exclusive rights granted by a member state (contracting entities). Accordingly, the Defense Procurement Directive may be applied, for example, to companies that provide services to seaports and airports, operators of systems for transmission of gas, heat, electricity or water, and operators of public transport systems.

There are limits to the application of EU public procurement rules when it comes to defense and security

By Anna Szymaska Legal Adviser, Public Procurement Law Practice, Salans

Military equipment is equipment designed or adapted for military purposes and intended to be used as arms, munitions or war material. Council Decision 255/58 of April 15, 1958, is of special signicance here, as that decision contains a list of arms, munitions and war material, and the directive provides that military equipment should be construed to mean the types of products included in that list. The list is of a general nature and serves as an example, and thus should be interpreted broadly, especially in view of advances in technology. The term military equipment also includes products that were originally intended for civil use but later became adapted for military purposes as arms, munitions or war material. On the other hand, works, supplies and services directly related to military equipment have to do, for example, with contracts that are necessary or helpful when using or deploying military equipment and are strictly related to such equipment (e.g. research and development, industrial design, manufacturing, repair, modernization, modication, maintenance, logistics, training, testing, decommissioning and disposal of military equipment). The last type of military contracts involves services and works for specically military purposes. These are contracts that are not directly related to military equipment but have specically military purposes. An example would be transport of military troops or the construction of landing strips, airraid shelters or nuclear shelters. security procurement With respect to security, the directive covers the supply of sensitive equipment, including any parts, components and/or subassemblies thereof, sensitive works and sensitive services. Equipment, works or services are regarded as sensitive when they are for security pur-

Poland takes its time adjusting to new EU regulations on short selling

hort selling is a popular investment strategy to prot from the fall in prices of securities and is often a component of complex investment strategies. A short sale is an undertaking to sell securities that are not recorded in an investors securities account on the date of sale. An investor that does not possess securities, but anticipates that they will fall in price, borrows them, most often from the investors own brokerage, and sells them. If they fall in price, the investorto be able to return them buys them back at the lower price and makes a prot on the difference in prices. If the price rises, the investor loses. Short selling is thus different from the usual strategy of buying securities that are expected to rise in price. polish regulations Polish regulations allow covered short selling, which is only permitted on a regulated market such as the Warsaw Stock Exchange, when an investor and a broker agree for delivery of the securities required to settle a transaction and the broker is authorized to borrow securities for the investor if the investor fails to deliver the securities on time. Covered short selling must meet the criteria indicated in the WSE rules. The WSE maintains and publishes daily a list of securities that can be short-sold and publishes information on concluded short sales. Detailed conditions for concluding and completing short sales appear in the Rules of the WSE and in the Rules of the National Depository for Securities. new european regime On November 1, 2012, new EU regulations on short selling and selected aspects of credit default swaps entered into force (Regulation No. 236/2012 and certain delegated regulations by the European Commission). The purpose of the

By Marcin Pietkiewicz, legal adviser, Capital Markets Practice, Wardyski & Partners

EU regulations is to consolidate the rules for short selling within the EU, increase the transparency of short selling, and ensure greater coordination and coherence of short selling. The regulations apply to shares listed on EU regulated markets, debt instruments issued by states or state agencies (sovereign debt), and credit default swaps of sovereign debt. A short sale under the new regulations is dened as a sale of shares or debt instruments that do not belong to the seller at the time of sale. A sale is included within the denition of a short sale regardless of whether the seller, to settle the transaction, borrowed (or arranged to borrow) securities at the time of sale. The denition does not apply to a sale under repurchase agreements, securities lending agreements, futures contracts, or other derivatives whereby it is agreed to sell securities at an agreed price on a future date. obligation to report a net short position A new requirement in the EU regulations is for a holder of a net short position in shares or sovereign debt to report involvement in the short sale if the sale exceeds or falls below certain statutory thresholds. The threshold was set at 0.2% of issued company share capital, and each subsequent 0.1% net short position involving shares. The European Securities and Markets Authority publishes thresholds for sovereign debt for each member state. Notication must be made no later than 3:30 pm on the business (trading) day following attaining a given position. Notication is made to the Polish Financial Supervision Authority for short positions involving shares

traded on the WSE. It is signicant that not only short sales of shares or debt instruments on a given market are to be considered in determining whether to provide notice of a short position, but also short positions in securities from overthe-counter transactions and derivative transactions (e.g. options and term contracts). Moreover, as with notication obligations for possession of publicly traded shares, specic guidelines apply to the calculation of short positions held by funds that are managed by the same manager or by members of a capital group. The regulations make it obligatory to publicly disclose net short positions in shares that exceed 0.5% of issued company share capital and each subsequent 0.1%. The disclosure is to be made on a website made available for that purpose by the relevant supervisory body, which for Poland is the Financial Supervision Authority. Therefore, notifying the authority will be the equivalent of public disclosure of a signicant net short position. changes still to come EU member states were given the right to impose other measures on short selling, beyond those provided in the EU regulations. There is also a need for the existing Polish regime on short sales to be adapted to the short sale requirements under the new EU regulations, which set forth rules that are directly applicable in all EU member states. Poland has not yet changed existing measures to accord with the EU regulations, but it is expected that the Polish rules on short selling that are still in force will be amended shortly. There are administrative sanctions for failure to provide notice of a short position in shares or sovereign debt, to be introduced by each member state, but Poland has not yet adopted them.

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WINTER 2013 AMERICAN INVESTOR

Expert
Tax law

AmCham Events
AmCham Halloween Business Mixer

Major VAT changes ahead

The most extensive set of amendments to Polands VAT Act in nearly a decade will become effective in April 2013 and January 2014
voice are also being liberalized. The taxpayer will not necessarily be required to obtain conrmation of receipt of the correcting invoice by the buyer of the goods or services. If conrmation of receipt is not provided by the buyer, it will be sufcient for the taxpayer to document that it attempted to deliver the correcting invoice and that the buyer is aware that the transaction was simpler invoicing The amending act introduces several carried out in accordance with the taxpayer-friendly changes in invoic- conditions set forth in the coring, further simplifying the process of recting invoice. issuing invoices. construction sites dened First and foremost, the deadline For the rst time, the amending for issuing an invoice will be extended. Currently, the general rule is act introduces a denition of construction site into the VAT that an invoice must be issued no later than 7 days after delivery of the Act. This is a concept that has goods or performance of the services. been interpreted inconsistently by From January 1, 2014, it will be per- the Polish tax authorities and admissible to issue an invoice as late as ministrative courts. Under the amending act, a the 15th day of the month following construction site is dened as the month in which the transaction took place. It will also be possible to land designated for development under the local zoning plan, or, in issue collective invoices reecting transactions from an entire calendar the absence of a local zoning plan, in accordance with a planning demonth. The act also eliminates the obliga- cision for the site issued under tion to issue internal invoices. How to planning and land use reguladocument events currently subject to tions. With this denition included in the VAT Act, taxpayers the obligation to issue internal inshould no longer have problems voices will be left entirely to the dedetermining the proper taxation termination of the taxpayer. The act also eliminates the obliga- of the sale of land. tion to issue invoices documenting Free-of-charge supply of sales exempt from VAT. Taxpayers goods will be required to issue such inThe act introduces additional voices only when requested by the changes in the regulations conbuyer. cerning free-of-charge supply of Invoices documenting the sale of fuel for a passenger car will no longer goods, clarifying that free-ofhave to include the registration num- charge supply of goods is subject to taxation not only when the taxber of the vehicle. The procedure of self-invoicing, payer was entitled to deduct all or in which the buyer issues the invoice, part of the input VAT on purchase, import or production of which is currently regulated quite strictly, is also being eliminated. The such goods, but also when it had method in which the seller conrms such a right when acquiring the specic invoices issued by the buyer constitutive elements included in the goods supplied free of charge. will be left to the discretion of the The act changes the denition parties. Similarly, the method of consenting to issuance of electronic in- of product samples. It also eliminates advertising and informavoices has been liberalized, and will tional materials from the list of be left to the determination of the items which are not subject to parties to the transaction. taxation when supplied free of The act introduces the option of issuance of invoices for a taxpayer by charge. Supply of printed advertising and informational materials an authorized third party (e.g. a tax will continue to be free of taxation representative). The rules for reduction of the tax if such goods t within the denition of gifts of nominal value. basis by issuance of a correcting inBy Aleksandra FaderewskaWaszkiewicz, advocate and tax adviser, aszczuk & Partners

A ghoulish good time

intra-community supply of goods The amending act will permit booking of intra-Community supply of goods before the taxpayer registers as an EU VAT payer, under the condition that the taxpayer must register as an EU VAT payer by the time it les the tax declaration. The act also eliminates the requirement to provide both parties EU VAT numbers in an invoice documenting intra-Community supply of goods. acquisition of goods in poland from non-residents Currently, taxpayers who acquire goods in Poland from taxpayers without a registered ofce or permanent establishment in Poland have been required to pay VAT on such transaction under the reverse charge procedure, even if the seller was registered in Poland for VAT purposes. From April 1, 2013, this rule will change. If the seller is registered in Poland for VAT purposes, the transaction will be settled under general rules (i.e., the seller will book output VAT and the buyer will book input VAT). Tax representatives Under current law, a tax representative may be appointed only by an entity from outside the EU which has registered in Poland as an active VAT payer. Under the new regulations, it will be possible to appoint a tax representative without the necessity of registering in Poland as an active VAT payer. This option will apply to foreign taxpayers who wish to import goods to other member states via Poland. The recently approved amending act is regarded as the most extensive set of amendments to the VAT Act since Poland joined the European Union. The changes summarized above are just the tip of the iceberg. It is important to review all of the amendments carefully, as it may turn out that one of the changes that have attracted little notice or comment will have an important impact on the operations of the specic taxpayer.

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he nal wording of new amendments to the VAT Act was determined on December 7, 2012, when the lower house of the Polish Parliament accepted the Senates revisions to the proposal previously adopted by the Sejm. The effective date of the amendments was postponed, and now most of the changes will go into effect on April 1, 2013, and some not until January 1, 2014. Taxpayers thus have some time to prepare for the upcoming changes, but it is worthwhile for them to review the changes and their current procedures for settling VAT to ensure compliance with the new rules when they come into force later in 2013 or in 2014. Timing of VaT obligations Under the general rule currently in force, the obligation to pay VAT arises upon delivery of goods or performance of services, or if these activities should be documented by an invoice, upon issuance of the invoice. The current rule thus allows settlement of VAT on transactions occurring near the end of the month to be postponed by one month by carrying over issuance of the invoice to the following month. The amending act will introduce a new general rule under which the VAT obligation will arise upon delivery of the goods or performance of the services. The ability to postpone settlement of VAT by issuing an invoice in the following month will thus be eliminated. This means that all VAT taxpayers should analyze the procedures they currently follow for settlement of VAT to determine whether their accounting systems book VAT based on the date of issuance of the invoice. From January 1, 2014, this method will no longer be correct, and if used after the effective date of the change will result in late payment of VAT, with negative consequences under tax law and scal penal regulations.
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mChams lucky members and friends won valuable lottery prizes while everyone enjoyed the great food and friendly atmosphere of the AmCham Halloween Business Mixer held in October on the 40th oor of Marriott Warsaw Hotel, at the hotels SkyBar. Air France-KLM and Avis sponsored the lottery.

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1. Dorota Dabrowski, AmCham Executive Director; Xavier Douellou, 3M. 2. The party in full swing. 3. Joe Smoczyski; Albert Helms, Daniel Sasse, Warsaw Marriott Hotel. 4. Peter Dembiski; Wojciech Kouchowski, American Express. 5. Dorota Dabrowski; Albert Helms. 6. Joanna Bensz, PM Group; Elisabeth Asirifi. 7. Andrzej Pawelczak, Animex; Dorota Dabrowski; Xavier Douellou; Bartosz Morzycki, 3M; Jacek Stryczyski, Lionbridge. 8. Jadwiga Naduk, Marek Wrbel, Hays. 9. William Czajkowski, US Embassy; Albert Helms. 10. Daniel Hall, US Embassy; Dorota Dabrowski; Martina Strong, US Embassy.

Generously sponsorsed by

AMERICAN INVESTOR WINTER 2013

WINTER 2013 AMERICAN INVESTOR

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AmCham Events
Monthly Meeting in November

AmCham Manufacturers Forum

Celebrating democracy

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Talking sustainable business

he AmCham Monthly Meeting in November was held right after the US Election Night event and was a good opportunity for the members to compare their views on the impact of the new US presidency on US-Poland relations with the views of a US thinktanker and two renowned Polish political commentators. The coverage of the event is on page 16.

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mCham member companies active in the manufacturing sector met in November in Katowice at the 5th AmCham Manufacturers Forum to share their experiences doing business in Poland with representatives of the local government. The conference was organized by AmCham Krakw. The venue was the Monopol Hotel in Katowice. More coverage at page 22.

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1. The discussion panel: Bartosz Wglarczyk, Gazeta Wyborcza; Andrew Michta, German Marshall Fund; Tomasz Wrblewski, independent commentator. 2. Tadeusz Szostak; Tomasz Wrblewski. 3. Alain Bobet; Bill Livingstone. 4. Tomasz Wrblewski; Kathryn Buer, Raytheon. 5. Paul Fogo, AmCham Board Member (Miller Canfield), comments for Polishpublic radio. 6. Bartosz Wglarczyk; Tony Housh, AmCham Board Member (Apco Worldwide). 7. Jarosaw Roszkowski, Crowley Data Poland; Dorota Dabrowski, AmCham Executive Director. 8. Election Night participants watch US President Barack Obama speak after preliminary results of the presidential election were announced. 9. Bartosz Kwiatkowski, CEC Government Relations; Xavier Douellou, 3M. 10. Tomasz Wrblewski; Joseph Wancer, AmCham Chairman.
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1. Adam Matusiewicz, speaker of the Silesia province parliament. 2. Pawe Tynel, Ernst & Young; Piotr Uszok, Mayor of Katowice; Marcin Mrowiec, chief economist of Bank Pekao SA. 3. Monika Pilarska, AmCham Krakw Branch Director; Jan Przepira, RR Donnelley Poland; Jacek arnowiecki, General Motors plant in Gliwice. 4. Dorota Dabrowski, AmCham Executive Director. 5. Paul Fogo, AmCham Board Member (Miller Canfield). 6. Piotr Wojaczek, president of the Katowice Special Economic Zone; Joanna Bensz, PM Group. 7. Grzegorz Czul, Fluor Poland; Dominik Kania, Woodward Governor Polska; John Lynch, Lynka. 8. Wojciech Wicawik, CMC Zawiercie. 9. Teresa Walewska, RR Donnelley. 10.Grzegorz Smoka, General Motors Poland. 11. David Hardiman, 3M Poland. 12. Kumar Ghosh, Arcelor Mittal Poland; Jrg von Weiler, Filigran Polska. 13. Marcin Jakubaszek, Miller Canfield. 14. Marek Wrbel, Hays Poland. 15.Marta Fotyn, Foster Wheeler Polska; Barbara Kaleta, CMC Zawiercie.

Generously sponsorsed by
Conference expert: Ernst & Young
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AmCham Events
AmCham CEO Forum

Identifying HR trends in the 21st century

Generously sponsorsed by

egatrends in the world of leadership and innovation were on the agenda of the AmCham CEO Forum in November. The house was full. The venue was the glassy hall of Endorfina Restaurant & Bar in Warsaw. For our coverage of the event go to page 19.

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1. Moderator Jan Cieski, Financial Times; Anna Sieko, IBM; Mik Kuczkiewicz, Hay Group. 2. Andrzej Pawelczak, Animex; Joanna Bensz, PM Group; Joseph Wancer, AmCham Chairman. 3. Mik Kuczkiewicz; Joseph Wancer; Anna Sieko; Jan Cieski. 4. Loc Frtard, Medicover; Jean-Michel Lathuillire, Sofitel Warsaw Victoria. 5. Pawe Gajda, Firestone Industrial Products; Anita Kowalska, AmCham. 6. Agnieszka Jankowska, GE; Pawe Smardz, Bank BPH SA; Joseph Wancer. 7. Marek Matraszek, CEC Government Relations; Dorota Dabrowski, AmCham Executive Director; Jan Cieski. 8. Roman Rewald, AmCham Board Member (Weil Gotshal); Agnieszka Jankowska. 9. Waldemar Saniewski, Warner Bros. Entertainment; Wadysaw Szwoch, IBM. 10.Dorota wiecka, Hay Group; Judith Gliniecki, AmCham Vice Chair (Wierzbowski Eversheds); Magdalena Magusiak, Hay Group. 11. Xavier Douellou, 3M Poland; Michael J. Majchrzak. 12. Rick Lada, AmCham Vice Chairman (eremel consulting); Alex Shannon. 13. Joseph Wancer; Wadysaw Szwoch. 14. Dorota wiecka, Hay Group; Ewa Kudliska-Pyrz, Mary Kay. 15. Urszula Gsior, Ernst & Young; Beata Bednarska, Federal Express Poland; Angelo Pressello, Direct Communications.
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Photos by Agencja REPORTER

AmCham Events
International Christmas Meeting in Wrocaw
his year four international chambers of commerce, representing the US, the UK, Germany and France, co-organized the 19th International Christmas Evening. The venue was Wrocaws Town Hall. The guests enjoyed international Christmas specialties, including the traditional French Christmas cake Bche de Nol, and the Occult Corner, where a fortuneteller and a numerologist diagnosed guests. The highlight of the evening was a lottery with valuable prizes. Due to the enormous commitment of the chambers, as well as the involvement of many sponsors, guests enjoyed a truly international evening at one of the largest business events of this kind in Wrocaw.

Celebrating the traditions of the season

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Photos by Tomasz Walkw

1. Chambers' representatives: Aneta Kowalik, the French-Polish Chamber of Commerce; Iwona Makowiecka, the Polish-German Chamber of Industry and Commerce; Michael Dembiski, Ilona Chodorowska, the British-Polish Chamber of Commerce; Joanna Bensz, the American Chamber of Commerce. 2. The guests wait for the evening to begin. 3. Watching the rafe draw. 4. Santa has a gift for everybody. 5. Joanna Bensz; Brenda VanHorn, US Commercial Attach. 6. Rafa Dutkiewicz, Mayor of Wrocaw; Craig Smith. 7. Sweets table sponsored by Kraft Foods. 8. Brenda VanHorn. 9. Micha Skraba, KPMG. 10. Rafa Dutkiewicz. 11. Hot buffet drew in crowds. 12. David Hardiman from 3M, a lucky lottery winner, with Santa and Iwona Makowiecka. 13. The traditional French Christmas delicacy Bche de Nol. 14. The Pera Brewery stand.

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AmCham Events
Annual General Meeting
he Sheraton Warsaw was the venue of the AmCham Annual General Meeting in December, which included voting on the annual report and electing new members of the AmCham Board of Directors. The guest speaker was Stephen Mull, the new US Ambassador to Poland, who accepted the honorary chairmanship of AmCham. AmCham also handed out the awards for its Student Essay Contest. The meeting was followed by the Christmas Reception, generously sponsored by CDM Smith, with help from Dobrewina.pl, PepsiCo, Gordon & MacPhail and Starbucks. Go to page 32 for our coverage of the US Ambassadors policy speech.

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In the holiday spirit...

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Generously sponsorsed by

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Photos by Agencja REPORTER

1. US Ambassador Stephen Mull. 2. David Green, PwC. 3. Joseph Wancer, AmCham Chairman. 4. Elbieta Raczkowska, Fiserv; Bogdan Maliszewski, UL International; Jacek Stryczyski, Lionbridge. 5. Bogusaw Krzton, Foster Wheeler Energia. 6. Kevin Riley, CDM Smith. 7. Dorota Dabrowski, AmCham Executive Director; Larry Kraut, Terry Gamble, American School of Warsaw. 8. Adija Houston, Marathon Oil; Stephen Mull. 9. Bartosz Morzycki, 3M; Joanna Bensz, AmCham Board Member (PM Group). 10. AmCham Board of Directors:Richard Lada, eremel consulting; Paul Fogo, Miller Caneld; Roman Rewald, Weil, Gotshal & Manges; Xavier Douellou, 3M; Judith Gliniecki, Wierzbowski Eversheds; Laurie St. Aubin, ConocoPhillips; Anna Sieko, IBM; Stephen Mull; Joseph Wancer, Deloitte; Dorota Dabrowski; Tony Housh, APCO Worldwide. 11. Zosia Przeorek sings Christmas Carols. 12. AmCham Essay Contest winners: Marek Maj(Grand Prize Winner) representing Talisman Energy Polska; Joseph Wancer; Karolina Fonfara representing Fluor; Nikola Gutowska representing Animex; Valerie Popow representing Finacorp Polska; Stephen Mull; Dorota Dabrowski. 13. Magda Pavlak, US Embassy; Krzysztof Kamiski; Witold Domek; Stephen Mull; Krzysztof Bytomski, Kevin Riley, Adam Locke, CDM Smith. 14. Dorota Dabrowski; Joe Smoczyski, Baker Tilly Poland. 15. Marta Suek with the Starbucks team; Anita Kowalska, AmCham. 16. The stand of Dobre Wina.
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AmCham Committee Guide

For the most recent information about the work of AmCham Committees and upcoming events visit
Infrastructure Political Discussion Forum Agri & Food
Mission: To provide a platform for discussing and solving issues and identifying opportunities in the agricultural and food sector by creating a base for dialogue and expertise. Co-Chairs: Andrzej Pawelczak, Animex; Maciej ubieski, Universal Leaf Tobacco Poland. More at ww.amcham.pl/agri_food

www.amcham.pl
Mission: To discuss issues of the development of infrastructure; to promote infrastructure solutions for cooperation between private and public Chair: Krzysztof partners. Wierzbowski, Wierzbowski Eversheds. More at www.amcham.pl/infrastructure Mission: To monitor innovation initiatives within the Polish government and across industries and commercial organizations, while advocating best practice across innovation approach, discipline, creativity, dimensions, and systems for member companies and the local government and business ecosystems. Co-Chairs: Alexander King; Paula Wsowska, Cisco. More at www.amcham.pl/innovation Mission: To advocate for IPR protection and provide leadership that will bring together interested partners; to share information with decision-makers and law enforcement. The police, judiciary, prosecutors, customs officials, legislators and journalists are among the target groups, while the curriculum of law schools should have more emphasis on IPR. Co-Chairs: Urszula Karniewicz, Philip Morris; Anna Lasocka, aszczuk & Partners. More at www.amcham.pl/ipr

Mission: To provide a platform for discussing, identifying and addressing common SSC/BPO issues related to high-tech operations; to maintain contact with local authorities, educational and governmental institutions to present a unified business perspective and options for cooperation. Co-Chairs: Jacek Stryczyski, Lionbridge; Angelo Pressello, Direct Communications. More at www.amcham.pl/business_technology

Business Technology & Services

Innovation

Mission: To build relationships with key players in Polish politics, regardless of whether within the government or not, in small groups and in private settings, to serve as a vehicle into the world of Polish politics behind official curtains. CoChairs: Robert Kosk, PGE S.A.; Marek Matraszek, CEC Government Relations. More at www.amcham.pl/pdf

Real Estate

Consumer Products

Mission: To provide a forum to share knowledge and exchange experience in all areas common and relevant to manufacturers and distributors of goods. CoChairs: Magorzata Urbaska, CMS Cameron McKenna; Agnieszka Dzigielewska-Joczyk, HP Polska. More at www.amcham.pl/consumer Mission: To serve as a platform for defense industry issues and exchange relevant information. The committee creates a networking forum and fosters a positive working relationship with the government and people of Poland. Co-Chairs: Paul Zalucky; Stan Prusiski, Sikorsky Europe. More at www.amcham.pl/defense

Intellectual Property Rights

Mission: To discuss issues regarding the complexities of the real estate market in Poland, and exchange information. To be an educational and networking forum for members and to lobby and influence legislative departments of the Polish government. Co-Chairs: Halina Wickowska, K&L Gates; John Baka, Colliers International. More at www.amcham.pl/real_estate

SME & Entrepreneurship

Defense & Security

Manufacturing

Mission: To provide a forum for exchange of ideas/best practices to improve the performance of SMEs; to support entrepreneurship, corporate venturing and the developing start-up community; to identify, understand and promote solutions to facilitate and support the managerial and operational efforts of SMEs through education, networking and lobbying that leverage AmCham resources. Co-Chairs: Alain Bobet; Krzysztof Ogonowski, BPI. More at www.amcham.pl/sme

Employee & Labor Relations

Mission: To create an information exchange forum of HR professionals to share, discuss and learn about the latest trends in HR management and influence local policy and decision-makers. Co-Chairs: Jolanta Jaworska, IBM Poland; Agata Dulnik, Ernst & Young. More at www.amcham.pl/labor

Mission: To provide a platform for discussing issues and problems related to the manufacturing sector and networking opportunities; to discuss conditions and challenges of the manufacturing sector; to provide extra value for members representing the manufacturers sector. Co-Chairs: Joanna Bensz, PM Group; David R. Hardiman, 3M. More at www.amcham.pl/manufacturing Mission: To provide a forum for member firms to share knowledge and exchange experiences in marketing, communications and PR; provide educational and networking opportunities for member firms interested in these areas; and serve as an advisory body for AmCham. Co-Chairs: Anya Ogorkiewicz; Tadeusz Dulian, Deloitte. More at www.amcham.pl/marketing

Tax & Financial Services

Mission: To provide a platform for identifying tax and financial issues and create an educational forum to keep AmCham members informed on current and upcoming legislation. Co-Chairs: Marcin Matyka, DLA Piper Wiater; Adam Soska, GE International. More at www.amcham.pl/tax

Marketing & Communications

Energy & Environment

Mission: To help members develop their energy and environmental business in Poland. By helping members work collectively to overcome any systemic difficulties encountered in their business, the committee aims to increase the level and quality of investment and activity in these sectors. Chair: Adam de Sola Pool. More at www.amcham.pl/environmental Mission: To provide members with relevant information on EU-related issues, including EU funds, and to represent American investors before the Commission and the Polish government. Co-Chairs: Magdalena Burnat-Mikosz, Deloitte; Jerzy Thieme. More at www.amcham.pl/eu

Mission: To provide a platform for discussing issues and problems related to travel, leisure and the hospitality industry and to provide networking opportunities and to discuss trends and standards in the industry that will allow members to fully benefit from AmCham. Co-Chairs: Stijn Oyen, Sheraton Krakw; Tim Hyland, FCm Travel Express. More at www.amcham.pl/travel_tourism

Travel & Tourism

European Union Affairs

Mission: To discuss and identify common interests and exchange information regarding Polands pharmaceutical market; to act as a representative body and collective voice of pharmaceutical companies before governmental institutions. Co-Chairs: Jarosaw Oleszczuk, Abbvie Polska; Gianluigi Lisi, Bristol-Myers Squibb. More at www.amcham.pl/pharmaceutical

Pharmaceutical

Unconventional Gas

Mission: To provide a platform for companies interested in developing and servicing the shale gas sector in Poland; to create a forum for member companies to share knowledge and exchange experience related to exploration, production and service. Co-Chairs: David DeBenedetti, DeBenedetti Majewski Szczeniak; Rob Dunn, Viking International. More at www.amcham.pl/unconventionalgas

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