POLISH NEWS BULLETIN
August 2004
Belka: Gov't programme goes on smoothly
Warsaw, Aug. 3: Prime Minister Marek Belka believes that a government programme presented in his Sejm address goes on smoothly. At a news conference in Warsaw the PM summed up the last month of the government work. Belka recalled that the Sejm had passed two laws prepared by the government, namely the law on health care and an amendment to the law on old-age and disability pensions. According to the amendment to Social Security Fund (FUS) legislation plans to verify disability pensions and to equalize pension age for men and women are given up until some future time. The government also adopted its own amendment to the law restricting public officials access to economic operations and enlarging the list of people obliged to submit and make public property statements, the PM said. Belka underlined that as of May 2, when his government was formed until July 27 a total of 72 higher civil service posts were filled with people selected via competition. The PM recalled that he pledged in his Sejm address to report to the chamber every month about the government operations. He added that a report summing up the government work in July will be delivered to the Sejm speaker on Wednesday.
Education minister wants Radziwill for his deputy
Warsaw, Aug. 3: Education Minister Miroslaw Sawicki is expected to motion the PM still on Tuesday to appoint Anna Radziwill to the post of deputy education minister, the ministry's spokesman Mieczyslaw Grabianowski said. Anna Radziwill, 65, a pedagogue and historian by profession, was a Solidarity activist and deputy education minister in the Tadeusz Mazowiecki government.
Warsaw Rising Museum attracts 25 thousand visitors
Warsaw, Aug. 3: About 25 thousand persons have visited the Museum of the Warsaw Rising within the four days after its inauguration. Tuesday was the last day the visitors could see the exhibitions, and the centre will be reopened for the public on October 2, while the whole work on the museum will be completed by autumn 2005. Despite rainy weather crowds queued to see the Museum collections, Marcin Roszkowski representing the commissioner for the construction of the museum said. Reporters noted that the candle lit by German Chancellor on Saturday was still burning on Tuesday.
IPN head goes to Moscow for talks on Katyn murder
Warsaw, Aug. 3: National Remembrance Institute IPN head Leon Kieres flew to Moscow for talks August 4 and 5 on the protracted Russian investigation into the Katyn crime of 1940. The visit is paid at the Russian side's invitation. Before the possible launching of a Polish investigation into the crime by the IPN, Kieres wants to learn about the still unknown results of the investigation carried out by the Russian military prosecutor's office as from 1990. The Polish side believes that the principle of the non- applicability of statutory limitations does not apply to the crime of genocide such as the Katyn crime, while the Russians think the contrary. Over 20 thousand Polish POWs, officers, policemen, physicians, professors and clergy were murdered by the NKVD in Katyn in 1940.
Testimonies of detained Iraqis confirm their role in bomb attack
Bydgoszcz, Aug. 3: Deputy Defence Minister Janusz Zemke informed that testimonies of Iraqis detained on Monday confirm that at least some of them took part in a bomb attack on a Polish military convoy near Hillah last week. Zemke added that the inquiry is led by Iraqi justice authorities.
Poland net beneficiary of three-month-old EU membership
Warsaw, Aug. 3: After three months of the EU membership Poland is a net beneficiary of the EU budget. Poland's contributions to the EU were twice as low as the value of funds received, the Finance Ministry here reported Tuesday. In the last days of July Poland received over one billion zlotys (244 million euros) from the Union as an advanced money for structural funds. Overall, by end of July Poland received 4.4 billion zlotys from the EU, and paid 2.3 billion zlotys to the EU budget. At present Poland gets above all means from the PHARE, ISPA and SAPARD funds and due instalments for financial liquidity improvement, which will amount to 490 mln euros this year. In September Poland may receive an annual instalment of the Schoengen Financial Instrument worth 103,3 mln euro. According to Deputy Finance Minister Igor Chalupiec Poland should consolidate its position of a net beneficiary of the EU budget in coming years.
Eurostat: Polish unemployment rate the highest in EU
Brussels, Aug. 3: Poland has the highest unemployment rate among the 25 EU countries with jobless rate in June at 18.9 percent, Eurostat office reported. The rate was however slightly lower than last year when it was at 19.2 percent. According to the Eurostat, Poland also has the biggest number of jobless among people younger than 25 with the rate at 39.4 percent, down 1.8 percentage point on the previous year figure. In EU the rate was at 18.2 percent. In the euro zone it was 17/2 percent.
Belka: More EU funds for regions
Warsaw, Aug. 3: Prime Minister Marek Belka said that during the nearest two years and a half regions will receive EU funds which will be about four-fold bigger than the pre-accession sums. Belka assured that Poland will not fail to use EU funds envisaged for regional restructuring, something which Brussels feared most. Belka told a news conference after the cabinet meeting that the government successfully wound up the operation of filing applications for area-related EU subsidies and helped local governments in filing applications for the integrated regional programme funds. The PM also informed that the government submitted to parliament a draft law on public-private partnership and will table a related draft law on its implementation still before the parliament summer recess ends. Belka assured that work on a draft law on National Capital Fund is advanced and that the government is working on pro-investment draft laws to amend procedures related to the investment process. The PM said that work on the state budget for 2005 proceeds according to schedule.
NBP survey: slower pace of economic growth in 3Q
Warsaw, Aug. 3: Economic growth in the 3Q of 2004 will be high though lower than in the 2Q, indicates a research of economic sentiment conducted by the National Bank of Poland (NBP). Measured by the NBP, the economic sentiment index is still over 50 percent which means that the sentiment is good though worse than in the 2Q. According to NBP, the 3Q will see a fall of investments as new investments have been planned by 31.6 percent of businessmen, down 1.9 percentage point on the previous quarter and up 5.3 percentage points on the comparative period of last year. Demand will look a little bit worse than in the 2Q but this, according to NBP is seasonal. The pace of growth of new orders will fall in relations to the 2Q as will the pace of production. The number of firms expecting growing inflation in the 3Q rose to 3.5 percent from 2.9 percent in the previous survey. Fifty percent of companies plan to raise prices of their products in the 3Q whereas in the 2Q such intention was declared by 45 percent. Seventy percent of the planned raises will be related to Poland's integration with the EU. According to the surveyed forms at the end of the 3Q the zloty would cost 3.88 USD on the average against 3.90 zlotys predicted at the end of the 2Q and one euro would cost 4.62 zlotys against 4.75 zlotys predicted for the end of the 2Q.
FinMin forecasts CPI falling to 2.5 pct y/y in H2 of 2005
Warsaw, Aug. 3: The Finance Ministry expects that inflation will remain within the RPP-set CPI band in H2 of 2005, a ministry communique released Tuesday shows. "The Finance Ministry forecasts a fall of CPI to 2.5 pct in the 2nd half of 2005, assuming a reversal of negative supply shocks and that the monetary policy will remain restrictive", the ministry said. Vice-president of the National Bank of Poland Krzysztof Rybinski confirmed the bank's early CPI projections under which it is very likely that next year's CPI may go beyond the upper limit of permissible deviations from the CPI Target, that is it may be above 3.5 percent. Rybinski said the likelihood that the target will be beaten in 2005 is growing.
UOKiK to act as Argentine system watchdog
Warsaw, Aug. 3: The Office for the Protection of Competition and Consumer (UOKiK) is going to monitor the observance of a ban on the so called Argentine system of loans effective as of Tuesday under the amendment to the law on fighting dishonest competition, UOKIK deputy CEO Ewa Kubis said. The law deemed it dishonest to "organise a system of avalanche sales and doing business in the system of consortium." Until Tuesday prosecutor's offices had to drop cases owing to the lack of a related definition in the Polish law. Kubis said its hard to evaluate the scale of the phenomenon but large companies reached as much as 17 thousand deals annually. The Sejm passed a related law in June 2004. It carries prison terms from 5 to 8 years for organising the system.
Russia will not ask for forgiveness
Moscow, Aug. 4: Russia ruled out the possibility of apologising to Poles for not supporting Warsaw Rising in 1944 what had been suggested by Foreign Minister Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz. In a statement to this effect the Russian foreign ministry called "biased and subjective" the theory of "some Polish historians" according to whom allies of the anti-Nazi coalition who failed to support the rising in time should be party blamed for the pogrom of insurgents and the barbarian destruction of Warsaw. In its statement the Russian ministry wrote it deemed any public discussion on this topic "out of place and blasphemous to the memory of the fallen" and recalled that more than 600 thousand Soviet soldiers were killed while liberating Poland from Nazis. The ministry recalled a letter issued by Russian President Vladimir Putin in connection with the 60th anniversary of the rising in which the president called the rising "a substantial contribution to the common victory over the Nazism." Reacting to the Russian statement later on Wednesday a spokesman for the Polish foreign ministry said that the Polish side had not issued any official statement calling on Russia to publicly apologise to the Poles "for what had happened 60 years ago." Boguslaw Majewski said that "there was no official statement on this matter, only a radio interview by minister Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz who remarked that one of Russian leaders should apologise for what had happened here in Warsaw 60 years ago." Majewski stressed that the opinion was voiced in a broader context. The point was that "both Russia and Germany should feel embarrassed, at least in their own conscience, with what had happened in Warsaw at that time," Majewski explained. "Gerhard Schroeder took a stand on this matter and therefore minister Cimoszewicz thought it would be advisable that one of Russian leaders did the same," the spokesman added.
Poland to get access to Russian files on Katyn
Moscow, Aug. 4: Poland will get access to the Russian files on Katyn and will get certified copies of files requested from 156 volumes collected during the Russian investigation into the 1940 killing of Polish officers in Katyn, head of the Institute of National Remembrance Leon Kieres said in Moscow on Wednesday following talks at the Russian Military Prosecutor's Office. Addressing Polish journalists Kieres said that talks "substantially" supplemented our knowledge about the investigation stage and collected materials. He added that the Russian side assured him that "the investigation had been carried on without any delay since the day of its launching in 1990." Meanwhile Witold Kulesza, head of the investigation department of the institute said the Russian side did not plan to indict anybody in connection with the crime because it believes the crime cannot be qualified as a genocide. As the Polish side thinks the contrary Kieres did not exclude the possibility of launching a Polish investigation. Over 20 thousand Polish POWs, officers, policemen, physicians, professors and clergy were murdered by the NKVD in Katyn in 1940.
President, PM meet in Jurata, discuss current situation
Warsaw, Aug. 4: President Aleksander Kwasniewski and Prime Minister Marek Belka met at a presidential holiday centre in coastal town of Jurata to discuss current socio-economic problems and main directions of Polish foreign policy in the second half of 2004, the Presidential Chancellery reported. They also discussed targets of PM Belka's visit to the U.S. scheduled for early August and President Aleksander Kwasniewski's planned visit to Russia.
Agnieszka Odorowicz - new culture deputy minister
Warsaw, Aug. 4: New culture deputy minister Agnieszka Odorowicz assumed her duties. Odorowicz, 29, will supervise the ministry's legal and economic departments and deal with European integration issues. She said that the biggest attention should be paid to cultural infrastructure, in particular protection of historical monuments and cultural heritage preservation. For six years after graduation she worked as deputy head of the Art Institute Association in Cracow. She was artistic director of the Student Song Festival and the Krzysztof Penderecki International Competition of the Contemporary Chamber Music. From 2003 she was culture minister's representative for structural funds, responsible for legislation work and negotiations with the European Commission.
Polish firms sign contracts in Iraq
Warsaw, Aug.4: About 10 Polish companies signed contracts in Iraq worth a total of 60 to 70 m USD, according to head of the Polish expert team in Iraq Adam Sek. He added that representatives of some 70 Polish firms were now in Iraq trying to arrange more deals. Among those who landed deals are telecom, construction, electric appliances, forwarding and clothing companies, Sek said. The Polish Chamber of Commerce (KIG) will organize seminars on Iraqi contracts for Polish firms in September or October, its representative said. US civil servants involved in tender procedures will come to Warsaw and offer instructions on how to fill out forms and other formalities.
Credit line opens for imports from Taiwan
Warsaw, Aug. 4: BGZ bank and Eximbank of Taiwan signed an agreement under which Polish importers from Taiwan will have access to credits on imports, BGZ said. BGZ clients can draw investment and short-term credits denominated in US dollars up to 85 pc of the value of import contracts. The remaining 15 pc will have to be paid in advance. Credits will be granted for periods of between 6 month and 5 years. Eximbank of Taiwan is a state bank set up in 1979 to finance exports from Taiwan. It also offered assistance in seeking credible partners in its home market.
IBnGR: public debt not to exceed 55 pct of GDP in 2004
Warsaw, Aug. 4: Economists of the Market Economy Research Institute predict that public debt in 2004 will not exceed 55 percent and will stand at 53.3 percent of GDP. The government predicts that public debt this year will near the level of 55 percent of GDP but will not cross it reaching 54.8 percent. Institute economists' estimates of this year spending differ from that of the government. The economists expect revenues at 160 bn 726.8 million zlotys whereas the government sees it at 154 bn 552.6 million zlotys.
Interest raises may be bigger
Warsaw, Aug. 4: The Monetary Policy Council (RPP) may consider further raises of interest rates all the more so that the next quarterly inflation prediction may be higher than the May one, Dariusz Filar, RPP member said. "In July the RPP raised interest rates by successive 25 base points after a June raise by 50 base points. The market awaits further raises," Filar added. According to him this year inflation may exceed the inflation target previously set by the RPP that means 2.5 percent +/- 1 percentage point. "Inflation level in July is likely to be the highest this year. Analysts' evaluations indicate I may say that in July it will be slightly below 5 percent," he said.
Filar: guidelines of 2005 budget neutral to monetary policy
Warsaw, Aug. 4: According to member of the Monetary Policy Council (RPP) Dariusz Filar, the fiscal policy may be neutral for the monetary policy if the Sejm approves budget guidelines for 2005 accepted by the government and the finance minister manages to cut budget credit needs. "The threat of lack of stability of public finances has been shown by us in all our statements although now we are more concerned about other factors, namely supply shocks, growing demand and the threat of maintained increased inflationary expectations," the RPP member said. In the guidelines for the draft 2005 budget the government announced plans for curbing deficit to 38.8 billion zlotys from 45.3 billion planned for 2004. However, new finance minister Miroslaw Gronicki said that he would try to curb the deficit even more.
KGHM's Q2 earnings up to 496.8 mn zlotys
Warsaw, Aug. 4: KGHM Polska Miedz's Q2 net profit rose to 496.8 million zlotys from 51.88 mn zlotys in the same period of 2003. Cumulative, net profit after the first two quarters, was 957.81 mn zlotys, the company announced. The company's Q2 operating profit grew to 481.8 mn zlotys from 41.46 mn zlotys a year earlier, and revenue rose to 1.7 billion zlotys from 1.1 billionn zlotys respectively. KGHM's earnings results were better than expected by analysts.
Writer Witold Gombrowicz Year marked
Warsaw, Aug. 4: A commemorative postage stamp issued by Polish Post Office marks the centenary of the birth of outstanding Polish writer Witold Gombrowicz (1904-1969) falling on August 4. The Sejm earlier this year declared 2004 Witold Gombrowicz Year to celebrate the writer's birth centenary. 2004 also marks the writer's 35th death anniversary. Gombrowicz's centenary was included in the list of anniversaries celebrated by the UNESCO.
30,000 copies of book on Warsaw Rising sold in one day
Warsaw, Aug. 4: Thirty thousand copies, or the whole impression of Norman Davies' "Rising'44. The Battle for Warsaw" sold out during a few hours of the first day the book hit Polish bookstands last Sunday, the Znak publishers announced. "I cannot remember a similar phenomenon," Magda Bosek of Znak said. The publishers hastily prepare more copies of the "Rising '44," enough to satisfy the demand. "Rising'44. The Battle for Warsaw" has been already published in Great Britain, the USA and Germany.
Poll: 43 percent of Poles satisfied with Schroeder's statement
Warsaw, Aug. 4: 43 percent of Poles think that German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's statement made during the ceremonies marking the 60th anniversary of the Warsaw Uprising met the expectations connected with his Polish visit, a poll run by Pentor shows. 25 percent of respondents believe that the Chancellor's words did not meet. At the same time 85 percent of Poles declared that they did not feel any resentment or hatred towards present-day Germany's citizens because of events of World War II, while 12 percent admitted such feelings.
PM: my staff should be competent
Warsaw, Aug. 11 : "I want to appoint people who are competent and break with to-date recruitment methods", PM Marek Belka said commenting his controversial government appointments. Asked if he did not fear reprisals from the ruling Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) for nominating rightwinger Andrzej Ananicz to intelligence head, Belka stressed that some politicians, like foreign minister Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz, saw the "deeper sense" in his decisions. "But I accept that there are other opinions", he said. Asked about protests against new justice minister Marek Sadowski, who 9 years ago caused a road accident, Belka said that in his opinion Sadowski was "a good minister".
Wasserman: Ananicz nomination bad for right
Warsaw, Aug. 11 : Andrzej Ananicz's appointment to head Poland's Intelligence Agency is not good for rightwing interests, Zbigniew Wasserman from the conservative Law and Justice Party (PiS) told. According to Wasserman Ananicz's nomination would mainly benefit PM Marek Belka, who will now have reason to demand his loyalty. He added that the move was also designed to win the Belka government more rightwing support in light of the "disintegration of its natural political environment".
Heads of gov't agencies to be selected in competitions - Belka
Warsaw, Aug. 11 : A number of high-level posts in the state administration will be filled in competitive procedures under a draft amendment to the law on the Council of Ministers discussed by the cabinet. Competitions for these posts would become obligatory starting in the 2nd half of next year. The new procedures will apply to 31 heads of government agencies (different from ministries). "We want to raise the qualifications threshold and increase the sense of job security of those officials as well as divorce their appointments and functioning from political considerations," Belka added.
Senate continues debate on health bill
Warsaw, Aug. 11 : Senate voted on some changes to the new health bill passed by the Sejm late in July. On Thursday the chamber is to vote on further corrections. Last week the Senate committee for social policy and health tabled over 100 amendments to the law. The new law is to be enacted on October 1 of this year. The Senate-proposed changes envisage an 8.75 percent rise of the health insurance contribution of gross income of the insuree as of January 1, 2005. Other corrections provide that the cost of contraceptives is not to be refunded by the health insurance system. The Senate committee dealing with the bill renewed its proposal that health insurance rates for the clergymen be paid by them personally. The Senate also examined an amendment to the law on the structures of courts of law, including military court system and proposed no changes to it.
New Zealand to open its 1st embassy in Poland
Wellington, Aug. 12 : New Zealand has assigned Philip Griffiths its first ambassador to Poland. The diplomat is to open the mission in Warsaw at the start of 2005, New Zealand's Foreign Minister Philip Goff said. At present New Zealand is represented by its ambassador in Germany. The government of New Zealand has decided to increase the number of its diplomatic missions in the enlarged EU. Goff stressed that Poland, as the biggest and most numerous EU country may play an important role in the enlarged EU.
Govt funds for Ukrainian border pass upgrades
Przemysl, Aug. 11 : The Polish interior ministry has channelled almost 4.5 million euros from the EU's Schengen Fund for checkpoint upgrades on the Polish-Ukrainian border. Most of the money (3.5 mn) will be spent on expanding the border crossing in Medyka. Also planned is modernization work on crossings in Korczowa-Krakowiec and Kroscienko-Chyrow.
Archbishop: I don't answer for all subordinates
Gdansk, Aug. 11 : I'm not responsible for all my subordinates nor (...) for their stupidity, Gdansk metropolitan archbishop Tadeusz Goclowski toldy commenting pedophilia-accused Gdansk reverend Henryk Jankowski's statement last Sunday that he had fallen victim of a Jewish-Communist plot against the Catholic Church. Jankowski's statement brought a prompt reaction from the Simon Wiesenthal Centre, which in a statement called the priest's words "hate-filled" and "an inspiration to anti-Semitism" and appealed to Polish church authorities to distance themselves from them.
Farmers protest against too low procurement prices
Bartoszyce, Aug. 11 : Around 60 farmers protesting against too low procurement prices of wheat and rape ended the blockade of a Polish-Russian border crossing point in Bezeledy (northern Poland) but did not exclude that the protest may escalate.
Govt plans NGO programme
Warsaw, Aug. 11 : The government is planning a support programme for NGOs for 2005-2007, deputy social policy minister Cezary Mizejewski said. The programme, entitled Civic Initiative Fund, will operate a 30- million-zloty (8.4 mn USD) budget to support EU, NGO and local projects.
Treasury Ministry: 2005 privatisation revenue at 5.7 bn zlotys
Warsaw, Aug. 11 : The Treasury Ministry estimates next year's pre- tax privatisation revenue at 5.7 billion zlotys, a source close to people working on the budget said. "According to Treasury Ministry estimates that it will meet this year's revenue plan, thanks to the privatisation of PKO BP" the source added. The ministry plans this year's revenue plan at 8.8 bn zlotys.
FinMin sells three-year WZ0307 bonds for 170 mn PLN
Warsaw, Aug. 11 : The finance ministry sold at a supplementary auction three-year WZ0307 bonds for 170 million zlotys with the similar demand and an average price from the earlier auction totalling 994.96 zlotys, the finance ministry said in a statement.
Absorption of EU funds will be challenge for Polish banks
Lublin, Aug. 11 : The absorption of 80 bn euros in EU assistance by 2013 will require great effort from Polish banks and other financial institutions, according to head of the Union of Polish Banks (ZBP) Krzysztof Pietraszkiewicz. "In order to absorb 80 bn euros we will first have to mobilise equal means at home since the payments from the EU will only be refunds," he explained. The necessary money will be mobilised from various sources both in the domestic and foreign markets, he said. Some 5 to 6 bn zlotys (ca. 1.4 to 1.7 bn USD) in credits will be created basing on money to be accumulated over the coming 3 years by the Union Guarantee Fund (FPU). The Fund will guarantee credits for projects to be refinanced with EU funds and whose value will range between 100,000 and 5 m euros.
Shares in Kozienice power station on sale still this year
Warsaw, Aug. 11 : The state treasury ministry has started preparations for a public offering of shares in the Kozienice power station to be held still this year, according to deputy minister Dariusz Marzec. Kozienice power station accounts for 12 pc of electricity produced in Poland. Its net profit last year amounted to 58 m zlotys (ca. 16 m USD) and sales reached 1.7 bn zlotys.
20 films in Polish Feature Film Festival in Gdynia
Warsaw, Aug. 12 : "My Nikifor," a new film by Krzysztof Krauze will be among twenty films to be shown during the 29th Polish Feature Film Festival in Gdynia scheduled for September 13 to 18. The programme for Gdynia also envisages an independent film category, also with twenty films in the competition. The jury of the main contest will be chaired by actor and director Jerzy Stuhr, while Slawomir Idziak, the Polish Oscar nominee for cinematography ("Black Hawk Down") will sit on the jury.
Huebner gets regional policy portfolio
Brussels, Warsaw, Aug. 12 : Danuta Huebner will become the EU Commissioner in charge of regional policy, the EU Commission said. "I am very glad, this is a most interesting policy area for a Polish commissioner and a very important one," she commented. "Some 1/3 of the entire EU budget is spent in this area so this is really an important job," she added. The Polish commissioner will be in charge of the cohesion and solidarity funds. Her most important task will be to take part in the debate on guidelines for the new EU budget to cover the years 2007 through 2013. Huebner will also be responsible for pushing regional policy legislation through the EU parliament. "The EU Commission has drafted a set of regulations on regional policy last month and it will be my job to get them accepted by the parliament," Huebner explained. She said she was not afraid of competition for EU funds between Poland and Spain, the largest to-date beneficiary. "I think that a coalition of countries making use of regional assistance will work together on common goals. I believe that there is enough money to avert unhealthy competition," she declared.
Iraq shift returns home
Wroclaw, Aug. 12 : The last 160 troops from the 2nd shift of the Polish Iraq stabilization force returned to Poland. In the group, which landed in Wroclaw, are 15 military policemen, 145 logistic troops from Bydgoszcz and general Piotr Czerwinski, deputy of Polish commander in Iraq general Mieczyslaw Bieniek.
Defence: 4 billion for equipment next year
Bydgoszcz, Aug. 12 : Poland will spend around 4 billion zlotys (1.1 bn USD) on military equipment next year and considerably deplete its stabilization force in Iraq, deputy defence minister Janusz Zemke said. Zemke stressed that the army's present technological level "fell below our soldiers' skills and announced purchases of brand new equipment and not revived old gear". This will not be modernization but re-equipment, Zemke said, reminding that military spending would probably take up 20 percent of the defence ministry's 2005 budget. Zemke also announced withdrawals of Polish troops from Iraq but added that their pace would depend on the country's political situation. He also said Polish forces would vacate their current Iraq bases in Camp Babylon and Karbala.
Piatas: I see no errors in military operations in Iraq
Warsaw, Aug. 12 : Chief of the Polish Army general staff General Czeslaw Piatas told that he saw no errors made in the narrowly-understood military sphere of operations carried out by Poles in Iraq. "There were certain inaccuracies during the first rotation when all communications systems had been put in motion later than expected," he explained. He added that certain problems with uniforms, clothes and shoes for soldiers had been eliminated very quickly. Piatas announced technological state of preservation of the equipment exploited in Iraq will start in September. A team of experts from Poland will be responsible for overhaul and will make decisions as to the further use of the equipment. Most likely part of it will be transferred to the Iraqis after a related government decision.
Senate adopts health bill
Warsaw, Aug. 12 : The Senate voted 203 amendments to the law on health services sponsored from public funds. The senators also voted amendments to the law on explosives for public use and cosmetics. The senators decided that contraceptives should be refunded by the health insurance system, the clergy should pay health insurance rates from their own pocket, and that the president, the prime minister, and the Sejm and Senate speakers and their families would preserve their privileges in access to medical services. Similar privileges should also cover consular and diplomatic personnel accredited in Poland. The senators in the vote rejected the proposal to raise the health insurance contribution to 8.75 percent of gross income of the insuree as of January 1, 2005. The Senate-amended health bill will be returned to the Sejm before the final version is sent to the president for endorsement. In a related development, the Conference of the Episcopate of Poland expressed astonishment at the Senate decision concerning the clergy. Meanwhile, National Health Fund NFZ President Leslaw Abramowicz informed at a press conference that the NFZ would have at its disposal 31.7 billion zlotys (8.7 billion USD) in 2005.
Senate: 3 pct for science by 2010
Warsaw, Aug. 12 : The Polish Senate Thursday gave the government until October 1 to present a science funding programme raising national research spending to 3 percent of the GDP by 2010 in accord with the EU's Lisbon Strategy. The Lisbon agreements require each EU member to raise its science funding to 3 percent of its GDP by 2010. Poland currently spends 0.6 percent of its GDP on science. The Senators also demanded the government to focus more attention on employing research results in the economy.
Crime & terrorism centre winds up 1st half-year
Warsaw, Aug. 12 : Anti-terrorist strategies in Poland require oversight by a national coordinating body, interior minister Ryszard Kalisz said chairing a sitting of the Interministerial Centre for Counteracting Organized Crime and International Terrorism in Warsaw. Kalisz also promised to ask the PM to appoint a coordinator for anti-terrorist projects. Anti-corruption policy and counteracting terrorism were the main topics of the sitting. The meeting participants stressed the importance of strengthening the police, border guard and customs services. (mb)
Property restitution divides Poles
Warsaw, Aug. 12 : The proposal of restitution of property nationalized after the 2nd world war has an equal number of supporters and opponents in Poland, a recent CBOS poll shows. 42 pc of respondents were in favour, while 41 pc were against it. Compared to the findings of the first such poll, conducted in 1991, the percentage of supporters declined by 23 points, while that of opponents increased by 13 points. The recent poll confirmed findings of earlier surveys which established that over half of the polled believed that only Polish citizens domiciled in Poland should benefit from a possible restitution.
FinMin revises upward 2004 GDP growth forecast to 5.8 pct
Warsaw, Aug. 12 : The Finance Ministry revised upward 2004 GDP growth forecast to 5.8 percent from 5.7 pct. In Q3 it will be 5.7-5.8 percent, the ministry said. "We estimate that GDP's Q3 rise will be 5.7-5.8. Therefore, we plan to initially revise upward our GDP growth forecast by 0.1 p.p. at the end of the year to 5.8 pct," Deputy Finance Minister Andrzej Jacaszek said. Jacaszek added that this is a conservative forecast. He said Poland's economic growth will remain to be driven by exports, but investment demand will start to play a greater part. "We hope that exports will continue to rise at a high rate, although the price of the zloty will not support the growth," he said.
Most Germans, Poles against expellee centre
Berlin, Aug. 12 : Over 56 percent of Germans and 51.2 percent of Poles in a German survey published in August's GEO magazine opposed the erection of a world war two expellee centre in Berlin. Respectively 26.7 and 31.2 percent supported the idea. Only 12 percent of German centre supporters wanted it to stand in Berlin as proposed by expellee leader Erika Steinbach. Less than half (45.1 pct) were for its location in Germany.
July number of imported used cars down on June figure
Warsaw, Aug. 12 : A total of 108,266 used cars from other EU countries were imported to Poland in July and related revenues amounted to 96.1 million zlotys, the finance ministry reported. In June the number of imported used cars was 112,710 and revenues on excise tax amounted to 147.55 million zlotys. Since May 1 a total of 268,105 cars have been imported putting the budget revenues at 318.7 million zlotys.
TPSA outlook revised to positive by S&P
Warsaw, Aug. 12 : Standard&Poor's Ratings Services said it revised its outlook on Telekomunikacja Polska SA to positive from stable. The action reflects the company's continued solid business and financial performance.
Private investors increasingly interested in WSE
Warsaw, Aug. 12 : Private investors have shown increasing interest in buying shares at the Warsaw Stock Exchange WSE in the last six months. In the 1st half of 2004 their share in stock trading at the WSE was 38 percent against 29 percent in the 2nd half of 2003, indicate data presented at a news conference held by the WSE. It was the first rise in the number of buyers in the past four years.
COI falls slightly
Warsaw, Aug. 12 : The Consumer Optimism Index (COI) fell 0.1 pts in July, from 84.4 to 84.3 pts, IQS and Quant Group said. The percentage of Poles thinking that Poland's economic situation deteriorated over the past year rose to 48 pc, from 44 pc in June. 7 pc of the polled saw an improvement in the situation, 1 point fewer than in June. 19 pc of the polled think that an improvement will come in the next 12 months (2 points more than in June), while 34 pc expect a deterioration (down 3 pts from June). 25 pc of respondents said it was the right time to buy durable household goods (an increase of 5 pts over June).
Poland celebrates Army Day, Battle of Warsaw
Warsaw, Athens, Aug. 15: "Polish soldiers killed in Iraq are heroes of our times; they've given a testimony that it is a great honour to wear a Polish army uniform," said President Aleksander Kwasniewski in Warsaw on Sunday during ceremonies marking the Polish Army Day and the 84th anniversary of the Battle of Warsaw that stopped Soviet Red Army westward march and prevented the spreading of communism in 1920. "I bow my head in tribute to the fallen on the Iraqi soil. They gave their lives showing solidarity with a deeply human, common cause of freedom," the president said. "Poland thanks its soldiers, Poland is grateful for your service," Aleksander Kwasniewski added and went on to explain that Polish soldiers served not only their country and its citizens but also the European cause and the world security. "They have got involved wherever human rights and peace are threatened, President Aleksander Kwasniewski praised men in uniforms. He thanked Generals Andrzej Tyszkiewicz and Mieczyslaw Bieniek for "effort, courage and inventive spirit" with which they commanded the first and second shift of the Multinational Division and wished success to its new commander General Andrzej Ekiert. Earlier in the day the president promoted 24 colonels to the rank of generals, nominated 13 generals to higher generals and handed diplomas over to those who decided to retire."Poland trusts you and knows that can count on you. You will always meet the challenge if the need arises," the president said handing over generals' nominations.
Referring to a discussion on Poland's military presence in Iraq Kwasniewski said: "Our position is clear: we want to make a considerable cut in the number of soldiers in Iraq as of next year but at the same time we will do everything in our power not to hamper stabilisation process." He stressed that the government in Baghdad will decide how much assistance it would need. Defence Minister Jerzy Szmajdzinski added that the decision follows an Iraqi government effort to train and equip its own forces to take over the stabilisation mission from the coalition. Szmajdzinski also said Poland's plans to monitor developments in Sudan and only send experts there. The president, who is also commander-in-chief of the Polish armed forces explained that recently concluded tenders will help modernise the army and equip it with mulit-task combat planes, armoured vehicles, anti-tank guided missiles. He expressed satisfaction with the level of financing of the armed force and highly assessed the new law on career soldiers. On Saturday in Athens the president supported an appeal for armistice during Olympics. The Polish president was one of the signatories of a declaration on an Olympic truce. He said that military involvement was sometimes necessary to preserve peace. The presidential couple met with sportsmen and was a guest of honour of a reception given by the Polish Olympics Committee.
Gov't to assign additional 3.25 mn PLN for Oswiecim
Bielsko-Biala, Aug. 15: The government has assigned additional 3.25 million zlotys (902.7 thousand USD) for the implementation of the government's Oswiecim Strategic Programme. 1.2 million zlotys will go for Malopolska local government for the modernisation of one of the streets. 900 thousand will be assigned for modernisation of Leszczynska Street that directly leads to the Museum of the former Nazi death camp Auswitz-Birkenau.The town will get 600 thousand zlotys for renovation of the Castle of Dukes of Oswiecim and 550 thousand will be assigned for road modernisation in Brzezinka (Birkenau in German.). The government strategic Oswiecim programme was adopted in 1996 after Maja Company's plans to construct a trade centre near the former death camp. The plans envisaged the development of the communication system and Old Town renovation. In 2002 the council of ministers adopted a second part of the document that provides for putting in order and modernisation of roads leading to the museum and promoting the town and its neighbourhood. Auschwitz death camp was set up in 1940. KL Auschwitz II -Birkenau was constructed in 1942. Auschwitz III was a network of sub-camps. In Auschwitz-Birkenau the Nazis killed more than 1.1 million Polish and European Jews, Poles, Roma people and Soviet Red Army POWs.
Kwasniewski: I believe staff-related issues do not guide SLD
Warsaw, Aug. 16: "If Andrzej Ananicz's nomination for the Intelligence Agency head prompted the Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) to vote against Marek Belka's government it would be a very strange decision," President Aleksander Kwasniewski told. But if in October the SLD arrived to the conclusion that what had been happening in Poland was truly not right and in a way could pose a problem to the SLD; that early elections would be better than any cooperation with this government than, of course, I could imagine such a situation, he said. "I believe that after recent period's experience devoid staff decisions from importance for the SLD as it would be unreasonable and even petty, he explained. According to Kwasniewski, the most important thing is that Belka's government should implement its task to the best of its abilities. He added that it was difficult to find a good intelligence head and that in his opinion Ananicz's competence cannot be questioned. „I believe that the agency will show its competence by October," he stressed.
Magdalena Sroda new gov't Plenipotentiary for Gender Equality
Warsaw, Aug. 15: Prime Minister Marek Belka appointed Magdalena Sroda the goverment Plenipotentiary for Gender Equality, the government Information Centre CIR has reported. Sroda will assume the office on Monday, August 16. The candidature of Sroda was forwarded by Deputy Prime Minister Izabela Jaruga-Nowacka who herself held this office on the Leszek Miller cabinet. Magdalena _roda, Ph.D. (b. 1957) is researcher in ethics at the Institute for Philosophy of Warsaw University
Czeslaw Milosz dies in Cracow at 93
Cracow, Aug. 14: Czeslaw Milosz, the laureate of Nobel Prize in Literature and one of the most outstanding Polish writers and poets died in Cracow at the age of 93. "The poet of the century, the poet of difficult thought, spiritual leader, the teacher of faith, the pillar of the Polish culture," these words were used by his friends and people versed in literature. They termed his death an irreparable loss for Poland. Milosz constantly touched upon the main issues of human existence: God, the faith, reason and love, nation and questions that are still unanswered, said world-renowned Polish philosopher Leszek Kolakowski. Former President Lech Walesa said Milosz belonged to the generation of great personages. His literary achievement contributed to the demise of communism, he added. Czeslaw Milosz was born to a noble family in 1911 in a locality of Szetejny, which now belongs to Lithuania. His first collection of poems was published in 1933. In the 1940s Milosz was a Polish diplomat in France and the United States. With the development of Cold War he decided to seek a political asylum first in France and later he moved to the United States to become Slavonic Languages professor at Berkley University, California. In the West he spent most of his adult life returning to Poland in the 1990-ties. His best-known prose work, The Captive Mind (1953), is an essay collection that studies the spiritual condition of society under Communist totalitarianism. He is also well known for the novel The Seizure of Power (1955) and the long poem A Treatise on Poetry (1957). He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1980. Among his many works are the classically styled verse of Bells in Winter (1978), Collected Poems, 1931-1987 (1988), Provinces (1991), and New and Collected Poems, 1931-2001 (2001). His work also includes History of Polish Literature (1969) and the essay collections Emperor of the Earth (1977), Visions from San Francisco Bay (1982), The Witness of Poetry (1983), and Beginning with My Streets (1991).
Polish archeologists start diggings in Syria
Warsaw, Aug. 15: One of the world's oldest gambling dice, furniture from a dolls' house dating back three millenia and two royal tombs from Syria's Mitani culture of three and a half thousand years ago are among the finds unearthed by Polish archeological teams on a site near Tell Arbid, northeast Syria. This year the archeologists plan to search for a 5,000-year-old royal palace whose traces have turned up in earlier excavations. Head of the Polish team professor Piotr Bielanski said diggings in the area were started in the 1930s by British archeologist Max Mallowan, husband of world-famous criminal author Agatha Christie. Tell Arbid was a developed urban and commercial centre already in the third century BC and one of the main stations on the trade route from Turkey to Mesopotamia. For a long time the area was also known for its onagers, a since extinct donkey breed used as a work animal. Polish archeology teams have been working on the Tell Arbid site since 1996.
Over 11.5 thousand apply for structural pensions
Warsaw, Aug. 13: To date 11,105 Polish farmers have applied for structural pensions in return for giving up their land. The applications were submitted to the government's Agricultural Restructurization and Modernization Agency (ARiMR) between August 2 and 12, ARiMR spokeswoman Iwona Musial told PAP on Friday. Musial said interest in structural pensions had fallen in recent days but that as many as 2,000 applications daily had come in the beginning. Most applications (over 2,000) were filed in the provinces of Mazowsze, Podlasie (over 1,500), Lodz (1,500) and Kujawy-Pomorze (1,200). Structural pension applicants of both sexes must be 55 and have run a farm for at least 10 years. Application processing takes 40 days.
Lower revenues on banks' interest rates
Warsaw, Aug. 16: Tax revenues on savings and capital income totalled 473.6 million zlotys at the end of June or 25 percent less than in the comparative period of the previous year, according to Rzeczpospolita daily. The paper attributes the fall to a cut of tax rate to 19 percent at the start of the year from 20 percent and a fall in interest rates on deposits. Rzeczpospolita recalls that in 2003 the so-called Belka tax brought to the budget some 1.2 billion zlotys and in 2002 it gave 800.8 million zlotys.The daily also writes that the budget had to return some 7.8 billion zlotys to the taxpayers on behalf of the excessive tax returns. At the same time some 10 percent of taxpayers had to pay to the fiscal offices additionally some 2.2 billion zlotys. The balance is unfavourable for the budget. Taking this into account budget revenues on PIT in 2003 totalled some 20.1 billion zlotys.
Treasury opens tender for WSE privatisation adviser
Warsaw, Aug. 13: The state treasury minister on Friday announced a tender for picking up a privatisation adviser to Warsaw Stock Exchange WSE in Warsaw. Offers can be submitted by September 20, 2004, the treasury ministry reported "The ministry plans to invite to negotiations seven contractors who will meet proceedings conditions," it was written. For a price offer the contractor may gain up to 45 points. The ministry wants the order to be implemented in 24 months from the signing of an agreement with the contractor. The contractor will have to prepare pre-privatisation analysis of the WSE, recommend privatisation strategies and prepare and sell shares in WSE. Partial offers or those including variants will not be accepted.
Analysts expect WIGOMETR to fall
Warsaw, Aug. 16: WIGOMETR, the stock exchange condition indicator which shows market participants' expectations as to changes in the value of the blue chip WIG 20 index is at 18 points which means a 8 points fall from last week, the Warsaw Stock Exchange wrote in a statement."Forty one percent of the recently polled participants expected WIG 20 to go down in value and 23 percent said it would grow next week," it was written. The poll is conducted on the basis of the same questions sent directly to poll participants who are asked to say whether, in their opinion, WIG 20 next week will grow, fell or remain flat.
President, Sejm Speaker congratulate Olympic medal winners
Warsaw, Aug. 19: President Aleksander Kwasniewski and Sejm Speaker Jozef Oleksy sent congratulations to swimmer Otylia Jedrzejczak, who yesterday won the women's 200 metres butterfly gold medal at the Olympics. Jedrzejczak finished in a time of two minutes 06.05 seconds, outside the world record of 2:05.78 that she set at the 2002 world championships. Both the president and the Sejm Speaker praised Jedrzejczak's achievements at the Olympics and wished her further successes. The president also sent congratulations to Sylwia Gruchala who won the women's individual foil bronze medal at the Olympics on Wednesday.
Two Polish troops killed, five injured in Iraq
Camp Babylon, Aug. 19: Two Polish soldiers were killed and five injured early on Thursday when their vehicles crashed while under attack in the central Iraqi city of Hillah, Artur Domanski, spokesman of the Polish-led Multinational Force in Iraq said today. The two killed soldiers, Grzegorz Rusinek and Sylwester Kutrzyk, both served in a south-Polish paratrooper unit. Multinational Force commander general Andrzej Ekiert said today that the troops came under fire while on a routine road patrol. The accident occurred when one of their jeeps accelerated to escape the gunfire and capsized, causing the other vehicle to crash into it. Ekiert added that the two Poles killed in the accident had not suffered any gunshot wounds. The five injured soldiers are hospitalised in Karbala; their condition has been reported stable. Rapid reaction troops were sent to the site of the ambush, but could not find the attackers.
Borowski: united leftwing list possible
Smolarnia, Aug. 19: A united left wing in the next elections is a possibility provided the Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) begins "broadcasting on the same wavelength" as the social democracy for Poland (SdPl). SdPl leader Marek Borowski said that commenting Polish president Aleksander Kwasniewski's TV announcement that he planned to press for an election alliance between SLD, SdPl and the Union of Labour (UP). It is always better if voters have one strong party representing their interests, Borowski told PAP at SdPl meeting in Smolarnia near Pila, western Poland. Referring to Kwasniewski's words Borowski said the president's opinions were highly respected by both SLD and SdPl and that his suggestions could "help SLD change its to-date practices". SdPl caucus head Arkadiusz Kasznia told PAP that Thursday's meeting in Smolarnia had focused on statutory changes, debated on Friday will be SdPl's stand towards the Belka cabinet and long-term party projects.
Cracow prepares for Milosz burial
Warsaw, Aug. 19: The funeral of Czeslaw Milosz, Nobel literature prize laureate and one of the most outstanding Polish writers and poets, will take place in Cracow on August 27.A funeral mass will be said by archbishop Franciszek Macharski. "Poland, the U.S. and he whole world is steeped in sorrow upon the departure of Czeslaw Milosz. Czeslaw Milosz was a great Polish poet and a great American", U.S. ambassador in Poland Victor Ashe wrote today in a condolence letter to the Nobel-winning poet's family.
Youth meet in Auschwitz, Otwock honours ghetto Jews
Warsaw, Aug. 19: Thirty young Israelis, Germans and Poles met Thursday in Oswiecim, site of the wartime Nazi death camp Auschwitz, to discuss the causes and consequences of genocide and commemorate Auschwitz victims. The meeting, sponsored by Oswiecim's International Youth Meeting House, will last until August 23 and will include a visit to the Auschwitz site. Co-organiser Harmut Ziesing said the event's chief aim was for young Germans, Poles and Israelis to confront their views on Auschwitz and its implications. This is an attempt to find out what Auschwitz means (...) to young Poles, Israelis and Germans, whose nations in the 20th century lived in a negative symbiosis, Ziesing said. Israeli ambassador in Poland David Peleg today attended celebrations of the 62nd anniversary of the liquidation of a Jewish ghetto in Otwock by Warsaw. Peleg also awarded a posthumous Righteous Among the World's Nations medal to Aleksandra Szpakowska, a Pole who saved Otwock Jews from death in the ghetto.
Orthodox Church celebrates Transfiguration
Bialystok, Aug. 19: Polish Orthodox head Metropolitan Sawa and hierarchs of Polish Authocephalous Orthodox Church Thursday celebrated the Holy Transfiguration, one of the main Orthodox feasts, in Poland's Orthodox sanctuary at Holy Mount Grabarka, eastern Poland. Transfiguration festivities at Mount Grabarka are held concurrently with the main celebrations at Mount Tabor Monastery in California. The Polish feast traditionally gathers thousands of faithful from Poland and abroad, over 30,000 people attended this year.
PKP Cargo SA reports growth in intermodal cargo shipments
Warsaw, Aug. 19: Between Janaury and June 2004 PKP Cargo SA company shipped 1.3 million tons of cargo in the intermodal transport system or, 180,000 more than in the 1st half of 2003, spokesman for the company Janusz Mincewicz said. This type of transport generated 46.2 million zlotys (12.8 million USD) in revenues, up 12.2 million on the previous year figure. In March 2004 PKP Cargo reported it planned to take over part of cargo transported by cars as part of "Railways instead of Ruts" programme. As regards intermodal transport exports accounted for the biggest part or 554,000 tons of cargo in the 1st half of 2004, imports for 504,000 tpons and transit for 203,000 tons. Last year the company earned revenues totalling 5.961 billion zlotys and gross profit that exceeded 266.5 million zlotys. Net profit exceeded 170.3 million zlotys.
Poland's car production exceeds 300,000 vehicles
Warsaw, Aug. 19: From January till the end of July 2004 Poland manufactured 316,808 passenger cars, up 78 percent on the comparative period of last year, Samar company monitoring automotive market in Poland reported. According to Samar analysts the production goes up. In 2002 Poland produced 298,089 cars, in 2003 it was 329,912. According to Samar estimates by he end of the year Poland may make up to 600,000 new cars. Some 88 percent are exported abroad mostly to European countries. The Polish market is dominated by Fiat Auto Poland that has more than 60 percent share in it. It is followed by Opel Polska from Gliwice that dominated 21.3 percent and by Volkswagen Poznan with 9.7 percent of share. Daewoo-FSO with 8.6 percent of share in the market places fourth.
Coal Company's net profit rises to 140 mn zlotys
Katowice, Aug. 19: Coal Company's (Kompania Weglowa) earnings after the first seven months of the year rose to around 140 million zlotys, in July alone it netted approximately 32.4 mn zlotys, Kompania spokesman Zbigniew Madej said. The good results in July, the month in which coal sales are usually lower, was affected by a good global sentiment on the coal market, and sentiment-related high prices, in particular in exports accounting for over 30 percent of the sales figure. The result of Kompania Weglowa, Poland's largest mining holding, is still encumbered with costs unrelated with KW's core operations but resulting from the necessity to finance severance benefits for the former miners, and to close down mining pits. The related loss consumes pat of the coal sales profit. Due to stable revenue sources Kompania is able to pay on time taxes and contributions to the social security institution ZUS. But the financial situation of the company is still heavily affected by back debts to suppliers and partners. The company owes a total of 4.9 bn zlotys worth of overdue debt to current suppliers.
"Vive la France" at Sopot Festival
Warsaw, Aug. 19: The 41st International Song Festival starts in Sopot, northern Poland, on Friday night with a concert of songs by Czesalw Niemen, who died last January but whose professional career started exactly in Sopot in 1979 when he got the main prize for the song "Before spring comes." Saturday evening, held under the slogan "Vive La France" will be devoted to French songs with the greatest hits being presented by Belgium's Kate Ryan, Italian In-Grid and Patricia Kass, called the modern Marlene Dietrich. French songs will also be performed by 21- year-old Pole Michal Kwiatkowski, the laureate of "Star Academy" TF1 French TV competition for debutantes. Wladyslaw Szpilman, outstanding pianist, composer and long-time music director of Polish Radio launched the idea of Sopot festival. In the 1960-ties and 1970-ties the festival was a song competition in nature. It was organised by the Culture Ministry and Pagart Polish Artistic Agency. Since 1994 TVP has been the exclusive organiser of the festival. However, as of next year the festival organisation will be taken over by ITI, the owner of TVN television.
Warsaw invites expats to take part in its cultural life
Warsaw, Aug. 20: A final competition of theatre groups will start in Warsaw's Dolina Szwajcarska (Swiss Valley) on Monday in a move to restore the capital's animated cultural life from before WW2 and the communist period as well as to attract tourists. 14 theatre groups will attend the competition from all over Poland but organisers hope for more groups from other countries to come in future. "Dolina Szwajcarska is to help define Warsaw's culture climate. We hope for it to become a meeting place for artists from Poland, eastern and western Europe," Warsaw Centre artistic director Tadeusz Kijowski has said. "Before WW2 and subsequent Soviet domination Warsaw's open-air theatre in Dolina Szwajcarska was a magical and special place," Kijowski said. The 13th festival, whose winner will get 15,000 zlotys award (4,166 USD) will end on August 30. The festival has been co- sponsored by the capital authorities.
Govt ratings up from July
Warsaw, Aug. 19: Twenty-eight percent of Poles in a CBOS poll were pleased with the Marek Belka government, a 13-percent leap from July's 15 percent. Belka opponents are still in the majority at 33 percent (unchanged from July). Most Belka supporters are urban dwellers, college graduates, schoolyouth and students; most critical of the government are rural inhabitants. 34 percent said the present government promised realistic chances for economic improvement (8 pct up on July), 42 percent thought otherwise (4 pct down on July). At 33 percent the number of pollees declaring indifference towards the government was markedly down on July (26 pct). Also up were the PM's personal ratings, 35 percent of pollees declaring they were pleased with his work (25 pct in July). 37 percent said they were dissatisfied with the prime minister (38 pct in July). According to CBOS Belka's rising popularity was a result of growing public confidence in his strategies.
Most Poles notice higher prices
Warsaw, Aug. 19: Ninety-six percent of Poles in an OBOP survey said household prices had risen after the country's EU accession, 63 percent of this group claimed prices had risen markedly (4 percent less than in July). 3 percent claimed prices in Poland had not changed. 74 percent said their lives had not changed after Poland's EU accession (10 pct up on July), 18 percent claimed changes for the worse (6 pct down), 6 percent for the better (4 pct down). 48 percent believed Poland's EU membership was good for the country (unchanged from July), 18 percent that it was bad (unchanged). 29 percent claimed EU membership was neither good nor bad for Poland. 21 percent said Poland's situation had improved after EU accession (2 pct up on July), 26 percent that it had deteriorated (1 pct up).
Miller, Siemiatkowski: Kaczmarek lied to Orlen committee
Warsaw, Aug. 24: Ex-treasury minister Wieslaw Kaczmarek lied in his Monday testimony before a parliamentary committee investigating irregularities in Poland's PKN Orlen petroleum concern, former PM Leszek Miller and ex-State Protection Office (UOP) acting head Zbigniew Siemiatkowski announced Tuesday. The committee is investigating charges of government pressure in appointments to the Orlen supervisory board and the circumstances around the 2002 arrest of Orlen's CEO Andrzej Modrzejewski. Siemiatkowski today denied Kaczmarek's claims that a meeting devoted to Orlen had taken place in Miller's office on February 6 2002. Miller also denied a night meeting on the matter with Polish president Aleksander Kwasniewski on February 20. Yesterday Kaczmarek's testimony before the committee was proven not to tally with his statements on Orlen to the Polish prosecution. Kaczmarek today refused to comment Miller's and Siemiatkowski's charges, remarking only that "now was a time for testimony not verbal tussles".
Treasury: PKN Orlen CEO should be elected by mid-September
Warsaw, Aug. 24: According to Treasury Minister Jacek Socha a procedure of electing a new PKN Orlen SA CEO should be concluded by mid-September. Socha attended Tuesday a meeting of the Sejm Treasury committee devoted to the situation in Orlen."I think that the procedure of electing a new CEO should be concluded by mid-September", Socha told journalists in the Sejm. Last week PKN Orlen supervisory board dismissed Jacek Walczykowski as company CEO. Walczykowski was appointed on July 28 and replaced Zbigniew Wrobel, who had resigned. By the time a new CEO is elected his duties will be performed by to-date PKN Orlen deputy CEO Janusz Wisniewski.
Jobless from Szczecin, Wroclaw stage protest marches
Warsaw, Aug. 24: Groups of unemployed from Szczecin and Wroclaw set off for Warsaw on Tuesday to take part in the third nation-wide Star March organised by the Movement for the Defence of Unemployed (ROB) on Friday. Both groups of protesters picketed the town halls in Szczecin and Wroclaw. ROB was set up in 2001 and has about 45 thousand members.
Govt: higher social insurance only for 20 percent
Warsaw, Aug. 24: Poland's poorest and two-thirds of its small business operators will not be affected by social insurance hikes proposed in the government's financial austerity plan, labour minister Krzysztof Pater said Tuesday during a Sejm debate on the plan. Pater said higher insurance would only be paid by 20 percent of Polish enterprisers, the hikes not exceeding 50 percent. The government's austerity reforms foresee changes in Poland's retirement, health and social insurance laws. If introduced, the new insurance rates are expected to bring 1.8 bn zlotys (495 mn USD) into Poland's Social Insurance Fund in 2005. Sixty-three percent will continue paying their usual rates (...) We must see that higher social insurance is collected from those, who can afford to pay it, Pater said. Pater also announced steps against insurance dodgers and discounts for start-up companies. Our suggestion is a 50-percent discount for first-timers and enterprises that have been off the market for at least 60 months, he said.
Government to discuss 2005 budget guidelines on Monday
Warsaw, Aug. 24: The government will discuss guidelines of the 2005 budget on Monday. It is possible that the finance minister will suggest that next year's budget deficit could be lowered from 38.8 bn zlotys planned earlier. The finance minister has already announced plans to lower 2005 budget deficit and the government will discuss this on Monday, deputy PM and Economy Minister Jerzy Hausner told. Earlier Finance Minister Miroslaw Gronicki said that next year's deficit would not exceed 35 bn zlotys, against 38.8 bn zlotys planned earlier. On Monday deputy Finance Minister Elzbieta Suchocka-Roguska said that the 2004 budget deficit would be lower by some 1-2 billion. Under this year's budget law the deficit is to amount to 45.3 billion zlotys.
EU: Poland files cohesion fund projects
Warsaw, Aug. 24: Poland has filed its first 35 environmental and infrastructure projects for funding from the EU's Cohesion Fund, the Polish environment ministry informed Tuesday. 31 of the projects involve upgrades on water supply and sewage systems, 3 waste management and one air depollution. Their total value is estimated at 467.7 million euros, more than 107 percent of Poland's Cohesion Fund allocation. The biggest is a 188-million- euro water and sewage upgrade programme in Lodz, for which Poland hopes to receive 94 million Cohesion Fund euros. Poland's Cohesion Fund allocation for 2004-2006 is over 2 billion euros, of which 707 million can be used this year. The EU's Cohesion Fund finances environmental, infrastructure and trans-European communication projects.
Rover still interested in Daewoo-FSO
Warsaw, Aug. 24: Phoenix Venture Holdings Ltd., the owner of the British MG Rover Group Ltd., has suspended co-operation plans with Proton Holdings Bhd., the biggest car maker in Malaysia. At the same time it has expressed interest in taking over Daewoo-FSO. "We are still interested in buying shares in Daewoo-FSO Motor SA, the Polish subsidiary of the bankrupt Korean Daewoo concern", a spokeswoman for MG Rover has said. A co-operation agreement between Proton and Phoenix aimed at developing research projects was signed in February this year. The spokeswoman did not elaborate on reasons behind breaking the agreement."As a result of a bilateral agreement we have decided to stop further co-operation", the spokeswoman of the British company said.
Chechen president to arrive for soccer match
Poznan, Aug. 24: Acting Chechen president Sergei Abramov will arrive in Poznan, west Poland Wednesday to attend Thursday's soccer match between Terek Grozny from Chechnya and Poland's Lech Poznan, the foreign ministry informed. Abramov became acting president of Chechnya after the death of the country's former president Akhmad Kadyrov. According to Foreign Ministry here the visit will have a private character. The Free Caucasus Committee, a Polish-seated organisation supporting Chechnya's independence from Russia has warned it will hold demonstrations against the Chechen conflict at Poznan airport during Abramov's arrival. Terek Grozny and Lech Poznan are fighting for a place in the UEFA Cup. Thursday's bout is a replay; Terek won the first game 1-0.
Palestinian embassy stages protest
Warsaw, Aug. 24: A group of Palestinian embassy employees and Arab- descended Poles Tuesday staged a one-day hunger strike in the Palestinian Embassy in Warsaw in protest against the mistreatment of Palestinians in Israeli prisons. The strike is a solidarity gesture with a hunger strike launched on August 16 by 1.6 thousand Palestinian prisoners in Israel. Among others the Palestinians are demanding a stop to torture, regular medical treatment and the separation of incarcerated minors from adults. Hafez Al Nimer, the Palestinian ambassador in Poland, told that the protest was aimed at turning public attention to human rights violations against Palestinians in Israeli prisons. We hope the world finally begins to view Israeli prisons with the same eyes as the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, Al Nimer said. He also gave the letter from the families of Palestinians imprisoned in Israel, whose authors appeal for international help in curbing the "violent and inhuman treatment of Palestinian prisoners".
Krynica Economic Forum to be held on Sept. 9-11
Warsaw, Aug. 24: Some 1,500 politicians, economists and scientists from 35 states will attend, scheduled for September 9-11, debates of the 14th Economic Forum in Krynica Gorska (southern Poland). The organisers say that topics that will be given special attention this year include a growing role of the euro in the world economy, foreign capital in media and the question of lower taxes. This will be the first occasion after Poland's joining the EU to present this country's relations with the east, head of the Programmatic Council of the Forum Zygmunt Berdychowski said Tuesday. Berdychowski presented to reporters the main assumptions of a report on 2004 transformation. The report, to be presented during the forum, assesses the economic, social and political situation in 27 countries of Central and Eastern Europe and the former USSR.The Krynica Economic Forum has been organised by the Institute of Eastern Studies foundation.
SMG/KRC: 25 pct of Poles use Internet
Warsaw, Aug. 24: Twenty five percent of Poles over 15 and under 75 use the Internet, showed a survey by SMG/KRC Poland Media SA, carried out in May-July 2004. Over a half of those polled, 54.3 percent use the Internet at home, 24.4 pct at work, 23.8 pct at school or university, 15 pct in acquaintances' homes and at Internet cafes. The survey showed that the website of the Onet portal remains Poland's most popular site, visited at least once a month by 73.5 percent of those polled. Wirtualna Polska is the second most frequently visited website (62.4 pct), followed by Interia (44 pct), Google (39.3 pct), Gadu- Gadu (39.3 pct) and Allegro (20 pct). The Idea website was visited by 20 pct of Internet users, the Gazeta portal by 18.7 pct, and the O2 portal by 14.1 percent of Poles. 40.5 pct of Poles use the Internet everyday or almost everyday, 26.3 pct use it a few times a week, 15.5 pct once a week, 11.3 pct a few times a month, 4.2 pct once a month and 2.2 percent less frequently than once a month.
Rogowska wins women's pole vault bronze
Athens, Aug. 25: Poland's Anna Rogowska got the Olympic women's pole vault bronze with 4.70 meters on Tuesday night. Yelena Isinbayeva of Russia won the gold medal with a world record pole vault of 4.91 meters. Svetlana Feofanova of Russia took the silver at 4.75 metres
PM: recent years were good for defence industry
Kielce, Aug. 30: PM Marek Belka believes that the recent years have been favourable for the Polish army and the arms industry. The value of equipment purchased from the Polish defence industry is going up by 20-30 percent every year, Marek Belka said during the inauguration of the 12th International Defence Industry Salon (MSPO) Kielce on Monday. The PM underlined growing state budget outlays on the army and the transformation of the defence ministry budget the growing share of which has been spent on modernisation and equipment purchase. The event has attracted 283 participants from 22 countries. The PM started his visit to the fair with the first national exhibition - the show of defence industry and equipment of German Bundeswehr.
PSL appeals for troops withdrawal from Iraq
Warsaw, Aug. 29: The Polish Peasant Party (PSL) has started collecting signatures under an appeal to the president and the government for urgent withdrawal of Polish troops from Iraq. On Sunday in Warsaw the party leader Janusz Wojciechowski collected signatures. The politician counts on several million of Poles to sign the appeal. Wojciechowski told people's interest in the actions was big and may bring about a change in the government stand on Iraq. According to PSL head Polish soldiers should leave Iraq because "its neither a peace nor stabilisation mission but a war." "This is war and Polish soldiers have been sent there by the president and the government without the decision being supported by the parliament which is illegal from the point of view of the Polish constitution.
Iwinski: Stabilisation in Chechnya underway
Grozny, Aug. 29: The process of political stabilisation is in progress despite disruptions. However, its weigh is on the socio- economic side. In the situation of 60-percent unemployment progress is still slow, Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) MP Tadeusz Iwinski told. The Polish MP heads a Council of Europe special mission to Chechnya and Ingushetia to monitor Sunday's presidential elections and examine the situation in the republic from the point of view of human rights.
Sejm votes health amendments
Warsaw, Aug. 27: The Sejm Friday voted 114 higher house amendments to a new health bill. Among others the deputies voted in the removal of contraceptives from the national refund list and rejected a proposal to introduce health insurance payments for the clergy. Also passed was a motion to grant recently abolished VIP healthcare services to Poland's president, prime minister, the Sejm and Senate speakers and foreign diplomats.
SdPl starts Clean File operation
Warsaw, Aug. 29: The Social Democracy of Poland SdPl has started a Clean File operation to collect signatures under an appeal for an amendment to the constitution that would prevent people of criminal record to take parliamentary seats, SdPl head Marek Borowski told journalists in the Sejm on Sunday. He added the amendment was required because changes proposed by the party altered the eligibility right written in the constitution. He stressed the SdPl started the operation having "faith that Poland may stop become an example of corruption and nepotism in all kinds of ratings" and to promote SdPl policy in building an honest state. Borowski recalled that SdPl submitted a related draft law to the Sejm speaker on July 14.
Democratic Left: more for the poorest and civil rights
Warsaw, Aug. 27: The problems of the country's poorest, civil rights, European democracy and the European Constitution will be the ruling Democratic Left Alliance's (SLD's) top priorities in coming months, SLD leader Krzysztof Janik said Friday in the Sejm announcing three SLD bills aimed at curbing poverty in Poland. Janik said the bills, to be filed to the Sejm in September, foresaw degressive tax-free quotas, minimum wage indexations and a reorganization of Poland's National Scholarship Fund and would mostly benefit pensioners and low-bracket earners. He also mentioned plans to lodge a bill on non-marital partnerships in October and speed up work on a national and ethnic minority act already in parliament. Janik also announced an autumn campaign around the European Constitution and Poland's place in the EU. We believe this will be one of the focal points in political dialogue. The next SLD Congress is scheduled for December 17-18.
Bumar negotiates contract for equipment supplies to Iraq
Warsaw, Aug. 30: Bumar hopes that equipment supplies to Iraq will start still this year under a contract negotiated right now," Bumar CEO Roman Baczynski told Radio One on Monday. "The talks are difficult but very concrete. They will probably end with a deal. Supplies may start this year as talks on technicalities are practically over, Baczynski said and added that in the 1st stage the value of agreements may reach some 20 million USD. Bumar is to supply Iraq with ammunition and short arms. Baczynski also said the company was closing talks with the authorities of Indonesia and Colombia on the purchase of Polish equipment.
European Food Aid Programme off in Poland
Warsaw, Aug. 27: Poverty-sricken households Polandwide will receive over 4,000 tons of rice, 1,300 tons of pasta and about 4,500 tons of powdered milk in a first aid tranche under the European Programme of Aid to the Poorest (PEAD) launched Friday in Warsaw. The programme, administered by the Warsaw-based Bank Zywnosci SOS (SOS Food Bank), foresees monthly food handouts to the most needy, including alcoholics and drug addicts, from October to April (about 2 kg of food products per person). Poland is the only new EU member to make use of the PEAD programme in 2003/2004
President decorates Jew saver
Warsaw, Aug. 31: President Aleksander Kwasniewski Tuesday posthumously conferred a Polonia Restituta Commander's Cross With a Star on Henryk Slawik, who during the war saved 5,000 Jewish lives in Hungary. Slawik headed a committee for aid to Polish refugees in wartime Hungarhe Nazis in 1944, he perished in the Mauhausen concentration camp. The medal was received in the Presidential Palace today by Slawik's granddaughter Jadwiga Kutermak-Wieczorek.
President and SLD for leftwing unity
Warsaw, Aug. 31: President Aleksander kwasniewski and Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) leader Krzysztof Janik would gladly see a united left in the next elections and a joint leftwing presidential candidate, remaining left groups Social-democracy for Poland (SdPl) and Union of Labour (UP) oppose the idea. Janik told reporters today that his party would continue efforts to consolidate Poland's left and voiced hopes for backing in this from SdPl and UP. He added, however, that the left today went far beyond political parties and support would also have to be sought from its various organizations and bodies. The left today also embraces trade unions, NGOs and youth movements, Janik said. According to Janik a united Polish left could count on 19 percent support while divided each party would not rise above 5. Also president Kwasniewski today assured that the left "could unite if it found the inner strength". This is the only sensible solution, Kwasniewski said, adding that a joint leftwing list would have to be "free from persons who today only encumber the movement". Meanwhile SdPl and UP have received Janik's and Kwasniewski's plans with skepticism. Today [a joint leftwing list - PAP] is totally unrealistic, as it would only be a list of unaccounted-for mistakes, SdPl's Tomasz Nalecz told. UP leader Marek Pol agreed that a divided left could disintegrate similarly to the former Solidarity Election Action (AWS) but reminded that election victory should not be the sole driving force behind unity plans.
PM attends ceremonies marking anniversary of WW2 outbreak
Gdansk, Sept. 1: Prime Minister Marek Belka, Defence Minister Jerzy Szmajdzinski, Senate Speaker Longin Pastusiak, war veterans and soldiers attended Wednesday morning ceremonies marking the 65th anniversary of the outbreak of World War Two at the Monument to Westerplatte Heroes at Westerplatte (Pomorskie province). The ceremonies started before 05:00 hrs as 65 years ago at that hour the German training battleship
King of Jordan comes to Warsaw for talks, agreements
Warsaw, Aug. 31: Cooperation between Poland and Jordan, situation in Iraq and Iran and the Middle East conflict will dominate the talks which King of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan Abdullah II, will hold Wednesday during his first official two-day visit to Poland. The king will meet with the President and Prime Minister. Two agreements between Poland and Jordan are to be signed, on cooperation inn science and education and in tourism. The two countries this year celebrated the 40th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations. Jordan can make an important contribution to seeking solution to the conflicts in neighbouring Iraq and take part in its reconstruction, presidential aide for international affairs Andrzej Majkowski believes. According to the Polish Foreign Ministry Jordan play a special role in the Middle East region. Majkowski said economic cooperation between Poland and Jordan will also be discussed. Last year trade exchange between the two countries amounted to about 25 million USD and shows an upward trend. Jordan counts on Poles' larger interest in religious tourism to holy sites on its territory. King Abdullah is to meet with a group of Polish businessmen.
Szmajdzinski meets Chief of Ukrainian General Staff
Warsaw, Aug. 31: Defence Minister Jerzy Szmajdzinski and Chief of General Staff of the Polish Armed Forces general Czeslaw Piatas met Tuesday with Chief of General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces general Sergei Oleksandrovich Kyrychenko, the information centre of the Defence Ministry reported. The talk focused on military cooperation in Iraq, moves designed to ensure security to soldiers of the multi-national division and the current political and military situation in the zone run by Poland. Discussed were also questions concerning the restructuring of the armed forces of Poland and Ukraine. Minister Szmajdzinski stressed that co-operation with Ukraine was of strategic significance for Poland and added Poland would continue to support Ukraine's bid to join EuroAtlantic structures. The visit to Poland has been the first foreign visit by general Kyrychenko.
Poles, Ukrainians in KFOR Kosovo contingent
Rzeszow, Aug. 31: Ninety troops from a Polish-Ukrainian battalion dephe 600-man shift numbers around 300 Poles and as many Ukrainians from units in Rzeszow and Jaworow. In Kosovo the soldiers will safeguard humanitarian supplies, conduct surveillance patrols and protect public buildings, including churches.
Olympic head clears resignation rumours
Warsaw, Aug. 31: The president and I are clear on one point: I never made or announced any such thing, Polish Olympic Committee head Stanislaw Paszczyk said Tuesday commenting rumours about his resignation. Earlier today Paszczyk discussed Poland's Olympic results with President Aleksander Kwasniewski. On Monday Kwasniewski informed the media that Paszczyk had decided to resign in the wake of Poland's poor performance at the Athens Games. This announcement was not the president's idea. He told me that in fact he'd been asked to comment the decision as coming from me and had only replied that he accepted the move, Paszczyk told reporters today. He also promised a report on Poland's Olympic participation within the next 4 weeks.
FinMin: Gov't determined to meet Maastricht criteria in 2007
Warsaw, Aug. 31: The government is determined to meet convergence criteria in the earlier announced date of 2007, Finance Minister Miroslaw Gronicki said. "This is a quite considerable tightening of the fiscal policy. We try to tighten it in such a way so that convergence criteria could be met as written in the programme for 2007," Gronicki said Tuesday following a government meeting. Convergence criteria, binding for the euro zone, related to the fiscal policy envisage the curbing of budget deficit to below 3 percent of GDP and public debt below 60 percent of GDP. If Poland fails to meet these criteria in 2007, which is also related to inflation level and long-term interest rates it could join the ERM2 and introduce the euro after two successive years.
Gov't specifies guidelines of the next year budget
Warsaw, Aug. 31; Government on Tuesday specified guidelines of the next year budget. Under this budget public debt will be lower than planned and will amount to 53.5 percent of GDP and the annual average rate of operations on the open market in 2005 will be higher than the present 6.5 percent. Mass media reported that the government would envisage 7.1 percent of the annual average NBP intervention rate. "The annual average rate will be higher than 7.1 percent. I would not like to elaborate but realistically speaking interest rates at the end of next year will be higher than they are at present," Finance Minister Miroslaw Gronicki said. He added that public debt should grow less than it was envisaged in June and should amount to 53.5 percent of GDP according to Polish calculation standards. In June the government predicted it would be at 54.8 percent of GDP. The finance minister repeated the earlier inflation prediction at the end of 2005. He added that as of September 2004 inflation should start to fall. At the end of next year inflation should be at the level of some 2.8 percent (...). Currently, we predict that in August it would stabilise or will slightly go up by 0.1 percentage point, Gronicki said. "As of September inflation will gradually fall till March 2005 after which between March and April it will plunge even to some 2 percent. At the end of 2005 it will be below 3 percent. According to macroeconomic predictions it is now at 2.8 percent. At the end of 2004 it will be around 4 percent, he added. The minister's prediction is considerably lower than the projected inflation announced by the National Bank of Poland on Tuesday.
LOT shares to be sold at WSE in Q2, 2005
Warsaw, Aug.31: LOT shares could debut at the Warsaw Stock Exchange in the latter half of next year, according to head of the company's supervisory council Piotr Czyzewski."We would like the prospectus to be ready in the first half of next year. In my opinion a new share issue should be offered at WSE and this would benefit the company", he told newsmen Tuesday. He declined to say how much money LOT would like to raise in the public offering. In his opinion also the stake in LOT now held by the official receiver of Swissair, a former LOT shareholder, could be offered to the public at WSE. "I would like the new share issue to coincide with putting LOT ownership questions into order. The situation when an official receiver is among the owners is certainly not a healthy one", Czyzewski noted. It will be up to the state treasury to decide whether to sell some of the LOT shares it holds in the public offering, he added. The treasury now controls 67.96 pc of LOT shares, the Swissair official receiver has 25.1 pc, and LOT employees hold 6.94 pc.
Wroclaw upgrades water system
Wroclaw, Aug. 31: Wroclaw in Southwest Poland will modernise its extensive canal and waterway system in a 1.5-billion-zloty (405 mn USD) project, cofinanced from the EU Cohesion Fund. The project, to start next year, will be carried out simultaneously with a 208-mn-zloty sewage upgrade programme also backed from cohesion funds. Wroclaw's network of canals, sluices and bridges was built between 1905 and 1920.
Poland at Moscow book fair
Warsaw, Aug. 31: A Thursday meeting with author, former dissident and newspaper editor Adam Michnik and an exhibition of new translations of Polish prose will highlight Poland's exposition at the International Book Fair in Moscow starting Wednesday. Thirteen publishers will present their latest editions, also planned is a photo exhibition devoted to 20th-century writer Witold Gombrowicz whose birth centenary is celebrated this year. Present in Moscow will be Polish authors Stefan Chwin and Adam Wiedemann.
Based on the service of the Polish Press Agency (PAP)
More information is available at the website– http://www.pap.com.pl