Platini gives thumbs up to Polish and Ukrainian preparations for EURO 2012

Michel Platini, president of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) has toured to each Polish and Ukrainian city getting ready to host the UEFA football championship in 2012, TVN24 reports.

UEFA is to announce which cities will be selected as hosts on May 13. “I haven’t noticed any significant problems in Poland. I wish to congratulate you on the good job” Platitni said. According to the guidelines there will be 6 to 8 host cities but it has not been yet decided how many in each country. “We showcased 6 Polish cities which we hope will host EURO2012” Polish Sports Minister Mirosław Drzewiecki said. “We also discussed the political and economic situation of Poland and reported on the progress of work. We are on time with all stadium construction projects” he added. “Poland and Ukraine are very different countries. Poland has support and numerous foreign contacts, while Ukraine doesn’t. Infrastructure is far better developed in Poland than in Ukraine. I will list all the facts in my report for UEFA and the decision will be made based on them. There are not enough hotels in Ukraine, but in Poland there are no agreements signed between city authorities and hotels. But they will be signed soon” Platini told TVN24.

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ECONOMIC MONITOR

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• ● In December 2009 and January 2010, as in previous months in the second half of 2009, the Polish economy stood out against other countries in terms of GDP growth. Poland’s economic growth was higher than projected and higher than in other European countries.
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• In 2009 construction output increased by 3.7%.
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• Retail sales increase in most product groups.
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• On the Warsaw Stock Exchange, stock prices were very volatile in January 2010.
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• At the end of December 2009 the registered unemployment rate (claimant count rate) amounted to 11.9% versus 11.4% in November.
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• At the end of January the president signed the 2010 budget bill into law. The bill was adopted by the parliament on December 18.
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• In the fourth quarter of 2009 the Polish economy turned out to be more resistant to the global crisis than had been projected and than the economies of Polish neighbours, something which boosts optimism in forecasts for 2010 and the next years.
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Retail sales up again in June
Retail sales growth in nominal terms accelerated in June to 6.4% y-o-y from 4.3% y-o-y in May. The increase was higher than expected. In real terms, retail sales growth accelerated to 4.5% y-o-y from 2.0% y-o-y. June was a consecutive month with retail sales figures stronger than expected, which indicates that consumption is recovering after it slowed significantly at the beginning of the year. Private consumption is driven by an improvement on the labour market coupled with a rise in disposable incomes. In Q2 2010 retail sales grew by around 3% y-o-y in nominal terms and around 1% y-o-y in real terms. On the basis of retail sales and industrial production data, it can be estimated that the GDP growth rate was close to 3%.

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