G5 for closer cooperation between cities and government

Marcin Herra, President of PL.2012, has told the Polish Press Agency that the establishment of the G5 group composed of the host cities responsible for the organization of EURO 2012 Championship and representatives of the government is a form of tightening the co-operation.

"The host cities together with the Polish Sports Minister and PL.2012 signed an agreement for tightening the co-operation. The organisation of the tournament in Poland is financed by taxpayers and we want to optimize the costs. The agreement's purpose is to intensify the preparation process and was an independent decision taken by the presidents of the cities. We agreed that the details relating to each city will be agreed upon together during one meeting with UEFA instead of during four different meetings", Herra stated.
" I explained the purpose of the agreement to Martin Kallen, UEFA's EURO 2012 Director. I said that we respect all previous contracts. UEFA is the tournament's owner but I stressed how important it is for the host cities to work together with a view to promoting Poland later on. We will take care to ensure that Poland benefits from the tournament not only in sport terms but also financially. It is a business approach to the project", the President of Pl.2012 added.
The G5 members do not include representatives of the Polish Football Association. Herra explained that the Association is a member of UEFA and is responsible for the completion of other tasks. Before the establishment of G5, PL.2012 made sure that the agreement complies with Polish and Swiss laws pursuant to which previous contracts had been signed. He stressed that the co-operation of the government with UEFA is still based on those agreements.
"Poland signed contracts with UEFA for the provision of stadiums for the time of the tournament but they are not built for the championship only. This is why we and UEFA are trying to determine such tournament requirements that are in compliance with the requirements of future operators of those facilities. We aim at developing synergy between measures taken by UEFA that is focused on promoting the championship and measures taken by the host cities interested in promoting Poland. Everyone knows their responsibilities and functions. Preparations in Poland have been going well and we are ready to speed up", Herra assured.
Martin Kallen met with Polish Sports Minister Mirosław Drzewiecki, the representatives of the host cities and PZPN.
"At the meeting with UEFA we discussed how to take advantage of 1,800 days that are left until the beginning of the event to succeed together. Discussions with the European headquarters have led to very specific issues: how to organize fan zones and secure the event, what the host cities should be decorated with, when to announce the tournament mascot, and so on", the President of PL.2012 explained.
Source: 2012.org.pl

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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 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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