Polish Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Economy, Waldemar Pawlak, has announced the Ministry’s view on Poland’s future energy security. Poland’s energy policy plan till 2030 discussed by Waldemar Pawlak at a conference yesterday includes cooperation with Ukraine on nuclear energy, the construction of power plants, supervision over pipeline operators and facilitations in oil storage systems. >>

“The influence of CO2 limits on economic growth” was the topic of a debate hosted by the Business Centre Club’s Katowice branch on August 22. Gathered in a picturesque hunting lodge in Promnice were managers of leading Silesian firms, government officials, experts and MPs concerned about the negative impact of EU legislation on the Polish economy. In particular they focused on the fact that – unlike other EU member states – Poland relies on coal for its energy needs. But according to analysts EU legislation puts the stress on penalizing CO2 emissions rather than on encouraging modernization. Below are fragments of the discussion.  >>

If you are back from your summer vacation and you feel you missed out on certain facts in Polish economy here are some opinions and forecasts to get you back to date.  >>

Lars Bosse, Director General of the Polish-German- Polish Chamber of Industry and Trade Commerce talks to Sandra Jacobson. >>

Cracow applies for EU funds to help in the construction of a modern Congress Centre. Recently two investment projects from Cracow entered the list of investments of key significance for Poland published by the Ministry of Regional Development. The projects concerned the development of the underground area of the Main Market Square and the construction of a tram connection to the Jagiellonian University Campus on the outskirts of the city.  >>

King Roger (Król Roger), a little known work by Polish composer Karol Szymanowski headlines the Edinburgh International Festival's Opera programme this summer. The opera directed by Mariusz Treliński, originally staged by Opera Wrocławska will be performed this coming Monday (August 25) and Wednesday (August 27) by the Mariinsky Opera Company, with Valery Gergiev as conductor. >>

Krystyna Woźniak-Trzosek, President and Editor-in Chief of POLISH MARKET monthly, noted that it is the second time that she became chair of the Festival jury. She continues to admire the work of the Pro Omnibus Foundation and the main heroes of the event, the young and talented artists.  >>

In August, the Federation of European Securities Exchanges (FESE) published recent statistics of European exchanges where the WSE is ahead of the Wiener Boerse in terms of capitalisation and has become the largest exchange in Central and Eastern Europe. In August, the WSE published results of a recent survey of investors structure in exchange trading, showing the highest share of domestic institutional investors in equity trading in the history of research (41 percent).  >>

The Ministry of the Treasury would like to inform that the privatisation process of the companies ENEA S.A. and PGE Polska Grupa Energetyczna S.A. is being conducted in accordance with the “Privatisation Plan for the years 2008 – 2011”, adopted by the Council of Ministers on April 22, 2008. >>

To what extent is the fear of a global economic downturn likely to affect Poland’s economic growth? How do foreign investors perceive Polish investment opportunities today, in light of the global economic situation, the strong zloty and soaring labour costs in Poland? >>

Polish Minister of Sport Mirosław Drzewiecki has said upon returning from the Olympic Games held in Beijing that Chinese companies are keen on investing in Poland in the infrastructure it needs for Euro 2012 football championship to be co-hosted with Ukraine. The planned investment projects include sports stadiums, motorways, hotels, airport facilities and train networks, as well as other large-scale infrastructure needed for the event. He added Chinese firms offer prices up to 50% lower than the existing bidders.  >>

The Euro-2012 football championships to be co-hosted by Poland and Ukraine are surely the best examples of the benefits which can be brought by Central and East European countries pooling resources for a common objective. The following remarks were written for POLISH MARKET by Professor Witold Orłowski, Chief Economist of Price Waterhouse Coopers. >>

So they finally did it. They broke a campaign promise to drive even me over the edge. Not an easy task. I, thanks to hard-learned intense cynicism towards politicians, am the last person to hold politicians to their campaign promises. But even this government, comparably devoted to not offending anyone even at the cost of inaction, finally managed to do it. Not surprisingly, on an issue that could affect me.  >>