To all (comrades etc.)
this recent bulletin contains - among others - an abstract from articles
which appeared in
the Polish press about the Polish post 1989 changes satisfaction rate. To
give you a close-up feeling of what goes on in this country, some other
news are included as well.
Kind regards
Arno Tausch
----------
> From: Polish News Bulletin <pnb@ikp.atm.com.pl>
> To: pnb@ikp.atm.com.pl
> Subject: PNB, 30 September 1997
> Date: Dienstag, 30. September 1997 16:07
>
> PBS Poll: Poles Happy with Post-1989 Changes
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> PBS Poll: Poles Happy with Post-1989 Changes
> ============================================================
> In a PBS poll taken on September 13 and 14 on a repre-
> sentative sample of 2,160 adult Poles, 37 percent of mentioned a
> free market and democracy as the most desirable and important
> changes which took place in Poland after 1989 and 24 percent
> mentioned the country's social and economic transformations in
> general, 20 percent mentioned privatisation and one in eight the
> freedom of expression, personal liberty was mentioned by 5
> percent, the possibility of going abroad, 4 percent and Poland's
> integration with NATO and the EU, 4 percent.
>
> Almost 64 percent of respondents expressed satisfaction
> with the post 1989 transformations, 24 percent were displeased
> with them and 11 percent did not know.
>
> The opinion that Solidarity contributed the most in bring-
> ing about the changes was expressed by 53 percent of pollees, 48
> percent mentioned Lech Walesa, 11 percent Tadeusz Mazow-
> iecki, 10 percent Leszek Balcerowicz, 6 percent the Freedom
> Union (UW), John Paul II, Jacek Kuron, the Democratic Left
> Alliance, Aleksander Kwasniewski were each mentioned by 4
> percent, the Church and Wojciech Jaruzelski were mentioned by 2
> percent each and 8 percent did not know.
>
> (Based on 30 September 1997 issue of Rzeczpospolita No. 228, p.
> 2).
>
> ##############################
> News - Economy and Business
> ##############################
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> AWS, UW Press for More Ambitious Economic Targets
> ============================================================
> As they prepare to take charge of the economy, experts
> from Solidarity Election Action (AWS) and the Freedom Union
> (UW) predict that next year's budget will be restrictive and
> modest. Moreover, it will have to be amended in the middle of the
> year, along with a number of other laws determining government
> spending and revenue, including tax regulations, pension reform,
> health system reform and education reforms.
>
> Implementation of the 1998 budget may be difficult
> because reliable information is still unavailable on the damage
> done by the flooding, the UW's Tadeusz Syryjczyk told
> Dziennik Prawa i Gospodarki. He added, "We must frankly tell
> people that economic growth in 1998 will have to be consumed for
> the reconstruction of flood-affected areas, which means that
> higher wages and consumption are out of the question."
>
> Instead of 5.5-percent GDP growth in 1998, the govern-
> ment should actually be shooting for more than 7 percent, Syryjc-
> zyk said, and the outgoing government's plan to reduce inflation
> to 9.5 percent is also unambitious, "The government should shoot
> for 8 percent," he added.
>
> Similarly, the AWS's Jerzy Buzek suggested that the gov-
> ernment's goal should be to reduce inflation to 4-6 percent annu-
> ally "in the coming years."
>
> (Based on the 30 September 1997 issue of Dziennik Prawa i
> Gospodarki, No. 147, p. 5).
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> PAIZ Surveys Investors
> ============================================================
> Poland's positive image abroad and its dynamic economic
> growth were most highly appraised by foreign investors surveyed
> in mid-September by the Polish Foreign Investment Agency
> (PAIZ). Positive ratings were also given to the qualifications and
> motivation of Polish managers and the cooperation of local au-
> thorities with foreign investors.
>
> The level of inflation, unemployment and political stability
> and the telecommunications and banking infrastructure were
> judged to be average.
>
> As many as 49 percent of investors mentioned the size of
> the corporate income tax as the first thing which should be
> changed, 42 percent mentioned the high insurance contributions
> paid by employers, 20 percent customs clearance conditions, 15
> percent technical infrastructure, 7 percent VAT, 4 percent the
> conditions of acquiring real estate and 4 percent the functioning
> of banks.
>
> (Based on 30 September 1997 issue of Rzeczpospolita No. 228, p.
> 9).
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> Food Prices Up
> ============================================================
> Between September 11-20 food prices were 0.1 percent
> higher than in the first ten days of September and 1.1 percent
> higher than between August 11-20, the Central Statistical Office
> reported.
>
> Between September 11-20 only the price of potatoes,
> vegetables and fruit went down, by 1.4 percent, while the price of
> remaining food articles went up in comparison to August 11-20
> but by not more than 1 percent.
>
> On a monthly scale (August 11-20 to September 11-20)
> the price of eggs rose 3.9 percent, tea 2.5 percent, meat and cold
> cuts 2.1 percent and of fish, edible fats, coffee and non-alcoholic
> beverages by over 1 percent.
>
> (Based on 30 September 1997 issue of Rzeczpospolita No. 228, p.
> 10).
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> Poland Opposes German Labour Restrictions
> ============================================================
> The Polish government objects to the plans announced by
> the German authorities to reduce by half the quota for the em-
> ployment of Polish construction workers in Germany. Early in
> September, Economics Minister Wieslaw Kaczmarek disclosed
> that Poland had been given an ultimatum. If Poland wanted the
> bilateral agreement to be extended, it had to agree to cuts in the
> employment quota (currently around 20,000 workers per year on
> the average). The agreement referred to was signed in 1990 and
> enabled Polish firms, mainly construction companies, to operate in
> Germany.
>
> Yesterday (September 29), Minister Kaczmarek delivered
> to Germany's ambassador to Poland his reply addressed to the
> German ministers of labour and economics in which Poland disa-
> grees with the reduction. The allocation procedure for the 1998
> employment quota has already been started. Kaczmarek hopes
> that the conflict will be reconciled during the Polish-German talks
> to be resumed next week. "I hope that we will find a solution,"
> Kaczmarek told the press, although he did not rule out the possi-
> bility that the agreement could be temporarily dissolved.
>
> According to the VdPD organisation from Cologne which
> represents the interest of Polish companies in Germany, the
> reduction of the employment quota would practically make it
> impossible for Polish firms to conclude new contracts because a
> smaller quota would only be sufficient to continue the projects
> which are already underway.
>
> (Based on 30 September 1997 issues of Gazeta Wyborcza No. 228,
> p. 25; Rzeczpospolita No. 228, p. 10 and Dziennik Prawa i
> Gospodarki No. 147, p. 3).
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> KERM Approves 2 Technoparks
> ============================================================
> The Government Economic Committee (KERM) yester-
> day approved the establishment of another two enterprise zones.
> The zones would be created in Cracow and Modlin, near Warsaw,
> adding to the already-existing 15 zones set up over the past two
> years.
>
> The zones would be operate in the form of technoparks
> with preference for investors with advanced manufacturing tech-
> nologies.
>
> The Cracow Technological Park would be established for
> 12 years to serve companies introducing state-of-the-art technolo-
> gies in electronics, biotechnology and materials engineering. The
> zone would be scattered in three locations in Cracow, based on 60
> hectares of land contributed by Huta Sendzimira steel mill,
> Cracow University of Technology and Jagiellonian University.
>
> Technopark Modlin would occupy about 1,000 hectares,
> including nearly 700 contributed by the Modlin airport and 300 ha
> vacated by a former state farm. The zone would invite modern
> technologies in farm produce and food processing.
>
> Investors in enterprise zones creating a specific number of
> jobs are eligible for complete exemptions from income tax for 10
> years and a 50% reduction over the following 10 years, in addition
> to other privileges.
>
> The KERM recommended the two new zones to the
> government, but the final decision on the matter will be made by
> the new Cabinet.
>
> (Based on the 30 September 1997 issues of Rzeczpospolita, No.
> 228, p. 10 and Gazeta Wyborcza, No. 228, p. 24).
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> Salomon Brothers: Rigorous Policies Needed
> ============================================================
> Poland's new government, most probably formed by Soli-
> darity Election Action (AWS) and the Freedom Union (UW), will
> have to follow rigorous tax and budgetary policies and work
> toward a further reduction in the budget deficit, according to the
> London office of the U.S. investment bank Salomon Brothers.
>
> In the short term, the new government should focus on
> reducing the current accounts deficit, the experts said. To improve
> foreign trade figures, it should restrain the rapidly rising domestic
> demand and reduce the rate at which imports are growing.
>
> In the medium term, the main job for the new government
> is to privatise and restructure whatever enterprises still remain in
> state hands and reduce red tape to increase economic efficiency
> and develop the economy's capacity for long-term growth, Salo-
> mon Brothers said.
>
> (Based on the 30 September 1997 issue of Gazeta Wyborc-
> za, No. 147, p. 3).
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> Ford Has Own Bank
> ============================================================
> Ford dealers in Poland began offering credits for the
> purchase of cars and vans from Ford Bank Polska yesterday,
> September 29. Ford thus became the first big car maker to engage
> in credit activities in Poland, although General Motors is likely to
> follow suit shortly, as it took control of an ailing Polish bank,
> called Polbank, and is to change its name to Opel Bank next week.
>
> In exchange for the licence to set up its own bank in
> Poland, Ford agreed to deposit 10 million zloty at 1 percent
> annual interest for several years with the Poznan-based WBK
> bank, which needed the money to salvage the nearly bankrupt
> Bydgoski Bank Budownictwa.
>
> Ford Bank Polska is not a regular bank in the sense that it
> does not accept deposits and its operations will be limited to
> providing credit to car buyers, both buyers of new Ford cars and of
> second-hand cars of any make, e.g., trade-ins accepted by Ford
> dealers. The credit equal up to 80 percent of the price. Annual
> interest currently ranges from 24.5 percent in the case of 12-
> month loans to 27.5 percent for the maximum 60-month credit for
> new cars, with slightly higher rates for pre-owned vehicles.
>
> (Based on 30 September 1997 issue of Gazeta Wyborcza No. 228,
> p. 26).
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> GSM Telephone Network Growing Fast
> ============================================================
> Within a year from the autumn launch dates of Poland's
> two GSM cellular telephone operators, Era GSM and GSM Plus,
> the number of telephones connected by each of the two compa-
> nies has surpassed that of the telephones connected by Centertel
> (around 210,000), the operator of the NMT cellular telephone
> system.
>
> Plus is about to publish its annual report, while Era's
> report will not be released until late November. Nevertheless, it is
> already certain that several years will be required before the two
> companies break even given the high level of initial investment.
>
> In the meantime, Era is in the process of issuing bonds on
> the U.S. market, and it is negotiating a long term loan worth $400
> million to be granted by a syndicate organised by Citibank. Plus
> has already been granted a loan by a syndicate established by Bank
> Handlowy.
>
> Both GSM operators are planning to develop their net-
> works much faster than Centertel. On the other hand, the latter
> company will try to consolidate its financial position by establish-
> ing the DCS 1800 cellular telephone network in Poland's largest
> cities. The first DCS phones are to be connected in the end of the
> year.
>
> (Based on 29 September 1997 issue of Dziennik Prawa i
> Gospodarki No. 146, p. 5).
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> New Tariff Planned on Imported Sugar
> ============================================================
> An additional duty is to be imposed by the Ministry of
> Economics on sugar imported from the member countries of the
> Central European Free Trade Association. The tariff is to amount
> to 0.17 ECU per kilogramme, and it is to be announced before the
> end of October.
>
> The sugar industry has been pressing for the introduction
> of the additional duty wishing to sell the remaining 200,000 tons of
> sugar produced last season, and claiming that the price of sugar on
> the Polish market has been too low.
>
> (Based on 27-28 September 1997 issue of Gazeta Wyborcza No.
> 226, p. 21).