Gdansk avoids recession

Poland will probably be the only one among the central and eastern European economies to avoid a recession this year, Morgan Stanley reported, citing the improvement in the nation's industrial production (www.bloomberg.com). Gdansk, since quite a long time is the most safe place to invest in Poland.

The biggest Public - Private Partnership Agreement between the city and the BPTO for the development of the New Walowa St. was signed when the biggest American banks went bankrupt.

In Gdansk, the recession is felt mostly in decreased costs of running a business. Additionally, the road infrastructure investments, which are now developed at 30-50% lower costs, allow for the fast development of logistics and industry in the region. Gdansk is perceived as a city of good business prognosis with a stable social - economic environment. Gdansk in 2009 is a developing yet cautious city. With some of the biggest investment planned for EURO 2012 and the application for the European Capital of Culture 2016, the city budget is being restructured. Starting in February 2009 the estimated savings were planned to reach PLN 50 mln, yet in August 2009 they already amounted to PLN 58,6 mln. This came as a balance to the decreased income of PLN 69,1 mln. Asa result of the proper financial policies and the general situation in the city in the comparison to the other cities in Poland, the latest ranking of the Polish Cities prepared by Rzeczpospolita (published on July 11,2009), placed Gdansk on 3^rd position, moving up from 8th last year. Investment related to EURO 2012 and European Capital of Culture are in progress and are realized under the first cost estimation. Gdansk investment - Baltic Arena is one of biggest communal investments in 2009 in Poland.The value of the project is PLN 279,7 mln.

The new modernized road infrastructure helps develop other strategic investment sites like Industry and Technology Park "Maszynowa" and Pomeranian Logistic Center located in the Port of Gdansk. Many high-advance technology production companies are interested in investing. The possible value of the investments would position them as the biggest direct foreign investment in 2009 in Poland and the biggest in the after Second World War in Gdansk. Another one of the most spectacular projects is the Modernization Program 10+, started by the LOTOS Group in 2008.The inner return ratio for the whole projects is 11,5%.The program budget is 5,6 bln PLN (1,4 bln EURO), 30% of the sum are LOTOS own resources and 70% are bank loans. By developing the Modernization Program 10+, the consolidated income for LOTOS can grow up to 20 bln PLN per year.

Gdansk is also perceived as an attractive location for BPO centers, the only city in Poland mentioned in the KPMG report "Exploring Global Frontiers -The New Emerging Destinations". As a result, their global financial and IT shared service centers have opened Arla Foods, Geoban (Santander Group), Acxiom, ZensarTechnologies and First Data.