Barbara Bartkowiak, President of the Polish Entrepreneurs’ Foundation:

From the perspective of the Polish Entrepreneurs’ Foundation, 2012 was an excellent year in terms of entrepreneurship, ingenuity and appetite for investment among SMEs. They continue to use and enjoy all available forms of support: they obtain subsidies, raise loans, invest and develop paying no attention to the economic crisis that everyone talks about – if this is how SMEs proceed, so do we. Last year we provided various forms of support to over one thousand entrepreneurs – the number is twice as high as in the year before last. The effective power of their ventures is also very strong. We have received several hundred applications for support to projects linked with innovative products and technologies. I want to stress that EU funds are still accessible, for instance in the form of loans, guarantees, or capital entries. The willingness to invest is what counts. If this year’s trend prevails, the coming year will be equally dynamic and successful, which I am hoping for.

Piotr Chajderowski, President of  OT Logistics S.A.:

For OT Logistics and its Capital Group 2012 was yet another year of dynamic growth and many events that have strengthened our standing in the difficult market of today. Carrying out a bond issue program which generated funds assigned for optimisation of the financing structure and logistic & port-related investments is counted among the most important of those events. The buyback of shares in Port Handlowy Świnoujście SA was our undisputable success, as we are now its majority shareholder. Thanks to our continuous growth and consistent purchase policy today we can boast of being a significant player in the market for transportation, logistics and forwarding which consists, inter alia, of ports and reloading terminals at the eastern EU border.  Our mind is set on entering the Warsaw Stock Exchange – we plan our IPO for the first quarter of 2013. We intend to use the funds obtained though the stock exchange and the multimillion profit of 2012 for further acquisitions. Competition from large foreign companies which we are sure to be up against in 2013 has forced us to search for new fields of activity and to offer top-quality services. I believe that 2013 will be even better than 2012.

Sylwia Gadomska, Director of Novotel hotel, Szczecin Centrum:

As far as the hotel industry is concerned, I must say that the previous year was not bad. The fact that in mid-2012 hotel Neptun was closed down and no new hotels were opened certainly contributed to the situation, because naturally, its guests had to find places in other hotels. Hence, the number of rooms available in Szczecin decreased whereas the number of guest went up. The majority of hotel dwellers are here on business, but there also are some tourists, coming to Szczecin individually and in organized groups. What is interesting, there are fewer visitors from Germany. They have been replaced by Scandinavians, although we do not have as many guests from that region as we would like.
Many new investments have been completed in Szczecin recently, in particular many office buildings have been erected. Now we are waiting for them to be teeming with people, preferably those who reside in other cities or abroad and who will want to use our services. Regarding the year 2013, no large congresses or other events that could attract many visitors from out of town are scheduled, the exception being Tall Ship Races. Nonetheless, the finals will last only a few days and we need to ensure bookings all year round. It is a fact that Szczecin needs a new idea, something that will attract visitors, such as for instance a new concert hall or a sports hall, but such events must be planned well in advance.

Dariusz Kunikowski, the owner of Zamkowa restaurant:

In general, based on my observations of the situation in Szczecin and the talks with my fellow restaurant owners, the majority of restaurants are forced to scrimp and save. In fact, the only restaurateurs that cope with the situation are those who adapt and are flexible. Unfortunately, the companies that used to need catering services and organize business events in restaurants do it much less frequently nowadays because of cost cutting. Catering services for the needs of various projects, training courses or events financed from EU funds constitute a ray of hope. However, this is only a way to keep one’s head above the water rather than a method of making profits.
The forecasts for the next year are even worse. The social and cultural life pursued by Szczecin inhabitants seems to be limited to visiting shopping malls, so the restaurants located anywhere else will scrape by. Of course, there are some restaurants that are doing fairly well – those that are well-recognized, have a good location and a trendy or a unique atmosphere. New restaurants, clubs and cafes are being opened every day, but I am not sure whether their existence is well thought through from the business perspective. The problem is that there are too few large production companies in Szczecin whose employees could visit restaurants, even only from time to time. For that reason we still have several difficult years ahead of us which need to be waited out.

Grażyna Litwiniuk, co-owner of Litwiniuk Property:

The year 2012 was very satisfactory for our Company. Through execution of projects, contracts of lease and sale within the Polish commercial market we have earned recognition among investors. Tens of millions of Euro have recently been invested in modern office buildings erected in Szczecin. Four new office buildings are currently being constructed: Lastadia Office, Brama Portowa I,II, Baltic Business Park, and Hanza Tower. In addition, our company has exclusive right to commercialize Piastów Office Center  - an A+ standard investment (BREEAM certificate) undertaken in Szczecin. The city will gain over 100 thousand square meters of high-class office space. These investments attract companies representing the sectors of BPO/SSC, IT, financial institutions, consulting, advisory legal and telecommunication firms.
The growth of the warehouse space sector also accelerated in 2012. Investment realization and the absorptive power of the market for modern warehouse space exceeded the supply in our city. As a rule, the portfolios of property companies include undeveloped land that meets all formal conditions so that the construction of a warehouse/ industrial facility can begin immediately after signing the lease contract. In 2013 the property companies from Szczecin will need to be more active within the warehouse segment than the year before. In response to the challenge posed by investors a new investment has been launched in Szczecin - North West Logistic Park. We also have exclusive rights to commercialize it.
The forecasts for development of commercial real property in 2013 are auspicious.

Monika Pyszkowska, Director of Kaskada Shopping Centre:

It is difficult to sum up the previous year for us, because we cannot compare our current standing with any earlier experiences. Kaskada Shopping Centre was opened in late September last year, so the results from November and December, which were characterised by our growing popularity,   can only be examined. As far as the general tendencies go, one cannot see the signs of the notorious economic downturn in our shops, especially now in December.   Obviously, certain stores fare badly, but it should rather be attributed to the factors unrelated to the situation in the market. Well-recognised shopping centres seem to be doing well. In summary, the situation in the market of shopping centres is fairly stable and even a slight upward trend can be observed.
According to specialist forecasts the next year will be more difficult. Nonetheless, I know from experience that such tendencies are slow to manifest themselves in consumption. Admittedly, the average pay went down and the unemployment rose in the last few months, it does not seem to discourage people from shopping. Hence, even if the next year will be a bit harder, I do not expect severe recession or slump in trading.

ŁP