Friday, June 26, 2015, no. 122/2015 TOP STORY POLITICS GENERAL Poland will have to reckon with Ukrainian migrants foreign minister INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS UPCOMING EVENTS If fighting in eastern Ukraine resumes, Poland will have to take into account that more migrants from Ukraine will enter the country, Foreign Minister Grzegorz Schetyna MUSIC & ARTS GUIDE BUSINESS said on Thursday. WEATHER FORECAST June 26, 2015 Gdańsk 22°C 20°C 1011 hPa Kraków 23°C 20°C 987 hPa Poznań 22°C 20°C 1006 hPa Warszawa 22°C 19°C 1005 hPa Wrocław 25°C 24°C 1002 hPa "We are speaking about voluntary intake ... I am confident that quotas will not be imposed", Schetyna told reporters with reference to the European Union summit starting in Brussels on Thursday with immigration as one of the items on the agenda. "The situation is serious. Europe has to deal with illegal migration, not only the people who are already in the EU as immigrants but also those who are preparing for migration", he added. Schetyna pointed out that Poland was raising the issue of "a threat of illegal migration from the east", namely Ukraine. "If fighting resumes in eastern Ukraine, we have to be prepared that there will be more immigrants from Ukraine, and we will have to deal with that as well", Poland's foreign minister continued. "There are some 1 million people in domestic migration, meaning migrants who have left the Donbas region ... and want to leave Ukraine. There are many challenges for us in the east. We have strong arguments here for the Brussels debate", Schetyna also said. (PAP) dj/ POLITICS 25-06-2015 KIDAWA-BLONSKA ELECTED POLAND'S LOWER HOUSE SPEAKER Malgorzata Kidawa-Blonska on Thursday was elected the new speaker of the Sejm (lower house). Kidawa-Blonska, backed by the ruling coalition of the Civic Platform (PO) and the Polish People's Party (PSL), replaces Radoslaw Sikorski who resigned from the post in face of an ongoing wire-tapping scandal. Kidawa-Blonska, up to now spokesperson for the Ewa Kopacz government and long-time MP, was backed by 244 MPs in the 460-seat chamber (441 MPs were present during the vote). Her rival candidate, 1 / 17 Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) MP Jerzy Wenderlich was backed by 43 deputies. (PAP) aa/ 25-06-2015 POLAND HAS STRONG ALLY IN UNITED STATES PM "We have a strong ally that is concerned about the peace and security of countries like Poland", PM Ewa Kopacz said on Polish Radio One, the Government Information Centre (CIR) reported in a Thursday press release. Commenting on the decision to deploy U.S. military hardware in Poland, PM Kopacz added that she was very pleased that such a decision had been reached. "It means strengthening NATO's flank and is the effect of our good relations with the United States. It is also a good response to what is happening in Ukraine", the Polish prime minister was quoted as saying. Asked about Russia's recent response to a U.S. presence in this part of Europe, including to setting up an anti-missile shield, Kopacz said that talks on the shield "were in progress much earlier than in the last few months and already then caused similar reactions from Russia". "Russia does not understand one thing. Today Ukraine is our neighbour and is entitled to have European aspirations and also has a right to integrity and sovereignty", the PM was also quoted as saying. Kopacz underlined that unless Russia met the obligations stemming from the Minsk accords, the European Union would "have to impose more sanctions (on Russia), and certainly to continue the ones already in place". (PAP) dj/ 25-06-2015 OPPOSITION'S CANDIDATE FOR PM FOR LIQUIDATION OF TREASURY MINISTRY Opposition-backed candidate for the next PM Beata Szydlo has announced plans to form two new ministries - of development and energy, and at the same time to liquidate the existing Ministry of the Treasury. Szydlo, who organised Andrzej Duda's recent successful presidential election campaign, has been put forward by the right-wing Law and Justice (PiS) as the party's candidate to lead the Polish government after a possible victory in the autumn general elections. Beata Szydlo in an extensive interview carried by the Thursday edition of the Rzeczpospolita daily stressed she would want to increase the role of the Ministry of Economy and move away from the habit that the government's economic policy is dictated by the finance minister. "This is a departure from the present model in which the finance minister dictates the government's economic policy. A finance minister must be a guardian of the budget and look after the proper functioning of the tax system and this does not always go along with a broad look on development," commented Szydlo. She added that her party wants to increase the role of a minister who 2 / 17 would outline long-term development targets and be able to look ahead further than one budget year. Beata Szydlo said PiS proposes the setting up of a ministry of energy and the liquidation of the Ministry of the Treasury. Its duties would be taken over by the Economy Ministry. Asked what would be the driving force of economic growth if PiS stands at the helm of the government, Szydlo replied: "We must raise consumption." "In order to achieve this we need new jobs and wages sufficient for people not only to meet day-to-day existence demands but also allowing them to invest, to buy new flats and be at ease that mortgages do not become too big a burden." "Building the Polish economy has to begin with extending support for our entrepreneurs. If they start to form new jobs and raise production, then the state budget will benefit as well," said Szydlo adding that this requires changes in the tax system which would promote investment. (PAP) aa/ 25-06-2015 FOREIGN MINISTER ON DIASPORA POLICY Polish diasporas worldwide comprise around 20 million people, for whose support the Polish government designates PLN 163 million annually, Foreign Minister Grzegorz Schetyna Thursday told the Senate (upper house). Schetyna, who presented the house with an annual report on the government's diaspora policy, said Polish communities abroad represented a vast potential and were the object of the government's responsibility and concern. In this context he suggested cooperation in diaspora policy between the ministry and the Senate, and declared the will to appoint a mixed task team to work on a law regulating diaspora aid. Reminding that his ministry has been in charge of the government's diaspora support budget for almost four years, Schetyna said that there were complaints about the financing, many of which related to discrepancies between Polish financial regulations and diaspora needs. Improving the situation, Schetyna said, could be a task for the mixed ministry-Senate commission. Schetyna stressed that the Ukrainian-Russian conflict was very harshly felt by Polish communities in Ukraine and informed that most families evacuated to Poland from east Ukraine's conflict-ridden Donbas region will be moved to permanent locations after the end of the current school year. Schetyna noted that cooperation in diaspora policy with local authorities was insufficient and announced a conference on the matter still this year, probably in September. In the context of minority rights, Schetyna noted a worsening in this respect in Lithuania, especially with regard to Polish schooling and bilingual public information. He also mentioned problems suffered by the Polish diaspora in Belarus, which refused to recognise the legally-elected authorities of the country's Union of Poles in Belarus. 3 / 17 "It is time for these countries to see that their Polish minorities (...) constitute a huge potential and a bridge in our neighbourly cooperation, and not a threat", the minister remarked. Schetyna also voiced concern over the situation of Polish schools in Britain after announcement about the discontinuation of GCE-level Polish language examinations. In this context he said steps in the matter were being undertaken by his ministry, the Education Ministry, the Britishbased Polish Educational Society and the Polish Embassy in London. He added that earlier this week British Minister of State for Schools Nicolas Gibb assured Polish Education Minister Joanna KluzikRostkowska that the Polish language exams will be continued as to date. The Senators also asked about further aid for Poles in Ukraine's conflict areas, Polish-German round table talks, the Polish Charter, problems with parental rights in Norway and Germany, and plans to close down Polish diplomatic missions. (PAP) mb/ 25-06-2015 NEW FORMAT OF TALKS WITH RUSSIA NEEDED UKRAINE'S AMBASSADOR The Minsk agreement negotiated in the Normandy-format talks has fallen short of expectations pinned on it and if it fails a different format of talks with Russia is needed, says Andriy Deshchytsia, the Ukrainian ambassador to Poland. In order to stop Russia from violating international law and the existing international order in Europe the West needs a better format of talks with Russia and a coalition with a strong role of the United States and the remaining G7 states, the ambassador argued at "New Cold War in Europe?" conference in Warsaw Thursday. "Ukraine has tried to stop Russia, to force the implementation of the Minsk agreements and to restore control over state borders, not forgetting about the Crimea," Deshchytsia went on. Russia, in turn, has attempted "to tire the world with the Crimea and Donbas" so that the world accepts Russian conditions. Russia wants to control Ukraine and make it fully dependent on the Kremlin, he claimed. Western sanctions against Russia must be made more effective, the ambassador also said. (PAP) jh/ 25-06-2015 STANISLAW WZIATEK NAMED SPECIAL SERVICES COMMITTEE HEAD Stanislaw Wziatek from the Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) will be the new head of the lower house special services committee in place of Marek Biernacki, who has been appointed secretary of state in the prime minister's chancellery. Wziatek's deputies on the committee will be Zbigniew Sosnowski (Polish People's Party) and Krzysztof Brejza (Civic Platform). Besides electing Wziatek to its new chairman, the committee heard progress reports on the military intelligence and counterintelligence budgets. (PAP) mb/ 4 / 17 25-06-2015 KUKIZ TO MEET SUPPORTERS OVER REFERENDUM Anti-establishment campaigner Pawel Kukiz, who came third in the first round of the recent presidential election with support at over 20 percent, will meet his supporters on Saturday to discuss the September referendum on single-seat constituencies. Introduction of the first-past-the-post voting system, or single-seat constituencies, was Pawel Kukiz's main postulate in the presidential ballot. His surprisingly high support spurred President Bronislaw Komorowski to call a referendum on the matter. Kukiz has invited journalists and the single-mandate system supporters for the Saturday debate to Lubin, south-west Poland. "It is not a founding convention of a movement or a policy discussion. In Lubin on Saturday we will hold a meeting of single-seat constituency supporters. This referendum is now the most important (...), that's why we want to ensure attendance at a level that will make it valid," Pawel Kukiz told PAP. In Poland, referenda results are binding if at least 50 percent of eligible voters go to the polls. Kukiz added that in July he would tour the country to meet local inhabitants and campaign for the single-mandate idea and encourage voters to take part in the referendum. He added that he had decided to shelve the parliamentary campaign for a later date and focus on the referendum first. In the September 6 referendum, Poles will be asked three questions: if they are in favour of single-seat constituencies, if they favour the existing system of financing political parties from the state budget, and if they support a general principle that tax law doubts should be resolved in taxpayers' favour. (PAP) jd/ 25-06-2015 MOST POLES UNAWARE OF REFERENDUM QUESTIONS SURVEY Fifty-eight percent of Poles do not know what the September 6 national referendum called by President Bronislaw Komorowski will be about, a CBOS poll shows. Thirty-nine percent of those polled said that they had knowledge on what the referendum would be about specifically, though only 17 percent were sure of what they knew. Forty-one percent of respondents said that they would definitely take part in the referendum while 19 percent said it was likely. Twenty-five percent were undecided. Six percent said they were thinking of not going and 9 percent were sure they would not go. In the referendum Poles will be asked three questions: if they are in favour of single-seat constituencies, if they favour the existing system of financing political parties from the state budget, and if they support a general principle that tax law doubts should be resolved in taxpayers' favour. 5 / 17 The poll shows that 54 percent of respondents support single-seat constituencies and 18 percent are against them. Seventy-five percent are in favour of changing the system for financing political parties while 15 percent want things to stay as they are. Asked about the third issue, 82 percent of those polled want to see tax law doubts resolved in taxpayers' favour while 5 percent are against such a general principle. For the referendum to be binding, more than half of eligible voters have to take part. CBOS conducted the survey on a nationwide representative group on June 11-17, just before the referendum campaign launched on June 19. (PAP) dj/ 25-06-2015 YES TO SOLIDARITY, NO TO QUOTAS ON IMMIGRANTS KOPACZ Poland is ready to exercise solidarity on the issue of illegal immigrants to the EU but insists on voluntary decisions by each nation instead of mandatory quotas proposed by the EC, said PM Ewa Kopacz before going to the EU summit on Thursday. Voluntary admissions were the key word in the European Council decision made at its previous meeting, Kopacz pointed out. Unfortunately, the EC all of a sudden put forward the quota proposal, the PM said. Under the algorithm proposed by the EC Poland would have to admit 2,659 migrants from Syria and Eritrea who fled to Italy and Greece. "To me solidarity implies responsibility," Kopacz argued. "Poland has admitted Ukrainians (...), Chechens and declared it would admit 60 Syrian families because we know that our logistic and financial possibilities are sufficient to meet the expectations of those people. They will be treated right, will have a chance to learn the language and assimilate," she went on. "(...) we want to help but in a responsible way," she explained. (PAP) jh/ GENERAL 25-06-2015 POLISH LAWMAKERS PASS IVF LAW The Sejm (lower house) on Thursday passed a law on treating infertility, among other things regulating the use of in vitro fertilisation (IVF) procedures. The law was passed by a vote of 261 in favour, 176 against and six abstentions. Under the law, whose draft was drawn up by the Health Ministry, IVF will be available to married couples and couples in cohabitation (based on their declaration). IVF treatment will be possible once other methods of treating infertility are exhausted after being applied for at least 12 months. 6 / 17 The law allows for fertilisation of a maximum of six eggs. Embryos may be donated but may not be used for any other purpose than in vitro fertilisation. The law forbids pre-implantation genetic diagnostics aimed at choosing phenotypic characteristics such as gender. The law also forbids the destruction of embryos capable of development; the punishment envisaged for this is six months to five years in prison. (PAP) dj/ 25-06-2015 SEJM PASSES AGRICULTURAL SYSTEM ACT The Sejm (lower house) on Thursday passed an act regulating the agricultural system in Poland. The new regulations are to curb land buyouts by foreigners. Under the new laws land purchase will be open only to persons who intend to cultivate it and have been registered in the community in which it is located or a neighbouring community for 5 years. Other regulations impose supervision over the funds designated for the purchase and state requirements regarding the buyer's professional qualifications. The act also forbids land purchase by persons and companies possessing more than 300 hectares of land and introduces a 10-year ban on sales of land purchased from the state. Agriculture Minister Marek Sawicki said that the new laws were patterned on French solutions and in keeping with Polish, EU and constitutional law, and will not be questioned by the EC as in the case of a similar Hungarian act. EU laws forbid the discrimination by national laws of persons and firms from other EU countries. On these grounds the EC recently questioned land sale laws passed in Lithuania, Hungary, Bulgaria and Slovakia. The passage of the new legislations hangs together with the 2016 expiry of Poland's transition period on land sales. (PAP) mb/ 25-06-2015 CIVILIAN PLANES TO GAIN BROADER ACCESS TO MILITARY AIRFIELDS The Sejm (lower house) on Thursday passed a bill amending the Aviation Law to give civilian planes greater possibilities of using military airports in Poland. At present civilian planes may land at only a few military airports. Other NATO countries commonly use civilian planes for military transports and allow them to land at their military airports. The amendments open the possibility for the use of civilian transport planes for delivering supplies to Polish military contingents stationed abroad. 7 / 17 However, in tune with the amended law the use of a military airport by a civilian aircraft will require permission from the operational commander of the Polish Armed Forces. The Polish army has been using civilian transport, for example within the NATO Strategic Airlift Interim Solution. The procedure was applied, among others, during transports to Afghanistan conducted by planes chartered in Russia and Ukraine. The changes are to annually save some PLN 36-37 million in budget funds. The bill will now be sent to the Senate. (PAP) aa/ 25-06-2015 MPS FOR CHANGES IN LOCAL BORDER TRAFFIC WITH UKRAINE Poland's lower house authorised the president to ratify a protocol amending an agreement with Ukraine on local border traffic. The amendment, among other things, extends the time of stay in the border zone from 60 to 90 days. The amended agreement also eliminates consular fees for those applying for a second and successive local border traffic permit and lifts the obligation to possess health insurance while in the border zone. Any health care costs would be covered by visiting persons on their own. The amendment to the agreement on local border traffic between the two countries was signed by Polish and Ukrainian Presidents Bronislaw Komorowski and Petr Poroshenko in December 2014. Local border traffic with Ukraine has been in force since July 2009. (PAP) aa/ 25-06-2015 NEW CONSULAR BILL PASSED IN POLAND Proceedings before consuls, consular fees and rules for appointing consuls are among the matters regulated by a new bill passed by the Sejm (lower house) on Thursday. The legislation introduces the notion of consular assistance, defining it as assistance provided to Polish citizens in events such as serious accidents or illnesses, arrest, acts of violence or situations necessitating an emergency return to Poland when a person does not have sufficient funds. The bill also regulates the activity of honorary consuls and defines the tasks of consuls in case of events in their regions that endanger the health, life or safety of Polish citizens. Under the new law, Polish consuls will be obligated to provide consular assistance to citizens of other European Union member countries that do not have a diplomatic mission or consulate in the host country. (PAP) dj/ 8 / 17 25-06-2015 PRESIDENT KOMOROWSKI GRANTED LITHUANIAN HONORARY DOCTORATE President Bronislaw Komorowski has been granted an honorary doctorate by Vytautas Magnus University in Kaunas, Lithuanian media reported on Thursday. The honorary degree was awarded for "strengthening democracy, developing good relations between Poland and Lithuania and cultivating the values of national cultures". President Komorowski will be presented with the honorary doctorate on June 30 during his stay in Kaunas on the second day of a two-day trip to Latvia and Lithuania. The ceremony is to be attended by Lithuania's Prime Minister Algirdas Butkevicius and Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius, PAP has been informed by the university in Kaunas. (PAP) dj/ 25-06-2015 SEJM PASSES COST-FREE LEGAL AID BILL The Sejm on Thursday passed an act instituting cost-free legal aid for indigent, aged and young people. The new laws were announced by PM Ewa Kopacz in her policy speech. The act went through in a 427 to 1 vote with one abstention. Under the new laws indigent, elderly (over 65) and young people (up to 26) as well as veterans, Large Family Card holders and victims of natural disatsers will be eligible for cost-free legal aid. The house rejected amendments to the act filed by rightwing oppositionist Law and Justice (PiS), under which the new laws would also apply to persons whose family income does not exceed the minimum wage quota in the year in which they receive legal aid. Foreseen is the institution of more than fifteen hundred cost-free legal aid points countrywide, to start operation from January 1, 2016. County authorities will be able to cede the management of one half of the legal aid points on their territories to NGOs. Robert Maciaszek from ruling party Civic Platform (PO) said the new laws will embrace 22 million Poles. The introduction of the cost-free aid regulations were announced by PM Ewa Kopacz in her policy speech. (PAP) mb/ INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS 25-06-2015 INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS Beirut: Islamic State fighters have launched simultaneous attacks against Syrian government and Kurdish militia forces, moving back onto the offensive after losing ground in recent days to Kurdish-led forces near the capital of their "caliphate". 9 / 17 Islamic State sought to retake the initiative with incursions into the Kurdish-held town of Kobani at the Turkish border and government-held areas of Hasaka city in the northeast. In a separate offensive in the multi-sided Syrian civil war, an alliance of rebels in the south of the country also launched an attack with the aim of driving government forces from the city of Deraa. The attacks by Islamic State follow a rapid advance by Kurdish-led forces deep into the hardline group's territory, to within 50 km (30 miles) of its de facto capital Raqqa. The dual assaults on government forces in Hasaka and Deraa, both provincial capitals, are a test of Assad's resolve to hold out in remote outposts beyond the western part of the country that is seen as the top priority for his survival. Brussels: Russian President Vladimir Putin is not done in eastern Ukraine, NATO's top commander said on Thursday, cautioning that Russia has been building up supplies on its border with Ukraine and keeping its military options open. U.S. General Philip Breedlove, NATO's supreme allied commander, said the border between Ukraine and Russia was "wide open," allowing free movement of equipment and supplies. Force levels on Russia's side of the border had not changed much in recent months, Breedlove said, but U.S. military officials had observed in Russia a "stocking of important supplies, ammunition, etc, to levels that would support operations". Inside Ukraine, where pro-Russian separatists are battling Ukrainian forces, Breedlove said "we see a force that has been trained, that is led by Russian leadership, ... and is ready to do whatever mission is required of it in the Donbass (region)." "I don't think Mr. Putin is done in eastern Ukraine," Breedlove told reporters, and Kiev, despite Moscow's hopes, was still looking to the West for support. Washington: The United States' intelligence chief said on Thursday that China was the top suspect in a hack of a U.S. agency that compromised the personnel records of millions of Americans, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday. The comments from Director of National Intelligence James Clapper marked a departure of sorts for the Obama administration, which has avoided publicly pointing to Beijing, even as officials said privately China likely was behind the attack. "You have to kind of salute the Chinese for what they did," given the difficulty of the intrusion, the Journal quoted Clapper as saying at a Washington intelligence conference. The Office of Personnel Management said this month that personnel data on 4.2 million current and former federal employees had been compromised in the attack, although some media have reported that as 10 / 17 many as 18 million Americans could have been affected. The Hague: The Palestinian Authority made its first submission of evidence of alleged Israeli war crimes to the International Criminal Court on Thursday, trying to speed up an ICC inquiry into abuses committed during last year's Gaza conflict. The move may leave Israel in a quandary since it must decide whether to cooperate with the ICC investigation or find itself isolated as one of a very few countries that have declined to work with its prosecutors. Israel denies allegations of war crimes by its forces during the 2014 Gaza war and accuses Islamist militants who control the Gaza Strip of atrocities in firing thousands of rockets at Israeli population centres. Athens: Greek lawmakers passed a bitterly-contested law on citizenship for the children of migrants on Thursday, in a vote that split the ruling coalition but pointed towards possible alternative alliances for the ruling Syriza party. The measure, on a highly divisive issue, passed with 172 votes in the 300-seat parliament. All but one of the Independent Greeks, junior coalition partners in Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras' government, voted against the bill. The legislation grants citizenship to migrants' children who have been born and raised in Greece, a measure long opposed by conservative parties. UPCOMING EVENTS Friday, June 26: UPCOMING EVENTS - PM Ewa Kopacz attends EU summit (in Brussels) (PAP) MUSIC & ARTS GUIDE MUSIC AND ARTS GUIDE - Concert: The 25th Mozart Festival in Warsaw, a symphonic concert of - radi/O/pera - a concert of the Musicae Antiquae Collegium Varsoviense of the Warsaw Chamber Opera under Zbigniew Pilch. In the programme: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Symphony No. 31 in D major, K. 297/300a, better known as the Paris Symphony, Violin Concerto in G major K 216 and Haffner Serenade in D major KV 250 [248b]. The Witold Lutoslawski Concert Studio of the Polish Radio, 59 Modzelewskiego St., Fri., June 26, 7:00 p.m. - Opera: The 25th Mozart Festival in Warsaw. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's "Die Zauberfloete KV 620 (The Magic Flute), opera in two acts, in the original German. Libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder, staging and direction by Ryszard Peryt, music director - Ruben Silva, stage design Andrzej Sadowski. The Warsaw Chamber Opera Theatre, 76b Solidarnosci Ave., Sat. and Sun., June 27 and 28, 7:00 p.m. 11 / 17 - Concert: "Summer concerts at Grochowska", a concert of the Sinfonia Varsovia Academy students. In the programme: Sergei Prokofev, Benjamin Britten, Johann Sebastian Bach, Dmitri Shostakovich, Eugene Ysaye, Amilcare Ponchielli. The Sinfonia Varsovia Orchestra seat, 272 Grochowska St., Sat., June 27, 4:00 p.m., free admission. - Opera: "Guillaume Tell", opera in four acts by Gioacchino Rossini with libretto by Victor-Joseph Etienne de Jouy and Hippolyte-Louis-Florent Bis, co-oproduced by Welsh National Opera, Cardiff; Houston Grand Opera; Grand Theatre de Geneve In the original French with Polish surtitles. Guillaume Tell, a story about a Swiss national hero is unquestionably the composer's most perfect score to which he devoted almost six months. The Teatr Wielki - Polish National Opera, the Moniuszko Auditorium, Teatralny Sq., Sat., June 27, 7:00 p.m. - Concert: Open-air concert at the Chopin Monument in the Royal Lazienki Park. Warsaw's famous art deco memorial to Chopin was erected in 1926 and restored in 1958 after WW2. Summer concerts at the monument organized for over 55 years by the Chopin Society and the City of Warsaw take place every Sunday from mid-May until the end of September and are a great tourist attraction. Sun., June 28, 12:00 noon (Louis Alvanis, Great Britain) and 16:00 hrs (Neal Larrabee, USA), free admission. - Concert: "Summer concerts at Grochowska", a concert of the Integro ensemble (Agnieszka Guz - violin, Aleksnadra Demowska-Madejska viola and Ania Karpowicz - flute). In the programme: Max Reger, Gustav Holst, Ignacy Zalewski and Mikolaj Gorecki. The Sinfonia Varsovia Orchestra seat, 272 Grochowska St., Sun., June 28, 4:00 p.m., free admission. - Exhibition: "John Lurie, I am trying to think. Please be quiet", exhibition of works by John Lurie who this time returns to Warsaw as a painter. This charismatic artist is best known to the Polish public thanks to his music and film roles. In the 1990s, he twice appeared at the Sala Kongresowa concert hall, with John Lurie National Orchestra, and with his famous band, The Lounge Lizards. After his illness made him give up acting and making music he turned to painting. On show are John Lurie's paintings that earlier were shown in many esteemed galleries throughout the world, including the Contemporary Art Center in New York, Musee des BeauxArts de Montreal, the Musee d'Art Moderne Grand-Duc Jean in Luxembourg and the Watari Museum of Contemporary Art in Tokyo. The Zacheta National Gallery of Art, 3 Malachowskiego Sq., on view through Aug. 2. - Exhibition: "Masterpieces of Japanese Art in Polish Collections", exhibition of the most precious examples of Japanese painting, sculpture and handicraft from Polish public collections. The display, organised in cooperation with Manggha Museum in Krakow, is an attempt to recreate in Warsaw the exhibition that marked the 25th anniversary of the Museum in Krakow. On show are some 300 masterpieces of painting, graphic arts and handicraft whose richness and diversity of form and decoration techniques bring the audience closer to the extraordinary and brightly-coloured world of Japanese art, which has for years enjoyed much popularity in Poland. The National Museum in Warsaw, 3 Jerozolimskie Ave., on view through Aug. 9. 12 / 17 - Exhibition: "Endless-Noktasiz" exhibition co-organised by the Association of Women Artists of Ankara, the Embassy of the Turkish Republic in Warsaw and the Yunus Emre Turkish Cultural Centre in Warsaw to present works by the Association members which represent a new period of their artistic experience, maturity and their unique artistic manners. The exhibition has been named after the words of the wellknown Turkish poet Ozdemir Asaf, whose poetry has become an inspiration for it. The Saska Kepa Cultural Centre, 23 Brukselska St., on view through July 9.(PAP) BUSINESS 25-06-2015 SEJM RESTRICTS FIXED-TERM WORK CONTRACTS The Sejm (lower house) Thursday restricted the extension of fixed-term work contracts to 33 months. According to the labour minister the new regulations will give Poles better chances for fixed employment. The change went through in a 423 to 5 vote with four abstentions. Explaining the idea behind the new laws before the vote, Labour Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz said that they raised chances for stable employment and good pay. "This act strengthens the employee's position and enables the application of the labour code to employment contracts", KosiniakKamysz explained. According to the minister the new rules will "end the trash contract era in Poland". Under the new laws fixed-term employment will not be able to exceed 33 months and three contracts, the fourth work contract will have to be indefinite. According to the government the change will bring more stability to the labour market. The act, which will now be passed through the Senate (upper house), will come in force six months after publication. (PAP) mb/ 25-06-2015 SEJM OKAYS NEW SOCIAL DIALOGUE BODY Poland's Sejm (lower house) on Thursday voted for the establishment of the Social Dialogue Council, an advisory body whose members represent the government, employers and workers. The Council is to replace the failed Trilateral Commission. Four hundred and twenty-five MPs voted for the bill, three were against and one abstained. 13 / 17 The new body will have a chairman who will rotate between the three parties. The body will have new powers in adopting and reviewing legal acts and presenting reports to parliament. The Council can be assisted by representatives of the president and the heads of the central bank and the statistical office, as well as representatives of social and professional organisations that are not formal members of the Council. The Social Dialogue Council will also have its provincial branches. The employees and employers will issue opinions on legal acts proposed by the government within 30 days from the reception of a draft regulation. If the government chooses to ignore the opinion of its social dialogue partners, it will have to inform the Council and present a rationale for its position in the draft law filed with parliament, according to an earlier statement by the Government Information Centre (CIR). Employees and employers will have powers to put forward joint legislative projects. The new body is to replace the failed Trilateral Commission which practically dissolved in 2013 when trade unions, frustrated with ineffective cooperation with the government, suspended their participation. The law will now have to be approved by the Senate. (PAP) jd/ 25-06-2015 SEJM PASSES THIRD DEREGULATION TRANCHE The Polish Sejm (lower house) on Thursday passed the third deregulation tranche which reduces restrictions in access to even more professions. In all three tranches, Poland has deregulated 247 jobs. Seventy professions are no longer regulated and access to the remaining ones has been made easier. Two hundred and fifty-six MPs voted in favour of the deregulation, two were against and 176 abstained. The professions deregulated in the third tranche include fire fighting, geological and mining jobs, as well as sworn translators and stock brokers, among others. "The facilitation will consist in reducing professional internships, allowing for self-education, lowering maximum rates for professional exams, exemption from written exam in the case of professional experience, abolishing some bureaucratic requirements and introducing flexibility to employment conditions, said a rapporteur of the Sejm committee that had prepared the changes. The first deregulation tranche that covered 51 professions was passed in June 2013 and was followed by 96 more professions in the second deregulation move of May 2014. (PAP) jd/ 14 / 17 25-06-2015 POLAND'S AUTOMOTIVE EXPORTS ON THE RISE - REPORT The value the Polish automotive exports reached EUR 5.35 billion during the 1st quarter of this year with March recording a recordhigh level of PLN 1.97 billion, according to the industry monitoring firm AutomotiveSuppliers.pl. Traditionally Germany remained the top importer. In March alone 30.5 percent of Poland's automotive-related exports was directed to Germany. Next came Great Britain (10.37 pct), Italy (10.08 pct) and the Czech Republic (6.5 pct). The value of exported passenger cars and vans in the 1st quarter reached EUR 1.62 billion and of spare parts and accessories EUR 2.22 billion. The export of diesel engines reached EUR 583.3 million. 79 percent of the engines were exported to EU countries. (PAP) (PAP) aa/ 25-06-2015 BANKING SENTIMENT INDICATOR DOWN 2.5 POINTS M/M IN JUNE Poland's banking sentiment indicator Pengab went down 2.5 points month-on-month to 20.7 points in June 2015, according to the Polish Bank Association (ZBP) and TNS Polska market research centre. The projection index fell 6.7 points from the previous month to 21.4 points and the current situation assessment index grew 1.6 points to 20.0 points. The index of projected household loans fell by 9.0 points month-onmonth to 58.0 points and the assessment index of the segment grew by 8.0 points to 38.0 points. The index of projected corporate loans fell 3.0 points month-on-month to 27.0 points while the assessment index of the segment went grew 7.0 points to 17.0 points. (PAP) aa/ 25-06-2015 CONSUMER MOODS IMPROVE IN JUNE STATS OFFICE Consumer moods, both current and anticipated, improved in June against the May levels, a survey conducted by the Central Statistical Office (GUS) and published on Thursday shows. The current consumer confidence index (BWUK) reflecting current trends in individual consumption grew by 3.2 percentage points month-onmonth to minus 10.4 points, GUS reported. Compared to June 2014, BWUK is 5.0 percentage points higher, GUS added. Most of the BWUK index components improved over the past month, especially regarding the assessment of the future economic situation of the country (up 9.4 percentage points). 15 / 17 The anticipated consumer confidence index (WWUK) went up by 5.5 percentage points month-on-month to minus 11.7 points. The index is 7.1 percentage points higher than in June 2014. (PAP) aa/ 25-06-2015 POLISH CONSTRUCTION MARKET SEEN GROWING 6.8 PCT IN 2015 Poland's construction market is seen to grow in 2015 by 6.8 percent year-on-year mainly thanks to a new pool of EU funds and the good condition of office space and housing markets, according to Coface credit insurer. Coface analysts predict a rebound in the construction sector before the end of the year and point to growing demand and rise of prices of building materials, especially cement and aggregates. Experts also point to an increased number of job offers in the sector (up 13 pct in 2014). "The latest EU financial perspective is a great chance for the Polish construction sector. Effects of its positive impact will be palpable in a short while. This will be an opportunity for firms to generate profits but also introduce necessary changes. The limited time of prosperity will be a good occasion to prepare for the following years when EU funds will run out," Skanska SA CEO Krzysztof Andrulewicz has told PAP. According to the Central Statistical Office, representatives of construction firms, especially the bigger ones, are optimistic about new orders, production and financing perspectives. "Large companies, implementing infrastructure projects often cofinanced from EU funds, should feel the sectoral boom in 2016, after the allocation of EU funds to construction market sectors, which will most likely take place in the second half of 2015," Jaroslaw Dabrowski, a director at Deloitte's financial advisory department, has told PAP. Growth is forecasted especially in road building and housing. According to Coface, some PLN 103 billion of EU funds will be allocated for structural strengthening. Own funds may reach up to PLN 500 billion to 2020, or 30 percent of Poland's annual GDP. Roads are to consume some PLN 95 billion. (PAP) aa/ 25-06-2015 WIG 20 up 0.25 percent to 2,354.74 points WARSAW STOCK EXCHANGE WIG 30 went up by 0.11 percent to 2,577.02 points, the WIG index rose by 0.05 percent to 54,141.20 points. mWIG40 decreased by 0.36 percent to 3,742.66 points. WIGdiv rose by 0.22 percent to 1,196.51 points. One hundred and thirty-seven shares went up in price, 173 declined and 73 remained unchanged at the Warsaw Stock Exchange session on Thursday. 16 / 17 Turnover in the continuous trading system rose to PLN 908.50 million (USD 243.53 million). Turnover on the futures market rose to PLN 51.27 million. (PAP) WIG WIG30 MWIG 40 WIG 3M MOST ACTIVE CURRENCIES CONTACT EDITORS Tel. (+48 22) 509 22 11 [email protected] SALES Sales and Client Service Section Secretariat Tel. (+48 22) 509 22 25 Fax: (+48 22) 509 22 72 [email protected] Copyright © PAP SA 2012. 17 / 17
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