POLAND
WARSAW AT NIGHT
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BUCK IT AND CEE
The biggest net beneficiary of EU subsidies, next year’s Euro 2012 host, and the only
country in the EU to have recorded recent GDP growth- Poland is riding high. But just
how well is the economy and legal market keeping up with the rapid changes the
country faces?
Anastasia Hancock reports
WHILE the downturn across Europe caused many EU countries to stall in the face of star- tling economic turbulence, Poland was one of
the few that did not grind to a halt. The reality was quite
the opposite. Having received around b6.5bn of EU subsidies in 2009, and a similar figure last year, Poland was
the most significant recipient of all its neighbouring
countries.
It was also the only one of them to achieve growth in
GDP in the last three years, and European Investment
Bank has lent an extra b15bn to further a number of
public projects. The good news doesn’t stop there.
According to CB Richard Ellis (CBRE) research, Poland is
now the second most popular destination for retailers
looking to expand their international presence this year,
with Germany taking the number one spot. The country
also scored a massive coup when it was named as the
host for next year’s Euro UEFA Euro 2012 tournament,
when the eyes of the world will be firmly trained on all
the country has to offer in terms of infrastructure.
That this was all achieved in the midst of one of the
worst global crises in living memory is admirable.
However, detractors are quick to point out that Poland is
not an unmitigated success story. There are billions of
