Wiadomości

Czechia has the second-longest border with Poland after Germany but the Czechs know Poles the least of their neighbours. They don’t share the same recent history as with the Slovaks, they don’t go on holiday to Poland as they do to Austria, and they don’t have that many joint ventures or a shared tradition of shopping trips and Christmas jaunts as with Germany. Author Martin Ehl Chief Analyst for the Czech Daily Hospodarske Noviny.

More than two months after the beginning of Russia’s barbarian invasion of Ukraine on 24 February, prospects for a resolution of the war seem increasingly unlikely. As the conflict has intensified, Western sanctions against Russia have continued to pile up, with no less than six waves of sanctions imposed by the European Union.

W czasie, kiedy zmagamy się z gospodarczymi reperkusjami wojny i częściowo jeszcze pandemii, szczególnie ważne jest z jednej strony odpowiedzialne zarządzanie ryzykiem, a z drugiej – umiejętne stawienie czoła zupełnie nowym wyzwaniom takim jak napływ do Polski 3 mln uchodźców z sąsiedniej Ukrainy czy zmiany na rynku energii.

Each year, over 250,000 young people take the most stressful exam in their young lives: the maturity exam completing secondary school education. Yet in times of automation and robotisation, exam results matter less on the labour market than teamwork skills, stress management, or dealing with reality, as the young would say. Contemporary education is facing the challenge of redefining its modus operandi: these competencies cannot be taught through the omnipresent lecturing system. Poland has become a breeding ground for concepts to redefine education.

If there is anything certain in the modern economy, it’s change. While we enjoy using assorted opportunities to repeat and scare one another about the times of extraordinary variability and uncertainty we all face, the truth is somewhat different: both have become typical features of the economic landscape. It goes without saying that they are also the price we are paying for the exorbitant development and technological changes of recent decades, for the never-ending race we have decided to join in the name of progress and prosperity.

A potential foreign investor considering Poland as its next investment venue can take advantage of a variety of support tools provided by the Polish public administration at every stage of the decision making process and subsequently over the course of the entire investment venture. Many are managed or implemented by the government and its agencies, though in practice every investor is bound to engage with local government authorities at one moment or another.

Hailed as a lynchpin of digital transition, AI is beginning to establish itself in the Polish economy.

For the past 20 years, Poland has gone a long way forward in moving away from the coal monoculture with over 94% of electricity being fuelled with this fossil resources. We are eliminating coal from the energy mix faster than expected but figures do not lie - coal still makes up 70% of the domestic mix, and the truly no-emission resources are still a relatively small part of it.

At a time when we are tackling the economic repercussions of the war and partly also of the pandemic, responsible risk management is of fundamental importance on the one hand while, on the other, it is essential to rise to completely new challenges such as the inflow of 3 million refugees to Poland from neighbouring Ukraine or the changes occurring on the energy market.

Poland has built a network of high-speed roads almost from scratch in the 21st century, with a density approaching that of Western Europe. Considerable funds have been earmarked for the modernisation of railways but genuine results are yet to come.

A decade ago, the banking sector was among Europe’s leaders in terms of profitability. Today, this status is long gone, due to the regulations introduced in recent years that capped profitability and the legacy of foreign currency mortgages that have not found a systemic solution. When interest rates began to rise, opening a path to higher yields, the Prime Minister said they were ‘unfair’.

Poland has become a leading supplier in the EU in the production of apples or poultry. Milk processing, mostly in cooperatives, is also among the most modern sectors in the EU.

In the transition away from fossil fuels towards renewable energy, nuclear energy will be essential to stabilise the system. Nuclear power is not renewable energy but neither does it generate emissions of greenhouse gases and other pollutants.

Europe is facing major economic and climate challenges today – the green energy revolution and work toward commodity independence await us. These challenges are intertwined, as perfectly demonstrated by the example of Central and Eastern European countries, including Poland. The Russian aggression against Ukraine has shed a new light on the latter challenge.

Recorded at slightly below 10% over recent years, the growth rate of Polish exports topped 20% in 2021. Central Statistics Office data for the first two months of that year suggest that this positive trend has continued.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has contributed to stagflation trends in the economy. Powerful migration movements have affected demand and the overall labour market. Having found itself in the frontline zone, Poland will nonetheless not suffer any decline in attractiveness as an investment destination.

Russia’s attack on Ukraine is the greatest test of international solidarity that the transatlantic community has faced since World War 2. Capital market institutions reacted quickly and decisively.

24 February 2022 was one of the most tragic dates in the history of the 21st century. Unprovoked, Russia attacked its neighbour, making the blackest scenario my political faction has been cautioning against come true. War in Ukraine should make everyone realise that the Kremlin and its policy are a threat not only to our region but to the world at large. Furthermore, Russia’s aggression against our neighbour should open all of Europe’s eyes to other things.

The ongoing multiple crises of the COVID pandemic, high inflation, climate change and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine pose formidable challenges to global growth and welfare. Policymakers will need to do their utmost to tackle them. But the ongoing crises also present an opportunity to re-build the world in a new, better and inclusive way.