Wednesday July 1, 05:43 PM
Poland eyes Gulf investment hub role
By Maja Czarnecka
WARSAW (AFP) - After striking a long-term gas supply deal with energy-rich Qatar and selling two shipyards to a fund from the Gulf state, Poland is looking to became an EU hub for Mideast investors.
With the ink barely dry on a 20-year liquefied natural gas deal between Poland's national gas firm PGNiG and QatarGas, Polish Prime Minister on Wednesday hailed that accord and the earlier shipyard sale to QInvest.
"These two deals indicate that investors from the region will have a sustained interest in strategic cooperation with Poland," Donald Tusk said.
"There is a possibility of new injections of capital in our country" from the Middle East, he said, adding that he planned a trip to the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.
That reportedly is scheduled for November.
Last year, the pro-business premier led a Polish economic mission to Kuwait and Qatar, a visit which has now borne fruit.
Monday's deal covered the supply from 2014 of an annual one million tonnes of liquefied natural gas, shipped to a to-be-built terminal in the northwestern port of Swinoujscie, near the German border.
The contract is worth around 550 million dollars (355 million euros) a year over the two decades, making it the largest single deal signed by Poland since it switched to a market economy after the fall of the communist regime in 1989.
Poland, which meets 30 percent of its gas needs from its own resources, 40 percent from Russian imports and the remainder from a variety of sources, has been looking for ways to further diversify its suppliers.
Poland currently relies on coal-fired plants for 94 percent of its electricity but has committed itself to easing its dependence on coal as part of the European Union's climate package which limits greenhouse gas emissions.
The sale of the struggling Szczecin and Gdynia yards was settled in May, but the buyer's identity was kept under wraps until Tuesday.
The 364-million zloty (82-million-euro, 115-million-dollar) deal -- backed by the Qatar Islamic Bank which owns 26 percent of QInvest -- is due to be finalised with a payment by July 21.
The Qatari purchase is tied to the gas accord. The Gdynia yard is set to turn out three to four liquefied natural gas tankers a year.
The European Commission, which polices competition rules in the 27-nation European Union, had ordered Poland to sell the yards, after ruling that Warsaw had doled out illegal state aid to keep them in business.
Poland's shipbuilding sector holds deep symbolic significance in the country because it was the cradle of protests against the communist old order, but it has repeatedly faced collapse in the free market.
For Treasury Minister Aleksander Grad, the gas and shipyard deals have enabled Poland to "build confidence not only in Qatar, but also in other Gulf countries".
The Gulf is not a traditional source of direct investment in Poland, which has been a darling of firms from Asia and Western Europe. In 2007, for example, Gulf states invested less than five million euros in Poland.
Agnieszka Salomonczyk, of Poland's national chamber of commerce, underlined the pull of the looming Euro 2012 football championships that the Poles will host along with Ukraine.
Gulf investors are weighing up involvement in constructing the stadiums, hotels and highways needed to ensure the high-profile event goes smoothly.
Poland is the only member of the EU to have posted economic growth so far this year -- output grew by 0.4 percent in the first quarter compared with the final three months of 2008.
Poland, which joined the EU in 2004, enjoyed years of solid growth, posting 6.7 percent in 2007 and 4.9 percent in 2008, and has fared better than many others in the global slump.
Forecasts for this year range from a 1.4-percent contraction to 0.5-percent growth -- compared with a predicted average 4.0 percent slump across the EU.
"Paradoxically, the crisis is working in favour of the Polish economy," said Iwona Chojnowska-Haponik of Poland's foreign investment agency.
"Poland is one of the rare places on the map of Europe that offers investors a safe haven in a period of crisis," she said.
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