Leaked army docs threaten troop safety

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Polish News
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Entertainment
Friday 30th July 2010
Issue 30 (81)
Leaked army docs threaten troop safety
Wikileaks revelations
attacked by FM
NATIONAL
© Polish Ministry of National Defence
P
oland’s foreign minister has condemned the leak of classified documents relating to the Afghan war
saying that it could put the lives of Polish
troops at risk.
Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski said
that the 92,000 pages of military secrets
found on the Wikileaks website posed a
threat to the well-being of the 2,500-strong
Polish contingent serving in the country.
“I don’t have precise information on these
leaks but they must be condemned because
when soldiers risk their lives and their
freedom in the execution of their duty, their
safety takes precedence over the freedom to
publish everything. It seems to me this leak
is a bad thing.” said the minister.
“We first need to study these leaks, and
determine whether they are true,” added
Mr Sikorski.
“Leaks, like rumours - as my predecessor
Professor Bronislaw Geremek once said are divided into true and false.”
The news of the leaks came as seven
Polish soldiers were wounded, two of
them seriously, by a roadside bomb in
Afghanistan.
Despite
the
minister’s
quick
condemnation of the leaks, the documents
could further emaciate the already thin
support in Poland for the country’s
involvement in Afghanistan.
It is feared that the lives of Polish troops could be at risk following the leaked documents
Opinion polls have shown with
consistent regularity that the majority of
Poles oppose the deployment of troops in
the war-torn country.
Increasing the government’s woes were
references in the documents to the death
of six Afghan civilians, including a baby,
at the village of Nangar Khel in 2007
apparently at the hands of Polish troops in
what was called a “blue on green incident”.
Seven Polish soldiers have been charged
with war crimes over the incident and are
awaiting trial. But the government also
p.4 REGIONAL
stressed the positive by pointing out that
the Wikileaks also highlighted the ability
of the nation’s intelligence. On one occasion
Polish intelligence warned of insurgent
plans to attack the Indian embassy in
Kabul. A few days later a suicide bomber
drove a car bomb into the embassy’s gates,
killing 58 people.
Mr Sikorski also revealed that during a
visit to Afghanistan he had been thanked
by the Afghans for the successful rescue by
Polish special forces of two local policeman
help captive by insurgents.
p.8 BUSINESS
p.9
Warsaw 1945 in new 3D film
Flooding back
Poland mulls over raising tax
The vast level of destruction endured by
Warsaw during the war has been depicted
in a new 3D film that historians hope will
show in graphic detail the city’s suffering.
Using over 2,000 original photographs
and a contemporary aerial film of modern
Warsaw it took 40 specialists two years
to make the five-minute, six-second film
entitled ‘City of Ruins’.
Floods and landslides made an unwelcome return to Malopolska and other parts
of the south this week following heavy rain
in the region. Near Myslenica the Raba burst
its banks and flooded a large allotment for
the third time this year, taking another four
summer homes with it. Roads and utilities
across the region have been damaged and 32
people needed to be evacuated.
Civic Platform is beginning to talk of
raising VAT, by one percentage point for a
limited time to help curb the budget deficit
and plug the gaping hole in public finances.
“We need to see if better management,
discipline and savings will be enough,
or if maybe we’ll have to raise the social
security premiums and taxes,” said
Michal Boni.
2
EDITORIAL
The New Poland Express I Friday 30th July 2010 I www.nwe.pl
Contents
News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3
Regional news . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6
Business . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9
What’s on . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10
Sport . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12
Classifieds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13
From the editor
Quotes of the week
This week in history
“Worshipping a portrait of a president will
not serve the office well but expose the office
and the new president to ridicule.” PiS’s Pawel
Kowal, on the news that every embassy is to
feature a portrait of President Komorowski.
1772 - The first partition of Poland takes
place. Three treaties between Russia, Prussia
and Austria setting boards of annexation were
signed in St. Petersburg.
B
ad news may
come in threes
but this week
saw it thunder in with
the force of a hurricane
as the government was
knocked for six by a
triple whammy of lawsuits.
First, PM Tusk and President-elect Komorowski were slapped with one over the
Smolensk investigation. Then the whole
government was taken to court by disgruntled old commie spies complaining about
cuts to their pensions. Now FM Sikorski
has been sued for calling businessman Jan
Kobylanski an anti-Semite.
An entrepreneur who made his fortune
in Italy and Latin America by first selling
toothbrushes, Kobylanski is currently owner, CEO and president of dozens of merchant
companies and a sponsor of right-wing radio station Radio Maryja. He also served a
stint as honorary consul to Paraguay and
Spain, was allegedly mates with Paraguayan
dictator General Alfredo Stroessner, and is
the founder of the largest Polish immigrant
organisation in South America.
So what’s all this about anti-Semitism? It
goes back to 2004 when a reporter accused
him of helping the Gestapo during WWII
by denouncing a Jewish family who were
then executed.
The allegations were repeated in 2005, followed by an IPN investigation and further
newspaper reports of collaboration, and culminated in 2008 when he sued, among others, Gazeta Wyborcza boss Adam Michnik.
Now the accusations are back with
Sikorski leading the charge and calling him
an “anti-Semite from under a dark star.”
On Thursday the case went to court with
Kobylanski demanding a public apology
and 20,000zl in compensation. The second
hearing is due 21 December.
Sikorski won’t be bothered. Nor will Tusk
and Kom. All three will see verdicts in their
favour and the hurricane will peter out.
NPE verdict: Complete waste of taxpayers’ cash.
WIYP Sp. z o.o. • Ul. Paderewskiego 1 • 81-831 Sopot
tel. +48 58 555 9818 • tel/fax. +48 58 555 0831 • [email protected]
“In a democratic country this government
would be abolished.” Jaroslaw Kaczynski
commenting on the government’s behaviour
during the Smolensk investigation.
“Polish experts investigating the black
box recorders of the TU 154, which crashed
near Smolensk on April 10, have managed
to decipher several words [by either pilots
or air traffic control] which may be of key
importance to the investigation.” Attorney
general Andrzej Seremet on progress being
made in the on-going investigation.
1827 - The brick lighthouse in Hel is
opened. Despite having its origins in the 16th
century, a number of earlier constructions
burned down or were obscured by trees. Today
the lighthouse remains something of a tourist
attraction.
2004 - The Warsaw Uprising begins - a
struggle by the Polish resistance to liberate the
capital from the Nazis. Intended to last but a
few days until the Red Army arrived, Soviet
advances stopped short and the Poles were
forced to fight alone before surrendering on
October 2.
Have Your Say
The NPE weekend QUIZ
Re: Man found with mother porn
Sick. The end is here to stay. Societies are
crumbling and going down to depths never
seen before.
Jenin - Zimbabwe
Ok guys and
girls, all you lovers of hard rock
out there listen
up. And listen up LOUD!
We’ve got one
double invitation to give away
for the Metal
Hammer Festival in Katowice on August 28 - and it’s gonna be good.
Re: Reality kids show causes outrage
I’m sorry to learn that Poland is now
being infected by “reality” (and I use that
term grudgingly) television. I had hoped
that wasting one’s time and intellect
watching rude and brainless people being
humiliated by other rude and brainless
people was confined to my country. How
sad.
Christine - Brooklyn, NY USA
Re: Poles admit to high sex drive
Call me what you like, but having sex
‘more than once a week’, for me, does not
constitute a particularly high sex drive.
And to hear that only 43 percent of Polish
girls fall into this category? If this puts
Poland high up on the map, I dread to
think what a sorry state other European
bedrooms must be in.
Kenneth King - Glasgow, UK
Publisher: WIYP Sp. z o.o.
Editor-in-Chief: Ed Wight
([email protected])
Chief Writer:
Steve Sibbald
Research Manager:
Anna Hojan
Staff Writer: Matt Day
Nationwide & Sports:
Graham Crawford
([email protected])
Business: Anna Olejarczyk
Travel: Alex Webber
([email protected])
As well featuring bands such as
Opeth, Katatonia and Riverside, the gig
will play host to one of America’s alltime top nu-metal acts, Korn, looking
to promote their latest album. All
you’ve got to do for a chance to win, is
tell us its name...
A big congratulations to last week’s
winners Katie Broadbent and Philip
Earl. Send this week’s answers to:
[email protected]
Events: Klaudia Mampe
([email protected]),
Vaughan Elliott, Łukasz Jankowski
Graphic Designer: Tomáš Haman
([email protected])
Sales Director: Malgorzata Drzaszcz
([email protected])
3
NEWS
The New Poland Express I Friday 30th July 2010 I www.nwe.pl
Warsaw 1945 Smolensk victim’s family sues
in new 3D film A
T
he vast level of destruction endured
by Warsaw during the war has been
depicted in a new 3D film that historians hope will show in graphic detail the
city’s suffering.
Using over 2,000 original photographs
and a contemporary aerial film of modern
Warsaw it took 40 specialists two years to
make the five-minute, six-second film entitled ‘City of Ruins’.
It takes the viewer on an imaginary aerial tour of a city razed to the ground by the
ferocious fighting and the brutal policies of
Hitler’s Germany, which aimed to reduce
the Polish capital to ashes. At the end of the
European war in May 1945 the city’s population had been reduced from 1.3 million
to little more than a thousand and the majority of its building pulverised.
The film’s makers hope that the 3D images will bring home to a young audience
the level of violence meted out to the city.
“Young people do not understand what
it means that Warsaw was in ruins; they
think it was just a few collapsed houses,”
said Jan Oldakowski, the director of the
Warsaw Uprising Museum, at a press conference. “Nor were we, at the museum, fully aware of what the city looked like.”
Michal Gryn, from Platige Image, the
company that made the film, said that
making ‘City of Ruins’ provided an unusual challenge.
“It was a unique project to build a 3D model of authentic city ruins and make five minutes of film from it,” he said. “I don’t think
that anyone in the world has done this.”
The viewer sees destroyed bridges across
the River Vistula, buildings reduced to
nothing more than roofless shells while the
Ghetto appear as a desolate moonscape devoid of any relief.
The film will be shown at the Uprising
museum, and along with demonstrating
how widespread the level of destruction
was, historians hope that the it will educate
people about the Warsaw Uprising.
One of the bloodiest battles of the Second World War, weeks of intensive fighting
resulted in huge devastation, and after the
Home Army’s surrender German forces
engaged in a systematic campaign of destruction that inflicted ever further damage on the city.
The Uprising remains one of the key
events of Polish history, and a source of
intense pride although it has become a
source of intense controversy for historians
across Europe.
German lawyer has filed a lawsuit against Prime Minister Tusk
and President-elect Komorowski,
claiming they pulled out of a joint PolishRussian investigation into the Smolensk
plane tragedy.
Acting on behalf of the son of Anna
Walentynowicz, an important figure
of the Solidarity movement who
was killed during the crash, Stefan
Hambura now plans to sue Poland’s
two main leaders.
According to daily Rzeczpospolita,
the lawyer has accused both the PM and
President-elect of “resigning from a joint
Polish-Russian investigation into the
Smolensk tragedy”.
Hambura points to Donald Tusk’s
website which stated on April 10,
that President Dmitry Medvedev had
given assurance to the Prime Minister
(directly after the fateful crash), that
the investigation would be a joint
one, utilising personnel from both
countries.
But the lawyer hits out at this claim,
stating that the co-operation was over
before it had even begun. “The joint
probe lasted only three days, which is
why I want the Attorney General to
determine who withdrew from the verbal
agreement.”
If Hambura is able to prove that Tusk
and Komorowski did in fact act against
the best interests of the nation, it is a crime
which carries a maximum of 10 years
imprisonment.
The air disaster took place on April 10
2010, when the Presidential plane crashed
en route to the Katyn commemorations
in Russia, killing all 96 people on board
including President Kaczynski, his wife
and a number of high-profile political
figures.
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4
NEWS
The New Poland Express I Friday 30th July 2010 I www.nwe.pl
Abused men too scared to tell
M
en in Warsaw who are the victims of domestic violence can
now receive professional support and help to deal with a problem
that remains a great taboo in Polish society.
The groundbreaking courses, which start
in August, offer male victims the chance to
get psychological counselling and advice
on a subject that attracts little attention
but, according to the police, is becoming
increasingly common.
“The number of men who fall victim
to female domestic violence has tripled
in the last three years,” said Grazyna
Puchalska from the police national
headquarters.
Estimates put the rate of Polish men who
suffer domestic violence at 5 to 7 per cent,
but this, experts say, could just be the tip
of the iceberg with one study putting the
number as high as 14 per cent.
The formerSB hit back
F
ormer members of the State Security
Service (SB) have taken the government to the European Court of Human Rights over what they see as unfair
cuts to their pensions.
In total, 38,791 ex-SB members have
been affected by the cuts after ruling party
Civic Platform (PO) decided that it wasn’t
fair they enjoyed a higher standard of
living than those they persecuted whilst in
power during the communist days.
But 400 have decided to stand up and
speak out against what they claim to be
“unconstitutional” and a “violation of their
basic human rights” by taking action.
“The majority of our retirees are too old
or sick to make a complaint,” says lawyer
Zdzislaw Czarnecki, who is representing
the 38,791 former SB members. “But we
will be doing all that we can for them, as
this law is completely inhumane.”
Artur Nowak, 87, is one ex-secret
policeman who has been personally
affected by the slashes. He says, “It’s an
outrage. We were just doing our jobs and
the pensions we were getting were normal
for people in government service. Now
though, we won’t be able to afford to live.”
Czarnecki also argues the slashes are even
affecting people carrying out ordinary everyday occupations. “One of the applicants worked
for 14 years as a car mechanic in a plantoperating unit of the Ministry of Interior.”
The reason for the discrepancies and
uncertainties over the abuse figures is that
many victims are too ashamed to come
forward and report their suffering to the
police.
Professor Dariusz Dolinski from the
Warsaw School of Social Sciences and
Humanities said that victims are often
embarrassed by the abuse so keep
quiet.
“Men hardly ever report abuse because
they are ashamed of being beaten or
humiliated by a woman. It is against a
stereotype of a strong, tough man,” he
said.
This was borne out by the treatment one
male victim who had signed up for the
course in Warsaw received at the hands of
the police.
“The first time I reported to the police
that my partner beat me the officer laughed
in my face,” he said.
Female abuse often takes the form of
psychological abuse rather than violence,
with women humiliating, bullying and
blackmailing men.
In the past, Fundacja Akcja, the
organisation that has decided to run the
courses, concentrated on working with
men suffering other problems but moved
into domestic violence owing to the
realisation that men also suffered from
physical and mental abuse.
“So far we have provided group therapy
for men who experience marriage crisis or
got divorced but during the sessions many
participants mention that they were abused
by their partners so we decided to create a
special programme for them,” said Robert
Kucharski from the foundation.
Send comments and letters to
[email protected]
5
NEWS
IN BRIEF
License to quill
Two German men have been arrested in the
Pomerania region for trying to sell pen-shaped
guns which fire actual bullets.
Olaf S. (52) and Wolfgang A. (61) were
detained after a tip-off about two men selling
guns, but authorities were initially surprised to
find them only carrying what appeared to be
writing instruments.
Police have since warned that the weapons
are in fact extremely dangerous and are often
associated with professional hitmen.
The men could now face up to 10 years behind
bars for trading and possessing firearms.
Smuggled dogs on the up
The number of pedigree dogs being smuggled
from Poland into Sweden is on the increase say
authorities.
Last year, the Customs Office in Blekinge
reported 18 attempts to smuggle in the pets,
compared to 44 attempts in the first half of
2010 alone.
If discovered by officials, the animals are put
to sleep over fears of diseases due to a lack of
proper certificates.
Swedish Customs authorities say the most
commonly found are Chihuahuas and French
Bulldogs, two of the country’s most popular
breeds. One pedigree dog may fetch up to
several times more than if sold on Polish soil.
Catholic sculpture riles locals
A piece of modern art aimed at celebrating
unborn children has left many locals of
Zabkowice Slaskie up in arms.
Located in a cemetery and the brainchild of the
local Catholic Action group, ‘The Monument
of Conceived and Unborn Babies’ features
different female body parts, including breasts,
legs and sexual organs, in an obscure form.
One local resident said, “What’s the point of
showing breasts without a head? And what are
all these contorted children’s faces and tree
branches which resemble spread legs for?”
“At the Catholic Action’s request I signed a
petition to free the monument from cemetery
fees, but I had no idea it was so hideous,” said
Beata Klita, of the then Polish Scouting and
Guiding Association.
Having a blast
An unexploded bomb was found near Kostrzyn
as police prepared a fire ditch for this year’s
Przystanek Woodstock festival.
As well as the 30-kilo device, a number of old
shells and grenades were also found, all of
which can be traced back to WWII.
“The unexploded bombs are not dangerous
for the festival-goers,” said Lieutenant Joanna
Nowakowska of the Armoured Cavalry, in an
attempt to put the revellers at ease.
“The discovery itself is not surprising because
Kostrzyn was one of WWII’s battlefields,” added
Sergeant Tomasz Andrzejak. “What’s surprising
is young people’s reaction to the bombs - they
did not try to touch the shells or move them
somewhere else.”
The New Poland Express I Friday 30th July 2010 I www.nwe.pl
Desperate thief destroys home
A
clueless bank robber ended up
hammering a house to pieces in
a failed attempt to smash his way
through its walls and into a bank vault next
door.
47-year old Maciej Karnowski of
Miedzyrzecz Podlaski got more than he
bargained for when he broke into 91-year
old Jan Kot’s home, believing it to be an
easy route into next door’s loot.
Karnowski began by attacking and
binding up the elderly resident so he could
go about his business without disturbance.
But his hard effort and research proved
fruitless - the first wall he set upon with
his hammer and tools turning out to be
reinforced with 10-inch solid-steel.
Not to be deterred however, the
wannabe-bandit moved into the hallway
where he began attacking the wall in there
- only to end up in the adjoining grocery
shop.
Frustrated and desperate, Karnowski
then attempted the same in the toilet,
kitchen, dining room and bedroom before
eventually giving up and deciding to break
into the vault through a window, leaving
the home destroyed.
But while scaling the wall of his victim’s
garden, he accidently set off the alarms,
alerting the police which eventually led to
his arrest.
“I was unlucky in that circumstances
brought me into contact with the thief,”
says Kot. “It’s true that at one point I had a
door leading through to the bank, but that
had been bricked up long ago and the walls
were reinforced.”
He continued, “Four hours I was sitting
with him. By the end of it, there was blood
coming from my head - I thought they
would be my last moments.”
Karnowski has admitted to his crimes
and now faces up to 15 years behind bars.
6
REGIONAL NEWS
The New Poland Express I Friday 30th July 2010 I www.nwe.pl
Nationwide with Graham Crawford:
Bringing you the best from across the regions.
If you have any news for Graham, send him an email at [email protected]
WITHOUT RHYmE OR REGION
W
hen
it
comes to
selecting
the sportsperson of
the year Karol Bielecki
is perhaps not a name
that springs immediately to mind. The Pole plays the distinctly unfashionable and bruising game of handball. He
plays for German team Rhein-Neckar Loewen,
and this week he appeared in a charity match
raising funds for a colleague who died from
cancer. So far, so unremarkable – except that
only six weeks ago Bielecki lost his eye while
playing handball, when an opponent’s thumb
caught him in a freak accident.
Surgeons fought to rescue his sight,
but were unable to. Initially Bielecki
announced his retirement, but a few weeks
later reversed the decision. “It would be
easy to say, thanks, I’m done, and later
regret it. I wanted to be happy, and not to
regret anything in life. Sport gives me that
happiness,” he told reporters.
Bielecki received a hero’s welcome from
the crowd at the benefit match this Monday,
and within a minute he scored a goal,
scoring two more during the game. “He’s a
great person and a real lion,” commented a
young female fan at the game. “His decision
to return and fight, as he is doing, is really
important for all of us,” said Bogdan Wenta,
coach of the Polish national team.
Krzystof
Bielecki’s
determination,
positive attitude and sheer bloodymindedness are more than inspirational,
they’re unbelievable. “I’ve regained some
self-confidence, and that’s what it’s about,”
Bielecki commented after Monday’s game.
His side actually lost 34:31 to a Rest of the
World team, but that really doesn’t matter
at all. All power to your arm, Mr Bielecki.
mALOpOLSkIE
inflows from the mountains, but on Thursday
morning that had to be reduced in order to
ensure Sandomierz was not inundated.
“We’re trying to sensibly manage the
flows through the reservoirs so as not to
flood Sandomierz, where the embankments
are still weak and not fully repaired,”
Tomasz Sadag, of the Regional Water
Management Authority told reporters.
“These were licenses for almost all
categories,” Stanislaw Gancarz, head of the
Nowy Sacz Regional Prosecutor’s investigative
division told reporters. Investigations are
continuing and officers suspect there could
eventually be as many as 300 people involved.
Flooding back
F
loods and landslides made an
unwelcome return to
Malopolska and other parts of the south
this week following
heavy rain in the region. Near Myslenica
the Raba burst its banks and flooded a large
allotment for the third time this year, taking another four summer homes with it.
“People say, oh it’s only a summer home,
but people have often saved their whole lives
for them,” the president of the Porebie allotment told a reporter from TVN. Roads and
utilities across the region have been damaged and 32 people needed to be evacuated.
Meanwhile, on Wednesday night
emergency procedures were in place at the
Dobczyce reservoir, releasing large amounts
of water so as to be able to receive heavy new
Cross-border licenses
B
order Guards in Podhale are interviewing 34 people involved in a scam
to acquire driving licenses illegally. Officers became suspicious when local residents began showing Ukrainian driving
licenses when stopped by patrols. The
drivers claimed they had passed a course
in Ukraine and were in the process of legalising the document in Poland. However,
investigations revealed that the people had
spent only a few hours in Ukraine, and it
was impossible for them to have attended
a course there.
Constituency confusion
W
ieliczka’s preparations for the local government elections this year have been
thrown into chaos by a decision outlawing
the town’s division into three constituencies,
insisting it remain at two. Electoral commissioner Teresa Rak has sent the town a resolution that states, “Dividing a district into more
than the necessary number of constituencies
is an infringement of electoral law.”
“There must be some misunderstanding.
The commissioner instructed us to divide
the district up, stating we could divide it
into two or more constituencies. So three
must be okay,” commented Andrzej Masny,
a local representative of the Friendly
District party.
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REGIONAL NEWS
mAzOWIECkIE
ZUS homeless
T
he Palace of the
Bishops of Cracow on ul. Miodowa
in the centre of Warsaw is to be returned
to the heirs of its
pre-war owner, following a twenty year
legal wrangle with ZUS, the state social security provider, which has its headquarters
there. Joanna Beller began proceedings to
recover the property in the early ‘90s, her
father having had the building confiscated
by a decree of Boleslaw Bierut in 1945. Ms
Beller won her case in the European Tribunal of Human Rights in Strasbourg, which
declared that, “The duration of proceedings [in Poland] had exceeded acceptable
time limits” and that Poland was in breach
of international conventions.
ZUS refused to return the PLN 100 mln
pOmORSkIE
Cyprus manoeuvre in shipyard
O
wnership of the
Gdansk
shipyards have been transferred to companies
based in Cyprus, it was
revealed this week, as a
result of the political
changes in Ukraine.
In 2007 the shipyard was bought by a Polish
subdivision of the Ukrainian steel company
ISD, whose main owners are known for their
open support of former PM Julia Tymoshenko.
With the arrival in power of Viktor
Janukovych the Ministry of Justice there is
trying to recover tax arrears totalling PLN
660 mln. “The shipyard is safe. It made PLN
30 mln profit last year. And for some time
the business has been outside the Ukrainian
structures of ISD,” Jacek Leski, press officer
for ISD Poland told reporters.
Health risk at beach
T
he Gdansk Srodmiescie beach was
closed this week due to health concerns following the discovery of high levels of coli bacteria in the water. Readings
taken earlier this week were twenty-four
times higher than allowable norms. “A few
days ago, during road works on Wzgorze
Sw. Maksymiliana, a sewage pipe broke.
The waste got into the storm drains near
ul. Pilsudskiego and from there flowed into
the Baltic,” Marian Piaskowski, deputy director of Gdynia’s Sanepid told reporters.
A decision on reopening the beach is ex-
The New Poland Express I Friday 30th July 2010 I www.nwe.pl
building, their lawyers maintaining that
the destroyed palace had been rebuilt after
the war using public funds. This Thursday
the Supreme Administrative Court
rejected their claims, bringing the legal
wrangling to an end.
“I’ve waited twenty years for this
decision. All this time I’ve been dreaming
that I might spend at least one night in my
house - even on the floor,” Ms Beller told
reporters following the court’s decision.
Operation stork
solution. The ornithologist thought it
might work,” Szymanski continued.
Radom officers used their lift to replace
the nest at the top of the poplar, then
carefully replaced the young chick. “We’re
waiting now to see what the parents do. The
ornithologist reckons it might take a day
or two for them to accept their new home,
but the first positive signal is already there.
Even before the lift reached the ground,
one of the storks landed on it and began
tidying it up,” Szymanski concluded.
R
Brunette bank robber
pected this Friday, once the natural action
of the sea has dealt with the waste.
between the two agencies. Local politicians
have also joined in, Sopot president Jacek
Karnowski offering PLN 20,000 reward for
information leading to her discovery.
Iwona disappeared after storming out on
her friends after a row in a Sopot nightspot,
deciding to walk back to Jelitkowo alone.
CCTV footage shows her walking in the early
morning light a mere 2km from her home
on a beachside promenade. Anyone with
information should contact Sopot police.
adom fire officers answered an unusual emergency call this week, to rescue
a stork’s nest which had fallen from a poplar tree. “A young stork was sitting on the
ground and his parents were flying around
all the time, trying to look after him,” Lukasz Szymanski, press officer of the Radom
fire service, told reporters.
The fire officers first called an
ornithologist for expert advice, before
going to the rescue. “We wanted to know
if rebuilding the nest would be a good
Looking for Iwona
A
ll Sopot is looking for a missing
19-year-old, Iwona Wieczorek who
went missing two weeks ago. News of the
missing girl hit the headlines last week
when private detective Krzysztof Rutkowski accused police of incompetence and
laziness, setting off a race to find the girl
P
olice released pictures this week of a
young woman who attempted to rob a
bank on ul. Zamoyskiego at knifepoint on
July 12. The woman strolled into the bank
and threatened staff with what looked like
a knife, demanding PLN 20,000. On being
told that she would have to wait, she panicked and fled. Now police have released
images of the woman to assist in identifying her. She is described as being about 25
years old, slim, 165cm tall with brown hair.
8
REGIONAL NEWS
The New Poland Express I Friday 30th July 2010 I www.nwe.pl
WIELkOpOLSkIE
kUjAWSkO-pOmORSkIE
Poznan in Lublin
Eurocopter on patrol
P
oznan International Trade Fair
(MTP) this week
bought 30.5 percent
of the shares in their
Lublin equivalent
at a cost of PLN 14
mln. An additional
share offer was approved at an extraordinary meeting of shareholders in MTP to
fund the purchase, making MTP the second largest shareholder in the Lublin fair
operator after the city of Lublin itself.
The money from the purchase is to go
towards building a modern display hall. The
Lublin fair is only 10 years old and one of the
smallest operations in the country, it also
made a PLN 4 mln loss last year. In contrast,
Poznan’s MTP is the oldest and most
important trade fair organiser in the country.
Cross with a developer
L
ocal councillor Jan Musielak of Poznan’s
Rataje district this week raised a cross
on the site of a proposed new housing block
bearing the legend ‘Holy Cross - remove our
playing field from the clutches of Satan’, following a series of failed attempts to block
the construction. “It’s a kind of wail of despair,” Musielak told Gazeta Poznan.
Musielak lives on the Tysiaclecia Estate
and has been fighting for a sports field to
occupy a vacant lot opposite his home, but
the site has gone to developer Eko-Dom, who
plan to build a five storey building there.
“As a councillor for the estate, I’ve done
everything in my power to block the
whims of investors. When the courts won’t
help, maybe the cross will,” explained
the exasperated politician. He assured
residents that he would not be defending
the cross though (similar to the contentious
protests in Warsaw recently) as, “The cross
always defends itself”.
T
he KujawskoPomorskie region is now covered
by a brand new Eurocopter 135 helicopter for medical
emergencies, replacing the ageing Mi-2
which served the region for twenty years.
The new machine is better in all respects
than its predecessor, Robert Galazkowski,
head of the Flying Ambulance service assured reporters, “The seat next to the pilot
rotates, so the medic sitting there can more
easily assist in reanimation procedures.”
The cabin also contains an array of emergency equipment, including a defibrillator.
Just as importantly, on the outside the
helicopter has two engines, making it much
safer in the event of a defect, and is capable of
flying at night and in poor weather conditions
thanks to modern fly-by-wire technology.
The pilots spent an entire month in
Germany training on the new machine,
and found it a steep learning curve. “It was
terrible. Everything is computerised, and I
had to make a total mental adjustment,” pilot
Ryszard Kohls described the experience.
The flying ambulance is called into action
anywhere from 400 to 600 times a year.
Cold feet over aquapark
B
ydgoszcz councillors voted against a
package required to finance the con-
struction of an aquapark in a heated session
this week, with councillors worried about
the cost of the credit involved. The debate
was swayed by the worst-case scenario presented, which showed a possible annual
shortfall of PLN 5 mln in the plans for the
leisure facility, and led to their rejection.
Unfortunately, the motion on the
aquapark was also tied to plans for social
housing and expanding cooperation with
Ryanair in developing the city’s airport.
Konstanty Dombrowicz, of Civic Platform
(PO) commented, “Bydgoszcz has lost
an opportunity for development. This
programme was years in the preparation,
but political pettiness has won out. Today
we’ve seen that councillors aren’t concerned
about the residents, but their private political
interests. They don’t want Bydgoszcz to be
in the first division but the fifth. There’ll
be no aquapark, no new housing and air
connections are threatened.”
Carreras to visit Torun hospital
J
ose Carreras, who on Saturday will perform in Torun’s Motoarena in what is
surely the city’s most prestigious cultural
event of the summer, will take time out before the concert on Friday to visit leukaemia sufferers in the City Hospital.
“Carreras is known for his charity work.
Ever since he overcame the disease himself,
he tries in various ways to raise funds for the
fight against cancer. He often visits patients
fighting the disease and he didn’t want to
forget about them during his trip to Poland,”
Janusz Stefanski of the Prestige MJM artistic
agency told reporters.
Crushing cars for fun
F
ire officers and railway staff have been
busy this week with the sixth edition
of their public awareness campaign, “Stop
and survive”. At Poznan railway crossings
PKP staff have waited till the barriers go
down then proceeded to hand out leaflets
and advise drivers as to the dangers involved.
The statistics speak for themselves, with
51 people dying on rail crossings last year,
a further 68 being injured. There were 38
incidents in the Wielkopolska region alone
last year. “They’re almost all caused by
drivers,” commented Lukasz Wiecek of the
Poznan Rail Company.
Warsawinyoourpocket_120x98_Febr2010.indd 2
04.02.2010 15:20:07 Uhr
9
BUSINESS
The New Poland Express I Friday 30th July 2010 I www.nwe.pl
Poland mulls over raising tax
P
oland’s ruling Civic Platform (PO)
party is beginning to talk of raising
VAT, by one percentage point for a
limited time to help curb the budget deficit
and plug the gaping hole in public finances.
To battle the raising public debt and
deficit, the party has never been closer to
abandoning its low-tax agenda. “We need
to see if better management, discipline and
savings will be enough, or if maybe we’ll
have to raise the social security premiums
and taxes,” said Michal Boni, a minister
without portfolio, and top advisor to Prime
Minister Donald Tusk, earlier this week.
This led to strong criticism of the idea
both from within the ruling Civic Platform
and the coalition.
Grzegorz Schetyna, a prominent
member of the Civic Platform and Sejm
Speaker, said he was firmly opposed to
the move. “The idea is out of this world
and would be the last resort,” he said in
an interview with TVN24. “For us raising
taxes is against what we stand for and a
negation of our presence in politics.”
Meanwhile, deputy prime minister of the
Polish People’s Party (PSL) Waldemar Pawlak
said that a rise in VAT would be nonsensical so
soon after it had been hiked, last year.
A one percentage point increase to the
tax could be implemented for three years
on all goods, with the exception of food
and possibly medication, injecting an extra
PLN 5 bln into the budget.
If the planned tax hike is enforced, the
new 23 percent VAT will be the fourth
highest level of taxation on goods in the
EU, following Denmark with 25 percent
and Sweden and Hungary with 24 percent.
The changes to Poland’s taxation system
are expected to be determined during a
proceeding on a plan for public financing,
which is to be debated by the government
this weekend.
Life insurance policies invalid?
L
ife insurance policy contracts covering teachers, police officers and
many city officials may be invalid,
according to a ruling by The Court of Justice of the European Union.
The law states such contracts need to
be offered to a public bid before they are
signed, but for most state workers, this has
been ignored.
The court ruling may initiate changes
within the insurance group benefits
industry throughout Poland which could
eliminate PZU Zycie’s monopoly in the
insurance market. Currently, about 80
percent of life insurance policies of workers
employed by the state are with the major
insurance company and in 2009, premium
contributions totalled PLN 16.4 bln.
BUSINESS IN BRIEF
SMS scams
The Office of Competition and Consumer
Protection (UOKiK) has started a battle with internet
portals that offer SMS services, without revealing
the full costs involved. The office is cracking down
on portals such as Data-Smierci.pl who entice
customers with their service at PLN 1.22, when in
fact the SMS cost may reach PLN 61. The move may
be a first as tracking such portals and regulating
them has so far proved a challenge.
Train station clean up
Train stations will undergo a major facelift as PKP,
the Polish State Railways, plan on injecting PLN
2.5 bln in the next three years.
The funds will come internally, from the EU as
well as passengers. Each year, PKP plans on
raising PLN 100 mln from its customers from
implementing train station costs, which will work
similarly to airport costs. If it goes through, the
cost may be implemented in January 2012.
NBP OFFICIAL CURRENCY RATES 30/07/2010
IN NUmBERS
Currency
Czech Koruna
Danish Krone
Estonian Kroon
Euro
Hong Kong Dollar
Hungarian Forint
Japanese Yen
Norwegian Krone
Pound Sterling
Russian Ruble
Swiss Franc
US Dollar
1/3
Symbol
1 CZK
1 DKK
1 EEK
1 EUR
1 HKD
100 HUF
100 JPY
1 NOK
1 GBP
1 RUB
1 CHF
1 USD
Mid-rate
0,1617
0,5379
0,2562
4,0080
0,3955
1,4094
3,5592
0,5029
4,7997
0,1016
2,9547
3,0731
The amount that building one kilometre of highway
has dropped in Poland over the past 18 months due
to heightened competition from abroad.
18%
The amount that total beer sales rose in Poland
during the World Cup 2010.
Common
Cents
with
Ross Naylor
4 cheers for gold
A
s of the
s t a r t
of this
month, the price
of gold had
tripled in value
over the past 10
years. A number of prominent financial
experts argue strongly that this trend will
continue. Here are 4 reasons for considering adding some exposure to gold to your
portfolio.
1. If adjusted for inflation, the current
price of gold is only at 30% of its all time
high (reached in 1980).
2. There is a lot of evidence that indicates
that the price of gold follows the monetary
base (i.e. bank deposits and currency)
over time. Over the past two years, the
monetary base has increased greatly. In
order to “catch up”, the price of gold would
have to do the same.
3. Many of the world’s developed
nations, including the US and members
of the European Union, are currently in
the throes of a major monetary crisis.
This has already struck Iceland and
is a looming threat in countries such
as Greece, Spain, Portugal, Italy, and
Ireland.
4. Central Banks are buying it. The
Russian Central Bank’s gold holdings were
recently updated for June. They showed
that they have purchased another 200,000
ounces. Their total gold reserves now stand
at 22.8 million troy ounces (709.2 tonnes).
So far this year, the RCB has purchased 2.1
million ounces for their reserves... that’s a
lot of gold! Other central banks are likely
to follow suit.
Ross Naylor is the managing
director of AES International
(Poland), an independent,
international financial advisory
group.
+48 (22) 389 65 70
[email protected]
10
ENTERTAINmENT
The New Poland Express I Friday 30th July 2010 I www.nwe.pl
SOmETHING FOR THE WEEkEND: Travel musings from inyourpocket’s ‘Uncle’ Alex Webber
F
or some the weekend meant a day
down the pub; for
me it meant the 66th anniversary of the liberation of Majdanek Concentration Camp. I was
there in a flash, primarily to record the
testimonies of those who survived, and
secondly, to reacquaint myself with a forgotten chapter of the Holocaust – not here
the tour buses and hot dog stands that
linger around Auschwitz, rather empty
fields and rotting barracks. It’s crows not
crowds in Majdanek, a menacing place
where around 80,000 met their end.
I’ve written recently about Treblinka, so I
shan’t go into details about this spot; what I
will say is it certainly merits a visit, as well
as an appropriate costume – the girl with
‘I’m so Happy’ printed on her summery lap
dancing outfit really deserved a lynching.
I myself contributed to the twittery by
accidentally breaking an exhibit, but aside
from that it was a deeply moving day, and
one which left plenty of pause for thought;
not every day do you stand on the edge
of a murder ditch, and not every day do
you meet people whose families were
slaughtered. Their dignity and courage
warrants our deepest respect.
Majdanek needs money, and it also needs
more attention. Visit it, and while doing
so combine it with Lublin – the city which
borders it. Now Lublin is up there with the
best, yet in spite of being two and a bit hours
from Warsaw it just doesn’t get the tourists.
Why, I’ve got no idea. The old town here
is amazing, and filled with atmospheric
side streets; cobbled alleys twisting under
archways, and battered buildings stooping
like drunks.
I heard practically one foreign accent
all day, and that came while I was holding
conversation with a puddle. The local lager
here is nuts, and I put a fair few away that
night inside Komitat, a cool commie bar
that celebrates Stalin. Drinking in a spot
honouring totalitarianism seemed a bit
weird, even more so in the knowledge that
Majdanek continued to function under
Soviet stewardship, so a tactical move was
called for. I can declare that the bar in the
Grand Hotel comfortably creates the best
Bloody Mary in Poland, though for me
the highlight of Lublin at dusk has to be
the Irish pub on Grodzka – a rowdy venue
where no rules apply. It’s a great place, and
even better when you consider it a short
little detour from the Vanilla Hotel – a
design book effort that announces Lublin
as flash. Brilliant gaff, well worthy of your
custom.
Gdansk
03.08 Tuesday - 14.08 Saturday - Music in The
Monuments of Old Gdańsk
tel. (+48) 52 321 04 67QConcerts start at 19:00.
Admission free. Full schedule available at www.
filharmonia.gda.pl.
Katowice
05.08 Thursday - 08.08 Sunday - Off Festival 2010
Dolina Trzech Stawów, Al. Murckowska 6
(Muchowiec), tel. (+48) 58 554 92 00
QTickets 69zł. Pass 120-150zł. Available at www.
eventim.pl and EMPiK, ul. Piotra Skargi 6.
Poznan
31.07 Saturday - Men Music - Męskie Granie
Stary Browar, ul. Półwiejska 42, tel. (+48) 12 422
51 55 ext. 219QConcert starts at 16:00. Tickets
60zł. Available at www.eventim.pl.
Gdynia
05.08 Thursday - 08.08 Sunday
Wind and Water Fair
Marina Gdynia, Al. Jana Pawła II 13 A, tel. (+48)
58 554 92 00QAdmission free.
30.07 Friday - 31.07 Saturday
XII Rysiek Riedel Music Festival
Marsowe Fields, Al. Różana 2, tel. (+48) 58 554 92
00, www.festiwalryska.plQFestival starts at 12:00.
Tickets 55-80zł. Available at Empik, ul. Piotra Skargi 6.
Sopot
03.08 Tuesday - Chmielnikers
Atelier Theatre, ul. Mamuszki 2, tel. (+48) 58 555
14 84, www.teatratelier.sopot.plQConcert starts
at 19:30. Tickets 38zł. Available at Atelier Theatre’s
box office (Open 10:00 - 20:30).
In cooperation with In Your Pocket city guides
11
ENTERTAINmENT
The New Poland Express I Friday 30th July 2010 I www.nwe.pl
Gdansk
Warsaw Uprising Anniversary
Warsaw
31.07 Saturday - 09.08 Monday
Shakespeare Festival
tel. (+48) 58 301 13 28,
www.festiwalszekspirowski.pl
The Shakespeare Festival is a huge, cyclical
theatrical event taking place during the first
week of August, starting on the last day of
July, mainly in Gdańsk and around the Tricity.
The history of the festival started with 1993’s
Shakespearean Days which changed into a
full-blown affair in 1997. From 2006 it has been
a part of the European Shakespeare Festival
network alongside Shakespeare festivals
in Neuss (Germany), Craiova (Romania),
Bath (England) and Gyula (Hungary). The
programme includes 20 plays this year and the
list is exciting and varied as always. There are two
plays by respected Lithuanian director Oskaras
Korsunovas, as well as plays by Irina Brook, she’s
the daughter of famous theatre producer and
director Peter Brook, so let’s hope she’s a chip
off the old block. Acknowledged Hungarian
director Attil Vidnyánszky will be bringing one
of his interpretations to Gdansk too. One of
the most eagerly awaited events will be the
production of Macbeth by the Jaranda Project
of North Korea. They have already won a prize at
this year’s International Festival Of Experimental
Theatre in Cairo. If you are familiar with Andrzej
Wajda’s Man of Marble and The Promised
Land you will recognise Anderzej Seweryn. He
is here with a one-man play entitled Imagine it...
William Shakespeare. There is a lot to choose
from and the list is as varied, and controversial,
as you like. To accompany the plays there will
be meetings with the artists as well as lectures
and an educational programme. Check out
the “Shakespeare Summer Academy” where
you can sign up for, variously, workshops
about theatre, photography, journalism and
the arts - just go to www.festiwalszekspirowski.
plQFull schedule available at www.
festiwalszekspirowski.pl. Tickets 20-80zł. Pass
350-490zł. Available at Wybrzeże Theatre’s box
office (ul. Św. Ducha 2, Open 12:00-19:00, Sat,
Sun 14:00-19:00) and Musical Theatre’s box
office (Gdynia, Pl. Grunwaldzki 1, Open 09:00
- 19:00, Mon 09:00 - 15:00, Sat, Sun two hours
before performance).
01.08 Sunday - (Un)Prohibited Songs
Pl. Piłsudskiego, tel. (+48) 22 891 01 82,
www.1944.pl
Come to Pl. Piłsudskiego to sing uprising
songs, that’s protest to you and me, together
with Warsaw citizens. Weronika Grozdew will
be helping with singing and a 50-person choir.
QConcert starts at 20:30. Admission free.
01.08 Sunday - Children’s Meeting
Park Wolności, ul. Grzybowska 97, tel. (+48)
58 555 14 84, www.1944.pl
A Warsaw uprising
anniversary event
for the youngest
with all children and
their families invited.
Kids can make a knight’s outfit, a sword and a
Battle of Grunwald battle maquette. There are
competitions, adventure games and a meeting
with uprising veterans.QEvent starts at 14:00.
Admission free.
30.07 Friday - We remember - ‘44
Park Wolności, ul. Grzybowska 97, tel. (+48)
22 891 01 82, www.1944.pl
This concert will be promoting the release of
the album Wawa2010.pl. Karolina Cicha in
duets with famous artists will perfrom Warsaw
songs from the last 100 years. Her guests
include Czesław Mozil, Tomasz Budzyński,
Tymon Tymański, Jorgos Skolias and more.
QConcert starts at 20:30. Admission free.
Gdansk
31.07 Saturday - 22.08 Sunday
St. Dominic’s Fair
Main City (Główne Miasto), tel. (+48) 58 554 92 00
The tradition of the fair goes back 750 years
and was established by Pope Alexander IVth.
Originally the fair kicked off with bell ringing and
the call for around 400 ships to come to Gdańsk
to ply their wares. It was always an important event
for the town in which the king and nobility took
part; the most memorable being in 1310 where
Teutonic knights used the absence of the king
and invaded. It ran up to World War II when the
fair was stopped for 33 years. The modern version
pays a lot of mind to Medieval traditions with
salesmen from the whole Pomerania area coming
to sell their produce mainly along ul. Szeroka and
ul. Mariacka, C-3 with the streets around Targ
Rybny, D-3 full of antiques and collectors items.
It’s a colourful affair and well worth checking out.
31.07 Saturday - 15.08 Sunday
Nowe Miasto Summer Festival
Churches of Nowe Miasto, tel. (+48) 22 891
01 82
Organised for the 3rd time, this festival is
aimed at promoting Polish culture and music
as well as raising the profile of the Nowe
Miasto district amongst tourists and locals
alke. The programme comprises concerts
on Saturdays and Sundays in the churches
of Nowe Miasto, mainly on the Summer
Stage in front of St. Hyacinth’s from 13:00
to 14:00. Performers include the quartet
Camerata and Jacek Urbaniak’s Ars Nova
band presenting Grunwald music. During
the final concert (15.08, 13:00, St. Hyacinth’s
Church) Katarzyna Duda with the orchestra
Warsaw Camerata will perform two of the
most important pieces of Polish music Henryk Wieniawski’s violin concert D Minor
and Józef Elsner’s Symphony in C-Major.
QFull schedule available at www.fnok.
pl. Admission free.
04.08 Wednesday - Tomasz Stańko in Honour
of Chopin
Palladium, ul. Złota 9, tel. (+48) 22 891 01 82
Chopin compositions will be performed by
one of the best Polish jazz artists, trumpeter
Tomasz Stańko. He has invited Dominik Wania,
Sławomir Kurkiewicz and Olavi Louhivuori to
join in the fun.QConcert starts at 19:30. Tickets
15-70zł. Available at Złote Tarasy, ul. Złota 59,
first floor (Open 10:00 - 22:00, Sun 10:00 - 20:00)
and before the concert.
In cooperation with In Your Pocket city guides
12 SpORT
The New Poland Express I Friday 30th July 2010 I www.nwe.pl
Lukewarm in Barca
T
he first few days of the European
Athletics Championships in Barcelona have passed with few fireworks
and several disappointments for the Polish
team. The only medal so far is the bronze
won by Joanna Wisniewska in Wednesday’s discus final. Wisniewska threw
62.37m in the fourth round, leaving her
two metres behind the eventual winner,
Sandra Perkovic of Croatia. Wisniewska
surprised everyone with the result, her first
medal at a major championships, and one
which many thought the 38-year-old athlete would never achieve.
“A year ago others shone at the World
Championships in Berlin, this time I’ve
caused a surprise. And all the doubters
who wanted me to retire, I’d like to put
them up against a wall and ask them
what they think of that. Because we
veterans can still do a thing or two and
we shouldn’t be given up on,” declared a
defiant Wisniewska.
“It was a difficult competition
because the wind was deceptive, but I’m
enormously delighted. I hope my medal
will give wings to the team and we’ll win
more medals,” she continued in a more
positive vein.
However, she was followed shortly by
perhaps the biggest disappointment so
far, former Olympic champion Szymon
Ziolkowski only finishing fifth in the
hammer final. “Looking at the results, it
was my best performance of the season. I
didn’t expect the others to be throwing so
far today and that it would take 80m to win
the gold. This time they were better than
me and I’ll have to settle for fifth.”
Friday evening holds the best chance yet
of a medal, possibly gold, when current
world champion and world record holder
Anita Wlodarczyk goes in the women’s
hammer final.
Prior to qualification there were some
qualms about the throwing circle. “The
circle is unusual. It’s definitely very fast
and slippery. When Szymon Ziolkowski
told me about it, I was terrified. I was
a little bit frightened and went to the
stadium feeling concerned. Now, I know
you can throw a world record here,”
Wlodarczyk explained.
Wlodarczyk qualified for the final
with her first throw, beating the 69m
qualification mark with two metres to
spare. “I had to maintain the tradition and,
like Szymon, qualify with my first throw.
That definitely wasn’t the maximum I can
do. I’m gathering my energy for the final,”
she told reporters, and left the stadium
with a broad smile.
Poland’s European flops
T
his week has been a disaster
for Polish teams in Europe,
with all of its teams losing
important f ixtures, meaning they almost all face elimination before August has begun. The losses were not
even to superior sides, but mostly to
minnows that even diehard fans have
barely heard of.
Lech kicked off with a 1-0 loss to
Sparta Prague on Wednesday, but at
least have the consolation of Europa
league football if they fail to overturn
the result in the home leg next week.
Thursday evening though brought a
catalogue of disaster for the teams
hoping to join them in the Europa
league.
Wisla Krakow, Jagiellonia Bialystok
and Ruch Chorzow all conspired to lose
home matches to FK Karabach (who?),
Aris Salonika (who?) and Austria
Vienna and now face an uphill struggle
in the away fixtures. It was – as the
Polish press have labelled it – a black
Thursday.
SpORTS BRIEFS
Speedway against slimming
Poland’s speedway star Tomasz Gollob has
spoken out this week about the dangers of
anorexia among athletes. Gollob’s comments
were sparked by his colleague Janusz Kolodziej,
who dropped his weight to 53kg and plans to
lose three more kilos. “Nobody can tell me that
a racer who loses weight retains his strength and
power. Slimming is trendy among riders now,
but we have to be clear about it, otherwise the
track could be really dangerous. It starts with
eating disorders and ends up with anorexia. We
all remember what happened to [German ski
jumper] Sven Hannavald. They say he suffered
from depression, so let’s not head in the wrong
direction,” Gollob told Przeglad Sportowy.
“It costs me a lot to maintain my current
weight. A whole team of people look after it.
We could turn around suddenly and find that
all the riders weigh 40kg and are ill. In ski
jumping and Formula 1 there are weight limits.
If F1 didn’t have the limits, drivers would weigh
20kg – ok, I’m exaggerating, but I want to draw
attention to a real problem.”
Podkarpackie outside football
The Polish FA is locked in conflict with its
Podkarpackie section and is threatening to
eject the entire region from its organisation,
effectively ousting them from the entire
footballing world. The FA is accusing Kazimierz
Gren, head of the Podkarpackie FA, of
mismanagement and of slandering its parent
organisation. Gren is anything but contrite,
writing on his blog, “It’s an attempt to gag me.
I’m writing the truth about the cesspit that is
the Polish FA, and the secret police methods
they use there. I know that Lato is afraid of
my criticism. He hasn’t met a single one of
his election promises, and if he finds my blog
insulting, he can take me to court.”
• Koszykowa 30, Warszawa
• Open 7 Days a Week
• Shop & Delivery: +48 692 240 804
• Menu & More Info: www.fishandchips.pl
• E-mail: info@fishandchips.pl
• Wide Range of British goods in store
• BringForMe service – personal import from the UK
• 1 Free Coke with large fish & Chips – quote TNPE2307
13
CLASSIFIEDS
The New Poland Express I Friday 30th July 2010 I www.nwe.pl
Classifieds:
place your free ads and community
news here. Email [email protected]
Classical choir for amateurs
Flat for Rent in Warsaw - Anin
HOUSE TO LET - Sadyba
Doubtful you are good enough?
Give it a try!
Rehearsals in English every Tuesday
at 6.30 in Nowy Swiat.
Spacious & quiet flat of 132m2, 5 rooms (4 bedrooms)
ideal for family with children
- separate, fully furnished kitchen with dining space,
- large and bright living room,
- four bedrooms, two bathrooms,
- garage.
Monthly rent 3500 zl plus media
www.mieszkaniewaninie.pl
Contact: [email protected] or +33628928945
Great Location - good for Town Centre,
Schools, Airport etc. Lovely Modern House
with Garden and two private terraces.
Large Bright Living Room, Four Bedrooms, Three
Bathrooms, Utility Room which can also be used
as Office Space if required. Double Garage.
Furnished or Unfurnished as required.
Available this Month. Must be Seen !
PLN 9,500 call Jan 0603923733
Apt. to let – Kabaty / Warsaw
House for rent
Apt. to let - Warsaw City Centre
89m - 3 bedrooms, dinning room with fully
equipped kitchenette, bathroom, toilet
with washing machine, balcony. Includes
cellar and underground parking space.
Guarded area, with playground for children.
Very close to Kabaty Metro Station and
Int. American School. Rent 3300 / mth
e-mail: [email protected], mobile: 508-275-443
Modern 3-storey, 6-bedroom detached house
with big garden in the center of Old Konstancin,
with elegant entrance hall, impressive living
room, separate dining room, kitchen with
pantry, air conditioned attic and a spa room
(sauna, Jacuzzi). The house is situated close to
picturesque park and spa. 17,000PLN
Contact; Teresa Jenkins 0601 91 97 49
Ul. Zurawia 24
Lovely 2 bedroom apartment in the heart of the
city
104m2
Powisle Apartment For Sale
Apartment for sale - Warsaw
Summerhouse at Mazurian Lake
I am selling my 80m2 flat on ul. Szara.
2nd floor, no lift. Flat to be modernised.
Block is renovated. Perfect location in
the park. 999,000pln or best offer..
Fed up with weekends in Warsaw?
Need hide-away from the big town?
Charming summerhouse 2 hrs from
Warsaw to rent. Ideal for families w/kids
and pets. Full season rent possible.
Contact:
[email protected] tel. 693041085
Central Warsaw near Royal Route.
Built in 1912. 1st floor of four.
Modernised with original features retained.
Just under 100 m2.
Price 1.94M PLN.
Photographs available on request.
Telephone: 0725 857 475
Downtown Studio+Sunny Balcony
Apartment to let - Warsaw
Polish or English
To rent from July 2010: Charming studio with
living room, kitchenette, bathroom, and
sunny balcony. Fully furnished, renovated,
wooden floor, 24 sqm. Washing Machine,
DSL + WiFi, Phone. 3 mins from Metro
“Ratusz” in quiet street w/ Parking.
Apartment to let downton wasrsaw
200 metres from metro centrum.
Canadian fluently bilingual able to
clarify and solve linguistic problems
for those seriously interested.
Contact: [email protected]
Contact Richard Berkeley at [email protected]
2
Please call monika luther - davies for full
details and photos 0048 601 81 81 70.
tel 880 288 888
Contact:
[email protected]
Contact: [email protected]
Private Spanish Lessons
Spanish teacher (NATIVE SPEAKER) with
experience in private tuition. I would be happy
to teach you spanish and improve your level with
intensive and funny lessons.
Contact Elena, 722 15 58 10,
[email protected]
Warsaw downtown area.
Price 50 zl/60 min.
Place your
classified ad
here
Personal ads
are for free
14
COmmUNITY NEWS
The New Poland Express I Friday 30th July 2010 I www.nwe.pl
Community Groups:
place free listings for
your community groups here. Email [email protected]
Role Playing Game in Warsaw
Poland Tartan Army
HASH HOUSE HARRIERS
International English-speaking group in Warsaw,
mostly foreign professionals, play tabletop
Dungeons & Dragons fortnightly. No experience
necessary but fluent English proficiency is
required. Have a good time. Play some games.
Meet new friends. Open your imagination. More
info: Facebook group: http://tiny.cc/zaffa or
CreativeCowboy[at]yahoo[dot]com
A new Poland Tartan Army Facebook group
has been created. If you are a fan of Scottish
football and our national team please
join the group by visiting Facebook and
conducting a search for Poland Tartan Army.
If anyone, who is not a part of Facebook,
is interested in this idea then please email
[email protected] to register your interest.
We are a Polish and Expat social group who organise a
walk/run in a forest, park or around the city, followed by
a few beers (or whatever takes your fancy!). We meet at
the Marriott hotel on alternate Saturdays at 2pm. “Hash
House Harriers” is an international group, which was
originally established in Malaysia 70 years ago.
All are welcome. For details, call Martin at 502-052-958.
Email [email protected] or www.warsawhash.pl
International Women’s Group
International Rotary Club
Gospel Baptist Church
Meetings are held twice a month on the first
Monday (at rotating locations between 10:30
and 12:30) and the third Monday of the month at
Restauracja Tapa y Toro located in the Zlote Trasy
Shopping Mall (ul. Zlota 59) from 10:00 - 11:00.
For more information see www.iwgwarsaw.com or
contact us at [email protected]
International Rotary Club - Warszawa Wilanow is
the only English speaking Rotary Club in Warsaw.
Visiting Rotarians are warmly welcomed
to join the weekly meetings held at the
Polonia Palace Hotel, Al. Jerozolimskie 45.
Tuesday’s at 12:00, except the last Tuesday
of each month when the meeting is at 19:00.
For more information: +48 601 897 731
Services are held in Polish and English
languages: Sun. 11:00, Thurs. 19:00. For more
information contact: Pastor Paul Sock, mob.
0500-270-990, e-mail: [email protected]
GAA in Warsaw
Expat meetings
Toastmasters club
Cumann Warszawa.Poland’s first and only GAA
club is up and running and is looking for players
of all levels, all nationalities and both sexes. We
offer weekly training, competitive games and
regular social events as well as fresh oranges at
half time.
Contact Eoin at 0518-425-587 or
[email protected]
Meeting English speakers in Warsaw just got a
whole load easier. We don’t teach you Salsa,
we make you pay for your own drinks, but
we do promise to give you the premier multicultural event of the week at Warsaw’s very own
Professional Wednesday Meetup.
Toastmasters club (Polska) invites all to its weekly
meetings. Toastmasters is the international
organization for learning the art of public
speaking and enhancing leadership skills.
Meetings every Wednesday at 19.00 at the Palace
of Culture 12th floor (premises of Collegium
Civitas) - entrance from ul. Marszałkowska side.
For more details visit www.toastmasters.org.pl or
call Etan at 696-292-451
Contact - [email protected] or 691535566
Poznan International Church
Every Sunday at 10:00
Contact details: www.international.pl. It’s simple at P.I.C..
Come and experience God through current music and
relevant teaching. Grow in your relationship with God
and others by making friends and joining a small group.
Serve God and people by being generous with the gifts
God has given you. Go and make a difference in the
world by sharing the love of Christ.
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