Making a stand

The campaign against the 22 per cent VAT on flats owed its success to a large extent, to Polski Związek Firm Deweloperskich (the Polish Union of Developers), who are currently trying to prevent an equally high tax on building sites. The key objectives set out by PZFD are to improve the situation in housing construction and then, in development. They strive to represent the interests of housing developers both in Poland and abroad, foster a respectable image for those firms and finally, protect the rights of their members. Preparing the case They fulfil these goals by an internationally accepted method in the modern world: lobbying, which they pursue with the assistance of a special PR agency. "We gather the knowledge and then prepare the arguments which we use in negotiations with MP's and civil servants," says Andrzej Halicki of the PZDF management board, who simultaneously works for GGK Public Relations. It was precisely this approach to protecting their int