Time to look back

Often when we want to start something new and difficult we postpone it until the following day. In December there is little point any more in making resolutions for the year that’s coming to a close; but not to use the beginning of a new one is like missing a train when the next one will only arrive at the platform 365 days later
Emil Górecki

Twelve issues of our magazine ago, a dozen or so market players from Central Europe shared their New Year’s resolutions with us. A public declaration can usually be relied on more than one made in private, so today I decided to check if this really is the case.
Development company Robyg has been the talk of the town since its recent listing on the Warsaw Stock Exchange. Taking a glance at the New Year’s resolutions of the company’s president, Zbigniew Okoński, the IPO was among them. The others included: reaching the highest capitalisation possible, launching a third project in Warsaw, and the sale of at least 100 apartments in Gdańsk  – all targets that the president managed to achieve. The results have been a little less impressive when it comes to his personal ambitions. Despite this being Chopin year, Zbigniew Okoński still cannot play the Revolutionary Étude or the Grande Polonaise Brillante. Still, he should be excused because instead of spending one week with his grandchildren as he promised, he actually spent two weeks with them in 2010.
Alexander Champarevich, the president of the management board of the Piccadilly retail chain at the time, also revealed his plans to us. He promised himself that he would settle in  a Bulgarian town and spend more time with his family, as he had recently become a father. Has he succeeded? Unfortunately, we haven’t been able to find out. He has become the SEE  director at Delta Maxi Group, i.e. after being promoted within the corporation. This does not usually create favourable conditions for family-oriented plans, but I hope that this time he has managed to find a way.
A family thread was also evident in the New Year’s resolutions of Tanya Kosseva-Boshova, the director of Bulgarian company European Trade Center. She was another who wanted to spend more time with her family, among other things. In this she has probably succeeded, having just become the mother of two boys. As Tanya is currently on maternity leave, she has not been able to tell us how well she has managed to get on with her other resolutions.
The 2010 resolutions of Sebastien Dejanovski, the managing director of Czech company Develon, centred around work-related issues: to focus on retaining the value of the developer’s projects, to face up to the competition through the implementation of innovations, and to build long-term relationships with business partners. Today, while wiping the sweat from his forehead, the head of the group is able to boast that although it has not been easy, he has managed to succeed in his goals.
After three years working in the Latvian office of Immostate, Edgars Bukševics decided to leave Europe. He now lives in Vancouver and, as he says, spends most of his time integrating with the Canadian property sector. He promised on the pages of our magazine that he would spend more time outdoors. He now probably has a lot of opportunities to do so, not just through getting to know the local sector, but also because of the favourable conditions for recreation provided by the nearby forests and the Rocky Mountains.
Michael Kröger, the head of international RE finance at Helaba Landesbank, announced that he and his team would work on the company’s credibility and sense of proportion, as well as increasing its activity on the Polish market. Has he been successful? This is for the clients to decide. Mr Kröger’s personal resolution was of a sporting nature. He wanted to be able to devote more time to sport and take part in the Berlin marathon. Sadly, in this he has failed. But, as he himself admits, hope dies last  – so perhaps next year?
Last year Denis Čupić, the president of Redserve, promised to intensify the further development of the company. In this ambition he has to be congratulated, since today the developer is flushed with such successes. However, in order to work well it is necessary to relax – something that the company’s president promised to do more of. Alas, he has not managed to spend as much time as he would have liked with his family, but he is convinced that Lidia, his ‘better half’, understands how much his company has needed him during such a difficult and crucial year. This is one aspect that he still plans to improve on next year.
For the New Year I hope all of our readers feel confident enough to make ambitious resolutions and wish you every success in achieving them.