Resolutely optimistic

We are standing on the threshold of another year. Even though it was in ancient times when it was decided where one year ends and another begins, we still have an exceptionally strong belief 
in the power of this moment – that this is the time to leave behind what we do not want and start something new and definitively better. Faith can move mountains – and this is where the power of 
our resolutions comes from. Especially if we really want to keep them.

This year the Christmas break should not be as stressful for the real estate industry as it was in 2008. The market has stabilized and we have all cooled down after all the emotions of last year’s crisis. Throughout the year the bosses of many a real estate company have had to act like captains steering their ships into quieter waters. Fortunately, only a few have run aground, and the more seaworthy ships have been fishing some of their crews out of the sea foam. At the moment, however, we are sailing through shallow, but calm waters. So now is the right time to roll out the maps and plot the right course. Where are the managers in Central Europe leading their companies? How will their resolutions influence their companies and employees? Even though superstition requires that resolutions are kept secret, some of the managers – the less superstitious ones – felt able to reveal them to our readers. What plans does your boss have for the future? Check them out on the following pages. It’s worth doing so, because some of the plans might show you a new face of the managers you have been familiar with for so many years.

Zbigniew Wojciech Okoński

chairman of the management board, Robyg

My business resolutions for 2010 include as fast an entry of our group onto the Warsaw Stock Exchange as possible and achieving the highest capitalization possible. We are also going to launch our third Warsaw development (after Żoliborz and Wilanów), and should sell at least 100 apartments in the Lawendowe Wzgórza and Słoneczna Morena projects in Gdańsk.

When it comes to the private sphere, I solemnly undertake to learn to play Chopin’s ‘Revolutionary Étude’ and ‘Polonaise in E-flat’. In addition I would like to spend a week’s holiday with my grandchildren to get to know Poland better, and to swim and play football together…

Tanya Kosseva -Boshova

chief executive officer, European Trade Center

There are years when all the important events pile up in just a few months. This year has been just like that for me. Several projects in whose development I have personally taken part were completed. We opened Burgas Plaza Mall and Retail Park Plovdiv. In mid-2009, I again took up a new challenge in the field of commercial properties: I became the CEO of European Trade Center, which is scheduled to open at the beginning of 2010. Therefore, as you might expect, my personal life has been totally taken over by my professional obligations. As well as the new projects, I found many new friends and followers – and this is my most important legacy from 2009. In the little personal time that I have had in the last 12 months, I have managed to be with my closest friends at the most important celebrations, to go to my home town of Ruse, to see the ocean in the summer, and to travel through a number of beautiful areas in Bulgaria, Europe and Latin America. Together with my husband, I have managed to renovate our new apartment and move in. I couldn’t read all the books that I wanted to, but I am determined to read all of them and a few more next year. I am also looking forward to another challenge: building City Mall Stara Zagora. And probably one more small but important thing to me – to manage to walk more often in Sofia’s city centre.

Piotr Kroenke

general director, Globe Trade Centre

New Year’s resolutions are a more serious matter than dreams because we have to account for them at some point. At work I am planning to get even more involved in relationship-building with our business partners, both the present ones and the potential ones – this is my main New Year’s resolution. In addition, I would like to leave a clean desk after I finish work every day. This is admittedly always a New Year’s resolution of mine, but I am almost sure that in 2010 it will become fact.

My private New Year’s resolutions include devoting more time to my passions and interests, both the long-standing ones and the completely new ones. I hope that I will be able to intensify various sports activities. And in the evenings I am going to catch up with my reading of historical books, which contain invaluable lessons for everyone.

Alexander Champarevich

CEO, Piccadilly retail chain (part of Delta Maxi Group)

2009 was a very exciting year – one of challenges and opportunities. Challenges related to adapting to the changed environment in the retail sector in Bulgaria; and opportunities linked to taking advantage of the situation in the best way possible and making a profit out of it. During this unusual year I managed to get married and to introduce Bulgaria to my wife. I realized that even in a difficult year anything is possible when the foundations of your personal and professional relations are sound and are based on honesty, respect and mutual benefit. As far as I am concerned, my family is what inspires me to work with passion and to do things in the best way for everybody. That is why my biggest wish for 2010 is that I manage to settle down in Varna, Sofia, Belgrade or anywhere else where I will be able to spend the maximum amount of time with my family! 2010 will bring me the best present ever – I will become a father! This makes me the richest and happiest person I could possibly be. I am sure the child will change me for the better, and I can’t wait for that to happen. Looking ahead to the coming year, we can see that our entire industry will be facing changes: fierce competition, low demand, new technologies, new players and new regulations. And those are just the ones we know about right now. Change not only represents the unknown, but it also calls on us to adapt. Change brings change in ourselves and in the way we do things. I wish for all of you that you learn how to do things better! I believe that 2010 will be a better for us all. We should remember the lessons we have learned in 2009, and being wiser and stronger I am sure that we will become better still!

Marek Roefler

president of the management board, Dantex

My New Year’s resolutions connected with work include stabilizing our activities and a cost analysis of the company. Because the economic crisis has reached Poland a little later than other countries, we will be getting out of it much longer too, which is why we have to increase the efficiency of our company and reduce all unnecessary costs in 2010. In spite of planning to enter the stock exchange, I do not believe that the situation on the financial markets in 2010 will be favourable for such a move. In addition to this, since Dantex has been investing in art for many years, we are planning to open a gallery in a historic building in Konstancin-Jeziorna, where our collection will be exhibited. And because I have worked so hard for the last 3 years, I would like to spend more time with my family as well as with myself next year.

Denis Čupić

CEO, Redserve

In 2009 my company opened the West Gate shopping centre in Zagreb, which I also consider my biggest professional and personal achievement. I believe 2010 is going to be a turning point for Redserve as well as for me personally. Our professional goals for 2010 include further growth. Since we are a service provider, I expect a hard struggle for new acquisitions – but I have high expectations. As for my personal goals in 2010, I will put more effort into spending more time with my family, as well as to work more intensively on myself – since with such a complex project as West Gate was, one sees and indentifies one’s weaknesses and strengths. So my goal is to work on my weaknesses as well as to utilize my strengths in the best possible way. I hope I will still be able to find time for relaxation. I will spend my holidays on the Adriatic coast, for as long as my professional obligations will allow, of course. For the time being I am spending weekends at my weekend house on the Adriatic coast. I am planning to sail along the coast and if it is possible to find the time, to go diving and find in this way the new energy needed to get back to business.

Józef Wojciechowski

chairman of the supervisory board, J.W. Construction Holding

The end of the year is filled with re-examining and future planning. Despite the crisis on the market, I can be happy with the results we have had, thanks to the stable foundations of the company. 2010 will in turn be the time for further diversification of J.W. Construction’s operations. Office projects will gather momentum. And we will launch a non-standard offer of detached houses for individual clients, which will be an innovation on the Polish market. My personal New Year’s resolutions are connected with a passion I have had for some time: football. Only when I started to get personally involved with this sport did I come to understand the powerful emotions that it engenders. As the owner of KSP Polonia Warszawa SSA, I watch the team closely and support them during each match. And I will keep working so that next year’s results are better than those of previous seasons.

Agnieszka Pyra

vice-president, Apsys Polska

This year has been a demanding period for Apsys Polska. We have restructured the company to enhance its efficiency and to take into account the termination of the long term partnership with Apsys’ financial partner, Foncière Euris. A new management board of the company was appointed in June.

In 2010 we shall focus on increasing the satisfaction of our clients even more, especially shopping centre owners, retailers and customers. Apsys manages 17 shopping centres and next year plans to expand its portfolio with two new ones. On the other hand, Apsys is to press on with its development of two already advanced major retail investment projects, in Poznań and Wrocław. Professionally, my goal for 2010 is – in this difficult market situation – to keep Apsys’ staff motivated and to continue providing our clients and shareholders with reliable financial information.

As regards my personal plans – the end of the year is always a good time to summarize the current one and set goals for the one to come. The list of my New Year’s resolutions will certainly include efforts to maintain balance and harmony between my private and professional life. I would like to spend more time with my 18-month old son, and to develop my hobbies: psychology and fashion design.

Maciej Wróblewski

vice-president, Apsys Polska

My personal plans for 2010 include taking up regular physical 
activity, carrying out major repair work in my house and spending more time my wife and children. I am also planning to expand my knowledge through participating in workshops on financial analysis and real estate valuation.

Professionally, my personal goal is to secure a development pipeline for the growth 
of Apsys Polska in the next few years, maintaining a strong company 
culture and ensuring an enjoyable working environment for our employees.

Edgars Bukševics

development director, Immostate

In 2010 I am going to be carried away by the Olympic spirit – literally! After 3 years in the Baltic markets, I am relocating back to more familiar ground – Vancouver, Canada, with a professional resolution to expand and represent Immostate’s activities overseas. Given that Vancouver will be showcased to the world during the Winter Olympics, we aim to contribute to the action from 2010 onwards, by delivering in-depth property insights, on-site presence, and full representation to our existing and prospective Central & Eastern European investor base, thus strengthening the bridge between Canada and Europe. With the economic recession in Canada now nearly over, Vancouver is still a significant force on the Canadian real estate market, accounting for roughly 25 pct of all 2009’s investment transactions and making a steady recovery in terms of commercial leasing and housing sales. Personally, in 2010 I am looking to get involved in more outdoor activities, especially considering the spectacular skiing conditions and recreational areas in the Vancouver area.

Michael Kröger

head of international real estate finance for Northern and Central Europe, Helaba Landesbank Hessen-Thüringen

Given the constraints imposed by the financial markets, it has been a relatively good year for Helaba and its customers in the CE region, as well as in other markets. We count on investors increasingly recognizing the opportunities available in the CE region, and we are expecting more deep pocket investors and a property (instead of finance) related investment strategy to be the key trends. The segmentation of CE markets will continue, and Poland will be even more outstanding than today. 

For me and my team, our New Year’s resolution would not be too different from what we have always wanted to practise: keeping a good sense of proportion and being reliable for customers in the long run. And in connection with “long runs”, I personally intend to dedicate more time to sports and eventually to participate in the Berlin marathon next year.

Peter Obernhuber

member of the board, UBM Polska

The end of the year is the right time for reflection and New Year’s resolutions. As is the case every year, this one passed by too fast. UBM’s business resolutions for 2010 include the continuation of our previous operations in European markets and – especially – in Austria and Poland. They also include not giving in to the overwhelming pressure generated by the crisis, which, being a natural cyclical economic change, I regard instead as a chance and a challenge to open up new opportunities for us. It is not only our projects that are the hallmark of our company’s approach, but it has always mainly been the people who develop them – and this is the message we also wish to start the New Year with.

On a personal note, I intend to shorten somewhat my 16-hour work day to have more time for my family, as well as to pursue my two passions: cooking and hunting. I intend to spend more time in the bosom of nature, namely in the woods. If time permits, I also hope to further improve my knowledge of Polish and Russian. And most of all to be happy.

Sebastien Dejanovski

managing director, Develon

Again, the year 2010 will be challenging not only for developers, but for the whole real estate industry. But in these difficult times quality becomes a pre-requisite for creating opportunities in our work. We will focus on our current projects to preserve their value, and through innovation gain competitive advantages. We believe that our full commitment and involvement in every detail of our projects will deliver real added value to our clients. I wish that our efforts would be recognized, because long-term relationships and sustainability belong to the very essence of the real estate business.