Poland The French connection

Well, the first question which comes to my mind is simply, why Poland? Why Poland?

It's a very fair question. As a businessman, I would say you want to do business with people you like and in the countries where you know, you have good relationships. And actually, it's amazing when you look at the history between France and Poland. I mean, for centuries, the two countries have been working hand in hand together, and in multiple domains, like the military, science, and culture. And you can see the relationship is extremely strong. So it's a natural move for a French business leader to come in Poland. France is one of the top three countries in terms of the number of people it employs in Poland. In Poland. All the major French companies are in Poland. Second, it's a big market. Secondly, when you look at the economic fundamentals of the countries, it's amazing. This country is well above all the other European countries. You have a lot of very talented people. We didn't come to Poland because the workforce was cheaper compared to the other European markets, but because they were very well educated. And last but not least, I would say Poland is the largest European country in Central and Eastern Europe. And it basically acts as a hub for all the other Eastern European countries.

The one thing I always hear when people talk about the virtues of Poland is the geopolitical risk. I mean, there's a war just next door.

You know, you have data centres that are built in Finland, 20 km from the border. So, I mean, if we try to remove all the development and investment that is quite close from the border with Russia, or Belarus, you will miss out on quite a lot of development. And I'm very optimistic for the future. I think Poland, for all these reasons, is a very interesting market to invest in. I think that the geopolitical issues that you're mentioning will basically be manageable in the future. And if there is an invasion into Poland, the problem will be much bigger than our investment. So I'm quite positive. Let's be clear, in general, we tend to overestimate the problems of what we see and underestimate those we don't. Who could have believed that we would have a third war in the Gulf? Really.

You're just saying there's no point getting worried about such things?

We measure it, we're aware of it, but basically, there is no reason for us at the moment to consider stopping our investment.

That's more where I want to go next, which is what are your plans for the future? Let's say over a 10 -year perspective?

Well, we have a five -year plan. By 2030, we intend to have finished this development, which brings us from EUR 200 mln invested today up to EUR 600 mln. We want to triple our investment in this campus by 2030, and with digital infrastructure, it takes time because you need to design it, you need to get permission, and you need to build it. That takes time.

So you're saying the first thing you want to do is build out here?

Yes, we have 4 ha, and we can build four data centres, so we have basically a plan to build two more centres on the site. Already, we are thinking about the next step, and for the next step, we have secured more than 100 megawatts. We're going to roll out these 100 extra megawatts we have secured with the power companies.

And there's one other question I should ask, which is, do you have any other plans for the broader CEE region?

Not really. We are extremely pleased to be in Warsaw. Warsaw and Poland act as a hub for the region. I don't see any reason now for us to go into other markets.