Permits could put spanner in works for Praktiker plans to build on success

Praktiker, the home improvement chain owned by Metro Group, plans to open 15 new stores in this country over the next five years. The president of Praktiker in Poland Frank Ring said that the outlets would be opened in large cities and in places where Praktiker stores already exist but the market is far from saturated. The company is planning to invest as much as zł.500 million by 2009. Praktiker currently has 16 stores in 14 cities and in 2003 its revenues in Poland exceeded zł.590 million. "This year we are aiming to achieve a 5 to 6% growth in the sales, which will be a result of the boom on the Polish market," said Ring. However, he admitted that the length of time taken to process all the permits necessary for the investments remained a substantial obstacle for his company. (Puls Biznesu, p.7) E.B.