Shell and Sharp seal the deal

After months of negotiations and rumors on the market, the investment news is now official. Shell is going to open an accounting and financial center in Kraków at a cost of zł.27 million creating some 800 jobs. The oil giant already runs similar centers in Glasgow, Manila, Kuala Lumpur and Guatemala. The Kraków office will service the Polish and European branches of the corporation.

"The range of operations performed by Shell's financial and accounting centers requires locating them in places with plenty of people who are well-educated, speaking foreign languages and mobile," said Pierre-Yves Fargeas, CEO of Shell Polska.

Another significant factor that influenced Shell's decision was financial support from the government. Between 2006 and 2010 the company will get zł.3 million in grants and tax breaks.

The second foreign investor to strengthen its position in Poland is the Japanese Sharp Corporation, which is going to invest EUR 150 (zł.589) million by 2010. Sharp is going to construct a plant manufacturing LCD modules in the Special Economic Zone in Łysomice near Toruń.

"The first phase envisages investment worth EUR 44 [zł.173] million, and we plan to expand our factory so that by 2010 we will invest EUR 150 [zł.591] million," Sharp president Katsuhiko Machida said. "We have to remember such investments usually attract other co-producers. I would expect the value of the entire investments linked to our project would be two or even three times higher than what we are planning to invest."

The plant is to become operational in 2007 and will employ 800 people at the start up. According to Puls Biznesu Sharp will partner with Orion Electric, which is going to contribute a further zł.242 million to the common project and create 1,700 additional jobs.