The price of Power

According to Grant Thornton's International Business Report 2007, it is high time for European enterprises to start working on a new energy-saving strategy. According to the report, European economies appeared more threatened by rising energy costs than other global economies. Significantly, in the 2007 report European countries represented half of the top 10 countries most anxious about rising energy costs. Poland is no exception, with 43 percent of the surveyed enterprises considering rising energy costs as one of the main reasons for the higher production costs.

The International Business Report, however, showed that a significant percentage of Polish enterprises are already implementing various energy-saving strategies to reduce the impact of higher energy costs. The most common solutions include the reduction of energy use, thorough measuring, energy audits and investments in energy saving technologies. Some of the companies are even considering moving their operations outside of Poland. The cost of energy, however, was only one factor contributing to the possible emigration of capital from Poland, with high labor costs as the main reason for potential withdrawal. 

Poland holds seventh place in the ranking of countries most concerned about energy usage, two places under Germany - a country known for its strict pro-ecological policy. "Generally speaking, Polish business is moving forward in terms of energy-saving awareness. The truth is that the [countries] that refuse to adjust will lose in the long run," Andrzej Kinast, CEO of Grant Thornton Polska, sums up.

The actual ratio between the declarations of good will and real action is to be revealed in two years in a new study on the subject.