Seminar Doing Business with Brazil
The Embassy of Brazil in Warsaw and the Polish-Portuguese Chamber of Commerce have the honor to invite your company to participate in the Seminar on Doing Business with Brazil.
The Seminar will feature presentations by experts on investment opportunities in the Brazilian market, as well as on the practical and legal aspects of doing business with Brazil. Information shall also be provided on the Brazilian macroeconomic environment. The event should be useful to representatives of companies from all sectors and industries that may be interested in exploring business opportunities and partnerships in the Brazilian market, especially (though not exclusively) as potential investors.
The Seminar will take place on May 17 at 3.00 p.m. in the Relation Center of BZ WBK, 17 Jana Pawła II Avenue, Warsaw.
The event will be held in English, with no translation provided. Please find attached the Agenda of the Seminar. A dinner buffet with Brazilian specialties will be served after the Seminar.
The entrance is free of charge, but registration is necessary.
Please register directly through the link until 8 May 2018.
Due to a limited number of seats, applications are accepted on a first come first served basis. In case the number of registrations exceeds the available places, confirmation of participation will be subject to the organizers’ decision. Seminar ‘Doing Business with Brazil
TAP Air Portugal 10% Discount
TAP Air Portugal is offering the new special discount to the Members and Friends of the Polish-Portuguese Chamber of Commerce.
From April 12th until April 19th 2018, you will have the opportunity to benefit from a special 10% discount on TAP Air Portugal flights from Warsaw and Prague.
Feel free to use it and enjoy!
PPCC and KIG’s Trade Mission to Mozambique (Maputo), 1-5 July 2018
We have the pleasure to announce the PPCC and KIG’s Trade Mission to Mozambique which will take place on 1-5 July 2018.
The PPCC Trade Mission to Maputo is a great occasion to get to know some new business opportunities in Mozambique and find potential trade partners in the market. The most important and promising sectors in the country are: mining, energy, machine, processing and IT industries; agriculture; fishing; tourism and infrastructure investments.
The trade mission will strongly focus on B2B meetings, with individual sessions with potential business partners, according to each company’s profile, that will include meetings about local tax laws, certification and procedures. We believe that a strong awareness of the market’s reality is of the utmost importance for sustainable success.
Enclosed, please find the detailed offer. If you are interested in taking part in our Trade Mission, please fill in the form (filling in the form does not oblige you to take part in the mission).
We encourage you to get to know the Mozambique’s market and establish interesting commercial contacts.
If you have any questions or comments, please do not hesitate to contact directly Ms. Weronika Gwiazda, Operations Manager of the Polish-Portuguese Chamber of Commerce: weronika@ppcc.pl, +48 539 728 680.
Bill (“Bill”) on termination of the Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Poland and the Government of the Republic of Portugal on promotion and reciprocal protection of investments
The Polish-Portuguese Chamber of Commerce, with support of Mr. Marek Jeżewski, PhD, from one of our Member Companies Kochański Zięba & Partners, have prepared a summary regarding the status of termination of the Agreement signed between the Government of the Republic of Poland and the Government of the Republic of Portugal on promotion and reciprocal protection of investments. Please consult the text below:
On September 30, 2017, the President of the Republic of Poland signed a Bill (“Bill”) on termination of the Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Poland and the Government of the Republic of Portugal on promotion and reciprocal protection of investments, done in Lisbon on March 11, 1993 („Treaty”). The Bill was adopted by the Polish Sejm on September 15, 2017 and gave authorization to the President to terminate the Treaty in accordance with its Article 11(2). That provision allows the Contracting Party to unilaterally terminate the Treaty on the basis of a note of termination submitted at least 12 months prior to the expiry of each of the 5 years terms of applicability of the Treaty (“Sunset Clause”). According to the Government, the Bill is justified due to the Treaty’s alleged inconsistency with the EU Law and due to the fact that general public does not favor investor-State dispute settlement mechanism prescribed in the Treaty and other similar treaties (“BITs”).
The discussion regarding termination of the intra-EU BITs has started already in 2011 when the European Commission suggested that such BITs may be contrary to EU obligations. As from then, Polish government has started discussions with European counter-parts on potential mutual termination of the BITs. However, with the exception of BITs with Italy, Denmark, Romania, Czech Republic, Estonia and Latvia, which have been recently approached by the Polish government regarding mutual termination, no other EU Member States were interested. Consequently, Poland undertook steps to unilaterally terminate some of those BITs in accordance with respective Sunset Clauses.
The Treaty has been intended to create favorable conditions for investments by investors of one Contracting Party on the territory of another Contracting Party. The Treaty guarantees fair and equitable treatment, non-discrimination and protection against non-compensable expropriation and nationalization. The Treaty provides also for the possibility to defend investors’ rights in front of independent international arbitration tribunal who decides potential disputes on the basis of international standards and not on the basis of municipal law.
The note of termination of the Treaty was submitted by Polish MFA to Portuguese part in November 2017. As a result, the termination of the Treaty will become effective as of August 3, 2019. Under Article 11(3) of the Treaty, all investments undertaken prior to the latter date will enjoy protection for 10 following years, i.e., until August 3, 2029. Throughout that period, whenever Polish authorities breach obligations under the Treaty, Portuguese investors will still be in a position to initiate arbitration proceedings.
Please note, that contrary to the Government’s justification of the Bill, EU is not unanimous as to consistency of intra-EU BITs with the EU Law. Currently, the CJEU deals with a case concerning enforceability of arbitration award based on Slovak-Netherlands BITs and its consistency with the EU Law. In the recent opinion, dated September 19, 2017, the EU Advocate General rejected the European Commission’s standpoint as to the inconsistency of Intra-EU BITs with EU Law. The CJEU should render its judgment in the near future.
Conclusions:
– all Portuguese investors, who made or will make their investments until August 3, 2019, will enjoy protection under the Treaty for the forthcoming 10 years, i.e., until August 3, 2029.
Marek Jeżewski PhD
Advocate, Partner. Head of Arbitration Practice. Marek specializes in international arbitration, particularly investment arbitration and international commercial arbitration.
We would like to remind you that the PPCC was involved in the matter from the very beginning and intervened on 1st of August by sending a letter to Mr. Tadeusz Kościński, the Undersecretary of State in the Ministry of Development of Poland. B both our letter and the response which we received on 13th September, with the respective working translations into English and Polish.
Letter from Undersecretary of State
Letter from Undersecreatry of State – working translation
DZP advises on a strategic alliance on the public transport market
On Monday, 18 December, FlixBus announced an integration with Polski Bus, belonging to Souter Holdings Poland sp. z o.o.
DZP lawyers provided full-range legal services to both Souter Holdings Poland and Souter Investments Limited in the structuring, negotiating and closing of the transaction with the German FlixMobility GmbH.
“This is one of the most important and more noticeable transactions on the road transport market – it concerns the Polskibus.com brand, which is extremely recognisable on the Polish market.” said Marcin Krakowiak, Head of and Partner in DZP’s Infrastrcture & Energy Practice.
“The project required not only a multifaceted legal analysis but also in-depth knowledge and understanding of the principles of the functioning of the transport sector.” added Marcin Krakowiak.
The project was run by DZP experts Marcin Krakowiak, Head and Partner, Anna Glapa, Partner, Maciej Zajda, Associate, with the support of Jarosław Konecko, Senior Associate, Krzysztof Dyba, Senior Tax Manager, and Associates Sylwia Kuca and Tomasz Zielenkiewicz.
For more information:
Emilia Zakrzewska-Koszel, E: emilia.zakrzewska-koszel@dzp.pl, T: 22 557 76 45
Joint venture company of MTU Aero Engines and Lufthansa Technik set up with DZP assistance
On the part of DZP, assistance in forming the joint venture of MTU Aero Engines AG and Lufthansa Technik AG was provided by experts from the Infrastructure and Energy Practice: Marcin Krakowiak, Partner, Head of the Practice and dr Krzysztof Fliszkiewicz, Senior Associate.
The contract, which followed up on an agreement on the general principles of the cooperation concluded in February 2017, was finalised by the two companies on 4 December. Each of the partners will hold 50% of shares in the new company.
EME Aero will be based in Poland and is going to employ more than 800 employees in the future. Both parties will invest the total of approx. EUR 150 million by 2020 as part of the joint venture.
EME Aero will carry out maintenance, repair and overhaul (“MRO”) of aircraft engines produced by the US firm Pratt&Witney and used in Airbus A320neo aircraft used by Lufthansa and other carriers, Bombardier CS aircraft, and other airplane.
Lufthansa Technik AG
Lufthansa Technik provides MRO services for aircraft engines and engine components. It offers a wide range of services tailored to customers’ needs as part of both stand-alone orders and comprehensive maintenance services during the aircraft life cycle. Lufthansa Technik also offers special services such as aircraft lease and aircraft sale assistance, e-services, and emergency AOG services.
MTU Aero Engines AG
MTU is a manufacturer of aircraft engines. It designs and manufactures engines for commercial and military aircraft of a full range of thrust capability and industrial gas turbines. It also provides maintenance services for these products.
In the commercial aircraft engines business, MTU offers engines in all thrust and power categories. In the maintenance business, MTU is an independent provider of MRO services for commercial aircraft engines. The primary focus is on providing support for engines in which MTU is a risk- and revenue-sharing partner. MTU also offers also offers repair services for a wide variety of different engine types. In the area of military aircraft, MTU delivers the enabling technologies, develops and manufactures engines and engine components, and provides logistics support.
For more information, please contact:
Emilia Zakrzewska-Koszel, E: emilia.zakrzewska-koszel@dzp.pl, T: 22 557 76 45