Good start of Millennium Leasing in 2016

In Q 1 2016, company Millennium Leasing concluded lease agreements worth more than 856 million PLN. The company recorded a very good growth of 44% y/y in financing movable assets, including 117% y/y growth in heavy transport vehicles.

– We have ambitious goals for 2016. The beginning of the year has been a good sign for their fulfilment, so such good results in the first quarter are for us a strong motivation for intensive work in the next months. Close to 93% our clients are SMEs. We are changing our product offer for them and working for even better quality of services. The results have shown that we chose a good development direction which we will continue in the longer-term. – says Wojciech Rybak, Chairman of the Management Board of Millennium Leasing.

In Q 1 2016, the value of the assets financed within the road vehicle group totalled more than 585 million PLN. In the heavy transport category the value of financed assets totalled 407 million PLN, which means 117% growth versus the same period last year. As part of this category, the company recorded significant growth in the following groups: trucks above 3,5 t – 384%, tractor units – 28%, semi-trailers and trailers – 21%, and buses – 748%.

In Q 1 2016, the value of the assets from the light vehicle category totalled more than
155 million PLN, which means 8,1% growth versus the same period last year. The value of the financed industrial machines and equipment reached almost 250 million PLN, i.e. 12% growth y/y.

Millennium Leasing has been offering lease financing for the majority of industries in Poland for years now. The company is an active member of the Polish Leasing Association and one of the first lease companies established on the Polish market.

OECD Report – Poland: Investment in infrastructure and skills will support higher living standards and greater well-being

Polish economic growth remains solid and unemployment is decreasing, but further investments in infrastructure and skills will be essential to sustain a continuing improvement in living standards, environmental quality and well-being, according to the latest OECD Economic Survey of Poland.

The Survey, presented in Warsaw today by OECD Chief Economist Catherine L. Mann and Poland’s Deputy Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, marks the 20th anniversary since Poland joined the OECD. It underlines the tremendous progress made toward convergence with higher-income countries over the past two decades, but also points out the challenges remaining to, strengthen employment and job quality, improve the business environment and boost infrastructure, as well as  ensure sound public finances.

“Poland has made remarkable progress over the 20 years since it joined the OECD, delivering levels of well-being and quality of life that have never before been experienced,” Ms Mann said. “During the time when most countries have been struggling to bounce back from the global economic crisis, the Polish economy has reported strong growth, driving down unemployment. The challenge going forward is to  find the policy mix to promote the transition to an economy based on higher technologies and skills, making growth stronger, greener and more inclusive.”

This reform agenda and the new government’s policy priorities – including a new child benefit – involve higher spending. To help finance this, the Survey proposes options for wide-ranging tax reform, including the withdrawal of reduced VAT rates and exemptions, increased use of property and green taxes and strengthening the tax administration. Boosting skills will lead to higher productivity and employment growth, according to the Survey. Continuing the expansion of access to early childhood education, strengthening support for weaker students and better integrating workplace training into vocational education will be key.

Better opportunities to combine professional and family lives are needed to allow more women into the workforce. In addition to more childcare facilities, long-term care services are also needed. The ongoing reform raising the statutory pension age in stages is needed to strengthen employment of seniors and avoid old-age poverty. Envisaged possibilities to retire early should be equal for men and women and should not involve financial incentives for take-up.

To improve infrastructure investment, Poland should better integrate environmental and health criteria to the project selection and evaluation process, ensure stable financing for public transport infrastructure investment and maintenance, and improve framework conditions for investment in renewable energy. Providing support to local governments running infrastructure projects and strengthening local governance capacities would improve infrastructure delivery.

Source: AICEP Portugal Global

Bank Millennium: Leasing Eko Energia PRO – energy-efficient business with a bonus growing in instalments

In March Millennium Leasing launched Leasing Eko Energia PRO – a new release of a long-standing programme promoting energy-efficient business in Poland. It allows getting up to 5% bonus in financing energy-efficient machines and equipment. The product was developed in cooperation with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

Leasing Eko Energia PRO offers financial benefits resulting from engaging in energy-efficient business. By choosing machines and equipment, which use little energy, representatives of micro, small and medium companies can get a flexible bonus of 3, 4 or 5%, growing over the years depending on financing maturity. The decision regarding financing of assets worth up to PLN 350,000 is lightning-fast – it can be taken seconds after gathering information about the transaction. The Leasing Eko Energia PRO programme is also supported by Surety Funds available practically anywhere in Poland (in 13 Voivodeships). They offer additional financing support, eliminating i.a. the requirement to provide downpayment.

Leasing Eko Energia PRO involves simple procedures, quality of service and care for the environment. – We aim to support Polish businesses in financing technologies, which contribute to reducing consumption of energy. We keep monitoring not only the amount of energy saved but also the quality of service. We have introduced i.a. new procedures, thanks to which a decision concerning financing of assets worth up to PLN 350,000 is available already in a dozen-or-so seconds. Investing in energy-efficient machines and equipment does not only help reduce costs. Ultimately it makes Polish companies more competitive in a business environment, in which striving to improve the quality of the environment is not just a postulate. – Wojciech Rybak, CEO of Millennium Leasing said.

The company began promoting energy-efficient solutions for Polish businesses back in 2011 with the Polish Sustainable Energy Financing Facility (PolSEFF) programme. At that time 461 projects were implemented with the total value of signed agreements standing at 50 million euro. The success of these efforts can be calculated in terms of the spectacular savings attained, equivalent to average annual consumption of electricity by more than 26,000 households (approx. 50 000 MWh). Reduction of CO2 emissions was equivalent to average annual emission by more than 18,500 cars (approx. 36 tons of CO2).

Flavours of Portugal 2015 Film

In preparation for this year’s edition of Flavours of Portugal, the PPCC releases the movie of last year’s edition. We hope you enjoy it and share it! See you all in May, for Flavours of Portugal 2016!

Guarantees for innovations in Bank Millennium

On 24 February Bank Millennium and Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego will sign an agreement regarding release of a new collateral instrument under the “Innovative Economy” Operational Programme (PO IG). The new instrument will be guarantees extended to companies from the SME sector starting from 11 March 2016.   

Guarantee for innovation is a unique type of “de minimis” guarantee, which has been available from Bank Millennium since close to three years ago. The new guarantees, granted from the special Guarantee Fund created by BGK, are more generous for customers. Although they secure even 60% of loan amount, they remain free of charge.

Guarantees for innovations – benefits:

• High guarantee amount – up to as much as 60% of loan amount (maximum of PLN 3.5 million).
• Long tenor – up to 24 months in case of working capital loans or up to 96 months for investment loans.
• 0% fee for the guarantee – even if the tenor is many years
• Simple procedure – activities involved with obtaining the loan and guarantee are handled all in one place, directly in Bank Millennium.

– Joining the programme we will continue to apply the well-established standards of processing loans with guarantees. This is part of long-term strategy of the bank, which for years now has been supporting Polish enterprise and creates financing opportunities also for those customers who may have more difficult access to loans. I am referring to companies, which due to the nature of the business do not have assets sufficient to secure repayment of the financing. Also the nature of the new guarantee is important for us. We ourselves are an organisation, which seeks opportunities to take advantage of development of new technology in our business. This is why we are proud to support customers who build a new quality of their sector with their innovation.  – Agnieszka Kucharska, Head of Corporate Banking Credit products and Process Team explained.

The requirements to be met to get a new guarantee are very simple. Apart from submitting documents, which are standard for a “de minimis” guarantee it is sufficient to present one additional document, specifically a form confirming fulfilment of one of seven essential requirements and mentioning documents confirming this fact. Examples of criteria” “the company is located and is operating in a technology park” or “during the last three years the company has had revenue growth of 10% annually on average”.

Meeting between the International Group of Chamber of Commerce (IGCC) and Finance Minister Mr. Pawel Szałamacha

On 24th February 2016 Mr. Tiago Costa and Mr. Wojciech Baczynski represented the PPCC in a meeting of representatives of the biggest Chambers of Commerce in Poland with the new Finance Minister Mr Pawel Szałamacha. This meeting was an opportunity to get to know the plans and priorities of the Ministry in the area of finance and fiscal policy, as well as to present the activities of the Chambers and investors affiliated to our organizations. The Minister of Finance outlined the priorities of the Ministry, including the planned changes to the taxation in banking and retail areas. At the same time he stressed that, from the point of view of the Ministry, the most important is to increase the efficiency of existing fiscal tools and offices dedicated to these purposes, rather than introduce changes in the existing laws and systems.

The minister also answered numerous questions, among others about the newly introduced taxes and other issues that are important from the point of view of doing business in Poland.

The participants of the meeting expressed their openness to dialogue and willingness to cooperate.