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.
Wizz air and Ryanair will open a Warsaw-Porto route in 2016!
Wizz Air, the largest low-cost airline in Central and Eastern Europe, announced a new route from Warsaw to Porto, Portugal. The new service will commence on 15th May and operate with two weekly flights, on Wednesdays and Sundays.
Ryanair also announced they will start operating a new route Warsaw-Porto in the last quarter of 2016. They’ve also announced a reinforcement of their operation in Porto, by launching additional flights to Barcelona, Milan, Brussels and Madrid.
This comes as a result of the increasing visibility of Porto as a touristic destination of excellence and a need to multiply the connections between Porto and the biggest European business hubs.
Bank Millennium, University of Warsaw and Camões I.P. sign a cooperation protocol
The promotion of the Portuguese culture and language at the University of Warsaw, was reinforced with the support of Bank Millennium, who accepted to finance, during the 3 next years, a scholarship to the best student of the Bachelors in Portuguese Studies in the Institute of Iberian and Ibero-American Studies of the University of Warsaw.
“This Bank Millennium scholarship is a generous reward to all those who commit themselves to the study of the Portuguese language and the culture of the Portuguese-speaking countries, at the University of Warsaw. The scholarship will allow the students to achieve even better academic results and travel to Portugal, where they will be able to feel and live the Portuguese language and culture”, stated Mr. João Brás Jorge, President of the Administration Board of Bank Millennium, after the ceremony.
(left to right)
Mr. João Brás Jorge, President of the Administration Board of Bank Millennium
Her Excellency Ms. Maria Amélia Paiva, Ambassador of Portugal to Poland
Professor Marcin Pałys, Rector of the University of Warsaw
O Bank Millennium, a Universidade de Varsóvia e o Camões, Instituto da Cooperação e da Língua, assinaram um protocolo de cooperação para a atribuição de uma bolsa de estudos ao melhor estudante da licenciatura em Estudos Portugueses da Universidade de Varsóvia.
A formação em língua e cultura portuguesas na Universidade de Varsóvia ficou reforçada ontem com o apoio do Bank Millennium na Polónia, que aceitou financiar, durante os próximos 3 anos, uma bolsa de estudos para o/a melhor estudante do curso de licenciatura em Estudos Portugueses do Instituto de Estudos Ibéricos e Ibero-americanos da Universidade de Varsóvia.
O projeto foi apresentado pelo Camões I.P. aos outros dois parceiros, que prontamente o aceitaram, e foi formalizado ontem, dia 16 de fevereiro, na reitoria da Universidade de Varsóvia, numa cerimónia em que participaram o Presidente do Conselho de Administração do Bank Millennium, a Embaixadora de Portugal em Varsóvia, em representação do Camões I.P., e o Reitor da Universidade de Varsóvia.
“Esta bolsa do Bank Millennium é um prémio generoso para todos aqueles que, na Universidade de Varsóvia, se empenham no estudo da língua portuguesa e da cultura dos países lusófonos. A bolsa permitirá aos estudantes alcançar ainda melhores resultados académicos e viajar até Portugal, onde poderão sentir e viver a língua e a cultura portuguesas. Acredito que esta parceria entre a Universidade de Varsóvia, o Bank Millennium e o Camões I.P., entre uma universidade e os setores público e privado, é extremamente valiosa hoje em dia e, neste caso concreto, muito contribuirá para fortalecer os laços entre os estudantes polacos e a cultura e a língua portuguesas”, explicou a Embaixadora de Portugal em Varsóvia, Dra. Maria Amélia Paiva.
Por sua vez, o Dr. João Brás Jorge, Presidente do Conselho de Administração do Bank Millennium afirmou que “a cooperação com a Universidade de Varsóvia e com o Camões I.P. é extremamente importante para nós. Por um lado, a Universidade de Varsóvia é a melhor e a maior universidade na Polónia, e por outro, o apoio ao desenvolvimento dos estudantes polacos, bem como a difusão da língua portuguesa na Polónia fazem parte da nossa missão de apoio à cultura e à educação. Dado o nosso acionista principal ser português, é particularmente importante para nós apoiar projetos que promovam a história e a cultura de Portugal.”
Bank Millennium, Uniwersytet Warszawski i Instytut Camõesa podpisały protokół o współpracy, na mocy którego Bank Millennium ufunduje w kolejnych latach stypendium dla najlepszego studenta studiów licencjackich w zakresie portugalistyki na Uniwersytecie Warszawskim.
Nauczanie języka i kultury portugalskiej na Uniwersytecie Warszawskim zostało wczoraj umocnione wsparciem Banku Millenium, który przez najbliższe 3 lata będzie przyznawał stypendium dla najlepszego studenta sekcji portugalskiej w Instytucie Studiów Iberyjskich i Iberoamerykańskich.
Instytut Camõesa przedstawił inicjatywę dwóm pozostałym partnerom, którzy natychmiast ją zaakceptowali. Umowa została podpisana wczoraj, 16 lutego, w rektoracie Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego, podczas uroczystości, w której uczestniczyli Prezes Zarządu Banku Millenium, Pani Ambasador Portugalii w Warszawie w imieniu Instytutu Camõesa oraz Rektor Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego.
“Stypendium Banku Millennium to hojna nagroda dla tych, którzy chcą poświęcić się studiowaniu języka i kultury krajów języka portugalskiego na Uniwersytecie Warszawskim. Stypendium pozwoli studentom osiągać lepsze wyniki w nauce i da im możliwość wyjazdu do Portugalii, gdzie będą mogli doświadczyć języka i kultury. Myślę, że partnerstwo Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego, Banku Millennium i Instytutu Camõesa – partnerstwo między uczelnią wyższą a sektorem publicznym i prywatnym, jest dziś niezwykle cenne i umacnia związki pomiędzy polskimi studentami a językiem i kulturą portugalską powiedziała Maria Amélia Paiva, Ambasador Portugalii w Polsce.
João Brás Jorge, Prezes Zarządu Banku Millenium, dodał: “Współpraca z Uniwersytetem Warszawskim i Instytutem Camõesa ma dla nas duże znaczenie. Uniwersytet Warszawski jest najlepszą i największą uczelnią wyższą w Polsce. Wspieranie rozwoju polskich studentów oraz upowszechnianie języka portugalskiego w Polsce doskonale współgra z naszą misją wspierania kultury i edukacji. Z uwagi na naszego głównego akcjonariusza, widzimy szczególną rolę Banku Millennium we wspieraniu przedsięwzięć promujących historię i kulturę Portugalii.”