Polish industry round-up
about 130,000 milk suppliers gearing up for EU certification, pork
producers aiming to increase exports to South Korea and Grupa
Zywiec moving closer to buying Kujawiak Brewery.
Polish dairies aim for EU certification
Around 130,000 Polish farms have been earmarked to upgrade their milk production facilities in accordance with newly introduced EU regulations by the end of 2006.
The move will allow the dairies to freely export their milk within the EU, a move that is expected to see a great increase in the import of milk and other dairy products from neighbouring Germany.
Currently the farms have been granted a transistional period, which aims to give farmers the time to upgrade their facilities. This means that those dairies that are not licensed can only sell their milk on the domestic market with labeling that clearly indicates that the product is not for export.
So far, of the more than 350,000 farms that are registered as producing milk in Poland only 60,000 have been certified, enabling them to supply the 210 EU-certified milk processing companies.
¯ywiec moves ahead with Kujawiak Brewery buy
The shareholders of Grupa ¯ywiec will decide at an extraordinary general assembly on October 4, on the purchase of the Kujawiak brewery from Brau Union Polska, ¯ywiec said this week.
"Grupa ¯ywiec's management has decided to buy the organized part of Brau Union Polska in the form of the Kujawiak brewery by April 10, 2005," the company told the Warsaw Independent.
The company's general assembly will also decide on the purchase of selected machinery and appliances from Brau Union Polska and Browary Warszawskie Królewskie by December 31, 2004.
The company said that the total value of the transactions should not exceed PLN 50m. Grupa ¯ywiec's revenues in the second quarter 2004 rose to PLN 1.7 billion from PLN 1.5 billion year on year. The net profit was at PLN 134 million, up from PLN 100.6 million.
Poland to up meat exports to South Korea
A Polish delegation visiting the South Korean capital of Seoul has apparently opened up further opportunities for its exporters of meat products, as part of moves to free up trade between the two countries.
According to the Gazeta Wyborcza, the Polish foreign minister Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz, has negotiated an agreement that now means Polish exporters will no longer have to apply for a special permit to supply products to the country.
Currently only 12 Polish pork producers currently hold such a permit, but with the relaxing of that law, exports of more pork products are now expected to increase dramatically. However, the South Korean authorities did not agree to relax import permits for beef products on the grounds that BSE is still perceived to be a risk.
