More Euro 2012 in Poland and companies stall with payment for employees.
Presented by Slawek Szefs
DZIENNIK reports on the visit to Berlin of professor Wladyslaw Bartoszewski for talks with Chancellor Angela Merkel. The foreign affairs advisor to PM Tusk discussed with his host the current state of Polish-German relations with special focus on nominations to the board of governors of a foundation to establish a museum devoted to German post-war resettlement, often referred to as the ‘Visible Sign’. The Polish side expressed strong opposition to information on the possible nomination of Erika Steinbach to the post of a board member in that project. Mrs. Steinbach is the leader of the German Expellees Union, an organization demanding damages from Poland for property loss due to resettlement resulting from the Yalta agreement which defined a new territorial order in Europe after World War Two. Minister Bartoszewski emerged satisfied from the meeting with Chancellor Merkel, confident about assurances that the candidature of Erika Steinbach shall not be considered. Asked by reporters whether he believed in the Chancellor’s promise, Wladyslaw Bartoszewski replied in his usual non-conventional manner: ‘Knowing someone for such a long time, you’re bound to know if that person is speaking honestly, or twisting your arm’.
GAZETA WYBORCZA quotes UEFA sources saying there’s a fair possibility of six Polish cities becoming the sites of final tournament games of Euro 2012 as opposed to only two locations in Ukraine. An official decision on the matter is expected in May, but it is already known that four of the chosen cities in Ukraine, which is the co-organiser of the European football championships together with Poland, have suspended preparations due to lack of adequate funding, especially from state sources. Meanwhile, construction work at stadium sites in Warsaw, Gdansk, Wroclaw, Krakow, Poznan and lately in Chorzow, which has been added to the Polish list, is proceeding according to schedule. More Euro 2012 in Poland, headlines the paper.
In a frontpage article RZECZPOSPOLITA analyses effects of the crisis situation on salary payments. More and more Polish companies are tardy in paying their employees or abstain from it altogether. Enterprises are losing financial flow and do not have necessary sums to transfer to their staffs and crews personal accounts. Statistics of the State Labor Inspection show that this is a rising trend. An example are figures representing unpaid remuneration in the mid-western Wielkopolska region alone, which have gone up by 49 percent compared to January last year. Labor inspectors sound the alarm that the problem will become even more acute given the deteriorating financial standing of most companies.
The tabloid FAKT has a photo story on the car pile up that occurred on the Katowice to Wroclaw highway in Lower Silesia early Tuesday morning, which eventually led to a rescue helicopter tragedy. Police and fire service brigades arriving on the spot noted with relief that none of the drivers and passengers involved had sustained any serious injuries, but a pregnant woman complained of pain. The potential risk involved required quick hospitalization, so a medical rescue helicopter was paged. For yet unknown reasons, the chopper fell to the ground in dense fog before reaching the car collision scene. The pilot and paramedic did not survive the crash, while the accompanying doctor was rushed for complicated surgery. His condition is reported very serious. ‘Killed trying to save a life’, reads the title in Fakt.
Warsaw’s ZYCIE WARSZAWY looks back at yesterday’s weather anomalies in the capital. When drivers in the central and right bank districts heard weather reports about snow flurries and huge heaps of the white stuff in western suburbs across the Vistula river, they thought it was some kind of joke on the part of commercial stations trying to attract listeners. As it turned out a huge snow storm passed over some quarters of the city, leaving the rest intact with a bright sky and plenty of sunshine. Clouds divided the capital, writes the Warsaw city daily.