With Zsolt Erdősi, Managing Director in Flat Glass, Guardian Częstochowa, talks Marta Śniegocka.
What kind of possibilities for his family has a foreigner investor in Częstochowa? Yours family decided to stay in Poland although you could move back to Hungary.
Yes, for sure.
So what education for example can receive children in Częstochowa?
There is Szkoła Lingwistyczna. This’s private language school that means that are English and German. This is elementary school as well as middle school. But this is not a bilingual school so not all of the basic subjects are in English. So for the first time it is not easy but I think it is a best option.
So would you recommend for foreigners to live in Częstochowa?
Yes, why not ?(laugh). We like Częstochowa.
You work as Managing Director both in Poland and Hungary. If you can compare Poland and Hungary as a Central European Countries how do you see Poland?
Well, I try to be political correct. In the case of investors and new idea Poland is far better than Hungary in this moment. Poland is still business-friendly. For business you need money. How do you deal with banks and investor is a key for the future. Poland is much more professional than Hungary at this moment.
You mean people or the law?
Actually the law is low everywhere. There are some obstacles in business but the system is for sure better. People can be good and bad. I don’t want to say that Poles are better because it is not like that. Persons, like the mayor of the town, are important.
Your factory is located in Special Economic Zone (SEZ). Your decision to invest in Częstochowa was because of SEZ or because of the city itself?
It was, tell you the truth, because of tax issues. In the case of such an investment the strategy of the company is to go to the smaller cities because more benefits you can get in smaller cities. If you are among the first ones you can get a lot of benefits. You can select good people and such stuff. But also situation of Częstochowa was really nice, close to main roads between Warsaw and Cracow. It was also one of the point. Also the help we got from the local municipality and SEZ, had an high impact for the decision. Even in Poland we had the other places with similar conditions but finally Częstochowa gave us the best options. So that’s why we came here.
And how did you decide to choose Poland?
Actually, we hand a small company in Warsaw, which was just dealing with customers. Through thi 2 or 3 people we already knew the Polish market, customers, statistics and forecast for the future. That’s why we chose Poland.
Do you think about reinvestment in Częstochowa?
We continuously invest in Częstochowa. The last investment was last year, previous one was 2 years ago. So last 2-3 years we has invested around 11 euro.
And what do you think about situation od SEZ nowadays? . We still wait for the decision if existence of SEZ will be prolonged. Does it change your decisions about reinvestments for example in next line?
I can pretend that we will do reinvest. But the reality is that in these economical circumstances we do not think about the next line. Not in Częstochowa, not in this part of Europe. Where the business is going now is Russia.We start the next plant in Russia right now. I don’t know what will be in the future but on original decision the fact that in Częstochowa was SEZ had a huge impact on the investment. Without this option maybe the plant will not be built or be built next to German border because it was also was an option. Having all of these advantages here, that’s why the decision was made to choose Częstochowa.
Do you think that Polish government could do something to keep investors in Poland?
Just to make bureaucracy easier. It’s not if some funds or cash grants are available but the bureaucracy behind, this is important.
What kind of possibilities for his family has a foreigner investor in Częstochowa? Yours family decided to stay in Poland although you could move back to Hungary.
Yes, for sure.
So what education for example can receive children in Częstochowa?
There is Szkoła Lingwistyczna. This’s private language school that means that are English and German. This is elementary school as well as middle school. But this is not a bilingual school so not all of the basic subjects are in English. So for the first time it is not easy but I think it is a best option.
So would you recommend for foreigners to live in Częstochowa?
Yes, why not ?(laugh). We like Częstochowa.
You work as Managing Director both in Poland and Hungary. If you can compare Poland and Hungary as a Central European Countries how do you see Poland?
Well, I try to be political correct. In the case of investors and new idea Poland is far better than Hungary in this moment. Poland is still business-friendly. For business you need money. How do you deal with banks and investor is a key for the future. Poland is much more professional than Hungary at this moment.
You mean people or the law?
Actually the law is low everywhere. There are some obstacles in business but the system is for sure better. People can be good and bad. I don’t want to say that Poles are better because it is not like that. Persons, like the mayor of the town, are important.
Your factory is located in Special Economic Zone (SEZ). Your decision to invest in Częstochowa was because of SEZ or because of the city itself?
It was, tell you the truth, because of tax issues. In the case of such an investment the strategy of the company is to go to the smaller cities because more benefits you can get in smaller cities. If you are among the first ones you can get a lot of benefits. You can select good people and such stuff. But also situation of Częstochowa was really nice, close to main roads between Warsaw and Cracow. It was also one of the point. Also the help we got from the local municipality and SEZ, had an high impact for the decision. Even in Poland we had the other places with similar conditions but finally Częstochowa gave us the best options. So that’s why we came here.
And how did you decide to choose Poland?
Actually, we hand a small company in Warsaw, which was just dealing with customers. Through thi 2 or 3 people we already knew the Polish market, customers, statistics and forecast for the future. That’s why we chose Poland.
Do you think about reinvestment in Częstochowa?
We continuously invest in Częstochowa. The last investment was last year, previous one was 2 years ago. So last 2-3 years we has invested around 11 euro.
And what do you think about situation od SEZ nowadays? . We still wait for the decision if existence of SEZ will be prolonged. Does it change your decisions about reinvestments for example in next line?
I can pretend that we will do reinvest. But the reality is that in these economical circumstances we do not think about the next line. Not in Częstochowa, not in this part of Europe. Where the business is going now is Russia.We start the next plant in Russia right now. I don’t know what will be in the future but on original decision the fact that in Częstochowa was SEZ had a huge impact on the investment. Without this option maybe the plant will not be built or be built next to German border because it was also was an option. Having all of these advantages here, that’s why the decision was made to choose Częstochowa.
Do you think that Polish government could do something to keep investors in Poland?
Just to make bureaucracy easier. It’s not if some funds or cash grants are available but the bureaucracy behind, this is important.
