Investment in Russia Branding in Poland Research in Germany

10
Around the region
Lodz’s day without plastic
bags declared a success
The mayor of Lodz in central Poland
declared 24 January a day without
plastic shopping bags and has gone on to
declare his action a big success.
Lodz is one of the largest cities in
Poland and has been described as being
where packaging waste is doing the most
damage to the environment.
An environmental campaign calling
for people to refuse to have their shopping
packed in plastic bags, initiated by
Manufaktura in Lodz is one of the biggest
shopping centres in Europe.
Law and Justice (PiS) city councillor
Krzysztof Piatkowski, appears to have
been successful and was so described by
the council.
Major supermarket chains such as
Tesco, Real, Carrefour and Leclerc also
joined in the “Day Without Plastic
Bags”, providing their stores with
biodegradable packaging.
Many smaller stores did not give plastic
bags to their customers unless they
asked for them.
‘I can not forbid the distribution
of plastic bags,
even for a day, but I want to
convince people to stop
using them,’ Krzysztof
Piotrowski told reporters.
‘Embarrassment is a good
tool. Nobody likes to be
Opportunity from growing
Russian demand for coffee
The German Optima Group has earmarked
the Russian market as a
major area for potential growth, especially
new developments, such as the converting
and packaging machine for the
Cyclero® softcan or the leading dosing
and packaging technology of Optima for
portion packs such as for coffee.
The company claims that its
dosing technology has filling
accuracy, gentle product handling
and reliability.
The company specialises
above all in servotechnology.
This ensures high outputs and
- so Optima claims - a long
and reliable life. Size changes
are nearly achieved by the push
of a button. The few size parts
to be used are equipped with
made to account for their
own actions - no matter
what they may be.’
quick change devices which speed up
productivity.
The Russian market for instant coffee
is currently the fastest growing in the
world. Optima alone has supplied ten
filling lines in the country which were
partially designed as turn key projects.
CEE Packaging, www.ceepackaging.com Tel.: +48 22 2195466, +48 502 159080
CEE labour costs
rising sharply
According to Eurostat, the EU’s statistics
agency, labour costs in central
Europe are growing at their fastest
rate since 1989 – with a 30 per cent
increase in nominal costs in Latvia in
the year to last September and rises of
more than 20 per cent in Romania,
Estonia and Lithuania. In Poland the
rise was just under 12 per cent. In real
terms, average gross wages in Poland
rose more than 7 per cent in the first
nine months of 2007 and in Romania
by nearly 16 per cent, according to the
Vienna-based Wiiw research institute.
CEE biggest market
for eurozone
Economic growth in CEE region
will slow due to the upheavals in
financial markets but the region will
pull through the turmoil better than
most, says the European Bank for
Reconstruction and Development.
The bank has cut its GDP growth
forecast for the region for 2008 from
6.1 per cent to 5 - 5.5 percent, due to
an expected slow down in the US and
western Europe. This will help the
eurozone economies as it is their
largest export market. The bank
warned that some economies with
large current account deficits were vulnerable
to a likely reduction in foreign
capital this year, including Bulgaria,
Romania and Serbia.
Hungary defies EU
Hungary has not reacted to a
European Commission request that it
amend an 'eco' tax on packaging. The
commission argues that such fund
raising measures are in direct contravention
on the free movement of
goods within the EU.