Resigns After Protests - Gazeta.pl

United Nations Climate Change Conference,
SPECIAL
EDITION
WEDNESDAY
December 3, 2008
ISSUE 3
CIRCULATION 8 THOUSAND
ENGLISH EDITION EDITORS
AGNIESZKA MITRASZEWSKA
BARTOSZ WĘGLARCZYK
PUBLISHER: AGORA SA
www.wyborcza.pl
Oil retreats
below $49
as brief rally
fades
11 Oil fell below $49 a barrel on
Tuesday, after reversing early losses
in response to a rally in US and
European shares.
It had earlier fallen to a new 3-1/2year
low below $48, weighed down
by gloom over the ailing world economy
and its impact on fuel demand.
US light crude for January delivery
was down 54 cents at $48.74 a barrel
by 11:06 a.m. EST. It earlier
touched a new 3-1/2 year low of $47.36,
its lowest since May 2005.
Prices had dropped nearly 10 percent
on Monday.
London Brent crude was down
69 cents at $47.28 a barrel after touching
a low of $46.02, its lowest since
February 2005.
”The equity market has been
a main input for oil,” said Olivier
Jakob, of consultancy Petromatrix.
”Because the slowdown in oil
demand is linked to the global economy
– that’s why the correlation is
very strong.”
Oil prices had tumbled on Monday
after OPEC decided to wait until
later this month to take more supply
off the market to try to defend prices.
”OPEC was the key reason for the
sell-off at first and then the poor performance
on equity markets (on
Monday) helped it follow through,”
said Rob Laughlin, oil analyst at MF
Global in London.
OPEC TO CUT AGAIN. The Organization
of the Petroleum Exporting
Countries is ready to cut production
by a significant amount when it meets
later this month in Algeria. ”I think
there is an indication that we will have
another cut,” said Qatar Oil Minister
Abdullah al-Attiya.
Top exporter Saudi Arabia has
highlighted $75 a barrel as a ”fair
price” for oil.
OPEC has already cut supply by
about 2 million barrels per day, but this
has so far failed to bolster prices, which
have fallen nearly $100 a barrel from
a peak of more than $147 in July. 1
CHRISTOPHER JOHNSON,
REUTERS IN LONDON
Wall Street
Rebounds After GE
Keeps Dividend
11
US stocks snapped back on Tues-
day from the previous session’s huge
losses after General Electric, a global
bellwether, lifted optimism by
pledging to leave its dividend intact
in a tough economy.
The Dow Jones industrial average
jumped 270.00 points, or 3.31 percent,
at 8,419.09 and the Standard &
Poor’s 500 Index leapt 32.60 points,
or 3.99 percent, at 848.81. The Nasdaq
Composite Index rose 51.73 points,
or 3.70 percent, at 1,449.80. 1
REUTERS
NNAAMM NNIIEE JEESSTT WWSZZYYSSTTKKOO JEEDDNNOO
AP
THAILAND’S PM
Resigns After Protests
PM resigned on Tuesday after weeks of protests closed the capital’s
airports, stranding 300,000 travelers. Protesters promised to lift their
siege, and international flights are expected to resume Friday
People's Alliance for Democracy protesters celebrate as a court ruling brings down the Thai government at the
Suvarnabhumi airport in Bangkok, Tuesday, Dec. 2
AMBIKA AHUJA
ASSOCIATED PRESS IN BANGKOK
11
The resignation of PM Somchai
Wongsawat came after
the nation’s Constitutional
Court dissolved Thailand’s
top three ruling parties for
electoral fraud and banned him from
politics for five years.
Somchai, his administration paralyzed,
has been forced to govern
from the northern city of Chiang Mai
since Wednesday. He accepted the
ruling with equanimity. ”It is not
a problem. I was not working for
myself,” he told reporters.
Protest leaders said the airport
siege would end Wednesday. With the
waning of the political crisis, the official
in charge of Thailand’s airports
said Suvarnabhumi international airport
will reopen on Friday. Vudhibhandhu
Vichairatana, the chairman
of the Airports of Thailand, called the
flights a birthday gift for Thailand’s
King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who turns
81 on Dec. 5. The airport reopened to
cargo flights Tuesday.
After Tuesday’s court decision,
government spokesman Nattawut
Sai-kau said the six-party governing
coalition would step down.
Despite the appearance of
a smooth political transition, the rul-
ing is expected to widen the dangerous
rift in Thai society that many fear
could lead to more violence between
pro- and anti-government groups.
Late Monday, an explosive device
fired from an elevated highway fell
among hundreds of protesters inside
Don Muang airport, killing one person
and wounding 22. The death raised
to seven the number of people killed
in bomb attacks, clashes with police,
and street battles between government
opponents and supporters.
On hearing the court’s decision,
a cheer rose from thousands of members
of the People’s Alliance for
Democracy occupying the international
airport.
”My heart is happy. My friends are
very happy,” said Pailin Jampapong,
a 41-year-old Bangkok housekeeper
choking back tears as she jumped up
and down.
”This is a blow for corruption,” said
Nong Sugrawut, a 55-year-old businessman
at Suvarnabhumi.
Somchai had become increasingly
isolated in recent weeks. Neither the
army, a key player in Thai politics, nor
the country’s much revered king
offered firm backing.
But hundreds of his supporters
gathered outside the court, saying the
swiftness of the ruling – which came
just an hour after closing arguments
ended – appeared predetermined. At
one point, they cut off the power supply
to the court, but electricity was
restored with diesel generators.
”The court is not qualified to make
this ruling. They are nothing more than
apologists for the alliance, who are
ruining the country,” an activist shouted
outside the court.
Somchai’s People’s Power Party,
the Machima Thipatai party and the
Chart Thai party were found guilty of
committing fraud in the December
2007 elections that brought the coalition
to power.
”Dishonest political parties undermine
Thailand’s democratic system,”
said Court President Chat Chalavorn.
The ruling sends Somchai and 59
executives of the three parties into
political exile and bars them from politics
for five years. Of the 59, 24 are lawmakers
who will also have to resign
their parliamentary seats.
But lawmakers of the three dissolved
parties who escaped the ban can join
other parties, try to cobble together
a new coalition, and then choose a new
prime minister. Until then, Deputy
Prime Minister Chaowarat Chandeerakul
will become the caretaker prime
minister, said Suparak Nakboonnam,
a government spokeswoman. She said
parliament will have to pick a new prime
minister within 30 days. 1
COP
14
POZNAŃ 2008
IN SHORT
WEDNESDAY
03.12.08
Water Machines
Grand Finale of the Fifth Water
Machines Tournament starts at
2:30 pm. 1
THURSDAY
04.12.08
Bionic Tower
At 1pm a presentation of the new
environment-friendly sky scraper
Bionic Tower will commence.
Keynote speaker will be architect
Mr. Tomasz Piwiński. 1
FRIDAY
05.12.08
Growing together
1-3 pm: A meeting of the United
Nations Climate Change Conference
on sustained growth in a
changing climate. 1

2
Wednesday, December 3, 2008 1 Gazeta Wyborcza 1 www.wyborcza.pl
The Conference
United Nations Climate Change Conference, Cop 14
Climate in Poznań Turns Foul for Poland
”Hero or villain?” the Financial Times asked yesterday as Poland came in for harsh criticism over its
opposition to the EU’s energy-climate package
KONRAD NIKLEWICZ
AND ADAM KOMPOWSKI, POZNAŃ
11
The Polish government is an official
co-organiser of the UN Climate
Change Conference in Poznań, but
at same time is perceived (unjustly,
Warsaw insists) as one of the main
obstacles to the EU’s energy-climate
package, an agreement on carbon
dioxide reductions.
Non-governmental organisations
criticise Warsaw sharply. On Monday,
the Climate Action Network
(CAN) awarded Poland with its Fossil
of the Day anti-award. ”We are
ashamed that it is Poland that is in
this role. But for what it does, it
deserves the anti-award. We hope
the government pulls its act together
now,” Ewa Jakubowska of Greenpeace
Poland tells Gazeta.
The ecologists have not yet
acknowledged the government’s
argument that it accepts the EU package’s
overall target (a 20-percent
reduction in carbon dioxide emissions
by 2020), but demands corrections,
because only in this way
can it protect the Polish economy
from sharp rises in energy prices.
Government officials do not hide
their bitterness. ”It’s unfair and undeserved.
It is sad that no one notices
the effort we’ve put into organising
this summit,” Deputy Environment
Minister Janusz Zaleski tells Gaze-
Greenpeace activists protested yesterday at the 150-metre chimney in Konin against Poland’s dependency upon coal
ta. ”We’ll be clearing this up with the
NGOs.”
Paradoxically, the fact that Poland
has been cast as the ‘villain’ can actually
help negotiations, because less
criticism will be aimed at countries
such as China. The Chinese government
reacts allergically to any criticism,
so taking the sights off China
can make it more amicable, and it is
China that emits more CO 2 to the
atmosphere than any other country
in the world (some 6.7 billion tonnes
annually).
Nor will the summit’s whipping boy
be the US delegation, which last year
was booed in Bali. Everyone realises
that the delegation is made up by officials
of the outgoing administration,
so it is not surprising that the Americans
are not prepared to make any
commitments.
Interestingly, on Tuesday, the Fossil
of the Day was awarded to the EU,
as well as the Philippines, Saudi Arabia,
Japan, Australia, New Zealand,
Russia, and Ukraine.
The conference’s first two days
brought no tangible results, but the
negotiations continue and the first specific
ideas have emerged on, for instance,
how to finance pro-ecological investment
projects in Africa and Asia.
”This would enable us to cut the
global CO 2 emissions by 20-30 percent
within a short time,” says Yvo de Boer,
Executive Secretary of the UN Framework
Climate Change Convention.
”The question is how to finance such
projects.”
Advanced technologies are usually
owned by companies that will not
give them away for free. The Polish delegation,
for instance, promotes the
eco-conversion model, tested in
Poland, whereby indebted countries
get that part of their debt cancelled
which they spend on pro-environmental
technologies.
Oxfam International, the NGO confederation,
has presented its own vision
on how to finance carbon dioxide emission
reductions. It proposes for the
Western countries to tax themselves to
that end. The new tax could for instance,
be levied on the CO 2 emission permit
trading transactions ”Funds are needed
for things like bulding systems to
warn against the floods that have been
hitting Bangladesh increasingly often,”
says Heather Coleman of Oxfam.
Yesterday in Poznań Greenpeace
presented its report on the development
potential of renewable energy
sources in Europe. The German institute
Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und
Raumfahrt (DLR) estimates that by
2050, as much as 88 percent of electricity
and 56 percent of heat could be
generated from renewable sources.
And carbon dioxide emissions in the
transport sector could be cut by 70 percent.
1
R E K L A M A
ŁUKASZ CYNALEWSKI
27349465
1

1
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Hug a Tree on Tree Day, Please
Feel at ease to go out and hug a 100-year-old tree which exists
MONIKA BLICHARZ
AND JUSTYNA SUCHECKA
An ancient elm tree grows on Plac
Wolności square. Clinging to it is
a lady in a white dress. Other figures
are already standing in line to do the
same: a man with a hat, a boy with
a bike, a kid with a puppy, and a businesswoman
carrying a laptop. It is
an unusual sight for the city centre,
even more so because these are not
living people but twig-woven statues.
Nine wooden figures are just the start
of the line and passers-by are expected
to queue behind them. ”We wil be
standing here everyday from 12 am
for the next two weeks to celebrate
Tree Days. Everybody is welcome,
inhabitants and those from outside
of Poznań. We’ve had three queues
already today!” says Beata Tarnawa
from the environmental association,
Klub Gaja.
Every man has a history and the
same goes for trees. We can surely
say that the elm from Plac Wolności
has been through a lot. At the beginning
of the 20th. century the whole
square was surrounded by elms. The
square was then named in honour
of Wilhelm the emperor. So the 100hundred-year
old elm made it
through two World Wars and the
post-war era. The tree, which can be
seen in many old photographs, has
become an inherent part of Poznań’s
cityscape. The elm, together with
a couple of plain trees at the Arcadia
building, is all that is left of the oldest
trees after subsequent renovations of
the square. Poznań inhabitants were
in despair when municipal road
authority decided to have the elm tree
cut down last year after experts entered
it on the ”black list” of trees to be cut
down. The problem with the elm was
that it was full of hollows and cracked.
”The tree is not safe,” warned municipal
officials. Gazeta asked a greenery
development expert to give his opinion.
He said that the elm should not be
cut down. ”Lumberjacks to the woods,
officials to their desks, and brains to
work!” appealed Poznań inhabitants
who joined in the action to protect the
100-year-old elm. Thanks to Gazeta’s
intervention and the engagement of
the local people today everyone can
hug the tree.
”We chose it six months ago. It was
made available by the municipality,”
says Jacek Bożek, founder and president
of Klub Gaja. ”At conferences people
talk to each other and we wanted
to go out to the people of Poznań,” he
adds. Wiktor Szostalo of Saint Louis,
one of the makers of the installation,
says they took the concept from the
picture, Lonely Tree, Lonely People,
prepared exclusively for the Burning
Man Festival in Nevada. ”The picture
shows a desert with a lonely tree. When
the issue of the elm on Plac Wolności
came up, it was like a heaven-sent couple
– a lonely tree and the concept of
The Conference 3
www.wyborcza.pl 1 Gazeta Wyborcza 1 Wednesday, December 3, 2008
United Nations Climate Change Conference, Cop 14
thanks to Gazeta’s campaign and the inhabitants of Poznań Soot is darkening ice in the Arc-
11
the project,” says Szostalo. Agnieszka
Gradzik, a co-author, adds: ”Putting
up such statues takes a lot of time. The
idea was to have eight more of them
here. The artists started to work
already in September.”
”In our event we allude to the
activities of Indian women from the
Chipko movement,” explains Jacek
Bożek. It all started with the campaign
run by women in northern
India against the cutting down of forrests.
The Indian women literally
hugged the trees, and in Hindi, chipko
means ‘hug’ or ‘cling’. When lumberjacks
arrived the women refused
to go away, and sources say some protesters
were cut in two. Thousands
of women from the Tree Huggers
movement appealed to the government
in Uttarakhand, in the Indian
part of the Himalayas, and as a result,
intensive cutting and felling of trees
was banned.
Tree Hugger is also the name of
Agnieszka Gradzik and Wiktor Szostalo’s
project. By organising defiant
actions and playing with art, the artists
would like to help people rediscover
their bond with nature.
Starting from yesterday, the elm
tree, saved by the inhabitants of Poznań,
will no longer be just a passive witness
of history. It has become an active
participant of important events in the
city’s life. Jacek Bożek: ”I would like
to personally thank the people who
saved the tree!” 1
Soot Darkens Ice, Stokes
Runaway Arctic Melt-Study
11
tic and speeding a melt that could
make the ocean around the North
Pole ice-free in summer well before
2050, experts said on Tuesday.
The experts said the fight against
warming in the Arctic should be redirected
to focus more on cutting the
industrial pollution from soot, ozone,
and methane to try to prevent the ice
disappearing.
Soot or black carbon, darkens the
ice and makes it soak up more heat,
accelerating a melt compared to
reflective snow and ice. Methane
comes from sources including oil and
gas and agriculture, while ozone is
formed from industrial pollutants.
”Reductions in these pollutants
would have a greater impact” in the
next two decades than curbing emissions
of the main greenhouse gas —
carbon dioxide — according to scientists
on the sidelines of 187-nation UN
climate talks in Poland.
The Arctic is warming at twice the
rate of the rest of the world and ice
shrank to a record low in 2007, leading
to worries that it could pass a point
of no return.
”The Arctic sea ice may already
have passed a ’tipping point’,” said Pam
Pearson, an Arctic pollution expert at
the Climate Policy Center who presented
the findings. ”An ice-free summer
in the Arctic is now possible well
before 2050” She added. ”Some scientists
are arguing that it (the Arctic
Ocean) could be (ice free) in the summer
within the next 10 to 20 years,”
said Bob Watson, a former head of the
UN Climate Panel who chaired a presentation
of the research in Poznań.
The three pollutants — soot, ozone
and methane — linger in the atmosphere
for far less a time than carbon dioxide,
meaning cuts in emissions would have
a quicker impact in cleaning the air.
The Arctic sea ice may
already have passed
a tipping point. An
ice-free summer in the
Arctic is now possible
well before 2050
The UN panel projected last year
that it could be clear of ice by the end
of the century. A thaw would threaten
indigenous peoples and wildlife such
as polar bears and seals.
”The question is: is all of the rapid
melt of the Arctic ice in summer all due
to human induced climate change or is
part of it some natural cycle?,” Watson,
now chief scientific advisor to the British
Environment Ministry, told Reuters.
”This is not just a climate issue for
the Arctic but for the globe as a whole,”
said Hanne Bjurstroem, the head of
Norway’s delegation.
A melt of the Arctic ice would warm
the top of the globe and lead to warming
further south. An ice-free Arctic
would also make the region more accessible
to oil and gas exploration. 1
ALISTER DOYLE,REUTERS IN POZNAŃ
R E K L A M A
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4 The Conference
Wednesday, December 3, 2008 1 Gazeta Wyborcza 1 www.wyborcza.pl
United Nations Climate Change Conference, Cop 14
CULTURAL
EVENTS
accompanying
the UN Climate
Change
Conference
3 December
Blue Note Jazz Club
Kościuszki Street 76/78
New York-based Doug Johnson Trio
plays jazz standards in new, surprising
arrangements. Starts 8 pm.
Adam Mickiewicz University, Lecture
Hall
Wieniawskiego Street 1
Amadeus and Painting – concert by
the Polish Radio Chamber Orchestra.
Programme includes Vivaldi’s
and Piazzolla’s Four Seasons in
a special visual setting.
Starts 8 pm.
Aula Nova
Świętego Marcina Street 87
‘Speaking concert’ by the Music
Academy Symphony Orchestra,
director Marcin Sempoliński. Concert
startss at 7 pm., and the
motto is ‘Music doesn’t pollute…
It need not be recycled. Music
soothes the savage beast. Music
is climatic.’
4 December
Barefoot Carmelites Monastery
(Klasztor oo. Karmelitów Bosych)
Działowa Street 25
Solemn memorial service for W.A.
Mozart, held each year on the
anniversary of his death, in the classic
Roman rite, featuring Requiem by
the great composer. A unique project
carried out in Poznań since 2001,
part of the Mozart Festival. Starts 8
pm.
Music Theatre (Teatr Muzyczny)
Niezłomnych Street 1a
Grand Music Gala, a concert by the
venue’s actors, startss at 8 pm. Programme
includes operetta and musical
hits by soloists, ballet, and
orchestra.
5 December
Adam Mickiewicz University,
Lecture Hall
Wieniawskiego Street 1
International opera stars: legendary
American singer Samuel Ramey
(bass) gives his first performance in
Poland ever. Starts 8 pm.
Blue Note Jazz Club
Kościuszki Street 76/78
Jazz Autumn with the Poznań University
of Technology. Andrzej Olejniczak
Quartet (Spain/US) startss its show
at 8.30 pm. The renowned saxophonist’s
international project combines
jazz, hard bop, and ethno.
Zamek Culture Centre
Świętego Marcina Street 80/82
* Recycling Fiesta. A music show
startss at 8 pm in front of the
Zamek, crowning the passage
through town of a colourful procession
of dancers and musicians. On
stage: thirty musicians from the
band Republika Czadu and drummers
from Zbyszek Łowżył’s Laboratorium
Pulsu i Rytmu.
* 3rd Shanta Claus Festival. Performers
include Sailor, Klang,
Sąsiedzi, Ryczące Dwudziestki, show
Starts 7 pm.
6 December
Aula Nova
Świętego Marcina Street 87
‘Made in Chicago’: Siren of Song
Dee Alexander’s Tribute to Nina
Simone and Dinah Washington.
Show Starts 8.30 pm.
Zamek Culture Centre
Święty Marcin Street 80/82
3rd Shanta Claus Festival. Performers:
Flash Creep, Waldemar
Mieczkowski and friends, Gdańska
Formacja Szantowa, Stare Dzwony
Arena Concert Hall (Hala Arena)
Wyspiańskiego Street 33
Feel, Poland’s best-selling pop-rock
band, kicks off with a St. Nicholas
Day gig at 7 pm.
Poznań Museums
The December Museum Night. The
majority of the city’s museums and
galleries will be open from 5 pm.
through midnight, including, among
others, Galeria u Jezuitów, the
National Museum, the Arsenał
Municipal Gallery, or the Wielkopolskie
Museum of Independence
Struggles
7 December
Archcathedral Basilica of St. Peter
and St. Paul
Ostrów Tumski 17
Mozart Festival. Performers: Adeste,
Fideles, Laeti Triumphantes. Concert
startss at 5.30 pm.
Eskulap
Przybyszewskiego Street 39
Show by Silver Rocket. For fans of
romantic melodies filled with a characteristic
Slavic melancholy.
www.wyborcza.pl wychodzi 24 godziny na dobę
8 December
Aula Nova, Music Academy
‘Early Music – Persona Grata’ series
concert by Arte Dei Suonatori
Orchestra. Programme includes
Vivaldi’s Four Seasons by Dan Laurin.
Admission free, Starts 7 pm.
9 December
Aula Nova, Music Academy
‘Organ Music Masterpieces,’ a concert
presenting the capabilities of
Schuke organ (Potsdam, Germany).
Admission free, Starts 7 pm.
State Fire Service Provincial Headquarters
Masztalarska Street 3
Opening of a new tourist route running
alongside a fragment of the
medieval city walls, combined with
celebrations of the 131st anniversary
of the Poznań Professional Fire Service,
Starts 5 pm. At 6 pm., a multimedia
show ‘City Beyond the Walls,’
followed by a fireworks display.
Adam Mickiewicz University, Lecture
Hall (Aula Uniwersytetu im. Adama
Mickiewicza)
Wieniawskiego Street 1
On the occasion of the presentation
of a honorary degree to Al Gore, the
Adam Mickiewicz University presents
a recital by outstanding US pianist
Mei-Ting Sun. Concert Starts 7 pm.
Teatr Polski
A show in the form of a colourful children’s
rally, featuring school theatres
and children’s art collectives from
Poznań, including the Teatr Szkolny
Łejery school theatre.
10 December
Adam Mickiewicz University, Lecture
Hall (Aula Uniwersytetu im. Adama
Mickiewicza)
Wieniawskiego Street 1
‘Polish Romantics. From Chopin to
Wieniawski,’ a music concert featuring
laureates of Poland’s most prominent
music competitions: the Fryderyk
Chopin Piano Competition and
the Henryk Wieniawski Violin Competition.
Starts 8 pm.
Teatr Polski
Madrigals, Baroque miniatures,
music jokes, 20th-century pop hits,
and Ravel’s Bolero – all in a performance
by the vocal band Affabre Concinui.
Starts 7 pm.
Zamek Culture Centre (Centrum Kultury
Zamek)
Święty Marcin Street 80/82
Legendary jazz trumpeter Tomasz
Stańko and young-generation star
composer and multi-instrumentalist
Andrzej Smolik interpret Peyote,an
album recorded by Stańko with the
band Freelectronic in the 1980s.
Show startss at 8 pm.
11 December
Parish church
Poznań Carol Singing – concert by
the Poznań Philharmonic’s ‘Poznań
Nightingales’ Tadeusz Szeligowski
Boy and Male Choir, directed by Prof
Stefan Stuligrosz. Admission free,
Start 7 pm.
12 December
Arsenał Municipal Gallery (Galeria
Miejska Arsenał)
Stary Rynek 3
A-21 International Art Exhibition
– Part 4: an exhibition of canvas
paintings by Japanese artist Masako
Matsumura. The pared-down, sophisticated
colour compositions that
invite concentration and contemplation
can be viewed from 6 pm.
R E K L A M A
27357714
1

1
Reklama 5
www.wyborcza.pl 1 Gazeta Wyborcza 1 Wednesday, December 3, 2008
We have the pleasure of welcoming you to our
newly-opened Italian restaurant.
This is a place in which we delight you with superb Italian
dishes.
Our delicacy is black pasta di sepia with prawns and cozze
mussels in a traditional Sicilian wine and butter sauce
with dill.
The exquisite meals include sirloin on a bed of spinach
in a caper and truffle sauce served with grilled vegetables.
In our restaurant you will also be served with the subtle
atmosphere of beautiful Italian music.
Arrivederci
www.mollini.pl ul. Św. Marcin 34 61-806 Poznań, tel./fax (061) 8 525 333
27349858
27349803
27350027

6
Wednesday, December 3, 2008 1 Gazeta Wyborcza 1 www.wyborcza.pl
US Automakers
Submit Recovery Plans to Congress
Detroit’s automakers,making asecond bid for $25 billion in funding,presentedCongress with plans Tuesday to
restructure their ailing companies and provide assurances that the funding will help them survive and thrive
KEN THOMAS AND TOM KRISHER,
ASSOCIATED PRESS IN WASHINGTON
11
General Motors Corp., Ford
Motor Co., and Chrysler
LLC would refinance their
companies’ debt, cut executive
pay, seek concessions
from workers and find other
ways of reviving their staggering
companies.
US automakers are struggling to
stay afloat heading into 2009 under
the weight of an economic meltdown,
the worst auto sales in decades and
a tight credit market. General Motors,
Ford, and Chrysler went through
nearly $18 billion in cash reserves
during the last quarter, and GM and
Chrysler have said they could
collapse in weeks.
Top executives from the Big
Three failed last month to convince
a skeptical Congress that they were
worthy of $25 billion in loans. House
Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid,
D-Nev., ordered them to outline
major changes, including the
elimination of lavish executive pay
packages and assurances that
taxpayers would be reimbursed for
the loans.
All three companies were filing
separate plans. Congressional
hearings are planned for Thursday
and Friday. ”I believe the industry
will make a compelling case for
bridge loans that will allow the
companies to return to firm financial
footing,” said Sen. Carl Levin.
GM will outline efforts to negotiate
swapping some of the company’s
debt for equity stakes in the
automaker, either shares or warrants
for them, said two people briefed on
the company’s plan.
With eight separate brands, GM
will also discuss efforts to shed brands
but it would prefer to sell them
instead of shutting down Pontiac,
US flags fly outside of General Motors world headquarters in Detroit
Saturn or Saab, said one of the people
briefed on the plan. Killing off brands,
like GM did with Oldsmobile in 2004,
would require cash the company
doesn’t have, the person said. The
people briefed on GM’s preparations
didn’t want to be identified because
the plan hadn’t been completed.
Some members of Congress have
urged the Big Three executives to take
major pay cuts as part of the deal.
Chrsyler Chief Executive Robert
Nardelli said he would work for $1
a year, and a similar commitment is
expected from GM CEO Rick Wagoner.
Ford plans to include a pay cut
for Ford CEO Alan Mulally, although
the size of the cut was not immediately
available.
Chrysler is expected to outline
changes that would include a swap
of debt in the company for equity
stakes and reductions in some vehicle
models, according to a person who
was briefed on the plan.
The person spoke on condition of
anonymity because the discussions
were private.
Ford, meanwhile, is not expected to
immediately seek the loans. Mulally
told Congress last month that the
company would only seek funding if
the US market continued to deteriorate.
He mortgaged factories to arrange
a $23.4 billion credit line shortly after
taking over the company in 2006 and
he has said Ford can last at least until
2010.
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Cash stockpiles at GM and Chrysler
are dangerously close to the minimum
amount required to run the companies,
meaning they could have trouble paying
all their bills by the end of the year.
GM, according to its quarterly
report filed with the Securities and
Exchange Commission, owes creditors
$45 billion and it must pay more than
$7.5 billion early in 2010 to a United
Auto Workers trust fund that will take
over retiree health care payments.
Ford owes more than $26 billion,
with $6.3 billion due to its UAW trust
fund at the end of 2009. Chrysler,
a private company, does not have to
open its books, but its CEO, Nardelli,
has said it would be difficult for the
company to make it without federal
European Stock Markets Rise as Dow Opens Higher
11 European stocks rose Tuesday,
helped by mild early gains on Wall
Street – which still only recovered
a fraction of Monday’s sharp losses.
Asian markets closed lower.
The Dow Jones industrial average was
1.2 percent higher at 8,249.28, helping
the FTSE 100 index of leading British
shares rise 1.0 percent to 4,107.20.
The FTSE was boosted by an 11
percent rise in the share price of
British Airways PLC, which said it
is in merger talks with Australian
rival Qantas.
Shares in retailer Tesco were up
10.3 percent on upbeat sales results
from the third quarter.
Meanwhile, the CAC-40 index in
France was 1.5 percent higher at
3,126.77. Germany’s DAX was the best
performing major European index,
up 2.7 percent at 4,511.68, as car
companies like Daimler AG and
Volkswagen AG recouped most of
the previous session’s losses.
Asian markets closed with heavy
losses. Japan’s Nikkei 225 stock average
tumbled 533.53 points, or 6.4 percent,
to 7,863.69, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng
index lost 5 percent to 13,405.85.
The heavy losses in Asia followed
near 5 percent declines in Europe on
Monday and the near 700 point, or 7.7
percent, slide in the Dow, which wiped
out more than half of last week’s gains.
Even though Wall Street opened
higher Tuesday, its early gains did little
to make up for Monday’s sharp fall.
On Monday a run of bad data across
the world increased fears that the
length and depth of the global
economic downturn will be bigger than
anticipated.
It all culminated with Monday’s
announcement by the National Bureau
of Economic Research, considered the
arbiter of the US economic cycle, that
the world’s largest economy entered
a recession in December 2007, much
earlier than most predictions.
”If the US economy is entering
a depression, it is far too soon, even for
an equity market that tries to discount
conditions six months or a year ahead,
to be looking for economic recovery,”
said Stephen Lewis, chief economist at
Monument Securities.
The optimism which saw US stocks
rise for five straight days last week for
the first time since July 2007, has all
but evaporated amid renewed worries
about the global economy. The data
expected out of the US over the rest of
the week, culminating in Friday’s
closely-watched jobs report for
November, is expected to make for
further grim reading.
Despite the recession which has
taken hold across the developed world,
some companies are managing to post
solid performances. One notable
example was British supermarkets chain
Tesco PLC, which saw its share price
rise Tuesday by over 10 percent after it
reported like-for-like sales excluding
revenues from its gas pumps up 2 percent
during the third quarter; including
gas the total was up 3.2 percent.
”Yet again Tesco has defied the laws
of gravity kicking market recession fears
firmly in the teeth,” said Howard
Wheeldon, senior strategist at BGC
Partners.
Tesco will be hoping that the widely
anticipated 1 percentage point rate
reduction Thursday from the Bank of
England will help entice shoppers in
the crucial Christmas trading period
ahead. The European Central Bank is
also expected to cut its benchmark rate
by at least half a percentage point on
Thursday.
Earlier, Australia’s central bank
slashed its key interest rate Monday
a full percentage point to 4.25 percent
in an attempt to prevent the economy
from sliding into recession. But investors
took scant comfort from the move,
sending the benchmark S&P/ASX 200
index down 4.2 percent to 3,528.2.
AP
Economy
aid. All three likely are negotiating with
the UAW for delays in payments to the
trusts.
The companies are expected to
seek other concessions from the
United Auto Workers, including the
elimination of the much-maligned jobs
bank in which laid-off workers keep
receiving most of their pay.
Alan Reuther, the UAW’s legislative
director, declined to say what kinds of
concessions the union might take but
said ”we realize that all stakeholders
need to come to the table to do what’s
necessary to ensure the viability of the
companies. We’re prepared to do our
part.”
The plans to Congress may also
discuss more symbolic issues such as
the use of corporate jets. During the
congressional hearings, the executives
were sharply criticized for traveling
to Washington, D.C., separately by
private jets.
Ford said that Mulally will travel by
car when he returns later in the week.
Chrysler and GM said their CEOs will
not fly by corporate jet, but neither
company has said if the executives will
fly on commercial airlines or drive.
All three companies are expected
to resist calls for bankruptcy. The
executives said bankruptcy cannot be
an option because no one would buy
a car from an automaker that may not
survive the life of the vehicle.
Auto executives plan to discuss
the plans at a hearing before the Senate
Banking Committee on Thursday
and the House Financial Services
Committee on Friday. Commerce
Secretary Carlos Gutierrez said that
the plans need to address some of the
key structural issues facing the
industry, such as costs, their debt
structure, their dealer network cost
and their product lines. Gutierrez
said auto industry officials have told
him they plan to present ”strong
plans” but he had not been briefed
on the details. 1
Benchmarks in the Philippines,
Taiwan, India, and South Korea also
dropped sharply.
Markets on mainland China were
mixed, with food processors up
following a lifting of price controls but
banks down on economic jitters. The
benchmark Shanghai Composite Index
slipped 0.3 percent, while the Shenzhen
Composite Index rose 1.4 percent.
The bleak outlook for the world
economy drove oil prices to three-year
lows earlier below $48 a barrel. By early
afternoon light, sweet crude for
January delivery recovered to trade
up $0.26 to $49.54 a barrel.
The dollar was higher against the
Japanese yen at 93.52 yen from 93.36
yen earlier Tuesday, while the euro
strengthened to $1.2747 from $1.2695.
The pound meanwhile, which slumped
around 3.5 percent against the dollar
Monday after dismal British manufacturing
data, was up at $1.5014. 1
BY CARLO PIOVANO,AP BUSINESS IN LONDON
1

1
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BA in Merger Talks with Qantas
British Airways PLC said Tuesday it is in talks with Australia’s
Qantas Airways Ltd. about a potential merger
JANE WARDELL, AP IN LONDON
11
BA, which is already pursuing
a revenue-sharing deal with American
Airlines and Iberia SA, said it is
exploring a ”potential merger” with
Qantas ”via a dual-listed company
structure.”
In a brief statement released in
response to market speculation, BA
did not provide any reasoning for the
prospective deal but chief executive
Willie Walsh has long advocated
industry consolidation, arguing that
closer cooperation will help airlines
cut costs in the current difficult
economic climate.
BA, the third-largest airline in Europe,
added that its discussions with
Iberia on a potential merger are continuing.
”There is no guarantee that
any transaction will be forthcoming
and a further announcement will be
made in due course, if appropriate,”
BA said in the statement to the London
Stock Exchange. It provided no
further detail on the structure of the
potential deal with Qantas, Australia’s
largest airline.
The London-based carrier’s stock
jumped more than 12 percent after
the announcement to 156.7 pence
($2.35). The two airlines are already
code sharing partners in the oneworld
global alliance, which brings together
10 of the world’s carriers including
Japan Airlines.
The confirmation from BA on the
talks comes a day after the Australian
government revealed that it plans to
increase the level of foreign ownership
allowed in Qantas, but will not permit
a takeover. Australian law currently
limits a single foreign holding to 25
percent, while a group of foreign
holdings can total 35 percent.
A federal government policy paper
released Monday proposes lifting the
foreign ownership limit to 49 percent.
That would allow Qantas and BA to
swap equal stakes in each other.
Qantas last month slashed its fullyear
profit forecast to around 500
million Australian dollars ($316 million),
down from an August forecast of AU
$750 million. It also said it would cut
flights to cope with plummeting
demand, despite a recent easing in the
oil price.
Walsh last month warned that that
the industry was still ”heading into the
eye of the storm,” shortly after BA
reported a first-half net loss of 49 million
pounds ($77 million).
Analysts have been expecting
greater consolidation in the airline
industry after the global economic crisis
combined with soaring oil prices earlier
AP
this year to severely crimp passenger
demand. The International Air Transport
Association has reported international
passenger traffic declined 1.3
percent in October compared with 2007,
following a 2.9 percent drop in
September, and forecasts industrywide
losses of $2.3 billion this year.
Budget airline Ryanair Holdings
PLC on Monday launched a new
takeover bid for Aer Lingus, seeking to
capitalize on labor unrest at its Irish
rival along with the country’s economic
difficulties.
BA has already filed for worldwide
antitrust immunity from US
authorities for a revenue-sharing deal
with American and Iberia that would
see the trio set prices together and share
seat capacity on trans-Atlantic flights.
American would be the non-merged
member of the BA-Iberia linking.
The agreement is the closest
alliance the trio can form under strict
US airline ownership laws that all but
rule out a full merger and follows two
earlier failed attempts by BA and
AMR Corp.’s American to forge closer
ties.
Rival carrier Virgin Atlantic
Airways has bitterly opposed the
proposed deal, claiming it will seriously
damage the competitiveness of the
lucrative trans-Atlantic route and
increase fares for passengers.
But American and BA contend that
the partnership will merely allow the
trio to better compete with the other
major airline alliances, Star and
SkyTeam, which already have antitrust
immunity on trans-Atlantic flights and
a large presence at other European
airports. 1
Economy 7
www.wyborcza.pl 1 Gazeta Wyborcza 1 Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Around the World
A look at Economic Developments
BRUSSELS – EU finance ministers
endorsed a public spending plan that
would pump 200 billion euros ($252
billion) over two years into the
economy in an effort to get out of
recession. The ministers called the plan
a good basis to stimulate the economy
of the 27-country EU, which shrank
0.2 percent in the second and third
quarters. A final decision on the
package lies with the EU leaders who
meet in Brussels Dec. 11-12.
LONDON – The FTSE 100 index of
leading British shares closed up 1.4
percent at 4,122.86. Germany’s DAX
was the best performing European
index, up 137 points, or 3.1 percent, at
4,531.79. The CAC-40 index in France
ended 2.4 percent, or 72.47 points,
higher at 3,152.90.
TOKYO – Japan’s central bank unveiled
measures to encourage cautious
banks to lend more to companies,
many of whom are struggling to raise
money to carry them through the
year-end crunch. At an emergency
meeting, the Bank of Japan said it
would temporarily accept lowerrated
corporate debt as collateral
from commercial banks starting Dec.
9. The Bank also said it would provide
unlimited funds collateralized by
corporate debt at 0.3 percent interest
– the bank’s current policy rate.
Meanwhile, Japan revised its reading
of fiscal 2007 economic growth
higher to 1.9 from 1.7 percent, citing
a stronger-than-expected rise in capital
investment. But the benchmark
Nikkei 225 stock average lost 533.53
points, or 6.35 percent, to close at
7,863.69. The broader Topix index fell
4.88 percent to 787.12.
BEIJING – The benchmark Shanghai
Composite Index fell 0.3 percent, or
4.98 points, to close at 1889.64. The
Shenzhen Composite Index for China’s
smaller second exchange rose 1.4
percent to close at 562.47. Meanwhile,
in Washington, Treasury Secretary
Henry Paulson says China must
continue allowing its currency to rise
in value against the dollar as part of
reforms to address trade tensions with
the United States. Paulson praised the
Chinese for allowing their currency to
rise in value by more than 20 percent
against the dollar since July 2005, but
says it is critical that the currency reform
process is allowed to continue.
SYDNEY – Australia’s central bank
slashed its key interest rate by one
percentage point, to 4.25 percent, in the
latest bold move by the country’s top
finance officials to stave off a recession.
The reduction is the fourth in three
months by the Reserve Bank of
Australia and takes the cash rate to its
lowest level since May 2002. The
benchmark S&P/ASX200 index closed
down 4.16 percent at 3,528.2 points,
while the broader All Ordinaries index
closed down 4.02 percent at 3,473.4.
HONG KONG – The blue chip Hang Seng
index dropped 702.99 points, or 5
percent, to 13,405.85, snapping a fiveday
winning streak. The benchmark
index gained 9.7 percent last week.
Benchmarks in the Philippines, Taiwan,
India, and South Korea also dropped
sharply.
MADRID – The number of people filing
jobless claims in Spain soared to almost
3 million following a 6 percent rise in
unemployment registrations in November,
a further evidence of the country’s
economic troubles. The increase was
nevertheless somewhat slower than the
7.3 percent increase registered in
October. 1 AP
R E K L A M A
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8 Economy
Wednesday, December 3, 2008 1 Gazeta Wyborcza 1 www.wyborcza.pl
FCC to Mull Free Internet
11 The US Federal Communications
Commission is likely to consider
a plan this month to auction public
airwaves with a mandate that the
winning bidder set aside for free Internet
nationwide, a proposal staunchly
opposed by the cell phone industry.
The plan is championed by FCC
Chairman Kevin Martin, a Republican
whose time as chairman is
waning as the Obama administration
prepares to take office in
January.
Martin is expected to announce
on Tuesday that his proposal will be
considered at the commission’s
December 18 meeting.
It faces several hurdles. The cell
phone industry, for example, is
arguing that an FCC requirement
for free Internet is not a feasible
business model for most companies.
Also lining up against Martin’s
proposal are free speech advocates,
who don’t like a provision that would
require the winning bidder to block
pornography and other offensive
content from the free Internet
access. Another concern is whether
investors are willing to create the
needed infrastructure for free
Internet access in the recession-hit
economy.
”Everybody likes the concept –
free broadband, free access to the
Internet — but in practice, the way
the model is set up, it may present
problems,” said Ben Scott, policy
director of advocacy group Free
Press.
T-Mobile, a unit of Deutsche
Telekom AG, contends that the free
Internet component of the proposal
would lead to interference with the
adjacent spectrum. The FCC’s office
of engineering and technology has
said there would be no significant
interference with other airwaves.
Martin’s proposal is similar to one
offered by startup M2Z Networks,
a group backed by investors including
venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins
Caufield & Byers.
M2Z President John Muleta
envisions consumers buying a router
for free Internet access at midlevel
DSL speed and paying a fee to upgrade
to faster service. A lack of competition
and rising prices for Internet services
are creating consumer demand for
cheaper service, he said.
”It is a difficult time in the general
marketplace, but this is not the
financial services sector,” Muleta
said. ”This is not about subprime
loans.”
M2Z, which plans to bid if the FCC
approves the auction plan, said its
business model would use advertising
to help fund the free Internet —
a revenue scheme not shared by most
of the cell phone industry.
”I don’t know of any other major
players” that would bid with such an
approach, said Sascha Meinrath,
research director at the New America
Foundation. ”For a new player, you
basically have to have all your capital
up front.”
For the FCC to approve the
auction proposal, Chairman Martin
must persuade the commission’s
two Democrats, who have supported
the proposal’s concept, to side with
him.
It is unclear whether the Democrats
will back the proposal, though,
especially since they will gain more
authority when President-elect Barack
Obama takes office, which will give
them a three-vote majority on the fivemember
FCC.
The two other Republican members
of the commission are likely to
oppose the proposal, according to analysts.
1 REUTERS
11 A coalition of North American
environmental groups says the
development of Canada’s oil sands
region threatens to kill as many as
166 million birds over the next five
decades and is calling for a moratorium
on new projects in the region.
The coalition’s groups, which
include the Natural Resources
Defense Council, the Boreal Songbirds
Initiative, and the Pembina
Institute, say petroleum-extraction
projects in the oil-rich region of
northern Alberta are a threat to
migratory birds and the boreal
forest they rely on.
Their study concluded that
development of the oil sands, would
be fatal for 6 million to 166 million
birds because of habitat loss,
shrinking wetlands, accumulation
of toxins, and other causes.
The solution, the groups say, is
to halt new projects in the oil sands
and to clean up existing facilities.
They are also calling for strengthened
regulations to protect Canada’s
vast boreal, or northern, forest and
for Alberta, whose government has
backed oil sands developments, to
prove the resource can be exploited
without serious environmental
harm.
’’People need to take a hard look
at whether this can be mitigated or
if tar sands development is just
incompatible with conservation of
bird habitat,’’ said Susan Casey-
Lefkowitz, a senior attorney with
the Natural Resources Defense
Council.
The report estimates about half
of North America’s migratory birds
nest in the boreal forest and between
22 million and 170 million birds breed
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Canada Oil Sands Threaten
Millions of Birds -Study
in areas that could be subject to oil
sands development.
The oil sands contain the biggest
oil reserves outside the Middle East
but the crude is expensive and difficult
to extract. Mining projects strip large
areas of land to access the oil-laden
soils below the surface.
While the report has not yet been
made public, the Canadian Association
of Petroleum Producers, which
represents the country’s big oil firms,
said the oil sands industry complies
with environmental regulations and
dismissed calls for a moratorium.
’’We need a balanced conversation,
supported like a stool with three legs
– environment, economy, and energy,’’
David Collyer, the association’s
president, said in a statement. ’’Calls
for a moratorium that consider only
one leg of the stool, in a vacuum, are
not constructive.’’
Developments in the region have
been criticized for pumping large
amounts of greenhouse gases into the
atmosphere, using too much water
and being harmful to wildlife.
Indeed, the death of about 500
ducks earlier this year after they landed
on a toxic tailings pond operated by
Syncrude Canada Ltd, the biggest oil
sands producer, brought international
attention to the region.
The environmental groups’ forecast
is based on a big expansion of oil
production from the region. The oil
sands currently produce more than 1
million barrels a day, but the report is
based on an eventual output of 5
million barrels a day, in line with
industry forecasts of production in
two decades or more. 1
SCOTT HAGGETT
REUTERS IN CALGARY
Nokia Device
to Challenge
RIM and Apple
Next Year
11
Nokia Corp., the world’s largest
maker of cell phones, is launching
a new phone next year that is designed
to compete with Apple Inc.’s
iPhone and Research In Motion Ltd.
BlackBerrys at the high end of the
market.
The N97 will feature a 3.5-inch touch
screen with 50 percent greater resolution
than the iPhone. It will also have
a slide-out alphabetic keyboard,
making it similar in overall design to
the Xperia X1 recently launched by
competitor Sony Ericsson.
Nokia announced the phone Tuesday
at its Nokia World conference in
Barcelona, Spain. It said it would cost
around 550 euros, or about $700, before
taxes or carrier subsidies when
it launches next year. It will probably
be compatible with AT&T Inc.’s
high-speed data network in the US.
The phone will also have a camera
with a resolution of 5 megapixels,
higher than most competing models.
The phone will run Symbian software,
the standard for Nokia phones.
Nokia has had a hard time getting
US consumers interested in its highend
phones. They have lacked touch
screens, and most have also been missing
full-alphabet keyboards, two features
strongly associated with ”smart”
phones in the US market.
Two weeks, ago, Nokia said it was
expecting the industry to sell 1.24 billion
cell phones this year, down
slightly from a previous estimate of
1.26 billion. Analysts have noted that
sales of high-end phones are, somewhat
surprisingly, holding up the
best in the economic downturn. 1 AP
R E K L A M A
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1

1
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Raiders Switch Guns and
Bribes for Disinformation
RAFAŁ ZASUŃ, GAZETA WYBORCZA
11
The news that Prominvestbank,
Ukraine’s sixth largest
bank, is in trouble looked
perfectly credible at first. It
was September, the global
financial crisis had just begun. The
bank’s Donetsk branch was preparing
over 400 million hryvnias (€60
million) as salaries for miners and
steel workers. Suddenly hundreds
of its customers received text messages
on their mobile phones that
Prominvestbank was short of cash.
The rumour was repeated by the
country’s largest web portals, distributed
in the popular marshrutka minibuses,
in the coal mines.
To make the information appear
more credible, the assailants disabled
some of the bank’s ATMs. This was
carried out at the weekend so that
the bank was unable to replenish its
cash reserves. The effects were not
long in coming – long queues of frightened
petty savers formed in front of
the Prominvestbank cash dispensers.
Panic broke out. It took only a couple
of days for Prominvestbank to find
itself on the brink of insolvency. But
the National Bank of Ukraine came
to its rescue – by appointing administrators
and injecting equity.
The Security Service of Ukraine, or
SBU, opened an inquiry. First it said
the attack had been orchestrated by
Olexandr Shepelev, owner of the rival
Unikombank, deputy of the Yulia Tymoshenko
Bloc party. Ten days later, it
said it had been carried out by a ”Rus-
-sian financial group.” No charges were
pressed though, and because the SBU
head, Valentin Nalivaichenko, is perceived
as being connected to President
Victor Yushchenko, the president’s opponents
immediately dismissed SBU’s
claims as part of a political attack on
Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko.
And what happened to Prominvestbank?
It was eventually taken over
by a Cyprus-based company that, according
to the Russian press, is controlled
by the Kluyevov brothers, financiers
from Donetsk, deputies of
the opposition Party of the Regions.
Analysts are now trying to decide whether
the Kluyevovs simply took advantage
of the opportunity or perhaps acted
on behalf of unknown raiders.
Raiders became active in the East
during the ‘wild capitalism’ era of the
1990s. Their usual strategy was to bribe
judges or officials, who doctored owner-
ship documents. Then a security agency
stepped in to physically take control
of the target. Some of those who defended
their property too vigorously were
assassinated. Raiding became a real
plague in Ukraine. One of its victims
was the Polish biotechnology company
Bioton which had secured official
permission to acquire a state-owned
Ukrainian company. It suddenly turned
out that the state had mysteriously
sold its stakes, which eventually surfaced,
where else, on Cyprus. A few
weeks ago, President Victor Yushchen-
9
www.wyborcza.pl 1 Gazeta Wyborcza 1 Wednesday, December 3, 2008
The crisis in Ukraine and Russia is aparadise for raiders –predators that make their living by illegally taking control
of companies. In the 1990s,their weapons were guns and bribery,now they have started using disinformation
People protest against a fourfold increase in the cost of public transport in Kiev,
Ukraine, Thursday, Nov. 27, 2008
ko, accompanied by a Spetsnaz unit,
personally came to the head office of
turbine manufacturer Turboatom to
fend off raiders trying to take it over.
In Russia the authorities have succeeded
in reducing the number of
raider attacks, but during a crisis, shady
businessmen again feel like they are in
their element. ”Dalkombank goes bankrupt
on October 8,” said the text message
the Siberian bank’s petty savers
received. Panic ensued and within just
three days, some 2.4 billion roubles
(nearly €70 million) were withdrawn.
Virtually identical messages were sent
to the clients of two banks in the Ural.
The state had to bail them out. Russian
bankers blame the media for their problems,
saying the press transmits unconfirmed
news. ”Some of the articles
were an obvious provocation,” Andrei
Sharonov, president of Troika Dialog,
one of the oldest and most renowned
Russian investment banks, which a few
weeks ago became the target of a raider
attack, told the Kommiersant.
At President Dmitri Medvedev’s request
the Russian public prosecutor’s
office launched an investigation to see
whether some of the media may have
been spreading rumours to help the
raiders. The prosecutors have already
started interrogating journalists. Publishers
are now afraid they will be scapegoated.
”You can’t blame us for supporting
the raiders, we simply tell people
what’s going on,” complains Dmitri Nikulishin
at one of the Ural-based web
portals. Some of those in the business
world defend the press too. ”The crisis
is a severe test for the country and citizens
have the right to know the truth.
People are smart enough to understand
what’s going on,” says Yuri Lastochkin,
head of Saturn, a state-owned engine
and turbine manufacturer. 1
R E K L A M A
AP
27350724

10 World
Wednesday, December 3, 2008 1 Gazeta Wyborcza 1 www.wyborcza.pl
JACEK PAWLICKI
11
The above was one of the conclusions
of a Batory Foundation panel debate
on the challenges facing Poland’s
foreign policy. It was opened by ex-
Foreign Minister Adam Daniel Rotfeld,
who said that Poland has to take
a stance towards the sweeping changes
that have taken place in international
relations in 2008. The leaders of two
world powers have changed – the US
one elected, the Russian one ‘anointed’.
Moscow intervened in Georgia,
and the world has been hit by the worst
financial crisis since the 1920s.
The challenges and threats facing
Poland’s foreign policy were summarised
in the simplist terms by another
ex-foreign minister, Andrzej Olechowski.
He said negative trends have materialised
in three key areas in 2008.
Firstly, the cohesion and effectiveness
of the Euroatlantic system has
been undermined.
”We have a problem today with US
global leadership,” said Mr Olechowski.
”Afflicted by the crisis, America
won’t be strong enough to pull the
world forward. Its $10 trillion national
debt means some $300 billion in
annual servicing costs alone.”
”The US will be less assertive, and
there is no other country in the world
able to take over its role. The task for
Poland and Europe is, therefore, to
support US leadership.”
Secondly, the Russian intervention
in Georgia has undermined European
unity, crucial, among other things, for
Poland’s security. Intervening in
Georgia, Russia has presented itself
as a ”revisionist power,” said Mr
Olechowski.
”It has shown that you can cut off
a piece of the world and establish your
own rules there, ignoring international
law,” said the ex-foreign minister.
But the greatest threat for Poland
is not Russia’s military power, which
we instinctively fear, but the prospect
of Europe becoming divided again.
According to Mr Olechowski,
Russia is trying to build a bloc of
countries (in the former Soviet Union
area) to rival the EU. ”Russia is trying
to create its own world, its own
‘Europe B.’” The EU is unprepared
for such competition. Our instinct is
to expand the EU rather than to build
new walls and fences,” explained Mr
Olechowski.
He believes the Russian ”Europe
B” is a ”vital and deadly threat.” The
conclusion: it is necessary to find for
Russia such a place in the global
architecture that would be safe for
Europe and satisfactory for Russia.
Thirdly, Mr Olechowski continued,
the global financial crisis has provoked
a move away from liberal economics,
which is unfavourable for developing
countries such as Poland.
The state, which for the last twenty
years had been reducing its role in the
economy, has now halted the process,
as there is widespread consent to greater
regulation. Yet, according to Mr
Olechowski, ”Poland can only continue
developing if the market is free to the
maximum.” Stability (read: control and
regulation) is not good at all. ”The most
stable market of them all is the cemetery,
only nothing develops there,” Mr
Olechowski said bluntly.
His conclusion: Poland should do
everything it can to make sure that the
”competitive economic system”, favourable
for Poland, does not collapse.
Cichocki’s Provincial Poland
The challenges for Poland are viewed
slightly differently by Marek Cichocki,
director at the Natolin European Centre
think tank, former adviser to President
Lech Kaczyński, historian of ideas.
In his optics, it is necessary to make
the Polish state more efficient for
Poland to be able to effectively carry
out its policy in the EU. For a long time,
Poland was perceived by the world as
a grey area between Russia and
Germany. That area started filling with
content after 1989, and EU accession
became a great opportunity for Poland
to stand on its own two feet.
Hence the present hierarchy of
challenges looks as follows according
to Mr Cichocki: maximisation of
Poland’s presence in the EU, improving
the qua-lity of its membership; an
eastern policy in the EU (including a
policy towards Russia); and something
that Mr Cichocki called a ”contingency
plan” in case the first two challenges
were not effectively met, though he
failed to explain exactly what he meant.
According to Mr Cichocki, Poland
is now a ”provincial state in a provincial
Europe. We are weak. We have a similar
problem as Italy, a large state that
for various reasons has been unable to
take full advantage of the opportunity
EU membership offers,” he said.
That is why Poland has no choice
but to settle for a ”selective policy.” This
means focusing on: intensification of
cooperation with the Nordic-Baltic
region; an eastern policy; cooperation
with Turkey; and caring for the cohesion
of the Atlantic community.
Smolar’s Fears
Political scientist Aleksander Smolar,
head of the Batory Foundation, believes
a major challenge for Poland and the
world is the change of leadership in the
US. Mr Smolar expects President-elect
Barack Obama to try and reconcile the
Bush-era conservatism with a Demo-
www.wyborcza.pl wychodzi 24 godziny na dobę
Poland’s FP: Mid-Sized Country with a Big Mission
Poland is too small to be a world power, but too large to be pushed around. EU membership gives Poland
instruments to pursue its eastern policy, which is its mission
11 Only one American serviceman died
in Afghanistan in November, a dramatic
drop from earlier months that the
US military attributed to a campaign
targeting insurgent leaders, an improvement
in Afghan security forces,
and the onset of winter.
Twice this year, monthly U.S. death
tolls in Afghanistan surpassed the
monthly toll in Iraq, highlighting the
differing trends in the two war zones;
security in Iraq has improved while
it has deteriorated in Afghanistan.
US troops suffered an average of
21 deaths in Afghanistan each month
this year from May to October – by
far the deadliest six-month period
in Afghanistan for American forces
since the 2001 US-led invasion. The
Afghan Defense Ministry does not
release fatality figures.
Militants this year have unleashed
increasingly powerful roadside bombs
and sophisticated, multidirectional
PAP/PAWEŁ SUPERNAK
President of Poland Lech Kaczyński (in the middle) seconds after shots were fired close to the presidential column driving in northern Georgia, Nov 23
ambushes. The deadlier attacks,
combined with a record number of US
troops patrolling Afghanistan’s vast
provinces, has this year led to more US
military deaths than ever before in
Afghanistan – 148.
But the only American military
death recorded last month came when
a suicide bomber rammed his car into
a military convoy Nov. 13 as it was passing
through a crowded market in
eastern Afghanistan. The blast killed
Sgt. Jonnie L. Stiles, 38, who was
serving with the Louisiana Army National
Guard.
US spokeswoman Lt. Col. Rumi
Nielson-Green said a US military campaign
to target insurgent leaders and
bomb-making cells as well as Pakistani
military operations across the border
have helped lower levels of violence.
Also, insurgents in Afghanistan, particularly
in mountainous areas, typically
scale back their operations during the
winter months, and that may have contributed
to the declining trend, US military
spokesman Col. Jerry O’Hara said.
’’That’s some of it,’’ he said. ’’But
really we attribute it more toward our
improvement in our tactics and techniques
and procedures, along with the
increased capability of the Afghan security
forces.’’
O’Hara said the number of attacks
in the Kabul region was 50 percent
lower in January to October this year
than during the same 10-month period
in 2007. ’’And again, we attribute that
to not only the Afghan security forces,
but you have to give credit to the Afghan
people for their personal involvement
in the form of tips and their reports to
Afghan security forces,’’ he said.
Eleven US troops died in Afghanistan
in November 2007, meaning the
year-on-year drop is also significant.
The US still has more than 140,000
troops in Iraq, but violence there has
crat vision. This is likely to translate into
his stance on missile defence.
Mr Smolar believes the new administration
will not scrap the project,
but will postpone it. The same applies
to Nato enlargement. ”Mr Obama
won’t be as strongly in favour of
Ukraine’s and Georgia’s admission as
Mr Bush was,” said Mr Smolar.
The US is also likely to demonstrate
a more conciliatory attitude towards
Russia. Moscow, meanwhile, with its
intervention in Georgia, has shown the
world that the West is unable to
effectively defend its allies. ”This has
revealed the West’s major weakness.”
In the EU, in turn, Poland may have
a problem with the European energy
policy and its policy towards Russia. On
both these fronts, Poland, whose priorities
are somewhat different than those
of the leading EU states, ”must not allow
itself to be marginalised.” That is why
the government should strive to depoliticise
the energy dispute (Nord Stream).
”Poland has to emphasise on the
EU on the integration and liberalisation
of the energy market,” Mr Smolar
stressed, because that is the only way
it can achieve energy security.
Listening to the debate was Foreign
Minister Radosław Sikorski. He summed
it up by listing his policy priorities:
a strong Poland in the EU, a patron and
promoter of the EU’s eastern policy, Poland
as a strong link with NATO, and
fallen off dramatically in recent months.
Over the past six months it has become
more dangerous to serve in Afghanistan,
where the death rate among US troops
has been higher than in Iraq.
A near-record 32,000 American
forces are deployed in Afghanistan.
In the two months this year, more
US forces died in Afghanistan than Iraq,
even though there are four times as
many Americans deployed in Iraq. In
July, 20 US forces died in Afghanistan;
16 died in Iraq. In September, 16 died in
Afghanistan; 14 died in Iraq. Sixteen US
troops died in Iraq last month.
O’Hara said the military mourns
every death and that the number of
casualties is not a measure of effectiveness
for the military.
’’Our measures of effectiveness are
increased security, increases in development,
increases in people’s attitudes
toward their own well-being,’’
said O’Hara. ’’And certainly we’re al-
Poland as an attractive brand, a successful
country, supporting the Polish community
abroad.
Referring to the challenges mentioned
by the panel’s participants, Mr Sikorski
explained that, as best as it could,
Poland has tried to pursue its policy objectives
in the EU. He mentioned the
Eastern Partnership as an example – the
agenda, which Poland had successfully
lobbied the EU to endorse, providing
for the pulling tagether of the community’s
eastern neighbours, e.g. Ukraine,
Belarus, Georgia, or Moldavia, into Europe’s
zone of influence.
Mr Sikorski admitted that no EU
eastern policy was possible without
Germany. ”We need Berlin to be at
least neutral.”
Mr Sikorski spoke also of the challenges
facing NATO. In his opinion,
the alliance should return to its traditional
role from the past – a military
organisation with a general staff, planning
capability, and intelligence muscle.
”This role has been neglected,”
Mr Sikorski said.
According to the foreign minister,
NATO’s return to its former role should
take place as part of a ”transatlantic
contract.” In return for European
troops’ participation in NATO foreign
missions, such as Afghanistan, the US
should guarantee that the NATO has
the ability to defend its territory, that
is, its threatened allies. 1
US Military Deaths in Afghanistan Drop Dramatically in November
ways adjusting our tactics based on
what we see on the battlefield and what
we are able to learn through intelligence
about the insurgents.’’
The commander of NATO, Gen.
John Craddock, said last week that the
Taliban insurgency was growing more
’’virulent,’’ saying violence jumped by
40 percent this year. Last year 111 US
troops died in Afghanistan, meaning
deaths this year will likely have
increased between 30 percent and 40
percent by the end of the year.
More than 5,900 people – mostly
militants – have died in insurgency related
violence in Afghanistan this year,
according to an Associated Press count
of figures from Afghan and Western officials.
On Monday, a suicide bomber
apparently trying to target Afghan police
blew himself up in a crowded
market in southern Afghanistan, killing
eight civilians and two policemen. 1
JASON STRAZIUSO,AP IN KABUL
1

1
Sports www.wyborcza.pl wychodzi 24 godziny na dobę
Lance Armstrong rides a Trek prototype bicycle at a low speed wind tunnel in San Diego, Tuesday, Nov. 4
Tour Officials Ho-hum About
Armstrong’s Return
Tour de France officials responded with aGallic shrug Tuesday after Lance Armstrong
announced he will ride in cycling’s premier event next year
JAMEY KEATEN,AP IN PARIS
11
The seven-time Tour champion,
who is currently
training with his Astana
team in Tenerife, Spain,
confirmed Monday his ambitious
plan to return to the Tour
just weeks after riding in his first
Giro d’Italia in May.
Tour officials said nothing had
changed since Armstrong’s surprise
announcement in September that he
planned to ride in the Tour again – even
though he had since publicly
expressed doubts about that idea.
”We’re in the same situation,” Tour
spokesman Christophe Marchadier
said.
Tour chief Christian Prudhomme
wouldn’t comment ”because he’ll
repeat the same thing, and he doesn’t
want to repeat himself,” Marchadier
added.
In September, Prudhomme said,
”One cannot say that his comeback
is good or bad news. But it really is
news... It’s making noise everywhere”
– and nearly everybody seemes to have
an opinion about it.
Despite his record-breaking success
on the Tour, Armstrong is a controversial
figure in France, with many suspicious
as to how the cancer survivor could
achieve such success without doping.
Armstrong has repeatedly denied ever
using performance-enhancing drugs.
Marchadier said Tour officials
haven’t had contact with Armstrong in
a long time.
”Nobody even met with him when
he came to Paris last week,” said
Marchadier. ”He’s coming back, and if
he abides by the rules, like all the other
riders of the Tour, he’ll be at the start.”
French team leaders were even
more standoffish.
Eric Boyer, head of the International
Association of Professional Cyclist
Groups and sporting director for the
French team Cofidis, said simply, ”I don’t
want to react. It doesn’t interest me.”
Speaking after wind tunnel testing
last month in San Diego, Armstrong
suggested his safety might be at risk if
he enters the Tour again because fans
can get so close to the riders.
”If they hate you and you’re on the
roads and they want you, they can get
you,” he said.
But in an interview published
Tuesday in Le Parisien daily, Armstrong
played down reports of his concern
about safety, saying they were ”like
many stories that start small and end
up very big.”
”We’ve had threats in the past. The
French government and the (Tour)
organization have ensured protection,”
Armstrong said, according to a French
translation of his remarks. ”So am
I worried about that? No.”
Francaise des Jeux manager Marc
Madiot mocked any concerns that
Armstrong might have about safety,
and took a not-so-subtle dig at his home
state of Texas.
”You can tell him simply that France
isn’t Texas. We’re not in the Far West in
France,” Madiot said. ”We are honest
and respectful people. That’s all.”
Ronaldo Wins Golden Ball Award
11 Cristiano Ronaldo won the Golden
Ball awarded to the European
Footballer of the Year on Tuesday,
becoming the fourth Manchester
United player to take the honor and
the first since fellow winger George
Best in 1968.
Ronaldo’s brilliant scoring form
helped him beat Barcelona striker
Lionel Messi into second place,
while Liverpool forward Fernando
Torres was third in the poll results
announced overnight by France
Football magazine.
”It’s one of the greatest days of my
life. Winning this trophy... I dreamed
about it as a kid,” France Football
quoted Ronaldo as saying. ”Those
who know me, who live with me, know
that this is finally a dream come true
for me.”
Ronaldo dominated the voting,
tallying 446 points. Messi had 281
points and Torres had 179.
That gave Ronaldo two points
more than Kaka tallied to win last
year’s award.
”I am only 23 and it’s magnificent.
Unbelievable. It’s even better considering
all the big names in contention
this year,” Ronaldo said. ”Lionel
Messi is second and Fernando Torres
is third, but also Xavi (Hernandez,
in fifth place).”
Ronaldo praised his teammates for
helping him, and said he hopes to win
the award again.
”They are the ones who passed the
ball for me to score goals,” he said.
”What is for sure is that I want to win
it again, it feels so good. So, (next
morning), at eight o’clock, I will wake
up and tell myself I want to be even
better.”
United manager Alex Ferguson said
Ronaldo was a deserved winner, citing
his ”incredible” season in 2007-2008.
”Forty-two goals for a winger is quite
unbelievable,” he said. ”The thing about
Ronaldo is that he wants to play with
skill and he wants to use the skill all the
time, which is of great credit to him. Of
course the goals really put the icing on
the cake for him.”
Last year, Ronaldo was second with
277 points, while Messi was third with
255. Last year’s winner Kaka, Milan’s
Brazilian playmaker, slipped to eighth
in this year’s awards with only 31 points.
Ronaldo scored 42 goals in all competitions
last season as United won
the Premier League and Champions
League trophies. The 23-year-old
Ronaldo adds the Ballon d’Or award
to the FIF Pro World Player of the Year
trophy he won in October, and the
Professional Footballers Association
and the Football Writers awards.
He also became the first Premier
League player to win since former
Liverpool forward Michael Owen in
2001, and the first Portuguese player
since winger Luis Figo won it with Real
Madrid in 2000, and the third after
Eusebio in 1965.
France Football’s award was decided
by an annual poll of football journalists
with a short list of 30 players.
Following Portugal’s disappointing
showing at the European Championship
in June, Ronaldo underwent an operation
to his troublesome right ankle injury
in July that then kept him sidelined
until Sept. 17.
After a slow start, he appeared to be
heading back to top form with eight
league goals in 11 games until Sunday’s
red card against Manchester City drew
headlines for the wrong reason.
Already booked for a needless foul
on Manchester City’s Shaun Wright-
Phillips, Ronaldo jumped to meet
a corner kick and, instead of heading
the ball toward the City goal, batted it
down with his hands.
To his amazement, he was shown
a second yellow card followed swiftly
by a red one. He later said he thought
he had heard the referee blow his
whistle and that’s why he handled the
ball. 1
JEROME PUGMIRE,AP IN PARIS
11
www.wyborcza.pl 1 Gazeta Wyborcza 1 Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Giro director Angelo Zomegnan
told The Associated Press in
a telephone interview that he believes
Armstrong can race both the Giro and
the Tour and that his participation in
the French race would be good for the
Italian one, which is trying to become
more international.
”To have such a highly anticipated
figure, who then goes on to the Tour,
will push the Giro into globalization,”
said Zomegnan.
”Judging from the great care with
which he’s preparing his comeback on
the big stage, I think his return will not
be a pathetic remake but a performance
that will push the limits of mankind,”
he said. ”From the physical point of
view, he comes off three years of low to
medium physical activity, so he’s less
tired than his younger colleagues.”
Brian Nygaard, spokesman for the
Danish team led by former Tour winner
Bjarne Riis, said he ”cannot see anything
negative” in Armstrong’s return to the
Tour and that it would give the race an
”exciting perspective.” 1
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FIFA to push for
quotas despite
EU Commission
opposition
11 FIFA president Sepp Blatter vowed
on Monday to press ahead with controversial
plans to restrict the number
of foreign players in clubs despite
continued opposition from the EU
Commission.
Blatter, whose ‘6+5’ rule would limit
teams to just five foreigner players
in their starting line-ups, said he had
been ”satisfied” by an informal meeting
in Biarritz that brought together
top sports officials and European
sports ministers.
Ministers signed a joint declaration
to ”encourage further discussion
on initiatives put forward by international
federations to encourage
the teams... to develop the presence
of athletes capable of qualifying
for national teams, in compliance
with EU law.”
In a statement released by FIFA
on Monday Blatter said that ”the unanimous
support of the ministers and
their desire for dialogue point towards
a bright future for the Olympic
and sporting movement.”
He added that he was ”equally delighted
by the unanimous agreement
voiced by the 27 European sports ministers
on the need for dialogue and
discussion on the ‘6+5’ rule while respecting
its compatibility with EU
law.”
The EU Commission, which oversees
EU law, has been less positive
however in its interpretation of ‘6+5’
and its compatibility with EU labour
laws governing the free movement
of workers within the bloc.
In a written statement sent to
Reuters earlier on Monday, Commissioners
Jan Figel and Vladimir Spidla
said they sympathised with
FIFA’s concerns but ”differ about the
means to achieve it.”
The statement added: ”Our position
is clear: FIFA’s ‘6+5’ rule is based
on direct discrimination on the
grounds of nationality and is thus
against one of the fundamental
principles of EU law.”
The Commissioners have also expressed
scepticism over proposals
by European football’s governing
body UEFA to ban the international
transfers of players aged under 18.1
MARK LEDSOM, REUTERS IN ZURICH
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