Translation
- HP to expand Wroclaw centre
Hewlett-Packard (HP), the US computer group, plans to create up to 700 new jobs at its Global Business Centre in Wroclaw over the next few years, as the facility assumes a key role in supporting decision-making processes at the group's subsidiaries in Europe. The Wroclaw centre, which was created exactly five years ago as the first SSC/BPO centre in the city, at present employs 1,800 staff. The decision to lift headcount to 2,000-2,500 is part of a plan, not only to expand capacity but also to introduce more advanced services. That is why HP is aiming to cast its net wider, attracting foreigners as well as Polish professionals. According to Jacek Levernes, CEO of the Wroclaw centre, the company is looking for experts in economics and finance with three to seven years experience and mastery of more than two foreign languages, including rare ones.
- Mediatel launches MVNO
An alternative fixed-line operator, , has included mobile telephony services under the 'Telepin mobi' brand into its offer. The new virtual network operator (MVNO) is based on 's infrastructure. Mediatel plans to poach 20,000 customers by the end of the current year, which it hopes to gain mainly from Poland-resident citizens of the Ukraine, Russia and Vietnam. The company expects to generate PLN 0.5m (€150,000) revenue by the end of 2008 by offering cheap international calls via special access number to fixed-line networks in almost 60 countries at PLN 0.39 (€0.12) per minute. When this discount expires, the standard price of PLN 0.49 (€0.15) will be charged. The costs of domestic M2M calls and SMS messages are PLN 0.60 (€0.18) per minute and PLN 0.23 (€0.07), respectively. Mediatel is planning distribution abroad as well (e.g., in Vietnam) and it runs a website in six languages.
- CenterTelecom doubles planned capital investments for 2008
, the fixed-line, mobile telephony and broadband operator controlled by the telecom holding , intends to spend RUB 13.5bn (€364m) chiefly on traditional telephony and transmission lines by the end of 2008. Initially, the value of spending was expected to be RUB 6.6bn (€179m). CenterTelecom operates in the territory of the Central Federal district. It also provides translation of programmes on cable television in the area. Svyazinvest owns a 38.02% package of CenterTelecom's authorised capital.
- Mediatel to run MVNO for foreigners
, a fixed-line operator, plans to launch the first mobile virtual network operator based on the platform for Vietnamese and Ukrainians in Poland, reported. Marcin Kubit, the president of Mediatel said this is going to be the first MVNO in Poland to be directed specifically at the ethnic groups. He explained that the company intends to reach the group of 200,000 foreigners who have already used its ' Telepin VoIP service with a mobile telephony offer as well. These are mainly citizens of Vietnam and the Ukraine. Advertising, marketing and customer services will be in the target groups' languages.
- Napisy.org back?
The popular website offering free film subtitles in Polish, www.napisy.org, may be reactivated, according to . In May 2007, after an investigation launched at the request of distributors associated in Fundacja Ochrony Tworczosci Audiowizualnej (the Foundation for Protection of Audiovisual Works), the website was suspended and its creators questioned. Since then, however, no specific charges have been brought, and the Zabrze Regional Prosecutor doubts whether in this case the law has been broken at all. An expert assigned by the prosecutor is to state whether publishing unauthorised translations free of charge of works for which authorised translations are available is a violation of the law.
Economic
- Eldorado share of Russian consumer electronics market reaches 35%
Eldorado, a Russian chain of consumer electronics stores, reported preliminary net revenues of RUB 35.5bn ($1.2bn) for H1 2010, a year-on-year increase of 7%. Like-for-like sales during the period in question were up 14%. The company has emphasised that these increases were achieved despite the fact that the number of stores operated by the company had actually fallen; last year Eldorado pursued a strategy whereby a number of unprofitable stores were closed. By way of comparison, in Q1 2010 Eldorado's like-for-like sales rose by 9.3% year on year and total revenue increased by 2% to RUB 22.6bn ($734.8m). The results achieved in H1 2010 mean that the company, as of the last week of July, accounts for 35% of the consumer electronics market in Russia - a record-high for the company. Eldorado is the largest retail chain on the Russian consumer electronics market and its revenues in 2009 amounted to RUB 89bn. The chain has stores in every Russian city with a population of over 500,000 and in 92% of cities with 250,000-500,000 inhabitants. Overall, the company operates approximately 700 stores in Russia.
- Russian children’s goods market to speed up growth in 2011-2015
The Russian children's goods market is forecast to grow by 15-17% on average in the period of 2011-2015, according to the largest children's goods retailer in Russia, Detsky Mir. The company forecasts the growth to speed up gradually, starting from 13% in 2011 and ending at 17% in 2015. In 2015 the market is forecast to be worth RUB 701.3bn ($22.4bn). The growth is expected to be driven by two main factors: an increase in the number of newborns in 2007-2015 and low, in comparison with the Western Europe, expenses for children goods in Russia. While in Russia the average spending for toys amounts to $110 per year, the figure stands at some $280 in Western Europe. The average monthly expenditure per one child in Russia is approximately RUB 3,800 ($124). In 2009 the value of the children's goods market grew by 9% year on year to RUB 294.2bn ($9.7bn), according to the Detsky Mir estimates. From among the main segments of the market, the highest growth of 13.5% was reported in the segment of goods for newborn babies. This segment is envisaged by the retailer as having the best prospects for growth over the next four years as the company estimates its growth at 20% on average in 2011-2015. The lowest increase, of approximately 10% on average, is forecast by the company in the segment of children's footwear.
- Detsky Mir to return to profit in 2010
,the largest Russian children's goods retailer, is planning to start generating profit again in 2010 and increase its revenue by 10% year on year in rouble terms, according to the company's CEO Aleksey Chuykin. In 2009 the retailer experienced net losses of $99.1m and a drop in revenue to $583m. However, in Q1 2010 the company's revenue started to improve, increasing by 9% year on year to $127m. Therefore, in the course of the last three quarters of the year, the company plans to focus on a further improvement of its financial results; it also plans to decrease the number of suppliers and withhold from active expansion. Detsky Mir is planning to open five stores by the end of the year. At the beginning of June 2010 the company announced that it would open not more than 10 new stores this year, as reported by . Currently, the retailer operates 128 stores in 68 cities in Russia. The company, which is solely owned by , is currently looking for an investor and can close a deal already in Q3 2010. Mr. Chuykin, however, refrained from disclosing any more details of the possible transaction.
- X5's discounters do better than supermarkets in H1 2010
The largest Russian grocery retailer grew its net retail sales by 19% year on year to RUB 155.5bn or by 31% to $5.2bn in H1 2010. In the second quarter, X5's sales rose by 18% to RUB 79.8bn or by 26% to $2.6bn in Q2 2010. X5's like-for-like (LFL) sales in H1 2010 increased by 5% in RUB terms, driven by a 2% increase in customer traffic. Discounters fared the best in terms of sales growth, LFL sales (14% growth) and sales per m2. Supermarket LFL sales declined by 7%, reporting a 9% drop in consumer traffic, as customers continued to favour discounters due to the continued economic uncertainty. X5 opened 100 stores in H1 2010 including 96 discounters and four hypermarkets, plus 42 convenience stores via gaining operational control of . X5 Retail Group is present in 45 cities in Russia and Ukraine. As of 30 June 2010 it operated 1,514 stores in total, including 1,135 discounters, 275 supermarkets, 62 hypermarkets and 42 convenience stores.
- 5 Karmanov opens two stores in Yekaterinburg and Tyumen
,a Russian clothing retailer, opened two new outlets in the period of May-June 2010. At the end of May 2010 the company launched its fourth store in Tyumen, in Solnechny shopping centre. Another 5 Karmanov outlet started operating in Yekaterinburg in June 2010 in the Mega mall, the company's third store in the city. Overall, on 30 June 2010 the retailer operated 17 outlets in Moscow and over 20 Russia's cities.
