In terms of business, Poland is the most welcoming country for Ukrainian businesses in the EU

In an exclusive interview for LDaily, Marcin Nowacki, Vice President of The Union of Entrepreneurs and Employers of Poland (ZPP), provides a detailed account of the role and structure of the organization, including its participation in social dialogue and business development. He discusses ZPP’s activities in Poland, the EU, and internationally, with particular emphasis on the development of Polish-Ukrainian business cooperation.

LDaily: Please tell us more about the Union of Entrepreneurs and Employers of Poland.

M. Nowacki: ZPP, the Union of Entrepreneurs and Employees, is one of the major employee organizations in Poland. We are a so-called representative employee’s organization, which means we are a social partner in Poland.

Our representatives belong to the Social Dialogue Council in Poland, where we discuss critical economic labor issues at the domestic level. As ZPP, we are a federation of businesses and organizations. This means we consist of individual members and companies can belong to ZPP directly. However, we also, and this is a main asset, consist of local and regional groups, local and regional associations, and sectoral associations. Currently, we have, I think, about 17 sectoral organizations being a part of the ZPP.

Our core business in Poland, but also at the EU level, is about regulations. We are a group representing companies, businesses, and entrepreneurs towards the government, the administration, the parliament, and European institutions. Apart from that, we also engage in some international operations.

Of course, we have been present for seven years now in Brussels, where I am currently because we mostly interact with institutions on European regulations. We have also expanded our activities. I would say we have opened a new field of operations within the ZPP, which is about contact making and supporting the business development of our members. This means we are doing our best to make it beneficial for employers and entrepreneurs to be a part of the ZPP because of business connections. We have started this activity mostly because of Polish-Ukrainian relations.

Therefore, for the last two years, we have done a lot in terms of business cooperation between Poland and Ukraine, and between Ukraine and new partners. We have established and continue to develop this kind of activity. To summarize, in terms of the ZPP, we work from having a major office here, with our local and regional representatives. We have an office in Brussels, and for two years now, we also have an office in Kyiv

LDaily: You’ve recently visited the Polish-Ukrainian forum in Ukraine. How did the forum go, and what are the future perspectives of cooperation between Polish and Ukrainian businesses?

M. Nowacki: Yes, I just came from Ukraine last Saturday, and I must say it was a very fruitful meeting of businesses. We are focused on businesses and their cooperation. The whole event was organized by the ZPP. It wasn’t our first event in Ukraine. We did a number of them from the start of the large-scale invasion. Actually, we were the first organizer of a business event in Kyiv after the full-scale invasion. We did the first event in July 2022. Therefore, it is still remembered by people in Ukraine that we did that at that time.

We are quite often interacting with and visiting Ukraine, Kyiv, and other cities. At this time, we focused on several sectors where we see growing business opportunities and a number of synergies, but also challenges. We discussed transport and logistics. We also discussed the pharmaceutical business, as our Ukrainian colleagues and partners want to enter the European market. Additionally, we shared experiences in terms of investments, both in structuring public investments and in building the capacity in Poland to absorb EU funds. We also had the chance to listen to Ukrainian presentations on the investment offers available in Ukraine and some of the projects currently taking place.

It was a very fruitful time, and we also brought some Polish companies to the event. We were there with a large delegation, including companies and one of the city representatives. The deputy mayor of the City of ?ód? was there with his team. Additionally, one of the special economic zones, the Legnica Special Economic Zone, was with us.

I think we will continue having that kind of format where we come to events not just as organizers or participants, but also with a group of companies to enhance business connections and opportunities.

LDaily: You mentioned that you work on issues related to supply chain and logistics. Could you describe your contributions towards resolving the Ukrainian-Polish border blockade?

M. Nowacki: Yes. Therefore, we were heavily involved in the talks between Polish-Ukrainian carriers and businesses once we had the crisis in November and December. Thanks to our cooperation and partnership with the Federation of Employers of Ukraine, we brought carriers from Ukraine and Poland together to discuss ways to unblock the border. We addressed several issues and identified what could be done on both sides to reduce tensions and ensure smoother operations.

Through three rounds of discussions and negotiations, we managed to change the capacity of the border crossings. It’s important to note that the border was never fully blocked; the issue was always about the capacity – specifically, how many vehicles could pass through per hour. As a result of agreements between the businesses themselves, we significantly increased the capacity of border crossings to allow up to 10 trucks per hour. Additionally, we compiled a comprehensive list of issues that need to be addressed by both the Polish and Ukrainian governments.

This groundwork has laid a solid foundation for further collaboration, ensuring equal access to both markets for Ukrainian and Polish drivers.

LDaily: Talking about capacity, how does the number of Ukrainians inside Poland affect the economy? Is Poland interested in labor migrants right now?

M. Nowacki: Poland has been interested in labor migrants for many years. We had a significant number of Ukrainians living and working in Poland even before the large-scale invasion. The number of Ukrainians in Poland was roughly about 2 million people. Therefore, we are open for a number of nations to come and live in Poland. We are also still welcoming a number of refugees who are staying temporarily in Poland because of the war situation and the heavy frontline in Ukraine.

That’s one aspect. In terms of business, Poland is the most welcoming country for Ukrainian businesses in the EU. There’s no other country with such growth in terms of the business presence of Ukrainian companies in the domestic market. In addition, we remain open.

Of course, there are some tensions, particularly in the transport sector. However, we are fully open for Ukrainians to register transport companies in Poland, and it’s happening. The transport sector is one of the top sectors in terms of new business openings in Poland by Ukrainian citizens.

I checked the data last week because of my visit to Kyiv, and there are more than 20,000 entities registered in the registry of public and limited companies. We estimate, and we hope to have the data in a couple of days, that from the start of the large-scale invasion until now, about 40,000 newly established individual businesses have been created in Poland. This represents a massive presence, which is beneficial for both countries.

Ukrainian companies can balance their business activities and manage risk. It is known that the GDP in Ukraine dropped significantly during the first year of the large-scale invasion. Therefore, many companies, entities, and entrepreneurs needed to enter new markets. Poland serves as the gateway for a large part of Ukrainian entrepreneurs to enter the EU market. This is attractive for Ukrainians, and in the long term, it is also attractive for us, as it broadens the business base in Poland.

I in the short term, this creates some tensions due to the large influx of companies and increased competition in the market. However, apart from the agriculture and transport sectors, we do not see any major issues. Overall, it is seen as a positive and valuable contribution to the Polish economy.

LDaily: Talking about support, could you please highlight some key measures that ZPP takes in order to support Ukrainian entrepreneurs and businesses that had to relocate to Poland because of the war?

M. Nowacki: The aim of opening our office in Kyiv in July 2022 was to create a gateway for Ukrainian companies interested in the Polish market. This office helps them understand how to operate in Poland, obtain proper contacts, and gather relevant information.

This office serves our members, primarily Polish but also international, by providing access to knowledge and information about the Ukrainian market. To enhance service for Ukrainian companies and our members in Warsaw, we established the Business for Ukraine Center, a specific department with four staff members dedicated solely to Polish-Ukrainian business cooperation. This adds significant value to our services.

The Business for Ukraine Center team offers consultancy and training for Ukrainian companies entering the Polish market. We ensure there is a robust contact-making process in place for Polish and Ukrainian companies. When a Ukrainian company considers entering the Polish market, we tailor a comprehensive service package for them. This includes legal and regulatory aspects as well as business support. We work with the company to identify potential partners, clients, and suppliers, facilitating their entry into the Polish and EU markets.

Additionally, we provide similar services for our Polish members looking to operate in Ukraine. This involves packaging all necessary activities to support their business endeavors in Ukraine. We see this as a long-term initiative and plan to maintain our representative office in Kyiv for many years. We believe that the cooperation between Poland and Ukraine offers great synergies and significant value to both economies.

LDaily: How far do you think Ukraine is actually from EU membership?

M. Nowacki: I would like to underline that what has happened over the last two years is extraordinary. It’s amazing what we’ve achieved in terms of the integration process between Ukraine and the EU. The progress is truly significant and hard to compare with any other historical EU integration. We are glad that Ukraine is now a candidate and that we are ahead of negotiations. In terms of being close to the single market, Ukraine has done a lot and the EU side as well.

It’s going to be a gradual process. I can’t specify a date for Ukraine to become a member of the EU, but it will certainly be a different process compared to Poland’s accession. It’s different partly because we all agree that to proceed and succeed, we need a gradual process that gives Ukraine access to specific areas of the European family. The access to the single market granted to Ukraine two years ago for several products will stay, in my opinion. This approach is unprecedented because we usually follow the accession agreements and schedules strictly before moving to full membership.

Even after becoming a member, there are typically transition periods for both the EU and the new member. Here, we will have a gradual process with transition periods before full membership. This is a great value for Ukraine as it allows the country to utilize some of the freedoms and benefits of membership before officially becoming a member. The key question is how we structure and succeed in the negotiations. It involves learning by doing, where we structure temporary arrangements and provisions for Ukraine, such as access to the single market or pre-transport services.

The success of negotiations depends on how effectively we use these provisions. Therefore, we need a balanced approach on both sides – the EU, member states, and Ukraine – to ensure stable, long-term political, social, and economic support for integration. We are making great progress, but we must keep the momentum going.

Additionally, I am extremely proud to have the mandate to monitor Ukraine’s integration in Brussels. I co-chair the EU-Ukraine Civil Society Platform, which has an official European mandate to monitor the implementation of the association agreement. We meet frequently to assess the progress of the integration process.

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