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Energy issues and the condition of Polish economy were major topics raised during a meeting of Waldemar Pawlak, the Deputy Prime Minister, and Adam Szejnfled, the Deputy Minister of Economy, with Orselia Kalantzopoulos, the Director of the World Bank for Central European and Baltic Countries. The meeting, held on 8 July 2008 on the premises of the Ministry of Economy, was not their first one.

At the meeting, the Deputy Prime Minister stressed that in times of increasing petroleum prices Poland should make better use of its own natural resources. “We would like to put greater emphasis on renewable energy sources and on clean coal technologies.Within a dozen or so years, we plan to make use of nuclear energy as well”, he added.

Then Mr Pawlak discussed the condition of Polish economy. “The forecasts for economic growth, prepared in the Ministry, are optimistic”, he pointed out, and added that inflation in Poland was growing slower than in other countries of the region. “This can be explained partly by the fact that over 60% of energy comes from coal.In Baltic countries, where energy is produced from gas, inflation exceeds 15%, Minister Pawlak said He also stressed that although strong Polish zloty hindered Polish export on the one hand, on the other, it reduced the influence of increasing fuel prices on Polish inflation, The Deputy Prime Minister also mentioned that Poland would hold an UN Climate Conference in Poznań this year.“We would like to take this opportunity to discuss climate protection and global sectoral agreements with ministers of economy and CEOs of big corporations.We wish to invite the World Bank to participate in the conference”, added Mr Pawlak. Mrs Orsalia Kalantzopoulus noticed that it would be beneficial if ministers of environment and finance also participated in the conference.

Referring to Polish economic condition, she said that inflation in Poland was at a good level and economic growth contributed to Poland’s development. “Comparing it with other European countries, Polish inflation is much lower and is connected mainly with Polish zloty appreciation against the dollar”, she added. Yet she stressed that it could not be said how long the trend might last. - “I think that no matter how “strong” Polish zloty may be, it would be a good idea to plan actions that could keep inflation at the present level, which would be a big challenge,” she pointed out.

The same day, Mrs Orselia Kalantzopoulos also had a meeting with Adam Szejnfled, the Deputy Minister of Economy. The talks focused on energy issues. “We are working on Energy Policy until 2030. The document has to became a part of a Europe-wide energy security system”, stressed Mr Szejnfled, and then pointed out that acts introducing amendments in the energy law, and in the acts on energy regulator and on linear investments would be worked on.