Due to accelerated investment related to
the 2012 Euro football championship and inflow of subsidies from
the European Union, Poland’s leasing market will experience some of
the most rapid growth in Europe, according to estimates by the
Polish Leasing Companies Association. The total value of assets
reached €9.6bn for 2007 and the first two months of 2008 show hope
that it may be another record year for the industry, Andrezi
Filipek, head of sales and marketing at Raiffeisen Leasing Polska
said.

The leasing market’s continued growth relies on whether
companies will boost spending on investments as fast has they have
been in the past several quarters. This year, the country will
start receiving the first subsidies as part of the Operating
Programme Innovative Economy 2007-2013, while infrastructural
development in terms of roads, highways, rail tracks and buildings
to support tourism, should simultaneously drive demand for
investment.

“The reason for dynamic expansion of leasing services is the
Polish economic boom and investment growth. Poland will become soon
one of the largest building sites in Europe. These investments will
require fast and cheap financing,” said Robert Mandzunowski, CEO of
LHI Leasing, which operates on the real-estate leasing market.
“Polish entrepreneurs will be expanding and upgrading their
companies. That’s why they will be looking for cheap and safe
sources of capital. They are increasingly using the leasing due to
its easy and fast availability as well as tax advantages.”

The leasing of machinery rose 36 per cent in 2007 and is
expected to increase by up to 40 per cent for 2008; the yellow
equipment market, which includes excavators, trucks, cement mixers,
cranes, scaffolding and specialist equipment, will be at the
forefront. But machinery growth will not diminish the market share
of passenger cars and vans.

The Polish leasing market has also started opening up to smaller
companies, and emerging SMEs, are expected to increase demand for
yachts, planes and helicopters, as well as property leasing.
Furthermore, local governments are reportedly increasing their
support for public-private partnerships, which allows for more
alternative financing methods.