Poland is the only European Union country to have escaped recession in the past two years.  Though this post-Soviet economy is not immune to the global financial crisis, and is still fine tuning its transition to a free market, growth is 3% this year and expected to be higher next year.  Waldemar Pawlak, the Minister of Economy, says,

“Poland is the only country in the European Union that achieved economic growth, because of the great activity of Polish entrepreneurs and because of the very dynamic attitude of our businessmen.”

Part of Poland’s ability to grow in the current global environment is due to the fact that Poland has not yet adopted the common European currency, the euro.

Head of the National Bank of Poland, Marek Belka, said,

“being outside the euro helped us in the crisis, because we could allow the zloty, our national currency to devalue. Which is helping our exporters and is helping still.”

Transition to the euro has caused some hardship in European countries with their varying degrees of economic health.

Belka continued, “the euro seemed to be a great success in good times, the crisis showed that it is an unfinished project so to say.”

With the zloty being recently devalued, Polish exports are relatively cheap for world markets, but imports are more expensive.

Another factor that has helped Poland avoid pain on the level some of its neighbors are experiencing is the fact that its citizens are not in debt to the extent others are.  The whole idea of credit is relatively new to this country.  So you will find people explain that they, for example, paid for their homes in cash.

Poland’s Minister of Economy, explains also that of all the former Soviet bloc countries, Poland always had the freest economy.

The Poles had a relatively thriving private sector and Poland was famous among its East European neighbors for producing goods and growing food everyone wanted to buy.

Pawlak says, “In Poland, we had a private sector, a small private sector.  We had private businesses on a small scale.  And we also had private ownership in agriculture.  Seventy-five percent of our land was in private hands in the Soviet era.  And it’s a very strong, solid base of culture and knowledge of business to start effectively the transformation.”

Polish software company Polidea, which creates applications for mobile phones, was started last year by some young entrepreneurs.  They figured launching in the midst of a crisis would be a good test, and felt that if they could make it in the midst of a global meltdown, they would be golden going forward.

CEO Jakub Lipinski points out that the opportunities offered to the Polish people who lived decades under communism still feel like a fresh gift.

“I still remember the empty shops, and long queues and what happened is just a tremendous success.”

He continued,

“Polish people are still really hungry for success and that differs us from other countries.”

The strikes that have rattled Greece, and France and Italy to a lesser extent, are not happening here.

Lipinski says he doesn’t know people who have lost their homes.  And that the credit crunch is not topic number one at the dinner tables of those he knows.

But, there is a growing deficit and a lot of Poles struggle to find work.  Many still move abroad.  Some say the government is sugar-coating the facts and that there may be surprises down the road.

People complain about bureaucracy and corruption which appears to be a holdover from communist times.  And the deficit is growing.

With a newly elected President, and after a period of national mourning in the wake of the tragic plane crash that killed Poland’s last President, National Bank Governor and 90 other members of this country’s government and elite, there is talk of austerity measures to come.

But the Minister of Economy says they won’t be as severe as they have been in other parts of Europe.

“There is an anecdote that goes: A young man runs up to his grandfather and says ‘Grandpa, look how much I have in my piggybank, how much I have managed to save!’ The grandfather touches his head and says, ‘You shouldn’t learn how to save, you should learn how to earn money.’”

Meanwhile, the Governor of Poland’s National Bank says this is no time for Poland to gloat about staying afloat.

“We are still are a ‘catching up’ country so I don’t think hubris is what we should be engaging in.”