Ryszard Stefan Florek is simply a Polish entrepreneur, founder and CEO of FAKRO, operating continuously since 1991 and specialized in the production of roof windows and attic stairs. Graduated from the Faculty of Land Construction of the Cracow University of Technology, he was already actively active in the activities of the Academic Sports Association PK during his studies.
Under his leadership, a global corp grew from a tiny household plant in Nowy Sącz, which present owns 11 factories, 17 distribution companies and a commercial network in more than 60 countries, reaching around 15% of the marketplace share of roof windows. Florek is besides the founder of the Foundation “Think of the Future”, promoting the improvement of social capital in Poland, and for his contributions to economical and social activity he was awarded, among others, the Officer's Cross of the Order of Polish Revival and the Golden Cross of Merit. Thanks to a strategy combining intensive investigation and improvement with abroad expansion, he made FAKRO synonymous with Polish innovation.
Wojciech Siryk's conversation with Ryszard Florek on NamZalępy.pl channel opened a reflection on the condition of the Polish and European economy. Florek recalled that the social capital of entrepreneurs and citizens has been engaged for respective years:
"People will gotta go out on the streets to make a difference. I do not believe that this Green Deal will take place in Europe due to the fact that it would be a harakiri for the European economy. Poland lost a lot in this war.”
The entrepreneur pointed out that excessive regulation and officials inhibit growth:
"Statistics show that something is wrong, that we are going in a very, very incorrect direction. So erstwhile there were less officials, we grew faster. Grants are specified a Brussels Trojan horse.”
Florek recalled his experiences of travelling to Japan, China or Chile, but Switzerland was the most inspiring. Roof window distributor there:
“I don’t take stairs from you, I take roof windows due to the fact that no Swiss maker makes roof windows, and we have a Swiss supplier in the stairs. (...) This did not pay the Swiss, due to the fact that we offered a 30% lower price.”
This experience has made him aware that in countries with advanced social capital, income is importantly higher, and cognition of marketplace mechanisms translates almost immediately into wage increases.
In the next part of the conversation, the owner Fabro discussed the prepared presentation. The first illustration showed average wages in the largest EU countries against GDP per capita:
"The average wage is about 0.6 GDP per person. So if we want to make more money in Poland, we gotta produce more GDP per person."
The second image included the number of global companies (with yearly turnover ≥ 1 billion € and at least 5 abroad companies) per 5 million inhabitants:
"Denmark has 41 specified companies, while Poland has 1 in 5 million, which is simply a full of seven."
Florek pointed out that global companies accumulate capital in the home country, driving the secondary economy there and raising wages.
The most breathtaking thing was to discuss the cost structure of the roof window produced in Poland and sold in Germany by the Danish corporation:
"On this screen you will see the structure of unit costs: costs of natural materials, production in Poland, and further added value for Denmark – Danish profit, sales costs, logistics, advertising. Although the product is manufactured in Poland, most of the value goes to the country that manages the full chain.”
According to the entrepreneur, if all links of the chain were controlled by Polish companies, the added value would stay in the country.
The transition to local realities showed dramatic investment situation. Fabro has been waiting for 4 years to licence the construction of a fresh hall in Nowy Sącz because...:
“The president said he does not see social interest.”
Lack of access to the access road – plots of 20 ar – formally blocks all decisions. Florek reported on the exchange of letters:
“We exchanged with the city over 35, that is, we 15, the city 15 answers. This has been going on for 4 years.”
As a result, an investment worth PLN tens of millions and 100 fresh jobs moves to the USA, where a fresh mill is being created in Elizabeth City, North Carolina – a simple example of how Polish bureaucracy pushes capital abroad.
Florek further cited the example of building a retention tank:
"The cost of building a tank is about 100 thousand, and the cost of preparing the paperwork to apply for approval to execute this tank is 150 thousand."
According to him, specified a licence is obtained in China in a week and the state does not block export development.
The leader reminded the businessman that “Poland is simply a state of officials”. The guest confirmed:
"Today there are 3 times as many officials in Poland as there were in 1990. GDP per capita increased by 400 % between 1990 and 2005 and only 100 % in the last 15 years."
This statistic, according to Florek, shows that an increased administrative apparatus negatively affects the pace of development.
When asked about US duties on Chinese goods, the entrepreneur assessed them as:
“Chaos, but Trump is an entrepreneur, so in different chaotic ways he sought what he had achieved. He wanted the work imposed by the United States on China to be higher than the another way around – and I think he achieved it.”
He added that Europe will besides gotta defend itself against inexpensive imports soon.
In the context of the work of Rafał Brzoski's squad on economical deregulation, Florek acknowledged:
"Deregulation is surely very necessary. But I uncertainty if there will be adequate determination to introduce it.”
In his opinion, despite good proposals (ten demands already made a year and a half ago), political will is inactive lacking.
Florek stressed that without the active engagement of society, changes may not come true:
“I think people will gotta go out on the street to make a difference. I do not believe that at least 5% of all of these proposals by Rafał are implemented."
This message was a strong accent ending more than an hr of discussion about the challenges and opportunities of the Polish economy from the position of the practice, which faces authoritative barriers and global competition.
