Gillette Subcontractor, Czech Firm Enter Poland

LODZ, POLAND-Kofola, the Czech producer of non-alcoholic drinks, acquires about 15 acres near here in the town of Kutno where it will be constructing a 172,000-sf factory, according to the brokerage firm in the transaction, Colliers International. A local source tells GlobeSt.com that the drinks producer is investing a total of $25 million in the project and will employ over 100 people in the Polish subsidiary.The Kofola factory is the first Czech investment in Poland. The building is planned to be delivered in the first quarter of 2005. EC Harris has been appointed as the Project Manager. Colliers International’s Warsaw-based industrial department assisted Kofola in the land acquisition and negotiations with the officials of Lodz Special Economic Zone. Colliers has been active in Poland since 1997. Renata Osiecka, head of Industrial at Colliers International, says Kofola will receive a package of investment incentives including income tax exemptions and improved ground facilities.There are 14 Special Economic Zones in Poland. Apart from Kofola, several other international firms have made investments in Lodz, including: Amcor, Barry Callebaut, Bosch-Siemens, Coca-Cola, Gillette, HD Lee Company, Intercellulosa, Leo Gros and Merloni. In another Lodz transaction brokered by Colliers-Warsaw, a Polish subsidiary of Sonoco, a Hartsville, SC-based packaging company, has set up shop in the western portion of the city near its major client, Gillette. Sonoco Poland Packaging Services leased a 34,000-sf production facility that will package Gillette items for worldwide distribution. A local source tells GlobeSt.com Sonoco will pay an annualized lease rate of about $28,000.Maciej Chmielewski, an industrial associate at Colliers, says there is not much modern warehousing and production space available in Lodz or its surroundings. The closest new product is 40 kilometers away, she says. Ultimately, however, Sonoco settled on a class B facility that had the right location and could meet minimum requirements for the company’s building standards.