WMSSE S.A.

Procedure of obtaining the Licence for conducting business activity in the area of the Warmia-Mazury Special Economic Zone - while selecting a location which is not covered by the W-M SEZ area.

(Diagram of the procedure)

1.  Establishing direct communication.

This is usually the first contact of the investor with the Zone. At this moment, an interested entrepreneur is presented with the offer of the Zone (exemptions, plots, additional incentives). At the same time, the investor presents his plans and needs (branch of industry, amount of planned expenditures, planned employment, area of land needed for the realization of the enterprise, location preferences and requirements concerning technical media).

2.  Indicating by the investor a location proposal.

3.   Submitting appropriate documents to the Zone.

1)  Investor’s Letter of Intent.

A Letter of Intent should contain the following data:

-  the branch of industry and basic products that are to be manufactured in the W-M SEZ area,

-  the amount of planned capital investments,

-  the planned dates of starting and completing the investment and launching business activity,

-  the planned number of new jobs created,

-  the reasons for which it is necessary to realize the project under the conditions of a special economic zone,

-  information concerning the real estate property where the business activity is planned (area, location),

-  the quality and quantity requirements concerning technical media (in the form of an appendix to the Letter of Intent),

-  a financial projection of the planned undertaking (to the end of 2020) containing, in particular, information concerning foreseen effects for the state budget (VAT, CIT, PIT, property tax – assuming that the enterprise does not benefit from any exemptions or reductions),

-  possible threats to the environment resulting from the undertaking.

         Template of the Letter of Intent

         Template of an appendix to the Letter of Intent

2)   A motion (of the commune head, a mayor or a president of the city) to include designated areas into the W-M SEZ area. The motion should include the following information:

-  details of the area to be included (numbers of plots and their area),

-  the degree to which the area is provided with utilities (if the area is not equipped with utilities, information concerning the date when the property will be provided with missing infrastructure elements),

-  the intended use of the area that is proposed to be included into the zone, according to current land development plan (together with an excerpt and a sketch from the local development plan),

-  foreseen effects of requested changes to the zone borders, specifying the entrepreneurs who are interested in investing in the area requested to be included into the zone (based on attached letters of intent),

-  information concerning the ownership structure of the areas to be included (current excerpts from the land register concerning the areas requested to be included into the zone).

3)   Resolution of the Municipality Council (the Town Council) on expressing consent to include requested land into the W-M SEZ area.

4)   A land survey and height map (on a scale that ensures full legibility) of the land in the zone (indicating existing technical infrastructure).

5)   A geodetic description of zone area borders (map of the register of land and buildings, with numbers of plots and numbers of border points, on the scale that ensure full legibility, and a description of outline borders, expressed in words) after the change of borders is made. This applies to the modification of the description of borders of the area that has been covered by the zone so far and the description of the area that is to be included. 

4.  Preparing and submitting to the Council of Ministers, by W-M SSE S.A., a request to change the Zone borders.

5.    Passing and publishing, by the Council of Ministers, the resolution changing the borders of W-M SEZ. 

6.    Publishing an invitation to negotiations or a joint tender in the press.

After completing the above points, W-M SSE S.A. publishes in the national press an Invitation to a Joint Tender or an Invitation to Negotiations. An Invitation for a Joint Tender is published when the entrepreneur applies to obtain a Licence and for purchasing a real estate property from W-M SSE S.A.. An Invitation for Negotiations is published when the entrepreneur applies only for a Licence.

The Invitation contains, among others, the following information:

-    the name and the registered office of the Body Managing the Zone and the name of the Zone,

-   a description of the method for obtaining terms of tender or terms of negotiation and the price for those terms,

-   the place and the deadline for submitting offers, which cannot be less than 21 days starting from the day when the announcement is published,

-   the date of opening the offers,

-   in the case of a joint tender, the Invitation also contains information concerning the real estate property which is to be used to undertake business activity in the area of the zone, a reserve price of this property and the amount of deposit.

7.    Purchasing Terms of Tender or Terms for Negotiations.

A purchase of Terms of Tender or Terms for Negotiations is the condition to join the tender or negotiation.

Terms of Negotiations or Terms of Tender include:

-   a description of the real estate property,

-   the terms and conditions for making the real estate property available,

-   an evaluation criteria for business undertakings,

-   the rules and regulations of the Zone,

-   the manner of preparing the offer,

-   the date when the offer becomes binding,

-   the date and place of submitting and opening offers.

In case of a joint tender, Terms of Tender also include: :

-   a reserve price for the real estate property,

-   date, form and the amount of paying deposit,

-    important provisions of future sale agreement for the real estate property.

8.   Paying the deposit specified in the Terms. 

9.   Submitting an offer, consistent with purchased Terms, by the investor.

An offer that is submitted must be prepared in Polish, and it should contain:

-   completed documents that are attached as appendices to the Terms,

-   current articles of association of the company that is going to operate in the Zone, together with the excerpt from the National Court Register (KRS) or the entry to the business activity register,

-   a description of a planned business undertaking,

-   terms for realizing the undertaking - business plan,

-    in the case of a joint tender - the price offered for purchasing the real estate property and a copy of a receipt of paid deposit,

-   the tenderer’s signature.

10.   Works by the Commission for Negotiations, acceptance of the offer by the Commission.

On the date specified in the Terms, Commission for Negotiations opens, evaluates and qualifies offers submitted.

Criteria of the evaluation include:

-   conformity of the undertaking with the developmental objectives of the Zone,

-   competitiveness in relation to other enterprises operating in the area of the Zone and in its vicinity,

-   value and terms of realizing the undertaking, amount of expenditures and planned employment,

-   participation in business associations, including cooperative ones, with enterprises operating in the area of the Zone and in its vicinity,

-   participation in creating and modernizing the economic infrastructure of the Zone,

-   technological innovations applied,

-   environmental impact of the technology used,

-   in the case of a joint tender – price and terms for purchasing the real estate property,

-   terms of cooperation with governmental bodies of the town, municipality and district, declared by the tenderer.

Offers, which in the assessment of the Commission receive a required amount of points, are qualified for further proceedings. Subsequently, the president of the Commission establishes the date of meeting with tenderers whose offers have been qualified, in order to carry out negotiations.  

11.   Negotiations.

After opening, evaluating and qualifying the offers, the Commission for Negotiations carries out negotiations with entrepreneurs whose offers have been qualified for further proceedings.

Negotiations can concern:

-   the price for the real estate property,

-   the dates and terms of payment,

-   the participation of the tenderer in creating and modernizing the economic infrastructure of the Zone,

-   undertakings planned by the tenderer, aiming at the protection of the natural environment,

-   obligations concerning the amount of investment expenditures, number of new jobs, produced goods,

-   details of the offer,

-   terms of the licence to conduct business activity in the Zone.

Negotiations end with signing a Report of Agreements or a Report of Divergences.

12.   Issuing a Licence to conduct business activity, by the Management Board of W-MSSE S.A.

The results of negotiations are subject to approval by the Management Board of W-M SSE S.A.

A Licence is issued by the Management Board of W-M SSE S.A. immediately after approving the Record of Agreement. The Licence is valid to the end of the period for which WMSSE was established, i.e. 31 December 2020. 

The whole procedure, starting from the day of publishing the Invitation in the press, usually does not last longer than two months.