Industrial giant

Another big Irish player on the Polish industrial scene is CRH Irish Cement, which has been watching the developments in the area since the late 1980s but considered the economic climate a bit uncertain at the time for a major investment.However, coming up to the mid 1990s, they moved and became a joint venture partner with Holding Cement Polski. This resulted in being awarded the privatisation bid for Cememtownia Ozarow, one of the most modern cement plants in the country. Brian Griffin is managing director of CRH Europe-Materials and has seen investment in Poland come close to $130 million with $60 million more being put to one side for further investment.It is planned to use the CRH presence in Poland as a starting point for possible future acquisitions further east and with about 200 Irish groups investing in one way or another in Poland, the moves made by CRH certainly appear to be wise ones.