The leadership of the Polish Business Roundtable for 2023-2025

Polish Business Roundtable, an organization comprising owners and CEOs of major companies in Poland, has elected its leadership for a two-year term. Wojciech Kostrzewa, an entrepreneur and manager with over thirty years of experience in the financial, media, and fintech sectors, has been appointed president for the third time.

In addition to Wojciech Kostrzewa, the organization is led by six vice presidents. Serving another term are Małgorzata Adamkiewicz (co-owner of the Adamed Group), Marian Owerko (president of FoodWell), and Marek Żołędziowski (president of Group One). The three remaining positions will be occupied by individuals joining the Board for the first time: Beata Balas-Noszczyk (partner at Hogan Lovells law firm), Maciej Oleksowicz (president of the InterCars Group), and Michał Szramowski (president of MS Investments). After four years of participation on the Board, Zbigniew Jakubas (president of the Multico Group), Teresa Mokrysz (co-owner of the Mokate Group), and Jacek Olechowski (president of the Mediacap Group) have decided not to run for another term.

Wojciech Kostrzewa became president of the Polish Business Roundtable for the first time in May 2019, just a few months before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. His second term was marked by economic slowdown, the war in Ukraine, deterioration of relations between Poland and foreign partners, as well as controversial and far-reaching changes in Polish law. Wojciech Kostrzewa summarizes:

All of this has had a tremendous impact on us – not only as entrepreneurs but also as citizens. We have united in the fight against the pandemic and its consequences, legal chaos, and unlawful arrests of entrepreneurs. But we were also united by the need for cooperation, especially when organizing aid for the fighting Ukrainians and the victims of this war.

Furthermore, the president of the Polish Business Roundtable identified an area of activity that has been a common denominator over the past four years:

Since the first term, our goal has been to actively defend the rights of entrepreneurs in public debates and in dialogue with the authorities. It quickly became apparent that, in the current reality, advocating for entrepreneurs also means fighting for principles such as the rule of law, media freedom, and collaborative cooperation with the European Union.

Regarding plans for the third term, Wojciech Kostrzewa emphasizes:

It is an honor for me to once again gain the trust of my colleagues at the Polish Business Roundtable. At the same time, I see this election as an endorsement of our previous actions. We will not change direction. We will cooperate with other organizations within the Entrepreneurship Council and strive for Poland to be a country that does not hinder entrepreneurs, where the principles of a democratic rule of law are upheld, and which is an active and important member of the European Union.

Wojciech Kostrzewa is the CEO and co-owner of Billon Group, a Polish-British technology company that offers a digital blockchain platform for national currency payments, on-chain document management, and digital identity. He also serves on the board of directors of Stadler Rail, a Swiss manufacturer of rail vehicles, and is the vice-chairman of the supervisory board of ERGO Hestia, as well as the owner and chairman of the supervisory board of Pascal Publishing. Previously, he was the president of BRE Bank and head of Commerzbank operations in the CEE region, as well as the long-time president of the ITI Group and chairman of the supervisory board of TVN.