If you think that it’s all doom and gloom today, what with the Greek financial crisis and the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, think again. The World Bank may have announced that the world GDP shrank by 1% in 2009 for the first time in its history, but at the same time the European Comission and the OECD both gave Poland thumbs up for its growth rate, which the former projects at just under 3% this year, and the latter at over 3%. According to both institutions, Poland’s stable growth can be maintained until at least late 2012.

Polish preparations for Euro 2012 European Football Championship to be co-hosted by Poland and Ukraine are delayed, Poland’s Supreme Chamber of Control (NIK) said on Monday. Almost half of projects reviewed by NIK are not carried out on schedule and almost a third will not be completed before the start of the championships.

A joint scheme developed by Polish and Ukrainian railways in the run-up to the EURO 2012 football championship to be jointly hosted by the two countries was examined at a meeting in Warsaw of the heads of two railway systems, PKP spokesman Michał Wrzosek told wnp.pl.

The mid-western city of Poznan is the first Polish EURO 2012 Football Championship host city to complete the construction of the stadium. The official opening of the remodelled sports arena will take place on September 20. A concert by Sting is one of 78 concerts promoting his latest album "Symphonicity", featuring the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra under Steven Mercurio. The concert will also be another within eco-series “Poznan for Earth”, as Polish Market Online’s Sandra Jacobson reports.

Owing to the organisation of EURO 2012, total income from tourism is expected to increase by PLN 5 billion in 2012-2020, including a rise of PLN 768 million in June 2012, a report by PL.2012, the coordinator of EURO 2012 preparations, indicates. According to the report, the combined amount of GDP is to grow by PLN 27.9 billion in 2008-2020, while income from taxes is to increase by PLN 5.9 billion, wnp.pl reports.

Representatives of PL.2012, the coordinator of preparations for the UEFA European football championship in Poland, four airports in the host-cities: Warsaw, Poznan, Gdansk and Wroclaw, as well as the Polish Air Navigation Agency set up the National Airport Forum.

Poland will fulfill UEFA criteria regarding hotel accommodation for EURO 2012 - according to the report by Cushman & Wakefield, a global real estate advisory firm.

Preparations for the European Football Championship EURO 2010 are on schedule at most airports in Poland. Poznań, mid-western Poland, is the only one falling behind, Puls Biznesu daily newspaper reports.

The board of the Lech Wałęsa Airport in Gdansk have commissioned a consortium of companies Budimex SA (consortium leader) and Doraco Sp. z o.o. to build a new passenger terminal for the city.