‘Grey Zone’ shoe production rife in Poland
According to a recent report carried in the Polish daily newspaper 'Rzeczpospolita' around 30% of the country’s footwear is produced illegally, i.e. by ‘grey zone’ manufacturers who do not declare sales or employees. This compares to an overall national rate of around 15%.
In the report, Mrs Aleksandra Krysiak, Director of Polish Chamber of Shoe and Leather Industry (PCSLI), said a large proportion of the country’s 350 shoe factories were now engaged in some form of ‘grey zone’ activity - especially those located in the traditional shoe-producing regions Radom and Kalwaria Zebrzydowska.
The extent of the problem was reinforced by Marek Lukomski, chief of the domestic shoe importers and distributors association. He said he found it ‘miraculous’ that despite the downturn in legitimate domestic production and imports, Polish footwear sales were 27% up in the first quarter of 2002, compared with the year before. The reason - a sudden of invoices relating to illegally imported shoes and distributed by the ‘grey zone’, Lukomski said.
