A harmful impact of climate change and global warming has concerned various sectors of the international community. Numerous energy policies aiming at climate change mitigation have been implemented on a national and global scale. Renewable energy technologies (RETs) play a critical role in enhancing sustainable solutions that significantly limit greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Such innovative technologies can facilitate energy transition through providing, e.g., energy security, sustainable development, and effective usage of indigenous resources. However, the commercialization of RETs is extremely challenging. The barriers can be of a different nature, although this study focused on socioeconomic and regulatory issues. There is ample evidence that energy policies play a central role in supporting adoption of renewables. It is also claimed that RETs require the whole ecosystem to support their successful diffusion. In this study, we explored multifarious barriers for widespread RET diffusion in two European Union countries, Finland and Poland, indicating the most common barriers existing in the literature as well as analyzing major bottlenecks from the viewpoint of renewable energy companies’ executives. We also present statistics of the most commonly used RETs in these countries in order to express the diffusion issues more appropriately. The research shows that inflexible, ineffective, and excessive regulatory frameworks; limited financing options; as well as an insufficient level of societal awareness have been seen as the main bottlenecks for RET diffusion in both countries. The outcomes of this study provide useful insights for the researchers in the energy transition field as well as practical managerial and regulatory implications aimed at overcoming these challenges.

SummarySubject and purpose of work: The subject of this research was the financial efficiency of large food industry enterprises in Poland, and its aim was to determine the strength and direction of the impact of key macroeconomic factors on the level of financial efficiency of those enterprises.Materials and methods: Data from the Central Statistical Office, the results of own research as well as literature on the problem were used. The research period covered the years 2005-2018. Dynamic panel models were applied in the study.Results: The results of the statistical analysis showed, inter alia, that the explanatory variable responsible for the increase in financial efficiency in the food industry was primarily the consumption dynamics in the preceding year. Its growth by 1 pp. ceteris paribus was related to an increase in the EBITDA margin of food industry enterprises by over 0.23 pp on average.Conclusions: The main conclusion concerned the statement that the rise in the inflation rate had a negative impact on the financial efficiency of food industry enterprises, while the increase in GDP, consumption and accumulation had a positive effect.

The paper presents problems related to the costs incurred for environmental protection in Polish dairy cooperatives. It was found, inter alia, that the costs of environmental protection in this industry sector are high and are rising rapidly. The costs of sewage disposal and treatment are of key importance as they represent the largest share in the total costs of environmental protection, i.e. nearly 95%. In 2018, they amounted to approximately PLN 1.5 million per cooperative, which was almost three times more than in 2004. Other environmental protection costs account for approximately 5% of total environmental protection costs. So, the key to environmental success in dairy cooperatives is rational wastewater management. Therefore, it is advisable for managers to consider building their own wastewater treatment plants with sizes and parameters appropriate to the scale of milk processing and the number of finished product ranges produced. The study also found that the costs of training employees and farmers on environmental protection are low, which may suggest the desirability of increasing them according to real needs, so as to ensure an appropriate level of understanding and persuasion of farmers -shareholders for further investments related to environmental protection. It was also found that the scale of milk processing and the number of manufactured assortments strongly affect the total costs of environmental protection of dairy cooperatives in Poland. Legal requirements regarding environmental protection are so restrictive and economically effective that their omission may lead to increasing financial, management, technological and legal difficulties. Therefore, the compliance of dairy cooperatives with legal environmental requirements is a must, which should generally be assessed positively.

The research aim was to examine the impact of location of cooperative bank on its financial results. The study was based on financial statements of BPS Group Banks which from period 2013-2015 and included the following issues: distance from county town to bank headquarter, level of return on equity, return on assets, net financial result and capital adequacy ratio. The data analysis showed that distance from nearest bigger town was positively correlated with ROE, ROA and CAR, but also was negatively correlated with net financial result.

Celem pracy był przegląd i analiza światowego rynku łososia hodowlanego w latach 2009-2014, a także ogólne nakreślenie perspektyw dalszego rozwoju. Badania oparto m.in. na danych FAO oraz urzędów statystycznych państw mających znaczny udział w światowym obrocie łososiem. Przegląd dotyczył charakterystycznych dla tego rynku danych takich jak: wielkość produkcji, wolumen i wartość importu oraz eksportu, forma produktu jak i kraj pochodzenia. Ustalono, że głównymi producentami i eksporterami są Norwegia i Chile, a odbiorcami Stany Zjednoczone, Japonia, Niemcy i Francja. Produkcja w 2014 roku ustaliła się na poziomie 2323 tys. ton a w najbliższych latach będzie rosnąć.