Kulczyk: a ‘visionary’ businessman

“[He was] a luminous figure of the Polish [economic] transformation,” said Marek Kłoczko, deputy head of the Polish Chamber of Commerce (KIG).

He added that Kulczyk was a man who played a huge role in the recovery of the Polish free market economy. He was very competent, polite and consistent in his duties, Kłoczko said.

As a businessman, Kulczyk was “ahead of his time” said Sławomir Majman, the head of the Polish Information and Foreign Investment Agency (PAIiIZ).

No other Polish businessman sensed the changing market like Kulczyk did, Majman said. “While many traders focused on investments in Europe, Kulczyk saw a potential in China and Africa.”

On Wednesday, the price of shares in Kulczyk Holding’s chemical company Ciech dropped from around PLN 72 to PLN 67.5 on the news, but picked up during the day to PLN 70.72 by closing on the Warsaw Stock Exchange.

Kulczyk died in a Vienna hospital due to complications following an operation.

“Tonight, as a result of post-operative complications, Jan Kulczyk died at the age of 65 years,” Kulczyk Holding SA said in a statement, adding that he was “Poland’s largest entrepreneur."

Daily Gazeta Wyborcza said that Kulczyk had reportedly undergone "minor cardiac surgery”. Kulczyk was expected to be released from hospital in Vienna today, the daily said.

Kulczyk, who was born in 1950 in Bydgoszcz, cemented his position as early as the 1980s, before the free market emerged, when he managed to secure a deal as sole importer of new Volkswagen cars to Poland. (rg/rk)