Arcelor on verge of investing EUR 200 million in KP

By the end of the month a decision concerning an enormous investments in the Dąbrowa Górnicza coking plant Koksownia Przyjaźń (KP) should be made. The management of the Silesian company are in negotiations with two foreign investors, while a third is watching the situation. In April, Andrzej Kołacz, the president of KP, announced that Arcelor, the world's largest steel producer, was planning to invest EUR 200 million in KP. "We are still in talks and we will host representatives of Arcelor in a few days time," said Andrzej Warzecha, deputy president of KP. Arcelor would finance the investment in exchange for stable deliveries of coke, which would allow KP to pay off the investment which is scheduled to begin at the end of 2004. Two other potential investors include Austrian Voest-Alpine and LNM Holdings owner of Ispat Polska Stal. (Puls Biznesu, pp. 1, 6) M.M.