Daewoo needs $200 million to keep on development track

Stalled negotiations between Korea's Daewoo and US-based General Motors (GM) about the latter's possible acquisition of the former has caused the troubled Korean auto maker to renege on its investment promises it made to its Polish subsidiary Daewoo Motor Poland. As a result, the Warsaw and Lublin-based factories are now badly in need of $200 million to keep on schedule with their planned development. While the plant in Lublin, which produces trucks, needs some $50 million to complete production of the new LD-100 truck series, the Zeran, Warsaw-based factory requires a $150 million injection to enable it to meet EU standards for exporting its Matiz model to the European Union. Given the shortage in cash, the company's trade unions are skeptical that these objectives can be met without the state's aid and suggest state funds be injected into the Korean company. (Prawo i Gospodarka, pp.1, 2)