Economy Minister calls for abbreviated version of list of strategic companies

"The list is too long," said Economy Minister Janusz Steinhoff referring to the new list of strategic companies and institutions prepared by the Treasury Ministry. He added new criteria must be defined to make it clear who can be placed on the list. It has already been decided that the presidents of the most key state companies will receive 1.5 times as much money for their work as other heads of state-owned firms. According to yesterday's Gazeta Wyborcza the list contained 420 companies. Cabinet Economic Committee (KERM) secretary and head of the Economic Department to the Prime Minister's Chancellery Marek Jaskiewicz, assures the list does not exist yet, and the names are only proposals from different departments. Only after KERM sets up the rules will the list be completed. The Minister will call for a special committee to decide the criteria for a strategic company. "It seems a new, much shorter list will be created, which later will be accepted by KERM and the government," says Jaskiewicz. (Rzeczpospolita, page B1) J.K.