Economy Minister says gov is trying to help Polish companies in Germany

"The claim that the government is disregarding the interest of Polish companies operating in Germany is groundless," said Economy Minister Janusz Steinhoff yesterday at a special press conference. He was responding to recent newspaper publications, which quoted representatives of construction companies operating in Germany as saying that many of their problems are a result of incompetence or even ill will of Polish officials. However, Steinhoff did not mention any examples of how the government managed to fulfill requests of the companies, one of which was to explain the method of calculating social insurance premiums for employees delegated to Germany. Steinhoff said that this particular matter lies in the Labor Minister's powers. He also said that he discussed the fate of Polish construction companies with several German officials, including Federal Economy Minister Werner Muller. "Minister Muller expressed optimism regarding the matter of solving problems of Polish construction companies on the German market, through the creation of a joint commission," said the Economy Ministry in a statement. (Gazeta Wyborcza, page 25) T.J.