Education Ministry school bus contract may bail out struggling ZS Jelcz

An Education Ministry contract may allow bus and truck manufacturer ZS Jelcz belonging to Zasada Group to become profitable by the end of the year. The Ministry bought 140 school buses from ZS Jelcz and paid zl. 35.2 million for them. According to Rzeczpospolita's 500 ranking of the biggest enterprises in Poland ZS Jelcz recorded zl. 56.3 million in losses on net revenues of zl. 238.9 million last year. Losses were due to creating huge reserves for restructuring. Factories laid off 600 workers out of a total 2,400. Jelcz managed to increase sales by 62% in the first half of the year, but only in the sector of city buses. In tourist and intercity bus sectors sales dropped 37%. The company wants to adapt itself to the market by consulting with the customers in the forecasting phase. A spokesperson for Zasada did not exclude selling part or even all of ZS Jelcz to a strategic investor, which may be Korean KIA. (Rzeczpospolita, B3) M.M.