European Union fund grants Poland euro 118 million for infrastructure projects

Initial funds from ISPA, the European Union (EU) sponsored program for the development of the transport infrastructure and environmental protection, are to be targeted at modernizing Warsaw - Vilinius and Berlin - Wroclaw - Krakow - Kiev motorways, and at a sewage treatment plant in Bydgoszcz, reports the Brussels-based weekly European Voice yesterday. The EU wants to allocate euro 118 million for the project. The annual ISPA budget is euro 1.058 billion for the 10 Central European candidate countries. Depending on the quality of the proposed projects, Poland may receive euro 350 million a year. However if the money is not used by December it will be lost. The first proposed projects will be presented this week by EU regional policy commissioner Michael Barnier. However, the information could not be confirmed as the Commission's representatives were unavailable. (Rzeczpospolita, June 3-4, page B2) P.S.