Gdynia Shipyard waits for gov't financial guarantees

Several dozen Gdynia Shipyard (SG) workers have been sent on holiday due to a lack of materials to build ships. Shipyard representatives say this is only a transitional phenomenon and that the enterprise should be able to pay salaries soon. "Apart from this hiccup, we are operating normally. This year we have completed 12 ships and in a few days another one will be completed. By the end of 2002 the shipyard will have built 17 vessels, together worth over $540 million," said SG's spokesman Miroslaw Piotrowski. He says that out of the 12 ships, only three enjoyed guaranteed financing. "We have been waiting for $250-300 million loans guaranteed by the government. Right now we are short of money. The majority of our production is financed with our own financial resources, or by suppliers, one of which is steel mill Huta Czestochowa (HC), which is about to be declared bankrupt. Piotrowski said that the lack of materials is in no way related to HC's problem. "So far the steel mill has not suspended its supply to the shipyard." (Rzeczpospolita, p. B4) A.Z.