In Brief 2: EMU entry; Bentkowski dismissed; Computer tender; Zelmer

Due to the almost zero chance that the budget deficit will be lowered to below 3% of GDP in time, Poland's entry to the European Monetary Union scheduled for 2007 is very unlikely to be kept, said an economist at PKO BP. (Parkiet, p. 5) ... Aleksander Bentkowski, linked to the Polish Peasants Party (PSL), has been sacked from being the head of the Agency for Restructuring and Modernizing of Agriculture (ARiMR). The news came as no surprise. For the time being, his duties will be taken over by his deputy, Jacek Swiezawski (Puls Biznesu, p. 4) ... After a series of protests and exclusions, the next few days should see the finalization of the zl. 21 million tender for 7,000 school computers. (Puls Biznesu, p. 6) ... Rzeszow-based Zelmer, the country's largest manufacturer of white goods, plans to dismiss 99 of its 2,500 strong workforce by June. Its last year's profit stood at zl. 6.7 million. (Puls Biznesu, p. 10) K.Z.