In Brief: Polar; Bartimpex to feed Russia?; Danone diversifies; SKL' s tax

Household appliances producer Polar will lay-off 1,700 of its employees, according to a decision by the company' s owner French-Italian group Moulinex-Brandt. The retrenchment in Poland is part of the group' s overall plan to reduce its workforce worldwide (Rzeczpospolita, p.B3 )... Aleksander Gudzowaty, the owner of Bartimpex company which is supervising the Polish portion of the Yamal-Berlin gas pipeline, has disclosed the firm' s development plans. Bartimpex is about to try its luck in exporting food to Russia, but also wants to participate in the construction of the Bernau-Szczecin gas pipeline as well as take part in the privatization of Polish Oil and Gas company (PGiG) (Puls Biznesu, pp.6-7) .. .French group Danone will take over 50% of Zywiec Zdroj mineral water producer as its entrance to this sector of the Polish market. (Rzeczpospolita, p.B6)... National Conservative Alliance (SKL) has proposed imposition of a 1% tax on businesses operating in major Polish cities, with the revenue spent on urban public transportation. Companies providing transport for their workers would be exempt from the tax. (Rzeczpospolita, p.B2) J.K.