Jelfa's new zl. 165-million prescription for restructuring

Pharmaceutical concern Jelfa, located in Jelenia Gora, is planning to spend zl. 165 million in internal investment by the end of 2003. It is to stop producing several older drugs and increase the number of drugs sold without a doctor's prescription over the counter (OTC). Chairman Slawomir Kryszkowski says Jelfa is likely to find an investor by the end of 2001. On Saturday, the company's supervisory board decided its strategy for restructuring Jelfa. The new plan calls for Jelfa to double production of OTC-drugs, now 20% of total production, and before December 2001, 340 employees are to be laid off. New licenses are to be bought at a cost of zl. 45 million, while zl. 50 million is to be put into increasing the quality of Jelfa's products, obtaining GMP-quality certificates and more modern technologies. Jelfa is particularly keen to find a partner which would give it access to new technologies, licenses, patents and foreign markets. Currently, the main stakeholders of Jelfa are the Treasury (35.2%) and the Powszechny Zaklad Ubezpieczen (PZU) group (10%). (Parkiet, page 2) J.K.