Legal problems upset progress in concluding offset deal

Jacek Piechota, a Secretary of State in the Economy Ministry responsible for the F-16 offset deal admitted that differences in the legal systems of Pola nd and the U.S. are complicating the closure of the deal. The problem is th at, according to the Polish legal system, the deal for supplying planes and offset contract must be signed with one party. However, the planes will be supplied by an American government agency, while the offset agreement will be signed by F-16 producer - Lockheed Martin (LM). "Poland decided that LM is acting on behalf of the U.S. government. Now we are checking all proxy d ocuments and if something will be wrong, we might have to start the negotia tions all over again," admitted Piechota. (Puls Biznesu, p. 11) M.M.