LNM under pressure to renegotiate PHS' investment plans

LNM, the investor in Polish Steel Mills (PHS), announced that it is not pleased with investment plans prepared by the company and therefore plans to promote its own ideas. The German state-owned bank, Kreditanstalt fur Wiederaufbau, will not grant loans to modernize the plate mill, which was planned by PHS. LNM Holdings, which was chosen by the State Treasury as the company's strategic investor, will now have to seek a new creditor. The means financing current projects for which creditors have agreed to will also change. "We will have to renegotiate the agreements. PHS did not have its enough of its own funds to execute investments. The current investor is ready to financially support us, and in this situation we are ready to finance 20% of each project from our own money," said PHS deputy president Andrzej Szydło. This is a significant sum, as the investment in the plate mill alone is estimated at zł. 800 million, whereas projects for Florian and Cedler mills have a value of over zł. 150 million. (Puls Biznesu, p. 8) A.K.