Lockheed Martin creates offset group of 40 companies

US-based aircraft producer Lockheed Martin (LM) has created an informal association of 40 Polish companies under the name of Polska Grupa Przemyslowa (PGP) to participate in an F-16 offset program as part of its ongoing tender bid with the Defense Ministry. However the concern refused to disclose the identities of the companies to comprise PGP revealing only that it is negotiating with Mielec, Swidnik and ComputerLand. Under the proposal, domestic firms will have a chance to forge significant links with international companies as well as other LM partners. Philip Georgariou, LM's regional director responsible for economic cooperation, has pledged that the arrangement will last beyond the conclusion of the offset program. (Rzeczpospolita, p. B4) A.Z.