Looking up from the grave PKP curbs 1st qtr losses by 40% from last year

Compared with the same period last year, PKP, Poland's debt-ridden state-owned railways, curbed its losses by 40% to zl. 335.4 million in the first quarter of this year. PKP spokesman Roman Hajdrowski announced on Friday that the company saw its debt shrink in March by zl. 60 million, which marks the first such decrease in months. The changes have been attributed to PKP's current restructuring program, which involves radical downsizing, increased efficiency and bolstering revenues from both freight and passenger operations. PKP, which is due to be privatized within the next three years, lost zl. 2.51 billion in 1999, largely due to unprofitable passenger services, overmanning and shrinking orders from the company's main clients -- coal mines and steal mills. PKP slashed its work force by 9.1% over the last year and plans to reduce it further to 145,000 in two years. The railway's privatization and massive lay-offs await parliamentary approval of a special PKP bill, which has been stuck in legislative committees for months. (Reuters, Gazeta Wyborcza, page 29) P.S.