PERN posts zl. 130 million profit, telecoms still to develop

PERN, the state-owned company managing the Przyjazn oil pipeline and delivering oil to customers like PKN Orlen and Gdansk Refinery, made a record high net profit of zl. 130 million last year. "The result is the effect of higher revenues from storing and transporting oil to Polish and German refineries," said PERN president Stanislaw Jakubowski. In 2004 PERN wants to complete laying fiber-optic cables next to the pipeline, which will be used for telecommunication purposes. "The final decision on the matter belongs to the State Treasury. We estimate that the enterprise running the cable could easily make several million zloty profit a year," stressed Jakubowski. PERN will ask the Treasury not to demand a dividend on the 2002 profits, as capital is needed for further investments estimated at zl. 500 million for 2003. (Parkiet, p. 4) M.M.