Pfeifer und Langen accused over sugar deal failings

Unions representing workers at the sugar companies belonging to the Kalisko-Koninski regional grouping are demanding that Treasury Minister Wieslaw Kaczmarek annul the privatization agreement under which the companies were sold to Pfeifer und Langen. The unions accuse the German sugar giant of failing to fulfill guarantees relating to employee benefits, and say the case is now being studied by the Poznan prosecutor's office. Specifically, the unions question the voluntary redundancy agreements under which some workers left the companies without receiving compensation. The Kalisko-Koninski grouping was privatized by previous Treasury Minister Aldona Kamela-Sowinska in July last year, and under the purchase agreement Pfeifer und Langen not only agreed to the employee benefits, but also promised to increase the group's capital and guarantee that none of the companies would be allowed to go bankrupt for the next five years. However, within five months the German concern was threatening the creditors of one Kalisko-Koninski company that, unless they agreed to the payment of just half of its debt in 12 installments over six years, it would be allowed to go bankrupt and they would get nothing at all. (Rzeczpospolita, p. B3) A.K.