PKP foresees job cuts reaching 30,000 by the year 2002

As part of its restructuring plan, the ailing Polish State Railways (PKP) will lay off 30,000 employees by the year 2000, bringing employment in the company down to 145,000. PKP will provide severance packages for laid-off workers, while those in regions hardest hit will get additional help, such as training programs, to find new jobs. PKP will get a euro100 million loan from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and a $150 million one from the World Bank, to help complete the restructuring process. Also, the railway firm will issue zl.1.7 billion worth of bonds. PKP has lost zl.1.26 billion in the first nine months of this year and carried 26 million fewer passengers than in the respective period last year. (Gazeta Wyborcza, p.28) T.J.