Poland to benefit from EC's Baltic Sea, western border funding programs

The European Commission (EC) has announced that it will allocate euro 97 mil lion for a new cooperation program involving the countries located in the re gion of the Baltic Sea. The countries are Denmark, Germany, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Russia, Belarus and Poland. A condition for receiving the funds is that it is supported by local investment in each country, made available by the public and private sectors. With this additio nal funding the total investment in the region is expected to reach euro 218 million. The EC has also announced it will spend euro 180 million on improvi ng cooperation in the Polish-German border regions. Use of the funds, which must be completed by the end of 2006, has clearly defined goals. The border regions will support small and medium-sized enterprises, with the aims of re ducing the high unemployment levels on both sides of the border, developing the infrastructure, and improving environmental protection. (Puls Biznesu, p .12) A.K.