Polish Post begins to build modern sorting center in bid to fend off competition

Polish Post (PP) is slowly beginning to realize that it is threatened by competition and as a result has begun to implement a new strategy which it believes will improve the quality of its services. A key plank in the program is the creation of a dozen delivery and distribution centers, which would replace existing sorting offices. The first such center has already been constructed in Warsaw at a cost of zł. 400 million. "According to the strategy, we will create 10 to 14 such centers. We have already begun constructing a second one near Poznań," said PP's spokesman Jarosław Kazimierski. This investment is expected to cost around zł. 220 million and will be followed by four additional centers, the construction of which will commence in 2004. "We have already bought the land for our planned centers in Wrocław, Gdańsk, Zabrze and Bydgoszcz," explained Kazimierski. He added that majority of the investments would be financed from the company's own capital, banking loans, and possibly through a bond issue. (Puls Biznesu, p. 9) M.M.