President signs bill to expedite steel industry restructuring

President Aleksander Kwasniewski has signed a bill on restructuring steel mills, allowing Katowice, Sendzimira, Cedler and Florian mills to postpone payment or amortize their state debts until 2005, while other debts will be converted into bonds. The steel mills need to restructure debts totalling in excess of zl. 1 billion. Edward Nowak, deputy economy minister has long been lobbying in favor of this bill. Arkadiusz Krezel, President of the Industrial Development Agency (ARP) responsible for issuing bonds for financial restructuring, is convinced of the need to privatize the steel mills: "The Act will force a consolidation of the steel mills; this is the last chance to carry it out". Romuald Talarek, President of the Steel Mills' Chamber of Commerce and Industry (HIPH), explained the urgency of the situation: "In the first half of 2001, the mills' production output decreased by 16%. We have to catch up with the EU, and the bill will allow that". However, the implementation of the bill is likely to take its toll on a budget already under duress. (Puls Biznesu, p. 3), P.W.