Shareholders to decide fate of former top meat producer

A general shareholders meeting of meat plant Zaklady Miesne Rawa (ZM Rawa) is expected to decide on July 5 to liquidate the company. According to the plant's owner, Animex, the meeting will also consider the sale of its fixed assets. ZM Rawa was once Poland's leading meat producer, but its failure to adapt to the changing market conditions plunged it into financial difficulties. Even with a $100 million credit to be finalized today, Animex is unable to help ZM Rawa. "The workers' cooperatives tried to run the company and this has led to the bankruptcy. On purchasing Rawa, Animex took over a plant that had lost its resource base and its most important markets. The competition from smaller companies played a role, too," said Stanislaw Zieba, secretary of the Polish Meat Producers, Exporters and Importers Association (PZPEIiM). The $100 million loan is likely to allow other Animex plants to survive. (Puls Biznesu, p. 4) P.J.