Szczecin Shipyard may still have to weather a storm

Treasury Ministry plans to renationalize the Szczecin Shipyard have not appeased employees who are unsatisfied with government solutions. The money the government is putting up is not enough to pay overdue salaries. "We have been offered ridiculous money," said the leader of the shipyard's "Solidarnosc" trade union during Friday's demonstration in front of the enterprise. Treasury minister Wieslaw Kaczmarek is offering zl 8.5 million to cover outstanding wages. The rest, he says, should be paid by the shipyard. Today the supervisory board will change the shipyard's management board, which is one of the conditions set by the government and banks to start actions to rescue the enterprise. The management board will be reduced from five to four members, with treasury ministry and bank representatives joining the new board. After signing the zl. 8.5 million loan agreement with the treasury ministry tomorrow, on Wednesday economy minster Jacek Piechota and the new management will prepare a schedule to ensure that production on orders for ships starts in June. The announcement of the shipyard's renationalization resulted in a reaction from other privatized companies which are also in financial dire straits. Yesterday, employees from the Bialystok-based machine tool producer Bison, cried out for government help, while Ostrowiec local authorities want the treasury ministry to bail out the Huta Ostrowiec steel mill. (Gazeta wyborcza, May 18-19, p.1, 24; Rzeczpospolita, p. B3) A.Z.