Troncetti investment fuels fears among paper producers

Italian paper manufacturer Troncetti is to invest zl. 200 million for the construction of a production line in Kostrzynsko-Slubicka Special Economic Zone (SSE) however the domestic manufacturers believe tax breaks give the Italians an unfair advantage. The new plant would have a daily production capacity of around 85 tonnes of tissue paper with 90% of it slated for export to Germany over the next three years. "The remaining 10% of production will be used to launch on the Polish market. Trocetti is a serious threat," said Marek Sciazko from InternationalPaper Klucze. The Italians plan to increase their presence on the Polish market to 30% in sales by 2004. Polish paper manufacturers attempted to bar Troncetti from entering the SSE. They received a promise from deputy Economy Minister Tadeusz Donicki that their concerns will be taken into consideration the next time an attempt is made by foreign companies to enter the sector. (Puls Biznesu, page 6) P.S.