Warsaw Heat and Power plants to increase profits and sell off land

The management of Elektrocieplownie Warszawskie (EW), combined heat and power plants belonging to Sweden's Vattenfall, plans to record a 30% increase in net profits in 2003. In 2002 the company had a net gain amounting to zl. 85 million. "In the current year we plan to record a net profit of zl. 110 million," said EW president Jacek Drezewski. The company may announce a tender later this year for a 4 hectare plot in the Powisle district of Warsaw, worth at least zl. 65 million. Any future investor willing to acquire the land will have to make use of the buildings, some as much as 100 years old, as the authorities have refused permission to knock them down. According to a project prepared by the Warsaw Landscape Planning Authority, the land might become a four-storey housing estate. EW consists of five plants in Warsaw and employs almost 3,000 people. (Parkiet, p. 7, Rzeczpospolita, p. B4) M.M.