ZUS still gets the shaft though coal sector results improve

Polish coal mines lost zl. 203 million in the first quarter of 2000, which is a good result considering that last year the sector lost roughly the same amount of money in January alone. "For the first time in six months coal mines sold coal at a price higher than the cost of its excavation for four months in a row," said deputy Economy Minister Jan Szlazak at a press conference yesterday. However, coal mines are still paying the Social Insurance Company (ZUS) half the premiums they should. They owe ZUS zl. 6.5 billion, while their total debts amount to zl. 20.6 billion. By the end of September Poland will receive the $230 million second installment of a World Bank loan for restructuring of the coal mine sector. So far the reforms have cost over zl. 2.6 billion. (Gazeta Wyborcza, page 25, Puls Biznesu, page 6) T.J.