POLAND TAKES ACTION TO SELL ITS STEEL INDUSTRY

摘要

LONDON - Poland has finally decided to restructure most of its steel industry after a decade of false starts and delays. The cabinet last week approved the formation of a company to be called Polish Steel (PHS) which will own and revamp four plants representing about 70 percent of the country's crude steel capacity.PHS will be registered in May as the owner of the Katowice, Sendzimira, Cedler and Florian steekworks, a government spokesman said last week. Closures, layoffs and the write-off of part of a debt burden of up to 1 dollar bn are expected by officials.The four companies are negotiating to reduce and reschedule their debts, a spokesman for the Economy Ministry told MB. Government aid may reduce the debt burden by about 25 percent, he said.