The World Bank has agreed to lend Poland $300 million to help finance the restructuring of its mining industry, a program that calls for 25,000 job cuts
Published:
22 November 2003 y., Saturday
The World Bank has agreed to lend Poland $300 million to help finance the restructuring of its mining industry, a program that calls for 25,000 job cuts, the economy ministry said Friday.
The plan by Prime Minister Leszek Miller's government is aimed at turning around an industry that lost 1 billion zlotys ($230 million) last year.
The government, which is trying to cut its budget deficit as Poland prepares to join the European Union next May, expects to cut spending on the industry -- which currently employs some 140,000 miners -- by at least 20 billion zlotys ($5.1 billion) by 2007.
The economy ministry said the government and the World Bank would sign the loan agreement in March 2004.
The first tranche of $200 million will be used to cover benefits for laid-off miners -- among them low-interest loans allowing them to retrain or set up their own businesses. The remaining $100 million will cover an environmental clean-up effort.
The Polish government is counting on EU funding to help cover the remaining cost of the restructuring drive -- estimated at 9.4 billion zlotys ($2.36 billion) between 2004 and 2006. The plans have sparked frequent and vocal protests by Polish miners.
On Monday, some 25,000 miners across the depressed southern region of Silesia staged a strike to protest the reform.
Šaltinis:
newsday.com
Copying, publishing, announcing any information from the News.lt portal without written permission of News.lt editorial office is prohibited.
The most popular articles
The European Parliament's proposal for its own operational budget for 2011 includes the financing of measures in preparation for enlargement with Croatia.
more »
Links between business and the academic world need to be strengthened but higher education institutions must retain their autonomy and public support, says a resolution adopted on Thursday by the European Parliament.
more »
The Spanish Minister of Economy and Finance, Elena Salgado, will present the additional fiscal tightening measures set out by the Spanish Government to her eurozone (Eurogroup) counterparts on Monday; the measures were required by Spain’s European partners as a condition of approving the plan to bolster the euro on 9 May.
more »
The European Commission has opened an in-depth investigation under EU State aid rules into capital injections destined to two subsidiaries of state owned company Elan Skupina in Slovenia.
more »
GDP growth in the EU expected to gradually pick up, though recovery less robust than past upturns.
more »
The EESC tabled its opinion on the regulation of alternative investment funds, such as hedge funds and private funds. Although endorsing the much debated proposal of the European Commission, the EESC calls for uniform risk data provision for all such funds and emphasizes their responsibility in triggering the crisis.
more »
Concluding the process and deciding on the schedule for releasing the funds agreed on for Greece, as well as examining and learning lessons from the crisis for the governance of the eurozone, will be the focus of the discussions of the heads of state and government at the meeting in Brussels this Friday.
more »
The EU pavilion at the world expo in Shanghai marks the first time the EU has presented itself to a large Chinese audience.
more »
Shanghai's World Expo offers visitors plenty of fun offering bizarre things to do at over 200 pavillions competing for attention.
more »
The European Investment Bank (EIB) is providing a loan of EUR 150 million to MVM Zrt. for the capacity increase and the extension of a high-voltage transmission network, partly constituting priority axes of the Trans-European Energy Network (TEN-E) in Hungary.
more »