Do wiadomosci... RomanK
>From: "Robert Trout" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >To: "Roman Kafel" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: Bob Trout: reports on Poland >Date: Fri, 7 Dec 2001 22:34:52 -0700 > >[Source: Polish, German media, Dec. 1-6] > >POLAND ON ITS WAY TO BECOMING A SECOND ARGENTINA. The > >economic-social situation is a disaster that is getting worse by > >the day. National unemployment is 16 percent, but critics say > >statistical tricks are covering up that in reality, it is at > >18-20 percent, already. Officially, an increase by 4 percent to > >20 percent is expected for sometime next year. > >In crisis regions like the northeast (between Gdansk and the > >Russian Kaliningrad enclave, the west (around Szczecin) and the > >southwest (Silesia), there are between 22 and 40 percent jobless, > >already now, and the government wants to continue privatizations > >of state-sector firms and of state-sector farms, which will add > >more jobless to the queues. > >80 percent of the unemployed have no legal claims to full > >state jobless support, and the immediate consequence of that is > >an accelerated process of impoverishment: According to the State > >Statistical Office, 54 percent of all Poles live below the social > >minimum, 8 percent below the minimum for mere physical survival > >(depend on support by others); 50 percent of the Poles say they > >have to continously tighten their belts, 70 percent say they have > >no alternative to cutting expenses for food. > >Twenty percent of the Polish households have a monthly > >income of less than $50 (200 zloty) only, and 75 percent of the > >households do not have an income above $120 (500 zloty). > >The debt crisis in the corporate sector, especially in the > >"new economy," is highlighted, these days, by the situation of > >Netia, the second-largest telecom enterprise in Poland, which is > >also the biggest private rival to the state telecom company. > >Netia is faced with full default, over a pile of snowballing debt > >which has reached the incredible sum of $855 million, which > >nobody can pay: It is said that even if all Polish customers of > >Netia spent 24 hours a day on the phone, they could not provide > >Netia with the money to pay its debt. Netia is a leading telecom > >operator in some of the biggest cities, like Warsaw, Krakow, > >Poznan, Gdansk, Lublin and Katowice. In the end, if private > >investors cannot be lured into buying up Netia, the state telecom > >company may step in; but it cannot pay the debt, either. To those > >that hold shares of Netia, it will be a huge loss. > > > > > > > >Dec. 6 (EIRNS)--SLANDERS AGAINST SCHILLER INSTITUTE AND LAROUCHE > >IN POLAND. In the context of a scandal provoked by Andrzej > >Lepper, the leader of the farmers' trade union, Samoobrona, > >Polish mass media have again started a slander campaign against > >the Schiller Institute and Lyndon LaRouche, accusing them of > >supporting and financing Lepper's organization. Lepper, now also > >a member of the Sejm (Polish Parliament), attacked Foreign > >Minister Cimoszewicz for his dealings with the European Union > >(Cimoszewicz announced after his visit in Brussels that after > >Poland joins the Union, foreigners will be able to buy land in > >Poland after 7 years, not 15 years as planned before). Later > >Lepper accused a few deputies from the liberal Platforma > >Obywatelska (PO, Citizens' Platform) of corruption. > >This started a big brouhaha and a flood of articles and TV > >and radio programs about Lepper and his ``connection'' to the > >Schiller Institute. The usual slanders were repeated, plus > >recently, one Konstanty Miodowicz, PO deputy and a former chief > >of counterintelligence in the Office of State Security, said on > >the popular radio show, that after General [sic] LaRouche was > >imprisoned, the Schiller Institute was pronounced illegal in the > >US. The Schiller Institute in Poland has immediatly issued a > >statement denouncing the slanders and explaining who Lyndon > >LaRouche really is, which was posted on a popular webside, > >www.aol.pl, and e-mailed to many contacts, who are eager to > >distribute it. Their spirit is generally very feisty. We also > >received a few letters via the Internet asking for more > >information about SI and declaring support. > >Most reports about Lepper and SI mention that the Institute > >is against globalization, free trade and the European Union (they > >never say what it stands for), but to many people this is enough > >to contact us, since there is a growing discontent with present > >economic policies and the new government's promise that ``we have > >to fasten the belt'' to improve the economy, which means cutting > >spending on wage and pension increases (which has been done due > >to inflation), education, health care, etc. For some people > >Lepper is actually a new hero, despite his radical methods, > >becase he openly attacks the liberals. > >It is clear now, that the so-called left (SLD), which has > >recently taken over the government is doing the same as the > >Solidarnosc government in the past. The coming event of the SI in > >Poland will be all the more important. > _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp
