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USAID Mission to Poland
Europe & Eurasia
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Local Government Partnership Program
The Local Government Partnership Program's (LGPP) assistance - set to run through March 2001 - enables local governments to use resources more effectively and improve service delivery. For example, utilizing the capital improvement planning and task-based budgeting approaches offered by LGPP supported Polish consultants, the City Council of Gorzów Wielkopolski approved a water sector strategy (modeled on the standards developed with USAID assistance to HUDA) and business plan that will restructure the water company, transferring all water service assets to a water services company. This will make a single entity responsible for providing services to the community, and it will allow the entity to strengthen its balance sheet. As a result of the restructuring, a neighboring local government agreed to transfer its water services assets to the Gorzów Wielkopolski water Services Company. The company’s enlargement will allow for the provision of service to more customers and the strengthening of the revenue stream.
As a result of the Education Finance Reform, many local governments have had to make difficult decisions on education funding. The MOE's reform provides incentives to close smaller, costlier schools and to keep well-equipped schools that would employ qualified teachers. These changes often lead to protests by parents and teachers. LGPP assistance has helped local governments make more informed decisions on education, thereby reducing civic tensions. For example, the city of Sosno, utilizing LGPP developed strategic and capital investment planning processes, decided not to build two new schools but to adapt existing school buildings and close a primary school. The resources saved will be used to improve the quality of education.
Using the task based budgeting approach developed under LGPP, the city of Zgierz successfully privatized the administration of its health centers. This privatization has allowed the city to save money on health care administration. It has also allowed the city to increase the number of centers and improve their quality. The city of Zgierz is now considering privatizing the management of school buildings and the provision of meals at local schools.
Poland Business Support Project (Firma 2000)
The Poland Business Support Program (Firma 2000) was designed to strengthen thirty Polish business support organizations (BSOs) working with the small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) sector, train at least ninety business consultants to improve the quality and range of services provided to small businesses, and provide technical assistance and training to the businesses themselves. Here are some examples of the project's impact:
Konin Regional Development Agency - Firma 2000's technical assistance to management of the Konin Regional Development Agency (KRDA) has resulted in the adoption of a wide range of new standardized systems and procedures, such as a fee structure, consultant monthly time reporting, project management, etc. The new standards and procedures have contributed to a noticeable increase in productivity as well as cost controls. Additionally, with Firma 2000's assistance, the Agency developed a comprehensive professional capability statement. This new marketing tool has greatly contributed to the Agency's tendering efforts. According to Dariusz Kaluzny, President of the Agency, "Project Firma 2000 has had a very positive impact on the Konin Regional Development Agency, both the organization and its consultants".
The KRDA has become an effective and well accepted professional consulting firm, with only fees for service to support itself. During its first three years of operations, total income has grown almost 22-fold, and the number of participants in training programs has increased by 300%.
The KRDA staff has concentrated on building their skills and enhancing their service offering in order to fulfill their clients’ growing needs and expectations. According to Mr. Kaluzny, "working side-by-side with Firma 2000 American consultants and trainers has been an important part of this process. All of the consulting services and training provided in cooperation with Project Firma 2000 have enabled our staff to develop professionally. They have acquired many new and practical technical and organizational skills that will for sure continue to be utilized well beyond this project."
Not just the Agency and its staff have benefited from the project. There have been 25 provided to 20 small business clients. In addition, 20 Firma 2000 small business training sessions in which approximately 400 owners and managers of firms have participated. Polish entrepreneurs have had a unique opportunity to get to learn about American business standards to use them in practice. They have also acquired knowledge of the most advanced practices in specific industries.
ASM in Kutno - American Systems of Marketing (ASM) in Kutno, a market research company, was less than a year old when the firm was selected to participate in Project Firma 2000. "The decision to apply to Project Firma 2000 was one of the best decisions I've made and it has really paid off," says Elzbieta Syrda, owner of ASM. "Project Firma 2000 has had a great influence on the development of my company. Thanks to Firma 2000 consultants, we have a lot of new techniques for conducting marketing research for our clients and new methods of project management within our company." ASM’s total income has grown over 13-fold while participating in the USAID-funded project.
Firma 2000 consultants have also been a great help to ASM with regard to market segmentation, sales, and sales management. This has allowed ASM to not only be more competitive but increase fees per client (133 folds) as well as its number of clients.
Additionally, thanks to Project Firma 2000’s emphasis on networking, ASM has begun cooperation with many other business support organizations and companies participating in the project. According to Ms. Syrda, she fully expects that these strategic alliances with other consulting firms will continue, and expand both, services and fees.
The six participating consultants from ASM have a very positive opinion of what Project Firma 2000 has done for them individually. According to Ms. Syrda, "participation in trainings run by Firma 2000 Polish consultants and American experts have given them the opportunity to extend their knowledge, gain professional experience and improve consulting skills – very needed when doing research or consulting projects. Courses like Creative Thinking, Strategic Management, and Consulting Skills have given them skills that are extremely valuable and vital for existing in the Polish consulting market."
Sandomierz - From the start, Sandomierz staff members were enthusiastic participants in the Firma 2000 project, because they saw it as an opportunity to help develop their organization. According to Halina Siemaszko, the Foundation's Director, "In retrospect, the biggest impact of working with the Project has been to think about the Foundation in a different way – as a business. This has resulted in a real difference in both operations and client service".
One can clearly see the results of such a shift in thinking, specifically the 84.9% reduction in the foundation's dependence on grants offset by the profitable generation of fees for service. Total income from operations has increased almost 50-fold while participating in the USAID-funded project, and the number of consulting service clients has increased to 375%.
Ms. Anna Nogaj, a principal consultant of the Sandomierz BSO, believes that Firma 2000 has had a significant impact on the functioning of the organization, particularly with respect to strengthening its market position. During the three-year cooperation with the project, the BSO broadened its range of services and improved its marketing methods. She contributes this to the great effort of Firma 2000 employees – their professionalism, competencies, reliability and positive attitudes, all playing an important role in this process.
The training provided by Firma 2000 allowed the Sandomierz BSO employees to improve their consulting skills. In terms of marketable consulting skills, these include new or improved abilities in training, human resource management, diagnostics and valuations, and general management and strategic planning. The results are impressive. For example, in 1996, the BSO’s market was almost exclusively the agricultural sector; services were defined accordingly (business planning and loan packaging were the primary products). In the past three years, Sandomierz has dramatically increased the range of services it provides to include marketing services, production and operations management, financial management and valuation services for small business, planning and project implementation for local governments (primarily gminas), and services related to EU Integration.
The change in the Sandomierz agency’s service offerings and a change in its core market go hand-in-hand. As it has gradually moved away from general service provision for agricultural concerns, the agency has moved toward providing services to small businesses and local government thereby complementing USAID S.O. 2.3 efforts in local government development. These clients are more sophisticated now in their understanding of the value of consulting services. Further, unlike the agricultural sector, the small business sector is growing and better able to pay for services; agricultural businesses still require heavy subsidy to access consulting assistance.
"The participation in the ISO quality management training organized within Firma 2000 had a great impact on the development of the project called "Cooperation with Local Governments" – said Mr. Stanislaw Baska, project coordinator of the Center for Business Promotion and Entrepreneurship in Sandomierz.
Businesswomen - Because of a USAID requirement to ensure equal access to training by women, Firma 2000 had to work on an additional, hitherto poorly explored focus area: women entrepreneurs. It has effectively sought out and included women to participate in all aspects of the project. Firma 2000 was dedicated to providing equal opportunity to a wide array of program beneficiaries, including owner/managers of business support organizations (47% of 30 BSOs are woman-owned or led), business consultants (40% of the 131 selected consultants are women) and small businesses (18% of the businesses receiving targeted technical assistance are owned by women).
The following represent a sampling of specific accomplishments:
- the design and organization of a five-day trade and study mission of thirty women leaders from the State of Washington to meet with nearly eighty Polish counterparts. The mission was designed to create opportunities for women’s leadership, open doors to business, exchange ideas, and explore the impediments women face professionally and how to break through these barriers. "The discussions with the Washington State port commissioners and cruise-liner executive Laurie McDonald Jonsson were most valuable to our future planning for the Gdansk Shipyard", says Ms. Ewa Plucinska, shipyard manager and President of EVIP Consulting, a major Polish consulting firm;
- the largest ever gathering of women entrepreneurs in Poland took place in September 1999 near Gdansk. Over 230 owners of private businesses, many of them members of the Polish Association of Women Entrepreneurs (PAWE), attended the conference to discuss how to take their businesses to the next level. Firma 2000's assistance has resulted in the growth of dues-paying membership to 130 members at the close of 1999. A second noteworthy conference success was the presence of corporate sponsors (Citibank, Nationale Nederlanden and Ford). This together with conference fees allowed for a reduction of USAID support to the conferences to 25%.
- Firma 2000, in conjunction with the International Women’s Forum, an association of women business owners and academics, and Babson College of Wellseley, Massachusetts in the U.S. conducted the first nation-wide survey of Polish women executives. The mail-back survey was sent to nearly 22,000 women managers employed in firms with more than 5 employees. The response rate was high for a mail-back survey -- 1,892 (9%) respondents and the findings more than underscore significant contribution of women in the development of Poland's economy. Select results from the survey of Polish women managers were compared to a number of studies and variety of data pertaining to women managers in the United States. This is not to imply that Polish women managers should aspire to be more like their U.S. counterparts, but rather to provide a comparison point for evaluation of the Firma 2000 results. Furthermore, given the relative success of Poland in its transition to a market economy, the survey will be used to explore the consequences of this process for opportunities that women managers have in Poland's emerging economy as well as the implications for women throughout the region.
Poland Manufacturing Technology Transfer Project (Fabrykat 2000)
In Poland, technology transfer has been viewed exclusively as the commercialization of innovations produced by the academic community, without much consideration as to whether there is demand for them. This approach is underpinned by a centralized system of state resource allocations.
The Poland Manufacturing Technology Transfer Project (Fabrykat 2000) has been a critical catalyst in changing this supply-side mind-set toward one that is demand-driven and market-oriented. It has bolstered the awareness of both national and provincial decision-makers on the pivotal importance of technology transfer and manufacturing extension to the competitiveness of small businesses, especially critical as Poland aspires to join the European Union.
In the words of the Lodz TTC director, Jerzy Wojtas, "All the training we have received in the U.S. and in Poland and the hands-on experience we have gained by participating jointly with American consultants in providing manufacturing extension services to our local companies, have made for a radical change in our thinking towards technology transfer." The Lodz TTC, which started with one client company at the beginning of the program just over one year ago, has now identified and interviewed some 900 firms in the region that are potential clients, and has provided services to some 20 of them.
A similar view was expressed by Professor Jan Koch, who is deputy chairman of the Committee for Scientific Research and heads the Wroclaw TTC. Initially, the center was highly dependent on its parent institution, the Wroclaw University of Technology, and focused most of its activities on providing seminars and other training, primarily in the area of quality control and ISO 9000 standards certification. Due in large measure to intensive work with Fabrykat 2000 consultants, the Wroclaw TTC has now developed a comprehensive mission statement and business plan that centers on assisting manufacturing industry in the regions of Lower Silesia, with a focus on small business development, the transfer of relevant technologies into the region, including "lean" manufacturing, and the commercialization of technologies generated in the region. As a result, for the year 2000 it has managed to get some $200,000 in various forms of public funding from the EU, Polish central government institutions and city authorities, while expecting to generate some $50,000 in fee income from companies.
In its one year of existence, the Warsaw TTC has managed to attract some $100,000 for the year 2000 in public grants, with another $100,000 in project proposals for grants in the pipeline. More importantly, it has generated $25,000 in fees from its small business customers. The center started with a single employee, its director Professor Wojciech Dominik, who also maintained a full schedule of academic and administrative duties. Initially, Fabrykat 2000 helped by assigning its own staff technical business analyst, Mr. Krzysztof Gulda, to work at the TTC. Now the center employs four people and will hire two more. Professor Dominik commented that "What I saw at the Wheeling National Technology Transfer Center, the Cleveland Advanced Manufacturing Project, and the Ben Franklin Technology Transfer Center in Philadelphia, all reinforced my conviction that what I had been doing in this field basically as an avocation was of critical importance, and I was sure that there were enough like-minded people in Warsaw to make this dream a reality."
While it will take more time before it is possible to make a meaningful quantitative analysis of the results, a few examples point to initial impact of the activity. In the information technologies sector, one of the companies that went through the due diligence and technology audit process of Fabrykat 2000 was Internet Data Systems (IDS). It provides Internet services to high schools in Warsaw, Cracow, Gdansk, and other cities in Poland, but recognizes that there are thousands of additional schools that it has not been able to reach. It is unable to do so, primarily because TP SA, the state-controlled telephone company, which dominates voice and data services provisioning throughout Poland, is unwilling to provide the necessary connections from its backbone facilities to schools, and is also unwilling to provide the capacity required for video, graphics, and large data transmissions.
As a result of the intervention by two U.S. experts, IDS bought several hundred thousand dollars worth of new wireless technologies from an U.S. supplier and took advantage of the network of venture capital funds developed by Fabrykat 2000. It sold 40% of its shares to the Berlin-based BMP venture capital fund, with which the Fabrykat 2000 network has a cooperation agreement. As a result, the Warsaw TTC received a significant commission from both the import transaction and the equity deal.
In another case, the Warsaw TTC, through the Fabrykat 2000 technology audit process, has become the node of a multi-company business enterprise to commercialize a Polish skin cancer detection system developed by Torun University, and licensed to a Polish company, Ascor. The TTC has made a contract to develop the prototype, commercially viable detection instrument. It has also located and engaged both production and software companies to manufacture components, has secured orders from the Ministry of health, and is finalizing a financing package for the venture. The Warsaw TTC was able to broker the deal as the USAID-funded Fabrykat 2000 activity identified advanced Polish businesses that can to commercialize the invention.
Grant to the Krakow-based FEWE
As a result of low-cost installation work (mainly window and door carpentry improvements, weather stripping, and attic space insulation), marked improvement in heating was achieved in a primary school in Krapkowice serving over 300 children. The estimated energy savings are about 18%, and cost savings run to about 14%-28%. The USAID grantee, leveraging a financial contribution from the city of Krapkowice ($5,000), also mobilized additional funds from the Global Environmental Facility (GEF) grant program ($15,000) to install a new boiler for biomass (wood wastes). The boiler’s capacity was adjusted to the reduced heat demand of the school building. The school’s heating system was converted from coke to wood waste fuel, which has significant environmental effects through reduction of emissions of SO2, CO, CO2 and particulates.
The investment effort mobilized and integrated the local community:
- parents provided in-kind contributions through offering their time and work (simple carpentry work, painting, purchase of paints, etc);
- school management negotiated for all savings coming from the investments to stay in the school budget and be used by the school to meet other needs;
- all thermomdernization works were carried out by a local small business trained under the project; and
- the school has become a showcase for other schools on how to implement efficient and effective heating systems.
Over a dozen thermomodernization demonstration projects in public buildings have been completed under USAID-funded energy efficiency projects in Poland; this one has had a particularly high social impact.
Regional Energy Efficiency
USAID-funded energy efficiency improvements have been completed at the Rehabilitation Center for Children in Gliwice, implemented by a local small business. The Center provides daily rehabilitation treatment for approximately 100 mentally and physically handicapped infants and young children, and provides support to another 1,000 patients through home visits. The number of handicapped children in Upper Silesia is much higher then in other regions due to serious ecological problems. The Center is sponsored by the City of Gliwice and private donors, though the level of this funding varies year to year.
By reducing its energy costs (estimated at about 20%) and improving heat efficiency, under the project, crucial support was provided to the Center’s sustainability and therapeutical effectiveness. Additionally, the local power distribution company in Gliwice has started to provide pro-bono technical support for the Center. For example, it arranges for thermal vision measurements of the building at no charge and plans to extend thermomodernization works to maximize energy savings.
This activity had another success: at the 23rd World Energy Engineering Congress on Tuesday, October 24, 2000, the Association of Energy Engineers, a non-profit professional Association of 8,000 members, honored the following for their outstanding accomplishments in energy and in the environment:
(...)
ENVIRONMENTAL PROJECT OF THE YEAR AWARDED FOR THE WIRE PLANT DSM PROJECT
A grant from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) was used to co-finance the first utility-supported demand-side management program in Poland. The project was implemented in Fabryka Drutu w Gliwicach (FdG), a manufacturer of wire, screen, nails and sintered products in Gliwice, a city in the infamous „Black Triangle” of polluted Upper Silesia. FdG used a traditional hot sulfuric acid process to chemically clean raw steel stock before it was fed into drawing machines to be made into wire. FdG discharged approximately 10 cubic meters of sulfuric acid each week. Fumes from the heated acid bath resulted in serious health and safety problems for FdG's employees, and the City of Gliwice intended to close the factory, eliminating over 100 jobs.
A process developed by Professor Bogdan Golis at the University of Czestochowa replaces the acid cleaning with a mechanical system using abrasion and vibration to remove the scale. The local utility (Upper Silesian Power Distribution Company - GZE - Manfred Wawrzynosek, project manager) and a USAID contractor (Electrotek - Lawrence Markel, project manager) worked with FdG to install the new system on FdG's 12 production lines. USAID provided a grant of $150,000, covering half the cost of the equipment and installation. As a condition of the grant, Mr. Markel required FdG to re-invest 50% of the resulting cost savings for 5 years in additional energy efficiency or environmental improvements in the factory. With the new technology, all but the smallest diameter wires could be produced without using acid. Production costs were reduced by $59,367 in the first full year of operation, due to decreases in energy use, acid purchases, and air and water emissions. Most importantly, the factory remained open and workers' jobs were preserved. FdG has used the savings to install high efficiency lighting and air filtration and heat recovery equipment. It is now preparing to implement a closed acid regeneration system that will eliminate all future acid discharges.
The project demonstrated to GZE management that energy and environmental efficiency can be good business for a utility. GZE has established a Customer Energy Services subsidiary that is conducting energy audits, installing high efficiency streetlights in cities throughout its service territory, and working with industrial customers to reduce their energy use and emissions. The USAID project's objective, to motivate a utility to institutionally support energy efficiency, was achieved. In doing so, the project saved money, energy and jobs and reduced pollution. It is currently being used as a model for many other projects.
Local Environmental Action Program
The primary objective of the Local Action for Environmental Protection Program was the involvement of the local community in efforts targeted at protecting their own natural environment. Project implementation commenced in 1994 in two towns-Radom and Elk. Their inhabitants identified the environmental problems that they considered to be of greatest importance and developed strategies aimed at solving them. The project also proved successful in bringing about the mutual cooperation between resident committees and the gmina [municipality] authorities; in both towns this was deemed to be prerequisite to the success of such efforts.
Public committees in both municipalities defined environmental problems present within their areas. These were compared in terms of the threat they carry and their importance as seen by the local community. Vital data was accumulated utilizing expert reports and wide-ranging public opinion polls. In Radom, environmental problems deemed to require intervention first were the disappearance of surface waters and air pollution. The environmental priority in the case of Elk turned out to be the recultivation of the polluted lake.
The activities of the inhabitants of both towns were supported and coordinated by the Institute of Sustainable Communities of Vermont in the United States, the Institute for Sustainable Development, and the United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA). These institutions organized training courses, workshops, conferences, and a two-week internship program in the United States for the members of the Public Program Committees. They provided assistance during the development of action plans, documents, and the popularizing of the project.
Committee members disseminated knowledge on local environmental threats. Meetings were organized with residents, vital information was provided by way of the local press, radio, and television. The Institute for Sustainable Development published the Rad-Elko, a special bulletin.
The year 1997 saw the conclusion of the pilot phase of the project. Both municipalities commenced implementation of plans prepared by the Public Program Committees approved by the municipal councils. Elk started the building of a system for aeration of the waters of Lake Elk in 1998; the process of cleaning this reservoir commenced within half a year (August of 1999). The Authorities of Radom approved an experimental program for water savings in 1998 intended to rationalize the town's water economy. Water-saving equipment was installed in eighteen hundred homes and the process of monitoring water usage was initiated.
The execution of environmental protection action programs primarily involved the implementation of the "action plans," but it also encompassed broad environmental efforts in both towns. As early as 1995, Elk organized a "day of family cycling"-an event repeated annually since then. The Radom committee conducted a tree and shrub planting campaign in 1996 in which approximately two thousand residents took part. Both towns organized environmental competitions and campaigns in schools. Both Radom and Elk celebrated Earth Day within their limits over the successive years of project implementation and both municipalities have ongoing environmental education programs.
Experience gained during program implementation served successive Polish municipalities striving to improve the environmental conditions of their region. The experience was also presented during several conferences and seminars. The project was noted not only in Poland, but also by foreign institutions: Elk won a Ford Foundation award, while Radom received an honorable mention from the European Union for achievements in the realm of water management.
A major success of the project was its qualification for participation in Expo 2000. It was selected by way of open competition. The exposition selection committee ranked it among the most interesting projects submitted by organizers from the whole world.
A model procedure for establishing priority tasks, developing action plans, and involving the local community in this process was worked out during a period when the local government in Poland found itself grappling with a plethora of problems related to environmental protection.
Application of principles of ranking environmental problems, establishing an optimum environmental protection strategy, and activating the local community around the most important regional matters makes possible the efficient utilization of resources designated for environmental protection, facilitates an improvement in the health of residents, and fosters economic growth in the region.
Improved Access to Municipal Credit
USAID assistance has supported a rapidly growing number of private sector investments. Several cities that have been actively involved in USAID-funded pricing and finance projects over the last few years are participating in innovative, high-profile capital investment projects. A private investor purchased twenty percent of Bielsko-Biala's commercial code water company for approximately $6 million. The City of Poznan used water standards introduced by USAID advisors as a guide in preparing their last water rate plan and is now preparing the country's largest planned water concession arrangement. Ostrow Wielkopolski has created an innovative joint stock company with over 900 different shareholders including water customers. Ostrow's water company capital has increased over 15% annually over the last 3 years. Bydgoszcz's water utility recently negotiated one of the largest commercial loans in the sector to date (approximately $25 million). The agreement was founded on a water pricing agreement as set out in the standards. The national statistical office reported that investment in the water/waste water sector increased nearly 8% between 1997 and 1998 ($1.16 to $1.25 billion). The vast majority of this increase comes from the private sector, through loans or bonds.
USAID-funded experts worked on a number of regulations that will improve local government access to private sector capital. The RTI project worked closely with the Polish Securities and Exchange Commission to prepare and defend legislation amending the Bond Law to allow revenue bonds for the first time in Poland. Such an amendment will lead to lower investor risk and therefore lower the price of private capital for municipalities.
Democratic Governance and Public Administration
Over the past three years, USAID’s DGPA program has helped Poland’s four Municipal Associations develop their capacity to represent the interests of local governments in the development of laws and regulations on local governments. Polish leaders and policymakers recognize the Associations as an effective voice for representing local governments’ interests. They played a key role in the development of the Public Administration reform and the laws on local government finance, presenting their case to the various Parliamentary Committees, the Joint Commission on Local and Central Government, and in public debates. Three out of the four Associations have solid and growing membership bases and are financially self-sustaining.
To improve the level of public administration education to help better educate civil servants, the DGPA program assisted four schools of public administration in curriculum development, drawing on U.S. models of public administration ciricula. As a result of this assistance, these schools created an Association of Polish Schools of Public Administration in 1999. To date, most schools of public administration have joined this Association for the purpose of sharing experience and setting educational standards.
Political Party Building
From January 1996 to January 1999, with funding from USAID, the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI) implemented a political party building program to support Poland’s multiparty system. NDI focused on strengthening the communication skills and organizational capabilities of political parties at the local level.
The objectives of the program have been achieved through: (1) the devolution of responsibilities to regional offices and related skills training in fundraising, membership drives and volunteer recruitment, public opinion polling, message development, coalition building, voter outreach, candidate training, and free and paid media coverage, and (2) increased participation of women and youth in local level politics and. Approximately 2600 political activists from 14 parties were trained. Additional special training programs were organized for 500 women to enhance and support their participation in local and central elections. 680 youth political activists were also assisted. 16 trainers were trained in order to create a local capacity to provide continuing assistance to political parties.
To ensure sustainability, NDI established the Polish based NGO, The European Institute for Democracy (EID). With the creation of EID and the development of a trainer network, the Institute helped establish a solid foundation for future political party building activities. The Institute also serves as an effective vehicle to transfer Polish political expertise and experience to other transition countries in the region.
Mine Health and Safety
This USAID–supported activity successfully demonstrated basic knowledge on mine health and safety issues to Polish miners and left an indigenous organization (NGO) in place that possesses the administrative capabilities and expertise to continue making improvements in mine health and safety area.
The American Association for Health and Safety in Mining Industry was created on September 28, 1998. This Polish NGO, is a joint effort of the Solidarity Trade Union, the Office of the Governor of Katowice, the Technical University of Silesia, the State Mining Authority and several coal holding companies. The Director of the Association is the head of the Mining Industry Secretariat of the Solidarity Trade Union.
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Last Updated on: March 13, 2002 |
