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plan for 1971-75 calls for such imports to total $2.5 million, or twice the 1966-70 level. The share of Western equipment in total imports of machinery and equipment is expected to rise to one-third by 1975. These imports almost doubled in 1972, resulting in an overall increase of 55% in imports from the industrial West.

Poland has signed a number of contracts and received substantial credit extensions from Western Europe and Japan for capital equipment to be delivered by 1975. A few Western countries have extended Poland general lines of credit for purchases of their capital equipment. The largest of these credit lines have come from Japan and France. Japan, like the United States, has been only a marginal supplier of capital equipment but has recently become increasingly interested in the CEMA market. The first line of credit from Japan, extended by three Japanese firms in June 1970, was for $100 million. Repayments were to run over 7 years at a 6% to 7% annual rate of interest. In return, Poland will ship 20 million tons of coking coal to Japan during 1974-84. In August 1972, seven Japanese trading houses extended a $200 million line of credit to Poland. Repayment periods extend up to 8 years, and interest is 6.5% a year. In September 1973 a consortium of Japanese banks agreed to lend Poland $60 million, repayable over a period of 10 years, with interest rates to be fixed by Eurodollar rates plus specified margins. In October 1972, France extended a $300 million credit to be drawn down over 3 years; the repayment period is reported to be from 10 to 12 years.

Belgium and the United Kingdom also have extended lines of credit. In July 1972, two Belgian banks reported that they had agreed with Bank Handlowy of Warsaw to extend a 3 billion franc (about $67 million) export credit. The National Westminster Bank of London signed an agreement with Bank Handlowy for a $16 million line of credit in March 1972 and provided an additional $8 million in October. These credits, which are backed by the British Government, are to be used to finance 85% of Polish purchases of British capital and semi-capital goods and associated services. Repayment periods range from 5 to 8 years from the date of delivery or completion.

Authorization for Poland to receive Export-Import Bank credits and guarantees was granted in November 1972. So far, Poland has received authorization for several Ex-Im Bank credits, including an $8.9 million credit toward the purchase of two sausage plants from the Alan Scott Company of Chicago, a $22.3 million credit for the purchase of two meat processing plants from the A. Epstein Companies of Chicago, a $2.0 million credit toward the purchase of a Sendzimir rolling mill to be supplied by the Waterbury Farrel Division of Textron Corporation, and a $13.5 million credit toward the purchase of a foundry for the machine tool industry from the Swindell-Dressler Corporation of Pittsburgh. In the case of the Alan Scott project, Ex-Im Bank and the First National Bank of Chicago (FNBC) are each lending 45% of the contract price. FNBC also loaned the Poles the Eurodollar equivalent of US$10 million, part of which is to be allocated to the Alan Scott project. The loans are to be repaid over 12 years. Repayments on the credit from FNBC begin at the end of the second year and will run 5 years. Repayments to Ex-Im Bank will be made from the seventh through the twelfth year. The Ex-Im Bank credit carries a fixed interest rate of 6%; the FNBC interest rate is 0.75% floating over the prime rate. Morgan Guaranty Trust Company of New York will also lend $22.3 million to Poland (Bank Handlowy) for the two meat processing plants.

One of the largest individual contracts signed with the West is for the purchase of machinery and equipment for a new Fiat vehicle plant. The Italians have extended an $85 million credit to cover this contract. About three-fourths of the purchase price of the plant is to be repaid by deliveries of Fiat spare parts produced in Poland. Another large contract is the $80 million deal with Automobiles M. Berliet S.A. of France for the modernization of the Jelcz bus plant. Poland is to pay for part of Berliet's services with deliveries of parts. Other contracts include those for oil refinery equipment (United Kingdom, Japan, Italy), a gas separation and helium liquefaction plant (United Kingdom), a pigment plant (West Germany, United States), equipment for a plant to manufacture polyvinyl chloride floor coating (West Germany), an installation for a caprolactam factory (United Kingdom), a polypropylene plant (Japan), a nylon-6 textile plant (Japan), equipment to produce radial tires (Belgium), equipment for an optical glass plant (Japan), a factory to produce magnetic tape (Belgium), a tandem cold strip mill for the Lenin works (Japan), equipment for a wire mill (France), a ball bearing plant (Japan), a factory to produce brakes and clutch linings for motor vehicles (West Germany), equipment for shipbuilding yards (Japan), facilities to produce components for radios and black and white TV sets (Japan), two large cement plants (Belgium), and two meat processing plants (West Germany).

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APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2009/06/16: CIA-RDP01-00707R000200070030-5