The U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) has awarded grants for projects that will study proposed upgrades in the chemical-industry sector in Poland and the electric-power sector in Romania.

On September 22, USTDA signed a $218,000 grant agreement in Warsaw with the Polish chemical company Dwory S.A. to determine the technical and economic feasibility of expanding the company's production of styrene monomer, expandable polystyrene and synthetic rubber. The New York company Nexant Inc. will perform the study.

A press release on the Polish project is available online at http://www.tda.gov/trade/press/2004/September 2004/Sept22_04poland.html

On September 21, USTDA signed a $220,840 grant agreement with SC Electrocentrale Bucuresti SA (ELCEN), an independent state-owned company that provides about 80 percent of the heat supply in Bucharest, Romania. ELCEN has five heat- and power-generating plants in the city, but only one is equipped with modern control mechanisms. The grant will determine how the company can best implement new control mechanisms at the other four plants and also develop a centralized control system to coordinate operations.

A press release on the Romanian project is available at http://www.tda.gov/trade/press/2004/September 2004/Sept22_04romania.html

The U.S. Trade and Development Agency funds technical assistance, feasibility studies, training, orientation visits and business workshops in developing and middle-income economies to help them develop a modern infrastructure and establish a fair and open trading environment. It supports sound investment policies and decision-making capacities in the host countries, focusing on sectors that may benefit from U.S. exports of goods and services.

(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov) NNNN