Flaming June
I've had enough of it already, so I pity the poor sods in Eastern Europe. Thousands have been forced to evacuate their homes in Slovakia as floods "destroyed crops, damaged buildings and cars, and left some residents homeless," according to a report on Reuters this morning.
Earlier in the month there were reports of similar problems in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia where a state of emergency has been declared in eastern parts of the country.
"It's basically our (hurricane) Katrina," said one Polish resident in the eastern Polish city of Lublin.
Poland and Hungary had an entire years worth of rainfall in May alone, and the rain has kept falling in June.
Cargill Wins Lawsuit Against Poland
(Polish News Bulletin) -- One of the biggest agricultural consortiums in the world, Cargill, has won a four-year long arbitration battle against Poland.
The verdict was kept secret for several months, but now it is clear Poland was ordered to pay around $16m, plus interest, which means a total of $20m. Iwona Wdowczyk, spokesperson for Cargill in Poland says the company is pleased with the way the case has ended, but she points out that Cargill asked for $84m in compensation.
The American consortium accused the Polish government of forcing it to limit production at its Polish isoglucose plant in Bielany Wroclawskie. According to the investor the government wanted to award Polish producers of sugar high production quotas when Poland joined the EU, therefore it lowered isoglucose quotas to help that happen. Cargill invested $90m in a plant capable of producing 120,000 tonnes of isoglucose, but instead it was allowed to produce just 27,000 tonnes
