France Plans $645 Million in Aid; Bonn Reportedly to Give $1 Billion

PARIS —  France on Wednesday offered an emergency plan to supply Poland’s Solidarity-led government with nearly $645 million in aid.

In addition, the New York Times reported in today’s editions that West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl will offer more than $1 billion in aid to help Poland rebuild its economy when he visits Warsaw on Nov. 9. The paper said Bonn is withholding details of the aid package until it is officially announced in Warsaw.

Kohl’s trip originally was planned to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany on Sept. 1, 1939, but it was postponed when Poland said that West Germany’s proposed aid package was inadequate. The new plan would be the largest aid package offered by a Western nation since the non-Communist government was formed in August.

French President Francois Mitterrand announced his Poland aid plan in a speech Wednesday to the European Parliament. It would provide money over three years and would create an investment fund, partly provided by financial institutions, of $145 million to help modernize the Polish economy.

Another $322 million in commercial credits would be added to the $161 million that France had already decided to provide Poland this year, the statement said. The plan also envisions a $14.5-million fund for technical assistance.