Troubled Polish construction firm Polimex-Mostostal has announced plans to fire 1,744 workers by March 2013. The company, which has found itself in dire financial straits, currently employs nearly 10,000.

The builder took heavy losses on infrastructure projects in the wake of the Euro 2012 soccer championships, when it signed unfavorable agreements that didn’t allow it to adjust its prices for changes in the cost of materials or labor.

It was reported in July that the firm was in debt to the tune of some zł.2.5 billion.
“We want to downsize by 1,744 jobs in the near future,” said the company’s CEO, Robert Oppenheim, at a general shareholders meeting last Monday.

The company also plans to issue up to 396 million shares with pre-emptive rights, of which 300 million shares at a price of zł.0.50 will go to the state-controlled Industrial Development Agency.

RG