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DESTYLERNIA „POLMOS" W KRAKOWIE S.A. 259

near Cracow. The plant was commissioned on April 30, 1931. By contemporary Euro-pean standards it was a very modem plant, with an efficient production linę and well designed infrastmcture for transport and for storage of raw materials and ready prod-ucts. The distillery was completely independent of outside power sources, and immune to fluctuations in the market for raw materials; the volume of spirits storage was equal to a year's production. The planfs products, grounded in tradition and produced with the most modem technology of the times, quickly won the appreciation of consumers.

World War II spared the plant but was not merciful to its workers. Literally on the eve of liberation, the Nazis carried out mass executions in Cracow. Among the victims were 29 employees of the Cracow Distillery. A memoriał plaque on the Company's administration building commemorates that tragic event and honours their memory.

After the war, production resumed quickly, still in the first half of 1945. In later years there were organisational changes in the spirits industry as the whole Polish economy was put under centralised control. As a result the plant was subordinated to a central board with its offices in Warsaw, having authority ovcr morę than twenty en-terprises all over Poland. The spirits industry operated under this arrangement until the political changes of the late 1980's. The plant produced alcoholic beverages under shared trademarks for consumers in areas assigned by the State planning authorities. Often the label did not even say which plant had madę the contents of the bottle.

In 1964 the Cracow Yeast Plant in Bieżanów was merged with the Company. After six months of modemisation a new production linę to tum out top ąuality yeast was commissioned. The end of the 1960's brought a large increase in demand for flavoured vodkas, which madę it necessary for the Company to modemise and expand its facili-ties, so in the 1970's the plant gained a modem flavoured vodka division.

In January 1974 the Company took over the Pepsi Cola soft drinks plant in Nowa Huta from the Okocim Brewery. This division has been modcmiscd and expanded many times sińce then, tripling its production capacity in the last twenty-odd years while continuing to meet Pepsi Cola's stringent ąuality standards. This co-operation provided us access to the world's latest technologies at a time when political realities kept Poland and other East Bloc countries isolated from the West, technologies which have been implemented in the other divisions.

The end of the 1970's saw a period of further restructuring of the unflavored vodka division. Wom out machinery from the 1960’s was replaced by a high-capacity bottling linę. Storage facilities were expanded. The 1980's did not bring major changes, though new eąuipment and technical ideas were continually introduced.

The political transformation in Poland in 1989 led in effect to the end of centrali-sation in the distilling industry. In 1991 the distilleries gained their independence. The enterprise in Cracow introduced several new brands of its own at that time. Among them, CYMES Vodka became a big hit. Its market and financial success powered the company's strong growth. The distillery was modemised through replacement of bottling and production lines. Buildings were renovated, and new office and warehouse buildings were constructed. Above all there was investment in the new product devel-opment, yielding Starka Krakowska (was produced and sold by The Cracow Distillery