Re Contract

ABB Ltd
28 January 2002


ABB wins US$ 165 million contract to expand ethylene plant in Poland

PKN Orlen S.A. hires ABB to inject new technology during revamp

Zurich, Switzerland, January 28, 2002 - ABB said today it has won a US$ 165
million contract to expand all ethylene plant in Poland, a project that will
substantially increase the country's ethylene and propylene production.

'This contract carries with it both a strong endorsement for our ethylene
technology and for our ability to work in large countries with high potential,'
said Gorm Gundersen, executive vice president and head of ABB's oil, gas and
petrochemicals division.

Under the terms of the contract ABB will revamp the 21 year old plant, based on
previous ABB (Lummus) technology. The plant is located in Plock, approximately
100 kilometers from Warsaw. New technology will increase PKN's ethylene
production from 360,000 metric tons per annum (MTA) to 660,000 MTA and propylene
production from 130,000 MTA to 315,000 MTA. PKN's ethylene cracker is the
largest ethylene plant in Poland.

ABB is considered the leading provider of ethylene technology with about 40
percent of the world's ethylene capacity. The plant will be designed in at ABB's
offices in Germany, and the local work will fall to a combined team of ABB
engineers and local contractors in Poland. The work is slated for completion at
the end of 2004.

PKN ORLEN S.A. is one of the largest companies in Central and Eastern Europe,
with listings on the Warsaw and London stock exchanges,and trading on the OTC
market in the U.S. It is Poland's largest refiner of crude oil and marketer of
world-class petroleum and related products and has a substantial wholesale and
retail distribution system that includes the Largest network of service stations
in Poland. It also has significant financial investments in the
telecommunications sector in Poland.

ABB's oil, gas and petrochemicals division employs 13,000 and had revenues of
US$ 2,796 million and EBIT of US$ 169 million in 2000.

ABB (www.abb.com) is a global leader in power and automation technologies that
enable utility and industry customers to improve performance while lowering
environmental impact. ABB has 160,000 employees in more than 100 countries.



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