Re Contract

ABB Ltd
19 June 2001

ABB Media Relations                     ABB Investor Relations 
Thomas Schmidt                          Switzerland:[phone]  
Tel: [phone]                     Sweden: [phone]                  
Fax:[phone]                      USA: + 1 203 750 7743                   
[e-mail]              [e-mail]

For your business and technology editors

ABB wins US$ 70-million contract in Algeria

Technology group upgrading oil pipeline for state-run company Sonatrach

Zurich, Switzerland, June 19, 2001 - ABB says today it has won a US$ 70-million
contract to upgrade a key oil pipeline in Algeria.

ABB says it will upgrade the line, which is owned and operated by state-run oil
and gas company Sonatrach, to increase capacity from 17 to 23 million barrels
per year.  The 290-kilometer pipeline links the Hassi Berkine oil field with the
dispatching terminal of Haoud El Hamra, located in the Berkine Basin,
approximately 1,000 kilometers southeast of Algiers.

'We are proud to be working alongside Sonatrach to enhance the capacity and
efficiency of this line,' says Gorm Gundersen, executive vice president and head
of ABB'S oil, gas and petrochemicals division. 'The ongoing cooperation is an
indication that we are moving in the right direction at ABB - coupling new
technologies with local expertise to make our customers more competitive.'

ABB said the project is slated for completion in less than two years. Under the
terms of the agreement, ABB is responsible for engineering, procurement and
construction of an oil stocking and dispatching center at Hassi Berkine and a
pumping station at Nezla.

An interesting footnote to ABB'S global business, the project will be designed
and managed at offices in Milan, Italy and construction activities will be
carried out by Sarpi, an ABB and Sonatrach joint venture operating in Algeria.
The joint venture company is 50/50 owned by the protagonist companies.

In related news, ABB recently announced it had won a US$ 180-million subsea
contract off the Nigerian coast.

ABB (www.abb.com) serves manufacturing, process and consumer industries,
utilities, the oil and gas sector and infrastructure markets, with 160,000
employees in more than 100 countries.