Arena.pl suspends business but pursues Tel-Energo claim

A senior executive of Internet portal Arena.pl has confirmed that the company has suspended its activities. People accessing the Arena main site yesterday were greeted with the message, "Service is temporarily closed". According to Arena board member Rafal Plutecki, the company does not have the money for any further activities. Already equipment is being removed from its offices, and one leasing company has reclaimed the bulk of its computers. Almost the entire staff, with the exception of the president and the company lawyer, will soon be laid off. However, according to Plutecki the Arena name will not be taken off the companies' register, since it plans to pursue its zl.70 million claim against Tel-Energo, which it accuses of preventing a planned public share issue in June. Arena is unhappy over Tel-Energo's withdrawal from a joint investment called E-connections, which would have been a major source of revenue for the portal. The Arena management insists that the breakdown in the cooperation with Tel-Energo caused the failure of the public share issue, which was expected to raise zl.80 million. (Gazeta Wyborcza, p. 19) P.W.