Bank Handlowy withdrawal brings PKP tender confusion

The tender for an agent to handle the Polish State Railways (PKP) bond issue is believed to have been canceled. The Rzeczpospolita daily quotes Maciej Stanczuk from Westdeutsche Landesbank Polska, one of two bidders, as saying the tender had been canceled following the withdrawal of its only rival, a Bank Handlowy-led consortium. However, Roman Hajdrowski, press spokesman for PKP, refused to comment on the report, and Adam Wieladek, deputy chairman of the PKP supervisory board, said he had not heard anything about the Bank Handlowy withdrawal or the cancellation of the tender. PKP has consistently refused to disclose information about the process of selecting the agent. Under PKP plans, the first set of bonds is scheduled to be issued in May, and the second, worth zl.500 million, in October. (Rzeczpospolita, p. B3) P.J.