Bogdanka coalmine could end up as part of PKE

Within the next few weeks the State Treasury will take a final decision about annulling the tender to privatize the Lubelski Węgiel Bogdanka coalmine. According to unofficial information, the reason for the cancellation was that none of the potential investors provided a plan which envisaged enough funds to ensure a bright future for the mine. The three companies bidding in the tender included Multico, Korporacja Gwarecka, and Warsaw-based Kolmex. However, another reason for this move could be the State Treasury's plans to transfer the ownership rights of the profitable mine to the Southern Energy Concern (PKE) and changes to its restructuring plans for the energy sector. "The government has accepted a strategy according to which PKE will take over coalmines, and Bogdanka is one of the best ones," said PKE president Jan Kurp. It is not excluded that the government, by the end of this month, will decide upon PKE's acquisition of not only Bogdanka, which records annual revenues of around zł. 700 million, but also the Kozienice power plant, which has annual sales reaching zł. 1.5 billion. (Puls Biznesu, pp. 1, 4) A.K.