BOT and PolKE to be new key players on energy market

According to a new plan proposed by the State Treasury, the energy market is to be divided into two groups of companies, both of which will specialize in the production and distribution of energy. Grupa BOT, which will be formed through a merger of Bełachatów, Opole and Turów power plants, and three mines, will have only one domestic competitor of similar strength. This will be the Polish Energy Concern (PolKE), which is to acquire a stake in the Southern Energy Concern (PKE) and several other assets, such as the Kozienice power plant, a few smaller Silesian plants and probably some coal mines. The remaining shares in PKE are to be listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange in 2004. These were the first decisive declarations from the State Ministry concerning the vertical consolidation of the energy sector. "If BOT and PolKE will be formed, both structures will have to be supported by energy distribution systems," said Tadeusz Soroka, the Deputy Treasury Minister. (Puls Biznesu, p. 13) A.K.