BRE Bank supervisory board bid aims at saving Elektrim

BRE Bank launched a bid yesterday to have its nominees elected to the superv isory board of Elektrim, as a way of increasing its influence over the troub led telecoms and power group and staving off its collapse. Chief Executive W ojciech Kostrzewa told Reuters that BRE, which with its allies controls over 20% of Elektrim stock, expects the company's management to call an extraordi nary shareholders meeting by February 15 to pick a new board. "We want the s upervisory board to reflect the real structure of shareholders. We have a cr isis but at the same time a chance to find a solution for the company," Kost rzewa said. BRE, which itself holds over 5% of Elektrim, currently has no re presentative on the supervisory board. Kostrzewa said the bank would try to convince investors that Elektrim had great potential and should continue ope rations. "We want to stabilize the company's shareholder structure and creat e conditions for effective operations of the firm. I hope this would be read by the bondholders as a sign of a good will," Kostrzewa said. Elektrim is cu rrently fighting a bankruptcy petition after defaulting on a euro 480 millio n bond redemption in December. Kostrzewa said he hoped Elektrim would reach a settlement with its bondholders. "If only the company is allowed to act wi thout being pressed for time then we can convince the three sides -- shareho lders, bondholders and business partners -- that there's a chance for all of them for a triple-win if they cooperate," he said. (Reuters)