BSkyB tipped to take up Vivendi stake in Nowa Cyfra +

Rotch Energy-Lukoil make plans for Rafineria Gdanska According to unofficial reports, the British-Russian consortium Rotch Energy-Lukoil is willing to spend around $300 million for the shares in the Rafineria Gdanska (RG), and to increase RG's capital. The consortium intends to invest between $500 million to $700 million over five years to develop the refinery. The investment program includes the construction of a new pipeline in Nowa Wies Wielka, which alone will cost nearly $150 million. The consortium will modernize RG so that the quality of fuel produced meets new EU standards which come into force from 2004. Increasing fuel exports from the refinery to petrol stations owned by Lukoil in the Baltic states is another part of the development plan. The consortium agreed that each partner will have their own representative on the management board. If the transaction is signed, the president of Rotch Energy Keyvan Rahimian, will probably be appointed head of the RG supervisory board. (Rzeczpospolita, p. B4) A.Z. Vivendi Universal intends to sell its shares in digital television platform Nowa Cyfra+. Rupert Murdoch, and Zygmunt Solorz, the owner of Polsat Cyfrowy are listed as potential buyers for the 75% stake which is now up for grabs. Although no official communiqué has been issued, according to French daily Le Figaro, Vivendi is going to sell its foreign assets to settle its euro 19 billion debt. Head of supervisory board of the Telwizyjna Korporacja Partycypacyjna, Lew Rywin has not denied the report. Vivendi may have problems in finding investor for its Polish platform, as most European media concerns are currently reporting losses. "Rupert Murdoch, who owns British BSkyB seems to be the most serious candidate. Recently he agreed to take over Italian Canal+", said Andrzej Zarebski, media market analyst, and added the price was going to be main problem, as Vivendi would like to get back the hundred million dollars it invested in launching Cyfra +. If Zygmunt Solorz buys the shares, Polsat and Canal + would combine to make one digital platform with 900,000 subscribers. "Polsat does seems not a very attractive partner," said Rywin. (Puls Biznesu, p. 10) K.S.