Carlsberg considers withdrawing Okocim from WSE

Danish beer producer Carlsberg is considering withdrawing its domestic brewery Okocim from the Warsaw Stock Exchange (WSE) in mid 2004. The company purchased on Monday from German Bitburger almost 1.15 million Okocim shares, which is almost 4% of the capital. The share price was set at zł. 22, which was zł. 2.5 less than traded on the WSE. The investor which turned to the Securities and Stock Exchange Commission (KPWiG) in the middle of 2001 with a motion to exceed 50% voting rights in the domestic company, declared it will not go over 75% and will not withdraw from the WSE until Poland joins the EU. It has already failed to comply to the first declaration. "It was our voluntary declaration that we will not purchase additional shares over the four years, unless Poland joined the EU. Because this will take place within the next couple of months, we have decided to increase our stake in Okocim," said Margret Skov, Carlsberg's PR Director. (Parkiet, p. 3) A.K.