Centralwings leaderless

Piotr Kociołek, president of the budget airline Centralwings, has stepped down from the post, officially due to personal reasons. "Mr. Kociołek tendered his resignation on March 15, and he is going to remain in office till the end of the month. It was his own decision," said Iza Boguś, Centralwings' PR Manager.

Kociołek took his decision following the shareholders' meeting during which a controversial resolution was passed that in spite of greater-than-planned losses, the no-frills airline would continue to operate.

"According to the business plan the airline's loss was to amount to zł. 42 million. The financial report for 2005 revealed, however, that the company got itself zł. 59 million in red," Leszek Chorzewski, spokesman of LOT, which owns 100 percent of Centralwings told Puls Biznesu.

Centralwing's share capital is just zł.5 million and the company was expected to bring profits in 2008. The new chairman of the airline should be appointed no sooner than the appointment of the new president of LOT, which is expected by the end of March. Should the new appointments be delayed, Kociołek's responsibilities will be taken over by Grzegorz Polaniecki, Centralwings' proxy.