Croatia rejects Grupa Azoty bid for Petrokemija

In December 2013 CPI inflation amounted to 0.7 percent year-on-year and 0.1 percent month-on-month, statistics office GUS said on Wednesday. Both figures were in line with the consensus of expectations from economists surveyed by the Polish Press Agency. The biggest reduction was observed in the communications sector (11.6 percent), education (6 percent) and clothing and footwear (4.9 percent). The price of alcohol and tobacco products rose the highest, by 3.7 percent while the utilities' costs grew by 2.2 percent. Annual average inflation came in at 0.9 percent in 2013, GUS also said. Inflation increased slightly in December, but remains low, BZ WBK economists wrote in an e-mailed comment. “We still expect to see a gradual rebound of inflation in the next months – in Q1 2014 it should be above 1 percent and at the end of the year above 2 percent,” they said. The data do not change much in terms of monetary policy outlook, the analysts added, as inPoland’s biggest chemicals group Grupa Azoty bid to takeover Croatia's fertilizer maker Petrokemija was rejected, Croatian internet portal Poslovni Dnevnik wrote. According to the website Grupa Azoty offer was rejected at the initial stage of the privatization process, as the bids were opened just yesterday. No reason was given for the rejection. Three other offers submitted by Hungary's Bige Holding, Austria's Borealis and Czech Agroferta were accepted. Croatian’s Economy Minister Ivan Vrdoljak, confirmed that three offers made it into the next round of talks, but did not specify which ones were accepted and which one was rejected. Polish media had reported last October that Grupa Azoty was interested in acquiring Petrokemija. The company then declined to comment. The company posted losses in the last several years. Analysts estimate its value at some PLN 325 million.flation is likely to stay low until mid-2014.