E.ON tipped to buy G-8, but political lobbying continues

Treasury Minister Wieslaw Kaczmarek, according to an unofficial source quoted by Puls Biznesu, has decided that the G-8 energy distribution group will be sold to the E.ON German energy concern. Some politicians, including senator Jerzy Suchanski, are against the privatization of G-8 companies. Suchanski, who is the leader of the parliamentary group for restructuring the energy sector, believes that selling the energy network before a real energy market has become operational, or before sectors such as steel have been restructured, is a serious mistake. He thinks that if the energy sector has to be sold a better solution would be to sell it to a Polish investor such as El-Dystrybucja, a company controlled by the Kulczyk Holding group, which is also bidding for the G-8. Jan Kulczyk's political connections could play a role in the decision-making process, but the tender cannot be c ancelled as the planned income from selling G-8 has practically already been spent, mostly on the social insurance fund. (Puls Biznesu, pp. 1, 6) A.D.