Eureko consortium takes its case against PZU directly to EC President Prodi

Last Friday, international insurance consortium Eureko officially requested European Commission (EC) President Romano Prodi for help to secure its investment in the insurer Powszechny Uklad Ubezpiecien (PZU). Eureko representative Michal Nastula said this is the consortium's first official letter to the EC about PZU, emphasizing it is not an official complaint. Eureko is now waiting for an answer about whether or not to file such a complaint. Representatives of Eureko, which holds 20% of PZU's shares, threatened for months to present the conflict over control of PZU to the EC. Ludomir Handzel of the State Treasury confirmed that after the recent changes made in the PZU board, the Ministry started to press for a meeting with Eureko. Handzel tried however to play down the size of theconflict in PZU by describing it as only a matter of changing names of board members. He announced on Monday that a meeting between Treasury Minister Andrzej Chronowski and consortium representatives might take place the same evening. Eureko does not see the possibility of talks with the Minister until it obtains an official statement about the Ministry's current plan for realizing the original privatization agreement. (Gazeta Wyborcza, p.19) A.D.