First witnesses testify to Sejm Orlen Commission

On Saturday the Commission investigating the PKN Orlen affair questioned the first witnesses. Economy Minister Jerzy Hausner promised that if he finds out about the government's plans of selling Orlen's shares belonging to Nafta Polska (NP), he will inform the Commission about it. Earlier, Treasury Minister Jacek Socha declared that such plans do not exist. The cooperativeness of the government's representatives made Roman Giertych from the Polish Families League (LPR) withdraw the motion to halt the trade of these stocks. Giertych had claimed that the group of businessmen and politicians controlling PKN Orlen would try to deprive the Treasury of the control in the oil concern by exchanging Orlen's share belonging to NP (17.58%) for shares of a foreign company. Still, the Commission did not receive a clear declaration that the government would not sell Orlen's shares in 2004. (Rzeczpospolita, p. A1, A3)