Five bidders enter final stretch for strategic stake in RG

Nafta Polska, the state entity charged with privatizing the oil sector, officially announced that five of the six foreign and domestic consortia contending for a strategic stake of up to 75% in Poland's second largest crude oil refinery Rafineria Gdanska (RG) have been shortlisted. Although Nafta representatives did not disclose the names of the five finalists, Gazeta Wyborcza reported that among those groupings chosen include a consortium headed by Kredyt Bank and Bank Handlowy, domestic private fuel retailers grouped in Konsorcjum Gdanskie, Hungary's oil and gas group MOL and US-based petrochemical firm M.W. Kellogg. Nafta said on Thursday that the five bidders would be allowed to create three consortia to conduct due diligence on the company's accounts next week. Binding offers are to be placed by March 12. The government, whose first attempt to find a strategic partner for RG failed in 1998 after no satisfactory offer was made, has announced it plans to complete RG's privatization by the end of the first or early second quarter of 2001. (Reuters, Gazeta Wyborcza, p.25) M.M.