Former Finance Ministers question gov't bank sale plans

The letter, along with three drafts of parliamentary resolutions questioning bank privatization strategy that were due for debate this week, prompted the government to quickly wrap up the sales of bank Pekao S.A. and Bank Zachodni S.A. to strategic investors last week. The sales of Zachodni, in which an 80% stake was sold to Allied Irish Bank (AIB) and Pekao, in which a majority stake was sold to a consortium of UniCredito Italiano and German insurer Allianz, were well advanced by the time the three former finance ministers had sent their letter on June 18. This has led bank industry observers to believe that the letter is part of a lobbying effort aimed at seeing that Powszechna Kasa Oszczednosci Bank Panstwowy (PKO BP) is sold to a Polish bank. (Warsaw Business Journal, page 1)