Gdynia Shipyard: Insurance firms to abandon ship

The insurance companies that own stakes in the Gdynia Shipyard want to divest of them and have demanded that the Shipyard Investment Fund (SFI) buy their shares. The SFI guaranteed that it would buy out the shares of the shipyard from the other shareholders in 1999, when the shipyard's capital was increased by zł.60 million and when shares were taken over by PZU, Kredyt Bank and the Warta insurance group. Andrzej Gałganek, the head of Warta Vita's strategy department, said that as the possibility of withdrawing the invested funds is currently rather slim, his company is considering filing a motion for SFI’s bankruptcy and getting at least a part of its money back. According to unofficial information, both PZU and Kredyt Bank also want to withdraw from the shipyard, with the reasons cited being the increased share of the State Treasury in the company and the shipyard's poor financial results and its problems with restructuring. (Puls Biznesu, pp. 1, 4) E.B.