Governing debutantes

The Deputy Treasury Minister responsible for state-owned companies, Ireneusz Dšbrowski, has announced a list of companies to enter the stock exchange, 12 of which are wholly owned by the Treasury.

"Entering the stock market is a chance to capitalize and finance Treasury-owned companies," Dšbrowski stated in a Ministry press release. "The debuts should provoke a very positive reaction from a wide group of investors," he declared. The planned privatizations would include increasing some companies' share capital and releasing their shares.

Although the shares will be sold to private investors, the Ministry wants to maintain a 51-percent stake in so-called strategic companies, such as aircraft manufacturer PZL-Kalisz, Lot Polish Airlines, military equipment producer Bumar and the Polish Security Printing Works (PWPW).

All the companies on Dšbkowski's list will have to spend about a year preparing for their IPO.

Preparations involve selecting an investment consultant, developing a prospectus and having it accepted by the Polish Financial Supervision Authority. Of the firms on the list, Lot has the greatest chance of concluding an IPO this year. Treasury Minister Wojciech Jasiński had, in an earlier speech, listed a number of state-controlled firms which are planning a debut, including: Sklejka-Pisz, a plywood factory; Prema, a pneumatic-equipment producer; and Łabędy steelworks.

Since the beginning of the 1990s, the number of state-owned companies undergoing ownership transformations each year has gradually decreased, to reach its lowest level in 2006. Between January and November 2006 only five state-owned companies issued shares for the first time, compared with 11 in 2005 and 32 in 2001.