Government forms smaller-than-expected sugar holding

The government decided late on Wednesday to group 28 of the country's sugar refineries into a new holding, Polski Cukier. The decision, announced in a statement released after a cabinet meeting, falls short of the expectations of the authors of the so-called 'Sugar Bill', under which the holding would have comprised all 49 state-controlled sugar refineries. Despite being smaller than anticipated, the new holding will still have a market share of 41%, making it the biggest sugar producer in Poland. Significantly, the government has not included in the deal the Slaska Spolka Cukrowa group of refineries, which are set to be sold to French company Saint Louis Sucre (SLS). Explaining the decision to scale down the holding, the government said in its statement that it had done so because, "That would most quickly eliminate the inefficient structure of sugar firms." According to the Government Information Center (CIR), the plan is to improve the position of the ailing sugar refineries through the introduction of a single grouping that would later be privatized. The formation of Polski Cukier still requires approval from parliament (Rzeczpospolita, p. B2, Gazeta Wyborcza, p. 20, Reuters) J.K.