Hachette presents new proposal for settling Ruch dispute

France's Hachette Distribution Services (HDS) has again turned to the State Treasury in the hope of relaunching the privatization of Poland's largest pr ess distributor, Ruch SA. The Treasury received a letter from the potential investor which, according to Rzeczpospolita, contained an attractive offer, although no details have been made public. Hachette has been involved in a l engthy legal battle with the Treasury over a 1995 bid for 40% of Ruch. Treas ury Minister Wieslaw Kaczmarek commented, "Hachette has issued a certain pro position for settling the case equitably. We will study it and I think, if t he matter can be resolved in a friendly manner, we will be able to open the tender once again." He went on to suggest that if all the parties cooperate, the process will not take more than a month. A new tender for the privatizat ion of the State-owned press distributor, which has a market share of around 57%, would attract considerable interest from a number of domestic investors . Among the leading contenders expected to come forward is Kolporter, Ruch's chief competitor with 30% of the market. (Rzeczpospolita, p. B3; Gazeta Wybo rcza, p. 24; Puls Biznesu, p. 10) A.K.