In Brief: BHP & PBK; phone sales; Huta Andrzej; Polmos; Company Register

The share price of Bank Przemyslowo-Handlowy (BPH) and Polski Bank Kredytowy (PBK) have soared following news of an imminent merger between HypoVereinsbank and Bank Austria Creditanstalt (BA/CA). BA/CA president Gerhard Rand has fueled the impressive performance of the shares with his comments that a merger of BPH and PBK was on the cards as it would lower costs. (Rzeczpospolita, page B5, Parkiet, page 1) ... There has been a boom in the sale of mobile phones in the first half of this year. An estimated 1.5 million phones have been sold, mostly Nokia Motorola, Ericsson and Siemens brands. (Prawo i Gospodarka, page 1) ... The board of steel-mill Huta Andrzej has voted to capitalize the pipe-maker Zaklad Przetworstwa Rur (ZPR), and thus acquire a 23% stake of ZPR. (Puls Biznesu, page 5) ... President Aleksander Kwasniewski is to decide today whether to sign the Corporate Rights Bill or petition it to the Constitutional Tribune. If he endorses the bill, Agros will be obliged to surrender the rights of the vodka brands registered abroad to Polmos, the owner of the brand name. (Puls Biznesu, page 7) ... The National Company Register is to start operating in January 2001 when the new civil and business codes come into effect. Companies will be obliged to disclose their attributes including their basic line of business and composition of all vital assets. (Puls Biznesu, page 11) S.M