In Brief: DWWS; BRE Bank; State liabilities; Unemployment still going up?

A Warsaw commercial court declared publisher Dom Wydawniczy Wolne Slowo (DWWS) bankrupt on Friday. The judge said that DWWS's difficulties have a permanent and irreversible character with no perspectives for any improvement. (Rzeczpospolita, Jan. 25-26, p. C1) ... BRE Bank has purchased a 50% stake in Magyar Faktor of Hungary. The remaining 50% is owned by the Intermarket Bank in which BRE also has a 50% stake. (Rzeczpospolita, Jan. 25-26; p. B5) ... At the end of November 2002, the liabilities of the Treasury stood at around $82.6 billion. In comparison with the end of October, the amount grew by over zl. 4 billion. (Rzeczpospolita, Jan. 25-26, p. B5) ... The unemployment rate might rise to 18.3-18.4% in January, Economy Minister Jerzy Hausner said on Sunday. "I think that the figure will increase by 0.2-0.3% in January compared with December 2002," Hausner told reporters. In December 2002, over 3.2 million people were registered out of work, an increase of more than 100,000 from a year earlier (Reuters) A.Z. Investment funds becoming more flexible towards premium charges PKO/Credit Suisse TFI investment fund announced that it would decrease the annual operating costs of its funds by 20-25%, which would also mean decreasing premiums charged to customers. Fund president Antoni Leonik claims that this not signalling the beginning of a price war, but simply, "Time for reducing costs." Most of other funds said they would remain elastic to what the market decided, but others claim their offer was already competitive, or even in some cases, lower than that of PKO/CS. "In our bond funds, we do not charge our customers any premium," said president of Skarbiec TFI Andrzej Dorosz. According to sector representatives, the investment funds market has just started to produce profits, so now they need to cover losses from the beginning of their activity. This means the sector is not ready for a price war. (Puls Biznesu, pp. 1, 5) M.M. Will the government collapse over Bio-fuels and agriculture subsidies ? The Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) is likely to accept the President's veto on the bio-fuels bill. Prime Minister Leszek Miller said that the government would consider preparing a new draft bill on the issue. The Polish Peasants Party (PSL) wants to press for the bill to be accepted in its present shape and will try to persuade the SLD to change its mind during a coalition meeting on February 11. "If we accept the veto than it is almost certain that a new bill would not be ready by July 1, which means delaying the whole procedure of using bio-fuels by a whole year, following the cycle of the harvest. We cannot accept it," said PSL Deputy President Eugeniusz Klopotek. He added that if the SLD and PSL did not reach an agreement on bio-fuels and agriculture subsidies, than his party would consider that, "The formula of the current coalition is almost finished". (Rzeczpospolita, pp. A1, A3) M.M.