In Brief: Netia's vital meeting; Kredyt Bank on-line; PWN redundancies

Ahead of a vital shareholders meeting today, holders of defaulted bonds issued by telecoms operator Netia have indicated they want to gain a 92.5% equity stake in the company through a debt for equity swap. However, the two major stakeholders in Netia, Telia of Sweden and US fund Warburg Pincus, have said they will agree to the bondholders having only a 90.5% stake. (Puls Biznesu, p. 8; Reuters) ... Kredyt Bank will today launch on-line banking services, leaving BIG Bank Gdanski as the only major Polish bank that does not yet offer personal accounts on the Internet. Poland's on-line banks already have 540,000 customers. (Rzeczpospolita, p. B6) ... Labor unions and workers at Polskie Wydawnictwo Naukowe (PWN), a leading publisher of academic and scientific books, are resisting moves by the company to lay off 160 workers. In the wake of PWN's announcement of the redundancies, the workforce has said it will protest the decision, and the labor unions have demanded the dismissal of the company's board. (Rzeczpospolita, p. B4) P.W.