Inspection Court finds TP SA privatization irregularities

Supreme Chamber of Inspection (NIK) will inform the prosecutor's office in Warsaw about serious legal irregularities during the privatization of Telekomunikacja Polska S.A. (TP SA) telecom operator. Despite NIK's generally positive assessment of the deal, questions arose regarding its high costs. According to the NIK head, the chamber has reservations concerning the privatization tender commission and the choice of TP SA's privatization advisers, Schroder Polska and Nicom Consulting-ING. NIK auditors have discovered that Schroder's offer was the most expensive, and thus the fact that it was accepted raises suspicions of corruption. So far, Schroder refuses to grant NIK access to its documents. There are also suspicious, unjustified decisions about the lay-off of TP SA's supervisory board and board of directors. NIK has also determined that salaries of TP SA executives were unreasonably high. According to audit results, the average salary of a member of the board of directors in 1995 was zl 6,800, whereas last year it soared to zl 63,700. Increases of this magnitude, says NIK, are not justified, given TP SA's recent poor financial performance. Company authorities have remained silent. (Rzeczpospolita, p.A7; Parkiet, p.1)