Last chance for investors in power distribution sector?

The Treasury Ministry, criticized for foot-dragging on state sell-offs, moved ahead with privatization of its power assets yesterday, narrowing the list of potential investors for two key utilities. The Treasury said it would hold parallel talks to sell the G-8 group, Poland's largest dist ributor, with a consortium led by Germany's E.ON and a local firm El-D ystrybucja, owned by private company Kulczyk Holding and the Elektrim conglomerate. The Ministry also short-listed four international bidders for a stake in Warsaw-based STOEN distributor, including state-owned Electricite de France (EdF), Electrabel of Belgium, US PSEG and Germany's RWE Plus. The two distributors between them supply around a quarter of Polish electricity. Analysts say that the tenders to sell minority stakes in STOEN and the G-8 group may be the last chance for foreign investors to enter Poland's power distribution sector before the government freezes further utility sales. (Reuters)