Letter to government from CEOs, analysts, recommends faster privatization

In a letter to the government, a working group of leading Polish and foreign politicians as well as CEOs recommended that Poland speed up privatization and modernization of the energy, transport and IT sectors. The group includes presidents of Polish divisions of such corporations as Microsoft, Procter & Gamble and ABB, and politicians such as Sejm speaker Marek Borowski and U.S. Senator Joseph Lieberman. The commission is urging for deregulation of the energy sector, in which the National Grid (PSE) has a dominant position. The group also believes that PKN Orlen has a near-monopolistic position in the fuel sector. In a separate letter to deputy Prime Minister Marek Pol, the group called for rapid privatization of ailing Polish State Railways (PKP). One of the authors of the letter, George Handy of the U.S. Center for Strategic & International Studies, said of the initiative: "Our aim is to look for relatively inexpensive solutions which will allow for significant improvement of investment conditions in Poland." (Gazeta Wyborcza, p. 21) T.J.