LOT shareholders vote to give airline injection of capital

LOT shareholders have approved the decision to raise the national air carrier's capital by zl.313 million through an injection of shares of Bank Pekao and BZ WBK. LOT will receive 3.5 million shares of Bank Pekao and 2 million of BZ WBK that are currently owned by the State Treasury. This capital increase was below the zl.400 million increase which was anticipated initially. According to Jan Szczesny, director of the Strategic Companies Branch of the State Treasury, the Treasury's stake in LOT increased from 52% to 76.96%. Swissair Group's stake effectively decreased from 37.6% to 25.1% and the employees' stake was lowered from 10.4% to 6.94%. According to LOT spokesman Leszek Chorzewski, the influx of capital will improve the financial status of the company and make it easier for LOT to attain credit. (Puls Biznesu, p. 7) P.W.