Major foreign car-maker holds talks on Daewoo-FSO

Deputy Economy Minister Edward Nowak has indicated that introductory talks have been held with a major foreign car company that is interested in Warsaw-based Daewoo-FSO. Nowak declined to name the foreign car company, but did say that it had not been taken into consideration previously and would be an entirely new partner for Daewoo-FSO. Among the names being mentioned by analysts are Toyota and Mazda, as well as PSA of France, all of which are interested in the Polish car market, and might be prepared to bid for Daewoo-FSO. The government has yet to decide on how to go about rescuing the troubled Polish-Korean car manufacturer. According to Nowak, it will be difficult to find an investor without first carrying out a complete restructuring of the plant. "It is essential to reduce its debts to Korean and Polish banks, and to the Polish government," he added. (Puls Biznesu, p. 6) A.Z.