Management cleansing

In the latest management reshuffle in a state-owned company, the Treasury Ministry sacked Cezary Stypułkowski, the president of PZU, Poland's largest insurance company. The Treasury owns 55 percent of shares in the insurer, which in 2005 was the most profitable such entity in the CEE region.

This didn't save Stypułkowski, however, who was associated with the left. In response to the decision, the Standard and Poor's rating agency changed the outlook for PZU from stable to negative.

Former Deputy Finance Minister Cezary Mech was expected to be named as Stypułkowski's replacement. However, last Thursday it was announced that Gdynia-based lawyer Jarosław Netzel will be in charge of PZU.

"This is definitely a political decision. Decisions in companies where the Treasury is a majority shareholder are always political," president of the Adam Smith Center, Robert Gwiazdowski, said.

Stypułkowski is the latest in a series of senior management officials who have lost their jobs. Since winning the elections last September PiS has changed supervisory boards and sacked top executives at several large state-owned companies, which is a common policy in Poland and usually takes place following changes in government.

Among the significant companies with new managements are Polish Oil and Gas (PGNiG), Lot Polish Airlines and copper producer KGHM, where five out of nine members of the management board were replaced and later a new president was chosen.

Surprisingly, the post-election changes haven't yet affected Poland's largest company, PKN Orlen, nor the country's other fuel giant, Lotos. Rumors have recently surfaced that the Prime Minister is being criticized within his party for implementing changes too slowly.