Names of finalists in Rafineria Gdanska tender to be released shortly

Nafta Polska announced it will release either today or at the beginning of next week the names of the finalists for the Rafineria Gdanska (RG) privatization from a list of six investors which placed preliminary offers. RG president Wojciech Zurawik is expecting the future investor to buy at least 50% of RG's shares. He said he was convinced that RG's new business strategy would find the new investor's approval. Under the strategy, RG plans to double the number of its gas stations from 20 to 40 over the next two years and up its network of franchises by 30 to 40 every year. At the moment, its chain of stations numbers 243. RG is also preparing to boost oil output from about 4.2 million tonnes to 6 million tonnes during the next three years. Zurawik also noted that RG's preliminary estimates for 2000 net profit reaching zl.173 million might in fact be exceeded. (Puls Biznesu, p.7)