OMV's improved offer signals hope for PKN Orlen bid

Austrian oil group OMV will before the end of the year make a new, improved bid for a 17.6% stake in PKN Orlen, OMV president Richard Schenz has said. The announcement comes despite the fact that Poland's previous Treasury Minister chose to negotiate the sale with OMV's rival, MOL of Hungary. MOL was granted exclusive negotiating rights, valid for 90 days from October 12, with an evaluation of progress to take place after 30 and 50 days. OMV still has a chance in the race, since new Treasury Minister Wieslaw Kaczmarek, while not wholly opposed to the sale of the PKN Orlen stake, has made no secret of the fact that he does not consider MOL a good investor for the company. (Prawo i Gospodarka, p. 12) T.J.