PGNiG and Gov't agree amendments to restructuring plan

The State Treasury has reached an agreement with Polish Oil and Gas (PGNiG) over amendments to the company's restructuring plan which was accepted by the government back in August 2002. An amendment to an EU Directive concerning the sector, which comes into force on July 1 2004, will mean that the company has to provide competitors with access to its network. This, coupled with the company's bondholders demanding that PGNiG buy back their bonds immediately, has forced the company to turn to the government to allow it to alter it restructuring plan. According to unofficial information, both sides have agreed that the extraction of oil and gas will not be separated from the company's core business, as was initially anticipated. PGNiG demanded such a change, as this is a trend being set by large foreign gas companies, which have not sold their own deposits. PGNiG plans to increase the extraction of national gas from the current four billion cubic meters per year to six billion in 2006. (Puls Biznesu, p. 10) A.K.