PIA Piasecki demolished

Construction company PIA Piasecki (PIA) saw 70% wiped off the value of its shares last week after Warsaw Construction Company (WPB) filed to have PIA declared bankrupt. PIA management announced the annulment of the filing and will resume talks with its banks this week aimed at restructuring the company's long-term debts. The decline of the Polish construction market last year left PIA with losses of zł. 14 million ($3.4 million) while the company closed the first quarter of 2002 with long-term debts of zł. 329 million ($80 million) and short-term debts of zł. 29 million ($7 million). The resulting financial problems meant that PIA was unable to pay all of its subcontractors, including WPB, which filed for the company's bankruptcy in June. "The whole matter was unfounded," said Wojciech Sośnierz, the spokesman for PIA. "Yes, we do have financial difficulties, but we have already made this public. When the news of the bankruptcy was released last Thursday, shareholders concerned that the company had withheld information about its impeding bankruptcy began to sell their stocks, plunging PIA shares from zł. 2.65 to zł. 0.79 on the Warsaw Stock Exchange. On Friday the company announced that WPB had filed for PIA's bankruptcy at the regional court in Kielce, but that the court fees for the filing had not been paid, rendering it invalid.