PiS considers taking PP to the bank

The conservative Law and Justice party (PiS) is considering merging Central Europe's biggest bank, PKO BP, and the Polish postal service, Poczta Polska (PP), in order to help restructure the antiquated postal group, according to PiS' nominee for the post of Prime Minister, Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz. "There is no plan to merge PKO with Polish Post or any other companies," Marcinkiewicz revealed, adding: "If such a plan were to be implemented it would be carried out by the companies' management under government supervision. However, this won't take place until the cabinet is formed and the infrastructure and Treasury Ministers reach an agreement," he said.

Earlier Marcinkiewicz had said PKO, with assets of zł.88 billion, should remain in state hands. PiS has proposed building national brands around flagship companies that have not yet been privatized, such as PKO. The Polish state currently has a 52-percent stake in the lender. PP employs nearly 95,000 people and last year its earnings stood at zł.6.5 billion with a net profit of zł.101 million. PiS' views on the economy are at odds with those of its likely coalition partner, Civic Platform, which wants to push ahead with the privatization of the oil, power and banking sectors.

PKO is due to lose its status as the region's largest lender after the completion of a planned merger between the foreign-owned BPH and Pekao banks is completed. That merger has already encountered significant opposition from PiS. (Reuters)