PKO BP and PZU to form national champion?

Andrzej Podsiadło, the head of the number one retail bank PKO BP, announced on Friday that he is interested in creating a leading bankassurance group t hrough a merger with PZU. He emphasized however, that this is only one of t he possible ways of privatizing the bank. Podsiadło said that such a strong financial group would not only be able to stimulate the stagnant economy, b ut could also compete on the single European market. He was careful to point out that his idea only makes sense if apart from a capital union there is r eal strong business cooperation between the two companies. The merger idea is supported by PZU president, Zdzisław Montkiewicz, according to whom each country should strive to develop strong financial groups. (Parkiet, p. 1) A .K.