PKP offered steel holding stock in lieu of zl.213 million

Huta Katowice (HK) steel mill is hoping to convince Polish State Railways (P KP) to accept a debt repayment plan under which the zl.213 million it owes t o the national rail carrier would be converted into shares in the planned Po lskie Huty Stali (PHS) steel holding. PKP is currently seeking a court rulin g that would force HK to repay the debt. But HK deputy president Krystian Ko zakowski suggests an alternative solution. "PKP wants to regain the liabilit ies of zl.212.8 million. However, we are interested in the restructuring of our entire zl.560 million debt. In accordance with the steel industry restru cturing bill we aim at converting the liabilities into shares in the Polskie Huty Stali holding, which is about to be created," Kozakowski said. For HK's debt restructuring plan to work, it is relying on the holding being created soon. However, both the Economy Ministry as well as Jerzy Podsiadlo, who is president of HK itself and of another partner in the PHS, Huta Sendzimira, a dmit the consolidation of the various mills' assets may prove difficult. (Pu ls Biznesu, p. 10) A.Z.