P.M. sacks treasury minister, appoints Kamela-Sowinska

Prime Minister Jerzy Buzek yesterday accepted the resignation of Treasury Minister Andrzej Chronowski and replaced him with Deputy Treasury Minister Aldona Kamela-Sowinska. Chronowski had been accused by critics of mishandling the privatization of state assets and harming foreign investment, particularly as a result of his conflict with Eureko/BIG BG, the strategic investor in Powszechny Zaklad Ubezpieczen (PZU), Poland's largest insurer. The PZU clash is said to be the main cause of his dismissal, but there could have been others, such as Chronowski's row with Finance Minister Jaroslaw Bauc over control of state lottery Totalizator Sportowy (TS). Unofficial sources said that late on Monday Chronowski sent a sharp letter to Buzek in which he offered to resign. However, analysts and politicians from the ruling Solidarity Election Action (AWS) believed it unlikely for Buzek to accept the resignation with just a few months left until parliamentary elections. The Prime Minister apparently caught them by surprise. (Reuters, Puls Biznesu, p.9) T.J.