Political squabbling could hamper new PZU president's plans
By Aleksander Nowacki
Cezary Stypułkowski, the new president of PZU, the country's largest insurer, is now one of the most powerful men in the country. But that is not the end of his ambitions, as comments in an interview the day before his nomination reveal. If his predecessor's plans for a merger with PKO BP come to fruition, he may well find himself at the helm of the largest financial institution in central and eastern Europe.
This is not the first time that he will oversee an attempt at the creation of such a group. Back in 1999 the merger of Bank Handlowy - under Stypułkowski's leadership - with BRE Bank was the talk of the town as well as the subject of political controversy. It is politicians that Stypułkowski now seems to blame, as he says that for the new merger project to be successful, "it would be necessary to find consensus among all the political parties."
The failed merger certainly left all those concerned with a bitter aftertaste, but Stypułkowski perhaps particularly so. Commentators agree that it was Bank Handlowy that came out of the affair more bruised than its prospective partner and it was necessary to quickly find a strategic investor, which turned out to be Citibank.
Analysts agree that the failure to enlist the support of the Treasury Ministry and PZU, Bank Handlowy's chief shareholders, was the main reason for the disaster.
It is ironic that Stypułkowski has now become the head of the institution that successfully blocked his merger nearly four years ago. How much power the position carries with it is best demonstrated by the long saga of his predecessor's dismissal.
Zdzisław Montkiewicz, the last PZU president, was finally disgraced over allegations of a secret deal with HSBC to buy back the company's shares from minority stakeholders. It is possible that the secret deal was part of Montkiewicz's preparations for the PKO BP merger. The Treasury Ministry considered it an infringement of its owners' rights, as did Eureko, the Dutch company that holds more than 20 percent of the company's shares. Montkiewicz's policy outraged Eureko to the point it appealed to the court of arbitration in London. One of his successor's chief tasks will be to improve relations with the investor. Eureko claims that the ministry is in breach of the privatization agreement, as it has blocked efforts to list PZU on the stock exchange. Stypułkowski has admitted that listing PZU is one of the objectives with which he comes to the company.
As these are the issues he will have to concern himself with in the immediate future, it seems that Cezary Stypułkowski's grand plan of creating a capital group may have to be shelved yet again.
