Polkomtel may soon in line for new management board

Shareholders in Polkomtel, the owner of Plus GSM, the Polish digital c ellular operator today are going to make changes in the company's mana gement, according to Stanislaw Speczik, the supervisory board's chairman. Some 52% of Polkomtel shares are owned by three Polish firms: KGHM, PKN Orlen and Polskie Sieci Elektroenergetyczne, while foreign shareholders include Vodafone and TeleDanmark. During the past few months Treasury Minister Wieslaw Kaczmarek has placed new directors into all three Polish firms'boards, and they want to place their representatives on Polkomtel's Supervisory Board, and in this way bring in a new management board. This is only possible with seven votes out of the nine in supervisory board while four are in foreign shareholders'hands, so a stormy battle is expected. However, Speczik, who is also KGHM's chairman, told Gazeta Wyborcza the chosen candidates were already accepted by all the shareholders, which reveals that the candidates are not seen as political apointees. The present management board has come under criticism in the media, for boosting profits at the cost of investments. (Gazeta Wyborcza, p. 21) A.D.