Polmos Zielona Gora slugs it out over Zoladkowa rights

The State Treasury will likely invite bids for a stake in Polmos Zielona Gora, Poland's third largest distillery, by the end of the year. Last year the company won a tender for the Luksusowa vodka brand, one of Poland's most popular. Meanwhile, it is now fighting with Polmos Lublin over another brand, Zoladkowa Wytrawna. The Lublin distillery claims that the brand is complementary to its Zoladkowa Gorzka, for which it had paid zl.12 million and thus it should have the rights. Zielona Gora says that it had acquired Wytrawna from Polmos Warszawa earlier. According to deputy sales director at Polmos Zielona Gora, Bogdan Slusarz, four major players from the alcohol sector are interested in buying the Polmos. They are: Pernod Richard of France, Bols of the Netherlands, Allied Domeq and Eckes AG of Germany. (Gazeta Wyborcza, p.24; Puls Biznesu, page 7) T.J.