Post Office to work more closely with Bank Pocztowy

The national post office, Poczta Polska, has said that it will be stepping up mutual cooperation with its banking interest, Bank Pocztowy. The announcement comes in the wake of the failure to clinch a deal on the sale of a stake in the bank with Raiffeisen Zentralbank of Austria, after the Raiffeisen offer was judged to be too low. Poczta Polska has decided that for the time being it will not be seeking any investor in Bank Pocztowy, nor will it be expanding its capital. Instead it plans to increase the bank's value by gaining an additional 400,000 customers, including contributors to Social Insurance Company (ZUS). "A deal will be signed soon, but I cannot reveal any specific date or the content of the agreement," financial director of Poczta Polska, Przemyslaw Seczkowski, told Puls Biznesu. Rumors are circulating that under the agreement Bank Pocztowy will enjoy the exclusive right to operate in branches of Poczta Polska. Additionally, the two will cooperate in such areas as marketing and information technology. (Puls Biznesu, p. 5) A.Z.