PZU privatization likely to wait for next government

Treasury Minister Aldona Kamela-Sowinska has stated that the privatization of insurance giant Polish Insurance Company (PZU) will probably be undertaken by the next government. She is quoted as saying that the optimal and most likely date for the privatization is the spring of 2002. The minister suggested that there may be no budgetary reasons for hastening the sale, and so she is willing to prepare the process with due diligence. According to unofficial sources contacted by Puls Biznesu, there are two versions of the PZU privatization plan. Under the first, a parallel share issue would take place on the Warsaw and London stock exchanges. The second version would involve issuing shares only on the Warsaw Stock Exchange (WSE), for Polish and foreign investors. However, Puls Biznesu comments that in what appears to be a contradiction of the treasury minister's views, PZU president, Zygmunt Kostkiewicz, has said that the privatization of PZU is feasible this year, although he does describe this as the most optimistic scenario. (Puls Biznesu, p.8, Prawo i Gospodarka, p. 23) M.T.