Refinery sale put on hold in the wake of resignation

The sale of Poland's second largest refinery, Rafineria Gdanska, was put on hold on Thursday after the management of the state agency in charge of the sale quit in a dispute with the government. The management board of Nafta Polska resigned en masse on Wednesday, citing irreconcilable differences with the Treasury over their visions for the future of the sector's privatization. Treasury spokeswoman Beata Jarosz said yesterday that minister Aldona Kamela-Sowinska would accept the resignation. The decision is expected to have a negative impact on the planned sale of a 75% stake in Rafineria Gdanska, for which either Hungarian oil and gas group MOL or an industry group led by private UK-based Rotch Energy, had been expected to pay $200 million. " The timing is really bad, as the refinery's own investment programs are largely dependent on a prompt sale to a strategic investor," said Pawel Borys, analyst at DWS Polska investment fund. (Prawo i Gospodarka, p.2; Rzeczpospolita, p.B2; Reuters) M.K.