Sejm Treasury Commission aims to block Rotch from RG

The Sejm Treasury Commission (KSP) plans to intervene over the privatization of a 75% stake in the Gdansk Refinery (RG), which started five years ago. The deputies claim that PKN Orlen, which is bidding in a consortium with Britain's Rotch Energy, could easily buy the shares on its own. Rotch has been trying to buy a stake in RG for the last two years, but has so far been unable to prove its financial credibility. "A financial intermediary, which is not absolutely trustworthy, is not needed in the privatization of the refinery," the head of KSP, Wieslaw Walendziak, told Parkiet. In his opinion, Rotch is clearly trying to buy shares on behalf of some other company. "It is unknown who backs the investor and in the case of the oil sector, which is of strategic importance to the state, we cannot afford to lack such information," Walendziak added. (Parkiet, p. 1) M.M.