Shareholders vote to keep Netia running despite problems

Netia shareholders agreed at a general meeting yesterday to keep the company alive, even though Poland's second largest non-cellular telephone operator recorded zl. 887.3 million in losses at the end of the third quarter of 2001, and has a debt load of zl.3.5 billion. The decision was supported by Netia's largest shareholder, Swedish-based Telia, which owns 48% of Netia, and by the Bank of New York, which holds 9.79% in shares as well as Warburg Pincus, an investment fund which owns nearly 10%. "Restructuring is a better solution than bankruptcy," said Imas Bratt, Telia's representative at the meeting. "In the future Netia can be a profitable undertaking, so Telia is preparing plans to increase its capital engagement in Netia." Bratt also presented a proposal to restructure the company's liabilities by exchanging part of the debt for shares. "Telia will do everything to save Netia but an agreement with the shareholders is crucial," Bratt added. On the Warsaw Stock Exchange yesterday Netia's price per share increased by 35.9% to zl. 5.30 a share, bringing the total increase in value during the past two days to 77.7%. (Prawo i Gospodarka, p. 10; Gazeta Wyborcza, p. 26; Puls Biznesu, p. 7) A.K.