SLD may cancel PKN Orlen sale under changes to privatization plans

The Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) has said that it might change the current government's plans to privatize leading fuel firm PKN Orlen and insurance giant PZU, if as expected it wins next month's parliamentary elections. The SLD's top privatization expert, Wieslaw Kaczmarek, said yesterday that it would be impossible to halt the privatization process, but some privatization agreements would have to be changed. Under these changes the SLD, were it to form the next government, would probably reject the policy of selling a majority stake to a single investor, and instead opt for greater diversification of shareholders. "Currently in the privatization process, apart from the price we have to consider the investment programs as well as what a given transaction means for the sector," Kaczmarek said. He described the privatization of telecoms giant Telekomunikacja Polska (TPSA) as a "disaster", and that of PZU a "shame". He went on to say that the SLD may cancel the sale of a 17.6% stake in PKN Orlen if the current government signs the deal. (Rzeczpospolita, p. B2; Reuters) A.Z.