Spirit companies join forces to beat commercial hangover

It wants to create the Polish Spirit Group (PGS) which would encompass Polmos plants from Szczecin, Bielsko-Biala, Torun, Konin, Józefów and Warsaw-based Koneser. The companies are to be restructured and some of the employees will have to be laid off while production will continue only in the plants located in Bielsko-Biala and Józefów. PGS will also include the Koneser retail chain and a laboratory in Konin. The remaining assets are to be sold. According to the plan, the consolidation process is to be finalized before the end of this year. "Only a group with this structure will be privatized. I support the idea of selling PGS shares on the bourse, with the state keeping the controlling stake in the company," said deputy Treasury Minister responsible for the spirit sector, Pawel Piotrowski. According to the Ministry, at that point PGS will control 15% of the domestic market and will be able to successfully compete with other market players. (Parkiet, p. 1) A.K.