State Mint may call auditor in to Mennica Invest

Minority shareholders of the State Mint (Mennica Państwowa) may soon request the appointment of a special auditor to examine suspicious business deals of the firm's real estate subsidiary Mennica Invest. According to BRE Bank, pension fund OFE Nationale Nederlanden and private businessman Zbigniew Jakubas, Mennica Invest has signed a number of unfavorable contracts with Warsaw construction firm WSC Investment, connected with former high-ranking communist party official Wiesław Huszcza. The enraged shareholders also accuse Mennica Invest of taking on excessive risk in several property development projects, putting its parent company at risk of several million in potential claims. At the same time, Mennica Invest contributed to M ennica's zł. 9 million loss last year for the first time since its pri vatization in 1998. It is possible that the Supreme Board of Inspection (NIK) will step in to examine Mennica Invest's disputable property deals as 42% of the company remains in the hands of the State Treasury. (Parkiet, p.1) J.K.