The gloves come off for Orlen's shareholder showdown

Indeed, Marek Belka, the President's prime ministerial candidate, recently expressed his opinion that no hasty decisions should be made regarding the firm in light of the possible merger between Orlen and MOL,its Hungarian counterpart, before the new government is formed. However,Treasury Minister Zbigniew Kaniewski has already proposed changes to the company's charter that could potentially diminish the State Treasury's influence at Orlen, reducing its voting power within the concern from 27% to 20%, which would be, according to his proposals, the maximum any shareholder group could have. The Minister's suggestion, though, have not met with wide spread approval, with former Treasury Minister, Wiesław Kaczmarek, announcing, "This is an indecent proposal. Minister Kaniewski used to assure us he would in no way weaken the position of the state in PKN Orlen." (Gazeta Wyborcza, p.19)K.J.