Treasury minister expects PZU privatization this year

Treasury minister Aldona Kamela-Sowinska on Monday said the privatization of PZU is possible this year. In an apparent reversal of her recent more pessimistic forecasts, she said, "I hope to approve PZU's issue prospectus in September, so the state treasury should receive funds from the sale this year or early in 2002." The ministry's plan is to sell 50% of PZU shares, including a 20% stake reserved for Dutch-based Eureko which, along with BIG Bank Gdanski, already controls 30% of Poland's largest insurance company. The share price has not been announced yet, but Kamela-Sowinska said she hoped the flotation would raise at least zl.5 billion. The funds from the PZU share issue are vital for Poland's cash-strapped national budget, which has zl.18 billion in privatization revenues penciled in for this year. (Gazeta Wyborcza, p. 23, Reuters) M.K.