Treasury Minister stresses commitment to meeting ambitious privatization goal

Treasury Minister Aldona Kamela-Sowinska said on Monday she would do everything in her power to meet the country's ambitious privatization revenue goal of zl.18 billion this year, despite difficult market conditions and possible political pressures. She promised to announce a detailed privatization strategy by the end of March, which she said would prioritize the state's most important sell-offs of companies such as telecom giant TPSA, leading insurer PZU and national air carrier LOT. She also pledged to settle the politically charged privatization process in sectors like steel, coal and power. In spite of many economists' doubts that Poland won't be able to achieve its privatization inflow targets of zl.18 billion this year, Aldona Kamela-Sowinska said she will not yield to political pressure to slow down privatization, as "people are like nails: they lose their usefulness when they start to bend." (Reuters) M.T.