Victory for Elektrim against Vivendi, while low share prices feed rumors

The District Court in Warsaw has rejected the motion by French media group Vivendi to secure its claim against telecom and energy conglomerate Elektrim, giving the latter a small victory in the row against Vivendi, which claims that the Polish firm broke the terms of an investment agreement between the two. Vivendi has filed a lawsuit with the International Arbitration Court in London, but also a motion with the Warsaw court to secure its lawsuit, by freezing Elektrim's assets in the Elektrim Telekomunikacja joint venture and forbidding Elektrim to negotiate any agreements regarding fixed-line telecom ventures with Deutsche Telekom (DT). It is still possible, however, for the two parties to settle out of court, as Elektrim has postponed the deadline for concluding talks with DT to try and find a compromise suitable to all three. Meanwhile, Elektrim's shares have been sinking on the Warsaw Stock Exchange (WSE) and are now close to their two-year low, i.e. the lowest point during the tenure of president Barbara Lundberg. However, company spokeswoman Ewa Bojar yesterday denied rumors that Lundberg is about to resign. (Puls Biznesu, p.3, Parkiet, p.1)