Poland to shut chem privatisation unit Nafta Polska

13 February 2006 12:27  [Source: ICIS news]

PRAGUE (ICIS news)--Poland is to liquidate its government agency for the restructuring of the oil and chemical sectors, the Polish Treasury Ministry confirmed on Monday.

Nafta Polska (NP) would be closed after completing the privatisation of large-scale chemical firms, said ministry spokesperson Agnieszka Dluska.

She added that the privatisations – covering firms including the toluene diisocyanate (TDI) and epichlorohydrin (ECH) producer Zachem, epoxy resins and pesticides firm Organika-Sarzyna, fertilisers, plastics and petrochemicals firm Zaklady Azotowe Kedzierzyn (ZAK) and caprolactam, plastics and fertilisers company Zaklady Azotowe Tarnow – should be completed by mid-year.

Dluska said officials would take up to a year to wind down the agency. The government, adhering to its ‘A cheaper state’ policy, believed keeping it open beyond the privatisation would not provide value for money, she added.

NP last week signed off on another of its major tasks – advising the government on the merging Poland’s main oil and petrochemicals company, PKN Orlen, with the country’s number two oil player, Grupa Lotos.

A source at NP said the merger analysis was not yet for public consumption. But he said it advised that while the merger might strengthen Orlen in its battle with regional competitors it could also reduce domestic fuel price competition.

By: Will Conroy
+44 20 8652 3214

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