Ciech seeks bail out from EBRD

Now Poland's largest chemical group, Ciech, has applied for long-term financing from the EBRD to help solve its immediate debt worries, investment bank Wood & Company told ICIS on Monday.

If successful, Ciech would likely use zloty (Zl) 300m ($95.8m, €75.0m) received from the ERBD to help it repay a Zl 400m tranche of debts worth Zl 1.34bn, which are owed to a group of banks that has set a payment deadline for the end of March 2011, Wood & Company added.

Ciech confirmed that last week it submitted to the EBRD the application for financing, the terms and use of which will be subject to further negotiations and discussions. It hopes to qualify for a relaunch of its privatisation by paying down its debts and restructuring its four divisions into two.