Stock market float planned for Poland chemical groups

The sorry tale of failed privatizations in Poland's chemical industry is a familiar one to anyone with an interest in that region. After the collapse of the tender process for top fertiliser and melamine producers Zaklady Azotowe Pulawy (ZAP) and Zaklady Chemiczne Police (ZChP) we now learn that the government is considering another attempt, but on the stock exchange rather than through further public tenders.

The Polish treasury ministry says the move is being considered because the fast-changing economic situation means that prices suggested at the beginning of a lengthy tender process could be unrealistic by its end.

he failure of the ZAP and ZChP sell-off is the latest in a series of privatisation failures reaching back to October 2006 when officials scrapped a decision to sell caprolactam, plastics and fertilizer producer Zaklady Azotowe Tarnow (ZAT) and fertilizer and oxo-alcohols producer Zaklady Azotowe Kedzierzyn (ZAK) to Germany's PCC.