Interfax Newswire Jun 10, 2005 11:54
Poland Business Newswire
List Back Copies Print
Poland turns to CEDC in vodka maker Polmos Bialystok sale after Sobieski talks fail
Warsaw. June 10. INTERFAX-EUROPE - Poland's Treasury will commence
non-exclusive talks with America's Central European Distribution Company
(CEDC) over the sale of a 61% stake in vodka maker Polmos Bialystok
after negotiations with Sobieski Dystrybucja, the Polish subsidiary of
France-based Belvedere, failed to deliver results in the face of union
protest, the Treasury stated late Thursday.
"The Treasury Minister has decided that [Sobieski's] exclusive
negotiating rights have been ineffective. All [three] potential
investors which participated in the negotiations remain formal
participants of the privatization process. The Treasury Minster has
decided to carry out talks with CEDC...on June 13-17, without granting
exclusive rights," reads the statement.
The Treasury's decision comes after unions at Polmos Bialystok
protested strongly against the sale to Sobieski as they fear job cuts.
The Treasury further stated that it may hold talks with Polish
vodka maker Polmos Lublin, the third bidder for Bialystok.
Polmos Bialystok is one of Poland's leading spirits makers and in
2004 took some 21% of the market, according to the firm's own
calculations. It exports some 5-8% of production, measured in the value
of sales.
MO/RV +168+
--
mareva