POLAND: Treasury plans stock float for Polmos Bialystok

Polmos Bialystok, the Polish state-owned spirits, is being prepared for floatation on the Warsaw Stock Exchange (WSE), the deputy Treasury Minister Tadeusz Steckiewicz was reported to have said in the Polish press yesterday. The move is a radical change in the privatisation process of one of Poland's leading distillers. There have been three previous attempts to sell 51% of the distiller on the open market, which has around 24% of the Polish domestic vodka market. The asking price was thought to be around US$150m. And, observers suggested that any potential bidders would have to invest substantially in developing distribution and marketing at the company.