Kulczyk links up with MOL
Polish businessman Jan Kulczyk is reported to have got involved in the privatisation of PKN Orlen and is said to have teamed up with the Hungarian MOL in an effort to buy the 17.6 percent stake in the oil concern that is being sold by the treasury.
Negotiations are apparently under way to decide on who gets what share of the privatised stake, assuming that the bid is successful.
It would appear that an agreement similar to that of TPSA is about to be replayed. When France Telecom linked up with Kulczyk Holding it made easier the purchase of a 35 percent stake of the former monopoly. Therefore if MOL and Kulczyk Holding were linked it makes the deal easier for the Hungarians who are bidding against the Austrian OMV.
In the first half of this year OMV showed a profit of USD202.9m as opposed to a loss of USD17.1m for MOL.
Yesterday the Austrian WirtschaftsBlatt commented that Jan Kulczyk will be taking a stake in Orlen but only as an advisor for MOL. This information may well prove to be incorrect.
With the elections less than three weeks away and the SLD saying today that any agreement will be put on ice, the controversy that this deal could cause may just be a storm in a teacup.