At the beginning of this year, state owned fuel concern Nafta Polska suggested that the Naftobazy fuel storage companies would be privatised, at least in part, by the end of 2001. Even in September it claimed that by mid November information memoranda would be sent. It is now clear that nothing is going to happen this year.
Maciej Gierej, MD of Nafta Polska says that information memoranda could be dispatched in February but even this is not at all certain.
The problem is that privatisation cannot begin before a new law on liquid fuels comes into force. A bill was prepared by the former economy minister and will come into force in the new year. However Gierej says that it is badly construed arguing that changes are still needed to the law on fuel reserves.
Ryszard Gburek, project leader at BRE Finance Corporate which is advising Naftobazy agrees with this opinion.