On 12 November those that have employee shares in PZU can sell them, the two year freeze on them being sold being lifted the day earlier. In agreement with the social package signed with the treasury, the investor Eureko will buy these shares at PLN116.50 each. That will go ahead if Eureko buys a 21 percent stake in PZU from the treasury.
The deal unfortunately still has not gone ahead, putting the position of shares owned by the staff into question.
Once the deal has gone through, the Eureko/BIG BG consortium will have a 51 percent stake in the largest insurance company in Poland.
The problem with the privatisation is one of land belonging to the insurance company. The investor needs to get permission from the interior ministry to acquire this land. The bureaucrats are demanding more papers and red tape and word has it that the process is well behind schedule.
To make it even more exciting, some of this land is arable land and therefore also needs the permission of the agricultural ministry who will be wanting their fair share of red tape, stamps, forms, standing in the wrong queue and applications lost under a pile of papers. In order to get round this problem, PZU shareholders last week agreed to sell the land by auction.