Three bidders for up to a 25 per cent stake in the country’s largest electricity distribution company, Gornoslaski Zaklad Elektroenergetyczne (GZE) have been named. The three are PSEG Global unit PSEG Poland Distribution, Vattenfall of Sweden and Germany’s RWE Energie. Other bidders were reportedly PreussenElektra, Electricité de France, Electrabel of Belgium and a consortium of Marubeni Corp, GE Capital and NRG Generating.
GZE, based at Silesia in the south of the country, controls around 12 per cent of the Polish distribution network and supplies some 60 000 commercial users and more than one million domestic users.
Poland plans to complete its privatisation programme by the end of 2002 that will see 17 power plants, 19 CHP facilities and 33 distribution firms sold. The final decision on the winning bidder for GZE is to be made by mid-September, although the Polish government did reserve the right to invite other companies to bid for the stake at a later date. The sale should be completed by the year end.