The Polish cabinet adopted a list of companies that are considered strategic for public order and security and in which the Treasury may object to decisions of shareholders and corporate bodies, the government's press office said in a statement Tuesday. The list includes seventeen companies, among them listed stocks, such as France Telecom's Polish incumbent Telekomunikacja Polska (TP), fuel firms (5 PLN, 0,19%), Grupa (45 PLN, 1,55%) and (59 PLN, 1,03%) Orlen and copper miner (115 PLN, 0,70%). Non-public companies include energy conglomerate BOT Gornictwo i Energetyka, national grid Polskie Sieci Elektroenergetyczne, power grid infrastructure operator PSE-Operator, railway infrastructure operator PKP-PLK, and mobile phone operator Polkomtel.
Our view: In general we view the introduction of ‘golden share’ negatively as it conflicts with the general principle of linking number of votes with each shareholder’s capital involvement. Moreover, in company specific cases, e.g. (23 PLN, 0,09%), it leads to conflict of interest since the national telecom regulator has been been coming down hard on in its deregulation drive. The state's veto right could compromise management's ability to counter deregulation effectively. Additionally, it could reduce France Telecom's interest in raising its stake in .