The Polish refinery PKN Orlen said yesterday that it intends to set up a consortium with the Czech-based Agrofert to bid for the Czech government's 63% stake in Unipetrol, Reuters reported. The government seeks to sell its stake in Unipetrol by the end of this year, in its second attempt to privatize the petrochemical holding. Agrofert won the first tender in 2002, but declined to pay the purchase price. MOL of Hungary, OMV of Austria, Rotch Energy of the UK, and several Russian companies have expressed interest in participating in the sale thus far.
Jan Hájek