The last of Poland's large commercial banks to be privatized could prove to be the most troublesome. The clamour is growing among the opposition Left Democratic Alliance (SLD), and the more populist elements of the ruling centre-right coalition, for state savings bank PKO BP- the oldest and biggest of the country's banks - to stay in Polish hands.
"Preposterous," is the response of Henryka Pieronkiewicz, president of PKO. "There is no Polish strategic investor who could guarantee the capitalization which is vitally needed by the bank. Privatization is not feasible without the involvement of strategic foreign investors or foreign pension funds operating on the Polish market."
The bank is already being preened for a sell-off likely to take place before the end of next year, says Pieronkiewicz. In May, it was transformed into a treasury-owned joint-stock company. The government has also proposed a draft bill, allowing it to provide funds to pay off the bank's massive communist-era portfolio of mortgage debts - the main obstacle to privatization. Meanwhile, image consultants have been brought in to give the bank a makeover, adding a smart orange dot to its blue logo and changing the BP in its name from "bank panstwowy" (state bank) to "bank Polski."