POLISH TREASURY OVERRULED BY COURTS IN PZU BATTLE

A Polish court has overruled a proposal by Poland’s treasury ministry that pan-European insurance group Eureko should be banned from exercising its voting rights in state-owned insurer PZU. The court’s decision will enable Eureko to block recent PZU board proposals, which include a new share issue before the company’s planned partial flotation next year. Earlier this month the treasury ministry moved to annul last year’s sale by Poland’s government of a 30% stake in PZU to Eureko. It also sought to prevent Eureko from voting, selling its stake or taking a dividend, until the courts ruled on the disputed stake. The Warsaw regional court continues to consider the validity of the PZU privatisation agreement. Eureko assistant director Michal Nastula said that the court’s decision did not settle the argument, claiming that the problem could only be resolved by “mutual negotiations, which respect the signed agreement and are carried out in good faith”.