Almost seventy percent of Poles believe that major companies such as oil giant PKN Orlen and insurance heavyweight PZU should stay under state control.

 

The statistics, collected by PBS DGA pollsters, indicate that 67 percent of Poles were against the full privatisation of such firms as KGHM, PKO BP, and refiners Lotos.

According to research, only 16 percent of respondents backed privatisation, whilst some 17 percent had no opinion on the matter.

The survey, conducted in early March, interviewed 1,070 Poles from the age of fifteen years upwards.

The authors of the study held that the opinions were consistent regardless of gender or education.

However, they noted that the elder generation sided most frequently with the anti-privatisation camp, with over 59-year-olds making up 79 percent of the group.

Meanwhile, only half of the respondents in the 15-24 age bracket came out against privatisation.

The statistics suggest that those not brought up under the communist regime are much more open to the notion of privatisation of key business interests.

Backers of privatisation hold that the companies should be fully sold as quickly as possible. They argue that privatisation will reduce the state deficit, and that the companies will be better run without meddling politicians.

Work is currently under way in parliament on a project that seeks to reform the present system of certain major state-run companies. One of the aim is to create a more effective cadre of supervisors. (nh/jb)

Source: PAP