Poland Enlists State-Run Companies to Save Biggest EU Coal Miner
- PGE, Energa, PGNiG unit analyzing investment in new company
- Government pressured to announce plan before Oct. 25 election
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Poland unveiled a plan on Wednesday to save the European Union’s biggest coal producer by restructuring its mining assets with the help of stakes in state-run companies and potential involvement of government-controlled utilities.
Prime Minister Ewa Kopacz’s government trails the opposition in opinion polls before a Oct. 25 general election. It had to announce a plan to save the loss-making industry by Sept. 30 as part of a deal it reached with with trade unions in January to halt protests. Polish coal producers are struggling with high legacy costs, many inherited from the pre-1989 communist era, as the price of the fuel tumbled to the lowest in at least eight years.