The Polish centre-right parties expected to take power next month on Friday rejected calls for a quick compromise over top insurer PZU with Dutch-based minority investor Eureko, despite a court ruling against Poland. An international arbitration court said Poland had broken an investment treaty in its dealings with Eureko, which owns 31 percent of PZU and sued the government for breaking a promise to sell it a further 21 percent.
Outgoing Prime Minister Marek Belka, set to lose September 25 elections to resurgent centre-right parties, said Poland should seek a compromise before the court awards damages in the case, which is also the subject of a parliamentary investigation.
The case has damaged Poland's reputation with investors and weakened Poland's zloty currency on Friday. Warsaw legal sources say the government could be forced to pay Eureko up to 1 billion euros ($1.23 billion).
Belka said he would not hold talks without consulting the opposition.
Przemyslaw Gosiewski of the right-wing Law and Justice (PiS) party, expected to join a coalition government, said the ruling did not raise the pressure to settle.
"The matter must be settled by a Polish court - that's what the privatisation agreement requires. The court should examine all irregularities in the privatisation, and the parliamentary investigative committee has found many," Gosiewski told Reuters.
Eureko spokeswoman Lorrie Morgan disagreed, saying the ruling was binding. The Dutch group said in a statement that while the court decision did not close the door to further talks, any negotiations must take the decision into account. Last year Poland and Eureko agreed a compromise under which a 20 percent stake in PZU, which is estimated to be worth 1 billion euros, was to be floated on the Warsaw bourse by the end of June, leaving neither side with a majority.
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