The Board of the Warsaw Stock Exchange (WSE) has published its official position on its own privatisation process, which is long delayed and is now unlikely to be completed this year.
The Board has re-emphasised its preference for an acceleration of the privatisation process. Exchange president Wieslaw Rozlucki said privatisation would facilitate development of the exchange’s business activities; help the Polish capital market to grow; and contribute to the construction of a regional financial centre in Warsaw.
Rozlucki confirmed that any of the main European exchanges (Frankfurt, Paris, Amsterdam, London, Stockholm or Vienna) and even the New York Stock Exchange could become a major shareholder in the Polish exchange. But he added that in his opinion local institutions should also become owners, since they are the most interested in the development of the market.
“The Warsaw bourse’s representatives do seem to have become impatient about the privatisation process, especially as worries that the upcoming elections may further delay the process are fully justified,” says Krysztof Petrul, head of custody at Bank BPH in Warsaw. “However, we believe that the Warsaw Stock Exchange’s firm standpoint could accelerate its privatisation. It is eagerly awaited among market participants, who are convinced that privatisation is one of the requirements for further development of the market.”