Ministry aims for Polish airliner LOT restructuring by end-2015

The Supervisory Board of LOT on Monday decided to appoint Marcin Celejewski as CEO after the resignation of Sebastian Mikosz.

“The Treasury, as the owner of PLL LOT, expects to complete the restructuring by the end of the year. We also expect that the board will present in the near future the development plan, approved by the supervisory board," the ministry wrote in a communique.

The Treasury also confirmed it is "still open to talks with a potential investor and believes the process will be successful."

"The process of privatisation is complex, requires preparation of important corporate documents both by the company and by the Treasury. The key objective is to develop optimal conditions for the development of the company, as well as for the interest of the Treasury," the statement read.

Local media have speculated that the reason for Mikosz’s resignation was protracted negotiations with a potential investor, US fund Indigo Partners. The Treasury denied this was the case.

LOT received its first tranche of state aid in December 2012 of PLN 400 million (about EUR 100 million). The European Commission approved state aid for the company in July 2014 and approved the plan for its restructuring and ruled that EUR 804 million in aid was compatible with EU state aid rules.

Last year the company earned PLN 99.4 million, its first profit in seven years. (jh)