Warsaw, Aug 10: Talks on privatising Poland's steel industry are going down to the wire, with Anglo-Indian steel group LNM holdings left with just two weeks to snap up the country's biggest steel maker PHS. The polish treasury chose LNM, the world's second largest steel producer, over a rival bid from US steel, but gave it only until August 22 to seal purchase terms for Polskie Huty Stali SA, which produces 70 percent of Polish steel.

Economists and industry experts say the clock is ticking, as success in privatisating a once mighty, now ailing, industry is crucial for the health of Poland's ex-communist economy -- especially by plugging its widening deficit, nine months before Poland becomes the biggest of 10 new members of the European Union. Ondra Otradovec, LNM holding's director of corporate finance and advisory, told a news agency in an interview the company, which produces steel in 12 countries, was confident it would meet the deadline.

Bureau Report