In October 2002, activists from a little-known organisation called the Defence Movement of the Unemployed briefly occupied the premises of STOEN, a publicly-owned Polish energy distribution company. They were protesting against the sale of the majority of the company's shares to a German company. However, the employees of STOEN are not opposed to the privatisation process.
Download article in original language : PL0211102NPL.DOC
In October 2002, activists from a little-known organisation called the Defence Movement of the Unemployed briefly occupied the premises of STOEN, a publicly-owned Polish energy distribution company. They were protesting against the sale of the majority of the company's shares to a German company. However, the employees of STOEN are not opposed to the privatisation process.
On 15 October 2002, an agreement was concluded on the sale of 85% of the shares in the Warsaw electrical energy distributor STOEN SA to the German-based energy company RWE Plus AG. STOEN is a publicly-owned company operating in the distribution and marketing of electrical energy, the construction and development of energy networks and appliances, and energy exploitation. It employs about 1,700 people. The company has a market share of over 5% of the total amount of energy sold in Poland. It provides electrical energy to the inhabitants of the capital and surrounding locations. In total, it delivers services to over 790,000 customers, which makes it a profitable enterprise.
The sale of STOEN, in the opinion of experts, is the largest privatisation project carried out in Poland in 2002. It provides almost half of the total income from privatisation planned for the year, estimated at PLN 3.7 billion. RWE Plus will pay over PLN 1.5 billion for the package of shares. In line with the provision of the agreement concluded, the German firm intends to implement a programme of investment in the company worth more than EUR 100 million within three years of the purchase of shares.
The privatisation aroused considerable controversy throughout Poland. Many politicians oppose such privatisations, which, in their opinion, constitute a sale of national property.
On 17 October, about 40 activists from the Defence Movement of the Unemployed (Ruch Obrony Bezrobotnych) a little-known organisation related to the Confederation of Independent Poland (Konfederacja Polski Niepodległej, KPN), a nationalist political party, entered the premises of STOEN. They carried a banner stating 'Work and bread'. According to one of the activists: 'National property has been developed collectively by all Poles, hence we protest against its sale into foreign hands.' Owing to an immediate intervention by the police, the protesters were quickly forced to leave the company premises.
The privatisation of STOEN has created much more of a stir among people who are not directly connected with the company. The STOEN employees themselves favour the idea of privatisation. According to the Ministry of the Treasury (Ministerstwo Skarbu Państwa), RWE Plus has given guarantees of employment to STOEN employees and defined the rules for future cooperation. Neither the Minister of the Treasury nor the investors, however, presented any details. Unofficial information indicates that company employees have received six-year employment guarantees. Each employee is also to receive EUR 4,000 as a privatisation bonus. Such terms may explain why the workforce does not oppose the privatisation.
Eurofound doporučuje citovat tuto publikaci následujícím způsobem.
Eurofound (2002), STOEN premises occupied in protest against sell-off, article.
