Poland interested in acquiring coal assets from utilities, minister says

WARSAW, - Polish government is interested in acquiring coal assets from state-controlled power utilities, Industry Minister Marzena Czarnecka said on Tuesday, boosting their share prices.

"Energy companies want to get rid of coal assets and we are interested in taking them over, but it must be compatible with coal supplies from Polish mines," Czarnecka told TVP Info television.

State-controlled utilities have been urging the government for a fast spin-off of their coal-fired power plants amid their falling profitability. Their shares fell sharply last month after Czarnecka, who supervises the coal industry, said that mines should be tied to utilities.

Shares of Poland's top utility PGE were up 5.8 per cent, while Tauron traded 6.2 per cent higher as of 0928 Warsaw time.

Poland's new government has shelved the plan to spin-off state-owned utilities' coal-fired power plants and bundle them into a new state-owned company but hasn't announced an alternative yet.

Fitch Ratings said in March that Polish utilities risk credit downgrades unless the government comes up with an alternative to the previous administration's plan to allow them to spin-off coal assets.