The French daily L'Echo regularly publishes a "privatisation agenda", which discusses privatisation operations underway or in pending in Central and Eastern Europe. The latest version indicates that: - Poland: only three licences for third generation mobile telephony will be allocated, for EUR 650 million each, to the three only existing mobile operators, whose capital is held by FRANCE TELECOM, DEUTSCHE TELEKOM, VIVENDI and TELEDANMARK; the Polish oil groups PKN, in which the State hold a stake of 28%, and the Hungarian MOL, in which the States holds 25% and OMV (Austria) 9%, which holds all of the 36% stake in the Slovak oil group SLOVNAFT, are studying a common strategy able to lead to a merger; the taking of a stake by PKN to the value of 50% in the refinery of Leuna (TOTALFINAELF) was unsuccessful; the Polish State questioned the agreement from October 1999 foreseeing the sale of 30% of the capital in the State insurer PZU to the group including EUREKO and BANK GDANSK (see EI of 10 November 1999); the French CREDIT AGRICOLE bought, for USD 260 million, 75% of the capital in LUKAS BANK, highly active in on-line banking (see EI of 9 February 2000); the government confirms its intention to sell in the first quarter 2001 the shares necessary to the consortium FRANCE TELECOM/group KULCZYK, already a shareholder for 25%, so that it may own 51% of the capital in the telephone operator TPSA. - Hungary: for lack of candidates, Hungary is postponing the privatisation of its airline MALEV (see EI of 27 October 2000). - Czech Republic: four candidates are retained by the government for the privatisation (60% of the capital) of the third largest Czech bank KOMERCNI BANKA namely the SOCIETE GENERALE, the CREDIT AGRICOLE, HYPOVEREINSBANK and UNICREDITO (see EI of 28 November 2000); the Czech Republic decided to privatise, in one go, the electricity operator CEZ, estimated at USD 3 billion, and the gas operator TRANSGAZ, valued at USD 2 billion. See EI of 25 November 2000; VIVENDI ENVIRONNEMENT will acquire, for EUR 174 million, two thirds of the capital in the Prague water company, which it manages; the government is launching a call for tenders for the privatisation of the main Czech insurer (40% of the Market) CESKA POJISTOVNA.