- Netherlands: The Dutch government announced that the offering period for its offer of 35 million shares in TNT POST GROEP had successfully closed on Thursday. The share price was set at EUR 22.51, setting the total prices for all the shares at EUR 787.50 million. The offer was well received and heavily subscribed, indicated the Dutch government, adding that the shares had been sold to European investors, among which British, Dutch and Germans. See EI of 12&13 March. - Russia: The Russian government approved the draft law for privatisation operations that should allow it sale to the private sector of the country's largest State owned companies. The aim is to simplify the process in order to accelerate the privatisation programme and enable to government to receive, a quickly as possible, the money from these operations in order to reimburse its foreign debt. In 2001, the State foresees to sell the stakes it holds in around 4,000 companies, which it presently controls. In 2000, the privatisation operations brought in some 31.3 billion Roubles. - Poland: The State sale, planned for 2001 and covering 50% of the stakes in the main Polish insurer PZU is "uncertain" this year, indicated Aldona Kamela-Sowinska, the new Polish Treasury Minister, when explaining that the main reason for this postponement was the excessively "vague" present situation. A conflict would oppose the Polish Treasury, 59% owned of PZU to the European group EUREKO which controls 30%. See EI of 15 November.