Polish Deputy Treasury Minister to meet Competition Commissioner

Polish Deputy Treasury Minister Pawel Szalamacha will meet EU Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes tomorrow at Poland's request, a Commission spokesman said.

As Europe's top competition authority, the Commission is embroiled in a row with Poland over the local leg of Italian bank UniCredito's takeover of German peer HVB.

Though the country struck a deal with UniCredito earlier this week, allowing the bank to complete its takeover in Poland, it remains unclear whether the Commission will pursue its action against Poland for Warsaw's months of obstruction.

"I can confirm that Szalamacha will meet Neelie Kroes on Tuesday," Commission spokesman Jonathan Todd said over the weekend.

Warsaw opposed the tie-up between local banks Pekao and BPH, which as part of the HVB takeover would create Poland's largest lender. That opposition led the Commission to act on two fronts. It started an infringement procedure in March against Poland's attempts to block the free movement of capital, and said the country was breaking EU merger regulations by meddling with a deal already approved by the Commission.

Last Wednesday, the day the UniCredito deal was struck, the Commission said an agreement would "not necessarily" stave off action under the merger regulations.

Those in charge of the infringement procedure said they would wait for Poland's reply to its charges before deciding what to do next.

Under the deal with Poland, UniCredito said it would sell 200 BPH branches.