Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

A public offering of shares in Polish state-owned National Sugar Company (KSC) has been launched. The Treasury is selling 79 percent of KSC's share capital. With the price per share set at zł.1.60, the value of the stake amounts to zł.1.2 billion.

Shares are set to be available to employees of the firm and sugar beet cultivation companies that have contracts with KSC. In total around 18,000 people will be entitled to buy shares.

“Now the workers and growers of the National Sugar Company, which is directing a public offering, will be able to have a real impact on the future of the company and its value,” Treasury Minister Alexander Grad said in a statement.

“By taking part in privatization, [employees] will gain the opportunity to decide how it will look tomorrow … while achieving the benefits of the profits earned by the company,” KSC president Marcin Kulicki said.

KSC is one of the largest sugar producers in Europe and has a total value of zł.1.6 billion. Last year its Kruszwica plant, the largest of its seven plants, processed 795,000 metric tonnes of beetroots and produced 119,000 metric tonnes of sugar.

In a statement, the Treasury Ministry said a list of those entitled to acquire shares would be published on October 4. Completion of the privatization process is expected to take one year.