Lot's privatization process has been ongoing for the past 11 years Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Following Turkish Airlines’ recent announcement that it was interested in buying Lot Polish Airlines, two other foreign carriers – Air France-KLM and Lufthansa – are now also eying the state-controlled company, Polish daily Dziennik Gazeta Prawna wrote, citing unnamed sources.

WBJ asked the Treasury to confirm whether the companies mentioned by DGP have shown an interest in acquiring Lot, but a representative declined to comment.

The state, via the Treasury Ministry, currently holds a 93 percent stake in the carrier, with the remaining shares belonging to the company’s employees.

The process of privatizing Lot has been ongoing for the past 11 years now, and the Treasury has said it would like to finalize it as soon as possible – “by the end of 2012 at the latest,” Treasury spokesperson Magdalena Kobos told DGP.

So far the Treasury has only confirmed that two investors, one of which is Turkish Airlines, are interested in Lot. The second interested party wishes to remain anonymous.

Ms Kobos told WBJ earlier this year that the carrier’s privatization had proved to be “really complicated [as] this is not a simple market.”

Ms Kobos added that because of the crisis, many firms had not been able to access an adequate level of financing for the Lot takeover.

In addition, in order for the takeover to take place, Polish regulations would have to be modified. Current rules stipulate that the state has to maintain a stake of at least 51-percent in the company.

Turkish Airlines recently won the award of “Best Airliner in Europe” at the 2011 World Airline Awards held by Skytrax, a UK-based consultancy firm specializing in the airline industry. The airline currently ranks as the eighth-largest in the world.

German airliner Lufthansa won the award for “Best Transatlantic Airline.”

Air France-KLM is also one of the largest airlines in the world.

Izabela Depczyk