Time is running out for the firm, which is bankrupt Daewoo Motor's flagship European investment, to find an investor that would strengthen its ailing finances and convince domestic lenders to roll over its heavy debts.
Last month six Polish lenders signed a deal with Daewoo-FSO to postpone the payback of 591 million zlotys ($145 million) worth of debt to mid-December, giving the manufacturer precious time to search for a new partner.
The task force, holding its first meeting after the leftist SLD-led government took power last month, includes representatives from Daewoo, banks and the economy, finance and infrastructure ministries, the economy ministry said.
Fears are growing that the manufacturer could share the fate of its Lublin-based peer -- van maker Daewoo Motor Polska (DMP), the second largest Polish unit of Korea's Daewoo Motor -- which went bust last month. "We are waiting for the government and the company to say what their plans on Daewoo-FSO's future are," Sebastian Luczak, a spokesman for Polish largest listed Bank Pekao, one of the six lenders, told Reuters.
"We have shown goodwill, agreeing to postpone the loan payments and now we will consider extending the deadline once some decisions are made."
Daewoo-FSO, which also owes some $700 million to its parent firm, has stepped up search for a new partner after Daewoo Motor went bankrupt and General Motors did not include the Warsaw plant in a deal to salvage its South Korean partner.
The previous government according to media reports looked to Hyundai Motor to buy the Warsaw plant, but Korea's top automaker has said it is not interested in acquiring it.
ALTERNATIVE PLAN?
Since it was not clear whether any foreign carmaker would like to buy the plant, whose net loss topped 2.0 billion zlotys ($492 million) last year, the Polish government may consider looking for a financial investor.
"Today the state cannot afford to buy the firm's debt and liabilities. A renationalisation of Daewoo-FSO's assets is also unrealistic," Economy Minister Jacek Piechota told the Gazeta Wyborcza daily. GM, which has agreed with Daewoo's creditors to take over four of the Korean automaker's plant, left out Poland as it has already built a strong position in the country and wants to strengthen its foothold in the Asian market.
Daewoo-FSO is Poland's second largest car manufacturer with last year's output totalling nearly 110,000 units. But it has suffered severe losses as the country's punitive interest rates and allegations of high maintenance costs for its budget cars cut into sales.
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