PZAKY Powszechny Zaklad Ubezpieczen SA (PK)

By Martin M. Sobczyk 

WARSAW -- Two Polish state-controlled firms said late Wednesday they were in exclusive talks to buy banking and leasing operations from Austria's Raiffeisen Bank.

Alior Bank SA (ALR.WA), controlled by insurer PZU SA (PZU.WA) which is in turn controlled by the Polish government, said it was in exclusive talks to buy Raiffeisen's banking unit in Poland. PKO Bank Polski SA (PKO.WA), Poland's largest bank by assets also controlled by the government, said it in was in exclusive talks to buy the Austrian bank's leasing operations.

PKO Bank Polski also said that it won't pay dividend from last year's profit if it buys the leasing unit.

The moves are part of the Polish state's yearslong push to regain greater control over the country's financial sector. It is currently dominated by banks based in the eurozone which have bought substantial operations in waves of privatization after the end of communism or built operations from scratch in the European Union's largest emerging economy.

Poland has avoided banking-sector turmoil in the aftermath of the 2008 global financial crisis. Some of the country's leaders have said more decisions about the availability of credit in Poland should be made locally instead of depending on decisions made by sometimes troubled parent banks in the eurozone where some countries and banks are saddled with massive debts.

Write to Martin M. Sobczyk at martin.sobczyk@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 21, 2016 15:50 ET (19:50 GMT)

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