"Three entities are interested," Mr Wewiór said. "One of them is a financial investor and there's an investor from the aviation sector as well."

Polish daily Dziennik Gazeta Prawna reported last Wednesday that Air France-KLM was one of those interested in buying Lot, although a spokesperson for the Franco-Dutch carrier quickly quashed the rumor.

Commenting on the timing of the sale, Mr Wewiór said it was unlikely to happen before 2011 as the government hasn't included Lot in its privatization plans for 2010 and the airline is in a poor financial position.

"The privatization of Lot was originally scheduled for 2008, but the airline shouldn't be privatized in the shape it's in now," Mr Wewiór said. He added that the carrier would need to restructure further before it was suitable for sale.

Having lost zł.733 million - largely in hedging transactions - during 2008, Lot found itself on the verge of bankruptcy and decided last October to lay off 400 employees by March 2010 in order to cut costs.

Discussing the privatization process, Lot CEO Sebastian Mikosz cautioned against reading too much into recent developments."It is a very preliminary stage, which may mean nothing, as the example of CSA Czech Airlines showed. Air France-KLM was reportedly already their new owner, but finally they withdrew," he said at a conference last week.

In other news, the management of Lot Polish Airlines last week announced details of a renegotiated agreement with Boeing for the delivery of eight Boeing 787 Dreamliner airplanes between February 2012 and March 2015.

Marcin Poznań and Gareth Price