2024-02-05 14:40 update: 2024-02-06, 21:17
Photo: PAP/Tomasz Gzell
Poland's state-owned oil and gas group Orlen sold assets to private entities for at least PLN 5 billion (EUR 1.16 bln) below their market value, the Supreme Audit Office (NIK) has said.
On Monday, NIK presented a report on the final results of its audit on the merger of Orlen and fuels firm Lotos, both state-controlled companies.
The Orlen-Lotos merger was approved in July 2020 by the European Commission under the condition that certain divestments be carried out.
On January 12, 2022, PKN Orlen announced that it had decided to sell a 30-percent stake in Lotos's Rafineria Gdanska (Gdansk Refinery) to the Saudi Arabian firm Saudi Aramco and 417 Lotos petrol stations in Poland to the Hungarian oil and gas company MOL.
But the deal has since been dogged by allegations of possible irregularities in the transfer of some of the refinery's shares to the Arab company and that Lotos was under-valued.
"In connection with the implementation of remedial measures during the merger with Lotos, PKN Orlen sold assets to private entities that were at least PLN 5 billion below their value as estimated by the Supreme Audit Office," the report said.
According to the report, released by NIK, on Monday, Orlen undersold shares in Gdansk Refinery at around PLN 3.5 billion (EUR 808 mln) below the market value.
At the same time, Aramco obtained a very strong position in Gdansk Refinery including the right to veto key strategic decisions regarding the company’s management, the report added.
NIK also said that there was a risk that Gdansk Refinery's operation may be paralysed if shareholders do not consent to the strategic directions of the company's development.
According to NIK, the state assets minister and the climate minister in the previous Law and Justice government, who oversaw the merger, remained passive and failed to ensure the minimisation of such risks.
Additionally, NIK said, the state assets minister requested the Council of Ministers for consent to the merger without sufficient grounds for doing so and incorrectly supervised the process on behalf of the State Treasury.
As a result, the State Treasury lost around 20 percent of its influence on the sale of the Polish refineries' output, which may cause problems in fully covering domestic demand for its products, NIK found. (PAP)
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