Restructuring and sale Polska Press
“Some companies do not fit into our business structure, for example Polska Press. Due to the fact that the previous Orlen management board lost a lot of money on the investment in it and its subsequent management, we have made decisions that will allow us to recover at least part of the wasted amount,” said Ireneusz Fąfara, president of Orlen, in an interview for PAP Biznes.
He announced that the publishing house would be restructured.
“We see potential for Polska Press to gain value before the sale process,” he added.
As President Fąfara explained, the publishing house has great opportunities, a position on the market, clients and good, experienced employees.
“It’s its value. That’s why we first want to improve the functioning of Polska Press and then sell it profitably,” said the president of Orlen.
Traffic generates losses
Like Polska Press, Ruch’s operations are far from the group’s core business and require further operational investment. Although Orlen has already allocated almost PLN 1 billion, Ruch continues to generate losses. Therefore, an analysis of possible corrective actions that will improve Ruch’s financial results is underway.
Orlen Package
According to the CEO of Fąfara, parcel machines may also require significant financial outlays, so it may be necessary to look for partners for this segment.
“Package machines are also not part of our core business. They fit into a certain operating model only because they complement our offer for customers at petrol stations. Their further development in the Orlen Group would, however, require significant financial outlays, which is why we are analysing various scenarios,” said President Fąfara.
“However, we do not rule out that Orlen will seek partners to develop this business. For now, however, no binding decisions have been made on this matter,” he added.
Ireneusz Fąfara asked, whether Orlen is in talks with Poczta Polska about taking over the parcel business, he replied:
“We are in talks with several entities about possible options for developing this business.”
The CEO of the concern indicates that regardless of possible scenarios, current actions are being taken to maximize the use of existing assets in the Orlen Paczka segment. In April 2024, cooperation was initiated with GLS in the provision of lockers in parcel machines and cooperation within the Allegro Delivery program.
Clarifying irregularities
President Fąfara believes that the management board should currently focus solely on using Orlen’s business opportunities and building the company’s value for the future.
“Unfortunately, we must also divide our attention and time on explaining the irregularities that have occurred in the company in recent years. Their scale is shocking. Every day new issues come to light. It turns out that every large investment requires a thorough analysis and then an audit, so that a responsible decision can be made on what to do next with it,” said Ireneusz Fąfara.
In this context, the president mentions, among others, Ruch, in which the previous Orlen management invested almost PLN 1 billion, as well as Polska Press, in which approximately PLN 200 million was invested.
“These are matters from recent years, the analysis of which takes a lot of time. But it is necessary for Orlen to move forward and develop without this burden. Explaining all irregularities from the past is also our duty to Orlen’s shareholders and the market. They expect us to build new, appropriate standards of operation and corporate culture. I assure you that we will not disappoint these expectations,” declares the president of Orlen.
The Orlen Management Board has already sent notifications to the prosecutor’s office about the possibility of a crime being committed. They concern, among others: Orlen Trading Switzerland.
“Based on the conclusions of the audit, we believe that USD 400 million from this company was transferred in an irresponsible manner, bordering on fraud, to companies that should never have been on the list of cooperating with a concern such as Orlen. We maintain that recovering even a part of this money will be very difficult,” said CEO Ireneusz Fąfara.
Piotr Rożek (PAP Biznes)
