“The problem is that the largest Polish company, responsible for the state's energy security, (…) this company was managed by people who – today no one has any doubts – (…) will go down in history as specialists in dirty business. The word 'dirty' seems to have appeared often in the context of Mr Obajtek. (…) The scale of these irregularities is indeed striking,” said the head of government.
PLN 1.6 billion in advances without collateral
At the conference, Tusk was asked to comment on information regarding Orlen's subsidiary – Orlen Trading Switzerland (OTS). Last Wednesday, Orlen announced that due to the loss of PLN 1.6 billion in advance payments for undelivered crude oil by OTS, Orlen expects to adjust its annual results for 2023 by this amount.
“When I received the first information about the possible loss, over one and a half billion, and such a loss probably cannot be made up for, my hair stood on end. (…) Other circumstances of this case are also very shocking. The topic of possibly circumventing Russian sanctions because of this company, it seems to me not to be first-class,” said the Prime Minister. Tusk also assured that in this case, regarding Orlen, “the prosecutor's office is working.”
Orlen's press office informed PAP Biznes on Thursday that Orlen Trading Switzerland, a subsidiary of the Orlen group, paid approximately PLN 1.6 billion in advances without the use of collateral, which went to entities with which Orlen had never cooperated before.
These companies did not fulfill their obligations
According to the information provided, since May 2023, Orlen Trading Switzerland, a subsidiary of the Orlen Group, has paid approximately PLN 1.6 billion in advances to crude oil trading intermediaries. Most deliveries were to be completed by the end of 2023, and the remaining deliveries by the end of January 2024.
“These companies have not fulfilled their obligations nor, when asked to return advance payments, have they failed to settle accounts with Orlen Trading Switzerland. Since the beginning of March 2024, the new authorities of Orlen Trading Switzerland have been trying to enforce the contract provisions or recover advance payments. This turned out to be impossible due to the repeal of intermediaries from these obligations,” Orlen's press office wrote in response to questions from PAP Biznes.
Orlen Trading Switzerland (OTS) is a trading company belonging to the Orlen group, founded in August 2022. As stated on its website, it trades in petroleum products, supplying products both from the group's five refineries and from global suppliers.
author: Łukasz Pawłowski
