Did Orlen know about the threats related to OTS? Shocking findings

At the beginning of April, Orlen announced that it was forced to adjust its financial results down by PLN 1.6 billion. The reason was the activities of the concern's daughter company – Orlen Trader Switzerland (OTS).

The reason for the correction is the advance payments paid by OTS for oil supplies from Venezuela, which were to be delivered to Poland in December last year. and January this year, which never reached Poland. The total cost of the operation was USD 400 million. A significant part of the amount – USD 240 million – went to the 25-year-old Chinese, and the contractors disappeared.

Prime Minister Donald Tusk already talked about potential problems with OTS in March. – There are justified fears that due to the activities of this company, Poland will be exposed to very serious problems – we heard.

It was then that the politician revealed that Mateusz Morawiecki's government was to be warned about potential threats related to the establishment of the company. – When it comes to the nature of the company's activities and staff, no effective intervention was decided – we heard in March.

Daniel Obajtek was allegedly warned many times

Now it comes to light that the Orlen management board, headed by the then president, Daniel Obajtek, was repeatedly informed that OTS could be a source of many problems for the company. Warnings were said to have appeared even before the OTS was established, Onet found out.

The Control and Safety Office operates in Orlen. It is responsible for securing the most important interests of the company. It mostly consists of people associated with the secret services. In May 2022, it draws attention to the threats related to OTS.

Samer A. and Hezbollah

The office's key concern is the candidate for president of the daughter company, Samer A from Lebanon. In internal documents obtained by Orlen, the office claims that he is suspected of contacts with the Iranian-financed terrorist organization Hezbollah, as well as of trading embargoed oil with this country.

In addition, the office draws attention to the economic threat. “There is a potential risk that this project is not economically justified from a business point of view, but is motivated by other premises that may indicate the materialization of the risk of abuse,” it was written in a fragment of the report disclosed by Onet.

Letter to the government of Mateusz Morawiecki

Despite numerous warnings received by Orlen's management board, the company decides to implement the OTS. After the fact, a letter with warnings is also sent to the government of Mateusz Morawiecki.

Another name appears in the letter to the government – Marcin Otfinowski, described as “involved in corruption scandals and financial pyramid schemes investigated by the CBA.”

A fragment of the letter published by Onet reads: “M. Róg managed to employ the above-mentioned people despite negative opinions in this regard from the secret services. Recently, M. Róg ordered the transfer of some operations from the International Trade Office to a Swiss company in which there is no supervision over contractors.

Next, there are warnings about the threat resulting from Samer A.'s previous violation of American sanctions, which “carries a double risk for the Orlen Capital Group, because each violation of international sanctions affects the entire Orlen.”

Daniel Obajtek responds to the allegations

Onet asked the former president of Orlen, Daniel Obajtek, about the case. He writes in it: “The decision to establish the OTS company was made by the entire 11-person management board of ORLEN, after conducting detailed analyzes and in accordance with the procedure in accordance with the corporate governance applicable in the company.”

And next. “The process of establishing the OTS company lasted a year. As a management board, we were guided by the desire to eliminate intermediaries. The accepted norm is that large corporations also have their own trading companies,” we read.