Former PGE board without discharge. We have a statement

The General Meeting did not grant discharge for the performance of duties in 2023 to the former president of PGE, Wojciech Dąbrowski, and vice-presidents: Wanda Buk, Lechosław Rojewski, Ryszard Wasiłek, Paweł Śliwa, Rafał Włodarski and Przemysław Kołodziejak. In each case, votes were cast for not granting discharge from over 80% of shares registered at the general meeting.

The PGE General Meeting also granted discharge for 2023 to three former members of the Supervisory Board: Anna Kowalik, Radosław Winiarski and Cezary Falkiewicz. In the case of six other members of the Board, resolutions on granting discharge were not adopted due to the failure to obtain a majority of votes.

The position of former members of the PGE management board

The board members whose effectiveness was questioned and for this reason did not receive a discharge presented their arguments in a statement, the content of which we publish in its entirety:

«There is no substantive basis for the lack of discharge for the PGE management board, whose term of office was 2020-2024. During this period, the PGE management board implemented a number of activities important for Poland’s energy security. The company’s value on the stock exchange increased by 50 percent, rating agencies such as Fitch and Moody’s awarded some of the highest ratings, inspections by offices such as the Supreme Audit Office were positive and selected investments were assessed as exemplary.

Operating in a difficult environment (pandemic, global energy crisis, war beyond the eastern border), the PGE Group developed intensively:

• the company’s value increased by 50 percent in 2020-2024,

• EBITDA profit reached a record level of over

• 10 billion,

• increased funds for investments reached the amount of PLN 24 billion in the years 2020–2023 a) PLN 3.2 billion were allocated for the decarbonisation of heating (cost of 10 investments currently implemented and completed) b) PLN 4 billion were allocated for investments in the modernisation of transmission networks in 2023 alone.

The actions taken were based on a new strategy available to the public and shareholders. This strategy set the path of energy transformation for the energy sector, and PGE was the first in Poland to adopt the goal of zero emissions in 2050.

In order to develop towards green energy and ensure energy security, the PGE Group has been prepared to separate its coal assets.

An investment was carried out in offshore wind farms with a total capacity of 3.5 GW (PGE obtained further concessions and became the offshore leader in Poland with a potential of 7 GW of capacity) and – as a supplement to large-scale RES projects – an energy storage program was launched, under which PGE was to build energy storage facilities for at least 3.7 GW.

PGE received the first concession in Poland for the construction of the largest large-scale energy storage facility in Poland’s history in Żarnowiec with a capacity of up to 263 MW and a minimum capacity of 900 MWh. A feasibility study for a pumped-storage power plant in Młoty with a capacity of over 1,000 MW was also prepared.

A Polish-Korean project to build a 2.8 GW nuclear power plant in the Konin region has been initiated.

The PKP Energetyka company was acquired, which supplies electricity for the entire Polish railways, which strengthened the energy security of Polish transport.

In order to increase the security of supply for customers, the installation of remote reading meters has begun. There has also been the development of a dedicated LTE 450 communication system for the energy sector, which allows for metering of the distribution network and the implementation of remote network management elements.

A circular economy business segment was built from scratch, integrating companies around one large entity, PGE Ekoserwis, and the PGE Group became the leader of the circular economy sector.

An ESG reporting system was also introduced, which was highly rated by analysts and held up as a model in the industry.

Since the change of the PGE management board, the financial results have been at least 50 percent worse, which has caused the company’s share price to drop by 20 percent and its stock market value to drop by almost PLN 3.5 billion! If the downward trend continues, in the long term it will affect PGE’s ratings, which will result in further loss of credibility among shareholders and the possibility of obtaining funds for investments. The public is observing delays in investments as important for Poland as nuclear power or offshore wind farms. The energy transformation, which is very much needed in Poland, is being postponed”.