Merger of Lotos and Orlen. AT LEAST 300 people to be interviewed
This is currently one of the largest investigations in the country, we have initially selected 300 people for interrogation – said the deputy head of the District Prosecutor's Office in Płock in an interview with RMF FM. She added that an application would soon be submitted to the regional prosecutor in Łódź to appoint a team in the second case – lowering fuel prices. One prosecutor's office cannot handle so many issues at the same time.
ABW officers secured paper documents, electronic data and e-mails (33,000 files in total). Monika Mieczykowska, deputy head of the District Prosecutor's Office in Płock, said in an interview with an RMF FM journalist that the prosecutor's office would like to question at least 300 people. A list is being created, and the witnesses will include, among others: people who worked on the merger of Orlen and Lotos.
The proceedings are being conducted by a special investigative team composed of four prosecutors and six ABW agents. Investigators do not want to specify a date for completing their activities.
– We are currently sending a request to the regional prosecutor in Łódź to appoint a team in the second case – i.e. lowering fuel prices, because it is obvious that one prosecutor would not lead such an investigation – she cheated Monika Mieczykowska.
Investigation into the merger of Orlen and Lotos
Inspectors of the Supreme Audit Office believe that during the merger with Lotos, Orlen sold assets to private entities that were at least PLN 5 billion below their estimated value.
The investigation conducted by the Płock District Prosecutor's Office concerns suspected abuse of powers and failure to fulfill duties by members of the Orlen management board, as well as other persons dealing with the company's property matters. Investigators will explain who led the negotiations, set the conditions and signed the agreement on the merger of PKN Orlen (the name of the concert was changed to Orlen in 2023) with Grupa Lotos in Gdańsk, as a result of which 30 percent was sold. shares in the Gdańsk Refinery to Saudi Aramco. The proceedings cover the period from the beginning of 2018 to November 30, 2022.
Obajtek about allegations of spying on Bartłomiej Sienkiewicz
On Friday, former president of Orlen, Daniel Obajtek, responded to the allegations of Borys Budka, who said that the current Minister of Culture, Bartłomiej Sienkiewicz, was under surveillance during the last election campaign, for which Orlen paid almost half a million zlotys.
Budka also mentioned other politicians of the Civic Platform (Andrzej Halicki, Marcin Kierwiński, Robert Kropiwnicki, Jan Grabiec, Marek Sowa) who were allegedly under surveillance by a private detective on Orlen's behalf. He also suggested that a similar fate could have befallen leading Law and Justice politicians.
Today, the former head of Orlen, Daniel Obajtek, commented on the words of the head of the Ministry of State Assets on social media.
– It's not nice, Mr. Budka, to expose your party colleague, Minister Bartłomiej Sienkiewicz, like this – says Obajtek ironically at the beginning of his statement.
– The report that the minister spoke about on TVN24 concerned checking connections with foreign influences, among others, when it comes to the purchase of Russian oil and protecting the interests of Orlen as a company. And it so happens that the report shows that companies related to Mr. Sienkiewicz received several million remuneration from Orlen and PGNiG, among other things, for consulting on the purchase of Russian oil and gas. Mr. Budka, please publish the report in its entirety and do not throw groundless accusations – writes the head of Orlen in 2018-2024.
