Abuse of Power Suspected: Polish prosecutors investigate Orlen’s alleged losses in Saudi Aramco and MOL deals

Polish prosecutors are investigating the undervalued sales of PKN Orlen’s assets to Saudi Aramco and Hungary’s MOL

Polish prosecutors announced on Tuesday the initiation of a probe to investigate potential undervalued sales of major assets belonging to the state-controlled refiner, PKN Orlen, to Saudi Aramco and Hungary’s MOL.

Prime Minister Donald Tusk criticized the previous government for the deals with Saudi Arabia and Hungary, with the latter being a Russian ally. The transactions, carried out in 2022, were defended by the right-wing government at the time, citing the necessity to fulfill EU conditions for Orlen’s merger with domestic competitor Grupa Lotos.

In 2022, Saudi Aramco acquired a stake in Lotos’s refinery, while MOL purchased several hundred Lotos petrol stations to address competition concerns raised by the European Commission. The broader goal was to strengthen Orlen’s international competitiveness.

Regional prosecutors are investigating the “sale at drastic undervalue” of Lotos assets, including “a 30-percent stake in the refinery in Gdansk to Saudi Aramco,” causing Orlen losses estimated at a minimum of 4 billion zloty (915 million euros).

The prosecutor’s office in Plock, central Poland, suspects potential “abuse of power” by company officials, and possibly politicians, according to Monika Mieczykowska, a spokeswoman for the prosecutor’s office.

Prime Minister Tusk criticized the previous government, accusing them of providing money and substantial power to Saudi Arabia, in collaboration with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, whom he described as the most pro-Putin politician. Tusk highlighted the financial losses and the erosion of Poland’s sovereignty in the major oil firm as a consequence of these deals.

Source: AFP