Polish Briefing: Lotos says its results confirm the merits of the merger with Orlen | PGE counts the National Energy Security Agency will be established by 2023

What goes on in Poland on the 23rd of March.

Lotos says its results confirm the merits of the merger with Orlen

According to the representative of the Lotos Group, its results from 2021 confirm the legitimacy of the merger with Orlen with the remedial measures presented to the European Commission.

– Our results are stable – said Krzysztof Nowicki, Lotos vice president for mergers and acquisitions at the company’s results conference. In his opinion, the terms of the merger with Orlen are set correctly and “do not constitute the basis for any revision of the provisions” adopted in relation to remedial measures.

– We used the refinancing capacity within the capital group to reorganize refining assets. At the end of the fourth quarter of 2021, we have virtually no net debt – said Jarosław Wittstock, Vice President for Corporate Affairs at Lotos. This company reports that it has already transferred all refining assets to Lotos Asfalt.

PKN Orlen is waiting for the decision of the European Commission on the remedial measures proposed in January 2022 in order to obtain approval for the acquisition of Lotos: sale of part of the stations, admission of Saudi Aramco to the shareholding of Gdańsk Refinery and sale of part of the fuel base.

PGE counts the National Energy Security Agency will be established by 2023

Polska Grupa Energetyczna argues that the establishment of the National Energy Security Agency will not require notification to the European Commission. It should be established by January 2023.

The entire project is coordinated by the Ministry of State Assets and its author is Minister Jacek Sasin. – The entire government and Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki consent to it. We do not know the obstacles or problems related to the creation of the Agency. We do not know anything about the fact that the project was to be notified. The transaction is to be entirely market-based. The agency is to operate in the form of a state-owned company. The company will be completely self-sufficient and will operate under market conditions

MAP has been in dialogue with the European Commission for many months. From what we know from the communications we receive, there is understanding on the part of the Commission. There are, of course, many questions that the ministry is answering on behalf of the energy groups. So far, there are no objections that would require notification. If something like this happened, the work would be extended, but we do not assume such a scenario – said the president of PGE Wojciech Dąbrowski.