Orlen CEO dismissed as new Polish government seeks change
Reuters
Published Feb 01, 2024 09:05
Updated Feb 01, 2024 11:42
WARSAW (Reuters) -The CEO of Polish refiner Orlen has been dismissed by the supervisory board, effective from Feb. 5, after a new government pledged to purge state-controlled companies of people it considers political nominees of the previous ruling party.
Daniel Obajtek had said earlier that he expected to be dismissed.
A shareholder meeting has been called at Orlen for Feb. 6 to make changes to the supervisory board at the request of the new pro-European coalition government, which sees Orlen as a symbol of efforts by the previous administration to use state-controlled firms for political purposes.
Last month prosecutors launched an investigation into Orlen's fuel pricing policies ahead of Oct. 15 elections.
Orlen and Obajtek deny any wrongdoing.
Prosecutors are also investigating Orlen's acquisition of smaller rival Lotos in 2022 and the resulting sale of assets to meet European Union antitrust rules. Politicians at the time said the assets were sold too cheaply.
Orlen says the merger was a transparent process supervised and controlled by several institutions.
Shares in Orlen were up 3.4% at 64.78 zlotys ($16.13) by 1129 GMT.
Obajtek has been defending Lotos deal and the asset sale to buyers including Saudi Aramco (TADAWUL:2222) and Hungary's MOL.
"Today valuations are questioned by pseudo-experts. How can someone comment on it without knowing the conditions, the documents and synergies," he told a news briefing.
($1 = 4.0157 zlotys)
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Written By: Reuters
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