Możejki refinery woes dent Orlen's investment strategy

The revised plan will see Orlen invest zł.21.2 billion between now and 2012, out of which zł.4.57 billion will be used to cover its investment obligations and bring the Lithuanian plant to profitability. "The average spending on companies from our group was lowered by almost zł.1 billion annually, with most of these limitations relating to companies in Poland," said Paweł Szymański, Orlen's deputy president for financial issues. The cost cutting scheme will affect investments in the company's refinery in Płock, as well as its businesses in the retail sector and its logistics system. If Orlen does scale back its retail investment, it could face increased competition as others move in to take advantage of its weakened outlook. "We see a chance for ourselves and will execute our investment program more rapidly," said the general director of Shell Polska, Paweł Żuk. (Puls Biznesu, pp. 1, 4) A.K.