Nafta Polska to look into PKN Orlen-Grupa Lotos merger

"Law and Justice is looking into the project with interest. We are in favor of creating a strong CEE player, which will be capable of taking over further entities," said Artusz Zawisza, head of the party. An outspoken opponent of the merger is the president of Lotos Paweł Olechnowicz. "If there is a factual plan of a merger with Lotos, we will comment on it," said Igor Chalupec, president of Orlen. "We are now waiting for the strategies of both entities, as they will be necessary in order to prepare an analysis of the merger," said Bogusław Piwowar, spokesman of Nafta. According to Sebastian Słomka, analyst with BDM PKO, the easiest way of carrying out the merger would be a share issue by Orlen, which would be taken over by the owners of Lotos. Some analysts suggest it would be a way for the government to control the oil market in Poland. (Parkiet, p. 1) M.M.