Orlen caught off guard by Agroferts threat of legal action

The Czech company's lawyers are in the process of gathering the necessary documents. The suit concerns an agreement, which Agrofert and Orlen signed back in April 2004. The Czech firm was to buy from Orlen five companies from the Unipetrol's group, Agrochem, Aliachem, Kaučuk, Paramo, and Chemopetrol. The agreement contained also the prices, at which the companies were to be sold, which were considerably lower than the current market value of the firms. Since Orlen failed to sell the companies before the set deadline, Agrofert demanded EUR 77 million in compensation, but the Polish company did not pay it either. The Czech holding had threatened that it would take the case to court if Orlen refused to pay the sum. According to Andrzej Szczęśniak, a fuel expert from the Adam Smith Center, it reflects badly on Orlen that the case will be investigated by the Czech court. Szczęśniak suspects that no one in Orlen really believed the case would be submitted to the court at all, and thus Orlen did not bother to argue for the arbitration court to be found in a more neutral country. (Parkiet, p. 1) A.F.