Orlen to close its Lithuanian refinery?
22:23
Polish fuel giant, Orlen might close its refinery in Mazeikai before the end of this year, Lithuanian daily Lietuvos Rytas wrote.
The company is looking for strategic investors for its Lithuanian facility. If it won't them soon, the refinery, which currently operates at 60 percent capacity, might be closed.
According to the daily, Mazeikai facility problems stem from lack of orders from the US, where nearly 50 percent of its production was sold. American companies stopped importing fuel from Lietuva, because the domestic shale gas is less expensive.
The other reason is high cost of transporting the fuel. Local, state-owned railway operator has been charging Orlen 150 percent more than what it has to pay in Poland for using the tracks.
Recently, Lietuvos Rytas claimed that Orlen is planning to sell the Mazeikiu refinery to Kazakh KazMunaiGaz, but Orlen's CEO Andrzej Kozłowski denied the reports, calling them “rumors."
Polish oil giant bought the Mazeikai facility in 2006 for $2.34 billion which at the time was the biggest Polish foreign investment. Up to this year, the refinery lost $26 million.
