Orlen won't wobble without Wróbel
Last Monday's general shareholders' meeting decided to set aside zł.651.8 million ($173.3 million) of 2003's net profit for investment into new Czech, German and Ukrainian projects as well as related downstream industries at home.
"Orlen has played a leading role in consolidating the oil industry in Central Europe - a positive move given the reluctance of others to move aggressively," says James Angelus, an energy consultant who has been based in Central and Eastern Europe for 12 years. "Now this strategy is starting to pay off, with deals in the works with Lukoil and ConocoPhillips, among others, to put together a regional powerhouse in this part of the world."
Orlen will cooperate with ConocoPhilips to import 100 million cubic meters of gas this year. In addition, Orlen is expected to buy ConocoPhilips' petrol stations in northern Germany, which, together with buy-ups of Royal Dutch/Shell stations and the already acquired former BP outlets, will raise market share there to up to 15 percent.
However, this process will take at least ten years to complete, whereas as soon as by the end of next year, pending European Commission agreement and other formalities, Orlen plans to close a predicted zł.13.1 billion (?418 million) deal to buy a 63 percent stake in Czech market leader Unipetol. Indeed, late last month, Unipetol's supervisory board reshuffle saw the arrival of Orlen's Andrzej Sikora and Piotr Kearney.
Another large, short-term investment will be the complete takeover of two state-owned chemical plants in Kędzierzyn and Tarnów, Janusz Wiśniewski, Orlen's vice-president, told the Interfax news agency, saying, "It would be very difficult to extract the operations we really need, so we decided to buy everything."
The takeover will have to be carried out by Anwiel, Orlen's chemical industry subsidiary. Originally, the government had planned to use the two plants to create an integrated state nitrate concern including the complex outside Puławy that has attracted interest from Ukrainian investors.
While Orlen's insatiable appetite for takeovers and foreign investments continued under the apparently shrewd leadership of Wróbel, alleged ethical impropriety continued to dog the company. In early June, Prime Minister Marek Belka stressed that a portion of the company remains publicly-owned and expressed concern that a Sejm commission was having to investigate the directors of the company while they continued to manage state assets.
Jacek Socha, the Treasury minister, went further, threatening to force change in the supervisory board unless it was volunteered. A week ago supervisory board member Janusz Zieliński was replaced by the State Treasury with Michał Stępniewski, a 30-year old Treasury adviser.
Finally, last Tuesday, Wróbel informed Orlen's supervisory board that he himself was ready to resign. In a press statement, the supervisory board announced that Wróbel intended to resign "due to recent media speculation and political controversy surrounding PKN Orlen and its management board, which adversely affects both the creation of the shareholder value of PKN Orlen and the interests of the company."
"Orlen has played a leading role in consolidating the oil industry in Central Europe - a positive move given the reluctance of others to move aggressively," says James Angelus, an energy consultant who has been based in Central and Eastern Europe for 12 years. "Now this strategy is starting to pay off, with deals in the works with Lukoil and ConocoPhillips, among others, to put together a regional powerhouse in this part of the world."
Orlen will cooperate with ConocoPhilips to import 100 million cubic meters of gas this year. In addition, Orlen is expected to buy ConocoPhilips' petrol stations in northern Germany, which, together with buy-ups of Royal Dutch/Shell stations and the already acquired former BP outlets, will raise market share there to up to 15 percent.
However, this process will take at least ten years to complete, whereas as soon as by the end of next year, pending European Commission agreement and other formalities, Orlen plans to close a predicted zł.13.1 billion (?418 million) deal to buy a 63 percent stake in Czech market leader Unipetol. Indeed, late last month, Unipetol's supervisory board reshuffle saw the arrival of Orlen's Andrzej Sikora and Piotr Kearney.
Another large, short-term investment will be the complete takeover of two state-owned chemical plants in Kędzierzyn and Tarnów, Janusz Wiśniewski, Orlen's vice-president, told the Interfax news agency, saying, "It would be very difficult to extract the operations we really need, so we decided to buy everything."
The takeover will have to be carried out by Anwiel, Orlen's chemical industry subsidiary. Originally, the government had planned to use the two plants to create an integrated state nitrate concern including the complex outside Puławy that has attracted interest from Ukrainian investors.
While Orlen's insatiable appetite for takeovers and foreign investments continued under the apparently shrewd leadership of Wróbel, alleged ethical impropriety continued to dog the company. In early June, Prime Minister Marek Belka stressed that a portion of the company remains publicly-owned and expressed concern that a Sejm commission was having to investigate the directors of the company while they continued to manage state assets.
Jacek Socha, the Treasury minister, went further, threatening to force change in the supervisory board unless it was volunteered. A week ago supervisory board member Janusz Zieliński was replaced by the State Treasury with Michał Stępniewski, a 30-year old Treasury adviser.
Finally, last Tuesday, Wróbel informed Orlen's supervisory board that he himself was ready to resign. In a press statement, the supervisory board announced that Wróbel intended to resign "due to recent media speculation and political controversy surrounding PKN Orlen and its management board, which adversely affects both the creation of the shareholder value of PKN Orlen and the interests of the company."
