PKN declines to participate in new processing plant at Gdansk Refinery

PKN Orlen has decided against participating, as earlier anticipated, in a program to construct an IGCC facility - used in diesel processing - at the Gdansk Refinery. The management of the Gdansk-based plant however gave assurances that propositions from other companies guarantee the project's eventual success. Invitations to take part in the bid, worth at least $540 million, and to form a joint venture company with Lotos Ekoenergia, a company belonging to the Gdansk Refinery, were sent out to 20 companies. "We have received offers from almost all of the candidates. The most interesting seem to be the proposals from the Shell consortium, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, European Investment Bank and Foster Wheeler," said the head of Gdansk Refinery, Pawel Olechnowicz. However, he refused to comment on PKN Orlen's decision to withdraw from the tender. The choice of partner will be made by the end of this month and a company with one or more foreign investors will be formed before the end of the year. (Puls Biznesu, p. 3) A.K.