PKN Orlen fails to form joint venture with German IVG

"The letter of intent which was signed in April 2003 lost its force when the year came to a close. Its validity was not prolonged," informed Marek Stoń, the president of IVG Terminal Silesia, which is the operator of liquid fuel warehouses in Upper Silesia. The attempt to create the Independent Logistics Operator (NOL), which was to merge the logistics assets of Orlen and IVG, was put on hold several months ago. The main reason for this is the fact that PKN Orlen became involved with Nafta Polska to form a competitive integrated logistics operator (ZOL). In related news, PKN Orlen submitted yesterday a bid for the purchase of a stake in Czech's Unipetrol. "In cooperation with Agrofert and ConocoPhilips we have placed a bid for the purchase of almost 63% of the enterprise," announced Krzysztof Mikołajczyk, the spokesperson for PKN Orlen. (Puls Binzesu, p. 7) A.K.