PKN Orlen out of the race to enter Unipetrol says Czech Industry Minister

Last week Polish oil concern PKN Orlen announced its intention to buy, together with Swiss-Czech chemical concern Agrofert, a 63% stake in its Czech counterpart Unipetrol. However, Czech Industry Minister Jirzi Rusnok stated, "I would not recommend that PKN Orlen submit an offer, as companies rejected during this procedure would start protesting," adding that Agrofert had already won the tender and must finalize the transaction by the end of September. The Swiss-Czech concern has declared it is to pay $324 million for shares in Unipetrol. However, the company may not have sufficient means to meet the obligation and has even been accused of using money from unknown sources. This suggests that disqualifying PKN from entering Unipetrol might in fact be a ministerial game against Agrofert. The Czech concern could then be offered for sale again and might be bought by Austrian OMV or Hungarian MOL. In such an event, if PKN has not managed to acquire any shares in Unipetrol, it would make no sense for them to buy petrol stations belonging to BP in Hungary, as previously planned. This transaction, worth $150 million, would not be profitable if fuel were not supplied from its own refinery in the Czech Republic. (Gazeta Wyborcza, 3-4 August, pp. 1, 27) M.M.