PKN Orlen sets sights on Czech Republic's Unipetrol

After an unsuccessful attempt to purchase a 25% stake in Croatian oil concern INA, PKN Orlen is to try its luck in the acquisition of 62.99% of shares in the Czech Republic's petro-chemical company Unipetrol. The Orlen press office announced that the company did not find itself on INA's short-list of potential investors due to the fact that the Plock-based enterprise does not own any oil fields. According to analysts, PKN Orlen is trying to initiate a consolidation of Central Europe's oil sector, although company representatives have not confirmed this information. The purchase of Unipetrol, however, will not block the expansion of Slovnaft, which is targeting the southern Polish market. According to the head of the supervisory board at PKN Orlen, Zbigniew Wrobel, the company has signed a letter of intent with the Czech fertilizer producer Agrofert and will begin a joint due diligence on Unipetrol next week. (Prawo i Gospodarka, p. 5) A.K.