Rafineria Gdanska looks at buying Preem petrol stations

The Gdansk refinery (Rafineria Gdanska) plans to consolidate its position on the market and develop its chain of petrol stations. Company spokesperson Grazyna Malczynska, however, refused to comment on alleged discussions between the refinery and Swedish energy company Preem. Preem would like to sell its petrol stations, and Gdansk refinery is being considered as one of the potential buyers. BM BPH PBK analyst Andrzej Osypowicz said he liked the idea but expressed doubts that the refinery could afford to buy Preem's petrol stations, as last year the company earned a net profit of only zl. 3.1 million, compared to zl. 182.8 million in 2000. (Prawo i Gospodarka, p. 5) K.S.