Small southern refineries struggling as Treasury concentrates on big oil firms

Three small state-owned refineries from southern Poland are striving on their own to find their place on the market, as successive Treasury Ministers ignore them in favor of big spectacular deals involving Polski Koncern Naftowy (PKN) Orlen and Rafineria Gdanska. Now one of them, the Glimar refinery, is carrying out investments which will turn it into a producer of niche oil goods, while the other two, Czechowice and Jaslo, will likely be sold piecemeal. Next year Glimar will invest euro 100 million in a new hydrogen facility, enabling full processing of crude oil. After the investment is completed, fuels will constitute only 20% of Glimar's output, while the rest will be so called low- and medium-tonnage oil products. The Jaslo and Czechowice refineries are planning to transform into holdings of several smaller firms and then try and sell those subsidiaries to separate investors. (Puls Biznesu, page 1, 6)