From the beginning of work on the material “Foreign Body” about the Olefina III investment – the largest and most expensive during Daniel Obajtek's presidency in Orlen – we have acted in the public interest. We focused the report on how the previous management of this company, which is strategic for the Polish economy, made investment decisions from the point of view of economy. Which company is Orlen's partner in this investment is of secondary importance in the report. The key decisions for us were the decisions made by Orlen itself, in which the largest shareholder is the Polish state (through the State Treasury).
A day after the publication of our report on TVN24 GO and on TVN24, both Synthos and the current management of Orlen commented on the matter. In the issued statement, Synthos states, among other things, that “Other private companies have been operating at the Orlen plant in Płock for many years, e.g. Basell Orlen Polyolefins with foreign capital, a joint-venture of Orlen with a company registered in Amsterdam.” Importantly, however, the mentioned company – Basell Orlen Polyolifens – 50 percent. belongs to Orlen and nothing can happen there without its consent and knowledge. Synthos is a company completely independent of Orlen, so comparing these two situations is unjustified. The authors of the statement also claim that PLN 800 million was spent on the construction of the butadiene installation. PLN is “from the point of view of the owner of Synthos, private and huge funds.” The authors never denied the fact of privacy of funds, just as the authors of the statement do not deny that compared to even PLN 50 billion that Orlen was supposed to spend, PLN 800 million is only a small percentage.
Moreover, the authors of the statement – while drawing attention to the “symmetricity” of contractual penalties – remain silent about the “asymmetricity” of the incurred expenses. In passing, they also confirm the thesis of the authors of the report that the contractual penalties threatening Orlen exceed the value of building the entire butadiene installation.
The current Orlen authorities approach the matter differently. At the press conference convened on Thursday, Ireneusz Fąfara – the president of Orlen – said that the decision to cooperate with Synthos in this form was a “horrendous mistake” that was in no way technologically justified, because Orlen could have built these installations itself, especially since it already has one. “. In an interview for Rzeczpospolita, President Fąfara added: “I have already talked to President Sołowow (the owner of Synthos – editor's note) and there was quite a tough discussion. The signed contracts are valid, but we will renegotiate them.
Main photo source: TVN24