Daniel Obajtek – earnings at Orlen in 2023

PLN 1.672 million – according to Orlen's financial report, this is the remuneration paid to Daniel Obajtek in 2023. In turn, in 2022 it was PLN 1,398 million.

However, from the table titled “bonuses potentially due to Members of the Company's Management Board serving in a given year to be paid in the following year”, we can learn that the president of Orlen was entitled to PLN 1.254 million for 2023. For 2022, the amount was PLN 1.12 million.

As we read in the report of Orlen's management board, people covered by bonus systems receive financial bonuses for “implementing individual goals set at the beginning of the bonus period by the Supervisory Board for Members of the Management Board and by the Management Board for key management personnel.”

The report shows that the average monthly gross salary (including, among others, base salary, bonuses, prizes, lump sums and overtime) in Orlen in 2023 was slightly over PLN 11,500. zloty.

At the beginning of February, Daniel Obajtek was dismissed from the position of president of Orlen. However, according to the information provided in Orlen's report, he will be able to count on a generous severance package. “The agreements provide for the payment of severance pay in the event of termination of the agreement by the Company for reasons other than breach of basic, material obligations arising from the agreement, provided that the employee has served as a Member of the Management Board for a period of at least 12 months. In such a case, the severance pay is three times the monthly fixed remuneration,” it was explained.

“Pursuant to the agreements, ORLEN Management Board Members are obliged to refrain from competitive activities for a period of 6 months after the termination of the agreement,” we read.

The non-compete clause is compensated in the form of six times the monthly fixed remuneration. However, you have to wait for the payment. “Provisions in the contracts regarding non-competition after the termination of the function of a Member of the Management Board come into force only after 3 months of serving as a Member of the Management Board” – it was written.

– I thank God that I am no longer the president of Orlen. I endured this hell for 6 years. You can write it: this is shit that has been stinking since the times of the WSI and all other services. No one went so deeply into the transactions in and around Orlen, because they either had no idea about them or were simply afraid, stressed Obajtek in an interview with Money.

– When the company's results were strong, people shouted that I was plundering Poles. When fuel was cheap, people shouted again that I was acting to the detriment of the company. Well, it's impossible to work normally in such a situation, he said.

As he admitted after the fact, if he had the same knowledge in 2018 as he does now, he would not have taken the opportunity to manage Orlen. – If at that time I had the knowledge that I have today, which is dangerous knowledge in terms of my life, I would not have agreed to be the president of Orlen a few years ago – said Obajtek.

Read more: Obajtek says about managing Orlen: I endured 6 years in this hell >>>

Daniel Obajtek took over as the president of Orlen in February 2018. While he was managing a Polish oil company, there was a lot of controversy around him. They concerned, among others, the assets of the president of Orlen. Some also claimed that he lacked the appropriate competences to manage such a large state-owned company.

The merger of Orlen with Lotos was also questionable, as a result of which the company had to sell, among others, shares in the Gdańsk Refinery. For the transaction, Orlen chose the oil giant, Saudi Aramco from Saudi Arabia.

The District Prosecutor's Office in Płock (Masovian Voivodeship) has initiated an investigation into the merger of Orlen with Grupa Lotos. This includes: on suspicion of abuse of powers and failure to fulfill duties by members of Orlen's management board and other persons, causing damage of not less than PLN 4 billion.