The European Commission, in connection with the planned merger of PKN ORLEN and LOTOS, as part of remedial measures aimed at the competitiveness of the fuel market, recommended, inter alia, sale of several hundred stations belonging to LOTOS Group.

PKN ORLEN has reached an agreement with MOL in such a way that the Hungarian company is to take over 417 LOTOS's fuel stations located in Poland for USD 610 million, and PKN Orlen will purchase 185 stations from the MOL Group's portfolio mailnly in Hungary and 41 fuel stations in Slovakia.

Is this exchange transaction to ensure market competitiveness? None of these things. Replacing the fuel station means that the companies operate on the same boat. It pays for them not to get in the way. We apply your pricing policy in your area, you apply our pricing policy in our area.

Lest there be any understatements, PKN ORLEN itself says about the replacement of fuel stations:

Panie Redaktorze, zatem ponownie, kluczowym elementem transakcji jest zakup 30% udziałów w gdańskiej rafinerii przez Saudi Aramco. Wraz z kontraktem znacząco zwiększamy dostawy ropy z Arabii dla całego regionu. Z węgierskim MOL część stacji Lotosu wymieniamy na stacje zagraniczne

— Biuro Prasowe PKN ORLEN (@RzecznikORLEN) February 28, 2022

If MOL purchased LOTOS's fuel stations and PKN ORLEN purchased e.g.. SHELL's fuel stations in Germany, the European Commission's instruction would be fulfilled as to its purpose.

Currently, ORLEN says in its own words that it's going to replace fuel stations betwen it and MOL. The question is whether the European Commission will see the absurdity of such a situation. The entire economy pays for the lack of competition on the fuel market, while the politicized companies and their staff earn.

Source: (Photo Tomasz Niesłuchowski / Agencja Wyborcza.pl)

In the photo from 2012 from the session of the Płock City Council, Wioletta Kulpa, PiS councilor and Mirosław Milewski. Wioletta Kulpa works at ORLEN today.

The last example of employment in ORLEN is the appointment of the former president of Plock city, Mirosław Milewski from the PiS Party as a member of the management board of a company from the ORLEN Group on 14 May 2022. Link: portalplock.pl/wiadomosci...

Currently, there is a large scandal with fuel prices in Poland, it turns out that the Polish market has one of the highest rates of net fuel price growth in the EU (if not the highest rate of price growth). The ORLEN concern is managed by politically committed people, supported by the PiS Party.

The decisive argument should be clear and fit on one page. This is exactly what there is to say about the replacement of petrol stations between ORLEN and MOL.

Jaroslaw Suplacz