Daniel Obajtek defends the merger. We say “check” and count his answers
Sales 30 percent of Saudi Aramco shares is currently the most exciting element of the merger of Orlen and Lotos. Especially Business Insider’s information from mid-November caused a real political storm. It was clear from them that The Saudis may sell shares in Rafineria Gdańska. This thread raised by Bartek Godusławski was quickly picked up by other journalists, for example “Gazeta Wyborcza”. TVN24, in turn, reached the draft agreement in this matter, which, according to them, was extremely unfavorable for the Polish side. Orlen referred to the allegations in a video published on the web. The recording is a de facto record of a quarrel with reporters, mainly those from TVN. However, we decided to examine Obajtek’s line of defense in detail – and confront it with experts.
See also: Daniel Obajtek attacks TVN journalists. “You don’t believe Orlen”
Documents from the media are “a piece of paper” or a contract?
The president of Orlen refers to the draft contract described by TVN. The project was to be very unfavorable from the point of view of our interests. However, did the document become a final contract? TVN journalists emphasize that they do not know. President Obajtek himself does not explain this, but one by one.
“Do you think that the cards that fly around the country are contracts?” Obajtek asks the reporter. It can be understood that the president of PKN Orlen suggests that the documents are untrue. However, Daniel Obajtek says nothing of the sort. In fact, he states that he will not comment on whether the documents are real or not. “No president of an international concern comments on contracts because they become unreliable,” says Obajtek.
However, experts are of the opinion that the president of Orlen should comment – at least on some level.
– In my opinion Orlen should refer to the provisions of the contract. He should deny the informationthat appear – if they are untrue. If Orlen does not do this, there is of course the thesis that the provisions are unfavorable for us – says Dawid Czopek, managing director of Polaris Fiz, in an interview with Business Insider.
Daniel Czyżewski, website expert Energetyka24.comis of the same opinion. – When selling State Treasury property, transparency must be at the highest level. President Obajtek should nevertheless – at least at some level of generality – explain the assumptions of the agreement. Anyway, on the one hand, in an interview with journalists, he says that he cannot comment, and on the other hand, I heard on RMF radio that he spoke a lot about it, says Czyżewski.
Orlen spokeswoman entry
Daniel Obajtek’s argument: The European Commission accepted it, and so did the services
Another argument of the president is that the sale of part of the refinery has been approved, including by the European Commission. However, experts do not buy the “Brussels” argument.
– The president of Orlen suggests that the European Commission has approved the transaction, but Brussels only accepts remedies, not whether the agreement serves us or not. If we gave away the refinery for free, the European Commission would also have to give the green lightbecause it is about whether there is a threat of creating a monopoly by Orlen, believes Dawid Czopek.
It is true that many state institutions have agreed to the deal. After all, without it, the process of the contract would not be possible. However, the suppository has some reservations here as well.
– I also miss a clear position from the owner’s supervision – for example, the Ministry of State Assets – that all provisions are well known and raise absolutely no doubts. At last the refinery is not owned by Mr. Obajtek, it is owned by all of us. So we have the right for top officials to speak out clearly on this matterand not just on a fairly general level, believes an expert from Polaris Fiz.
Another argument: the deal with the Saudis protects us from Putin’s “bloody” oil
In the recording published by PKN Orlen, Daniel Obajtek explains the meaning of establishing cooperation with Saudi Aramco. In his opinion, this is the only serious alternative to oil from Russia. It is difficult to consider this argument groundless.
– Will the transaction with the refinery in the background make it easier for us to import oil from Saudi Arabia? In a way, you could say yes. Oil production and sales from Saudi Arabia are comparable to those from Russia. At the same time, we have one company from one country here. If it wasn’t for Saudi Aramco, with similar volumes we would have to deal with several companies from several different countries. However, it is not necessarily the case that buying oil from the Saudis is dependent on investing in the refinery. Although it can make it easier, believes Daniel Czyżewski.
“Let’s not forget that either the whole of Europe is looking for new suppliers in connection with the embargo on Russian oilso finding a stable source of supplies is more difficult than even a year ago – adds Czyżewski.
Dawid Czopek is not convinced by Obajtek’s arguments. – I have serious doubts as to whether such a transaction is necessary to ensure our oil supplies from Saudi Arabia. After all, oil is a normal commodity, there is no big problem with its availability, he says in an interview with Business Insider.
The rest of the article is below the video
Another “argument”: journalists in Poland “attack” the Saudis, and in France and other countries they do not
The head of Orlen, defending himself against the accusations, suggests that journalists “can serve someone”. It is difficult to refer to these “arguments” in general, but Daniel Obajtek points out that in other countries it is completely different.
He gives France as an example. There, he says, Saudi Aramco signed a contract with the French for 11 billion dollars. and there was no controversy. However, Dawid Czopek points out that comparisons with the situation of the refinery are, to put it mildly, inaccurate. It is an investment not in France, but in Saudi Arabia itself. And the subject of the investment is the construction of the refinery, not its sale. In addition – as Czopek emphasizes – it is about TotalEnergies, and it is a private concern, not state property.
President Obajtek also has other arguments. Looking for a “hole in the whole”, journalists attack “known international law firms or consulting companies”. Except it’s a pretty bizarre line of defense. After all, law firms – their names are not mentioned in Obajtek’s recording – are obliged to act in favor of the client. In this case, it could be Orlen, but it could also be Saudi Aramco. However, it is not the case that the international law firm thinks primarily about the Polish interest. Another issue is that law firms probably wanted to sign the contract quickly – their remuneration may depend on this.
The Saudis have a lot of rights in the refinery, but it’s not that strange
The agreement with Saudi Aramco – which we still do not know – gives a lot of rights to the Saudis in the Gdańsk Refinery. This is the axis of controversy. Can a company with only 30 percent decide whether to block key decisions for the plant? Daniel Obajtek has the answer to that.
As he emphasizes, minority shareholder protection is standard in such agreements. “If the Saudi side – let’s assume – did not have the veto right, what if Orlen decided to phase out the refinery”? Obatek asks.
Experts are willing to admit that the head of Orlen is right. “That was to be expected. If there is a veto, the European Commission should also like it, for which it is some kind of protection against Orlen’s monopoly – a manager from the fuel industry tells us anonymously.
In this statement, the already famous words about the “processing refinery” appear. Obajtek explains that “he shares products here because of shares”. So the Saudis have 30 percent. products from this refinery. This means that they also have a “market” in Poland, and that was one of the conditions of Brussels. In other words, without all of this, Orlen could have a monopoly position on our fuel market.
So the Saudis have a lot to say about refineries, and generally not everyone is surprised. Questions arise as to whether it was worth giving such power to the Saudis to be able to combine Orlen with Lotos. Dawid Czopek admits that this raises a lot of doubts. – It seems to me that Orlen made many compromises to quickly get along with Saudi Aramco – says Daniel Czyżewski.
Are the Saudis well-intentioned or not?
As Czyżewski concludes, one question is crucial in the whole matter: what are the intentions of the Saudis at all?
“Can the Saudis cause us a lot of trouble through all this?” Theoretically yes. In my opinion, however, they bought part of the refinery to do business here, not to destroy it Czyzewski says.
The greatest fear of many Polish politicians and experts is that somehow the Russians may gain control over the Gdańsk refinery. This is not a completely unfounded fear, after all, Saudi Arabia has quite close relations with Putin’s country. In addition, Gdańsk is not a huge investment from the point of view of this gigantic concern. So there is a fear that when Putin offers the Saudis good conditions, they may respond differently.
See also: Obajtek makes a declaration on prices after the New Year. He also spoke about the merger
President Obajtek argues that there are no reasons to worry and the refinery is secured. How? Certainly, the head of Orlen should explain this in detail. This time with specifics.
Let us recall, however, that as established by Business Insider Polska, From January 1 next year Rafineria Gdańska will be included in a special list of entities subject to protection. It means that any decision to sell by the Saudis will require a green light from the Minister of State Assets.
Author: Mateusz Madejski, journalist at Business Insider Poland
#Daniel #Obajtek #defends #merger #check #count #answers
