In Warsaw, on February 2nd, the Polish energy conglomerate Orlen acquired the energy group Lotos at a price reduced by nearly 5 billion Polish złoty (around 1.25 billion dollars), as stated by the Chairman of the Polish Supreme Audit Office, Marian Banas, on Polish television.
The merger of Lotos and Orlen was completed last year. Polish authorities claimed that the purpose of this merger is to create a large multi-energy conglomerate.
“Our auditors, highly experienced with many years of service, unequivocally determined based on documents found in both the Ministry of State Assets and the Ministry of Climate and Environment that the reduction in the price of Lotos amounted to almost 5 billion złoty,” said Banas.
He added that currently, the employees of the audit office are preparing the appropriate notification to the prosecutor’s office.
The Polish prosecutor’s office has initiated an investigation into the merger of energy conglomerates.
Also, the Supervisory Board of Orlen decided two days ago to dismiss the CEO of the conglomerate, Daniel Obajtek. Obajtek is considered a supporter of the “Law and Justice” party, which, after the autumn parliamentary elections, lost power and moved into opposition.