Does the "myth" of the great Orlen lie in ruins after Obajtek's 6 years as CEO?

"Methods characteristic for mafias and oligarchs", huge sums paid out which "cannot be regained", "the loss of Orlen's credibility" - just some of the harsh words this week in discussions of Orlen's recent operations. 

Orlen's brand has received a serious blow this week.

Photo: PAP/ Jakub Kaczmarczyk.

In an official statement Orlen has said that an "entity related to the Orlen Group [Orlen Trading Switzerland] paid out approximately 1.6 billion PLN in down-payments without the proper insurance and the funds were transferred to entities that Orlen had not earlier cooperated with."

Poland’s state prosecutors should look "thoroughly" into state-run Orlen, says a top minister, following revelations that the energy group paid $400 million for oil that it never received https://t.co/WSKKe0p6WC

— Bloomberg (@business) April 12, 2024

In an interview for TVN24, Dr Anna Czarczyńska of the Leon Koźmiński Academy commented:

"The operations we are talking about are typical for mafias, at least for oligarchs. This is how companies operate that have come under control of oligarchs. The money lost cannot be regained, but what worries me more is Orlen's loss of credibility and goodwill"

Since March the company has been attempting to recover the lost money, however this week it has had to write off the sums:

Poland’s largest refiner Orlen will take a write-off equating to about $400 million, as a result of oil that its Swiss trading unit paid for but never received https://t.co/5zXeXecTRh

— Bloomberg Markets (@markets) April 11, 2024

Sources: Business Insider, TVN24, Bloomberg

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