Mateusz Morawiecki made the remark at a news conference in the southwestern town of Oława on Monday, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
‘An exemplary merger’
Asked about the merger deal, which included the sale of a 30-percent stake in Poland’s Gdańsk refinery to the Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Saudi Aramco), the prime minister said: “This merger was carried out in exemplary fashion. The best evidence is the reaction of the market. The market has been very positive about this transaction.”
Morawiecki added: “We are 100 percent behind this merger, which created a huge entity with possibilities that haven’t been seen in Poland before.”
'Russian propaganda making vicious attack'
Morawiecki told reporters that the merger of the two state-owned fuel firms allowed the new company to buy oil from Saudi Arabia “at a lower price,” at a time when “we are seeking to become independent from Russian oil.”
He stated: “Maybe that’s the reason why Russian propaganda is making such a vicious attack on this merger. I am convinced that it’s the work of Russian agents, Russian lobbyists, Russian propagandists.”
He dismissed “suggestions made by some media outlets” that the government would lose control over the merged entity.
Morawiecki told the news conference that following PKN Orlen’s acquisition of Lotos and its recent takeover of the state gas company PGNiG, the government’s stake in PKN Orlen would rise from around 27 percent to 49 percent, the PAP news agency reported.
Morawiecki also said that the deals had been approved by the European Commission, the executive arm of the European Union of which Poland is part.
'Everything was done in compliance with European and national law': spokesman
Meanwhile, Rafał Bochenek, the spokesman for Poland’s governing conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party, told reporters on Monday that the PKN Orlen-Lotos merger “was assessed very positively, supported and monitored” by the European Commission, Poland’s key public institutions and the main ratings agencies.
Bochenek said: “Everything was done in compliance with European and national law. From PKN Orlen’s statements, it is clear that the agreement also contains guarantees that protect the interests of the Polish state.”
Deal approved by gov't, EU executive: CEO
PKN Orlen CEO Daniel Obajtek told a news conference on Monday that the sale of a 30-percent stake in the Gdańsk refinery to Saudi Aramco, as part of the PKN Orlen-Lotos merger, was “safe,” public broadcaster Polish Radio’s IAR news agency reported.
Obajtek said the deal had been approved by the Polish government and the European Commission, as well as consulted with lawyers.
Prosecutors asked to probe potential irregularities
Last week, Poland's Gazeta Wyborcza daily newspaper alleged that “the sale by PKN Orlen of parts of Lotos to Saudi Aramco violated Poland’s law on control of certain investments,” the PAP news agency reported.
Moreover, the newspaper claimed that security services had not been allowed to assess the transaction "even though Saudi Aramco is doing business with Vladimir Putin’s Russia."
Gazeta Wyborcza also reported that “the sale by PKN Orlen of a stake in Lotos to the Saudi Aramco oil company was not consulted in terms of Poland’s energy security,” according to the PAP news agency.
Politicians with Poland’s opposition Civic Platform (PO) party last week said they had notified prosecutors in the northern city of Gdańsk about potential irregularities in the sale of parts of Lotos to Saudi Aramco, the rmf24.pl website reported.
PKN Orlen-Lotos merger
PKN Orlen’s acquisition of the Lotos group, as well as its recent takeover of PGNiG, are part of the company’s efforts to create “a multi-energy conglomerate” that will be capable of competing on international markets and enhancing Poland’s energy security, officials have said.
Brussels approved the PKN Orlen-Lotos merger in June.
In January, PKN Orlen unveiled measures to prevent the Polish fuel and oil market from being monopolised by the new company.
PKN Orlen at the time committed to selling a 30-percent stake in Lotos’ Gdańsk refinery to Saudi Aramco, while Hungary’s MOL agreed to acquire 417 of Lotos’ fuel stations around Poland, and PKN Orlen pledged it would buy 144 of MOL’s fuel stations in Hungary and 41 fuel stations in Slovakia, among other transactions, the PAP news agency reported.
(pm/gs)
Source: IAR, PAP, rmf24.pl