“Today we hear that companies will be depoliticized. We know that’s nonsense. You can’t depoliticize companies. Every large company in Poland, and in the world, has political connections. And it must have them,” said Daniel Obajtek, former CEO of PKN Orlen, in Katowice.
During the Law and Justice (PiS) convention in Katowice, a panel was held dedicated to state-owned companies and the methodology of their management. Daniel Obajtek, former CEO of PKN Orlen and now an MEP for Law and Justice (PiS), was invited to the discussion.
“If we choose company CEOs who don’t bear risk and have no appetite for risk, nothing happens, because the assumption is that payment is made not for decisions, but for presence. If we don’t end this pathology, it will be a great loss for state-owned companies,” said the politician.
As he said, “these companies are taking oxygen away from other companies in the market that could develop.“
“Today we hear that companies will be depoliticized. We know that’s nonsense. You can’t depoliticize companies. Every large company in Poland, and in the world, has political connections. And it must have them. Politics is regulations, business, profit. Politicians create the rules. In the world, this is called lobbying – he pointed out. – If we choose a company CEO, it should be a person with a strong political mandate in order to make decisions. It must be someone with a strong position in the political party. Only then is it possible for such a CEO to make decisions,” he continued.
He called for a change in approach:
“We must stop constantly choosing the same people. If someone hasn’t proven themselves in a company, they cannot return to the same position. Either you have successes, or you did something, or you’re out.”
And he continued: “So, do you know what the rescue for state-owned companies is? It’s what we did with our national champion. We created a company based on many pillars of profitability. Today, thanks to this, the company has a capitalization of 100 billion. Today, people boast that it’s thanks to them, even though they didn’t make any decisions. Its capitalization comes from all the mergers, from diversification of oil and gas, from increased extraction, from petrochemical expansion, and from paying a dividend higher than bank interest. This is exactly the kind of companies we must build.“