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There is no risk of an uncontrolled sale of a stake in Rafineria Gdańska acquired by the Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Saudi Aramco), as the deal is secured by general and contract law, a spokesperson for the Polish government has said.
Earlier this year, Poland’s biggest fuel firm, PKN Orlen, took over its smaller peer Lotos but was required by the European Commission to divest parts of the newly acquired company. Orlen decided to sell a 30-per cent stake in Lotos’s Rafineria Gdańska to the Saudi Arabian company.
Poland’s daily Gazeta Wyborcza alleged that the sale of the Polish refinery to Saudi Aramco violated Poland’s law on control of certain investments and that the deal was not consulted in terms of Poland’s energy security.
On Thursday, Rafineria Gdańska was added to the list of entities subject to special protection by the state after concerns were raised that the Saudi share could pose a security threat to Polish fuel supplies.
In a rationale to the decision, the government said the move was designed to prevent an uncontrolled sale of the stake in the refinery.
On Friday, Piotr Mueller, the government spokesman, said that “There is no risk of uncontrolled disposal of shares in Rafineria Gdańska.”
“This (transaction – PAP) is secured on several levels, first of all, it is secured contractually and under the act. There are provisions of generally applicable law and contract law that introduce these restrictions,” he added.
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