Another Petrochemical complex of Orlen is formed in Płock. The expansion of Olefin III, however, has just been called into question due to the fresh board's doubts about the rightness of the project. The Minister of State Assets is waiting for the management of the company to explain whether and under what conditions it intends to proceed working on the complex.
– The investment in Olefina is 1 of the main projects that the Orlen board is presently working on. He must decide what approach he takes to Olefin. We request to be patient and give the board time to speak. I know this is 1 of the board's priorities to order this situation, and this is simply a immense challenge. said Minister of State Assets Jakub Jaworowski in his first interview, jointly given to 3 news agencies, including PAP Business.
– The board will propose a way out of the situation. We will be guided by business thinking, what is best for the company. If there are proposals, we will discuss them and see which ones meet these business conditions. – he added.
In the opinion of Minister Jaworowski, the decision to invest in the Olefina III complex may be the subject of settlement with the erstwhile board of Orlen. This is for Daniel Obietek's CEO. However, according to the minister, a large undertaking, which gave the chance to increase the home production of many articles of everyday life, was based on inappropriate motivations. – This investment decision does not seem to have been taken on the right grounds, so this is something that is an component of settlement – said the head of the department.
The fresh president of Orlen, Ireneusz Fąfara, late said that Orlen wanted to decide on the future of the investment in the Olefina III complex before updating the strategy that was planned for December this year. Until now, Orlen has allocated about PLN 12 billion to the Olefina III complex.
The State Treasury is analysing the investment in Olefina III complex. In the opinion of the President, the start of the investment, whose value increased to PLN 25 billion, was not based on rational reasons and is simply a "trap" left by the erstwhile management of the company.
In June 2023, Orlen's then board announced that the cost of building the Olefina III complex would be about PLN 25 billion. The request to sign an agreement with the contractor of this investment was justified at the time by updating its assumptions, which was mainly due to the war in Ukraine and the related sanctions and thus expanding costs of materials, broken supply chains and limited availability of transportation resources.
At the end of March 2024, the fresh board of Orlen decided, after investigating for the failure of the group's assets in the petrochemical sector, that it would include in its financial statements for 2023 PLN 10.2 billion write-downs updating the value of fixed assets and fixed assets under construction due to the advanced investment costs in Olefiny III.
President Fąfara pointed out that there are theoretically 3 solutions for the future of Olefina III's investment. He said that in explanation in specified a situation an investment could be continued, stopped or led to a minute where it could be held for a while.
(PAP)/work. FA
