Orlen may delay Polkomtel, Anwil exits-report

Poland's leading refiner PKN Orlen PKNA.WA may delay the sale of its stake in mobile operator Polkomtel and petrochemicals arm Anwil due to weak market condtions, its chief executive was quoted as saying on Monday.

State news agency PAP quoted Jacek Krawiec as saying in Orlen's internal bi-weekly magazine it would be hard to get a satisfactory price for these assets this year.

"Due to the current situation Polkomtel and Anwil sales are in question," Krawiec said. "As we have often said, the exits will happen only if we receive attractive prices, and that could be difficult this year."

Orlen recently raised its stake in Poland's No. 2 cellphone operator Polkomtel to nearly 25 percent from 19.6 percent, but reiterated that it was determined to ultimately exit the investment.

Other shareholders of Polkomtel include copper miner KGHM KGHM.WA, unlisted energy producer PGE, and British mobile giant Vodafone (VOD.L).

Analysts say Vodafone, which also increased its Polkomtel stake, would be a natural buyer in case any of the Polish shareholders were to exit.

Orlen has an 85 percent stake at chemical maker Anwil.

The company's shares were flat in late afternoon trade, while Warsaw's WIG20 index .WIG20 rose 1.9 percent.
Source: By Patryk Wasilewski,Rupert Winchester
/uk.reuters.com

PKN Q4 results hit by cheap oil, weak zloty-paper

Poland's top oil refiner PKN Orlen's PKNA.WA results in the fourth quarter were negatively impacted by lower oil prices and weaker zloty, the company's CEO Jacek Krawiec was quoted as saying on Tuesday.

Krawiec also said the company which now owns 90 percent of Mazeikiu Nafta, a Lithuanian refiner, may seek an investment partner for Mazeikiu if the plant's efficiency does not improve.

"I can't rule out that we'll be forced to seek an investment partner (for Mazeikiu)... This is a hypothesis for the event that other instruments of lifting efficiency fail," Krawiec told daily Rzeczpospolita in an interview.

Source: By Kuba Jaworowski,Hans Peters
reuters.com

PKN places two offers for Lithuanian oil terminal

Poland's leading refiner PKN Orlen PKNA.WA filed made two proposals that could give it control of the Lithuanian Klaipedos (KNF1L.VL) oil terminal, the company's chief executive Jacek Krawiec said on Friday.

The Lithuanian government, which controls the terminal, will decide on the offers in January, Lithuania's Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius said.

"We want to get either a minority stake with operational control right, or a majority stake," Krawiec told a press briefing. "It makes no difference to us (which option Lithuanian government choses)."

PKN Orlen, which already controls Lithuanian refinery Mazeikiu, has suffered a blow after Russian crude supplies to the refiner via the Druzhba pipeline were choked off.

This forced it to ship crude via the offshore terminal in the Baltic Sea at higher cost. Mazeikiu also exports 60 percent of its output via sea routes and the Klaipedos terminal would help it cut down on transport expenditures.
Source: By Nerijous Adomaitis, Patryk Wasilewski Andrew Callus, reuters.com

Unions at Poland's PKN Orlen walk away from 9 pct pay offer

Pay talks at Poland's largest oil refiner PKN Orlen have collapsed, with unions walking away from its latest offer of a 9 pct pay rise, the company said in a statement today.

'During the negotiations, the board decided to offer unions a extraordinarily advantageous proposal,' the company said. 'The proposed sum was a rise of more than 9 pct, given average monthly wages at PKN Orlen of 6,100 zlotys.'

The company said it was obliged by Polish law only to negotiate with unions until March 10 and to give workers only a 3.5 pct pay rise in line with average inflation.

But it said it was still prepared to raise wages by 9 pct if unions come back to the table. Average wages at PKN Orlen are more than double the national average wage, according to statistics office figures.

Trade unions at PKN earlier filed for a 10.5 pct pay rise this year, threatening the company with strikes should their demands be rejected.
Source: By Adrian Krajewski,
forbes.com

Poland's government has not plan to sell stakes in PKN Orlen, Lotos - treasury

WARSAW (Thomson Financial) - Poland's new government, which took power earlier this month, has no plans to sell stakes in the country's two oil companies PKN Orlen and Grupa Lotos due to concerns over energy security, treasury minister was quoted as saying in an interview for Gazeta Wyborcza newspaper.

Aleksander Grad told the daily the government will sell its remaining stake in the press distributor Ruch next year and float the country's national airline LOT. It also plans to complete the sale of Poland's power companies in next four years.

'When it comes to Lotos and Orlen the government plan doesn't foresee their further privatisation,' Grad was quoted as saying. 'Due to the energy security of the country I would be very cautious about disposing of stakes in these companies.'

The state controls 27.5 pct of PKN Orlen and 52 pct of Lotos. The previous conservative government planned to merge refiners in a bid to bolster their position against foreign oil majors.

Source: By Piotr Skolimowski (Thomson Financial)