Orlen has to be able to compete effectively not only in Poland, because it is doing very well on the home market already, but also on the European markets, said Jacek Sasin, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State Assets, on Polish Radio.

The “new Orlen”, created after a merger of PKN Orlen, Lotos and PGNiG, is to be a new economic entity that will be controlled by the State Treasury. The assumption of the new entity is to be competitive on the fuel and energy market in Europe.

Jacek Sasin pointed out that Orlen must prepare for the serious challenges it faces, mostly concerning energy transformation.

“The company must switch to searching for new energy sources in place of those that will be withdrawn from the market due to the EU climate policy. All fossil fuels, coal, and crude oil are today fuels that have no future,” stressed the Deputy Prime Minister.

“To do it effectively, Orlen must be a strong company with great investment potential, that is, simply speaking, with huge funds that it will allocate for these expenditures. Orlen, reinforced by Lotos and PGNiG, will be able to face these challenges,” he added.

Earlier announcements indicated that the Orlen-PGNiG merger process would end at the end of this year. However, the process of integrating Orlen and Lotos will take longer. The Minister of State Assets announced that this procedure would be completed no later than in the first half of 2022.