Poland’s state-controlled fuel giant, PKN Orlen, is purchasing the Polska Press publishing house, which is currently owned by a German media company.
Daniel Obajtek, the CEO of PKN Orlen, announced on Monday on social media, that “we are taking over the Polska Press publishing house. Thanks to the transaction, we will gain access to 17.4 million website users.” Obajtek said that the takeover will “allow us to effectively support sales and develop big data tools, key resources in the context of the planned development of the retail network.”
Polska Press, part of the German Verlagsgruppe Passau media group, owns 20 out of 24 regional dailies published in Poland and nearly 120 local weeklies, according to Polish media outlet TVP Info . A map of local papers owned by Polska Press. “In 2019, the publishing house generated revenues reaching over $100 million. The group’s portfolio also includes 500 websites, which makes it the leader in web-based information and journalism” PKN Orlen wrote in the press release announcing the purchase. “Polska Press has a knowledge base about customer preferences, conducted transactions in relation to 60 percent of Polish Internet users. Thanks to this data, the Orlen Group will be able to create new business models that will allow for better geographical coverage and match rival offers to target groups of customers,” the company added. Jan Mosiński, PiS MP This will have positive consequences. Until now the papers owned by this group were in German hands. The move was praised by Jan Mosiński, an MP from the ruling Law and Justice (PiS), who told TVP Info that “this will have positive consequences. Until now, the papers owned by this group were in German hands”.
The German press has long been criticized for interfering in Polish elections and publishing scandalous press reports, many of which tried to paint Polish conservatives in a negative light .
“The ruling Law and Justice party has for years been talking about the need to ‘re-Polonize’ the media market and end the over-concentration of its ownership,” stated Mosiński. The PiS MP said he hoped that “thanks to a change in ownership, local communities would gain access to a narrative supportive of Polish rather than foreign interests”.
The PiS MP also praised Obajtek for being an effective manager of Orlen who always delivered on his promises and hit the company’s business targets.
