In late February, PKN Orlen announced that Russia stopped supplying oil to Poland, and while the company’s CEO said the oil could be substituted, the company is now suing Russia for breach of contract.
Daniel Obajtek, CEO of PKN Orlen, responded at the time to the cut-off by saying that Russia was supplying only 10 percent of Poland’s oil needs and that these imports could be replaced.
The Russian supplies in question were transmitted through the Druzhba pipeline network linking Siberia to Central Europe. The fact that these supplies have been stopped means Poland is no longer in receipt of any oil from Russia.
During an interview with commercial radio Zet, Obajtek revealed on Monday that Orlen would sue the Russians for cutting the oil flow. He pointed to the fact that the flow was stopped just days after President Joe Biden’s visit to Poland.
Orlen’s CEO also said his company did not break the contract with the Russian supplier to stop importing oil because Poland was still locked into long-term contracts and would face penalties if it broke them.
He said his company had moved decisively in the direction of diversification over the past six years, as evidenced by its partnership with Saudi Arabia’s Saudi Aramco.
Obajtek said that the long-term contracts to which Orlen was still tied were signed by the previous Orlen CEO during the time of the last liberal government.
One of these contracts ended in January of this year, and the other is still valid until 2024. Had Orlen broken it, Russia would still have had to be paid, explained the company’s CEO.
