Europol Gaz, by the decision of the Minister of Development and Technology, will become the owner of the company’s shares previously belonging to PAO Gazprom. Meanwhile, according to the decision of the President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection, control over the Europol Gaz Transit Pipeline System will be taken over by ORLEN.
“The takeover of PAO Gazprom shares by Europol Gaz and the assumption of control over the Transit Pipeline System by ORLEN will have a fundamental meaning for the public interest and the security of our country, not only in energy terms. Poland has been dependent on natural gas supplies from Russia for decades. Even 10 years ago, they constituted about 80 percent of the import of this raw material. Gazprom has used gas supplies for many years as a tool for exerting political pressure on Poland and other countries in the region. This has changed. From 2022, we are 100 percent independent of gas from Russia. ORLEN currently has fully diversified sources of this raw material supply, which it is constantly developing. Thanks to this, in the perspective of the coming winter, as well as in the following years, gas consumers in Poland are protected. Today’s decision is another step towards restoring full control of Polish entities over the country’s strategic gas infrastructure,” says Daniel Obajtek, CEO of ORLEN.
The takeover by Europol Gaz of the company’s shares, which previously belonged to PAO Gazprom, will be the result of a sequence of decisions taken by the Minister of the Interior and Administration and the Minister of Development and Technology, based on the provisions of the Act of April 13, 2022, on special solutions in the field of counteracting support for aggression against Ukraine and serving to protect national security (so-called sanctions law).
The first was the decision of the Minister of the Interior and Administration to include PAO Gazprom on the Polish sanctions list and to freeze PAO Gazprom’s financial assets, including securities. Then, under the sanctions law, the Minister of Development and Technology established a temporary compulsory management over the shares belonging to PAO Gazprom. The temporary compulsory management established over PAO Gazprom encompassed all shares in Europol Gaz belonging to PAO Gazprom and was necessary for the further functioning of Europol Gaz. According to the procedure provided for in the sanctions law, the Minister of Development and Technology then issued a decision, based on which, after it has finally been validated, Europol Gaz will become the owner of the company’s shares, previously belonging to PAO Gazprom.
ORLEN, so far, owned 48 percent of Europol Gaz’s shares. According to the applicable regulations, ORLEN had previously notified the President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection of its intention to concentrate by acquiring exclusive control over Europol Gaz.
On October 9, 2023, the President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection, after conducting an antitrust proceeding, issued a decision expressing consent to the concentration consisting of ORLEN taking control over the Europol Gaz Transit Pipeline System.
