Poland's Tusk calls prosecutor over potential Orlen scandal (updated)
29/04/2024 12:41
(Adds quotes from Tusk and Obajtek, background)
WARSAW, April 29 (Reuters) - Poland's prime minister
said on Monday he had called the country's chief prosecutor and
secret services coordinator to discuss potential links between
former CEO of oil refiner Orlen, Daniel Obajtek, and Iran-backed
Lebanese group Hezbollah.
Obajtek responded on social media platform X that Prime
Minister Donald Tusk was "looking for scandals where there are
none".
State-controlled Orlen PKN.WA said last week it had
cancelled contracts signed by its Swiss trading unit OTS to buy
Venezuelan oil and refined products after losing around 1.6
billion zloty ($397 million) on prepayments for deliveries it
never received.
"Today I asked ... for a visit regarding a key issue for
state security: the billion-dollar loss and possible links with
Hezbollah of the former head of Orlen. Poles must know the
truth," Tusk wrote on X, referring to his requests to the chief
prosecutor and the secret services coordinator.
Orlen set up the Swiss-based trading business despite a
warning by its internal security unit that it would pose risks
of fraud and could expose the refiner to a breach of oil
sanctions, news website Onet reported on Monday.
Onet also said the former CEO of OTS, referred to as Samer
A. due to Polish privacy laws, was suspected by Orlen's internal
security unit of contacts with Hezbollah.
Orlen did not immediately reply to requests for comment on
the Onet report.
Onet quoted a statement by Obajtek that said the decision to
establish OTS was made by Orlen's whole 11-person management
board and was in line with its corporate governance procedures.
Samer A. has been charged in a separate probe with VAT
frauds between 2008-2013, a regional prosecutor in Bydgoszcz
said on Monday. He has been detained by police, questioned by a
prosecutor in February, and released on bail, the prosecutor
added.
Obajtek said in his post on X that Tusk's party was
concerned that Obajtek would run in upcoming elections to the
European Parliament with the support of the opposition Law &
Justice party.
($1 = 4.0340 zlotys)