The Polish Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK), which implements antimonopoly regulations in the country, has conditionally approved the merger between the oil group PKN Orlen and the gas company PGNiG. Most notably, PGNiG will have to relinquish control over its Gas Storage Poland unit, to ensure that competition on the Polish gas market is not restricted.
PKN Orlen (State Treasury 27.5%, Nationale Nederlanden 7%, Aviva 6.6%) is active in oil production, transportation (it operates 1,900 km of oil pipelines in Poland, including 930 km for crude oil and 960 km for oil products), refining (16 Mt/year Plock refinery and 53% indirect stake in Grupa Lotos' 10.5 Mt/year Gdansk refinery), wholesale of oil products (15 Mt sold in Poland in 2020) and retail (1,830 service stations, i.e., 1/4 of the market in March 2021, plus 700 stations held by Grupa Lotos (9%). PKN Orlen is also active in the electricity sector and is one of the largest gas consumers in Poland. PGNiG is active in production, import, storage, distribution and sale of gas. It is the largest gas wholesaler and retailer in Poland, accounting for 84% of domestic supply in 2020 and for 73% of the volumes sold on the wholesale market); it also controls the six main gas distribution companies in the country.
In May 2021, the Polish Ministry of State Assets, the oil refiner and retailer PKN Orlen (32.4% state-owned), the national oil and gas company PGNiG (71.9% state-owned) and the oil refiner Grupa LOTOS (53.2% state-owned) signed a four-party agreement providing for a merger formula between the three energy groups.