As part of its restructuring plan, fuel refiner, wholesaler and retailer PKN Orlen has announced that it intends to sell 153 and rent 73 of its more than 2,000 fuel stations.
The value of the first 83 stations for sale is around PLN16.5m whilst the cost of building a new petrol station is around PLN3.8m.
Jarosław Tyc, the deputy MD of PKN Orlen and the person responsible for retail sales says that the company is disposing of these stations as they are loss making with annual sales less than one million litres. Therefore disposal is the only logical course.
However it would seem that most of these petrol stations are in areas which have little attractiveness for further investments and that the technical condition may well be past its best.
Clearly it will be hard to find buyers. Of the 53 stations put up for sale last month, only 22 buyers were found and of them eight pulled out.
Jarosław Tyc says that the company is aiming at selling 75 stations this year.
Around sixty to seventy percent of those offering to buy the stations are the current users.
So far this year the petrol concern has rented some 46 stations with eleven more to be offered this year.
Trade unions at PKN Orlen have protested against the sale as has the former head of CPN who argues that if the petrol stations do not produce profits then they should be liquidated and not sold, trying to convince another party that it is a good business.