Poland/Enterprises/Gas and Oil
Warsaw (Puls Biznesu) – The Polish organisation of oil industry and trade (POPiHN) gathering foreign fuel companies and Grupa Lotos accuses PKN Orlen fuel giant for dominating the sector of paid high-ways in Poland. ‘Along all paid high-ways there are fuel stations of only one operator, which brings the threat of monopoly’, Jacek Wroblewski, POPiHN general director said. He stressed that in abroad only every third or every fourth gas station may be operated by the same company. In his opinion, the tender conditions should be changed so that one company could not operate at neighbouring gas stations.
The authorities of Poland’s roads, GDDKiA say that they have no influence on the tenders organised by licence owners. Today, there are only two paid high-ways in Poland: Krakow-Katowice, 60-kilometer-long and Nowy Tomysl-Konin, 150-kilometre-long. In the latter, Autostrada Wielkopolska holds the licence, while PKN Orlen is its shareholder. ‘PKN Orlen offered the best conditions. Who will win in the upcoming tenders is an open issue’, Zofia Kwiatkowska, Autostrada Wielkopolska spokesperson said. There are only 10 gas stations at the two high-ways. But Jacek Wroblewski estimates that if the high-ways are built according to the plans, 50 new gas stations will be necessary in the next five years.