EU antitrust regulators scrutinize planned Polish refining merger

摘要

PKN Orlen operates the 326K-b/d Plock facility,and Grupa Lotos operates the 120K-b/d Gdansk site-the only two refineries in Poland.Both companies also have downstream operations in Estonia,Latvia,Lithuania,the Czech Republic,and Slovakia,and they arc the only bitumen suppliers to these countries.The European Commission(EC)is concerned that PKN's plan to acquire an initial 33% stake in its domestic rival,eventually taking possession of the entire company,will reduce competition and result in higher prices.The EU antitrust enforcer noted that imports would offer a merged PKN-Lotos limited competition in the Polish market and that the potential company would be the only jet fuel supplier for domestic airports and would be at least four times larger than any rivals in the retail sector.The EC plans to make a decision on the planned merger by Dec.13.