Detentions and the 2023 price suppression probe

Officers from Poland's Internal Security Agency detained five current and former Orlen executives during dawn operations on 5 October 2026. The detainees include Michał R., who served on the state-controlled energy group's management board between 2018 and 2024, alongside four high-ranking managers. Prosecutors from the organised crime division of the National Prosecutor's Office in Łódź presented formal charges regarding the artificial suppression of wholesale fuel prices between August and November 2023. The investigation originated in January 2024 under the District Prosecutor's Office before transfer to national prosecutors, who subsequently forwarded corporate data to expert witnesses. An internal Orlen audit released in December 2024 calculated that below-market pricing inflicted financial losses reaching 3 billion PLN on the company.

Pump breakdown directives and depleted reserves

Investigators focused on retail management decisions made during the autumn 2023 parliamentary election campaign. On 6 September 2023, Orlen introduced an internal procedure instructing filling station personnel to report dispenser malfunctions rather than reveal that fuel supplies had run out. Justice Minister and Prosecutor General Waldemar Żurek stated that artificial wholesale discounts drained strategic fuel reserves and caused actual shortages at more than 600 Orlen service stations across the country. Żurek described the campaign-period price intervention as asset stripping against the state designed to benefit the governing party.

“An internal procedure took effect ordering station personnel to report a dispenser breakdown instead of informing customers about a lack of fuel. All of Poland saw that criminal actions by several individuals at a key state-owned company led to a situation where over 600 Orlen stations ran out of fuel.”

Obajtek and PiS politicians reject accusations

Former Orlen chief executive Daniel Obajtek dismissed the charges as political retribution against managers who kept retail prices below 6 PLN per litre. Obajtek stated that the pricing policy represented standard commercial practice aimed at maximising sales volume through lower unit margins, adding that consumer protection regulator UOKiK identified no irregularities. Corporate disclosures indicate Obajtek earned 1,398,000 PLN in 2022, 1,672,000 PLN in 2023, and 651,000 PLN for his final six weeks before leaving office on 5 February 2024. Former Minister of State Assets Jacek Sasin told Radio ZET that the current government ordered the detentions to distract the public from higher fuel costs after failing to deliver promised 5.19 PLN fuel.

“The Office of Competition and Consumer Protection found no irregularities at that time. These were normal business activities. This is volume maximisation through a lower unit price, and Orlen carried out such actions continuously.”

Parliamentary reactions and retail market conditions

Civic Coalition parliamentarians Dariusz Joński and Michał Szczerba asserted that instructions to reduce prices originated from Law and Justice party headquarters on Nowogrodzka Street to boost polling numbers. Szczerba added that depleting strategic reserves compromised fuel supplies required by the Polish military in crisis scenarios. Publicist Wiktor Świetlik criticised the justice minister for publicly declaring executives guilty before trial while previously defending the presumption of innocence in other cases. Energy Minister Miłosz Motyka announced that retail fuel prices should ease shortly, noting that Saudi Arabia supplies 50% of Poland's crude oil and that the East-West pipeline has resumed operations. Motyka cited daily price ceilings of 6.86 PLN for 95-octane petrol, 7.74 PLN for 98-octane petrol, and 7.80 PLN for diesel.

Pb956.86

Pb987.74

Diesel7.8

Pb95

6.86 PLN/l

Pb98

7.74 PLN/l

Diesel

7.8 PLN/l

Data from the article text