FT: Ban on Russian oil supplies costs PKN Orlen millions of dollars a day

The ban on Russian oil supplies is costing Polish refiner PKN Orlen millions of dollars a day. The company says it is struggling to find alternative supplies for its Czech refinery in Litvínov, the Financial Times (FT) reports on its website. According to the Polish company’s CEO, Daniel Obajtek, anti-Russian sanctions should be stricter.

Obajtek says the company is losing about 27 million dollars (nearly 573 million Kč) a day. He attributes this to a price difference of about 30 dollars per barrel between cheaper Russian oil and alternative supplies.

„I wouldn’t call it a loss: it’s about not supporting Russia,“ Obajtek told the British newspaper.

„These are market costs and apply to every company that does not import oil from Russia,“ he said.

He added, however, that his company still uses Russian oil delivered through the Druzhba network to its Czech refinery in Litvínov, which has not yet been subject to sanctions, despite the government in Warsaw pushing for tougher EU sanctions against Moscow.