Orlen’s windfall tax payable for the period through the end of September comes to PLN 2.4 billion, company CEO Ireneusz Fąfara said Thursday. The group may spend less on capital investment this year than the PLN 36 billion it had planned.
“We generated a profit (…) that will allow us to comfortably meet the legal obligations under the windfall tax law, that is, to pay about PLN 2.4 billion in windfall tax for this period,” Fąfara said at a press conference.
Vice President Sławomir Jędrzejczyk added that the amount will be booked in the fourth quarter. He said estimates of the tax due for subsequent months will depend on the results generated during that time.
Jędrzejczyk also said Orlen may spend less on capital investment this year than the planned PLN 36 billion.
“I’ll warn right away that it’s November, and as a rule this target has been met (at a level of – PAP) minus 10%. So I can signal that this target may not be fully achieved, (…) it may be a bit lower,” the vice president noted.
In the first three quarters, Orlen’s capital expenditures reached PLN 22.5 billion.
Fąfara also addressed the possible introduction of a windfall tax in Lithuania. Lithuanian Prime Minister Mindaugas Sinkevičius announced Thursday that he had informed Orlen of plans to introduce a tax on the windfall profits of energy companies. Orlen told the Lithuanian government that further taxes would affect plans to invest in the company’s refinery in Mažeikiai, Lithuania.
“As we understand it, there are internal discussions in the government (of Lithuania – PAP) about our presence and the extent of the government’s involvement in our investment, because let me remind you that the government committed to a certain degree of co-participation in this investment, in the manner permitted by European regulations. And of course, we can’t forget the windfall tax context. We are following this internal discussion with interest. We will respond accordingly, depending on the solutions adopted by the Lithuanian government,” the Orlen CEO said.
On Tuesday, Orlen CEO Ireneusz Fąfara told PAP Biznes that the company is analyzing whether it makes sense to invest in modernizing the Mažeikiai refinery, and that the alternative is closing the plant.
Orlen said Thursday that its consolidated net profit after three quarters of this year came to more than PLN 21.4 billion, up by more than PLN 13.6 billion from a year earlier. In the third quarter alone, the group had a net profit of PLN 5.6 billion.
In early October, President Karol Nawrocki signed the law on the tax on excess profits of fuel companies and referred it to the Constitutional Tribunal under so-called follow-up review. In July, the president referred a similar law to the Constitutional Tribunal, at that time under so-called preventive review.
Revenue from the tax is meant to finance the third stage of the Ceny Paliwa Niżej (CPN, or Lower Fuel Prices) package, which aims to limit price increases at gas stations and lower the cost of filling up for drivers. The law opened the way for a temporary reduction of excise tax and VAT on liquid fuels.
The new rules provide for a 60% tax on excess profits from the sale of liquid fuels earned from March 1, 2026, to March 31, 2027, by fuel-producing companies and by entities holding a license for trading fuels with foreign countries.
The tax base will be revenue in excess of the level resulting from the historical margin achieved in 2025, increased by 20%. Lawmakers set a minimum reference margin of 2%, and for companies that do not produce fuels, the amount of tax may not exceed 50% of income or net profit.
Orlen and its subsidiaries form a multi-energy group that owns refineries in Poland, the Czech Republic and Lithuania, as well as a network of gas stations, including in Germany, Slovakia, Hungary and Austria. It is also developing its crude oil and natural gas production, petrochemical and power generation segments, including from renewable energy sources. It also plans to develop nuclear power based on small modular reactors (SMRs). (PAP)
