“It was just a percentage of spending without any glitz.” Orlen's lawsuit against the former management board

A former member of the company's Supervisory Board testified before the District Court in Łódź, in a lawsuit brought by Orlen against former management board members for the refund of money spent on company credit cards. He assessed that the representation expenses were “symbolic” in the budget, and the vice president's expenses were beyond doubt.

Attorney Adam Flaszewski, Orlen's attorney, explaining in an interview with PAP the reason for filing a lawsuit against the former president of Orlen, Daniel Obajtek, and vice-president of the company, Michał Rog, said that the lawsuits concern determining expenses from company management cards. Orlen is demanding a refund of almost PLN 159,000. PLN from Obajtek and 600 thousand PLN from Rog.

– These are various types of expenses, including: from business credit cards. The plaintiff's position is that these expenses were not justified and were not of an official nature. They were of a different nature, not official, and therefore did not qualify for financing by the company, said attorney Flaszewski.

On Tuesday, before the District Court in Łódź, he testified, among others, former member of the company's Supervisory Board.

– The representation expenses described in the reports were a percentage of all costs – maybe one hundredth. They were within the approved budgets, and the reports did not raise any doubts. We also knew about the expenses on gifts and gadgets, and each management board member had a stipulated reimbursement of representation expenses in the contract. There was no specified maximum amount for these expenses, the witness testified.

When asked by Judge Katarzyna Barańska whether the expenses of the defendant, the then vice-president of Orlen, Michał Rog, were of particular interest to the Supervisory Board, the witness denied it. He also said that he is sensitive to excessive glitter, but during his work at Orlen he never encountered excessive spending by the vice president.

The court was interested in the method of reporting representation expenses. The witness explained that twice a year the supervisory board received a report on expenses divided into categories – gifts, trips, meetings, legal services, representation and sports sponsorship. When questioned, he admitted that these were summary lists, because – as he testified – “if we had a list of all invoices, probably none of the council members would have time to read them all.”

– When I had any doubts, I simply went to the president and asked. I thought that since we were spending money, I wanted to know how these rules were being followed. That's why I went abroad several times to, as a member of the supervisory board, observe how the money was used – added the witness.

The judge asked about the purpose of meetings and business trips (including trips to Las Vegas, Mexico and the UAE) and the witness explained that it is difficult to imagine running a business without getting to know the people with whom you do business. – Building relationships also means building some kind of trust before you start a business – said the witness.

Judge Katarzyna Barańska postponed the trial against Michał Rog until March next year, at the same time obliging the defendant to submit a list of evidence requests, including witnesses that the defendant would like to hear in court, within 21 days. The next hearing in the trial against Daniel Obajtek is scheduled for April 2026.

Orlen filed lawsuits against former members of the company's management board, Daniel Obajtek and Michał Rog, in December 2024. The company is demanding the return of money that was supposed to be used for private purposes, e.g. visits to hotels and restaurants. Both civil trials are pending before the District Court in Łódź. Attorney Dominik Hunek, attorney of the defendants in both lawsuits, told PAP that in both cases he requests the dismissal of the lawsuit. (PAP)

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