Illegal construction on the bank of the Oder. The gigantic fuel depot was built without permits

The fuel base, which has been under construction for several months in the Podjuchy district of Szczecin, on the bank of the Oder, turned out to be an unauthorized construction project. The District Construction Supervision Inspector issued a decision to suspend the work. The investor, Oktan Energy & V/L Service, wants to legalize the construction.

Seven tanks for a total of 161,000. cubic meters fuel was located at ul. Szklana, on the bank of the Eastern Oder (Regalica), close to the Szczecin Podjuchy railway station. The investor is Oktan Energy & V/L Service, which sells, transports and stores fuels. The increasingly advanced construction of huge structures (five tanks are to be almost 28 m high and have a capacity of 32,000 cubic meters; two will be smaller) has attracted the interest of local residents. They reported the matter to the District Construction Supervision Inspectorate. It turned out that the investment was started at the end of 2025 without a building permit.

– I don't remember such unauthorized construction work, and I have been working at PINB since the beginning of the Inspectorate's existence, i.e. since 1999 – Mariusz Czasnojć, head of the PINB jurisprudence and legal department in Szczecin, told PAP on Thursday.

He explained that PINB inspectors carried out inspections on March 18 and April 7 this year. – The most important findings were that the construction of fuel base tanks at ul. Szklana is being built without a decision on a building permit, stressed Czasnojć.

In an interview with PAP, he admitted that he was surprised that such a large facility was being built without documentation and administrative decisions. Czasnojć informed that on March 23, a decision was issued by PINB to suspend the works. The document was delivered on March 30. On the same day, the investor submitted an application for “legalization of the facility in question”, and on April 13, another decision of PINB “obliged the investor to submit legalization documents for the construction facility”.

– Legalization of construction works is possible provided that legalization documents are submitted (Article 48b of the Construction Law) and payment of the legalization fee – Czasnojć noted. He added that for such a large facility, the amount could amount to millions of zlotys.

Czasnojć explained that in order to resume works, the investor should obtain a decision from PINB approving the design documentation and allowing the resumption of works. Previously, he must obtain the so-called wuzetka, i.e. conditions of development and land development.

Referring to the provisions of the Construction Law, Czasnojć noted that a PINB decision on demolition may also be issued, e.g. if the investor does not submit an application for legalization, does not pay the legalization fee or continues construction despite the PINB's decision to suspend it.

On Wednesday evening, the controversial investment was discussed during an extraordinary meeting of the Podjuchy Housing Estate Council, attended by several dozen residents, three representatives of Oktan Energy and city councilors: Maria Bohuń, Małgorzata Wleklak, Roman Herczyński (KO), Marek Duklanowski and Krzysztof Romianowski (PiS).

– We started construction, yes, without a building permit – admitted Cezary Krzysik, technical director of Oktan Energy. – We were pressed for time – he added when asked by residents.

He emphasized that the company obtained (December 4, 2025) the so-called environmental decision regarding the investment. He assured that in April this year, after the PINB decision, the work was suspended. He informed that the contractor for the tanks is Mostostal Płock, which has experience in the construction of such structures. He assured that the fuel base design is ready (but has not been submitted to PINB and Szczecin City Hall). When asked by residents why one of the five cranes was working at the construction site on Wednesday, he stated that the area was being secured and materials already contracted were being collected.

Krzysik emphasized that the construction of fuel storage facilities is aimed at increasing Poland's security. He informed that the reservoirs planned in Podjuchy will be used by the Government Agency of Strategic Reserves.

Residents responded that the fuel base could be built “in the field”, and not 200 meters from residential buildings. They reminded that the areas along the Odra River are covered by the Natura 2000 program. They pointed out the nuisance associated with fuel transport and the risk of fire, explosion, etc. Residents of the estate stated that they did not trust a company that carried out an investment of such a scale without permits.

Councilor Duklanowski assessed, taking into account the width of the plots on which the tanks are being built, the intensity and nature of the surrounding development, that the investor “would not be able to break through the wuzetka”.

Duklanowski and the residents of Podjuchy asked whether the owner of Oktan Energy & V/L Service is the “same” Iwona Bobrek, who for years was the director of the financial management department of the Municipal Office. Oktan Energy representatives did not provide a clear answer on this matter.

At the beginning of 2025, Bobrek's retirement from UM was announced. According to the entries in the National Court Register, a person with the same name and surname and the same age took over on February 10 last year. all shares of Oktan Energy & V/L Service.

In response to PAP's questions about the company's ownership structure, the Oktan Energy secretariat referred to “publicly available documents and registers”. He refused to provide information about the financing of the investment in Podjuchy, explaining it as a “trade secret” and “contractual obligations”. The Secretariat informed that “all construction works in the area of ​​the investment in question have been suspended and are not being carried out in any way as of the date of this response.”

Oktan Energy's statement was summarized with the information that “the company is a party to ongoing administrative proceedings related to the implementation of the investment in question and actively participates in these procedures, cooperating with the relevant public administration authorities.” “Due to the nature of these proceedings, their course and applicable legal regulations, the Company does not provide detailed information or comment on their progress until they are completed. This approach results from the need to ensure the correct and uninterrupted course of administrative procedures,” it added.

According to the National Court Register, Iwona Bobrek holds shares in several companies with which he was associated, among others: Jan Edward Bobrek. An entrepreneur called the “fuel baron” appeared as a witness before the Sejm commission, which in 2004-2005 investigated the so-called Orlen scandal. In the so-called trial, which has been ongoing before the District Court in Krakow for several years, fuel mafia, in which 18 people were accused of, among others, VAT fraud and money laundering, he was acquitted.

In 2025, Iwona Bobrek debuted in the ranking of the weekly “Wprost”, which placed her 6th on the list of the Richest Polish Women, estimating her fortune at PLN 1.91 billion.

Oktan Energy presents itself on its website as a company that has been involved in the transport and sale of liquid fuels since 1997. It has barges and ships for transporting fuel, tankers and a fuel terminal. It offers storage and reloading services and has a fuel base in the port of Szczecin.

Tomasz Maciejewski (PAP)

tma/ aop/ mick/ mhr/