Poland detains oil executives in corporate crackdown

WARSAW: A former chief executive of Poland’s largest refiner was detained as the country’s populist government presses a widening crackdown on corporate leaders.

PKN Orlen SA, the country’s largest company, is the latest to become entangled in a string of recent investigations into Poland’s corporate elite – a campaign that aligns with a major plank of the ruling Law & Justice party’s anti-corruption message before the 2015 election.

The sweeping inquiries have recently snared current and former executives at copper miner KGHM Polska Miedz SA, refiner Grupa Lotos SA, chemicals maker Zaklady Chemiczne Police SA and weapons manufacturer Polska Grupa Zbrojeniowa.

A man only identified as Jacek K, who led Orlen in 2008-2015, was detained on Tuesday along with two other unidentified executives on suspicion of mismanaging procurement, prosecutors in Warsaw said in a statement on their website.

Polish law makes it illegal to reveal surnames of detainees without their permission and the executives or their representatives haven’t commented.

Orlen in an email said it’s cooperating with authorities.

Shortly after taking power, the government replaced almost all managers at state-owned companies and accused former executives of lavish spending.

Over the last three years, the speed of leadership changes has accelerated, with some companies being led by as many as six people in what some saw as a sign of the destabilising effect of intra-party battles. Corporate groups have also warned about the uncertainty created by the high-profile detentions, which in some cases were thrown out by courts.

“Authorities should take into account that so-called showcase arrests of economic leaders have a negative impact on businesses, including state-controlled companies, whose operations are based on public trust and authority,” the lobby group Business Centre Club said in a statement.

“Spectacular and especially unjustified detentions, undermine the confidence of the state institutions and expose them to being ridiculed.”

For the government and its supporters, the detentions are a logical extension of their campaign promises. Law & Justice maintains a wide lead in opinion polls as the country prepares for parliamentary elections this fall.