Five Orlen managers charged over cheap fuel before the 2023 elections

Prosecutors accuse five current and former Orlen executives of artificially lowering fuel prices before the 2023 parliamentary elections. According to investigators, this was a gross breach of procedures that cost Orlen more than 4.1 billion zloty in losses. The defendants face up to 25 years.

Orlen controls about 60% of Poland's fuel market. At the end of August 2023, a little over a month before the elections, the company began sharply cutting prices: by early October the wholesale price of petrol had fallen by almost 12.7%, and at stations by about 10%. At the same time oil was getting dearer and the zloty was weakening.

The elections were held on 15 October 2023, and a few days later prices went up again.