Ten years ago, namely on 9th June 2006, Lithuanian side has signed the documents of the sale of ‘Mažeikių Nafta’ company to the Polish concern ‘PKN Orlen’. The company has been functioning as ‘Orlen Lietuva’ since 2009.

‘Orlen Lietuva’ - largest, most important company
‘Orlen Lietuva’ is one of the largest foreign investments in the history of Lithuania. It is the largest company in Lithuania in terms of incomes too. The company is also the largest tax payer and exporter. ‘Orlen Lietuva’ is the largest employer in Lithuania and certainly is one of the most important enterprises in the country, generating, according to estimates of economists, 3.5% of gross domestic product. The company is also responsible for significant revenues of many Lithuanian companies, including Lithuanian Railways, and is the largest business partner of ‘Klaipėdos Nafta’. The company also offers the highest average salary in the country.

Numerous innovations introduced on the Lithuanian market
Representatives of the ‘Mažeikių Nafta’ were awarded two medals at the Presidential Palace in Vilnius in 2006. Golden one for diesel with fatty acid methyl esters and silver one for petrol with tert-butyl methyl ether. Fuel additives of biological origin allow to reduce environmental pollution and provide better fuel properties. The company was then awarded in the framework of the ‘Product of the Year‘ competition organized by the Lithuanian Confederation of Industrialists.

One year later the company was again awarded in the competition ‘Product of the Year 2007‘. Then it was for the gasoline with ethanol. Also in 2007 ‘Mažeikių Nafta’ was awarded the title of the ‘Exporter of the Year 2006‘ in Lithuania. This success was repeated later too.

The most important player of the Lithuanian economy
‘Orlen Lietuva’ - the biggest company in Lithuania with the Polish capital - has been the largest tax payer for years.

In 2007, the company has paid to the Lithuanian state budget 802.8 million litas, in 2010 – 1.07 billion litas, in 2011 - 1 279.2 billion litas, and in 2012 even more – 1.337 billion litas. In 2013 the amount of taxes paid to the state budget amounted to 1 405.9 billion litas, and in 2014 - 1 327.8 billion litas. Last year (2015) it was 309.76 million euro.

Fuel tycoon is not only an entity paying the largest amount of taxes to the state budget. Of great importance is also the fact that there is a huge gap between the amount that ‘Orlen Lietuva’ pays to the state budget and the amount which in terms of taxes is paid by other major taxpayers. ‘PHILIP MORRIS BALTIC‘, for example, which was on the second place in the ranking of the largest taxpayers last year, paid 188 million euro to the budget. This is almost twice less than ‘Orlen Lietuva’, which paid almost 310 million euro. Similar situation occurred also earlier.

‘Orlen Lietuva’ employs almost 1200 people. It has to be noted that analysts estimate that every workplace at the refinery corresponds to 20 jobs in the cooperating companies. It means that ‘Orlen Lietuva’ creates as much as 25 000 workplaces in the Lithuanian economy.

Financial results
At the beginning of 2016, the company informed that the net profit generated in 2015 amounted to 237 million US dollars. It is a very good result, especially having in mind the fact that the company recorded a loss of 119 million US dollars in 2014. 2015 was the best year for the company since 2006.

Giant of the Baltic region
‘Orlen Lietuva’ is the main supplier of petroleum products to the Lithuanian, Latvian and Estonian markets, and the only oil refinery in the Baltic States. Moreover, Lithuanian company of the Polish oil concern also leads the ranking of the largest companies in Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia.

Socially responsible company
‘Orlen Lietuva’ is a socially responsible entity applying environmentally friendly solutions. In 2008 the company joined the project ‘Environmentally friendly petrol station‘. Pollution reducing devices were deployed at the stations belonging to the company.

The company has partially funded the participation of the Lithuanian national basketball team during the Olympic Games in Beijing in 2008 and in 2009 ‘Orlen Lietuva’ was considered to be the biggest sponsor of Lithuanian basketball in the history. In 2008 the financial support granted by ‘Orlen Lietuva’ enabled more viewers in Lithuania to see the movie "Katyń" by Andrzej Wajda.

The company was also the initiator of the charity event ‘Warm up the souls‘. During the event, the company cared for hot meals for those in need of aid, for presents for children from poor families during the Christmas period. The company also partially funded Christmas events in Mažeikiai, participated in the costs of setting the town Christmas tree and organized Christmas fun for residents.

‘Orlen Lietuva’ is an important part of the Mažeikiai society and neighbouring municipalities. It feels responsible to increase the integration of the inhabitants of this part of the country and cares about their well-being. Already at the beginning of its functioning in 2006 the company donated 108 computers to several schools; it also handed prize money for the best secondary school graduates in the Mažeikiai district and even funded prizes for the best participants of the Lithuanian Language Olympics from the Mažeikiai district.

Fuel stations
‘Orlen’ retail network in Lithuania has 35 fuel stations, including 26 of their own and 9 in the franchise. The company ‘Orlen Lietuva’ supports pipeline system of a length of approx. 500 km.

Values
‘Ethical business conduct is fundamental for PKN Orlen,‘ said Wojciech Jasiński, President of the ‘PKN ORLEN’ Management, after the announcement of the verdict of an international team of experts of the American Ethisphere Institute, which granted the company the prestigious title of the most ethical company in the world for the third time this year. ‘PKN Orlen’ is the only company in the region that was awarded such a title. When assessing particular companies, experts take into account, inter alia, such fields as corporate governance, social responsibility, human capital building, and solutions for the development of innovation.

In the second half of 2014, just a few months before the introduction of euro in Lithuania, ‘Orlen Lietuva’ signed the memorandum of good business practices during the introduction of euro at the headquarters of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania. The company voluntarily committed to ensure fair conversion of prices from litas to euro and not to use the fact of the new currency introduction as an excuse to raise prices for goods and services. ‘Voluntary participation in the campaign of fair conversion of prices is the proof of the maturity and responsibility of business towards its consumers,‘ said Rasa Noreikienė, Vice-Minister of the Economy in Lithuania during the ceremony of signing the memorandum.

History of the Polish investment in Lithuania
Several potential buyers from Russia, Kazakhstan and Poland showed interest in acquiring the refinery in 2006 due to the ‘Yukos’ bankrupt. After several months of talks the proposal from Polish company ‘PKN Orlen’ was found as most lucrative and chosen. On 9th June 2006 the then Minister of Economy of Lithuania Kęstutis Daukšys and Vice Minister of Economy Nerijus Eidukevičius signed the sale documents. The investment was finalized on 15th December 2006. ‘Orlen’ bought 84.36 percent of Mažeikiai refinery shares (30.66% from the Lithuanian state and 53.7% from ‘Yukos‘) and paid 2.34 billion US dollars. Later ‘PKN ORLEN’ bought shares from minority shareholders and owned 90.02% of ‘Mažeikių Nafta’ shares. In 2009 ‘Orlen’ became the owner of ‘Mažeikių nafta‘ (100%) which then became ‘Orlen Lietuva‘.

Success
It is not easy to generate profit. It is even more difficult to build a renowned, recognizable brand, reputation of the company that is socially responsible and applies great values and high standards in daily business. ‘Orlen Lietuva’ succeeded.