Polish daily Gazeta Wyborcza speculates that Thursday's supervisory board meeting of PKN Orlen might recall Chairman of the Board, Mr Igor Chalupec. According to the newspaper Orlen is one of the last large companies with strong state influence, in which ruling Law and Justice party (PiS) did not have a chairman loyal to the party. Gazeta Wyborcza also speculates that Chalupec's successor will be Piotr Kownacki, who was Orlen's deputy chairman for audit and regulations since October last year.
Our view:
Market reaction would be negative on Chalupec dismissal, in our view. Although he might keep CEO position for a while, in the lack of confidence his position will certainly weaken substantially, which could easily lead for his leaving the company. We acknowledge Mr Chalupec efforts in modernizing the company and making it less dependent on political games. We would definitely consider a politically more dependent president/CEO as a step back and increasing risk for minority shareholders.