Prague, 14 October 2008 – The Supervisory Board and the Board of Directors of the Unipetrol Group decided to buy out of the remaining ownership interest in Paramo. The buy out of the shares of the minority shareholders in Paramo, after which Unipetrol will become the sole shareholder in Paramo, will be conducted in accordance with the Commercial Code (Section 183i ff). Unipetrol, which currently holds 91.77% of the shares, will require in excess of CZK 100 million to execute this step.

“The refining segment is one of our three core businesses, together with petrochemicals and the retailing of fuel. The purchase of the remaining shares will enable us to strengthen our position within the refinery segment. The full incorporation of Paramo into the Unipetrol structure and alignment with PKN Orlen will help us to reduce costs and may also yield other benefits. It could, for example, lead to the coordination of production and sales,” said François Vleugels, the CEO and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Unipetrol.

Based on the independent expert valuation prepared by American Appraisal, s.r.o., the price per share was set at CZK 977. The value of all the shares to be bought out will amount to an aggregate of CZK 106,965,868. The buy-out and the price must first be approved by the Czech National Bank.

UNIPETROL, a.s. is a group of companies operating in the petrochemical industry in the Czech Republic. In 2005 UNIPETROL became a part of the PKN ORLEN group, the biggest oil processor in the Central Europe. The UNIPETROL Group is oriented mostly on oil processing, fuels distribution and petrochemical production. In all these business areas the UNIPETROL Group is among the key players both in the Czech Republic and on the Central European market. The Group belongs to the leading firms in the Czech Republic from the sales point of view and employs approximately 4500 persons.

PARAMO, a.s. Paramo is a crude oil processing company engaged in diesel, lubricants and bitumen manufacturing. It has been the part of the Unipetrol from 2000, it employs about 800 employees.

Contact: 
Blanka Růžičková 
Spokesperson 
UNIPETROL, a.s. 
Telephone: +420 225 001 407, +420 731 881 111 
E-mail: blanka.ruzickova@unipetrol.cz​