“We continued building our future via extensive investment programme of CZK 10 billion, and we will carry on with close to CZK 8 billion in 2021, too. Despite the pandemic, we have made tremendous progress in retail. In the Czech Republic, we cemented Benzina ORLEN´s share in the volume of fuels sold and we were also rapidly growing on the Slovak market. I want to thank all our employees for their efforts and commitment shown during this extraordinarily challenging year. We adopted unprecedented hygiene and safety measures. Thanks to this, we have managed to secure fuel supplies to the Czech market. We have also successfully managed to protect jobs in company without using support from state aid Covid programmes,” said Tomasz Wiatrak, Chief Executive Officer of the ORLEN Unipetrol Group. He adds: “The refining and petrochemical business is going through a global depression, which is unfortunately multiplied by the pandemic situation that we have never experienced before. It has led to a decrease in the refining model margin by 60 per cent. As market demand has fallen dramatically, especially in the aviation segment, we also saw a significant drop in wholesale prices too. Better results in last part of the year did not allow us to cover negative impact of revaluation of inventory of raw materials and finished products. Our utilisation of our refining capacities was also limited due to the planned spring turnaround in the Litvínov lasting almost two months.”

 

The volume of processed crude oil amounted to 6.08 million tonnes. Sales volumes of refinery products amounted to 5.27 million tonnes and of petrochemical products to 1.66 million tonnes. Investments totalled almost CZK 10 billion. They went primarily to the ongoing modernisation of production technologies in both refineries, construction of a new gas-fired boiler house of the steam cracker and the last phase of completion of the polyethylene unit, PE3.

 

The CZK 8 billion investment in 2021 will help further modernise production capacities and increase energy and operational efficiency and reliability. ORLEN Unipetrol will start completing a brand-new production unit that will manufacture a new product, liquid hydrocarbon DCPD. The key retail investment will be the further expansion of Stop Cafe snack shops at Benzina ORLEN filling stations.

 

In retail, ORLEN Unipetrol continued investing in the modernisation and development of its network of filling stations in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. In the Czech Republic during the whole year, the Group implemented the Stop Cafe concept in 66 outlets. It is now available in 328 out of the current 419 stations. Although the pandemic affected both fuel and non-fuel segments, ORLEN Unipetrol succeeded in cementing Benzina ORLEN´s leading position in the Czech Republic with a market share of 25 per cent (as of 31 October 2020). Investment also went to Slovakia where Benzina ORLEN became one of the fastest-growing chains. At the end of 2020, Benzina ORLEN operated 13 stations in Slovakia. The Stop Cafe concept is available at all 13 stations. In total, Benzina ORLEN has 20 stations in its Slovak network. Some of them are under reconstruction after the acquisition and will be modernised and rebranded.

 

The ORLEN Unipetrol Group is the largest refinery and petrochemical company in the Czech Republic. It focuses on crude oil processing and on the production, distribution and sale of vehicle fuels and petrochemical products – particularly plastics and fertilisers. In all these areas, it belongs among the critical players on the Czech and Central European market. The ORLEN Unipetrol Group encompasses refineries and production plants in Litvínov and Kralupy nad Vltavou, Paramo with its Mogul brand in Pardubice and Kolín, Spolana Neratovice, and two research centres in Litvínov and Brno. Unipetrol also includes a network of Benzina ORLEN filling stations in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. With 416 filling stations, Benzina ORLEN is the largest chain in the Czech Republic. Since its entry in 2019 to Slovakia, Benzina ORLEN has been one of the fastest-growing chains and currently has 20 stations in its network. ORLEN Unipetrol employs more than 4,800 people. In 2005, ORLEN Unipetrol became a member of the ORLEN Group, the largest crude-oil processor in Central Europe. In addition to its business development, ORLEN Unipetrol is proud to be a socially responsible corporation. Therefore, it pays an equal amount of attention to initiatives, focusing on the cultivation and support of sustainable development, education, local communities, and the environment.

 

Contact information: Pavel Kaidl, spokesman, telephone: +420 225 001 407, +420 736 502 520, e-mail: pavel.kaidl@unipetrol.cz