Poland probes state refiner's reported Hezbollah links

Polish prosecutors on Tuesday said they were investigating the Swiss unit of state-controlled refiner PKN Orlen for reported links with Lebanon’s Hezbollah.

The announcement came a day after Polish media reported that the former head of Orlen Trading Switzerland (OTS), Samer A., was connected to the Iran-backed Lebanese movement -- accusations he denies.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk subsequently called a meeting between prosecutors and the special services regarding the "possible ties to Hezbollah."

The Polish leader had tweeted Monday that "Poles must know the truth."

National prosecutor Dariusz Korneluk on Tuesday called the case "very shocking," adding that Orlen had transferred more than 1.5 billion zloty ($370 million) to its Swiss subsidiary without any supervision while OTS was headed by Samer A.

The sum had notably been used to order Venezuelan oil which was never delivered, according to an Orlen report released last week.

Polish media reported that Samer A. was made president of OTS -- created in 2022 -- despite negative opinions from security services, at the express request of former Orlen president Daniel Obajtek.

The former right-wing Law and Justice (PiS) government has widely been accused of having used Orlen to finance its political projects.

Obajtek has said he benefited from the support of the PiS.

Prosecutors have also launched other probes into Orlen, including its merger with domestic rival Grupa Lotos and the associated sale of major assets to Saudi Aramco that caused the refiner losses of at least 4 billion zloty.

At the time Orlen also sold assets to Hungary's MOL, which is suspected of ties to the Moscow regime.

Prosecutors are also looking into suspected underselling of petrol by Orlen last year, "which could have been related to the general elections" and is believed to have led to losses of one billion zloty.