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PKN Orlen SANorges Bank takes Orlen energy off its observation list
The board of Norges Bank has decided to end the observation of Poland's largest energy concern Orlen, Norges Bank Investment Management wrote in a statement.
Orlen has been under observation since February 2023 due to an unacceptable risk that the company contributed to serious or systematic human rights violations in relation to their acquisition of the newspaper publisher Polska press.
According to Norges Bank's Council on Ethics, the company has since implemented several changes indicating that there is no longer an unacceptable risk of the company contributing to restricting press and freedom of expression.
The decision is based on a recommendation from the Council on Ethics of December 2, 2024.
"The board has not conducted an independent assessment of all aspects of the above recommendations but is satisfied that criteria for observation and end of observation have been fulfilled," Norges bank wrote in a statement.
"Orlen should never have been included in this shameful list of only a dozen companies alleged to have violated human rights. And this was led by politically motivated decisions of predecessors. Fortunately, this is now a thing of the past," Orlen's CEO Ireneusz Fafara said as quoted in a press release.
"Norges Bank has made it clear that our mechanisms for protecting press freedom meet the highest international standards. Our focus is now on the future and what is at the core of our business enshrined in our ambitious strategy: The energy of tomorrow starts today," he added.
han/ pel/
