Former Orlen CEO Daniel Obajtek clashed physically with the president of IKS Solino, Wojciech Kotlarek, on July 9, 2026, while trying to support striking workers at the salt mine. Orlen, which owns Solino, immediately issued a statement blaming Obajtek for the company’s current plight, pointing to a contract he signed in 2022 that allegedly crippled the subsidiary.
The incident occurred at the Solino headquarters in Inowrocław, where miners have been on a rotating hunger strike for over 100 days. They demand that Orlen take over part of Qemetica (formerly Ciech), a company controlled by Sebastian Kulczyk that decided to sell its salt business to the German firm K+S. The protestors hope this would secure jobs and production at the local saltworks.
Orlen’s statement: Obajtek’s 'mistakes’ exposed
In a sharp social media statement, Orlen accused Obajtek of negligence. – It’s a pity that Daniel Obajtek did not take care of Solino in 2022. During his tenure, an unfavorable agreement with Qemetica was signed. The long-standing practice of tying supply and off-take contracts for brine and salt to a single period was abandoned. In practice, this means he agreed that Solino would supply brine at a fixed price for years, while Qemetica could stop delivering salt after a few years and demand a tens-of-percent price increase – the statement reads.
Orlen concluded that these errors forced the company to use alternative supplies while drawing most of its salt volume from Anwil, another Orlen subsidiary. The company stressed that the Janikowo plant situation does not threaten crude oil or fuel storage in any way.
Political and financial undertones
– Qemetica belongs to a private investor, and you are trying to stir up a media-political scandal aimed at increasing its valuation – Orlen added in the same statement, hinting at what it sees as Obajtek’s ulterior motives. The former CEO, however, maintains he was merely supporting workers who fear for their livelihoods. The clash, widely covered by Polish media, has become a flashpoint in the ongoing debate over the legacy of Orlen’s previous management and the fate of Poland’s chemical industry.
Sources close to the matter indicate that Orlen’s current leadership is determined to distance itself from Obajtek’s policies, especially those related to long-term supply contracts that now seem to backfire.
Źródło: WNP.PL, Fot. Agnieszka Bielecka / PAP
