After the elections, a return to the old ways. Gasoline in Poland costs almost the same as in the Czech Republic

On Friday, Poles filled up a liter at the same company for 6.59 zlotys, around 36.30 CZK. Compared to the recent, almost eight-crown difference between Polish and Czech fuels, this is a noticeable jump.

The leader in fuels on the Polish market, Orlen, where the state has an almost fifty percent share, justifies the increase in price due to the unpredictable conflict in the Middle East.

“It turned out as expected. Law and justice did not win the election as expected, so the dumped fuel prices went up,” stated Miroslav Vlasák, who lives in Žacléř and goes to Poland to refuel.

People in religious Poland expected higher fuel prices after All Souls’ Day, so that they could still go to the cemeteries to honor the memory of the dead for less.

However, a number of Czechs and Poles suspected the pre-election move of Jaroslaw Kaczynski’s ruling party Law and Justice behind the cheap Polish gasoline.

Many motorists from the Czech Republic and Poland have stocked up quite a bit just to be sure. Fuels stored in often not very suitable packaging represent a ticking time bomb in many places.

“The man has stocked up so much that the car slowly won’t fit in the garage. Maybe we will trade in gasoline,” hairdresser Kateřina revealed to Gazeta Wyborcza. Other motorists made similar arrangements, mainly in the Czech-Polish border area.

Polish fuels, although they are still slightly more expensive, are still among the cheapest in Europe, which Orlen, which effectively dictates prices in Poland, wants to maintain.

And this despite the fact that, according to Gazeta Wyborcze, the company’s profit for the third quarter of this year fell significantly compared to the same period last year. The paper reports a drop of 73 percent. However, profit was higher than expected due to cheap fuel and significant investments.

According to Gazeta Wyborcze, the economic results of Orlen for the third quarter of this year were sharply criticized by the former head of the company Jakub Kravec, according to whom the creative accounting is intended to cover up the loss caused by the election promotion of the Law and Justice party.

“Let’s wait for the results of the fourth quarter,” Kravec pointed out.

At the end of October this year, Orlen had 3,153 gas stations, an increase of 255 year-on-year. The company has significantly strengthened in Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia and is planning to expand into Austria.