“LOTOS will neither suddenly close its refinery, nor will we collectively move out. We must learn how to benefit from being neighbours. There are many opportunities for us,” argued Janusz Sampolski, head of the village of Przejazdowo.

On February 13th, representatives of LOTOS once again met with the local residents at the state junior high school in Przejazdowo, and once again the discussion on the refinery's planned investment projects generated huge interest.

Tadeusz Wróbel, Head of the Project Development Office Team, presented the construction project for a delayed coking unit to the more than 50 people present. LOTOS has several goals to achieve through this project. First, with the same volume of processed crude, the refinery will be able to produce 600,000 tonnes more high-margin products. How? The delayed coking unit can produce additional volumes of mid-distillates, that is diesel oil and aviation fuel, from bitumens and fuel oil, whose production is the least profitable and without much potential due to continued falling demand.

Sale of diesel oil and aviation fuel is profitable and at the same time the refinery could improve the efficiency and utilisation of the units built as part of the 10+ Programme.

“Increasing one's competitiveness and efficiency is the only way to avoid the fate of the refineries closed down due to financial difficulties,” Mr Wróbel explained.

Two issues interested the local residents more than anything else − the investment’s impact on the refinery’s surroundings, and its potential benefits.

In the first case, the only environmental factor that may change is the level of noise. However, the environmental impact assessment report shows that both daytime and nighttime noise limits will not be exceeded.

As for the benefits, most stem from employment opportunities created by the construction − which will require some 1,000-1,500 workers − and also afterwards. “It is a good idea to plan your children's education with LOTOS's employment needs in mind,” Mr Wróbel commented. “Because of natural attrition due to employee retirement, our company is often looking for specialist operators.”

These positions are particularly attractive as they do not require any qualifications other than technical education. The employee simply learns the necessary skills at the refinery.

Iwona Mostowska, Head of the Social and Cultural Affairs Department, reassured those present that LOTOS would continue to support local communities, for instance by co-financing summer holidays for children and investments in Przejazdowo. Recently, the Company contributed PLN 40,000 to renovation of the road surface of ul. Jesionowa.

Communication Office, Grupa LOTOS S.A., ul. Elbląska 135, 80-718 Gdańsk, Poland, tel. (+48) 58 308 87 31, (+48) 58 308 83 88, e-mail: media@grupalotos.pl