The Polish public prosecutor's office announced today, Tuesday, that it has opened a special investigation into the state-run oil giant "Orlen" over suspicions of connections between the head of the Swiss branch of the group and "Hezbollah." This announcement follows the publication by Polish media of materials accusing Samer A., the head of "Orlen Trading Switzerland" (OTS), of ties to "Hezbollah," which he denies.
According to journalists, Samer A., a Polish-Lebanese citizen, became the head of "Orlen Trading Switzerland," established in 2022, despite objections from the group's security services, at the request of former "Orlen" CEO Daniel Obajtek. For his part, Prime Minister Donald Tusk spoke yesterday on platform "X" about "possible links of a former Orlen official with Hezbollah."
According to a report issued by the "Orlen" group last week, "Orlen Trading Switzerland" lost about 1.5 billion zloty (350 million euros) due to unfulfilled oil orders, particularly from Venezuela. Polish prosecutor Dariusz Korniluk told the media that this amount was spent "without any oversight."
Samer A. has previously been suspected of trading in Iranian oil that is subject to U.S. sanctions. The "Orlen" group in Poland is accused of being exploited by the previous nationalist-populist government to finance political projects and secure lucrative positions. The whereabouts of Samer A. and Obajtek remain "unknown," although the latter's name appears among potential candidates for the nationalist Law and Justice party in the upcoming European elections.
