Poland's PGNiG Drops CEO, Other Board Members

Polish gas firm PGNiG has named ex-government finance minister Jerzy Kwiecinski as its new CEO, according to a company statement on January 9, after letting go Piotr Wozniak with immediate effect. He had been at the company’s helm since 2016.

The timing means he will not be around when the arbitration tribunal in Sweden decides on the long-term contract between PGNiG and Gazprom. The announcement is expected this quarter.

Wozniak was not the only supervisory board member to lose his position. The state-owned firm also dismissed its vice presidents for finance Michal Pietrzyk, for trade Maciej Wozniak and for development Lukasz Kroplewski. They will be replaced by Przemyslaw Waclawski, Jaroslaw Wrobel and Arkadiusz Sekscinski respectively.

All the new presidents will serve under three-year contracts, as did their predecessors. Robert Perkowski will keep his role as vice president for operations for another three years.

PGNiG gave no reason for the dismissals. The company endured a testing year financially in 2019, but its weaker earnings were largely the result of lower European oil and gas prices. Last year saw it continue with its gas supply diversification strategy, signing heads of agreement for mainly US LNG.