Warsaw: Leaked words of Sikorski, Orlen CEO don’t reflect Poland’s position

“The published recordings of the conversations between the former head of the Foreign Ministry, Radoslaw Sikorski, and former chairman of PKN Orlen, Jacek Krawiec, do not reflect the position of the current Polish administration towards Lithuania,” Krzysztof Szczerski, secretary of state at the Polish President’s Office, said in a comment published by the Polish Embassy in Vilnius.

The official of the Polish President’s Office also said he would come to Vilnius at the end of August.

“I will attend the anniversary of the signing of the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact in Vilnius as a representative of the Polish President’s Office. Political consultations will be held on the occasion at the Lithuanian President’s Office,” Szczerski said.

Poland’s tvp.info news portal Monday published a fragment of a secret recording of a conversation between Poland’s former foreign minister, Sikorski, and Orlen CEO Jacek Krawiec, which showed that Poland was seriously considering selling the Mažeikiai oil refinery in Lithuania, and in later discussions of possible closure Sikorski urged Krawiec “to teach Lithuanians a lesson.”

“I want to teach Lithuanians a lesson, so that they don’t think that s***ting on Poland won’t cost anything,” Sikorski said. The ex-minister shared the quote on his Twitter feed.

The date of the conversation is not specified, however, earlier reports suggest that Sikorski’s conversations were secretly recorded during private meetings in Warsaw restaurants in 2013 and 2014.