The controversial takeover by Poland’s state-controlled oil refiner
The decision comes in the wake of the ombudsman’s appealing in February against the decision by the anti-monopoly and consumer protection office UOKiK to clear the deal.
Until the appeal has been reviewed, the ombudsman asked the
Orlen’s takeover of
Bodnar shared those concerns in his February appeal.
“By agreeing to the purchase of
“The concentration planned will not affect the competition on the local press publishing market, on which
The transaction would give Orlen new ways of winning new customers, based on the utilisation of big data, the refiner said.
But apart from offering Orlen data on potential customers’ behaviour that could translate into better sales of the company’s products and services, the same data could be used for targeting users of local media with political messaging, critics of the transaction said.
Since winning power for the first time in 2015, the nationalist coalition government, led by Law and Justice (PiS), has transformed public media – broadcaster TVP in particular – into propaganda tools.
PiS has also long talked about foreign media groups having too much influence in
Apart from owning 20 regional newspapers,
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