PLOCK, Poland (Reuters) -Polish refiner Orlen appointed an acting chief executive late on Tuesday after a new government reshuffled its supervisory board as it seeks changes in state-controlled companies after winning elections last year.
Witold Literacki, appointed to the supervisory board by the state assets minister on Tuesday, will be an interim head of the company before a permanent chief executive and management board are selected in a competitive process, Orlen said late on Tuesday.
Members of the supervisory board Kazimierz Mordaszewski, Tomasz Sojka, and Tomasz Zielinski were delegated to serve as management board members for no longer than three months. At the same meeting, five members of the management board appointed under the previous government were dismissed, Orlen said.
Earlier Tuesday, the meeting of shareholders, including investment and pension funds, replaced the entire supervisory board of the company appointed under the former government with nine new members proposed by the government.
Poland's pro-European government sees Orlen as a symbol of efforts by the previous administration to use state-controlled firms for political purposes. Last month, prosecutors launched an investigation into Orlen's fuel pricing ahead of the last elections and the acquisition of smaller rival Lotos in 2022.
On Monday, chief financial officer, Janusz Szewczak, resigned, along with two more members of its management board, in a continued shakeup following the dismissal of its CEO last week.
CEO Daniel Obajtek's dismissal came after the new Polish government pledged to purge state-controlled companies of people it considers political nominees of the previous ruling party.