Concept and key features

This Integrated Report is addressed to all ORLEN Group stakeholders, in particular the financial market participants, customers, subcontractors, suppliers, local communities, and employees.

This Integrated Report presents the activities carried out by the ORLEN Group in 2021. The previous report, for 2020, was published in July 2021. Our integrated reports are issued on an annual basis and are continuously evolving, to reflect changes within the ORLEN Group and in its environment.

There were no significant changes from the previous Report regarding the scope or methods of measurement other than the first-time presentation of disclosures on the proportion of Taxonomy-eligible economic activities and Taxonomy non-eligible economic activities in total turnover, capital and operating expenditure, in accordance with Annex II to Delegated Regulation of the Commission (EU) 2021/2178, together with qualitative information referred to in point 1.2.1. of Annex I ‘Accounting policy’ to Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2021/2178.

Reporting for the whole of 2021 includes the Energa Group, which has been in the ORLEN Group since May 1st 2020.

Some aspects of the non-financial activities are presented using the examples of selected ORLEN Group companies whose business scope is of key significance to the Group.

The changes made in the ORLEN Group’s structure were in pursuance of the strategy to focus on core business and allocate the released capital to development of the business areas that offer the greatest growth potential. In line with the business strategy adopted in 2020, the ORLEN Group’s key objectives include being a regional leader in energy transition, developing new renewable energy capacities, and pursuing decarbonisation, while preserving operational efficiency and financial strength in its traditional business segments. Given the prevailing market trends, we are consistently diversifying our business towards building a multi-utility conglomerate. The effective acquisition of the Energa Group in 2020 and continued work on other acquisition targets, such as the ongoing merger of PKN ORLEN, the LOTOS Group and PGNiG, are part of this process. Recognising the importance of the retail segment, the ORLEN Group proceeded with expanding its service station chain in Poland and abroad, and commenced development of the non-fuel retail segment with the acquisition of the RUCH Group in 2020. The ORLEN Group also seeks to continue its strategic growth in petrochemicals and gas-fired energy, as well as in new business areas such as new mobility, hydrogen technologies, recycling, R&D and digital transformation.

PKN ORLEN supplies crude oil to the Płock refinery and to three other ORLEN Group refineries – in Litvínov and Kralupy in the Czech Republic, and in Lithuania’s Mažeikiai. In 2021, some crude oil deliveries by sea were delayed by port closures due to external factors (weather, terminal failures). In 2021, two long-term contracts for oil supply via pipeline to the Płock refinery (with Rosnieft Oil Company and Tatneft Europe AG) and two contracts for oil supply by sea (a long-term contract with Saudi Arabian Oil Company and a one-year contract with Exxon Mobil Sales And Supply LLC) were in force. These contracts covered almost 75% of crude oil supplies to PKN ORLEN. The feedstock for all refineries of the ORLEN Group was procured from oil producers and other companies operating on the international oil market. The feedstock supplied to Płock came primarily from Russia and Saudi Arabia, And was also imported from Kazakhstan, Nigeria, Norway, the United States and the United Kingdom. The refineries in the Czech Republic received the feedstock from Russia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Libya, Norway and the United States. The Mažeikiai refinery was primarily supplied with Russian oil, with additional deliveries from Kazakhstan and the United States. In 2021, the share of Rosneft Oil Company in the crude supplies exceeded 10% of the ORLEN Group’s total revenue.

2021 was a challenging year on the European gasmarkets, with unprecedented gas price hikes driven by a number of fundamental factors related to demand and supply. The key development on the demand side was recovery of global natural gas demand following the lockdowns caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The stimulus packages introduced by governments triggered revivalin industrial production, which translated into greater demand for energy commodities. In addition, growing gas consumption in Europe during the exceptionally cold winter of 2020/2021 was compounded by rising gas demand in Asia, as a result of which European LNG terminals received approximately 40% less liquefied natural gas during the 2020/2021 winter than in 2019/2020.This necessitated higher withdrawal rates from European underground storage facilities. As at April 1st 2021, theywere filled to only about 30% of their capacity. The supply of gas in Europe at that time was insufficient to meet the growing demand and rebuild reserve levels in storage facilities. The supplies from countries east of Poland also declined considerably. Although it was technically possible to increase gas deliveries to Western Europe (via the Velke Kapusany point), the actual supply was roughly equal to the minimum contract volumes. Consequently,the total volume of deliveries to Western Europe via the Ukraine route decreased by nearly 15% year on year during the summer season. Additionally, the utilisation of the Yamal pipeline was also significantly reduced, with deliveries to Western Europe droppingby almost 80% year on year in October 2021.The supply of LNG to Western European countries during summer 2021 fell by nearly 20% year on year as the suppliers were able to achieve higher selling prices in Asia. The cumulative effect of these developments pushed natural gas prices to record levels inthe second half of 2021. The ORLEN Group is potentially the largest gas consumer in Poland and one of the largest in the Czech Republic and Lithuania. The Group’s natural gas procurement and trading in Poland has been integrated in PKN ORLEN, which supplies gas to other Group companies. In 2021, PKN ORLEN commenced deliveries to Energa Obrót. Natural gas is used by the Group in the production of heat, electricity, fuels and fertilizers. In Poland, the ORLEN Group’s combined potential for natural gas consumption exceeds 3 bcm per year.

Natural gas is used by the Group mainly at the following locations:

Most deliveries of natural gas to the ORLEN Group companies in Poland are made under a contract signed in 2016 by PKN ORLEN and PGNiG. Under annexes executed in 2020, the contract will remain in force until 2027 (with an option to extend it for another 12 months). Some purchases are made under supplementary contracts with major gas suppliers in Poland and Europe.

Gas is also purchased on the Polish Power Exchange. The ORLEN Group takes steps to ensure stability of supplies and to lower gas procurement costs through such measures as diversification of supply sources, centralisation of gas trading functions and further development of the trading expertise.

The current portfolio of gas contracts allows the Group to optimise gas procurement costs by selecting the underlying gas indices and delivery points.

PKN ORLEN has a natural gas price hedging policy in place, focusing on those areas in which gas prices are an important cost factor. With our portfolio capacity, combined with the hedges we implemented, we were able to mitigate the effect of the unprecedented market gas price growth on the performance of the Group companies. PKN ORLEN has gas transmission contracts with both domestic and foreign operators, ensuring full support in natural gas logistics for the production plant in Płock, CCGT Włocławek, and CCGT Płock. PKN ORLEN has also been developing natural gas sales on both retail and wholesale markets, while the ORLEN Group is engaged in a number of exploration and production projects to secure its own sources of natural gas.

In 2021, the value of deliveries from none of the natural gas suppliers represented more than 10% of the ORLEN Group’s total revenue.

Hard coal is the main fuel used by the Energa Group to produce electricity and heat. In 2021, the Energa Group’s generating units used 1,259 thousand tonnes of hard coal and 85,000 tonnes of biomass (2020: 826,000 tonnes and 147,000 tonnes, respectively). The key sources of hard coal supplies for the Energa Group were Polska Grupa Górnicza, Lubelski Węgiel Bogdanka and Jastrzębska Spółka Węglowa.

This Report has been prepared in accordance with:

• Art. 49b.1 and Art. 55.2b-e of the Polish Accounting Act of September 29th 1994, as amended, which implements the guidelines of Directive 2014/95/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of October 22nd 2014 on disclosure of non-financial and diversity information.

To comply with the requirements set out in those regulations, in March 2021 we issued the Non-Financial Statement of the ORLEN Group and PKN ORLEN S.A. for 2021.

• International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), including the International Accounting Standards (IAS) and Interpretations of the Standing Interpretations Committee (SIC) and the International Financial Reporting Interpretations Committee (IFRIC), as endorsed by the European Union (EU). The accounting principles applied by the Group are based on standards and interpretations endorsed by the European Union and applicable to periods beginning on or after January 1st 2020.
• Regulation (EU) 2020/852 of the European Parliament and of the Council of June 18th 2020 on the establishment of a framework to facilitate sustainable investment, and amending Regulation (EU) 2019/2088. Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2021/2139 of June 4th 2021 supplementing Regulation (EU) 2020/852 of the European Parliament and of the Council by establishing the technical screening criteria for determining the conditions under which an economic activity qualifies as contributing substantially to climate change mitigation or climate change adaptation and for determining whether that economic activity causes no significant harm to any of the other environmental objectives. Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2021/2178 of July 6th 2021 supplementing Regulation (EU) 2020/852 of the European Parliament and of the Council by specifying the content and presentation of information to be disclosed by undertakings subject to Articles 19a or 29a of Directive 2013/34/EU concerning environmentally sustainable economic activities, and specifying the methodology to comply with that disclosure obligation.
• GRI Standards 2016, Core option, including GRI 403 Occupational Health and Safety 2018 and GRI 303 Water and Effluents 2018. This Report presents descriptions of indicators from three Universal Standards (Foundation, GRI 101), General Disclosures ( GRI 102), Management Approach (Management Approach, GRI 103) and selected topic-specific Standards from the Economic (GRI 200), Environmental (GRI 300) and Social (GRI 400) series. It also includes selected sector-specific indicators from Electric Utilities Sector Disclosures (G4 EU) and Oil and Gas Sector Disclosures (G4 OG).

GRI Standards 2016 are an international standard for reporting on economic, environmental and societal impacts of an organisation, and the most widely used ESG (environmental, social and governance) reporting standard in the world.

The scope of information contained in this Report takes into account the expectations resulting from international ESG ratings. PKN ORLEN also takes steps to consistently improve its compliance with the international ESG ratings. PKN ORLEN also takes steps to consistently improve its compliance with the non-mandatory recommendations of the European Commission (EC Communication 2019/C 209/01) and of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) regarding information on climate issues.

This document presents activities aimed at achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals 2030.

The layout and contents of this publication are based on the recommendations and guidelines of the Value Reporting Foundation.

The ESG section presents the ORLEN Group’s best practices and key ESG data.

• A survey of the ORLEN Group internal and external stakeholders’ opinions on sustainable development and corporate social responsibility, held in November 2020. The project involved, among other things, a revision of the reported aspects and the stakeholder map. Stakeholder consultations consisted in conducting a survey (online survey method) and individual interviews with representatives of the ORLEN Group key and important stakeholders. The purpose was to learn about their opinions and expectations on the scope of integrated reporting and future activities of the ORLEN Group in the area of corporate social responsibility and sustainable development. The survey was carried out in accordance with the international AccountAbility Stakeholder Engagement Standard – AA1000SES, providing the rules for stakeholder relations management.
  It addressed all external factors significant to the ORLEN Group, including the European Green Deal, the objective of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050, and COVID-19.

• Confirmation of significant business and social responsibility issues relevant to the ORLEN Group, and their materiality.
  Since the time of the most recent survey, there have been no material changes in the ORLEN Group’s external environment or its operations (major acquisitions of PGNiG and Grupa LOTOS Group are still in progress). As a result, there was no need to repeat the stakeholder survey in 2021. The list of relevant reporting aspects remained unchanged.
• Confirmation of the stakeholder map. The map has not changed.
• Collection of data showing implementation of the policies, strategies and objectives of corporate social responsibility, as well as the due diligence procedures and risk management policies and how they are put into effect at the ORLEN Group,
• Preparation of this ORLEN Group Report for 2021, based on the collected data in accordance with the Polish Accounting Act of December 15th 2016 (Dz.U. of 2017, item 61), GRI Standards 2016 (Core option), and guidelines for integrated reporting issued by the Integrated Reporting Council.
• Preparation of this Integrated Report based on the Directors’ Report on the operations of the ORLEN Group and PKN ORLEN S.A in 2021, the Consolidated Financial Statements of the ORLEN Group for the year ended December 31st 2021, and the Non-Financial Statement of the ORLEN Group and PKN ORLEN S.A. for 2021, all issued in March 2022 (the documents are available at: https://www.orlen.pl/en/investor-relations/reports-and-publications/financial-results/2021), and the compilation of this Integrated Report based on the data collected
  in accordance with Art. 49b and Art. 55.2b-e of the Accounting Act of September 29th 1994 (Dz. U. of 2021, item 217), Regulation (compilation of the of report) of the European Parliament and of the Council (EU) 2020/852 of June 18th 2020, Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2021/2139 of June 4th 2021 and Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2021/2178 of July 6th 2021, and GRI Standards, as well as incorporation of conclusions and expectations resulting from international ESG ratings, and reference to the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures.
• External assurance of this Report based on the ISAE 3000 standard.

This Integrated Report is only available online, with a number of functionalities and tools facilitating access to its contents, including:

• Interactive key performance indicators reflecting current and historical data;
• Glossary of financial and industry-specific terms
• Table of GRI Indicators based on which the non-financial performance is reported
• All multimedia content of this Integrated Report is available in the Multimedia centre;
• Key publications relating to the ORLEN Group’s operations in 2021 are downloadable from the Document centre;
• Selected figures are available in the Charts and Tables Centre and ORLEN in figures.
• An instructional video on how to navigate this Report is available in the Help section.

This Report also contains interactive infographics, including the business model, the value creation model and the map of the markets.

It is possible to generate a pdf file of this Report.

Users can complete an interactive questionnaire to provide feedback on this Report.

The contents of this Report are not static. Each sub-section is linked to:

• Capitals – the content may be defined by the manufactured, intellectual, natural, social, human and financial capitals. This linkage enables easier search for information on the capitals, which overlap and thus build Company value in different areas.
• GRI Standards indicators – this Report presents non-financial data in compliance with the Core option of the Global Reporting Initiative Standards. Each internal page contains information on the relevant GRI indicator, along with several other tools, such as the GRI search and the GRI content index.
• Sustainable Development Goals 2030 – each internal page includes icons for the particular Goals the implementation of which is supported by the ORLEN Group.
• Related sections – each page of this Report is linked to two other pages with similar or supplementary topics.