The new composition of Ruch’s board of directors was chosen following a competition announced in July. Candidates were able to apply until August 8, but only five applications were submitted.
Piotr Krężel, the new president of Ruch, has been advising the authorities of RI-Ring International Poland since last year. From 2017 until last spring he was CFO and COO of Polflam, and previously worked at Deloitte for over 9 years, including as a Senior Audit Manager.
Waldemar Hlebowicz was previously Managing Director of Famat Serwis for more than five years. Previously, he was associated, among others, with PKO Leasing (as Director of the Claims Settlement Office), Limon Studio (as an independent entrepreneur), Alior Bank (as Business Development Director) and Raiffeisen Leasing Polska (as Managing Director).
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The previous composition of the Ruch management board consisted of Joanna Bryx-Ogrodnik (she was chairwoman for almost two years) and Bartosz Bielak (she has been a member of the management board since autumn 2020).
Orlen has been the majority investor in Ruch for almost four years. In autumn 2020, he took a majority stake in this company, which was then repaying outstanding debts as part of the restructuring process. For 65 percent he paid PLN 130 million in shares, minority stakes were acquired by other state-owned companies: PZU and PZU Życie (29 percent of the shares for PLN 58 million) and Alior Bank (6 percent for PLN 12 million).
Established earlier this year. Orlen authorities have already stated several times that they intend to sell assets outside their core business, such as the Polska Press publishing house. “The core business of the Orlen Group does not include the activities of Ruch, which is also permanently unprofitable,” Orlen’s press office told Wirtualnemedia.pl in August this year.
In 2023, Ruch reported a decrease in sales revenue by 10.4% to PLN 799.61 million and an increase in net loss from PLN 61.25 to PLN 86.07 million. In 2021, with revenues of PLN 891.7 million, the company’s net loss amounted to PLN 42.9 million.