who lives in the town of Mažeikiai in the north west of Lithuania She is the first one in the Baltic states and while there are only a handful across the world “The official scientific term is an expert in sensory analysis of honey Sensory analysis is used in the food industry in general to assess either quality or consumer preferences “This means that we use our senses – what we see and what we taste,” Rasa Nabažaitė explains her profession The Honey Sommelier Register is curated by Italy It is the country where most of the different types of honey are harvested The essential skill to learn is to be able to confirm the botanical origin of honey says she wanted to learn more about honey and then pass on her knowledge to others The Mažeikiai resident demonstrates polyfloral and monofloral honey collected in different countries Italian almond,” she lists the monofloral honey varieties in different glasses “I have this year’s summer honey from our bees which has quite a lot of linden blossom flavour.” She compares them to honey collected by the same bees last year so it is best stored in glass or ceramic jars since honey can change its flavour if it stays in contact with other materials “The smell is one of the most important things We spread it by swirling the honey along the sides of the glass Just as there is a ‘grouped circle’ for coffee and wine one has to wait until honey has completely dissolved in the mouth “Only then do all the flavours fully emerge.” The flavours and aromas can be very diverse Traditional Lithuanian linden honey will have a minty aftertaste “I have heather and chestnut honey for bitters There is another very bitter honey that most people don’t want to taste a second time which is strawberry arbutus,” the honey expert smiles “Vetch honey is a little like acacia honey in terms of its flavour characteristics.” There is little chance of much autumn honey so the big honey season ended much earlier The bees started to run out of food quite early this year at least we definitely had less autumn honey during the last spin,” says Nabažaitė There are around 300 types of honey worldwide polyfloral honey – honey from different flowers – is the predominant type Orlen SA subsidiary Orlen Lietuva AB is on pace with construction of a major plant included as part of the ongoing modernization program at its 10-million tonne/year (tpy) refinery in Mažeikiai 1,500-tonne key reactor of a new residue hydrocracking unit (RHCU) to be installed at the refinery has arrived for offloading at Lithuania’s port of Klaipeda and will be delivered about 145 km to the construction site via a 2-week road journey beginning this weekend Part of the operator’s planned bottom-of-the-barrel improvement program the Mažeikiai RHCU project progressing on schedule to reach mechanical completion by yearend 2024 for targeted production of cleaner “The [RHCU] plant will bring about a substantial improvement in the profitability and margins of the Mažeikiai refinery making the company less dependent on the volatile macroeconomic environment This will enable further development of the company towards new products and extension of the value chain,” said Daniel Obajtek Orlen’s chief executive officer and president Alongside increasing the refinery’s yield of high-margin products to 84% from the current 72% commissioning of the RHCU also will enable the site to reduce crude oil throughputs while continuing to produce a similar volume of finished fuels the Mažeikiai refinery will be able to achieve production yields by processing only 8 million tpy of crude down 2 million tpy from its design capacity The operator most recently estimated total capital investment on the RHCU project at €640 million (OGJ Online, May 4, 2023). Robert Brelsford joined Oil & Gas Journal in October 2013 as downstream technology editor after 8 years as a crude oil price and news reporter on spot crude transactions at the US Gulf Coast, West Coast, Canadian, and Latin American markets. He holds a BA (2000) in English from Rice University and an MS (2003) in education and social policy from Northwestern University. pledging around EUR 54 million in state support for a billion-euro project to modernise the Mažeikiai-based oil refinery Following the Cabinet’s vote the agreement was signed Wednesday on behalf of Lithuania by Minister of the Economy and Innovation Lukas Savickas Minister of Finance Rimantas Šadžius and Minister of Environment Povilas Poderskis "We are not talking about an annual support here which says that this is a general state incentive of slightly more than 8% of the project’s value (...) but not more than EUR 54 million," Savickas told reporters after signing the document Lithuania’s financial contribution to the project will total just over 8% of the total project cost This support measure has been coordinated with the European Commission The environment minister noted that Lithuania’s investment in the Mažeikiai refinery project will help cut climate-damaging emissions from one of the country’s largest industrial enterprises 20% more products will be extracted from oil The exact amount of emissions to be reduced will depend on the specific capacities of the refinery at the time and it is still to be decided," Poderskis told reporters Orlen Lietuva currently implements a EUR 970 million worth project under way to increase the refining conversion rate aimed at bolstering the production capabilities of its refinery in Mažeikiai The project is recognised as a project of strategic importance and will therefore benefit from a range of state financial support measures: corporate income tax breaks compensation for the indirect costs of pollution permits and reimbursement of investments in infrastructure said the company will aim to complete the project by 2026 despite the difficult geopolitical situation and rising costs He recalled that the initial plan was to finish the project in 2025 CEO of the Orlen Group Ireneusz Fonfara met with Seimas Speaker Saulius Skvernelis and Prime Minister Gintautas Paluckas for talks on the modernisation of Orlen oil refinery based in Mažeikiai and prospects of development of small modular reactors Orlen is the leading employer in the Mažeikiai region and remains a cornerstone of Lithuania’s industrial landscape a vital reloading station facilitating product exports to Poland and Ukraine The Polish company started the upgrades to its Lithuanian refinery in 2021 It is the only one of its kind in the history of Lithuanian industry It is a billion-euro project,” says Tomas Digaitis the scale of the project was witnessed by many when a giant reactor had to be transported from the Port of Klaipėda to Mažeikiai Roads had to be reinforced and bridges remodelled in order to accommodate the colossal cargo The cost of the refinery upgrade has increased by around 400 million euros since 2021 The modernisation is meant to improve efficiency says Digaitis: the same amount of petroleum products will be produced with less input and less waste “The plant in Lithuania will first of all ensure a stable supply of fuel to the region a shorter supply chain to Lithuanian customers will also ensure a good price,” the Orlen Lietuva spokesman says the company asked the previous government for tax breaks “It is about corporate tax breaks for investment projects and other measures provided for in the law,” Digaitis says The previous government promised the support but did not deliver it “The last government did not implement the commitments it made it is facing an unconventional situation where letters of intent have been exchanged but these commitments are not being honoured,” he says “Everything was delivered regarding the transportation but when it comes to the corporate income tax break Orlen started the project before the law was passed under which it could apply for that particular tax break,” explains former energy minister Dainius Kreivys a project that is already in motion cannot receive the tax break Amendments were sought to support the plant in a different way – amendments were needed “So it’s not like the new government is doing the work that the previous one failed to do – it’s simply a continuation of the work,” Kreivys argues the government plans to designate the Mažeikiai plant reconstruction as a project of national strategic importance the company can expect to be compensated for the indirect costs of the pollution permits Since Orlen is requesting support for part of the project and not for the whole project the ministry says that such state aid does not need to be coordinated with the European Commission But the total support cannot exceed 80 million euros The NGO Circular Economy argues that investments by polluting businesses should not be subsidised by the state pollution taxes should be used to invest elsewhere Economy Minister Savickas argues that without modernisation Orlen Lietuva plans to complete the upgrades by next year Oct 12, 2021 | Business, Energy & Climate Poland’s state-owned oil giant PKN Orlen has announced that it has begun work on expanding and modernising its refinery in Lithuania in what Poland’s government says will be the “largest investment in the history” of its Baltic neighbour The Mažeikiai oil refinery in northwestern Lithuania was launched in 1980 “The refinery needs to be modernised,” Orlen’s CEO “There must be big investments there.” He said that expansion would also “increase the profitability of the refinery” enabling earnings (EBIDTA) to increase by €68 million annually as well as “strengthen the energy security of the region” Inwestycja w instalację pogłębionego przerobu ropy w @ORLENLietuva przyniesie wzrost EBITDA. Zwiększenie uzysku produktów wysokomarżowych wpłynie na stabilność dostaw paliw w państwach bałtyckich i w Polsce. Umacniamy naszą pozycję lidera transformacji energetycznej w regionie pic.twitter.com/dUeeHGtxOl — Daniel Obajtek (@DanielObajtek) October 8, 2021 The project will be overseen by Orlen Lietuva The company forecasts that it will take four years to complete and be worth €641 million This is “a historic day for ORLEN Lietuva and the Lithuanian economy,” wrote Obajtek on Friday as he announced that the modernisation and expansion project had entered its “implementation phase” He said it was the “largest investment project carried out in Lithuania” That claim was repeated by Poland’s minister for state assets who declared that the project “in Możejki is the largest investment in the history of Lithuania” He noted that Orlen was able to afford such investments thanks to its profits which reached 4 billion zloty (€874 million) in the first quarter of the year Can Polish energy giant Orlen be a future global champion? “It is of great importance for the entire economy and energy security…also of all countries in the region,” said Sasin Mažeikiai is the only crude oil refinery in the Baltic states and one of the largest employers in Lithuania noting that it employs 1,500 people directly and 4,500 through services and subcontracting Orlen has made a number of large investments in recent years, buying Energa as well as signing initial agreements to take over its smaller rival Lotos Group and state oil and gas firm PGNiG Polish state firm buys further Norwegian gas licences AB Orlen Lietuva Refinery is the second largest in Orlen Capital Group with a capacity to process 10 million tonnes of crude oil per year (though the company says it is more efficient to limit production to 8 million tonnes) Obajtek and Sasin met with Lithuania’s president Obajtek also met with the country’s prime minister Fourteenth newspaper editor leaves since Polish state oil giant media takeover Main image credit: Juozas Šalna/Flickr (under CC BY 2.0) Maria Wilczek is deputy editor of Notes from Poland , , The project will strengthen national security and regional infrastructure , , , Figures from PiS have dismissed the claims against Karol Nawrocki as “lies” , , Karol Nawrocki even suggested that the state security services were involved in creating the scandal Apr 30, 2025 | , , , That response will include “large Polish and NATO exercises in Poland” Apr 29, 2025 | , , , Those employed in Poland work on average the third-longest hours in the European Union Apr 28, 2025 | , , , , Westinghouse and Bechtel were first chosen in 2022 as partners on the 192 billion zloty ($51 billion) project please consider helping us to continue and expand it [email protected] Copyright © 2025 Notes From Poland | Design jurko studio | Code by 2sides.pl Senior Research Fellow at the Global Europe Centre ARTICLES BY THIS AUTHOR Weronika Strzyżyńska is currently studying journalism at Goldsmiths as a Scott Trust Bursary recipient She  has written on issues immigration and Brexit for New Statesman and Prospect Agnieszka Wądołowska is managing editor of Notes from Poland She has previously worked for Gazeta.pl and Tokfm.pl and contributed to Gazeta Wyborcza ARTICLES BY THIS AUTHOR ARTICLES BY THIS AUTHOR Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland and assistant professor of history at the Pedagogical University of Krakow He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications The Independent and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna ARTICLES BY THIS AUTHOR Stanley Bill is the founder and editor-at-large of Notes from Poland.He is also Senior Lecturer in Polish Studies and Director of the Polish Studies Programme at the University of Cambridge Stanley has spent more than ten years living in Poland He founded Notes from Poland in 2014 as a blog dedicated to personal impressions cultural analysis and political commentary He is committed to the promotion of deeper knowledge and understanding of Poland He is the Chair of the Board of the Notes from Poland Foundation ARTICLES BY THIS AUTHOR ARTICLES BY THIS AUTHOR Professor of European Studies at Oxford University ARTICLES BY THIS AUTHOR Professor at the Institute of History of the Jagiellonian University ARTICLES BY THIS AUTHOR Executive Director of Taube Family Foundation ARTICLES BY THIS AUTHOR Associate Professor at the Institute of Political Studies of the Polish Academy of Science ARTICLES BY THIS AUTHOR ARTICLES BY THIS AUTHOR ARTICLES BY THIS AUTHOR You are using an outdated browser. Please upgrade your browser to improve your experience and security People and projects from around the PETROFAC world Adam Cheesman is marking one year since moving to Perth in Australia permanently from the UK As Operations Director he was tasked with growing our business in the region finalising the strategy for the market entry of our Operations business and growth of the overall business,” he recalls “To be sat here now and looking back over the past year we have achieved what we set out to do despite the challenges that Covid-19 has thrown at us “We now have a stronger business after putting the foundations for growth in place we have a team that is growing to meet the demands of the new work we have secured There can be a mixture of emotions at the outset of a project There’s a myriad of factors to consider and what can seem like an endless list of decisions to make what happens at the beginning of a project can have an effect on its achievements and perhaps even its failures It can certainly influence the journey travelled Project Director Karim Zoghbi sums it up nicely: “We have to see the big picture; every decision we make now has an impact on how we get to the end product we’ll have an easier journey – whether that’s from a progress perspective we’ll have to live with our mistakes for the next three years It’s about being able to envision the journey we want to take.” laying the groundwork for a project becomes even more complex This was the case for the team working on the Mažeikiai Refinery modernisation project in Lithuania The project will expand the existing 40-year-old refinery complex to meet requirements for cleaner fuels while also improving the operational and carbon efficiency of the plant The scope of work encompasses mainly greenfield EPC development as well as Front End Engineering Design (FEED) of relevant utilities and offsites has been involved in the project since day one after becoming aware there was an opportunity with the client PC ORLEN Lietuva being half Ukrainian and after spending his university years in Eastern Europe and he instantly recognised the huge potential for business development of winning a project in this part of the world He recalls the early stages of the process It was vital to have boots on the ground to research the market and understand their standards and capabilities we have to know the market because you cannot base an estimation on a project in the Middle East or the UK as we are in the Baltic states,” he explains “The challenges and execution are different Khaled continues: “If we put down a footprint here We will be able to build up the business project by project We are investing for the long term rather than the short or medium term.” It’s with this attitude in mind that the team has approached the project HOW THE TEAM ARE LAYING THE GROUNDWORK FOR THE FUTURE SUCCESS OF THE MAŽEIKIAI REFINERY MODERNISATION PROJECT IN LITHUANIA LABOUR REQUIREMENTS AND HRInvesting in local talent and the wider region is a key tenet of Petrofac’s business model and this project is no different The team has already established a good relationship with the local municipality and they are in regular communication about the project There have been challenges in finding the right people with the right skills for the project Lithuania is a country of around three million people and Mažeikiai is its only refinery situated near a small town of less than 30,000 people Many engineers and those with technical backgrounds work outside of the country on other projects across Europe only local subcontractors have been employed so far The team will also scout for graduate engineers and establish a training area and zone to bring in more local talent “One of the main challenges was finding subcontractors with the capacity to take on the scope of work,” says Khaled “As we won't be able to find one subcontractor to execute the whole job area one’s execution is not dependent on area two.” then there are the numerous HR processes that need to be put in place to onboard workers explains: “We are new to Lithuania and having no previous presence or set up where we have an established office and team and we know the processes for mobilising employees Tasks for Samer and the team include all HR-related matters and ensuring Petrofac adheres to Lithuania’s legislative and employment requirements “Every country has its own labour laws,” he continues “And you have to accommodate your company’s policies and procedures because they might not quite work in that country you have to calibrate what you can and cannot do We recruited an experienced Admin Manager and an HR Manager with experience in the local market and who are familiar with the country and its labour laws to help in the initial set up as well as continue to lead and support on HR matters throughout the duration of the project.” Elie Lahoud (left) takes part in the ‘ground-breaking’ ceremony to mark the new Residue Conversion Unit in Mažeikiai CONSTRUCTION PERMITS AND CERTIFICATIONSAnother significant step for any kind of construction project is acquiring the construction permits and certifications without these construction could not start aptly describes his job as integrating the EPC concept to fit into local law – and on this project he had to grapple with a very different system to what he’s used to procurement and construction work and progress in parallel the full technical design needs to comply to local standards and then be signed off by a local designer before you are allowed to move forward with construction The full design also had to be examined by an independent body known as an ‘expert company’ to move forward with the permit application He explains: “It was difficult to find the right local design partner because of the size and scope of the project It is one of the biggest projects in value and complexity that has been executed in the country Everything we're doing here is for the first time.” And there are implications further down the line adds Monzer: “Take a job in the Middle East If your foundation had to move by a few metres for whatever reason and you would just need to revise your drawings Petrofac also needed to be certified as a construction company in Lithuania to execute the project “I had to demonstrate to the independent body that we have all the qualifications for doing the entire construction and secure the required certifications to execute the job,” added Monzer SUSTAINABILITY AND PROTECTING NATUREAfter successfully receiving the building and construction permits last year The team has been building facilities for workers as well as the aforementioned training facilities Safety controls including turnstiles and camera towers have been installed There has also been a strong focus on sustainability at the start of the project Environmental Impact Assessment studies have been conducted and the team is aiming to reduce our carbon footprint on the project where possible “The project is in a beautiful area and we have a responsibility to protect it,” says Construction Manager Garo Arapajian The team has come up with a particularly innovative solution for installing the project’s foundations The area has a high-water table – meaning that if you excavate half a metre the team will need to excavate three metres to install the foundations “Usually around 30 machines would need to run for a year to pump out the water however we are planning to use an existing drainage system that takes water to a nearby lake,” explains Garo thus saving energy and reducing carbon emissions The team will of course monitor the quality of water to ensure there is no contamination and we will install a small separator as a precaution.” IT'S ALL GOWe are now 18 months into the project and it’s all go The Home Office team in Sharjah led by Project Manager Mohammad Siddiquie has already completed procuring the project’s long-lead items and manufacturing and deliveries are now well underway at the project site He explains: “One of the most critical parts of this project is the reactor – we placed the order for this within two months of starting the project “We have also completed 90% of the model review and now we have received the construction permit for the plant The most important thing right now is to open the work front to site by delivering material and approving detailed design packages The building construction work is ongoing and the plant work has already commenced We will focus on preparing the detailed design packages for the plant as these also need to be approved by the independent design expert.” “Once all the material is delivered to site and the engineering wraps up the role of the Home Office becomes more limited We will then be supporting site as and when required,” adds Mohammad but there is no doubt that they have given themselves the best possible start OFFSHORE INSTALLATION“Each of the HKZ jackets took about a year to make but many of those months coincided with the pandemic’s peak,” recalls Project Manager Abdulrahman Dandachi “We were at the final assembly stage of the first jacket when Covid struck worldwide we couldn’t get materials through the usual routes or modes of transport We couldn’t fly in suppliers or experts for final commissions or testing like the giant cranes that handle heavy lifts.” quarantines and travel bans across the world threatened to throw the project off course seeking out new routes and scouring the local market for products and expertise On one occasion we had to evacuate everybody and apply all the protocols This meant mass testing of more than 700 people in two days contact tracing for those testing positive and quarantining We took all the precautions and followed all the rules but we didn’t have to close the yard – not for a single day “We would have faced huge costs if we didn’t load the jacket onto the barge in time but for every challenge It was the ultimate test of our capabilities and will Camaraderie and competition… life on site in DuqmRead more The trials and triumphs of the Duqm Refinery projectRead more If you have any comments or contributions,contact petrofacts.editorial@petrofac.com Skip to content We provide energy and fuel for more than 100 million Europeans We are driven by passion and always explore new opportunities for growth Our advanced products are available in over 90 countries on 6 continents We are Central Europe’s leader in energy transition maintaining our commitment to sustainable development and seeking to reduce our impact on climate change The investor relations are intended to build corporate credibility on the capital market which lies at the core of investments in deep crude conversion This key component of the hydrocracking unit will be transported to ORLEN Group’s refinery in Mažeikiai within the next two weeks The new plant will make it possible to increase the output of high-margin products as early as 2025 thereby enhancing the profitability of the Lithuanian facility and bolstering the energy security of the entire region “ORLEN Group’s investment in Mažeikiai is the largest Polish project ever carried out in Lithuania The plant will bring about a substantial improvement in the profitability and margins of the Mažeikiai refinery making the company less dependent on the volatile macroeconomic environment This will enable further development of the company towards new products and extension of the value chain,” says Daniel Obajtek CEO and President of the Management Board of ORLEN the reactor arrived at the port of Klaipeda in early August The total weight of the load is approximately 2,200 tonnes with the reactor itself weighing around 1,500 tonnes The transport is planned to start at the weekend and will take place during night hours at an average speed of 3 km/h The designated route covers approximately 145 kilometres and will traverse regional roads in Klaipeda The transport will be carried out by Mammoet The logistical operation is estimated to take approximately two weeks and has been planned in collaboration with the Lithuanian General Directorate of Roads The project to build the deep crude conversion unit in Mažeikiai is the largest ever capex project carried out by the ORLEN Group in Lithuania The project is slated for completion by the end of 2024 and will add as much as about EUR 68m to annual EBITDA This will be achieved by increasing the yield of high-margin products by even 12% in order to produce the expected fuels volume ORLEN Lietuva processes up to 10 million tonnes of crude oil per year Once the hydrocracking unit is put in operation it will be possible to obtain a similar volume of fuels with the processing of 8 million tonnes of crude oil per year Polski Koncern Naftowy Orlen SA (PKN Orlen) subsidiary Orlen Lietuva AB has let a contract to Petrofac Ltd and construction (EPC) for work supporting the ongoing modernization and expansion program at the operator’s 10-million tonne/year (tpy) refinery in Mažeikiai As part of the lump-sum contract awarded in late-April and commissioning services for new installations intended to expand and further enhance the refinery’s ability to meet more stringent requirements for production of cleaner fuels Installations included within the work scope of the less-than €200 million contract target improving the site’s operational and carbon efficiency This latest contract for the Mažeikiai refinery modernization program follows Orlen Lietuva’s previous award to Petrofac in October 2021 for delivery of EPC and commissioning services on a residue conversion unit to be built as part of the operator’s planned bottom-of-the-barrel improvement project Petrofac’s scope of work on that contract covered the addition of a new residue hydrocracking unit (RHCU) and associated outside battery limits (OSBL) installations EPC works for RHCU’s new OSBL specifically include installation of a new amine regeneration unit and stabilization tower as well as interconnecting pipework and tie-ins to existing refining units and associated system modifications Part of the operator’s broader transformation in line with the global energy transition the more-than €640 million RHCU project—which began construction in August 2022—is scheduled to reach mechanical completion in 2024 and will enable the refinery to process its high-sulfur fuel oil production into cleaner As part of the refinery’s modernization, Orlen Lietuva also let a contract in February 2021 to DuPont Clean Technologies to license its proprietary alkylation and spent acid regeneration (SAR) technologies for the addition of new STRATCO alkylation and MECS SAR units at the site, both of which are scheduled for startup in 2025 (OGJ Online, Feb. 11, 2021) Robert Brelsford joined Oil & Gas Journal in October 2013 as downstream technology editor after 8 years as a crude oil price and news reporter on spot crude transactions at the US Gulf Coast He holds a BA (2000) in English from Rice University and an MS (2003) in education and social policy from Northwestern University Petrofac will support the refinery’s modernisation Petrofac has received a $640m contract from PC ORLEN Lietuva to support the expansion of the Mažeikiai Refinery in Lithuania Petrofac will be responsible for engineering start-up and commissioning services for the expansion programme at the refinery It will support a comprehensive modernisation which is said to be important to Poland and Lithuania The scope of work includes greenfield engineering construction development and some brownfield modifications It will also include front-end engineering design of relevant utilities and offsites Petrofac will install a new residue hydrocracking facility and undertake improvement to the existing facility ORLEN Lietuva is investing at the refinery to boost its capabilities while meeting the requirements for cleaner fuels Don’t let policy changes catch you off guard Stay proactive with real-time data and expert analysis The refinery is also being upgraded to improve operational and carbon efficiency The project is slated for completion by the end of 2024 Petrofac Engineering & Construction chief operating officer Elie Lahoud said: “We are delighted to have secured such an important refinery project within the European Union as we demonstrate our growth strategy in new geographies “Petrofac has a well-established track record and significant experience in the refining sector as customers transform existing facilities to produce higher quality and we look forward to developing our relationship as we deliver locally on a project that is an important part of Lithuania’s energy infrastructure.” the Mažeikiai refinery has a designed capacity of 10Mtpa of crude oil Give your business an edge with our leading industry insights View all newsletters from across the GlobalData Media network Visit our investor centre and get the latest financial highlights and images for download in our media centre Search and apply to our latest roles and find out how we support our people to thrive in a delivery-focused culture We have 8,500 employees across more than 30 offices building and operating onshore and offshore facilities More about our structure and how we are set up to deliver for our clients More than four decades of delivering the most significant energy projects across the globe Our purpose is to enable our clients to meet the world’s evolving energy needs and our four values are essential to who we are and what we do Energy transition is at the core of our global strategy Our model of local execution to global standards sets us apart from our competitors Our Group Executive Committee is responsible for day-to-day operational management communication and implementation of strategic decisions We’re a leading energy services company that helps our clients meet the world’s evolving energy needs Petrofac has the expertise and experience to support Find out how we unlock value at every stage of the energy asset life cycle We have a strong position in some of the most resilient sectors of the upstream oil and gas market We have solid experience and a proven operational delivery along with a strong safety record in delivering projects in refining and petrochemicals Our story in Lithuania began with the Mažeikiai Refinery modernisation project the only crude oil refinery in the Baltic states and a strategic energy infrastructure project We are supporting PC ORLEN Lietuva on a comprehensive modernisation Our operations in Lithuania are split between the Mažeikiai Refinery in the northwest of the country and the office in the capital Vilnius Our workforce comprises a mixture of local and international employees Europa Business Center7 Konstitucijos Avenue09308 Open in Google Maps PKN Orlen SA subsidiary Orlen Lietuva AB has let a contract to DuPont Clean Technologies to provide technology licensing for a grassroots alkylation unit to be built at its 10-million tonnes/year refinery in Mažeikiai DuPont Clean Technologies will supply alkylation and spent acid regeneration (SAR) technologies for the refinery and technical services for the proprietary STRATCO alkylation and MECS SAR units The STRATCO alkylation unit will use LPG in the conversion process to produce 6,000 b/sd of alkylate while the 75-tonnes/day MECS SAR unit will provide the refinery a consistent supply of sulfuric acid to be used as catalyst for the alkylation unit Intended to help increase the Mažeikiai refinery’s complexity and profitability to ensure its long-term competitiveness the STRATCO alkylation and MECS SAR units—both scheduled for startup in 2025—will enable Orlen Lietuva to generate low-sulfur low-RVP alkylate with zero olefins that meets Euro 6-quality standards Orlen Lietuva’s ongoing modernization program at the Mažeikiai refinery also includes proposed construction of a residue conversion unit under the operator’s planned bottom-of-the-barrel (BOTB) improvement project the company said in its latest annual report to investors Orlen Lietuva said it expects to complete the BOTB project in 2023 at an estimated budget of $385.3 million parent Orlen said a project to increase distillate yields also is under way at the Mažeikiai refinery Further details regarding either the BOTB or distillate yields projects have yet to be disclosed A ‘ground-breaking’ ceremony in Lithuania officially marked the beginning of the construction of the new Residue Conversion Unit at PC ORLEN Lietuva’s Mažeikiai Refinery the only crude oil refinery in the Baltic States PC ORLEN Lietuva awarded Petrofac the contract The progamme involves the modernisation and expansion of the existing refinery complex and environmental upgrades The project plays a significant role in the economy and energy security of the region and is also the biggest Polish capital investment in Lithuania Government officials and representatives of local authorities joined leadership from Petrofac and PC ORLEN Lietuva on site Engineering & Construction at Petrofac; Dainius Kreivys Minister of Energy of the Republic of Lithuania; Michal Rudnicki Minister of Energy of the Republic of Lithuania Chief Operating Officer for Petrofac’s Engineering & Construction division said: Mažeikiai Refinery ground breaking - 11 August 2022 According to its spokeswoman Kristina Gendvilė the reactor is expected to arrive in Mažeikiai on August 18 “Active work is underway to adjust the delivery timetable to eliminate a stop in Aleksandrija [in Skuodas District] and to ensure that the cargo goes directly in Židikai [in Mažeikiai District] early Wednesday morning and we will stick to the same schedule from there,” Gendvilė told BNS on Monday “The project team says tonight they should move along the route they were supposed to follow yesterday.” The 1,500-ton reactor got stuck on a gravel road a few hundred meters from a rest area in the village of Erlenai on Sunday night The Erlenai valley was considered the most difficult part of the route because of the high hill and the road on the site of the former peatbog “The risk of this happening had been taken into account then slabs are brought from the Bega terminal and the road is secured with metal plates,” Gendvilė added The delivery of the massive 1,500-ton reactor to the oil refinery 145 km from the port started early morning on August 6 6.5-metre-wide and 10-metre-high Italian-made reactor which will be installed in a deep crude conversion unit is due to arrive in Mažeikiai after midday on August 18 Mammoet Baltic is in charge of the delivery that is mainly being done at night The reactor will be used for the upgrade of the Mažeikiai facility which is currently estimated to cost up to 970 million euros It’s the largest investment project in Lithuania in Orlen’s history since 2006 and it’s expected to be completed by the end of 2024 This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page The Moscow court-appointed administrator of Yukos oil company’s residual assets seeking to block the sale of Yukos’ majority stake in Lithuania’s oil industry to that country’s government The suit ostensibly protects the interests of Yukos’ creditors which include the Russian state based on retroactive tax claims the move appears designed to position the Russian state company Rosneft to take over the Mazeikiai refinery and associated enterprises in Lithuania which account for at least 10% of the country’s GDP Rosneft seems set to lay such a claim as parent company of Yuganskneftegaz formerly the Yukos company’s largest production unit in Russia which Rosneft took over in 2005 as part of the Kremlin-directed destruction of Yukos authorized Rosneft last month to recover from Yukos $482 million that those banks had lent to Yukos prior to the company’s demise in Russia the Moscow-appointed administrator specifically accuses Yukos’ London-based management of attempting to sell its 53.7% stake in Mazeikiai to the Lithuanian government “in blatant disregard” of the Moscow Arbitration court’s orders and the administrator’s instructions The Moscow court and Rebgun had blocked any transactions with Yukos properties and shares as of March 28 and extended that order on March 29 to cover Yukos assets outside Russia These actions are not those of an impartial justice or contract enforcement in a market economy but form rather a part of a Kremlin-driven process to control private property in Russia and beyond in line with Russia’s use of energy as a strategic tool The Kremlin seeks to manipulate Western judicial and market mechanisms in this process Also on April 13 the Yukos management in London responded that the company does not own shares in Mazeikiai the 53.7% stake in the refinery and associated enterprises is owned by the Netherlands-registered Yukos International According to the company’s and Lithuania’s legal advisers in London and the Netherlands the jurisdiction of Russian courts and the Russian administrator does not extend to Yukos assets outside Russia The Lithuanian government and Yukos had agreed in principle several months ago that Vilnius would acquire that 53.7% stake for $1.2 billion according to Yukos board chairman Viktor Gerashchenko in Moscow (he has not moved with the management to London) the company has now raised the price to $1.4 billion (AP the hike would seem designed to stall the transaction forcing the Lithuanian government to return to the parliament to authorize the additional funds and allowing Moscow extra time for legal maneuvers The hike could also potentially discourage strategic investors who are preparing to participate in the second stage of the transaction the Lithuanian government would re-sell that stake plus at least half of the government’s 40.66% stake in a single package to a strategic investor for the same price per share as that paid to Yukos by the government To thwart that second stage and discourage foreign strategic investors the Russian government does not allow non-Russian oil companies to supply crude oil to the Mazeikiai refinery through Russian territory Kazakhstan’s KazMunayGaz is almost certainly the most suitable strategic investor in Mazeikiai from Lithuania’s standpoint does not consent to the transit of KazMunayGaz-extracted oil through the pipeline from Atyrau (Kazakhstan) to Samara (in Russia on the middle Volga) and from there to Lithuania Moscow stonewalls on a proposal to ship KazMunayGaz-owned oil from Primorsk — the Gulf of Finland terminal of the Baltic Pipelines System — by tanker to Mazeikiai KazMunayGaz is now discussing a three-cornered swap option with Norway’s Statoil for shipping oil to Lithuania Kazakhstan would deliver certain volumes of oil in the Caspian Sea to the Norwegian company which is a participant in several large-scale Caspian projects Statoil would then deliver oil volumes of equivalent value from Norwegian extraction operations in the North Sea to the Mazeikiai maritime terminal at Butinge on the Baltic Sea The Butinge terminal (a state-of-the art installation completed in 2001 by the Oklahoma-based Williams International company) has a capacity of 14 million tons annually and accepts tankers of 150,000 tons capacity This option — or other possible swap operations — would enable the partners to bypass the territory of an obstructionist Russia The Statoil option has the additional merit of enabling the Norwegian company to pump the oil received from Kazakhstan directly into the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline thereby raising the latter’s profitability KazMunayGaz has offered $1.2 billion for repurchasing Yukos’ stake as soon as Yukos sells it to Lithuania The Kazakh company would end up with a stake of 75% or 80% by also acquiring at least half of the Lithuanian government’s stake KazMunayGaz is offering to invest $1 billion in the continuing modernization of the Mazeikiai refinery The Kazakh company is also interested in using the refinery at a level near its design processing capacity of 15 million tons of crude oil annually almost double the amount that the Kremlin-harassed Yukos was able to supply annually in 2004-05 You don't have permission to access the page you requested What is this page?The website you are visiting is protected.For security reasons this page cannot be displayed Petrofac announces it has been awarded an Engineering Procurement and Construction (EPC) contract valued at around EUR550 million (approx US$640 million) from PC ORLEN Lietuva to support a comprehensive modernisation and expansion programme at its Mažeikiai Refinery in North-West Lithuania The lump sum contract comprises engineering as ORLEN Lietuva invests to expand the existing refinery complex meet the requirements for cleaner fuels and improve operational and carbon efficiency of the plant The contract includes the addition of a new residue hydrocracking facility and improvement of the existing facility Project completion is planned by the end of 2024 Chief Operating Officer – Engineering & Construction PC ORLEN Lietuva is an ORLEN Group company operating the sole refinery in the Baltic region The Mažeikiai refinery is important to the Polish and Lithuanian economies It is one of Lithuania’s largest companies of whom approximately 90% are residents of Mažeikiai and neighbouring towns Another 4,500 people are employees of external service providers and subcontractors a company operated by Swedish furniture trade company Ikea Group has purchased a 45-megawatt (MV) wind farm in the Mazeikiai district which is one of the country's most efficient wind farms the park was launched just over six months ago This is the group's first investment in the Baltic states with the deal to be finalized by the end of March The farm's operator Pamario Jegainiu Energija was sold by Orion Asset Management which is operated by Orion Management Partners group and a Dutch-capital fund Energy Investment Fund "We are investing in renewable energy to support our business and to accelerate the transition to a low carbon economy This new acquisition brings us closer to our objective of producing as much renewable energy as we consume in our operations by 2020," Ikea's chief sustainability officer Steve Howard said in a press release the sales process attracted an interest of both local and international investors and final offers were made by five potential buyers Orion Asset Management said in a press release Orion investors are said to be able to expect more than 25 percent in the internal rate of return (IRR) The park costs the builders about 72 million euros Ikea Group said it would become independent in terms of energy by 2020 and secure all its energy needs from renewable sources The group operates 415 wind energy parks and has launched 730,000 rooftop solar energy modules Ikea Group has earmarked 3 billion euros in investments in renewable energy sources it has already invested 1.5 billion euros since 2009 and plans to invest further 600 million euros in wind and solar plants A subscription to The Baltic Times is a cost-effective way of staying in touch with the latest Baltic news and views enabling you full access from anywhere with an Internet connection. Subscribe Now! 2025 © The Baltic Times /Cookies Policy Privacy Policy Procurement and Construction (EPC) lump sum contract from ORLEN Lietuva as it continues to support a comprehensive modernisation and expansion Programme at the Mažeikiai Refinery in North-West Lithuania The project has a value less than 200 million euros Petrofac’s scope of work encompasses the design Petrofac’s scope will further enhance the plant’s capability to meet requirements for cleaner fuels by improving its operational and carbon efficiency In October 2021 Petrofac was awarded a lump sum engineering start-up and commissioning services contract from ORLEN Lietuva This included the addition of a new Residue Hydrocracking Unit (RHCU) for the facility which is the only crude oil refinery in the Baltic States The new Offsite Battery Limit (OSBL) EPC for RHCU includes the installation of a new Amine regeneration unit and stabilisation tower interconnecting pipework and tie-ins to the existing refinery units General Director of Public Company ORLEN Lietuva Petrofac’s Chief Operating Officer – Engineering & Construction Rudnicki has confirmed to LRT.lt that he has been dismissed as CEO of Orlen Lietuva Rudnicki wrote on his LinkedIn page that he was “open to new challenges and experiences” “I can confirm that the CEO was dismissed on October 31,” Orlen Lietuva spokeswoman Kristina Gendvilė told BNS on Friday who had been deputy CEO for sales and logistics Rudnicki became the CEO of Orlen Lietuva in 2018 He joined the Polish oil giant in 2006 and was the head of the company’s retail segment in Lithuania Orlen’s branch in Lithuania was headed by Ireneusz Fąfara since 2010 According to the latest data from the Lithuanian Tax Inspectorate the group paid 387 million euros to the state budget in the first three quarters of this year Read more: Lithuanian towns and cities light Christmas trees – photos LRT.lt takes a look at the most expensive Christmas decorations in Lithuania this year Vilnius and Kaunas have spent similar amounts on their main Christmas trees but this year the capital city has splashed out An additional 60,400 euros was spent on the tree lighting event The total budget for the 6-week Christmas in the Capital programme approved by the City Council amounts to 393,000 euros The municipality noted that this year’s Christmas tree composition is an invitation to celebrate the 700th anniversary of Vilnius in the form of a three-tiered elegant cake made of luminous Baroque-style decorations: rhythmic columns and decorative chandeliers All three tiers are decorated with Baroque ornaments in luminous white At the centre of the artistic composition is a Christmas tree decorated with golden pendants and sparkling garlands The top of the tree is adorned with a cake candle flame in the form of a fountain,” says Municipality spokesman Gabrielius Grubinskas There has also been some controversy around the Christmas budget with the Financial Crimes Investigation Service (FNTT) probing the circumstances of Vilnius City Municipality’s spending on the tree and other festive attributes Read more: Vilnius launches holiday season with cake-shaped Christmas tree – photos After spending 160,000 euros on the Christmas tree last year Kaunas will welcome Christmas this year on a similar budget (including the decoration of the Town Hall Square where the tree stands) An additional 170,000 euros has been earmarked for the tree lighting event head of the Culture Department of Kaunas City Municipality this year the Town Hall Square resembles a sparkling winter fairy tale inspired by the works of Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis “Visitors to the Christmas Town are greeted from afar by a 24-metre spruce Over 500 handmade decorations and constellations cover its festive mantle Alongside are additional decorations commemorating the work of Čiurlionis and frames to capture the festive mood Read more: Kaunas lights Čiurlionis-inspired Christmas tree – photos which spent 48,400 euros to the Christmas tree (78.6 thousand euros in 2021) The preliminary estimate for the tree lighting ceremony on December 2 was around 15,000 euros the spruce tree in front of the Church of St Francis of Assisi is 18 metres tall Its base is made of a metal frame covered with natural fir branches It is decorated with huge luminous ribbons of light gold garlands of warm light and flashes of light The spruce is enveloped in a glowing shroud 30 metres in diameter “Mažeikiai is unique because the Christmas decorations last from the beginning of Advent (when the Advent wreath is blessed and the first candle is lit in the Old Town in Burbos Square) until the middle of December the Christmas Town will be opened in the Old Town with a festive fair and Santa’s residence,” reads the municipality’s comment After spending 46,800 euros on the Christmas tree last year Panevėžys is spending slightly less this year The Christmas tree lighting event took place on December 2 and cost 12,000 euros “This year’s Christmas decorations in Panevėžys resemble a collection of precious stones The Christmas tree has several branches that stretch out into the square There is also a Christmas post office next to the tree where if you drop a letter into a special box the tree starts playing Christmas music and sparkling with extra colours,” comments Panevėžys City Council Marijampolė has allocated 40,000 euros for the 2022 Christmas tree The Christmas tree lighting ceremony was budgeted at 10,000 The municipality says that inside the 19-metre tree there is a romantic space and a Christmas post office and the tree is constantly changing its colours “Marijampolė celebrates Christmas in a romantic way – this is the motto of the capital of the Sudūva region,” the municipality informs Klaipėda City Municipality has spent a minimal amount on the Christmas tree but this year it created a Christmas miracle for its residents without spending a cent Klaipėda stands out not only because of its traditionally lively Christmas tree and its classical decoration but also because of the cost of all the works related to the tree’s installation delivering and decorating the spruce tree were covered by private companies “It is also important to mention that the tree will be decorated with LED garlands so that the total monthly electricity costs will amount to only 403 euros until January 10,” says Šulskė This is the seventh year that Klaipėd invited people to donate a tree to the city Klaipėda was choosing from among 23 offers It comes from the Botanical Garden of Klaipėda University “The impressive Norway spruce was among the two favourites after the announcement of the vote of the citizens of Klaipėda the construction of an educational centre will begin on the site where the Botanical Garden’s spruce tree used to grow so the tree would have had to be cut down anyway According to specialists of the Klaipėda Botanical Garden It is about 30 years old,” according to Šulskė The total budget for the Klaipėda Christmas-New Year’s Eve series this year will amount to 89,900 euros Read more: Klaipėda lights up for Christmas – photos The reactor arrived in Juodeikiai in Mažeikiai District at around 10:00 on Monday and will now undergo preparation for its installation “The reactor is already waiting to enter the construction site for the deep oil conversation unit [...] It will now undergo preparation until mid-October for the installation at the site It’s scheduled to be installed in early October,” Kristina Gendvilė “It will be put into operation with the whole unit and we plan that it will be operational in around late 2024 or early 2025,” she said The delivery has not caused significant road damage the reactor’s delivery was more successful than expected The delivery took longer than planned as the reactor was initially scheduled to arrive in Mažeikiai on August 18 but was stuck on the gravel road for a bit and was also slowed down by the heatwave in Lithuania The 145 km journey of the massive 1,500-ton 100-meter-long and 10-meter-high Italian-made reactor to the oil refinery started in Klaipėda early on August 6 It is the largest investment project in Lithuania by Orlen since 2006 "Orlen is renouncing Russian oil and plans to produce products only from [Saudi] Aramco's Saudi Arabian oil," said Kreivys most of Orlen Lietuva's refined oil has been Russian Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė also said Orlen planned to completely renounce Russian crude in the near future said the company has been diversifying its crude sources since 2014 and refining not only Russian oil adding that it would not be difficult for the company to give up Russian oil around two-thirds of the oil processed at the refinery was Russian adding that "the numbers are turning the other way" Orlen said it was taking steps to increase oil supplies from alternative sources and also announced it had agreed with Saudi Aramco to buy five additional North Sea oil tankers some of which will be used by the Mažeikiai refinery Poland's Orlen announced last year it was buying 57 percent of crude for its refineries from Russia under long-term supply contracts Orlen said it acquired around 8 percent of its oil from Saudi Arabia The reactor is now scheduled to arrive on Monday which is currently located in the northern Lithuanian district of Skuodas it is unsafe to move the reactor when the asphalt heats up to 36 degrees “As we have very high outside temperatures it is unsafe to transport until it cools down so we are waiting for a later time,” Gedvilė said The 145 km journey of the massive 1,500-ton reactor started in Klaipėda early on August 6 and 10-meter-high Italian-made reactor will be installed in a deep crude conversion unit It is the largest investment project in Lithuania in Orlen’s history and it is expected to be completed by the end of 2024 The Mažeikiai oil refinery in northwestern Lithuania was launched in 1980 and needs to be modernised The expansion would also “increase the profitability of the refinery” enabling its earnings to grow by 68 million euros annually as well as “strengthening the energy security of the region” The four-year project will be overseen by Orlen’s Lithuanian branch Orlen Lietuva and will be worth 641 million euros Read more: Polish Orlen’s success ‘precondition’ for good relations with Warsaw – Lithuanian president This is “a historic day for Orlen Lietuva and the Lithuanian economy,” Notes from Poland quoted Obajtek as he announced that the modernisation and expansion project had entered its “implementation phase” It is the “largest investment project carried out in Lithuania,” Orlen’s CEO claimed it employs 1,500 people directly and 4,500 through services and subcontracting Around 1,000 private customers will be able to rent up to 5 kW of the wind turbine capacity from the wind farm in Lithuania’s Mažeikiai region to cover their electricity needs According to Ignitis CEO Darius Maikštėnas renting a wind turbine could become one of the solutions to withstand the energy crisis “We are constantly looking for opportunities to engage customers to enter the energy market and start contributing towards its development rather than remaining observers,” he was quoted as saying in the press release A 4.5 MW wind turbine operating in the wind farm developed by Ignitis Renewables will be available for rent meaning that anyone will be able to rent a part of the turbine and use its generated electricity which is expected to be around 36 EUR/kW per month Ignitis estimates that customers who rent a part of a turbine will start generating electricity in the second half of 2023 Representatives of the Klaipėda District Municipality told LRT.lt that the Christmas tree in Gargždai broke at a height of about one metre above its stand According to the municipality representatives the tree is expected to be lifted and the damage assessed in the afternoon when the wind is expected to die down It will be assessed whether it is still possible to restore the Christmas tree in Gargždai the contractors who decorated it will be asked to install a new tree with a frame Šilalė Mayor Tadas Bartkus also informed that the town’s Christmas tree had fallen due to strong winds “Christmas trees are falling in western Lithuania Our town’s Christmas tree could not withstand the strong wind The restoration work will start as soon as the weather conditions allow,” the mayor wrote on Facebook on Monday morning Residents also reported fallen Christmas trees in Raseiniai The Christmas tree also fell in Alytus in southern Lithuania Alytus Mayor Nerijus Cesiulis shared a video on Facebook gust winds reached the speeds of 31 m/s on Monday morning There is one ship waiting to sail off and three waiting to enter the port firefighters in Lithuania have received around 100 reports of fallen trees blocking roads At least 32,000 people are also reported to be without electricity due to strong winds covered in 12 metres of lights was unveiled in Anykščiai Christmas mail can be found inside the Christmas tree in Marijampolė The Visaginas Christmas tree is unique – it grows in Santarvės square where it was decorated Kretinga’s silver Christmas tree is covered in 20,000 white lights The Christmas tree in Naujoji Akmenė was unveiled during a light show The Joniškis Christmas tree is growing next to the town’s Cultural Centre Ten smaller trees hold the shroud of the main Christmas tree in Ignalina The Gargždai Christmas tree is covered in more than 8,000 LED lights The Mažeikiai Christmas tree is decorated with a shroud of golden lights Druskininkai unveiled a Christmas tree decorated with a golden crown Alytus has decided to go for a more modest Christmas tree to emphasise “community and not decorations” The Panevėžys Christmas tree features huge decorations The Christmas tree in Palanga is one of the most innovative this year The main Christmas tree is accompanied by a 25-metre-long Christmas train may have been shipped from the Polish Baltic port Gdansk to Klaipėda in June by the tanker Mendeleev Prospect which sails under the Liberian flag The shipment was then allegedly loaded directly into Lietuvos Geležinkeliai (Lithuanian Railways) tank cars by the company Klaipėdos Nafta (Klaipėda Oil) and transported to Orlen's refinery in Mažeikiai BNS reports that Mendeleev Prospect was the only crude oil tanker to have arrived in Klaipėda throughout June Klaipėdos Nafta and Lietuvos Geležinkeliai have all refused to comment what the shipment was intended for and what kind of oil it contained Reuters reported in late June that Mendeleev Prospect was loaded with contaminated oil in Russia's Lust-Uga port on the Gulf of Finland Organic chloride is designed to boost output Buyers of the contaminated oil have been struggling to find end-users Mendeleev Prospect remained moored near Gdanks harbour since April 27 PHOTO: Susisiekimo ministerija The rebuilding of a 19-km railway section between Lithuania's Mazeikiai and Renge, in Latvia, that was dismantled over a decade ago, has been completed, Lietuvos Gelezinkeliai (Lithuanian Railways) the state-owned Lithuanian railway company with the traffic of freight trains due to be resumed early next year The trial run has already been done The rebuilding has cost 9.4 million euros and has been carried out by Vitras-S a railway construction and repairs company owned by Estonia's railway services group Skinest Rail "The mistake done in the past has finally been fixed and a railway has once again connected Mazeikiai in Vilnius with Renge in Latvia The 19-km section is more important for us than just 19 km of a railway line It’s a foundation of strong relations and business development for us and our partner," Mantas Bartuska the Mazeikiai-based oil refiner owned by Polish oil group Orlen will now be able to take a shorter path to carry its product they have been carried from Latvia via Siauliai and Joniskis and the Lithuanian state budget," Daniel Obajtek The track has been rebuilt in line with LG's commitment to the European Commission which in late 2017 imposed a fine of almost 28 million euros on the state railway company for hindering competition in the rail freight market the railway line was in the past used by the Mazeikiai-based oil refinery Orlen Lietuva "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 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." 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 earlier reports suggest that Sikorski's conversations were secretly recorded during private meetings in Warsaw restaurants in 2013 and 2014 Orlen petrol station PHOTO: DELFI / Mindaugas Ažušilis Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, currently on a visit to Lithuania, has pledged that Polish oil giant Orlen will expand its operations in Lithuania After inspecting the Orlen-owned Orlen Lietuva oil refiner in Mazeikiai refrained from providing details on the plans yet but assured that the plans are expansion-oriented including further investment into the Lithuanian refiner they are aimed at building new capacity for the refinery as well," the Polish prime minister told BNS Lithuania in Lithuania's western resort town of Palanga "As far as specific investment is concerned I can not complement this information with some more specifics but I am absolutely certain that there are plans for further investments in Mazeikiai," he added the Lithuanian government and Orlen signed a declaration on the Polish company's investment into the modernization and infrastructure of the Lithuanian refiner Orlen Lietuva also operates the Butinge terminal, Birzai oil pipeline and a network of service stations. Morawiecki said that disputes, resolved in recent years, regarding Orlen Lietuva's rail freight transportation and the Renge railway section have improved Lithuanian-Polish relations Lithuania's state-run railway company Lietuvos Gelezinkeliai (Lithuanian Railways) and Orlen signed a contract on rail freight tariffs last summer Lithuania has also committed to rebuilding the Renge railway from Mazeikiai to the Latvian border Orlen Lietuva used the 19-km Renge railway to transport its products to Latvia and has been forced to take other longer routes after it was dismantled "I am very pleased to have this whole dispute closed by now, which is an indication of improving relationship between Poland and Lithuania as well," the Polish prime minister said "I would like to emphasize that Polish-Lithuanian relations are top-notch