Poland’s nationalist government moved to take control of most of the country’s regional newspapers on Monday when state-controlled refiner PKN-Orlen announced it was buying the Polska Press publisher from Germany’s Verlagsgruppe Passau.
“We will take over [Polska Press],” Orlen CEO Daniel Obajtek announced on Twitter. He said the transaction will give Orlen access to almost 17.5 million readers. The publisher owns 20 regional newspapers, almost 120 local weeklies and more than 500 online websites. The cost of the transaction was not released.
Poland’s Law and Justice (PiS) party-led government has come under fire from European institutions for its control of state radio and television — which lavishly praise the government while lambasting the opposition. The move is likely to worsen tensions with Brussels — adding to strained relations thanks to Poland and Hungary’s decision to block the next EU budget and pandemic recovery program over fears that the flow of money will be linked to following the EU’s rule of law principles.
While Obajtek said that buying the papers would “effectively support the sales and develop the tools of advanced data management,” it’s raising concerns that Poland is moving in the same direction as Hungary — where almost all the media is firmly in the grip of allies of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.
The Polish opposition denounced the transaction as undermining Poland’s free press.
“Taking over Polska Press by Orlen has nothing to do with the development of the refining company,” tweeted Borys Budka, leader of the opposition Civic Platform party. “They are using the money of Poles to build another propaganda machine.”
Orlen rejected that accusation, calling the acquisition “a strictly business investment.” The refiner already owns one of the country’s largest retail media distributors and buying Polska Press “is our next step towards creating a comprehensive offer for our clients,” the company said. Although the state owns only 27.5 percent of PKN Orlen, it is under de facto government control.
The PiS-led government has used state-owned and controlled companies to support a wide array of government policies — from taking over large parts of the banking sector to pouring millions into a foundation that was supposed to promote Poland abroad, but was instead used to attack the ruling party’s domestic foes. State companies, including Orlen, have even been used to build emergency COVID hospitals.
In addition to controlling state radio and television — which are financed by taxpayers and are supposed to be politically neutral — the government also supports an array of right-wing publications with advertising from state-controlled companies. Hungary has a similar mechanism.
The government is especially keen to hobble critical press coverage — especially from media outlets controlled by German companies — seen as Poland’s historic enemy by much of the ruling party.
In October, Polish Culture Minister Piotr Gliński said that state-run firms should take over media outlets from their foreign owners: “Polish state companies should be buying media where this is possible,” he said. He also promised to bring forward new rules to reduce the proportion of foreign ownership of the Polish media, but this hasn’t happened yet.
The government has also attacked independent broadcaster TVN, but was slapped down by U.S. Ambassador Georgette Mosbacher as the channel is owned by America’s Discovery Channel.
Poland has seen a steady fall in perceptions of media freedom. In 2020, it came in 62nd out of 180 countries in the World Press Freedom Index prepared by the NGO Reporters Without Borders, down from 18 in 2015, the year PiS took power.
Media control is seen as helping PiS hang on to power. The fairness of this summer’s presidential election — won by PiS ally Andrzej Duda — was marred by “the lack of impartiality in the public media,” the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe wrote in its post-election assessment.
Recently Brussels cleared a takeover bid by PKN Orlen, authorizing it to merge with smaller state-controlled rival Lotos, creating a dominant energy company that’s a key part of government plans. POLITICO reported that the merger was set to be blocked but Commission Executive Vice President Margrethe Vestager made a political intervention to clear it. This was an unconventional move from Brussels’ competition watchdog, which rarely bends to pressure from capitals.
The Commission has been unwilling to use its competition powers to preserve press freedom in past cases.
Zosia Wanat contributed reporting.