In the middle of the year, the State Treasury will take over Bogdanka
The State Treasury will buy out the shares of Lubelski Węgiel Bogdanka. The mine acquisition process should be completed this summer. Mine authorities say the decision will, first and foremost, ensure energy security for a significant area of Poland. In addition, the changes will give a dynamic boost to the Company's ambitious new strategic goals.
On 15 March 2023, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of State Assets Jacek Sasin met in Warsaw with a delegation of Lubelski Węgiel Bogdanka, led by Kasjan Wyligała, President of the Company's Management Board, the social side - representatives of the trade unions operating at the mine, and Michał Moskal, Head of the Chairman Jarosław Kaczyński’s Office. The meeting was also attended by Marek Wesoły, Secretary of State, Government’s Plenipotentiary for the Transformation of Energy Companies and Coal Mining. The meeting was an opportunity to present the concept of the Ministry of State Assets regarding the timetable for the acquisition of Bogdanka by the State Treasury.
Last June, the Council of Ministers adopted a resolution to buy out Lubelski Węgiel Bogdanka's shares from the Enea Group. This is part of the transformation of the electricity sector, associated with the spin-off of coal assets, i.e. the establishment of the National Energy Security Agency (NABE). The work on NABE is coming to an end. Consequently Poland’s 3 most important power companies, PGE, Enea and Tauron, will become free of coal assets. In the case of Enea, this not only means transferring coal-fired power plants to NABE but also spinning off Bogdanka. However, this does not mean Bogdanka will enter NABE, but the mine's shares will be bought out by the State Treasury
- said Deputy Prime Minister Jacek Sasin.
The process of Bogdanka's acquisition by the State Treasury should be completed this summer. Valuations and other documents related to the buyout are scheduled to be completed by the end of July so that the Council of Ministers can then make a final decision.
Lubelski Węgiel Bogdanka is a strategic company that provides a significant volume of steam coal in the Polish system. The company will also operate in other raw material areas. This will be reflected in the Company's new Strategy
- added Jacek Sasin.
With the changes resulting from the war in Ukraine, Poland will be moving away from the idea of gas being the transition fuel between coal and new renewable energy sources. Gas is an imported fuel and less certain from the market perspective due to its susceptibility to price differences on global exchanges. Therefore, the role of coal in the coming years as a fuel ensuring energy security will continue to be very important in Poland.
This prudent decision by the Ministry of State Assets ensures that Bogdanka, an enterprise of strategic importance for the country's energy sector, remains permanently in Polish hands. Capital has a nationality, and the acquisition of the shares by the State Treasury makes every Pole a de facto owner of the mine,” explains Kasjan Wyligała, President of the LW “Bogdanka” SA Management Board. “The acquisition of the shares by the State Treasury will also give a developmental boost to the Company. The new strategy is expected to soon provide answers to questions about Bogdanka's development directions in the coming years. We are thinking of a gradual transition to RES, as well as the mining of other fossil resources based on the considerable potential and know-how of our staff. Ownership changes will therefore provide the opportunity for greater steerability and flexibility in management to better prepare for the challenges of the next decades
- adds Kasjan Wyligała.
LW “Bogdanka” SA does not expect the current year's production level to be affected by the ownership changes. Thus, the Company maintains its current plan of producing 8.3 million tons of coal.
The decision to build the Bogdanka mine was made in 1975. After the company was transformed into a company wholly-owned by the State Treasury in 1993, just a year later, in 1994, as part of a bank settlement, creditors acquired 4% of the shares, becoming the Company’s new shareholders. The mine thus ceased to have the status of a company wholly-owned by the State Treasury. Bogdanka was floated on the Warsaw Stock Exchange in 2009, and in 2015 became part of the ENEA Group.
As at the end of 2022, LW “Bogdanka” SA employed more than 5,000 workers, of which more than 3,500 were employed on underground blue-collar positions.
Lubelski Węgiel Bogdanka S.A. is a leading hard coal producer in Poland that stands apart from its peers in terms of its modern and efficient mining. It is one of the largest Polish hard coal mines. Lubelski Węgiel Bogdanka S.A. chiefly conducts mining operations in terms of hard coal extraction, enrichment and sales. It supplies this raw material mainly to industrial offtakers. Supply contracts are long-term, and the product is sold to the commercial power sector and the industrial power sector.
The company has been listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange since June of 2009. In August 2022, Lubelski Węgiel Bogdanka S.A. returned to listing on the WIG-ESG Index.
Since October of 2015 Bogdanka has been a member of the Enea Group, the second largest player on Poland’s electrical power market in terms of the generation of electricity, which manages the entire value chain on the electricity market ranging from fuel to the generation of electricity, distribution, sales (supply) and customer service.