In reference to the publication entitled "Krauze's Motive" by the "Dziennik" daily newspaper, I would like to state as follows:Petrolinvest is the first Polish prospecting and production company which had its debut at the Warsaw Stock Exchange. It is a pioneering project because never before have the market and the analysts had an opportunity to evaluate such a business model. It is worth emphasising that there are many such companies at London, Canadian and New York Stock Exchanges and they certainly do not stir up such emotions.
As regards the publication by "Dziennik", I would like to point out that only 10 percent of the Petrolinvest company has been floated at the WSE. The issue of this relatively small number of shares was sold in 80 percent to institutional investors many days before the planned debut as a result of the "road show" conducted in Poland and abroad. The subscriptions of institutional investors for shares amounted to USD 1.2 billion and exceeded the number of shares offered more than 30 times over. There were practically no state financial institutions in the group of investors. The remaining part of shares, constituting 90 percent of the company share capital, was and is held by funds and private persons, including Ryszard Krauze. Those facts prove that the threat to the company's debut at the stock exchange, as described by "Dziennik", was relatively low.
The issuing prospectus of Petrolinvest provided a very conservative evaluation of the investment risk which the company faced and many days before the debut all of those interested could learn about it in detail, including political risks which the analysts located in the first place in Russia and Kazakhstan, and not in Poland. The Management Board of Petrolinvest, during the process of stock exchange debut, did not encounter any cases of interventions or interest from government authorities.
That is why in my opinion the activities described by "Dziennik", aimed at hindering the debut of the company at the stock exchange could not have significant influence on the success of the issue. This is because events in the Ministry of Agriculture or corruption scandals in Poland have nothing to do with the success of geological surveys or drills in Kazakhstan and Russia.
The debut of Petrolinvest was one of the best ones in the history of the Warsaw Stock Exchange, mainly thanks to the trust of private investors who rely on our strategy to provide information about all, even the most difficult doubts and risks which the company faces. In other words, investors have been trusting us because from the very beginning they could see that the company informed them responsibly of the strategy and potential of the product.
For me, as the President of the Management Board of Petrolinvest, this is the best evidence of recognition of the company's business strategy, confirmed by the production of the first barrel of oil within the Petrolinvest's concession in Kazakhstan. This is the first barrel of oil produced by a Polish company outside the Polish borders, and we are expecting successes in further drills any day now.
Yours truly, Paweł Gricuk
President of the Management Board of Petrolinvest S.A.
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