Polish mafia buying disused petrol stations

Oil industry experts and businessmen in Poland are concerned that criminal syndicates are acquiring unprofitable petrol stations and potentially using them to sell illegally-obtained oil, the Polish media reported May 15, 2014.

“Several months ago we were tipped off that a number of obsolete gas stations were not being closed, but instead had been acquired by groups from the grey economy,” Leszek Wieciech, CEO of POPiHN, Poland’s largest oil sector organization that brings together oil industry businesses, told Puls Biznesu. “The scale of this is not yet large, but it has become evident enough for the respective law enforcement agencies to investigate.”

CEE Insight previously reported how former members of the Polish mafia were moving in to the illegal oil trade. Experts now see the focus moving from wholesale to retail, which may indicate increased awareness as to the profits that can be reaped excluding middlemen. The tendency is detrimental not only to the industry, but also to the state budget, the latter registering millions in losses from unpaid excise taxes.

Photo courtesy of Yarl