Warsaw- PKN Orlen, Poland's biggest refiner, plans to extract oil and gas in Poland, the Baltic Sea and possibly Ukraine and Africa, the company's new head told the Puls Biznesu business daily Tuesday.

PKN Orlen intends to cooperate with Kuwait Energy Company, and the two companies are working on a project in the Baltic that's "only the beginning" of the partnership, the Dziennik daily reported.

"Orlen, in addition to refining oil" and sales, should take up "seeking and extracting raw energy," chief executive Jacek Krawiec told Dziennik.

Warsaw- The head of Poland's biggest oil refiner resigned Thursday amid reports of disagreement within the management board.

Wojciech Heydel, who had served as CEO since June 7, resigned citing "the superior interest of the company as the current formula for co-operation within the framework of Management Board has been exhausted," the company said in a statement.

Heydel was replaced by Dariusz Krawiec, who had served as the board's vice-president from June 7. Krawiec was also rumoured to be favored by Poland's state treasury.

Warsaw  - Poland will toughen criteria for getting loans from banks amid the recent US financial crisis, reported the daily Dziennik on Thursday.

The changes will likely take effect at the end of this year, the head of Poland's Financial Supervision Authority told the daily. They will affect consumer and mortgage credit in all currencies. The move could lower property prices as less people would be able to afford homes.

"We see in the example of the US where excessive optimism leads in judging client's financial conditions," Krzysztof Broda of the Financial Supervision Authority was quoted as saying.

Warsaw - Polish parliament passed a resolution Wednesday that remembers victims of the Soviet invasion of Poland in 1939, calling the attack to start of "the suffering of millions of Poles."

Warsaw  - Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk met Tuesday with central bankers to plan the country's euro adoption, amid doubts Warsaw can maintain the strict economic criteria to join the 15-nation euro zone.

Tusk insisted Poland would meet the economic criteria for membership in 2011, and added a detailed schedule for entry will be prepared in October.

"The government, the Monetary Policy Council and the National Bank of Poland are ready for close cooperation to achieve this aim," Tusk said after the meeting.

Warsaw  - Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski met his Belarusian counterpart on Friday and spoke about the country's ties to the European Union, local media reported.

Sikorski met with Belarusian Foreign Minister Sergei Martynov to discuss border security, transport of goods and cooperation on energy issues, the Polish Foreign Ministry said.

Sikorski said while Belarus doesn't aspire towards European Union membership, it wants to draw closer to the EU as its valuable market.