WARSAW—Jakub Wiech, the former editor-in-chief of Poland’s Energetyka24, recently mused that “there are three things you can watch endlessly: a fire burning, water flowing, and Gazprom being valued lower than Orlen.” In March, that observation became reality, as the Polish energy major’s market capitalization surpassed that of Russia’s leading state-owned energy giant for the first time. In this sense, Orlen’s rise and Gazprom’s fall offer a condensed history of modern Eastern Europe.

© Project Syndicate