Poland Officially Stops Importing Russian Gas

Poland will no longer be purchasing natural gas from Russia, instead the country will increase domestic production and look for alternative supplies, Polish Secretary of State and Government Plenipotentiary for Strategic Energy Infrastructure Piotr Naimski said on Wednesday

WARSAW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 27th April, 2022) Poland will no longer be purchasing natural gas from Russia, instead the country will increase domestic production and look for alternative supplies, Polish Secretary of State and Government Plenipotentiary for Strategic Energy Infrastructure Piotr Naimski said on Wednesday.

Earlier in the day, Russian energy giant Gazprom announced terminating gas supplies to Polish state-controlled gas group PGNiG and Bulgarian company Bulgargaz for their refusal to proceed with payments in rubles, as it was requested earlier. PGNiG has confirmed the complete suspension of gas supplies by Gazprom under the Yamal contract.

"No. We will not be purchasing gas from the Russian side and Russian companies. Period," Naimski told Polish radio RMF FM.

He pledged that Poland will not face gas shortfalls, saying that the country will be self-sufficient in gas from its own production as well as from the deliveries by alternative suppliers.

"I can assure you that if the external conditions do not change, there will be gas. Unless there is some sort of a cataclysm, gas supplies will be ensured under predictable conditions," Naimski added.

For its part, PGNiG said in a statement that the suspension of Russian gas imports will not affect supply to Polish consumers.

PGNiG also argued that cutting supplies by Gazprom constitutes a breach of the Yamal contract terms, adding that it reserves the right to assert claims over the supply shutdown and "will use all its contractual powers and rights under the law to do so."

Poland's gas contract with Gazprom provides for 10.2 billion cubic meters of gas supplies per year, covering about 50% of national consumption. Despite being dependent on Russian gas, after Moscow launched its military operation in Ukraine, Poland has repeatedly advocated abandoning Russian energy, both at the national and European Union level.