Warsaw Asks Novatek Subsidiary To Transfer Gas Infrastructure To Polish Companies

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has ordered Novatek Green Energy, a subsidiary of the sanctioned Russian gas producer Novatek, to hand over its gas transmission infrastructure to Polish companies, government spokesperson Piotr Muller said on Friday

WARSAW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 29th April, 2022) Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has ordered Novatek Green Energy, a subsidiary of the sanctioned Russian gas producer Novatek, to hand over its gas transmission infrastructure to Polish companies, government spokesperson Piotr Muller said on Friday.

On Tuesday, Poland imposed sanctions on 35 companies and 15 individuals who work in the country, including Gazprom and Novatek, leaving several dozen municipalities in Poland without gas.

"This company (Novatek), also by order of the prime minister, is obliged, on the basis of the law on crisis management, to transfer the infrastructures to these state-owned companies, which will implement gas supplies to those areas where the company associated with the Russian gas company previously provided its services," Muller told reporters.

According to Muller, the decision must be implemented immediately.

"The transfer process will start today and should be completed within a few dozen hours. If all goes well, the decision will be implemented today in some regions.

Everything, of course, depends on whether there will be resistance from Novatek and its employees. If there is such resistance, according to the law on crisis management, we can use coercive means," Muller added.

On February 24, Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine after the breakaway republics of Donetsk and Luhansk appealed for help in defending themselves against Ukrainian forces. In response to Russia's operation, Western countries, including Poland, have rolled out a comprehensive sanctions campaign against Moscow and vowed to reduce dependency on Russian energy.

On March 30, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said that Warsaw will ban all imports of energy resources from Russia by the end of the year.

On Wednesday, Russian energy giant Gazprom announced the suspension of gas supplies to Poland and Bulgaria after they refused to pay for gas in rubles. Gazprom also warned that it would limit gas transit to other countries in case Poland and Bulgaria begin unauthorized use of Russian gas from the transit pipelines.