‘After 30 years, Polish gas relations with Russia will cease to exist,’ says Polish minister

The Polish government has terminated an intergovernmental gas contract with Russia on the Yamal pipeline which has been in force since 1993, Poland’s Environment Minister Anna Moskwa revealed on Monday.

In a statement posted on the minister’s Twitter account, Moskwa explained that Russian aggression against Ukraine had shown that Polish efforts to gain energy independence from Russian gas were the right move to take. “We always knew that Gazprom is not a trustworthy partner,” she added.

Termination of the contract was a natural step following a halt of Russian supplies to Poland last month, which was a breach of contract, the Polish minister told the Polish Press Agency (PAP).

Warsaw had refused to comply with the demand from the Kremlin to pay for gas in rubles.

Poland’s minister in charge of energy security, Piotr Naimski told Polish Radio 1 on Monday that the government had adopted a resolution terminating the contract from 1993 on supplies of Russian gas to Poland on May 13. An official notification was set to be sent on Monday.

Naimski added that the relationship between the two countries had already reached “breaking point,” adding that “after 30 years it can be concluded, that gas relations between Poland and Russia cease to exist.

“30 years passed of efforts of many people, who believed that Poland’s reliance on Russian imports and exposing Poland to Russian blackmail, was something that needs to be liquidated. It took 30 years.”

He pointed out that “there were such people who did not want to gain independence from Russian gas.”

Minister Naimski revealed to listeners that the Baltic Pipe gas line is now near completion with all works progressing according to the schedule defined six years prior. On Oct. 1, it will be commissioned for use starting with one third of its capabilities, gradually increasing until reaching its full capacity in December.

Naimski pointed out that considering the Baltic Pipe together with an expanded LNG terminal in Świnoujście, and the connections with Lithuania and with Slovakia that will be completed in the summer, Polish gas customers can feel confident about an uninterrupted energy supply.

The minister also assured that Polish energy giant PGNiG “is providing gas contracts.”