Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki used the decision by Gazprom to stop supplying gas to the country over its refusal to pay for Russian energy imports in rubles to demonstrate Poland’s independence from Russian gas.
Speaking at the GAZ-System headquarter in Rembelszczyzna near Warsaw on Wednesday, Morawiecki praised Poland’s “anticipation and wisdom” for having already introduced measures to ensure the country is “independent of Russia in terms of gas supplies.”
“We cannot be blackmailed,” the Polish prime minister said. “We have just demonstrated the meaning of responsible long-term diversification policies that take care of Polish security.”
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Morawiecki reminded his audience that Putin’s decision to stop gas to Poland was because of Poland’s consistent support for Ukrainian sovereignty as well as Russian displeasure at Poland’s decision to diversify its gas supplies.
He also said that Poland’s storage facilities were 78 percent full which, given the arrival of the Baltic Pipe and increased LNG imports, meant that Poland was no longer in any way dependent on Russian gas.
The Polish prime minister also pointed to the fact that it was the current Law and Justice (PiS) government which had taken the key decisions on diversification of gas supplies by increasing domestic gas production, opening up inter-connectors with Lithuania, Czechia and Germany, and establishing an inter-connector with Slovakia.
He argued that Poland would have been in serious trouble from Russian gas blackmail had it not been for the decisions taken on the construction of Baltic Pipe and the increased capacity of the gazoport in Świnoujście.
Back in 2010, a contract was signed with Gazprom by a Civic Platform (PO) government for supplies which Morawiecki said was not worth the paper it was written on since the gas could be stopped at will.
