Polish economy ministry says Poland still against Baltic Sea NEGP gas pipeline

"As far as we are able to say we are still against this project, which we consider to create a threat for energy security not only for Poland but also for the entire CEE," Director for Energy Supply Diversification Przemyslaw Wipler said at a seminar organized by Polish sector monthly Nowy Przemysl.

The Polish government has long criticized the construction of the NEGP, which Prime Minister Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz said was a threat to Polish energy security almost as soon as he took office in the fall of 2005. The NEGP is a joint-venture between German E.ON Ruhrgas and Russian Gazprom, and both companies have been criticized by Poland and the Baltic states for bilaterally negotiating the pipeline, which could impact the energy security of the entire EU.

Poland and the Baltic states have also pointed out that the NEGP will offer the opportunity for Russia to reroute gas intended for Western Europe around Poland, Belarus and Ukraine.

This could be a danger for Poland and the Baltic states if another gas dispute should erupt similar to the New Year's Eve Russian-Ukrainian gas dispute, which resulted in Gazprom cutting off gas to Ukraine, which resulted in gas reductions to a number of other EU countries, including Poland.

In May Marcinkiewicz and representatives of the Polish Economy Ministry said Poland had no interest in participating in the program, but instead will concentrate on diversifying gas supplies through other sources, including LNG possibilities as well as a theoretical Norwegian-Swedish gas pipeline that could eventually supply Poland with Norwegian gas.
Source:onet.pl