Poland’s energy security not threatened, says Economy Minister

According to Deputy-Prime Minister and Minister of Economy Waldemar Pawlak, Poles do not have to worry about their country’s energy security.



The vice-prime minister said that there is no threat of Russia stopping delivery of energy resources to Poland, as had been reported by the UK’s Daily Telegraph last week. The companies that deliver gas and oil, said Pawlak on Polish Radio today, will stick to their contracts because they do not want to lose credibility in the eyes of their trading partners.



Last week, the British press warned that Russia might try to exert political pressure on countries dependent on it for natural resources, a group which includes Poland.



Waldemar Pawlak stressed that Poland's situation regarding energy safety is good. According to him, the Naftoport in Gdansk, handling crude oil and crude oil products, enables the import of resources from sources other than Russia.



He also stressed that it is technically possible to import oil to Poland via the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline. In fact, this has already been tried: the oil was transported from Turkey through Italy's Trieste to oil refineries in the Czech Republic owned by Poland's PKN Orlen.


Pawlak said, however, that the pipeline is controlled by British Petroleum, which has a lot of business with Russia.


The vice-prime minister also stressed that domestic resources, which cover 60 percent of Poland's demand for energy, are key to the country's energy safety. He said that producing gas from coal mined in Poland will become increasingly appealing if security concerns continue.
Source:www.polskieradio.p