23 May 2022 11:38

Poland tearing up agreement with Russia on Yamal-Europe pipeline

WARSAW. May 23 (Interfax) - Poland has decided to tear up an agreement with Russia on the Yamal-Europe gas pipeline due to Russia's special operation in Ukraine, Poland's Minister of Climate and Environment Anna Moskwa said on Monday via Twitter .

"Russia's aggression against Ukraine has confirmed the Polish government's determination to become fully independent of Russian gas. We have always known that Gazprom is an unreliable partner," she said.

Earlier in May, Russia imposed blocking sanctions against Polish company EuRoPol GAZ S.A., the owner of the Polish section of the Yamal-Europe pipeline. Any transactions are prohibited with respect to those entities subject to sanctions. This includes entry into Russian ports, payments and transactions with securities.

In April, Gazprom completely suspended gas supplies to Bulgargaz (Bulgaria) and PGNiG (Poland) due to non-payment for fuel in rubles. Payments for gas supplies starting from April 1 have to be made in rubles using new payment details, about which the counterparties were informed.

The 2,000-km Yamal-Europe pipeline from Torzhok, Russia to Frankfurt (Oder) in Germany can carry around 33 billion cubic meters of gas per year or 100 mcm per day, and reached its design capacity in 2006. The Polish section is 683 km long with five compressor stations.