• Controversy around Polish-Russian gas deal
  • Audio2.35 MB
  • 17.12.2009
Opposition MPs of Law and Justice party have inquired about the official government stand regarding the diversification of gas supplies to Poland.
 
 
Joanna Najfeld reports
 
Parliamentarians criticized the new deal with Russia, saying that its conditions are more like Soviet-era Council for Mutual Economic Assistance than modern European standards.
 

Not only does Poland import 92% of its gas from Russia, but it will also have to pay surplus to the demands of Polish industry. The agreement on Russian gas supplies to Poland has been settled last week in Moscow. It is supposed to be binding until the year 2037. According to Law and Justice members, this practically means that the Russian domination on the Polish market in that period has been secured fast.

 

Piotr Bonisławski, a Brussels-based consultant of energy issues at Kreab Gavin Anderson company says the topic of the surprising Polish-Russian deal has not yet surfaced in Brussels, but it has to at some point and, as he predicts, it may be stunning to some.

The controversial Polish-Russian agreement has yet to be signed by representatives of both governments, as well as the Russian Gazprom and the Polish Oil and Gas Company.