Warsaw, 23/02/2007 (Agence Europe) - No to opening negotiations on a new partnership agreement between the EU and Russia, no to EU financial support by means of a European Investment Bank (EIB) loan to the proposed sub-Baltic Sea Germano-Russian gas pipeline, strong, but not definitive, opposition to ownership unbundling of production and network activities in the gas sector in Poland. Warsaw is intransigent: the energy security of the country, especially the security of gas supply, is of great concern and Poland wants guarantees.
Although it only represents 11-12% of the county's primary energy consumption, which is dominated by coal (60%), natural gas, used principally for heating and in the chemical industry in Poland, is a strategic energy source which makes Poland vulnerable, because it depends on imports of Russian gas. In Warsaw's eyes, Moscow has tarnished its reputation as a reliable energy partner, having twice, and to the detriment of some EU member states, used energy as a weapon, firstly against Ukraine in January 2006 and then against Belarus in January of this year, as a way of limiting its loss of influence over the former USSR states. Polish Economy Minister Piotr Wozniak, meeting a group of journalists at the Polish economy ministry on Wednesday 21 February, repeated that Warsaw was committed to having Moscow ratify the Energy Charter and its transit protocol. He did not, however, specifically link this issue to the start of negotiations on a new partnership agreement with Russia, the outcome of which depends particularly on Russia lifting its restrictions on exports of Polish meat. Acknowledging that it was “not necessarily the best instrument” to ensure the security of Russian gas supplies to Poland, Mr Wozniak felt, nonetheless, that the Energy Charter and its transit protocol, being based on the principles of reciprocity, were key to ensuring fair treatment for all parties. “If we don't get (ratification by Russia), then we will not be able to cooperate” in energy relations, he stressed.
Mr Wozniak also confirmed Warsaw's opposition to the Nordstream project, the Germano-Russian gas pipeline to carry Russian gas to Germany from 2010. Deploring the fact that it had been planned behind Warsaw's back, before Poland joined the EU, Mr Wozniak said he felt the project “threatens the interests” of Poland, without offering it any energy security guarantees. “Nobody other than us can tell that that we are safe,” he said, referring to the recent statements from project leaders, including Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder. Defending the project in Brussels at the start of February, (see EUROPE 9362) to make sure of EU financial support in the form of an EIB loan, Mr Schröder said that Nordstream would help to consolidate the energy security of Germany's neighbours. However, for an EIB loan to be granted, there has to be unanimity within the Bank's Board of Governors, where several member states are holding things up, particularly because the project does not meet a number of environmental requirements. “It's not blocking for blocking's sake. This pipeline represents an ecological threat, and could distort the gas market and threaten Poland's security of supply,” Mr Wozniak said, and he insisted that Warsaw would not soften its position on this matter. The Polish government fears in particular that the Germano-Russian project - which, nevertheless, the Commission has identified as a priority interconnection and which could, according to some industrial analysts, cost €15 billion - could cause the Russians to increase their prices to fund its investment. Warsaw fears, too, that, by going around Poland, the project affords Moscow the possibility of cutting its gas supplies without affecting Western Europe.
Warsaw's position with regard to the internal energy market and the unbundling of production and network activities perfectly illustrates Polish concerns on energy security in the gas sector. Mr Wozniak stressed Polish opposition to the ownership unbundling option for gas. While happy with the opening of the electricity market to private companies and the management of transmission by private companies, he nonetheless felt that gas pipelines and gas infrastructure should remain under state control and that the state should not be allowed to give up control until supply had been diversified. PGNiG, in which the state has an 85% stake, controls Polish gas imports, and another monopoly, Gas System, is in charge of distribution. “We need some time - maybe two years - and only then can we think about privatisation of the sector, about unbundling and foreign investors,” Mr Wozniak said. “First we need to diversify the sources of supply and get away from having only one (major) source,” he added. In this context, he said that Warsaw wanted to diversify its gas supply so that, ultimately, one third came from Russia, one third from Norway and the final third from other countries, like Algeria. It was for this reason that Poland planned to set up a liquefied natural gas terminal in the Baltic Sea for imports form Algeria, and to build a pipeline connecting it with Norway. (eh)