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What goes on in Poland on the 4th of April.
Every tenth Pole is troubled by energy poverty
The report of the Institute for Structural Research on energy poverty in Poland shows that the problem of energy poverty concerns 12,2 percent of inhabitants of Poland.
The authors of the study define energy poverty as a phenomenon that concerns people experiencing difficulties in meeting their energy needs, that is heating a flat, heating water and meals, lighting and using basic household appliances.
In the report, the scale of energy poverty in Poland was estimated using the high costs – low income indicator, based on the analysis of household budgets survey conducted annually by the Central Statistical Office.
According to the report of the Institute for Structural Research, the problem of energy poverty concerns 12,2 percent of inhabitants of Poland, but this phenomenon decreased by 2,2 percentage points between 2012 and 2016, but still affects 4,6 million people. According to the authors of the report, the reason for the change was the increase in household incomes, including thanks to the “Family 500+” program. However, they emphasize that the percentage of poor people who were not poor in terms of income practically did not change and is around 5,6 percent of inhabitants of Poland. According to 2,1 million inhabitants, Poland can not satisfy its energy needs, despite being above the poverty threshold. Energy poor are mainly inhabitants of villages and small towns: every fifth inhabitant of the village is poor in energy. Over 80 percent poor in energy lives in single-family houses, 25 per cent are pensioners.
The end of mining in the Wieczorek Mine
After over 190 years of operation, the Wieczorek mine in Katowice completed coal mining. On Saturday Polish Mining Group (PGG) transferred the plant to Spółka Restrukturyzacji Kopalń (SRK) for liquidation. The remaining deposits will be exploited by the neighboring Murcki-Staszic mine.
On signing a notarial deed on Saturday, based on which the mine’s assets along with a group of employees went to the restructuring company, Tomasz Głogowski, a spokesperson for the Polish Mining Group, informed PAP. A year ago, the Group has already transferred a separate part of the Wieczorek estate to SRK. Now, after the extraction, the main part of the mine – one of the oldest in Upper Silesia – was found there.
According to SRK’s previous information, the company has taken over 46 km of underground workings from PGG, three windscreens (Pułaski, Roździeński and Giszowiec), as well as nearly 450 various facilities on the surface, including buildings, pipelines, tracks, sidings, bridges, viaducts and heating networks . The number of PGG employees passing to SRK along with the transferred assets was estimated at approx. 300 people.
Due to the closure of the Wieczorek mine, no more than 1,5 thousand employees of the plant do not lose their jobs. As the PGG spokesman informed, recently the allocation of employees was carried out, coming to an end with the transfer of assets to SRK. In the neighboring Murcki-Staszic mine, 1,255 miners found work, while in other mines of PGG – 118.
