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Polish Briefing 21 May, 2018 9:00 am   
COMMENTS: Mateusz Gibała

Polish Briefing: Why is the EC so permissive towards Gazprom?

What goes on in Poland on the 21st of May.

MEPs ask: Why is the EC so permissive towards Gazprom?

A group of Members of the European Parliament is asking in an interpellation to the European Commission for fines for Russian Gazprom for applying monopoly practices to some of its clients in Europe. BiznesAlert.pl about the decision, which will not ultimately lead to the imposition of a fine for Gazprom.

Non-member MEP Jacek Saryusz-Wolski and other MEPs: Algirdas Saudargas and Laima Liucija Andrikiené from EPP, Petras Auštrevičius (ALDE), Zdzisław Krasnodębski (ECR) and Indrek Tarand and Claude Turmes from the Greens asked the European Commission about the EC’s behavior towards Gazprom and the Nord Stream 2 project forced by the company.

MEPs pointed out that the state-owned Russian energy company has not been sanctioned by the European Union despite the proven Russian actions destabilizing the internal situation in Syria, Georgia, the United Kingdom and Ukraine.

Members of the European Parliament asked why the European Commission proposed a settlement in the Nord Stream 2 case instead of imposing sanctions on the Russian monopoly, why the Commission separates the antitrust proceedings against Gazprom from the Nord Stream 2 case and why it did not extend antitrust proceedings to the situation of Member States, disadvantaged by unfair tariffs administered by Russian supplier.

Orlen will buy Iranian oil if it is profitable

Fuel prices in Poland remain one of the lowest in Europe and it is possible that if the situation around Iran stabilizes, oil prices will go down – convince PKN Orlen representatives during today’s press conference.

– Recently, global oil prices have increased by over 60 percent, while PKN Orlen’s fuel prices have only increased by 11 percent. We do everything to make fuel prices as low as possible. Fuel prices in Poland are among the lowest in Europe, as is the sum of excise duties and taxes. Thanks to the activity of the president of Daniel Obajtek, the diversification of sources of crude oil supplies and the optimization of production costs have gained momentum – Zbigniew Leszczynski, a member of the Orlen management board for sales, said during today’s press conference.

Chief economist of PKN Orlen, Dr. Adam Czyżewski was asked by journalists whether in the situation of the United States denouncing a nuclear agreement with Iran, Orlen will continue shopping for Iranian oil, he said, yes, if it is profitable. – It’s the US that broke this agreement. The countries of the European Union, Russia, China and Iran declare that they will continue to enforce this agreement. We are waiting for what will happen next. There are no sanctions at the moment – he said.

Czyżewski said that at the moment the so-called fear bonus is winning on the market. – Nothing happened yet. For now, there is a risk that something might happen and for this reason the price of oil rose to $ 80 a barrel, which was caused by the US breaking the atomic agreement. If the situation is relaxes, there is no reason for oil prices to continue to rise. The supply is not a problem, but rather the demand for oil. If nothing happens, prices should fall – said the chief economist of Orlen.