What goes on in Poland on the 22nd of August.
US LNG arrives in Lithuania for the first time in history
The first historical delivery of American LNG to Lithuania. A tanker with liquefied natural gas from the United States entered the Lithuanian port of Klaipeda. This is the first delivery of gas from across the Ocean to a Baltic State. „The delivery will increase the energy independence not only of Lithuania, but also the entire region,” Lithuania’s Energy Minister Žygimantas Vaičiūnas said at the Monday press conference.
The gas was delivered by the Clean Ocean tanker whose capacity is 160 thousand cm. Lietuvos Duju Tiekimas, a subsidiary of the state-owned Lietuvos Energija imported the load. Part of the gas will be sold in Lithuania and the rest will flow to Incukalns, a gas storage facility in Latvia. In September the floating LNG terminal in Lithuania will receive another delivery.
According to minister Vaičiūnas the liquefied gas from the USA will in the future lower the price for end-users. „LNG from the US from the first delivery is cheaper than gas from Gazprom. Increasing the import of US gas will decrease its price,” the minister said.
Finance Ministry about to end works on regulations on donations for storms victims
„The Ministry of Finance is adding finishing touches to the regulation on exempting donations for storm victims from tax. We are planning to submit the draft today for inter-ministerial consultations with a deadline for any remarks on 22 August” Paweł Jurek from the Ministry’s press office told the Polish Press Agency.
According to Jurek, some donations may be exempted from tax regardless of the tax exemption regulations the ministry is working on.
„The Polish law clearly says that everybody is allowed to donate to a non-related person/family a donation of up to PLN 4902 without paying any tax. The sum applies to everybody, which means that when it comes to multi-person families the figure should be multiplied by the number of family members,” Jurek explained. „In the majority of cases help in the form of donations is therefore exempt from tax,” he assessed.
Jurek also admitted that in some situations the untaxed donations can be higher. „In such a case it is possible to receive a total tax exemption. The law allows to do this and the decision is made by the head of a local tax office with an agreement from the relevant mayor, provost or president. This is because any income from donations are considered income of the local government,” he said.