The demolition of the unfinished EuRoPol gas office building in Bielany in Warsaw has begun. The construction of what was supposed to be a sumptuous HQ of the company started in 2000. EuRoPol Gaz was established in the early 90s to manage the Yamal-Europe gas pipeline (Yamal gas pipeline – ed.). The demolition marks the symbolic end of the era of Russian gas dominance in Poland.
The demolition of the building is the definitive end of Russia’s monopoly on gas supplies in Poland, which for decades supplied our economy with this raw material. According to the developer’s plans, residential apartment units will be built on the site of the office building.
It should be recalled that at one time EuRoPol Gaz was the owner of the Polish part of the Yamal-Europe Gas Transmission pipeline. The shares in the company were split between Russia’s Gazprom and Poland’s PGNiG where each received 48 percent. However, the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and the termination of the Yamal contract with PGNiG by Gazprom in April 2022 caused a reaction from Poland. In November 2022, the Ministry of Development and Technology, at the request of the Internal Security Agency, acquired shares in EuRoPol Gaz owned by PAO Gazprom. The Ministry established a temporary compulsory board in the company in order to avoid decision-making paralysis in this company and to ensure the safety of critical infrastructure intended for gas transmission.
This decision was a step towards the polonization of this infrastructure in the country. Currently, following the EU law, the Polish section of the pipe is managed by Poland’s Gaz-System, which implements investments necessary to use that section for the national gas transmission system, for instance to distribute gas from the LNG terminal or the Baltic Pipe across the country.
The whole story can be seen as a symbolic culmination of the removal of Russian gas, the main cause of the energy crisis needed by Russia to paralyze European support for Ukraine invaded by Russia. The demolition of the EuRoPol Gaz office building marks the symbolic end of Russian dominance in the Polish gas sector.
TVN24 / Jacek Perzyński