The Ministry of Climate and Environment confirms that Poland and Germany are jointly seeking sanctions for oil supplies from Russia via the Druzhba oil pipeline so that they can fulfill the May declaration of the will to abandon this route by the end of the year.
PKN Orlen informed BiznesAlert.pl that it was ready to abandon oil sent by Russia using the Druzhba oil pipeline, although the EU sanctions do not cover supplies via this route, but only by sea, and they come into force on December 5.
– If Poland itself stops using oil from this oil pipeline, it will have to pay compensation to the Russian side and this is the topic we are discussing now – said Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau in an interview with journalists last week. Kommersant reminds that Orlen has a contract with Tatneft until 2024 for 2,4 million tons per year. The contract with Rosneft amounts to 3,6 million tonnes per year and is valid until February and March 2023. The introduction of sanctions for supplies via the Druzhba oil pipeline to Poland and Germany would exempt Orlen from the penalty.
– The sixth package of sanctions against Russia adopted in June this year provides for the introduction of an embargo on oil transported by sea and petroleum products (which will enter into force on December 5 this year and February 5, 2023, respectively). The embargo will not apply to oil delivered via pipelines – in practice, it is about supplies via the Druzhba pipeline, which enables the transport of raw material to Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary – explains the climate ministry in a commentary for BiznesAlert.pl.
– Poland and Germany made a political declaration at the European Council on May 30-31 this year to stop importing oil from Russia. Achieving the indicated goals requires the introduction of appropriate legal provisions at the EU level. Current cooperation between Poland and Germany is carried out in this matter, BiznesAlert.pl found out from the Ministry of Climate.
Warsaw and Berlin also cooperate in the supply of non-Russian oil to the East German refineries Leuna and Schwedt via the oil port in Gdańsk, although according to BiznesAlert.pl, the German side is also considering the possibility of building a new oil pipeline from Rostock. Poles could also invest in the Schwedt Refinery with the participation of PKN Orlen, provided that the shares of the Russian Rosneft Deutschland are removed. These are currently under the temporary trusteeship of the German government. According to BiznesAlert.pl, Poland and Germany could develop supplies from Kazakhstan, according to German media like Handelsblatt. However, there is a risk that it would be at least partly Russian REBCO oil sold under the false flag of the Kazakh KEBCO mix.
Wojciech Jakobik