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Polish Briefing 5 January, 2023 10:30 am   

Polish Briefing: PSL wants to liberalize the regulations on RES | UOKiK is conducting proceedings regarding Orlen’s fuel prices and does not rule out intervention | Abrams tanks will join the Polish Army

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What goes on in Poland on the the 5th of January.

PSL wants to liberalize the regulations on RES

Politicians of the Polish People’s Party (opposition party – ed.) Andrzej Grzyb and Adam Jarubas spoke at a press breakfast about the “Green Week of RES” initiative, in which they presented the group’s ideas for changes in the field of renewable energy. They want to liberalize the distance act, free the biomethane market and facilitate the connection of photovoltaic installations.

MP Andrzej Grzyb emphasized that renewable sources are a prerequisite for Poland’s energy security, and in Poland they account for only 16 percent of the mix. – The atom is still on paper, in the optimistic scenario the energy will start flowing in 10 years. Nuclear energy will be able to provide about 40 percent of the country’s energy, which will have to be supplemented with renewable sources, he argued.

– We have 10 program proposals: first of all, unblocking the distance act. The benefit for local communities would be that they would buy energy at a wholesale price. When it comes to photovoltaics, we believe that the system that was in place until April 1 was very effective. The number of connection refusals totaled 30 GW of capacity. We believe that an urgent change in regulations is needed when it comes to the generation of energy from photovoltaics for the needs of companies. We also propose the development of investments in biogas – in Poland we can obtain about 13.5 billion cubic meters of biogas from waste biomass. One source is agriculture, the other is municipal waste. That is why we propose the program “Biogas plant in every commune”. In addition, there is a program to build a biomethane plant. We want to implement a hydrogen program and remove administrative barriers to the development of small hydropower, said MP Grzyb.

UOKiK is conducting proceedings regarding Orlen’s fuel prices and does not rule out intervention

President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK), Tomasz Chróstny, said that the office is conducting proceedings regarding Orlen’s pricing policy. He also did not rule out intervention in this matter, the TVN24 news channel reports.

The President of UOKiK, Tomasz Chróstny, was asked by TVN24 whether inspections were carried out on Orlen’s pricing policy. – We are conducting proceedings in this regard, we will be happy to present any information on Thursday – said the President of UOKiK.

As TVN24 reminds, UOKiK previously reported that it was “looking at” PKN Orlen’s actions regarding fuel prices and “does not rule out intervention in this matter”. – The Office also wrote that “the President of UOKiK may interfere with the prices used by undertakings only in specific cases, e.g. if they result from collusion with another entity or entities or abuse of a dominant position by market tycoons. This interference has an indirect dimension, i.e. to eliminate an unlawful business practice. UOKiK added that “the mere raising or lowering of the price does not constitute an action contrary to antitrust law, especially since the entrepreneur is not legally obliged to set prices based on the cost model”, TVN24 reports.

Abrams tanks will join the Polish Army

On Wednesday, at the 1st Warsaw Armored Brigade in Wesoła, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defense Mariusz Błaszczak approved a contract for the supply of 116 M1A1 ABRAMS tanks for the Polish Army.

– Last year, we signed an agreement on the acquisition of 250 Abrams tanks in the most modern version for the Polish Army. These tanks will reach us at the end of 2024, so at the end of next year. We are conducting negotiations on this matter, but the tanks for which I approved the contracts today will already join the ranks of the Polish Army this year. And this is our great achievement that already this year the first copies of these tanks will be added to the Polish Army. The entire process of equipping the Polish Army with 116 Abrams tanks will end next year – said Błaszczak during the meeting with the soldiers.