Polish concern PGNiG accuses Ukrainian national company Naftohaz of lack of respect of a gas supplies' contract. A gas contract dispute between Poland and Russia to provoke a political debate in Polish internal politics.
Some month ago Poland and Ukraine used to organize the Euro soccer championship, but now Warsaw and Kyiv are near to a gas crisis.
On Thursday 11/8 Polish energetic concern PGNIG sentenced Ukrainian national company Naftohaz is not respecting a 200 mcm of gas supplies to Poland contract, signed in 2004.
The PGNiG company declared the will to solve the question in a peaceful way, as well as the Ukrainian Naftohaz explained the lack of gas supplies is due to changes in the Ukrainian law.
The energetic contrast between Poland and Ukraine is quite important after Kyiv government made Warsaw an important transit-state for Ukrainian gas supplies.
Isolated from the world community because of a wave of political repressions, Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych was not able to negociate a contract with Russia for cheep gas supplies.
For this reason, Ukrainian Minister of Energy Yuri Boyko decreased gas supplies from Russia, increased the use of coal and oil, and signed a temporary agreement with German energetic company RWE to buy 5 bcm of gas via Poland since November 2012 to January 2013.
Polish-Ukrainian energetic crisis is also lied to gas relationships between Poland and Russia. On Tuesday the 11/6 PGNiG obtained a discount on gas supplies by Russian national major Gazprom.
By conceiving the discount, Moscow avoided the prosecution of a judgement in the Stockholm Arbitration Court presented by PGNiG against unfair prices Gazprom imposed Poland for Russian gas supplies.
Russia uses energetic supplies to Europe as an instrument to foster Moscow hegemony in the EU gas market. Gazprom conceived discounts to western European companies, whereas let extremely high gas supplies' tariffs for Central Eastern European countries as Poland is.
According to Polish Minister of Treasury, Michal Budzianowski, Poland obtained a 15% discount from Russia, and it's going to pay for Russian gas supplies' less than other Central Eastern European countries.
Moreover, Minister Budzianowski, a Christian-democratic ruling Civic Platform's politician, told Russia did not obtained any concession in exchange to the gas supplies' discount.
The Right and Justice conservative opposition MP Piotr Naimski accused Polish government of having accepted a still unfair price for Russian gas supplies.
Moreover, the main opposition Party asked the Polish government to prove if really Moscow didn't obtained any political concession by Warsaw, as a joint-venture's creation to manage several gas power station in Poland.
Matteo Cazzulani
