A meeting of energetic minds

Polish President Lech Kaczyński has announced that Poland will host an "energy summit" on May 11-12. The summit will focus on a planned Odessa-Brody-Gdańsk pipeline which, if built, could supply Caspian-region crude oil to Poland and its European Union partners. Kaczyński has invited the Presidents of Kazakhstan, Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Ukraine to the Polish capital for the meeting.

During a recent visit to Azerbaijan, President Kaczyński said that the energy summit would take place even if Kazakhstani President Nursultan Nazarbayev chose not to attend the meeting. Nazarbayev has expressed concern and impatience since discussion of the pipeline project has plodded on for several years without much action actually being taken. The Kazakhstani president has also insisted that Russia must be included in the project. Despite his rhetoric, however, the leader of oil-rich Kazakhstan has admitted that his country is very interested in the project, saying that "an ice-free port in Gdańsk would be of benefit to us."

Last month Poland and Ukraine agreed to cooperate further on the pipeline scheme. The project, which is estimated to cost at least R500 (zł.1,921) million, is designed to boost energy security by promoting diversification of energy supplies and to ease the EU's heavy dependence on Russia fuel. Commenting on the issue, President Kaczyński said that this is a "great strategic venture," and that he is "very optimistic" about the plans to complete the Odessa-Brody-Gdańsk oil pipeline.