Energy Minister and Deputy PM see problems with Gazprom statements

Energy Minister Krzysztof Tchórzewski responded Thursday to a question about Wednesday's statement by the deputy head of Gazprom, that Poland had no intention to extend the contract for supply of gas to Europe. “The agreement transport includes the time period to 2022, with the condition that it will be extended if neither party requests a renegotiation of the agreement, at the latest in 2019. Therefore, there was no reason to make this kind of statements,” Tchórzewski said on Thursday at a press conference. On Wednesday, Kremlin-controlled Gazprom, Europe's largest gas supplier, warned about the risk of gas supplies to Europe through Poland because, it said, Poland had not yet adopted the new conditions of gas transit. “We heard that Poland has no intention of extending the transit contract. This creates a risk for supplies to European countries, including Germany,” vice-president of Gazprom Alexander Medvedev had said on Wednesday during an interview with Reuters. According to Deputy Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, the statement of the vice president of Gazprom indicated that Gazprom is an uncertain partner. “[The statement by Medvedev] only confirms, that Gazprom is an uncertain partner, as have they closed – literally and figuratively – the gas tap to Western Europe two or three times. Also, it shows how right was the decision made by Lech Kaczyński at the start of construction of a gas terminal in Świnoujście, which opened just a few months ago,” Morawiecki said.