Ex minister enters row with Gazprom over $200 million investment demand
Ex minister enters row with Gazprom over $200 million investment demand
An agreement with Russia regarding gas supplies may be reached by the end of
the year, much later then was expected, suggested deputy Economy Minister
Marek Kossowski after yesterday' s talks between Gazprom and Polish Oil and
Gas Mining (PGNiG). In an official statement Kossowski said "talks will be
continued in order to find solutions to all problems". What may account for
a major difficulty is the planned construction of three additional pumping
stations required to increase annual capacity from 20 billion do 33 billion
cubic meters. While Gazprom maintains that the Polish side still has to
spend $200 million on the investment based on the 1993 agreement, former
Economy Minister Janusz Steinhoff declared that Poland has already fulfilled
its commitments and added the current government should share his opinion.
(Gazeta Wyborcza, p. 20) M.K.
