Gaztelecom prohibited from using Yamal fiber optics

The Polish government has forbidden Gazprom's telecommunication division Gaztelecom from providing telecom services using fiber optic cables laid along the Yamal pipeline. According to Telecommunications Ministry spokesman Przemyslaw Sypniewski, the decision has already been explained to the Russians. It comes in response to the announcement made by Gaztelecom on Wednesday that before the end of the year it would start operating fiber optic links along its pipelines, including the Yamal pipeline, which runs across the territory of Poland. In January a special government team determined that an agreement for leasing and using the fiber optic network along the Yamal pipeline signed by the EuRoPol Gaz company, which is controlled by Gazprom, was in breach of regulations agreed by the Polish and Russian governments, and hence contravened Polish law. At the same time, the district prosecutor in Gdansk has accused former president of Polish Oil and Gas (PGNiG), Stefan Geron, and its former chairman Andrzej Cylwik, of acting in violation of the Commercial Code by leasing the fiber optics along the Polish part of the Yamal pipeline to a company affiliated with EuRoPol Gaz. If the two men are found guilty of the charges, they may be imprisoned for up to three years. (Rzeczpospolita, p. A1, B2) M.T.