Poland begins diversification of its gas supply in agreement with Norway

Prime Minister Jerzy Buzek and Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg have announced a joint declaration to construct a pipeline to supply Poland with gas from Norway. The final negotiations are slated to finish in December 2000 and the first gas will flow in 2004 or 2005. The gas line will run under the Baltic Sea. "We are considering two possibilities for the route of the pipeline," said Norway-based Statoil Krystyna Antonowicz-Sas's spokesperson. "It will either flow through the strait between Sweden and Denmark or through Denmark and under the Baltic Sea". The pipeline will supply 5 billion cubic meters of natural gas annually, which is two-thirds the amount currently imported from Russia (Zycie, page 1,5,9) A.Z.