Slovakia changes constitution to halt expansion of Muszynianka

Cooperative Muszynianka, owner of one of the most popular mineral water brands in Poland, Muszynianka, has planned to explore water from deposits in the Slovakian town of Legnawa, which is located two kilometers away from the Polish headquarters of the cooperative. The company has already invested several million złotys to conduct drilling and assess the levels of reserves. They had also prepared a sketch of pipelines that would lead water to the bottling plant in Poland. In the meantime, however, Slovakia changed its constitution and one of its new provisions says that water from its mineral springs may be exported on the condition that it is bottled in Slovakia. "From the window of my office, I can see drilling we made there and we cannot do anything about it," Ryszard Mosur, head of the cooperative, told wyborcza.biz webportal. "It's a kind of compliment that Slovakia changed their constitution because of us," he added bitterly. Now, Muszynianka wants fight for its rights in Brussels, arguing that Slovakia is breaching one of the EU's basic principles, the free movement of goods. The European Commission has already filed an inquiry with Poland's southern neighbor and it is currently awaiting an explanation.