Yukos crisis - are Poland's oil supplies now under threat?

Yukos, the troubled Russian oil giant, announced that a cash shortage could soon force it to cease its operational activities, including exporting oil, but representatives of Polish oil firms, which rely on supplies from Yukos, downplayed the risk. Marek Woźniczko, director of oil purchases at PKN Orlen, said that Yukos' statement probably is of a propaganda nature. He added that even if the Russian company was to be taken over by someone, the new investor would honor existing export obligations. However, Stanisław Łańcucki, director of market policy and logistics at Nafta Polska, the state agency responsible for privatization of the oil sector, is not so confident. "There is a threat of interruption in continuity of supplies to Poland," he said on Wednesday at a seminar devoted to Poland's energy security. (Parkiet, p. 1) T.J.