Treasury Minister sceptical about Russian gas pipeline

Photo: gazprom.com

“I approach media speculation regarding a second branch of the Yamal gas pipeline with great caution, because the consent for such a project should depend on the price of the raw materials and its suppliers," Budzanowski stressed in a statement sent to the Polish Press Agency (PAP).

“The European Union does not need more supplies of natural gas from Russia,” he told Polish Radio.

Russian news agencies, including ITAR-TASS, announced on Wednesday that President Vladimir Putin had cleared Russian gas giant Gazprom to return to the concept of creating Yamal 2, with Poland, Slovakia and Hungary in mind.

The project has re-emerged amid the ongoing dispute between Russia and Ukraine, with the latter claiming that Russian is charging exorbitant prices for gas.

Minister of the Economy Janusz Piechocinski told Polish Radio that Poland should be “very careful” not to get involved in the spat between Russia and Ukraine.

He noted that Poland was concentrating on becoming more independent in the energy sector, investing in shale gas, and agreed that EU countries had not expressed any need for further Russian gas supplies.

However, he argued that if Poland is a potential transit country, then Warsaw should “express a lot of interest, as we would earn on this.”

Piechocinski is due to meet the head of Gazprom in St Petersburg in Friday.

The Yamal 1 pipeline penetrates Belarus and Poland, with the aforementioned sections completed in 1999. (nh)