The Polish government has announced plans to end the import of Russian coal within two months and of Russian oil by the end of this year, in what it describes as “the most radical plan in Europe” for moving away from Russian energy supplies.
It has also criticised those countries that are “not doing anything” to reduce their reliance on Russia, as well as the European Commission for not taking more decisive action.
The new plan was unveiled today by the prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, against the backdrop of a fuel storage facility belonging to state oil giant Orlen, whose CEO, Daniel Obajtek, stood alongside him and energy minister Anna Moskwa.
Morawiecki noted that his cabinet had yesterday approved legislation to introduce a ban on the import of coal from Russia, in a move that the government admits may contravene EU trade rules.
That bill will now go before parliament, and if passed then requires President Andrzej Duda’s signature. But the prime minister expressed hope today that the embargo will be in place in “April, May at the latest”.
Meanwhile, “we will do everything to depart from [the import] of Russian oil by the end of the year”, he added, quoted by the Polish Press Agency (PAP). “Here we are presenting the most radical plan in Europe to depart from Russian oil”.
Morawiecki noted that the government has also long been working on plans to “de-Russify” the country’s gas supplies. As early as 2019, state energy firm PGNiG announced that it would not prolong its contract with Russia’s Gazprom when it expires at the end of 2022.
Earlier this month, the prime minister announced that Poland would be “independent from Russia gas within six months”, thanks to imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and a new pipeline bringing in Norwegian gas.
Poland has sought to reduce its dependence on Russian oil, reducing its share in consumption from as high as 90% down to around 65%. The government wants to reduce energy dependence on Russia further, but admits it will be particularly difficult in case of oil.
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During his remarks today, Morawiecki also criticised countries that are “not doing anything about the war” and continuing to use Russian energy resources. He called on the European Commission to introduce a special tax on Russian hydrocarbons.
“There can be no repeat of the stupidity, the bad, criminal policy, that created dependence on Russia and gave euros and dollars for Putin and Russia to build up their military arsenal and attack their neighbours,” said the Polish premier.
“From the first days of the war, we called on the European Commission to act decisively,” he continued. “Unfortunately it did not, so we have made the decision ourselves…We are determined to show the commission what decisive, radical action is all about.”
Morawiecki said that the government would do all it could to ensure that the ban on Russian energy will “not hit Poles in their wallets”. This includes “an extensive plan also to create renewable energy”, so that Poland no longer has to “buy expensive raw materials”, even from friendly countries.
Speaking to RMF24, Obajtek confirmed that Orlen, which currently relies on Russia for almost 40% of its crude oil, intends to reduce this figure to zero by the end of the year in line with the government’s plan. It will “do everything to stabilise prices” during the transition, he assured.
Earlier this year, Orlen concluded an agreement with Saudi Aramco that included the sale of some assets, including a share in an oil refinery, but also a long-term agreement to secure Saudi oil supplies for Poland.
Main image credit: Krystian Maj/KPRM (under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.
