Poland's turn to seek to 'tighten' Russian gas transit to Europe

Mr. Piotr Naimski - head of the Polish Strategic Energy Infrastructure Agency - said that Poland needs to increase the transit fee for gas from Russia to Europe passing through this country.

Poland wants to increase transit fees for Russian gas.

According to Naimski, the current fee Poland is charging Russia for gas transit is 21 million zloty ($5.4 million). This is an "unfair" figure. Therefore, Poland needs to find a way to increase this amount after the current contract expires.

“Gazprom should pay more for its gas transit service,” Naimski added.

The contract for gas transportation via the Yamal gas pipeline will expire on May 16, 2020. The Yamal-Europe gas pipeline is laid across the territories of Russia, Belarus, Poland and Germany, connecting gas fields in Western Siberia with end consumers in Western Europe.

Russia's Yamal pipeline transits gas through Poland to Germany.

In addition to Poland, Russia has paid gas transit fees to Ukraine to build overland pipelines from Russia to European users. But Ukrainian energy giant Naftogaz and Russian supplier Gazprom are currently locked in a dispute over gas prices and the volumes of gas Ukraine is supposed to send to Europe.

On December 31, 2019, the 10-year contract for the transit of Russian gas to Europe via Ukraine will expire.

In addition, Russia is installing a gas pipeline running under the Baltic Sea called Nord Stream-2, bringing Russian gas directly to Germany without any transit fees.

Given the above situation, Poland is a country of strategic importance for Gazprom and Russia in exporting gas to Europe. This condition is unlikely to encourage Poland to ignore the terms of a new gas transit contract in the future.