Poland to fine Russia for poor quality of the supplied gas
Poland will impose a fine on Russia for supplying substandard gas, which Warsaw stopped taking from the Yamal gas pipeline for its own needs as of June 21st, as stated by the chairman of the Polish oil and gas company, PGNiG, Piotr Wozniak, Ukrinform reports.
“As a result, PGNiG will be forced to impose a fine on Gazprom in accordance with the contract,” Wozniak said.
According to him, if the gas supply to Poland is resumed by June 23rd, this will not affect the 2017 – 2018 heating season. However, if Russia continues to transport substandard gas to Europe, PGNiG will have to use gas in its own reservoirs in the southern part of Poland to meet its needs.
Therefore, subsequently it will be necessary to renew the reserves. The shortage of gas is currently being covered by the Mogilny reservoir in the center of the country, as well as through the suspension of filling tanks in southern Poland.
“If the break lasts longer, we will have to change the method of filling southern tanks,” Wozniak said.
He stressed that the Russians did not inform the Poles of the reason for the transportation of substandard gas. According to him, they can be "different", primarily technical reasons.
The PGNiG Chairman noted that Russian gas from the Yamal gas pipeline is transported to Europe without further obstacles and enters the markets. He stressed that in Germany there is a drying station where the gas is cleared of impurities. However, Poland does not have such a station, since the Russians opposed this during the construction of the Yamal gas pipeline.
Wozniak noted that the supply of gas from the east is always a "risky business," as there may be situations like the current one, or Russia may close the pipeline that passes through Ukraine in 2019.
“The threat is serious, because after statements and plans by Gazprom to abandon the Ukrainian transit in 2019, it turns out that the second eastern pipeline, i.e. the Yamal gas pipeline, may simply not be used for technical reasons,” the PGNiG Chairman stated.
Subsequently, Wozniak said that the possibility of building a drying station in Poland should be considered, since in the future Russians are unlikely to completely halt the operation of the Yamal gas pipeline.
As reported, the Polish gas pipeline operator, Gaz-System, suspended supplies of gas to the Polish gas transportation system from June 21st to June 23rd due to the gas not meeting the parameters specified in the operating instructions for the transport system.