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Poland will strive to stop all Russian oil, gas and coal imports this year, as moves to wean Europe off its dependence on energy supplies from the country over its war in Ukraine intensify.
Poland plans to “do everything” to stop importing Russian oil by the end of 2022, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said at a media conference on Wednesday.
“We’re presenting the most radical plan in Europe to shun Russian oil, Russian gas, Russian coal,” Morawiecki said. “This plan is necessary for Europe to finally come to its senses. Because when others in Europe were looking at Russia as a business partner, we knew that it uses oil and most of all gas as an instrument of blackmail.”
In 2019, before the Covid-19 pandemic, Poland imported about 365,000 barrels a day of crude from Russia, accounting for almost 70% of its total crude imports, according to data from Eurostat. It also sourced about 50% of its diesel imports from Russia, though this volume was relatively small, at about 55,000 barrels a day.
PKN Orlen SA, the country’s largest refiner, can ensure stable deliveries when supplies from Russia stop, the company said in an emailed statement.
Poland will halt coal purchases from Russia by next month or May, Morawiecki said. Poland’s long-term gas contract with Russia expires at the end of this year and the government in Warsaw has repeatedly said it doesn’t plan to extend it.
Emergency Plan
Shortly before the Polish announcement, Germany said it was activating an emergency plan to help Europe’s largest economy manage limited energy supplies, as concerns mount that Russia could shut off natural gas deliveries.
The government in Berlin initiated the first of three possible phases of the plan to deal with squeezed energy supplies, Economy Minister Robert Habeck said Wednesday at a media briefing. The first phase involves intensive monitoring of gas consumption and reserves.
The move comes after Russia insisted that energy payments be made in rubles instead of euros or dollars, a demand that German government officials have rejected.
European energy prices surged. Benchmark gas futures traded in the Netherlands jumped more than 13% after Germany’s announcement. German power for next year gained as much as 6%.
