Russia plans Baltic gas line in place of Polish Yamal II

Photo: Glowimages

Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller confirmed the viability of the new Nord Stream line following a meeting with Nord Stream AG Managing Director, Matthias Warnig, Russian daily Vedomosti reports.

The plans for Yamal II, which would have supplemented the existing branch through Belarus and Poland, have been shelved owing to the controversy that the project sparked in Poland, the paper claims.

In April 2013, Polish Treasury Minister Mikolaj Budzanowski was dismissed for not knowing that a 'memorandum of understanding' approving a study on Yamal II was signed between Gazprom and EuRoPol Gaz (48 percent of which is owned by Gazprom, and 48 percent by Poland's state-owned PGNiG).

Shortly after Budzanowski's dismissal, head of PGNiG Grazyna Piotrowska-Oliwa was also dismissed.

As a result, the study concerning the feasibility of Yamal II, which was due to be completed by September 2013, was never carried out. The line would have linked Belarus, Poland, Slovakia and Hungary, cutting out Ukraine.

Vedemosti claims that the UK, as Europe's largest gas market, would be the main target of the Nord Stream expansion.

Poland is currently engaged in a bid to broaden its energy portfolio, while cutting its dependence on Russian gas. Besides tapping into its shale gas potential, the Polish government has also approved a schedule that would see two nuclear plants active by 2035. (nh)

Source: PAP

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