The Government’s Plenipotentiary for Strategic Energy Infrastructure Piotr Naimski assured that Poland’s energy situation is safe. – Energy, electricity is supplied to all consumers in Poland in the amount as necessary and it is not threatened – he added.
Naimski was asked in the Frist Programme of the Polish Radio One about the current energy situation in Poland.
“Poland’s energy situation is secure. That is, energy, electricity is supplied to all consumers in Poland in such an amount as is necessary. And it is not threatened” – assured the Deputy Minister.
At the same time, he admitted that “the conditions we are in are quite serious, not to say extreme”.
“We have a situation where the energy crisis (…) affects energy production, energy supply, imports and exports, i.e., energy trade in Europe. And it all has to be coordinated very carefully and precisely. The place where this is done is the National Power Dispatch in Konstancin,” – Naimski explained.
According to the Minister, manipulation of the energy and gas market in Europe serves political ends.
“The Russians have reduced the gas supply to customers in Western Europe. They have limited long-term contracts to a minimum level of performance. On the other hand, they do not send gas which is necessary for European consumers above the minimum contractual supplies, which caused the extreme, sharp increase in gas prices some time ago,” – he said.
As he added, this is done in such a way that gas flows are restricted by pipelines – both through Ukraine and through Poland – via the Yamal pipeline. “This is a form of pressure, this is a form of persuasion that the Russians are using against first of all Germany, but also the European Commission, aiming to gain consent for the launch of this gas pipeline under the Baltic Sea, or Nord Stream 2, excluding regulations of European law,” Naimski said.
Naimski was also asked about energy price increases by the Energy Regulatory Office. As announced by the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection on Friday, 17 December, as a result of an increase in gas tariffs of the largest gas supplier PGNiG OD approved by the President of the Energy Regulatory Office, monthly bills of households using gas for cooking will rise by approximately PLN 9 per month net. The Authority also said that from January 1, 2022, the total average increase in the bill of an average household will be about 24 per cent, which means an increase of about PLN 21 net per month.
According to Naimski, these increases are “forced, it is a necessity”. As he explained, the prices of raw materials – gas, coal – are increasing.
“The very high gas prices in Europe have created a demand for coal, this coal in Europe is imported from outside the European area. (…) As a result, energy prices are rising. This 24% increase is very painful and difficult, but it is compensated, the government is trying to minimize the effects of this increase, excise duty is suspended (…), there are direct subsidies,” – he explained.
As Naimski added, “we are trying to ensure that this effect of the necessary increase in energy prices – the end-users – will be affected as little as possible”.