Poland’s Interior Ministry has sent a motion to the Prime Minister’s Office requesting an order for state-owned companies to take over gas installations belonging to Novatek Green Energy, a Russian firm that has cut supplies in some parts of Poland.
Novatek Green Energy halted gas supplies to over a dozen municipalities after it was subjected to Polish sanctions. The government wants to restore gas supplies through the takeover of the company’s infrastructure by the Polish Gas Distribution Group (PSG) and gas company PGNiG.
The ministry requested for PSG and PGNiG to take over the assets under a crisis law, Deputy Interior Minister Maciej Wasik told PAP (Polish Press Agency).
Government spokesperson Piotr Mueller said earlier that such a recommendation would be issued by the prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, as early as Thursday.
“This week the matter will be fixed, the necessary help will be granted,” Mueller said.
Interior Minister Mariusz Kaminski announced a sanctions list on Tuesday enabled by a special law published on April 15 forbidding the import or transit through Poland of coal and coke from Russia or Belarus, among other provisions, as well as the freezing of funds and assets of people and companies on the list.
Novatek Green Energy, which is headquartered in the southern Polish city of Krakow, was among 50 entities on the list. It is a subsidiary of the Novatek capital group, controlled by Russian firm OAO Novatek, Russia’s second-biggest producer of natural gas.