SLD warns that Polish-Danish gas deal might be revoked by future government
The opposition Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) said the recently signed contract for supply of natural gas from Denmark might be cancelled by the new SLD-led government after the September elections. SLD's leader Leszek Miller said that although his party supported diversification of Poland's gas supplies, it nevertheless believed Danish gas was too expensive and other possibilities existed. SLD has been supporting the idea of building a pipeline between the German town of Bernau and Poland's Szczecin that would transport gas coming theoretically from the EU, but in reality from Russian Gazprom. Economy Minister Janusz Steinhoff replied to this statement saying that the price negotiated in the Danish deal was lower than the price of gas to be transported through the Bernau pipe. The head of the oil and gas company PGNiG Andrzej Lipko said that many European power companies showed interest in the Polish-Danish consortium of PGNiG and Denmark's DONG, set up to build and operate the BalticPipe for shipments of Danish natural gas to Poland. Under the deal, signed on Monday, Poland is to buy 2bn cubic meters of gas from Denmark, while the planned 230-kilometer long pipeline would be able to transport 8bn cubic meters of gas annually. It is believed that the pipeline could also be used for future shipments of natural gas from Norway to Poland and also to other countries in the region. The cost of the pipeline project has been estimated at EUR 300mn-350mn. Poland annually imports over 7bn cubic metres of gas, chiefly from Russia, while domestic sources provide another 4bn cubic metres a year. bb, kp
