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Gazprom acts on Polish fears



By Upstream staff 

Russian gas giant Gazprom has said a planned Baltic Sea pipeline to carry gas to western Europe would nothave any impact on a transit route through Poland.

Polish officials criticised an agreement, backed by Berlin and Moscow, between Gazprom and BASF to invest in the undersea pipeline which bypasses Poland and other EU newcomers.

Fearing Russia could effectively "cork" the Yamal gas route running through Poland if an alternative was built, Warsaw wants the European Union to seek alternatives for boosting EU gas supplies, including the construction of a second Yamal line.

"I don't see any negative impact (of the decision to build the Baltic pipeline) on the Yamal II project," Gazprom deputy chief Alexander Medvedev told Polish daily Rzeczpospolita today.

He said the new pipeline, with an annual capacity of 55 billion cubic metres, would mainly supply Nordic states and Britain and would not be "competition" for the Yamal route, capable of shipping 22 billion cubic metres of gas to the EU.

Medvedev said Gazprom has set up a task force with Polish partners to check the profitability of expanding the Yamal line.

"We have agreed with our Polish colleagues to create a working group which will analyse the economic feasibility of the project," Medvedev said.


Friday, 15 July, 2005, 11:49 GMT  | last updated: Friday, 15 July, 2005, 11:49 GMT

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