Polish Audit Office Finds Violations in 2009-2010 Gov't Talks With Gazprom

WARSAW (Sputnik) – The Polish Supreme Audit Office (NIK) said in a Monday report that it found violations in the actions of former Economy Minister Waldemar Pawlak when he was holding talks on gas supplies with Russian energy company Gazprom in 2009-2010.

"The majority of the economy minister’s actions in negotiating contracts on gas supplies with Russia in 2009-2010 were carried out without the needed backing in the form of an approved negotiation instruction. After the approval of such instruction, some talks were inconsistent with obligatory principles," the document read.

The effectiveness of the talks between Poland and Gazprom had been limited by the former’s lack of alternative gas sources, the document added.

Moreover, Pawlak and Polish oil and gas company PGNiG did not fully use their negotiating capabilities during the talks, since they did not attempt to receive benefits from Gazprom in exchange for conditions that would be favorable for the Russian side, according to the report.

READ MORE: Stockholm Court Justifies Polish Demand for Gas Price Cut From Gazprom — PGNiG

The document, however, provided a positive assessment of both the government’s and PGniG’s efforts in ensuring the ceaseless supply of Russian gas and avoiding a shortage of fossil fuel for Polish consumers.

During a press conference on the NIK report results, Piotr Naimski, the government’s plenipotentiary for strategic energy infrastructure, said that the country had lost 1.5 billion zlotys (around $340 million) in transit of Russian gas between 2010 and 2017 over its deal with Gazprom.

Additionally, Warsaw had lost control over EuRoPol GAZ, the owner of the Polish section of the Yamal–Europe gas pipeline, as a result of its damaging agreements with the Russian energy giant, Naimski pointed out. The official also noted the strengthening of Poland's energy dependence on Russian supplies.

EuRoPol GAZ was created as a joint venture by Gazprom and PGNiG back in 1993 to operate and finance the construction of gas pipeline infrastructure in Poland.

According to Gazprom, Poland is one of the main Russian gas consumers in Europe. Russian gas deliveries meet 60 percent of the Eastern European country’s demand.

Russian gas supplies to Poland are currently being carried out under a long-term contract which stipulates the annual supply of 10 billion cubic meters of gas to the Eastern European country.

Despite the fact that gas prices for Poland were lowered by 10 percent in 2012, PGNiG engaged in a pricing battle with Gazprom, demanding that the Russian energy giant reduce prices again in 2015 due to changing EU market trends.

READ MORE: Gazprom Has Plan in Place If Denmark Tries to Stop Nord Stream 2 Pipeline

On Saturday, PGNiG said that the Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce had ruled that its demand for lower prices for gas it purchased from Gazprom was justified.