The Polish authorities are trying to prevent the implementation of European infrastructure projects, "Gazprom". At the same time, the Poles themselves do not want to receive energy at a low price. They made a notable step in this direction, having achieved through the Stockholm Arbitration a reduction in the contractual cost of gas supplied through the Yamal-Europe gas pipeline,. About a favorable decision for themselves said in the Polish energy company PGNiG, according to "Free Press". The court has satisfied the key arguments that indicate the need to reduce the contract price, and rejected the arguments of the Russian side aimed at maintaining the existing payment terms, noted Polish gas specialists. Warsaw from 2014.

tries to prove that he overcharges for Russian gas, and now she managed to achieve her own. Poland consumes 15 billion cubic meters of gas per year. Third, it produces independently, and the rest - 10.2 billion cubic meters - is purchased in Russia. The long-term contract is valid until 2022. , and after its expiration, the authorities intend to abandon Russian supplies. The first alternative is the purchase of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the US and Qatar, but it is impossible to provide the necessary amounts of fuel in this way. The second option is the construction of the Baltic Pipe gas pipeline, which in the project should connect Poland with the Norwegian shelf via Denmark.

However, so far this project exists only in the plans of the Polish authorities.

The rest of the countries do not want to pull the pipe, because they are not sure of its profitability. Therefore, the Poles have to seek a reduction in the price of Russian gas: few in Poland itself believe that the country will be able to abandon it after 2022. The arbitration award is temporary. The Polish side is confident that the final verdict will also be passed in its direction. But the leading expert of the National Energy Security Fund Igor Yushkov does not agree with this. The court so far only recognized the right of Poland to file an application and negotiate with Gazprom on reducing the cost, but given that since 2014.

gas prices have fallen so much, Warsaw's prospects for a discount or price review are rather vague, the expert explained.. "When they (representatives of PGNiG) began to demand a review of the contract, the gas prices for them were really high. The Poles argued their claim by the fact that prices were lower in the spot market, and therefore they should not pay so much. The same arguments were previously used by other Gazprom customers, and then in the process of negotiations, the Russian company usually gave them discounts or revised the cost of gas retroactively. In connection with the fall in oil prices, prices on Gazprom's long-term contracts have become lower than spot contracts and even more so than liquefied gas. Therefore, Poland's success in this proceedings is not so obvious, "Yushkov said.. At the moment, Gazprom already has the right to apply to the court demanding an increase in the price of supplies, since spot contracts and LNG are now much more expensive. It turns out that Poland already pays less than it should. It is unlikely that Stockholm will further cut her price list. By this proceedings Warsaw wants to show on what terms it is ready to continue buying Russian gas. But there is nowhere to go to it, as there are no real alternatives to purchasing fuel from Gazprom under the current conditions. Poland. "In fact, Poland is very profitable to buy Russian gas, and no one gives them a better offer. Therefore, it is not entirely clear how they will refuse to "Gazprom".

Especially as Europeans require them to reduce the share of coal consumption in the energy sector, and Poland remains one of the leaders in Europe on this indicator, "concluded Yushkov. Poland is an ardent opponent of the construction of the Nord Stream-2 gas pipeline, which should connect Russia and Germany on the bottom of the Baltic Sea. Warsaw's claims are that it will not be able to earn on fuel transit the previous amounts after the introduction of a new highway into operation.