The chief executive of Polish refiner PKN Orlen claimed on Saturday that Russia has halted supplies of oil to Poland via the Druzhba pipeline. The officials also said that the company would tap alternative sources to plug the gap.
The Polish company said in a statement to the news agency AFP, “Deliveries through the Druzhba pipeline towards Poland were stopped by the Russian side.”
The news development regarding the halt in supplies via the pipeline came a day after Poland delivered its first Leopard tanks to Ukraine.
The pipeline has been exempted from the European Union sanctions which were imposed on Russia in the aftermath of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
PKN Orlen Chief Executive Daniel Obajtek wrote on Twitter: “We’re effectively securing supplies. Russia has halted supplies to Poland, for which we are prepared.”
The tweet added, “Only 10% of crude oil has been coming from Russia and we will replace it with oil from other sources.”
Reports have mentioned that PKN Orlen had imported about 10 per cent of its oil needs through the pipeline from Russia until now. Meanwhile, rest from other countries through maritime routes.
Skutecznie zabezpieczamy dostawy surowców. Rosja wstrzymała dostawy ropy do Polski, na co jesteśmy w pełni przygotowani. Z Rosji pochodziło już tylko 10% surowca i zastąpimy go ropą z innych kierunków. To efekt dywersyfikacji, którą przeprowadziliśmy w ciągu ostatnich lat.
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— Daniel Obajtek (@DanielObajtek) February 25, 2023
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As mentioned in the tweet, Poland had also informed earlier this month that it was still buying 10 per cent of its oil supplies from Russia, despite the sanctions. Warsaw had said that it had a “radical plan” to stop all Russian oil imports by the end of 2022.
Maciej Malecki, who is the deputy minister for state assets, told parliament that Poland still has a valid contract with a Russian company Tatneft, which meant that the nation was still buying 200,000 tonnes of oil from Russia each month.
(With inputs from agencies)
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