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the country has refused to start paying in were supplied by Polish company Izostal for This could be due to the fact that the
roubles. €26.4mn, excluding VAT, and the pipeline was Rahimkulov brothers have a 3.4% stake in the
To cover the lacking quantities, Bulgargaz assembled by Alvora together with SiauliU company, or to the fact that MOL is buying
has sent requests for offers to twelve suppliers Dujotiekio Statyba for around €80mn. oil mainly from Russia as its refineries were
and approved the seven at the lowest price, it When Lithuania, Poland and the European tailored to process Ural-type crude oil.
said in a statement. Commission signed the GIPL financing CEO Zsolt Hernadi warned that switching
Contracts with these suppliers will be agreement in October 2015, Jean-Claude from Russian oil would take years and cost
signed shortly and Bulgargaz will be able to Juncker, the then head of the European hundreds of millions of dollars. MOL is
determine what change of price to seek from Commission, called it a historic moment. lobbying for rejecting EU’s proposal to impose
the state energy regulator, KEVR. The GIPL’s official opening ceremony will an oil embargo on Russia.
KEVR is expected to determine the price take place in Lithuania on May 5, attended by The European Commission gave its
increase for this month on May 10. the Lithuanian, Polish and Latvian presidents, consent for the PKN-Lotos merger last year
Meanwhile, Energy Minister Alexandar the EU energy commissioner and the Baltic on the condition that the group divested some
Nikolov said that the country is currently and Polish ministers. of its interests to avoid a monopoly.
buying gas at a price that is 10% higher Lotos has agreed to sell 30% of its refinery
compared to that under its contract with to the Saudi state oil company Araco and 80%
Gazprom. However, he also said that the of its gasoline stations to MOL.
contract amendment, required by Gazprom, DOWNSTREAM The deal would give the Hungarian
would not only have forced the country to pay company 417 gasoline stations in Poland and
in roubles but also would have lifted the price MOL’s acquisition in Polish PKN Orlen 185 gasoline stations in Hungary
of the gas. and Slovakia. When the transaction is closed,
Bulgaria was importing almost 90% of market stirs political MOL would become the third-biggest player
its natural gas from Russia. However, the in Poland’s retail vehicle fuel market, while
government in Sofia said it has a plan to debate PKN Orlen will be the fourth-biggest in
compensate for Gazprom’s decision and that it Hungary with a 7% share of the retail market.
will not obey the Russian demands. The Polish Senate has adopted a draft PKN Orlen already controls 5% of the
amendment aimed at blocking the merger Hungarian wholesale market.
of PKN Orlen and Lotos that would give Despite the Senate’s vote to cancel the
Lithuanian-Polish gas Hungarian oil and gas giant MOL a significant deal, the Polish government expects that
share of the Polish fuel retail market. MOL did the merger of Lotos, oil and gas exploration
pipeline comes into not comment. and production company PGNiG and PKN
Orlean, creating a state-controlled energy
The bill, tabled by the opposition Civic
operation Platform led by Donald Tusk, argues that giant, will be cleared in the lower house.
the merger is not in the interest of the state
PiS argues that the merger will strengthen
Gas Interconnection Poland-Lithuania and that fuel stations would be taken over by the Polish energy sector to ease dependence
(GIPL), a gas pipeline connecting Lithuania MOL, with close contact with Russia. It is not on Russian energy source.
and Poland, was launched on May 1. Vilnius clear what Tusk means by this, Hungarian
officials say this marks a key milestone in the media adds.
region’s energy independence from Russian
gas, LRT.lt, the website of the Lithuanian
national broadcaster LRT, reported on May 2.
“Today, it [gas] has been transported
towards Poland, but depending on the needs
of market participants, it will be transported
to both Lithuania and Poland. This is a
milestone in the history of the development of
energy independence between Lithuania and
Poland, especially in the context of security
of gas supply,” Nemunas Biknius, CEO of
Lithuania’s gas transmission system operator
Amber Grid, said on May 1.
Completed in Lithuania earlier this
year, the 508-kilometre GIPL gas pipeline
connected Lithuania, the other Baltic
countries and Finland’s gas market with the
European Union via Poland. The pipeline
stretches 165 kilometres in Lithuania and 343
kilometres in Poland.
The GIPL project was implemented by
Amber Grid, Lithuania’s gas transmission
system operator, together with Polish gas
transmission system operator Gaz-System.
The steel pipes for the pipeline in Lithuania

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