Page 12 - BNE_magazine_10_2019 kolomoisky

12 I Companies & Markets bne October 2019
Poland hints at stopping purchases of Russian gas altogether
Wojciech Kosc in Warsaw
Poland sees “no need” to buy liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Russia and expects to notify Moscow
by the end of the year it will not renew its current long-term gas supply contract with Gazprom, a government official said on September 18.
Poland appears determined to wean itself off Russian gas as soon as possible, as it has long seen its dependence on the eastern neighbour as a liability. Russia’s conflict with Ukraine and Moscow’s anti-Polish interpretation of the history of the Second World War are not helping, either.
Poland finally has the infrastructure to reduce dependence on Russian gas. The country built an LNG terminal in the western town of Swinoujscie. The terminal’s capacity is currently 5bn cubic metres (bcm) but Warsaw plans to expand it to 7.5 bcm.
More investments to boost Poland’s capacity to receive gas from sources other than Russia are planned. Poland aims to build another LNG terminal in Gdansk that will handle 4 bcm
Poland finally has the infrastructure to reduce dependence on Russian gas, after it built an LNG terminal in the western town of Swinoujscie.
of LNG, starting in 2025. Construction of the Baltic Pipe to pump some 10 bcm from Norway is expected to kick off in 2020, with the pipeline to begin operations in 2022.
With an estimated 4 bcm of domestic production to add to imports via terminals and the Baltic Pipe, Poland expects to secure covering its demand for around 17 bcm of natural gas annually by 2022. That year, Warsaw’s long-term gas supply contract with Russia’s Gazprom expires and Poland keeps hinting it will not be renewed.
“Just now Poland has a chance to free itself from a dominant supplier, which is Gazprom,” Piotr Naimski, the government’s proxy for strategic energy infrastructure, told Reuters.
“Poland finally has the infrastructure to reduce dependence on Russian gas”
Ukraine government sees 40% GDP growth in five years, triggers worries over debt repayment
bne IntelliNews
Ukrainian Prime Minister Oleksiy Honcharuk expects that Ukraine's GDP will grow by 5% in 2020, and over the next five years the government will ensure that the economy grows by "at least 40%", he said n September 2.
"To do this, we should grow by 5% next year and by at least 7% per year in all subsequent years," Honcharuk said before the government meeting in Kyiv, adding that his cabinet will reinforce plans for such economic growth with its first decision.
www.bne.eu
"Today we received a draft [decision] from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, according to which the economic unit in the National Police is being liquidated, that is, the police should not interfere in the business," news agency Interfax quoted the PM as saying.
Meanwhile, Alexander Paraschiy at Kyiv-based brokerage Concorde Capital pointed out in a note published on August 3 that such economic growth will have a direct impact on