Orlen says receives Polish part of Russia’s Yamal–Europe pipeline

WARSAW, Oct 11 (PRIME) -- Polish company Orlen said that the government has given the company the local part of the Yamal–Europe export gas pipeline, including the Russian stake in it, the company said in a statement late on Tuesday.

Russian gas giant Gazprom and Poland’s PGNiG own 48% each in EuRoPol Gas, the operator of the Polish branch of the Yamal–Europe pipeline. The asset was frozen previously like many other Russian assets in the country.

“Following an antimonopoly investigation, director of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection decided to approve Orlen’s acquisition of a controlling stake in Europol Gaz S.A.’s transit pipeline system,” Orlen said.

Poland had been receiving around 10 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year from Gazprom through the pipeline previously, but on April 27, the Russian company stopped exports to PGNiG and to Bulgaria’s Bulgargaz because the companies refused to pay for the gas in rubles under a new mechanism.

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