Poland may sue Russia to compensate for contaminated oil

WARSAW, Jun 19 (PRIME) – Poland may sue Russia for compensation for contaminated oil that came through the Druzhba pipeline in the amount of 1 million tonnes, Polish government’s representative for energy infrastructure issues Piotr Naimski told reporters on Wednesday.

“A dispute on the amount of contaminated oil is going on. Poland estimates it at about 1 million tonnes,” he said.

“The Russians say that it is less, because the Polish started to mix contaminated crude with pure. But what else could have been done to make refining possible?”

The fallout of pumping contaminated oil into the Polish oil transportation system will persist, as well as negotiations on compensation. “The problem has been solved at a technical level, but the compensation was not solved at the trade level. There will either be an amicable solution, or everything will end in a court,” he said.

Russia started pumping oil contaminated with chlorides via the Druzhba pipeline in April. Poland and Ukraine stopped oil taking on April 24-25. Poland resumed pumping on June 10. Transneft is to compensate for the losses.

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