Understand the impact of the Ukraine conflict from a cross-sector perspective with the GlobalData Executive Briefing: Ukraine Conflict
The Polish Government has announced its decision to ban coal imports from Russia in the wake of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, reported Reuters.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Draft legislation has been adopted by the government that imposes a ban on Russian coal imports.
Polish Cabinet spokesperson Piotr Muller was cited by Reuters as saying to reporters: “We don’t want these imports to be possible any longer, although we realise that there’s a risk related to the fact that the European Union has not approved such actions to date.”
Quoting Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, Bloomberg said that the country would stop imports of coal from Russia by next month or May.
In 2020, Poland imported around 9.4 million tonnes of coal from Russia, accounting for 20% of Poland’s domestic use.
The country also imports more than 60% of the oil it refines and 50% of its gas from Russia.
Mueller was cited by Associated Press (AP) as saying that the government would impose financial penalties on private entities that import Russian coal, as part of the new policy.
Muller said that detailed plans to eliminate Russian energy supplies would be announced by Poland Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki later this week.
Last month, Poland reached an agreement to resolve a dispute with the Czech Republic over the expansion of the Turow mine on the Polish side of the border with the latter.
According to the deal, Poland agreed to pay $50.8m in compensation for infrastructure upgrades and other environmental safeguards while the Czech Republic agreed to withdraw its complaint filed at the Court of Justice of the European Union against Poland.
