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☆ Poland breaks up spy network, says defence minister
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WARSAW, March 16 (Reuters) - Poland has broken up a espionage network operating in the country, the defence minister said on Thursday, after private broadcaster RMF FM reported that a group of spies working for Russia had been detained. RMF reported on Wednesday that Polish security services had detained six people suspected of spying for Russia. "This is undoubtedly proof that the Polish services work for the security of our country in a very efficient manner." According to the RMF report, the six people arrested were from countries to the east of Poland and were working for Russian intelligence. RMF reported that security had been stepped up around key railway routes and critical infrastructure as a result of the discovery of the spy network.

Schwedt has traditionally supplied 90% of the gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and fuel oil used in Germany's capital city. Moscow last month retaliated against their bilateral efforts by halting oil flows to Poland via the Druzhba pipeline, thereby squeezing Poland’s ability to free up oil for Schwedt. Polish state-controlled refiner PKN Orlen now needs to use more capacity at the Gdansk oil terminal to feed its own Plock refinery. ROSNEFT STAKEGermany and Poland started discussions about shipping non-Russian oil to Schwedt via the port of Gdansk, Polish pipelines and Druzhba in early spring 2022. KEBCOIn a move that further complicated talks with Poland, Germany late last year approached Kazakhstan about supplies for Schwedt, sparking new concerns in Warsaw.

☆ Russia halts pipeline oil supplies to Poland, PKN Orlen CEO says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

WARSAW, Feb 25 (Reuters) - Russia has halted supplies of oil to Poland via the Druzhba pipeline, Daniel Obajtek, chief executive officer of Polish refiner PKN Orlen (PKN.WA), said on Saturday. PKN Orlen said it could fully supply its refineries via sea and that the halt in pipeline supplies would not impact deliveries of gasoline and diesel to clients. The pipeline, which supplies oil to Poland and Germany, as well as to Hungary, Czech Republic and Slovakia, was excluded from sanctions to help countries with limited options for alternative deliveries. Following the invasion of Ukraine and before the EU embargoed seaborne supplies from Russia, Orlen stopped buying Russian oil and fuels via the sea. Its capacity tops volumes that can be processed by Polish refineries and is in part used to supply oil to refineries in eastern Germany that are linked to Druzhba.

☆ Poland has delivered tanks to Ukraine, government announces on war's first anniversary
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

WARSAW, Feb 24 (Reuters) - Poland has delivered four Leopard tanks to Ukraine already and is prepared to deliver more quickly, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on Friday, as Western nations increase their support to Kyiv a year after Russia invaded the country. We will definitely not leave you, we will support Ukraine until complete victory over Russia," Morawiecki said during a visit to Kyiv, standing next to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. Warsaw's commitment to its neighbour has been instrumental in persuading European allies to donate heavy weapons to Ukraine, including tanks, a move opposed by several governments, including Berlin, until recently. Poland said last month it aimed to get training time for Ukrainian soldiers on Leopard 2 tanks down to five weeks. Reporting by Marek Strzelecki, Anna Koper, Pawel Florkiewicz Editing by Alex Richardson, Tomasz Janowski and Frances KerryOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Poland curbs border traffic as Belarus expels three Polish diplomats
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

WARSAW, Feb 20 (Reuters) - Poland announced more curbs to road traffic with Belarus on Monday, hours after saying Minsk was expelling three Polish diplomats, as relations between the two nations deteriorate. Citing "state security", Poland said on Feb. 9 it was closing a border crossing into Belarus at Bobrowniki, driving already hostile relations between the two countries to a new low. Freight traffic for Belarusian vehicles at the Kukuryki-Kozlowicze border crossing will be suspended as of 7 p.m. Tuesday, the Polish Interior Ministry said on Monday. The decision was linked to Minsk curbing traffic for Polish road freight on Belarus' borders with Latvia and Lithuania, the ministry said. Belarus has called the decision to close the Bobrowniki border crossing irrational and dangerous.

☆ Poland to close Belarus border crossing until further notice
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WARSAW, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Poland is to close a key border crossing with Belarus until further notice, the Polish interior minister said on Thursday, as relations between Warsaw and Minsk sink to new lows. Bobrowniki, more than 200 km northeast of Warsaw, is one of the main crossing points between Poland and Belarus. In 2021, Poland and the European Union said Minsk had engineered a migrant crisis on its borders, an accusation Belarus denies. More recently, Poland has condemned the vandalism of Polish graves in Belarus. Thousands of people of Polish origin live in Belarus as the west of the country was Polish territory until the borders were redrawn after World War Two.

The most contentious reforms for those in Poland's ruling camp concern the judicial system. To become law, the bill needs to be signed by President Andrzej Duda. "We will now continue to follow the next steps in the legislative process," Didier Reynders, EU Commissioner for Justice, said on Twitter. Relaxing rules on wind farm investment is also among the milestones Poland has to pass to unlock the EU funds. The amendment will slash potential onshore wind investments by 60-70%, effectively discouraging them, according to the Polish Wind Energy Association which groups some 150 investors.

The Baltic nations and Poland earlier Thursday called on international sports bodies to ban Russian and Belarusian athletes from competing in the Olympics and other events while the war in Ukraine continues. "Efforts to return Russian and Belarusian athletes to international sports competitions under the veil of neutrality legitimize political decisions and widespread propaganda of these countries," it added. They called on "all international sports organizations and federations" to remove Russian and Belarusian athletes from international competitions until the war ends. Latvia joined Kyiv on Wednesday in threatening to boycott the 2024 Olympics and qualifiers if Russian and Belarusian athletes are included while the war continues in Ukraine. The Paris Olympics will be held from July 26-Aug. 11 next year and the Paralympics from Aug. 28-Sept. 8.

☆ Polish regulator accuses T-Mobile of misleading advertising
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

WARSAW, Jan 2 (Reuters) - Polish regulator UOKiK has accused the Polish unit of T-Mobile of misleading advertising relating to a free mobile data offer, with the company potentially facing a fine of 10% of annual revenue. "After reading the advertisement, the consumer should have a general, but realistic, idea of the presented offer," the head of UOKiK Tomasz Chrostny said in a statement. "The T-Mobile promotional slogan may suggest receiving a one-time data package of 1200 GB, and not a dozen or so smaller packages, provided that the fee is paid periodically." T-Mobile Polska did not immediately respond to an e-mailed request for comment. ($1 = 4.3822 zlotys)Reporting by Alan Charlish, Marek Strzelecki; Editing by Kirsten DonovanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Poland ready for Russian oil ban, says minister
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The Group of Seven (G7) nations and allies including Poland this month agreed a $60 per barrel price cap on Russian seaborne crude. In response, President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday signed a decree that bans the supply of crude oil and oil products from Feb. 1 for five months to nations abiding by the cap. Poland has been gradually reducing its intake of Russian oil, and after the start of the war in Ukraine stopped buying seaborne Russian oil, top refiner PKN Orlen said. "We are prepared to process all types of crude oil, this is our advantage," Minister of Climate and Environment Anna Moskwa told a news conference. Moskwa also said that she believed the next EU sanctions package would include a decision on banning Russian oil.

Ukraine has shared a list with European countries of some 10,000 items it urgently needs to maintain power. Since early October, Russian forces have targeted Ukraine's energy infrastructure, causing blackouts and forcing millions of people to endure sub-zero temperatures with little or no heating. As stockpiles of state-owned European power grids dwindle, Lorkowski expected the private sector to become more important in meeting Ukraine's energy infrastructure needs. A first tranche of U.S. power equipment worth $13 million has been shipped to Ukraine, officials said, and two more planeloads were due to leave shortly. Olena Osmolovska, director of the reform support team at Ukraine's energy ministry, said it would cost tens of billions of dollars to fully restore the energy system.

REUTERS/Dinuka Liyanawatte/File PhotoDec 13 (Reuters) - For the energy industry, 2022 will be remembered as the year Russia's invasion of Ukraine accelerated a global energy crisis. The world's top energy companies beat a hasty retreat from Russia and wrote off tens of billions of dollars in assets. WHY IT MATTERSRussia's invasion of Ukraine caused European countries to re-evaluate their relationship with that nation, long the continent's primary supplier of natural gas. "We are seeing nothing less than the termination of a successful 50-year partnership on gas between Russia and Europe," said Michael Stoppard, special adviser and global gas analyst at S&P Global Commodity Insights. As the year comes to a close, costs for natural gas and heating fuel have ebbed as economic activity declines.

Lignite contains several times more sulphur and ash, and five times more mercury, than black coal, and provides three times less energy. It also loosened restrictions on selling coal waste, which can be highly polluting, taking Poland back to the days before 2018, when the rules for coal were tightened to fight smog. In September, PiS leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski even told residents of Nowy Targ, the town with the lowest air quality in Poland in 2020, to burn pretty much whatever they wanted. Smog has been intense over the past days and we have a lot of children in need of intensive treatment," she said. COAL RUSHAbout 80% of the coal used by European Union citizens to heat homes is burned in Poland.

☆ Exclusive: Poland seeking German support to sanction Russian Druzhba oil pipeline
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The EU has pledged to stop buying Russian oil via maritime routes from Dec. 5 but Druzhba is currently exempt from sanctions. The southern section of the pipeline supplies Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic which, unlike Poland and Germany, would struggle to diversify their oil imports. Poland and Germany promised in spring to try to end Russian oil imports via Druzhba's northern leg by the end of year but Orlen remains tied to its contract with Russian oil and gas company Tatneft. The company has already cut its reliance on Russian oil to 30% of its requirement, replacing it with deliveries from Saudi Arabia and Norway among others. Kommersant newspaper reported earlier this month that Orlen had submitted an application to the Russian oil pipeline operator Transneft for the supply of 3 million tonnes of oil to Poland through Druzhba in 2023.

☆ EU countries unhappy with 275 euro gas cap proposal
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-24 | by ( Gabriela Baczynska | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The long-standing disagreements were holding up other policies to alleviate the acute energy crisis, such as the launch of joint EU gas purchases and a quicker permit process for renewables. Polish Climate Minister Anna Moskwa called the 275 euro blueprint put forward by the European Commission "a joke". "It could help us reduce gas prices and therefore reduce electricity prices, which is a major challenge in Europe this winter," he said. Energy minister Miriam Dalli said the strict conditions needed for the mechanism to kick in made it "next to impossible". But the issue of whether and how to cap gas prices has split the bloc.

☆ Polish climate minister says EU gas cap proposal is a 'joke'
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

WARSAW, Nov 24 (Reuters) - The European Union's gas price cap proposal is a 'joke', Polish climate minister Anna Moskwa said on Thursday. Moskwa's criticism followed disagreement among the 27 European Union countries on Wednesday over a proposal to cap future gas prices at 275 euros per megawatt hour (MWh). read more"The gas cap proposal is key, but what emerged the day before yesterday is a joke. it was presented at the last moment and deviates from what had been proposed before and isn't acceptable as it's higher than current market prices," Moskwa said in Brussels. As many as 15 EU countries including Poland, Italy and Greece want a cap, while a camp led by Germany argues that a cap could hamper gas supplies.

☆ Polish regulator to appeal after Gazprom Nord Stream 2 fine annulled
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WARSAW, Nov 21 (Reuters) - UOKiK will appeal a ruling that annulled fines it imposed on Russia's Gazprom (GAZP.MM) and five other companies responsible for building the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, the Polish regulator said on Monday. UOKiK in 2020 fined Gazprom more than 29 billion zlotys ($6.33 billion) for building the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline without Warsaw's approval. It also imposed a total fine of 234 million zloty spread across five other companies involved in financing the project. The other companies affected by the fines were Engie Energy (ENGIE.PA), Uniper (UN01.DE), OMV (OMVV.VI), Shell (SHEL.L) and Wintershall. Poland was a staunch opponent of the Nord Stream 2 project because it feared Russia could use energy supplies to exert influence over European countries.

KYIV/WARSAW/LONDON, Nov 17 (Reuters) - Ukraine has few viable options currently to boost grain exports by rail, road or river barge anytime soon if a United Nations-brokered deal with Moscow to export by sea runs into trouble. Ukraine has shipped grain by truck and train via its western border and through small Danube river ports in the south west. But the capacity on those routes is much smaller than from its sea ports - meaning there is no significant plan B if the sea corridor falters. "Rail and truck capacity can maybe be increased 3-5% but no more, because the infrastructure of Europe can't absorb our grain. They are not ready on truck, on rail, on river barge, on storage, to accept this grain at volume," he said.

Polish President Andrzej Duda said on Wednesday that access to the site of the explosion would require the agreement of both countries leading the investigation, Poland and the United States. "The Ukrainians asked for access to the site of the investigation. You see shots over Ukraine, fighting over Ukraine, and at some point, in a very short time, you see a certain sequence of events," he added. Police officers walk near the site of an explosion in Przewodow, a village in eastern Poland near the border with Ukraine, November 16, 2022. Przewodow is less than 10 kilometres away from one of the two power lines linking Poland and Ukraine.

[1/4] Police officers walk near the site of an explosion in Przewodow, a village in eastern Poland near the border with Ukraine, November 16, 2022. If this is an a mistake of the Ukrainians, there should be no major consequences, but I'm not an expert here." After a sleepless night, Byra decided to keep her school, situated some 300 metres from the blast site, open on Wednesday. "I told the parents I see no grounds to close the school but kids haven't shown up. "Since the start of the war we keep analysing the danger, it has quieted down recently, but here we are today," she said.

☆ Poland considering NATO Article 4 activation, says spokesman
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Marek Strzelecki | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

The United States and Western allies said they were investigating but could not confirm a report on Tuesday that the blast in the village of Przewodow resulted from stray Russian missiles. "A moment ago we decided to verify whether there are grounds to launch procedures under Article 4 of the North Atlantic Treaty," government spokesman Piotr Muller told reporters. Article 4 allows NATO members to bring any issue of concern, especially regarding security, for discussion at the North Atlantic Council. Muller also said Poland was increasing the readiness of some military units, but declined to take any question including about the cause of the incident. "It was decided a moment ago to increase the readiness of some combat military units in Poland and to increase the combat readiness of other units of uniformed services in our country," he said.

☆ Canada in contact with partners after explosion in Poland - foreign ministry spokesperson
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Marek Strzelecki | ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

OTTAWA, Nov 15 (Reuters) - Canada is aware of an explosion in Poland that killed two people and that the United States is investigating unconfirmed reports that the blast was caused by stray Russia missiles. "We are monitoring the situation, and we are in contact with Poland and other partners on this," said Adrien Blanchard, a spokesman for Canada's foreign ministry. Reporting by Steve Schererd; editing by Jonathan OatisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Reports coming out of Poland 'incredibly concerning' - U.S. State Dept
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Marek Strzelecki | ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

WASHINGTON, Nov 15 (Reuters) - Reports that Russian missiles have crossed into Poland near the Ukrainian border are "incredibly concerning," State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel said on Tuesday, adding that Washington is working to determine what happened and appropriate next steps. The State Department is talking to a range of partners about the reports and is working with the Polish government, Patel told reporters at a regular news briefing. Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk; Writing by Daphne Psaledakis and Costas Pitas; editing by Jonathan OatisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Ukraine's Zelenskiy blames Russian missiles for deadly Poland explosion
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Bogdan Kochubey | Marek Strzelecki | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

KYIV, Nov 15 (Reuters) - Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Tuesday, without producing evidence, that Russian missiles had hit Poland, a NATO country, in what he called a "significant escalation" of the conflict. "Russian missiles hit Poland, the territory of our friendly country. Russia's defence ministry denied reports that Russian missiles had hit Polish territory, describing the reports as "a deliberate provocation aimed at escalating the situation". read moreIn Washington, the Pentagon and the U.S. State Department said they could not confirm Russian missiles had landed on Polish territory but were investigating. read more"The longer Russia feels impunity, the more threats there will be to anyone within reach of Russian missiles.

☆ Oil flowing normally to Poland via Druzhba pipeline, says operator
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

WARSAW, Nov 15 (Reuters) - Oil is flowing normally via the Polish section of the Druzhba Pipeline, pipeline operator PERN said late on Tuesday after media reported that oil supply to Hungary via the pipeline was temporarily suspended due to a fall in pressure. "I have no information about disruptions, shipments are carried out normally," Karolina Krasinska, PERN's spokeswoman, told Reuters. Reporting by Marek Strzelecki; writing by Anna Koper; Editing by Chizu NomiyamaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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