Poland – The Polish daily Rzeczpospolita revealed on 14 November that Development and Technology Minister Waldemar Buda had decided to take over the shares held by PAO Gazprom (48%) in EuRoPol Gaz, the owner of the Yamal-Europe gas pipeline. The other shareholders are subsidiaries of the Polish energy group PKN Orlen: the gas operator Polskie Górnictwo Naftowe i Gazownictwo – PGNiG (48%) and Gas Trading (4%).
The ministry has put PAO Gazprom under “temporary mandatory administration” and appointed a lawyer and energy specialist, Radosław Kwaśnicki, to head it.
For the record, PAO Gazprom’s assets were frozen last April as part of the sanctions against Russian companies following Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.
According to a statement from the Polish Ministry of Development and Technology, “the temporary sequestration of […] PAO Gazprom […] is required to operate this entity under the rights it exercises from the 100 percent of the shares it holds in […] System Gazociągów Tranzytowych EuRoPol Gaz S.A. […] in order to maintain the provision of public services and the performance of other public tasks within the scope of the company and to protect the state’s economic interests.”
It should be noted that the German government has also taken control of the German holding company Gazprom Germania, in order to “secure gas supplies for the German economy”.
