Contrary to the pledges of the Law and Justice (PiS) government, Russian oil continues to flow to Poland. This and next year, the state-owned PKN Orlen will transfer PLN 8 billion to the accounts of a Russian company linked to the Kremlin in exchange for oil. For this amount, Vladimir Putin’s army can buy almost 90,000 Iranian Shahed drones. On the anniversary of Russia’s full-scale aggression against Ukraine, Greenpeace activists protested in the center of Warsaw, hanging a huge banner on the Poniatowski Bridge and demanding an end to the purchase of Russian oil by the company headed by Daniel Obajtek.
Last year in March, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki promised that by the end of 2022 Poland would stop buying Russian oil. However, this did not happen – the government-controlled company PKN Orlen continues to buy oil from Russia’s Tatneft, thus supporting Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Greenpeace estimates that if Orlen does not terminate this contract, Orlen will send additional PLN 8 billion to the accounts of a Russian company linked to the Kremlin by the end of next year. For this amount, Putin’s army can buy nearly 90,000 Iranian Shahed suicide drones.
– Nearly a year ago, we protested in exactly the same place, demanding sanctions on Russian oil, gas and coal. A year has passed since the beginning of the full-scale war, and the company headed by Daniel Obajtek is still buying bloody oil from Russia. The PiS government broke its promise given to Poles that it would stop importing Russian oil by the end of 2022. We continuously hear excuses about this. Last year in May we indicated to the government that Russian companies could be included in the list of entities financing terrorism and thus the government may terminate these immoral contracts. Why hasn’t the Law and Justice government done it yet? – asks Piotr Wójcik, energy market analyst at Greenpeace Polska.
Greenpeace appeals to the government to accelerate Poland’s energy transition, as announced by the Law and Justice government after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
– After the outbreak of the full-scale war, we heard firm announcements that the Polish government would dynamically move towards domestic, renewable energy sources, and that in this way the government would build energy independence for our country. A year has passed, and we are nowhere near this goal. During that time, the government failed to even unlock the windmills – something that they promised to do already a couple of years ago! On the final stretch, PiS amended the wind law, thus reducing the area for wind farm development twice as compared to the government’s original proposal. This looks like self sabotage. Law and Justice must return to the rule of 500 meters from buildings and must show that it understands the strategic challenges in the energy sector. The law cannot be written in such a careless manner, let alone in the strategic sector which is the energy – says Marek Józefiak, spokesman and environmental policy expert from Greenpeace Polska.