Experts believe that if Russia were to turn off the tap in retaliation for Poland’s support for Georgia in the recent crisis in the Caucasus, this would deal a heavy blow against the Polish eocnomy. Poland is heavily dependent on Russian energy supplies as 90% of oil refined in Gdańsk and Płock refineries comes from Russia.
‘We need to point out that Poland has a very strong position in terms of energy and energy security’, Pawlak said at the press conference. ‘The existing infrastructure in Gdańsk allows importing oil from any direction. The back-up system could cover not only Poland’s energy needs, but also supply oil to German refineries partly linked up to Polish pipelines’ he added.