President Tomasz Stępień: The Baltic Pipe is a pillar for the development of a competitive gas market in Poland

Photo of the article - Our goal is to create a competitive and diversified gas market and to ensure energy security of Poland. The Baltic Pipe project will contribute to the achievement of this goal -  said Tomasz Stępień, President of the Management Board of GAZ-SYSTEM, at the 3rd Polish Scientific Conference “Energy security – pillars and development prospects”. Another participant of the debate held on 16 April 2018 in Rzeszów was Piotr Naimski, Government Plenipotentiary for Strategic Energy Infrastructure.
In the speech that inaugurated the conference, Vice Minister Naimski emphasised that the Baltic Pipe was a project of strategic importance both for Poland and the entire region.
- It will enable us to import as much as 10 billion m3 of gas per year. It is an investment that will break the domination of one supplier and help make Poland independent of Russian gas supplies. The Baltic Pipe may significantly change the situation in the region - he pointed out.
Tomasz Stępień, President of the Management Board of GAZ-SYSTEM, observed that the extension of the LNG terminal in Świnoujście and the Baltic Pipe are projects that will demonstrate the huge potential of the Polish gas market.
The Baltic Pipe is a European project
The Government Plenipotentiary for Strategic Energy Infrastructure said that the Baltic Pipe had been classified by the European Commission as a “Project of Common Interest” (PCI). He emphasised that this status is awarded to infrastructural projects that are aimed at strengthening the European internal energy market and pursue the objectives of the EU energy policy involving the provision of affordable, secure and sustainable energy.
- The Baltic Pipe has the support of the European Commission. It is considered a European project, which is important for our partners in Copenhagen and Oslo, as well as other capitals that are consulted in this project - he said.
Works are performed according to the schedule
Vice Minister Naimski also pointed out that the Baltic Pipe project has to be completed by 1 October 2022.
- The project schedule has been developed in great detail and is followed systematically. We have already completed the Open Season procedure, i.e. the market research stage. As a result, the company Polskie Górnictwo Naftowe i Gazownictwo has signed gas transmission agreements with GAZ-SYSTEM and the Danish company Energinet - he said. 
- The Baltic Pipe is an ambitious project, but I am sure we will complete it successfully. The works are performed according to the schedule. The construction should start in 2020 - President of the Management Board of GAZ-SYSTEM Tomasz Stępień added.
The investment contracts will be signed by the end of the year
During the conference, the President of the Management Board of GAZ-SYSTEM announced that the investment contracts for the Baltic Pipe project would be signed by the end of 2018.
- We have no reasons to doubt that the Baltic Pipe project will be completed. We intend to sign the final contracts by the end of this year - he said.
- Compared to other projects from the past, this one is the most mature. We are well prepared for its implementation - added Piotr Naimski, Government Plenipotentiary for Strategic Energy Infrastructure.
Impact of the Baltic Pipe on the environment
President of the Management Board of GAZ-SYSTEM Tomasz Stępień stressed that the implementation of the Baltic Pipe project would not have a negative impact on the environment.
- Environmental organisations protest when they are ignored and when no one talks to them. We plan to talk to every interested organisation as part of the consultation stage of the project - he said.
- We want to limit, to the greatest extent possible, or eliminate the risk of this project having an adverse impact on the environment - he added.

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During the conference, Government Plenipotentiary for Strategic Energy Infrastructure Piotr Naimski received the Ignacy Łukasiewicz award in the energy security category for the project of diversifying sources of natural gas supply to Poland.
The 3rd Polish Scientific Conference “Energy security – pillars and development prospects” was organised by the Ignacy Łukasiewicz Energy Policy Institute and the Department of Economics of the Faculty of Management of the Ignacy Łukasiewicz Rzeszów University of Technology.