GAZ-SYSTEM S.A. partners the 4th European Economic Forum

Photo of the article The 4th European Economic Forum will be held on 14-16 May 2012 in Katowice. The Congress, organised by the Polskie Towarzystwo Wspierania Przedsiębiorczości, has become the largest economic event in Central Europe in a relatively short period of time. The previous Forum involved 6,000 guests, 900 speakers and 500 journalists.

GAZ-SYSTEM S.A. is a partner of the Congress for the second consecutive year. Our representatives take an active part in the programme. This year, Members of the Company’s Management Board will take part in four thematic sessions:
- Shale gas – an opportunity for Poland, an opportunity for Europe;
- Joint European infrastructural projects in terms of energy, gas and liquid fuels transmission;
- Gas market in Europe;
- Gas and energy sectors.
The above-mentioned panels will involve such guests as Jerzy Buzek – President of the European Parliament in 2009-2012, Polish Prime Minister in 1997-2001; Arvydas Sekmokas – Energy Minister, Lithuania; Rafał Wardziński – President of the Management Board, Polskie LNG SA, Vice-President of the Supervisory Board, Tauron Polska Energia SA; Thomas Kleefuß – President of the Management Board, Net4Gas, the Czech Republic; Grzegorz Onichimowski – President of the Management Board, Towarowa Giełda Energii SA.

The Congress has been recognised as a forum for one of the most representative discussions about the future of Europe, and the theses proposed by the most eminent speakers have been widely cited and commented. This Congress is a three day cycle of debates, meetings and accompanying events involving guests from Poland and beyond. The topics of more than a hundred sessions and discussion panels cover the issues crucial for Europe’s economic and social development.

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Gas Transmission Operator GAZ-SYSTEM S.A. is a strategic company wholly owned by the Treasury, responsible for natural gas transmissions throughout Poland. The Company manages approx. PLN 5 bn worth of assets which comprise mainly the components of the transmission system, including more than 9,800 km of high-pressure pipelines, 14 compressor stations, 56 hubs and 970 exit points. The company employs more than 2000 persons. GAZ-SYSTEM S.A. is also the owner of Polskie LNG S.A., a  company established to build the liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in Świnoujście.

GAZ-SYSTEM S.A. will build more than 1,000 km of new gas pipelines by 2014. The most important of them will be situated in north-western and central Poland (Szczecin-Lwówek, Świnoujście-Szczecin, Szczecin-Gdańsk, Rembelszczyzna-Gustorzyn and Gustorzyn-Odolanów). The development of the gas transmission network in Poland may constitute an important element of the North – South Gas Corridor connecting the LNG terminal in Świnoujście to the planned Adria LNG terminal through the transmission infrastructure of Central European countries.

In 2011, GAZ–SYSTEM S.A. has completed the construction of the Włocławek–Gdynia gas pipeline and gas compressor stations in Goleniów and Jarosław. The Company has also opened a new Polish–Czech Interconnector that enables the transmission of approx. 0.5 bcm of gas annually. GAZ-SYSTEM S.A. has also developed gas pipelines in Lower Silesia that enable the off-take of greater amounts of gas from the western direction. The capacity at the Lasów point on the Polish-German border is currently 1.5 bcm annually (the previous capacity was 0.9 bcm a year).

The investment projects completed by GAZ-SYSTEM S.A. in 2011 have offered a possibility of using virtual reverse flow services on the Yamal pipeline and created technical capacities to import more than 3.3 bcm of gas annually to Poland from new sources (approx. 30% of the currently imported volume).

GAZ-SYSTEM S.A. co-organises the 10th International Conference “Gas Infrastructure Europe” which will be held on 24–25 May 2012 in Krakow. The GIE Conference has been for years one of the most important and prestigious events in the European energy sector and the first event of this kind held in Poland. The keynote topic of the meeting is the role of natural gas as a clean and environment-friendly source of energy for the future economies of EU countries. More information about the conference is available at: http://www.gie.eu/index.php/annual-conference-2012-home

Contact:
Małgorzata Polkowska
Spokesperson of GAZ-SYSTEM S.A.
Tel. 22 01 546, mobile 691 911 217
E-mail: pr@gaz-system.pl