Gazprom deal in Poland is link to the resumption of Polish meat exports Russia.

Gazprom, the Russian energy giant, has been trying to get into the Polish market for years and finally its now close to getting there, informs DZIENNIK.

Review by Olek Kropiwnicki

Gazprom is now negotiating with the British company BP and the deal will include 300 BP petrol stations in Poland. Gazprom will practically take them over. Both the Law and Justice conservative party, which has just lost the election, and Civic Platform, a more liberal party, which is creating the new government, agree: Gazprom is dangerous for Poland. Why? Well, Gazprom is not an ordinary company. It supports Russian foreign policy, quite unfriendly for former Soviet satellite states and now the new EU member states, reminds DZIENNIK.

The favorite baby of Gazprom, though, is the project of the Baltic gas-pipeline, which is to connect Russia with Germany, by-passing Poland. As GAZETA WYBORCZA writes, several countries, including – of course – Poland, are protesting against the project for various reasons, from foreign policy to environment. Poland, as well as Estonia and Sweden, has been trying at least to postpone the investment and you can get the impression that this issue is the main subject of each meeting between Polish-German diplomats. Russia has been counter-attacking, though, and many Western companies are apparently ready to co-operate with Gazprom. Dutch, Italian and German companies have signed, or promise to sign, agreements that will make them contributors to the Nord Stream, or the new Baltic pipeline. The Russians intend to send their gas via Nord Stream, straight to Germany, as early as 2010, informs GAZETA WYBORCZA. Poland is afraid that since that time its dependence on Russian gas will make it an easy victim of possible political blackmail by the Kremlin.

2 million Poles employed in the trade sector feel oppressed when they have to work on Sundays, says the Solidarity trade union, quoted by RZECZPOSPOLITA. According to the new law, during 12 days in each year, including main national and religious holidays, all shops must be closed. However, for Solidarity this is not enough. The goal is to forbid trading every Sunday, they say. They are planning to start with a poster campaign, promoting alternative ways of life. Spend your Sunday with your family instead of going shopping, the posters will say, in spite of the fact that in Poland, for many families, Sunday means going together to the shopping center and spending half a day in such ‘charming places’. Every third Pole doesn’t wish any limits on trade, informs RZECZPOSPOLITA


MOSCOW, November 8 (RIA Novosti) - Poland's new coalition government is ready to meet all Russia's demands for the resumption of Polish meat exports to the country, the Dziennik newspaper said Thursday.

"We will set no preconditions on exporting our products to Russia. If Russia wants us to meet some requirements, we will comply," the newspaper quoted Marek Sawicki, named agriculture minister, as saying.

"Lifting the embargo is important for us because it is difficult for Polish farmers to sell meat at acceptable prices, since the Polish market is flooded with cheap pork, for example from Denmark," the Dziennik said.

Russia's agricultural regulator said on Wednesday it would conduct inspections of Polish meat producers who want to resume exports to Russia on November 14-15, jointly with EU experts.

The list of enterprises to be inspected will be compiled and coordinated next week, when a Russian delegation arrives in Warsaw.

Over 60 Polish companies have said they want to resume meat exports to Russia, which were halted by Moscow's embargo, imposed two years ago. The ban followed accusations that Poland was supplying poor-quality meat from third countries.

In retaliation, Poland vetoed talks on a new Russia-EU partnership and cooperation agreement in November 2006, demanding that meat deliveries should be resumed first.

Center-right politician Donald Tusk's victory in Polish parliamentary elections last month prompted hopes that Warsaw would take a more accommodating stance on disputes with Russia. The prime minister-in-waiting is expected to formally be asked to form a new government on Friday.