WARSAW, Poland, April 4 (UPI) -- Poland is an independent country that won't let Russian gas company Gazprom dictate its energy needs, the Polish treasury minister said.
Treasury Minister Mikolaj Budzanowski said he was frustrated with Russian plans to expand the Yamal-Europe natural gas pipeline. Polish and Russian governments agreed on the project in the 1990s but the minister said the situation changed because of accession to the European Union.
"No one, except for the Polish company and the Polish government is entitled to make decisions about transit via the Polish territory," he was quoted by RIA Novosti as saying. "That's why we would like to tactfully remind that we are not going to build a new gas transportation network to Poland or the European Union on instructions from anyone, especially from Gazprom."
Poland in 2014 plans to build a liquefied natural gas terminal and has development plans in place to examine the shale natural gas potential.
Russian President Vladimir Putin called on Russian gas company Gazprom to move forward with the pipeline's construction. Yamal-Europe 2 would go into service by 2018.
Gazprom Chairman Alexei Miller told Putin the company was "ready to go ahead" with a feasibility study on the pipeline.
