Poland is restoring gas supplies halted by Russian firm

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland’s state gas giant said Friday it was gradually restoring the flow of natural gas to municipalities that lost it after a Russian company halted supplies when Warsaw slapped it with sanctions over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The supply cut was a separate development from Russia’s decision earlier this week to stop gas deliveries to Poland.

PGNiG said the Russian firm, Novatek Green Energy, complied with the demand to make its pipelines available to Polish companies that are now starting to convey their gas to the 10 affected areas. They include the popular Baltic Sea resort of Leba, which was anxious about a lack of gas ahead of Poland’s long weekend through May 3, which usually brings many tourists there.

PGNiG said the handing over of Novatek’s infrastructure and the necessary documents took place “without problems and in good atmosphere.”

All affected locations should have gas on Friday, it said.

Earlier Friday, government spokesman Piotr Mueller warned that Novatek could face legal action under the country’s crisis management laws if the company didn’t immediately comply.

A subsidiary of a group controlled by OAO Novatek, Russia’s second-largest natural gas producer, Novatek was put earlier this week on Poland’s list of sanctions against 50 Russian and Belarusian businesses. The sanctions are intended to curb the outflow of money from Poland to Russia’s war coffers. They come on top of European Union measures in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24.

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